Breaking the Deadlock

Damn!

Could the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider also be the kind of soul beast that could fight above its rank?!

The more Mu Zhe thought about it, the more likely it seemed. The superior form of the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider was the Soul Devouring Spider Empress. In truth, the Soul Devouring Spider Empress was still fundamentally a Soul Devouring Demonic Spider, merely one that had advanced into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and gained the title of emperor.

Thinking about it that way, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider already possessed the potential to advance into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Its strength was formidable, so the possibility that it could fight above its rank was extremely high.

Its physical body was simply far stronger than the Nightmare Demonic Butterfly's. At two thousand years, it vastly surpassed one at seven thousand years.

And the shadows mainly dealt physical damage. If even that level of attack could not harm it, then they could not injure it at all.

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider did not possess the Nightmare Demonic Butterfly's sharp senses and took the ambush head-on.

However, it did not suffer much damage.

"Hiss!"

Feeling a sharp pain from its abdomen sac, it stopped devouring its meal and sprang up in an instant. Green ghostly light shone from its pupils as it warily scanned its surroundings.

Damn!

It had been ambushed by some sneaky bastard even while eating. Luckily, its body was tough enough, or that thieving beast would have succeeded.

Still, it was somewhat puzzled. The Soul Power fluctuation that had attacked it just now had vanished!

"I don't fucking believe it. Again!"

Mu Zhe's temper flared at once, and he could not accept the shadows' defeat.

After all, this was the only move he knew!

Several shadows were summoned by Mu Zhe once more, charging at the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider one after another. This time, Mu Zhe targeted its eyes. Eyes were the weakness of most living creatures.

The main reason he had not ambushed its eyes the first time was that insect-type soul beasts had extremely sharp vision, and hard carapace surrounded its eyes, making it easy for the creature to evade.

But this time, it did not matter. Since the ambush had already failed, and he could not even tear apart its seemingly softer abdomen sac, he might as well attack its most vulnerable eyes directly.

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's pupils trembled. It kicked its food away with one leg, unwilling to let its meal get caught up in the battle.

Then, the spider legs planted in the ground moved rapidly. As it strode forward, sand and stones flew everywhere, and it easily dodged the first few shadows.

"Chase!"

However, the first few shadows were merely feints. The ones truly attacking were the shadows behind them.

Together with the first few shadows, they sealed off the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's escape routes.

Hmm?

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's mouth twitched as it let out a harsh, strange cry, seemingly mocking its opponent.

Speed was one of its strengths, so it enjoyed dodging attacks in battle.

But that did not mean it was afraid of a direct clash.

The next instant, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider raised its two front legs and brought them together above its pupils, joining them like a sharp sword.

With a light swing, an imposing aura surged forth, and a crescent-shaped beam of light slashed out.

The light illuminated the surroundings as it crushed toward the space ahead. Its fierce might seemed capable of destroying everything.

Half Moon!

Mu Zhe's pupils contracted. This was the Soul Skill humans called Half Moon, an ultra-long-range shockwave.

It was the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's most useful and most commonly used combat skill.

The crescent swept through the night sky. In an instant, several shadows were struck at once and dissipated into nothingness as if purified by holy light.

Mu Zhe fell silent at the sight.

What the fuck are you? You counter me in every possible way?

Your hide is so thick I can't break through it, and you kill shadows like you're chopping vegetables!

After cursing inwardly for a while and feeding himself a few bowls of poisonous motivational nonsense, Mu Zhe regained his confidence.

"Hmph. Don't blame me for fighting dirty."

Now that his Soul Power had reached level twenty, condensing shadows did not consume much Soul Power. The reason he could only form six shadows at once was simply because his Spiritual Power could only control six simultaneously.

Black shadows rushed from the void once more. This time, Mu Zhe summoned only three. He was going to get serious.

Watching the black shadows approach again, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider still let out its eerie cackle and lightly swept its spider leg downward.

It was the same crescent-shaped slash.

But to its surprise, the crescent did not hit its targets this time. Instead, it blasted into a large tree behind them.

The massive tree, which would take several people to encircle, instantly had a chunk blasted out of it. The powerful impact sent fallen leaves flying through the sky.

"Kekekeke?"

Those black shadows had actually vanished into thin air again!

