Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1143 - The three parameters (1)

1143: The three parameters (1)

1143: The three parameters (1)

The devouring lily cauldron phantom spider was a meticulous creature.

It didn’t just choose its victims randomly.

With its exceptional camouflaging abilities, it would stalk potential hosts for years before settling on one.

This caution stemmed from the fact that, just as the transformation process is nearly impossible to halt once it begins, the spider itself was bound by the same restrictions.

Once it activates its innate ability to overdraw a host’s latent potential, it cannot leave the host’s body or stop the process.

A crucial part of creating the tonic it needs involves blending its essence with that of the host until the two resonate and become indistinguishable.

If the process were forcibly interrupted before completion, the spider would suffer irreversible injuries similar to what a human cultivator would get from damaging their foundations.

Its path forward would be as good as destroyed, and at the same time those injuries would leave it in a weakened and vulnerable state.

One of the spider’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to remain undetectable, but if the process is disrupted, it would lose this advantage.

The resulting damage would strip away its concealment, leaving it exposed and defenseless.

As such, whenever a devouring lily cauldron phantom spider reaches the stage where it needs that fluid, it goes to great lengths to find the appropriate host.

For one, it would never target someone a major realm stronger than itself—if it were in the foundation establishment realm, it wouldn’t seek a host in the core formation realm.

Conversely, unless it was absolutely desperate and had no other options, it also wouldn’t target someone a major realm below it.

The risks involved wouldn’t be worth the tradeoff, and the fluid produced from a weaker host might not be potent enough to aid in its breakthrough, even if the host were pushed to the spider’s realm.

More often than not, its preferred victim was a cultivator in the same realm.

It didn’t matter whether the cultivator was weaker or stronger in terms of cultivation base—as long as they were within the same realm, the devouring lily cauldron phantom spider would consider them a viable target.

Of course, even then, there would be certain restrictions and considerations the devouring lily cauldron phantom spider would have to make, such as the talent of its prey, the physiology, and the ecosystem of its prey, before it ambushed them.

The talent consideration was simple.

Because the devouring lily cauldron phantom spider’s method of attacking its host relied on exhausting their vitality through overexertion and overdrawing their latent potential, such an approach wouldn’t work on a truly talented figure.

If it chose a gifted individual as its host, the devouring lily cauldron phantom spider was more likely to be exploited than the other way around.

Talented figures—especially in the early stages of cultivation—rarely feared exhausting their potential.

In fact, for most of them, the greatest challenge was fully excavating their latent abilities.

That’s why many intentionally put themselves in dangerous situations—to trigger life-and-death circumstances that could awaken and push their hidden potential to the surface.

For them, encountering a unique spirit beast like the devouring lily cauldron phantom spider—one that could stimulate their latent potential without the need to expose themselves to actual mortal danger—would be nothing short of a boon.

In fact, Yang Qing knew of several prominent organizations that exploited the spider’s unique trait to train their personnel.

Sects, clans, empires, kingdoms—even mercenary and merchant organizations—used this method.

He had observed it being used more frequently in kingdoms and empires compared to the others, which was understandable.

Nations constantly needed a strong supply of manpower to maintain control over their territories.

If they could produce powerful figures in half the time and at a fraction of the cost, it was only natural they would seize the opportunity.

So, unless it was extremely desperate, a devouring lily cauldron phantom spider would not dare to parasitize someone with talent. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

This was why it went to great lengths to observe its potential targets—to study them and assess their potential thoroughly.

The next thing it considered was physiology.

In this context, physiology referred to the cultivator’s physique or natural attributes.

Any cultivator whose physique was predominantly filled with dense yang or fire-based energy would immediately be written off the list.

The devouring lily cauldron phantom spider had a natural weakness against these two elements, which would cause significant problems—especially during the process of merging its essence with that of its host.

This incompatibility would degrade the quality of the tonic it sought to extract.

In fact, the resulting substance could turn more into poison than a useful tonic, rendering it useless—or even harmful—to the spider if consumed.

Furthermore, the difficulty in merging its essence with a host’s incompatible energy posed another major problem.

The merging of essence, other than being a pivotal force in the creation of the tonic, also served another purpose, a defensive purpose.

It was one of the spider’s primary means of staying hidden and undetectable within the host’s body.

The more its essence blended with the host’s, the more indistinguishable it became from its host.

Without a clear distinction between the spider’s essence and the host’s, even the most skilled cultivators would struggle to detect or remove it.

If it chose the body of someone with predominant yang or fire energy, that advantage disappeared.

This was why most of its victims had bodies rich in water or wood elements—its preferred choice.

If those two weren’t available, it would reluctantly settle for a host with a predominant earth element.

Water and wood elemental bodies made for ideal hosts.

The merging process was seamless, and the resulting fluid was of optimal quality.

In contrast, an earth-based body yielded average results across the board—whether in terms of the fluid’s potency or the ease of merging.

However, the most desirable host for a devouring lily cauldron phantom spider was someone with a body predominantly yin-based.

The tonic produced from such a host would truly be worthy of the name—a heavenly elixir potent enough to push the spider’s strength to unimaginable heights.

But alas, the world often had a cruel sense of humor—or perhaps it was simply just, recognizing that a creature as insidious as the devouring lily cauldron phantom spider needed restrictions.

While a yin-based physique was the most optimal host, it was also the hardest to parasitize.

The spider’s success relied on its ability to infiltrate a host’s body undetected, only revealing itself when it was too late.

Its strength lay in executing a perfect ambush—but that advantage was almost nonexistent against someone with a predominant yin-based physique.