The Spider Queen
chapter-9

Sophie was under the impression that she was standing in the middle of a void, there was just black space as far as her eyes could see.

It was like she was the only living creature in the world amidst a vast expanse of emptiness. She looked down and stretched out her limbs in a curious manner.

What was this place? Was she dreaming?

This must be a dream, but the faint burning sensation remaining on her chest reminded her of the necklace and her facial expression began to contort.

The residual memory of pain still lingered in her mind and she immediately put her hands on her neck to take off the necklace.

There was nothing there.

Sophie was confused and searched the rest of her body but could find no trace of the necklace even though she still felt the presence of something on her neck.

The only clue to her teleportation to this strange location was the stone monument so she cautiously began to walk towards it.

The monument appeared to be made of red stone that shone with an eerie light in place of darkness.

The shape of the slab was flat in a rectangular shape and hovered gently in the air. She could make out words on the stone from the distance but could not decipher what they meant.

Distance in this strange space seemed to be warping and she could not tell the flow of time in this space.

Despite estimating that the monument was only roughly five meters away from her current position...

No matter how much she moved towards the direction of the stone, the distance between her and the slab never shrank.

Sophie was getting more and more frustrated with this situation. She stopped moving and glared around in rage.

Who had sent her to this cursed place!

No matter how much she travelled the distance never shrank so maybe she should try walking in the other direction was the thought that popped into her head.

She turned around and started walking away from the stone but her every footstep was like walking in a thick fog. Sophie struggled but it felt as if she was wearing weights on her feet.

As she about to give up and just sit down….

The slab emitted a blinding light and two enormous chains burst out from the sides of the stone, the chains were a golden colour and started to slither towards her.

Sophie panicked and began to run desperately in the opposite direction but could not outrun the chains.

One wrapped tightly around her waist while the other captured her legs and dragged her kicking and crying towards the stone.

"Please someone help me! Help me!" Sophie screamed.

There was complete silence and Sophie was dragged to the front of the stone tablet. The chains roughly dropped her on the ground and retracted back into the monument.

Sophie took a step backwards in fear but there was no more movement from the stone in front of her.

She continued to watch the slab with a wary expression for a couple more minutes, but nothing happened.

A sigh of relief slipped past her lips and she curiously looked closer at this mysterious object.

The stone itself was unremarkable in its outer appearance but as Sophie observed the surface, letters began to appear on the exterior.

What language was this? Sui Meng scanned through the memories of the original host but could find no indication that Sophie had ever seen this language before.

It should be noted that to make up for her cultivation shortcomings Sophie had studied immensely in her childhood including ancient and modern languages of the galactic civilisations so it was a shock to find a language she could not recognise.

Suddenly a mysterious force gripped Sophie's body and the words on the stone burned into her mind and she involuntarily started to read them out loud,

"Kizhrxlw theuk iw drxwg."

"Eh eiw iph llfimuw fx iph yeakmuwv."

"Lwm qmxzi akeugla zmkzxv eiyacl wlv epzn sw lwm drtatvww"

"Rda kuirljzhw jzpto fv wcbkvrdamg me gjz geic lme"

"Rfft akecd hcuzznt bki jhxlhv'j ogiwl"

"Z hamgkv en aryc ld bki xjtiw kfvsmvw kg vzdrk et bki gglmu xf kaib ecd xv pc gsip."

(Author's note: the ancient text was created using a Vigenère cipher, Key = Spider)

The blood in her body began to boil furiously and Sophie could sense that the qi in her dantian was circulating in a strange pattern she had never seen before.

The cultivation method she was currently training with was the 'War God Technique' given to her by her father but even the circulation from a tier one cultivation method was being rewritten by this new method.

Sophie was unsure of what the side effects of this would be, but she somehow got a sense of wholeness and warmth that she had never felt before.

It was like this cultivation technique was tailor-made for her on a genetic level.

The qi finished a full round of circulation and Sophie could feel her muscles and bones becoming stronger with every lap.

This was an addicting feeling and she could not help but moan slightly in satisfaction over how comfortable it was.

She blinked once and found herself laying down on her bed in the dorm surrounded by an unpleasant odour.

Sophie was no longer in the space and touched her neck carefully to find out the necklace was no longer heating up.

She breathed out a small sigh of relief, she thought it was all a dream at first until she realised her qi was still circulating in that mysterious pathway.

She sat up in shock and discovered that her body was also covered in a sticky layer of black grime from the impurities pushed out during her cultivation.

Sophie frowned slightly at the smell and moved towards the bathroom to take a shower.

She passed a mirror and paused when she saw her new body with four spider legs jutting out from her back.

"Yo… What the fu…."

A loud scream was then heard coming from her room.