Chapter 41: First Snow

After a momentary pause, the eight eyes of different colors and varying shapes closed once again.

How could it be possible? There could never exist a being in this world with a genetic lineage superior to theirs.

It must have been an illusion.

...

Returning to the perimeter and hearing the sound of the eggshell cracking, Lu Ming practically jumped up.

Yet, fearing that the egg might not be fully hatched and could fall into a hypothermic state, he had to sit back down, steadying the egg with his hands, watching that tiny fracture as he awaited the moment of birth.

Crack!

The eggshell continued to fracture, web-like patterns extending horizontally from the initial fissure.

In less than a few seconds, the crack had circled the entire eggshell.

Click, click, click...

The eggshell trembled incessantly, tiny fragments of shell falling off along the edges of the fracture.

Finally, with a crisp snap, it split in two, revealing a gap of about three centimeters.

Through that gap, Lu Ming could clearly see fine, snow-white, crystalline strands of hair tinged with faint starlight.

Without a doubt, those were human traits, meaning it was at least a humanoid!

Even if it turned out to be a boy, hair this snow-white and glossy would surely look exceptionally striking!

At this moment, the eggshell began to rotate, and the part visible through the gap made a distinct turning motion. It first tilted to the left, then to the right, leaving Lu Ming quite perplexed.

Was it looking at things? Wasn't he right in front of it? Why didn't it first look at how handsome its master was? What? Was its vision blocked by its hair?

Just as he was about to gently brush the locks aside, the egg suddenly rocked.

The upper half of the shell slowly turned half a circle, and in the next second, a pair of eyes—deep red like jade and clear as water—reflected into Lu Ming's gaze.

Good grief, it turned out he had been looking at its back the whole time.

Gazing into those eyes, Lu Ming sank deeply into them.

They carried a hint of laziness, a touch of tranquility, and a flicker of curiosity.

And when Lu Ming's face was reflected in those red pupils, the laziness faded away, replaced by a soft, natural warmth, as if they were old companions who had known each other for a long time.

[Notice: "Primordial Spider Egg" successfully hatched. Bonding ritual complete. Master: "Lu Ming"]

"Humph."

A childish, low, and lazy hum emanated from within the eggshell.

Then, he saw it lean its center of gravity forward, tumbling over along with the eggshell.

The eggshell, which had been perched like a hat on its head, rolled away on the ground, revealing a head of fluffy, soft snow-white hair that covered almost its entire back.

"Humph-humph..."

The soft hum came out once more, and it slowly and patiently climbed up from its fallen posture, sitting in the standard duck-sitting position right opposite Lu Ming. It was precisely at this moment that Lu Ming caught sight of the anatomical feature that determined its gender!

His expression instantly shifted from blank astonishment to utter shock, and finally into wild elation!

That's right, the heavens had answered his prayer; it was an undisputed humanoid spider-waif!

Excitement was excitement, but shyness was genuinely shyness.

...

Thus, he hurriedly pulled over a blanket, wrapping the little one up tightly.

He had been careless; he had completely forgotten to prepare clothes that fit her.

Fortunately, there were still over a dozen spare sets of clothing in his spatial pouch.

Naturally, they wouldn't fit her as they were, but he still had 40 specialized crystals left.

Clothing could be altered in appearance after sublimation, and he could even customize the style or replicate existing ones.

He might not have had much else, but when it came to the styles of women's clothing, his experience was extensive.

Since she was a primordial spider, she needed to feature fluffy elements; since she was a girl, it had to be a dress.

Yet, she couldn't go bare-legged either—she would inevitably have to fight, and the idea of her flashing someone due to overly wide stances didn't sit well with him, so she needed undergarments and tights. As for shoes, she would wear boots; the queenly aura had to be cultivated from a young age.

As for the properties... stretchable and self-adapting, temperature-regulating, maximum breathability, waterproof and dust-resistant, maximum comfort.

Designing the entire set took less than a minute, yet it consumed a full 30 specialized crystals.

