The Spider Queen

There was an enormous gap in power between the races of the universe who could cultivate and those who could not. Technology could bridge the divide, but no weapon existed that could kill a cultivator in the void stage or above.

Cultivation was not just a method of gathering qi to gain strength but more akin to an evolution to a higher life form.

High level cultivators had fearsome abilities like the ancient immortals of legends. They could regenerate from almost any sort of physical damage, gained the ability to fly and could even survive in the vacuum of space.

Humans in their base forms were weak and fragile creatures with none of the physical enhancements of other species but their cultivation potential allowed them to reign as kings in the milky way galaxy.

The other races could not speak of the humanity without feelings of fear and envy towards their remarkable aptitude.

(Underground Mansion- Duke Peterlor's estate)

The trip back had only taken two hours and Sophie and her father returned with tired expressions. It had been a long event for the both of them and they both headed back to their respective chambers to rest and relax.

Sophie's bedroom was located on the floor below the duke's study room and was outfitted with soundproof walls so there was no chance of disturbance while cultivating.

Just to be on the safe side, the duke ordered all the servants to stay away from the west wing for the next couple of days.

There were always stories of those who broke through in battles or spent time mediating in harsh environments but…who wouldn't want to just relax in their own home?

Certain powerful figures even built specially designed cultivation palaces to aid in their training. These palaces were constructed in places of high spiritual energies and the layout of the furniture was arranged to maintain feng shui.

Sophie sat cross legged on the floor of her bedroom while circulating the qi around her body in a familiar fashion. She had long discovered that there was no need to enter the space to cultivate and had begun to mediate at night.

The feeling of powerlessness as she barely scrapped her way into a qualifying spot was still fresh in her mind. There was zero chance of her making it into one of the four great universities unless she reached the qi spirit stage.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Sophie grimaced in pain as she crashed wave after wave of qi into the first of the seven acupuncture openings. She needed to fully unlock at least seven of them to transform her qi from a gaseous state into a liquid state.

"Damn it…I ran out of qi again!" Sophie muttered with a sense of frustration. She reached out her hand casually and popped a qi replenishing pill into her mouth. It should be easy to cross from the qi body stage to the next realm but for some reason her acupuncture points refused to open.

The duke had speculated that the cause may either be due to the nature of the cultivation art she was practising or her hybrid physiology. That is why on the ground next to Sophie lay boxes of qi replenishing pills.

Sophie felt the cold tingle of the pill dissolving in her mouth and a wave of heat rushed towards her dantian which made her feel comfortable and warm. Her qi reserves filled back up rapidly, and Sophie prepared herself for yet another attempt.

"Cycle your qi and take deep breathes," Sophie whispered the mantra.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Sophie closed her eyes and could see her qi slamming constantly against a translucent barrier that resisted all of the attacks. She tightened her fists and continued even as severe pains began to strike her body.

"One more… one more," Sophie could sense that the barrier was now beginning to weaken under the pressure.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With a resounding bang, the first acupuncture point opened!

"Holy hell…I freaking did it!" Sophie yelled with a proud smile as she stood up and danced around the room in glee. A warm liquid splashed the back of her hands and she looked down to see the unexpectedly bright red colour of blood.

She hurriedly turned to the mirror and saw that both her nose and mouth were dripping out blood at a steady rate. There was a first aid kit in her schoolbag, so Sophie took out a few tissues to stem the bleeding.

It was genuinely concerning that her body seemed to be showing signs of rejection to the Spider Whisper Art that she was cultivating. When she had first ran into this issue, she had attempted to switch her technique with a more stable one but…

Despite trying so many different kinds of human qi gathering techniques…none seemed to work.

Sophie's only option was to hope that her hidden genetic problems could be healed during the process of ascension when she reached the qi Tide stage. Until she reached that level, she would have to endure the pain of breaking through different stages.

Her qi reserves were already depleted after those vigorous attempts, so Sophie waited until the bleeding stopped completely before placing another pill in her mouth.

"One down and six more to go," Sophie laughed with a vicious smile.

She had a small hunch that this was going to be a very long night….