Chapter 400 - 379: Extreme Mutation of Liu Zili, Shangguan Yue’s Miserable State_2

[Step 1: Contextual Analysis]

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese fantasy/cultivation web novel (xianxia or xuanhuan). There are references to cultivation realms, demons, secret realms, and other typical elements of this genre.

Language style: The text has a formal narrative style with philosophical contemplation and inner monologue. It describes a character’s current state and past memories.

Tone: Somber, melancholic, with themes of imprisonment, loss, betrayal, and existential despair.

Plot keywords: Demon Race, Secret Realm, cultivation, possession, reincarnation, imprisonment, betrayal, Red Flame Spider Mother, curse

Characters:

- Liu Zili (刘子璃) - Female. A young woman with potential/talent who was cursed and fell into a coma.

- Jiang Qiu (姜丘) - Male. Appears to be someone important to Liu Zili, possibly her lover or close friend.

- Red Flame Spider Mother (赤焰蛛母) - Female. A spider demon that was used as a vessel for the "Emperor" to reincarnate. She cursed Liu Zili before dying.

- Emperor [Chen] (辰皇) - Referred to as "the Emperor," seems to have reincarnated using the Red Flame Spider Mother as a vessel.

- Shangguan Yue (上官玥) - Transferred Liu Zili to the Shangguan family in Jiangnan for treatment.

- Grandmaster Su Xiang (苏香宗师) - A top expert of Xia Country who could not break the Spider Mother’s curse.

- Zuo Xuan (左玄) - A Venerable who managed to save Liu Zili with his Eight-direction Reversing Ship.

[Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing]

Now I’ll translate the text, following all the guidelines and ensuring all glossary terms are used correctly:

The text describes how Liu Zili was cursed by the Red Flame Spider Mother and fell into a coma. She was moved to the Shangguan family in Jiangnan for treatment, but even Grandmaster Su Xiang couldn’t help her. Eventually, Venerable Zuo Xuan saved her with his Eight-direction Reversing Ship during the Blue Star catastrophe. The curse was removed, but she remains in a coma, her soul trapped in a dreamlike state.

The Chapter also reveals the backstory of the Red Flame Spider Mother, who was used as a vessel for the Emperor’s reincarnation. The Spider Mother resented being merely a tool and sought freedom, which is why she cursed Liu Zili before dying. Liu Zili’s body is now developing a unique constitution due to the mixing of the Spider Mother’s bloodline, Dragon Race essence, and her own Human Race Spirit Charm talent.

The final part of the Chapter shifts to what seems to be Su Fragrance’s perspective (though not explicitly named), who is imprisoned in a dungeon with other women from Blue Star, having lost hope and waiting for death.

Now I’ll translate the full text line by line:

Undoubtedly, she was Liu Zili. Ever since Jiang Qiu had left for the Northern Wilderness and North Border City for the Northwest Martial University’s rookie competition, the school had fallen victim to a plot by the Northwest Demon Clan. She had been poisoned, falling into a coma, and was later transferred to the Shangguan Family in Jiangnan for treatment by Shangguan Yue.

Unfortunately, the treatment had never been effective. Her life was slipping away as she couldn’t resist the curse; her consciousness was being completely devoured.

Later, during the Blue Star catastrophe, Venerable Zuo Xuan’s Eight-direction Reversing Ship naturally took her away due to her exceptional Talent. Venerable Zuo Xuan discovered that the curse inside her body was interesting, seemingly containing traces of ancient, distant aura, so he casually saved her.

In other words, the Red Flame Spider Mother’s curse—which even Xia Country’s top Grandmaster Su Fragrance could do nothing about—was easily broken by Zuo Xuan, who might not even specialize in such matters.

This was the power of a Harmonization Realm expert. Their knowledge was incredibly vast, and their abilities were extremely broad. Practically nothing that happened in the Lower Realms could stump them.

And so, Liu Zili’s life continued. Her consciousness was preserved, and the Red Flame Spider Mother’s curse was resolved, but she still wouldn’t wake up...

Her Soul remained asleep in an unknown, hazy space, recalling everything that had happened: "What exactly happened?"

She could hardly remember many things since her time at Northwest Martial University, only vaguely recalling that a spider had bitten her when she was unprepared while crafting something for Su Fragrance. The piercing pain had shot through her body, and her Soul began to fade.

During her Soul’s extinction process, she could sense a massive eight-eyed spider looking down at her. At that time, she felt like a weak, helpless insect without any sense of security.

As the giant spider devoured her vitality, it also transmitted its consciousness to her. The spider was actually capable of tears, which transformed into the most vengeful liquid, further corroding her Soul: "Why must I become a vessel for someone else? Why am I just a tool for reincarnation? By what right is the foundation I’ve built through lifelong struggle being seized?

If I had never encountered the Kunlun Secret Realm, if I hadn’t been influenced by its environment, I wouldn’t have become a spider with consciousness, nor would I have become the king of the Northwest Demon Clan!

I became a king, I gained a brand new life of my own, but I couldn’t go anywhere. I was forever confined to the caves under Kunlun City, lurking there, dispatching my children to control more promising Demons, making them submit to my bloodline.