There was no help for it; replicating clothes didn't cost much, but setting special properties required extra consumption, and he couldn't bear to let the little one wear anything uncomfortable, so he made it as meticulous as possible.

Once finished, Lu Ming was just about to pull back the blanket and dress the little one.

Just as he grabbed the blanket, however, he heard a crisp crunching sound coming from inside.

Thinking something had happened, he lifted the blanket to take a look, only to find the little one calmly munching on the eggshell, sounding delightfully crunchy with every bite.

Lu Ming was somewhat speechless; this fellow seemed exceptionally calm. Even though she had been suddenly wrapped up by him, she didn't cry or throw a tantrum, entirely devoid of the restlessness typical of a newborn cub.

Was it because her intellect was extremely high?

"Appraise."

To gain more information about her, Lu Ming activated the Eye of Truth.

To his astonishment, the clear interface that had always popped up instantly was this time flickering like a broken screen, filled with blurry, garbled text.

[Notice: Without the target's consent, information probing cannot be performed]

?!

Lu Ming was stunned. There were instances where the target's consent was required? Just how outrageous was this security clearance level?

The snacking primordial spider-waif paused her chewing, glanced at the shocked Lu Ming, and seemed to understand something. With a thought, she lowered her chin slightly and resumed gnawing.

[Notice: Target's consent obtained. Appraisal successful]

[Primordial Spider · ???] (God-tier)

Race: Deity

Description: The most ancient divine beast born from the world of Truth.

Height (Body Length): Humanoid 121cm, True Form 2m [Growth-capable]

Weight (Mass): Humanoid 25kg, True Form 300kg [Growth-capable]

General Functions: [Storage Space], [Ultimate Appraisal]

Skills: [Thread-weaving (E-rank)], [Spider Spear (E-rank)], [Web-spinning (E-rank)], [Devour (E-rank)], [Weakness Insight (E-rank)], [Destruction Death Ray (E-rank)]

Traits: [Form Transformation], [Comprehension Mastery (Max)], [Combat Instinct (Max)], [Learning Instinct (Max)]

Status: Bonded. Master: [Lu Ming]. Currently in the infantile stage; all attribute and capability indicators are at a historical low. A large number of skills and attributes are sealed, which can be unlocked as the alienation level increases.

Current Alienation Level: E-rank Infantile (Can ascend by devouring the energy of heterotypic organisms)

Ascension Progress: 3000/10000

...

"This..."

Should this be called breathtaking?

No, it should be called shocking!

He never could have imagined that the biological grade of the primordial spider would actually be "Deity"!

A primordial entity, the most ancient divine beast—how astonishing was that?

As for the subsequent infantile stage and E-rank designation, those were all illusions. As long as her upper limit was set there, this fellow would truly become a genuine god in the future.

Furthermore, she had just been born, and aside from her two general functions, she already possessed six skills and four traits.

Although the skill names were all very brief, they clearly advanced upwards in rank, especially the Destruction Death Ray, which sounded immensely powerful!

It was only those three question marks in the panel name that bothered him somewhat.

She had let him look at all her information, so why not her name?

Filled with curiosity, Lu Ming clicked on the question marks, and instantly, a prompt popped up.

[Notice: The primordial spider has not yet received a name from her master. Would you like to name her now?]

Ah, so it was up to him to name her.

That made sense; a newborn child, where would she get a name?

Yet, as for a name...

For some reason, a certain anime he had once watched flashed through Lu Ming's mind.

The protagonist in it was named Kumoko, later changed to Shiraori.

At this thought, Lu Ming stared and sized up the primordial spider, realizing that she did indeed share quite a few similarities.

Yet, calling her Shiraori felt inexplicably awkward, since that wasn't a name he had personally chosen for her.

Setting aside plagiarism, Lu Ming pondered for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Primordial... snow-white... I've got it. Proceed with naming!"

[Notice: Please provide a name]

"Chuxue." *(T/N: Meaning "First Snow")*

[Notice: Please confirm again]

"Confirmed."

[Notice: "Primordial Spider · Chuxue" successfully named]