Before it could remain shocked for long, it suddenly sensed danger. The airflow behind it surged rapidly. Behind it!

Splat!

Its eight spider legs moved quickly, but it was ultimately too late to turn around. A sharp pain came from its abdomen sac.

By the time it turned around, the shadow that had attacked it had already disappeared.

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider raised its two hindmost legs and touched its abdomen sac. Several more wounds had appeared. Though shallow, they were already bleeding.

It felt utterly aggrieved. This was truly dishonorable. Unable to win head-on, its opponent kept resorting to underhanded tricks.

Suddenly, another disturbance came from behind it. It hurriedly turned its... brain. Damn! Its body could not keep up with its thoughts!

Several more cuts appeared on its abdomen sac.

In the darkness, a green ghostly light swayed constantly, as if chasing something.

More than ten minutes later, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's abdomen sac was covered in cuts. Green blood flowed down its spider legs and dripped onto the flowers and grass below, instantly withering them.

It wanted to counterattack, but every time it made a move, those shadows vanished again.

In the void, Mu Zhe's expression was not looking good either. Controlling the shadows at such high intensity consumed too much Spiritual Power.

And the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider before him, even covered in blood, had merely become slower. Its wounds were not fatal.

Originally, he thought he could grind it down to the bone if he kept chipping away at it. He had not expected the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's vitality to be so tenacious.

Mu Zhe was willing to call it the favored child of the soul beast world.

At that moment, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider suddenly let out an angry roar. Powerful sound waves swept through the surroundings, making even the trees tremble slightly.

Mu Zhe felt a terrifying sense of danger and hurriedly recalled the shadows into the void.

But under the effect of those sound waves, the shadows' speed actually slowed by several degrees.

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider stared intently at the nearest shadow. Its spider legs flashed like phantoms, and in the blink of an eye, it pounced before the shadow, opened its fangs, and swallowed it in one bite.

"Splat!!"

In the void, Mu Zhe's face turned deathly pale. Sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"You fucking..."

Another spiritual attack!

This was the second time he had encountered one since meeting the Nightmare Butterfly.

But unlike the Nightmare Butterfly, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider's attack was not merely spiritual. It also contained the power of devouring.

Mu Zhe only needed a trace of Spiritual Power to control the shadows simply, but the finely controlled shadows carried a wisp of his consciousness.

And just now, that wisp of his consciousness had actually been... swallowed alive!

He had already been exhausted from controlling the shadows at high intensity. Now that a wisp of his consciousness had been devoured as well, he suffered a considerable injury.

After swallowing the shadow, the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider immediately let out a grating cry. Mu Zhe could tell that it was excited.

Mu Zhe immediately paused to catch his breath and adjust his condition.

At this moment, he could not help feeling discouraged. After searching for so long, he had finally found a suitable soul beast.

Yet because his attack power was too low, he could not defeat it. After chipping away for so long, he had only inflicted light wounds.

If he could not break through its defenses, then he really could only return empty-handed.

Hmm? Breaking through its defenses?

Suddenly, another idea flashed through Mu Zhe's mind. He had a weapon capable of piercing defenses right in his hands. What if... he attacked from the inside instead...

After running through the plan in his mind, a smile appeared on Mu Zhe's face again. Perhaps he would not leave empty-handed today.

Before long, after recovering his condition, Mu Zhe condensed a shadow and sent it directly at the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider.

Sure enough, the moment the Soul Devouring Demonic Spider saw the shadow appear, it pounced forward and swallowed it in one bite.

After some time, Mu Zhe felt a stabbing pain in his mind, but he still forced himself to endure it and condensed another shadow, sending it slowly toward the beast.

The Soul Devouring Demonic Spider let out a disdainful, strange laugh. Opening its abyss-like maw, it lunged at the shadow.

Ever since swallowing that first wisp of consciousness, it had discovered that this seemed to be an excellent way to defeat its enemy.

Just look, these black shadows had slowed down by several degrees. It could swallow them with ease with just a light pounce.

"Good. You like eating that much, huh? This time, I'll make sure you eat your fill!"

After gathering enough data, Mu Zhe took a large handful of golden pellets from his storage Soul Tool.

A careful count would reveal that there were several thousand of them. He then placed them in the shadow's hands.