I entered the caves and haven’t left for a hundred years. My only eyes were those larval insects, who explored the world in my place and monitored the Human Race.

I did everything possible to collect Treasures of Heaven and Earth. I dispatched countless Demons to enter various Secret Realms in search of resources. Following the Emperor’s command, I went to the ruins he had arranged thousands of years ago to search for ancient treasures...

I dedicated everything to the Emperor. From the moment I gained consciousness, I obeyed the Emperor’s will. I never had second thoughts, never rebelled, but the freedom I wanted, he wouldn’t give me!

A hundred years of accumulation, all became nourishment for the Emperor’s reincarnation. He cut open my belly and plundered everything I had, including my life.

Why, after doing everything, couldn’t I earn even one rebirth? I thought after the Emperor reincarnated, he would grant me the right to transform, to personally walk out of the caves and see the outside world.

But the day I was exposed outside the caves was the day of the Emperor’s reincarnation, as well as my death sentence. I felt my abdomen being hollowed out, all my Spirit Charm absorbed by a bottomless pit, my life force rapidly declining...

Everything came to an end. I fell from the sky, watching the Emperor’s newly born figure standing in mid-air. Though he didn’t have a massive body, I couldn’t summon hatred or resentment in my heart, only fear.

Was I destined to die as nothing more than a tool without any freedom?

No, I will find bloodlines related to the Emperor. I will make the Emperor return what he stole from me. I will make the Emperor pay for his actions!

I want... freedom."

The cries of the Red Flame Spider Mother echoed in the depths of her Soul, flowing endlessly, like wild grass that cannot be destroyed by prairie fire, sprouting again with the spring breeze.

It was no longer the king of the Northwest Demon Clan. In fact, from beginning to end, it never had the power a king should possess, nor did it leave its own glorious mark in Human Race history. Its birth was merely to pave the way for Emperor [Chen]’s existence.

But this didn’t mean it truly had no way to live a second life. When Emperor [Chen] reincarnated, one of the Nine Great Hot Springs was missing, and not all of its Soul Power returned, which greatly reduced the Talent of the new body. A trace of its vitality—a secretly escaped larva—was left behind.

By coincidence, the Red Flame Spider Mother had mutated. It wasn’t just a Demon King formed from a spider, but a hybrid bloodline mingled with Dragon Race essence.

In fact, being able to serve as Emperor [Chen]’s maternal body meant it possessed extraordinary qualities. The Emperor had put more thought into its bloodline than the later Ten Great Demon Marshals, making it more terrifying than Dream Demon and others who had mixed with pseudo-ancient great clan bloodlines.

After all, it was his own maternal body, the cradle of his birth. Emperor [Chen] had arranged many techniques within it, even awakening a mysterious ancient bloodline from before the era of Azure Dragon and White Tiger—something even more mysterious, something it didn’t even know itself...

Now this bloodline had turned into a curse and merged with Liu Zili. Just as it was about to succeed, it was disrupted by Harmonization Realm power, failing at the last moment, leaving only echoes of resentment.

The mysterious spider bloodline, Dragon Race essence, and Human Race’s top Cultivation Talent in controlling Spirit Charm—Liu Zili’s potential was now unknowable. Moreover, her body had been transformed, condensing a unique constitution different from the Dragon Body yet comparable in its own way.

She didn’t know what this constitution was called, her Soul just mumbled while holding its head: "Jiang Qiu, where are you..."

No matter how clamorous Liu Zili’s Soul was, her pristine body remained motionless, like an Exiled Immortal who had fallen to demonic ways, floating in transparent liquid, preserved in a nutrient chamber.

It was fortunate she hadn’t awakened. At least now she could rest in the nutrient chamber. If she were to wake up, she might end up like Shangguan Yue and the others, crowded into a cell deep in the dungeon, listening to the DRIP DROP of water, in complete squalor.

The once petite middle school girl now looked somewhat haggard, her lips dry and pale, her eyes devoid of spirit. She wore shackles on her hands and feet, her Spirit Charm and Realm suppressed, her strength possibly less than that of a long-starved beggar from Blue Star.

Dozens of Blue Star women were crammed into one cell, lying on the hard, cold floor, or curled up in corners, like corpses that had long lost their lives.

Everyone was a slave with no entertainment. Each day, they ate just enough food not to starve, then retreated back to wait for death.

At first, everyone had panicked, discussing the tragic Blue Star catastrophe, worrying about their future. Later, they realized they had no control over their future, no say in the direction of their lives. Even the strongest people of Xia Country had been sold off—how could weaklings like them survive?

How many years had passed? Her mind had grown numb. She missed her homeland, missed her Direct Disciple Liu Zili, missed a certain young man whose life was full of legends.

But there was no going back, and it was difficult to even see a familiar face.

Worn down by time, her body hadn’t grown; she still looked like a middle school student, but without any youthful vigor—weak, helpless, hugging her knees in the corner, a pitiful sight.

Her dulled thoughts could no longer support hope for the future, nor did she wish to explore the vast world. Her once sweet, girlish smile had frozen, and her mind repeated one sentence over and over.

When can I die?