The so-called "System" was a manifestation of the eerie purple light parasitizing its body. By devouring spiritual essence or consuming the eerie purple light from other hosts, it "completed itself," thereby granting Bai Jie numerous Transcendent abilities.
The reason the "System" could display a Status Panel was most likely to serve its host well and help it grow further—much like a "subconscious."
This could be deduced from the series of information fields and annotations in the "System" that catered to its own understanding.
As for why it hadn't experienced impending loss of control like Zheng Yueling and Wang Miaoyin, and why it hadn't previously detected the eerie purple light within its body—this was most likely related to the fact that it was a spider as a species.
Wang Miaoyin had once said that one only discovers the existence of "that thing" when nearing loss of control.
Combined with the fact that the eerie purple light only appeared when it was on the brink of death, it could be that the eerie purple light was more stable when latent within a spider's body. It could also be that because Bai Jie had been constantly evolving and growing stronger, the eerie purple light had remained very "quiet" and hadn't triggered a loss of control...
But as for the question of why it had reincarnated as a spider—Bai Jie still didn't know.
At the same time, it was also puzzled by what that suddenly appearing voice had meant by being "assimilated" by the eerie purple light, only knowing it was surely not a good outcome.
The moment the eerie purple light appeared, Bai Jie immediately sensed that its will was also reviving, and also unexpectedly discovered that the eerie purple light had left a sort of "brand" within its consciousness.
The will of the eerie purple light sought to "assimilate" Bai Jie's consciousness, while the "brand" within its consciousness resonated with it—one from within, one from without, jointly tearing Bai Jie's consciousness apart.
At this very moment,
Under the successive onslaught of the eerie purple light's reviving will and the "brand" it had left behind, Bai Jie's consciousness was like a sailboat in a violent storm—sometimes tossed high, sometimes slammed down, sometimes eroded, sometimes shoved sideways.
Just as Bai Jie's consciousness was on the verge of collapse, about to merge into one with the eerie purple light—
That incomparably alluring voice appeared again!
"Bai Zhi, awaken!"
The voice called out.
Bai Jie's consciousness "witnessed" a breathtakingly beautiful feminine form, completely bare, revealing exquisite curves. Her long hair was crimson, reaching her ankles. Two blood moons were reflected in her eyes. She stood atop a brilliant river of stars, walking toward Bai Jie.
"Accept me."
She spoke, her voice ethereal and elusive, rippling through the entire river of stars.
Then she directly merged with Bai Jie's consciousness. A mystical transformation occurred. Arcane, enigmatic meaning began to emanate, ring after ring, turning into blood-red ripples that dispersed the eerie purple light entwined around Bai Jie's consciousness.
And that spiritual brand within Bai Jie's consciousness was ground to dust by the blood-red meaning, transforming into related spiritual essence that merged into Bai Jie's consciousness.
The consciousness that had been on the verge of annihilation finally caught its breath. It steadied itself and surveyed the surrounding river of stars in all their varied colors—dazzling and brilliant. At the center of the starry river was a crimson constellation, like a galaxy dyed in blood.
In a daze, it could once again hear that sweet, concerned call.
...
"Sister Bai Zhi?"
"Sister Bai Zhi..."
Bai Huahua tirelessly called out to the spider beneath her.
No matter how the surrounding nanomechanical insects bit at the spider's body, the wounds would heal in an instant. So at this moment, even surrounded by swarming insects, the spider appeared completely unharmed. This made Bai Huahua joyfully think that Bai Zhi had come back to life.
But aside from the spider body's exuberant, overflowing vitality, Bai Huahua received no response whatsoever.
"Sister Bai Zhi, won't you answer me?"
Suddenly, the blood moon Sigil atop the spider's head erupted with an extremely blinding radiance, shooting out like a red ribbon of light that pierced straight through every nanomechanical insect in its path.
This blood-red beam of light penetrated the black mist, and it also seemed to pierce into the very hearts of the humans on the mountaintop, filling them with terror and discomfort.
