Chapter 608: Cold Spider
However, the strange sensation of being watched still hadn’t disappeared. It lingered behind her like invisible eyes fixed upon her every movement.
Lana wasn’t worried.
’If something truly dangerous appears, Uncle Axel will interfere. He’s probably been watching me the entire time.’
With that thought, she calmly pushed the ancient wooden door open. Creak... the door had barely opened halfway when... Whoosh!
A sharp object shot directly toward her face. Lana instantly leaned sideways.
The sneak attack missed her by mere centimeters before embedding itself into the stone wall behind her.
She wasn’t surprised. She had already expected an ambush.
The moment she stepped inside, she discovered a group of humans hiding throughout the room.
Some crouched behind broken pillars. Others hid behind old shelves. A few even clung unnaturally to the ceiling.
Every single one of them slowly raised their heads.
Their eyes were completely black without a trace of white.
Their skin was pale and tightly stretched over their bones, making them appear like walking corpses.
Their bodies were horribly emaciated, as though they hadn’t eaten for months, while a thick black aura continuously seeped from every pore of their bodies.
They all glared at Lana with expressions filled with greed and madness.
"You’ve come to steal our treasure! Kill her!"
"She cannot leave alive!"
They all lunged toward Lana at once. Lana remained perfectly calm.
Without hesitation, she pulled out an Exorcism Talisman. "Ignite."
The talisman instantly erupted with dazzling golden light. Boom!
Golden spiritual flames exploded throughout the room.
The ghosts possessing those human bodies let out agonizing screams.
"Aaaahhh!!"
One after another, the ghosts were forced out of their hosts before dissolving into countless golden particles.
These ghosts possessed only around seven hundred years of cultivation. Against Lana’s Exorcism Talismans... they stood absolutely no chance.
Within moments, the room became completely silent once again. As a precaution, she teleported all the bodies out with the teleportation talisman.
However, Lana still didn’t lower her guard. Instead of immediately entering, she pulled out several more Exorcism Talismans.
One after another, she threw them into every corner of the room.
Each talisman illuminated the room with brilliant golden light, revealing every hidden corner and destroying any lingering Yin energy.
Only after making absolutely certain that nothing remained hidden did Lana finally step inside.
Sure enough, at the center of the room stood an ancient stone altar.
Floating several inches above it, was a pure white crystal.
The crystal emitted a soft holy glow that completely contrasted with the ghostly atmosphere surrounding it. Gentle waves of spiritual energy continuously radiated from it, making it appear extraordinarily precious.
The moment Lana saw it, she instinctively stepped forward.
However, Myra suddenly shouted.
"Master! Stop! There’s a strange aura surrounding that crystal. Be careful!"
Hearing those words, Lana immediately halted. She understood at once.
Instead of approaching the altar herself, she looked toward Mr. Crow. Mr. Crow immediately understood her intention.
He smiled before closing his eyes. The next second, the white crystal suddenly vanished.
In its place, an ordinary stone of exactly the same size appeared, floating in midair as though nothing had changed.
Lana couldn’t help chuckling. "Your ability is incredibly useful."
She lowered her eyes toward her own hand.
Sure enough, the white crystal had quietly appeared in her palm.
After carefully storing it inside her Storage Talisman, Lana turned around and began walking toward the exit.
Just then, a deep voice suddenly echoed throughout the chamber.
"You dare steal my treasure... and you don’t even acknowledge my existence?"
The voice rumbled through the underground hall like distant thunder, causing the walls themselves to tremble slightly.
Lana merely chuckled. "I thought you were planning to keep pretending to be dead until I left."
A low laugh echoed throughout the chamber. "Hehehe... So... you already knew I was here."
The voice became colder.
"Then kneel. Acknowledge me. Worship me. And leave me that crystal as a gift."
Lana smiled mockingly.
"Why should I worship a coward who hides in the shadows instead of showing himself? And you want this crystal? Let me guess, you could only watch it and get it, so you were waiting for someone to pluck it out and snatch it away."
She paused deliberately before smiling even wider. "I only have two words for you. Fuck you."
The mysterious voice remained strangely calm. Rather than becoming angry, it actually laughed.
"Hahaha... Someone with your attitude... will be far more entertaining to break."