Every cell in their bodies was trembling, screaming, urging their masters to flee this place, to leave this dangerous spot.
Following that, the blue-violet patterns on the spider's back, abdomen, and legs flowed with light of corresponding colors. The light suddenly spread, covering the entire spider body, and also wrapping around the little snake on its head.
The light expanded, turned transparent, distorted.
From within it, countless strange, terrifying, slimy tentacles extended. The colors of these tentacles were impossible to describe, impossible to comprehend—simultaneously like a riot of colors, yet like a blank whiteness, and even like darkness compressed to its uttermost extreme!
The dark tentacles writhed and swept about madly.
Crack, crack!
After the fine, dense sounds of explosions came thunderous booms like giant bells.
Boom!
At the center of the endless nanomechanical insects, it was as if a nuclear bomb had detonated. Under the eruption of colossal energy, the extraordinarily fine mechanical parts were all reduced to atomic-level units, blasting outward in all directions at incredible speed.
Dumbfounded. Unbelievable. Completely caught off guard.
It had been less than a single second since that pendant and "Wang Miaoyin" had entered the black mist of the insect swarm...
The Heaven's Punisher—just gone, like that?
What the humans present saw was that the black mist of the insect swarm, upon which they had placed such high hopes, had vanished in an instant—scattered like smoke, completely obliterated!
In its place, a form that gathered ultimate beauty, allure, mystery, majesty, and terror had manifested...
The air became incredibly viscous, as if one were deep under the sea. The instant became eternity in this moment. Time seemed to have been seized and frozen by an invisible pair of hands.
Except for the area around that figure, all other light was devoured, as if Eternal Night had descended and darkness filled the entire world.
An intoxicating, indescribably strange fragrance wafted through the entire space, carrying a hint of coldness as it assaulted the nostrils, making every cell in their bodies sink into a languid, lethargic state.
What entered their eyes was a scene that would send chills crawling up their spines—one they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
No one dared breathe or blink.
That mysterious, towering figure was unmistakably composed of a woman's upper body and the lower body of a gigantic spider!
The spider's leg span on both sides reached over 3 meters, and paired with the humanoid upper body, the total height was a full 2 meters.
The woman's long hair was haloed by a layer of blue-violet starlight, flowing smooth and soft down to her waist, as if a brilliant, unfathomably deep nebula swirled across it.
Her face was obscured by a mass of utterly dark light, impossible to see clearly, revealing only a pair of incomparably beautiful eyes. Her pupils were bright crimson, like rubies in the dark night, glittering with light. At the bottom of her pupils, a blood-red crescent moon was faintly suspended upside down...
Around her snowy neck was coiled a little golden-and-white snake with scales like jade, occasionally flicking its tongue, looking endlessly delighted.
Gazing further at the woman's half-torso, the crowd's pupils instantly quaked. Their hearts contracted to the absolute limit. Their reason was captivated by an immense sense of beauty, teetering on the edge of shattering.
Two fair, tender arms like fresh lotus roots. Jade-like shoulders and neck. Exquisitely defined collarbones, as if shaped by the most perfect sculptor. Skin fairer than snow, suffused with a pink luster.
Pure white spider silk, wound into a satin-like band, barely supported a pair of full, voluptuous, proud twin moons. These contrasted with her impossibly slender, graspable waist, making the former appear all the more plump and breathtaking—a sight of incomparable beauty.
Her stomach was flat, with just the right amount of taut, supple flesh—one bit more would be cloying, one bit less would be gaunt. And on either side of her cute, petite navel, two lovely abdominal lines extended vertically downward, stopping abruptly at the critical point...
If her upper body presented a noble, breathtaking beauty and a soul-snatching, demonic allure,
Then the spider beneath this peerless beauty was sinister, terrifying, evil, and strange.
The spider's entire body was covered in ink-black light, with blood-colored patterns etched upon it. Its form was several sizes larger than the previous demon spider. It had six thick, long spider legs brimming with power, their surfaces smooth, the edges of the leg tips carrying a sharpness that radiated icy coldness, as if capable of tearing apart the very stars.