Lana shrugged carelessly. "We’ll see."
Without looking back again, she walked away while carrying the crystal.
This time, the mysterious voice never spoke again.
Soon afterward, Lana returned to the church’s main hall where Axel was waiting.
By then, her entire body had begun trembling uncontrollably.
It felt as though countless tiny needles made of ice were piercing every inch of her skin. A bone-deep chill spread through her muscles and bones, making even her breathing feel stiff.
The moment Axel saw her condition, his expression immediately darkened.
"What happened?"
Lana silently took out the Ghost Essence Crystals along with the white crystal she had obtained and showed them to him.
The moment Axel saw the Ghost Essence Crystals, a proud smile appeared on his face.
"Excellent work. If you continue progressing at this pace, you’ll definitely reach the Second Level of the Celestial Core Rank."
Lana nodded weakly. However, the trembling only became worse. Her entire body shook uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Axel’s smile disappeared. "What happened? You look freezing."
He immediately grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse.
A few seconds later, his brows furrowed deeply. ’Strange...’
Her pulse was perfectly normal. Her body temperature was also completely normal. There wasn’t the slightest sign of fever or hypothermia.
Yet...
Lana clenched her fists while trying to stop herself from shaking. "Even I don’t know, Uncle."
She forced out a weak smile.
"Is there any ghost technique that can make someone feel unbearably cold without actually lowering their body temperature?"
Axel immediately began searching through every piece of knowledge he possessed. After thinking for several seconds, he slowly shook his head.
"Until now... I’ve never heard of such a phenomenon."
Lana bit her lower lip. She was just about to speak again when Axel suddenly froze. His eyes widened slightly.
"Wait. There is one possibility."
Without another word, he immediately began examining Lana more carefully.
Lana didn’t resist. She trusted him completely.
A few moments later, Axel’s expression became slightly awkward. "Can... can you lift your shirt a little?"
Lana blinked in surprise. For a brief moment, she looked slightly embarrassed.
Nevertheless, she nodded. "Alright."
She carefully lifted the edge of her shirt. The instant she did...Axel’s eyes narrowed.
"There you are."
His fingers moved with lightning speed before pinching something attached to her navel.
A tiny creature was forcefully removed. The very next second, the unbearable cold vanished.
Warmth rapidly spread throughout Lana’s body once again, and within seconds, her trembling completely stopped.
She released a long breath of relief. Finally, she felt normal again. Looking at Axel curiously, she asked,
"Uncle... how did you know?"
Axel opened his palm. Resting there, was a tiny white spider no larger than a fingernail.
Its translucent body shimmered with icy blue patterns, and tiny wisps of freezing mist continuously seeped from its legs.
Lana frowned. "What is that?"
Axel’s expression immediately turned cold.
"You could call this the servant of that twenty-five-hundred-year-old ghost."
He looked at the tiny spider with undisguised disgust. "This is known as a Cold Spider."
"It secretly attaches itself to a person’s body without being noticed. Once attached, it continuously injects Yin energy into the host, making them feel colder and colder while keeping their actual body temperature perfectly normal. By the time the victim realizes something is wrong, their internal organs have already begun freezing."
He paused before continuing gravely. "If it isn’t removed in time... the host dies."
Lana’s pupils shrank. Axel continued,
"The amount of time it takes depends on the victim’s strength. Against ordinary people, it can kill within a minute."
He looked directly into Lana’s eyes.
"Even for someone as strong as you... it would have taken no more than ten minutes. That’s how terrifying these Cold Spiders truly are."
Lana stared at the tiny white spider resting inside Axel’s palm with wide eyes. "Oh my God... creatures like this should be killed immediately."
Hearing those words, Axel simply shook his head. "No."
His voice remained calm. "It has far too much value to be destroyed."
As he spoke, he took out a small transparent crystal container covered with dozens of sealing runes.
The moment he carefully placed the Cold Spider inside and shut the lid, the runes lit up one after another, completely sealing the tiny creature within.
Only then did Axel turn toward Lana. "If you want, you can tame it and make it your own assistant."
Lana blinked. "I can?"
Axel nodded.
"You simply need to continuously nourish it with your Mystic Power. Little by little, your spiritual energy will influence its thoughts until its consciousness completely accepts you as its master."