Interception: Eight Spider Lances

Dugu Yan shouted the name of her move with an embarrassingly chuunibyou flair.

The Emerald Green Snake Tail coiled around the junction between the Man Faced Demon Spider's abdomen and head in a bizarre manner.

Her Water Snake Waist gave a slight twist, and the snake tail slowly tightened inward.

Crack~

A teeth-grating sound echoed through the area.

The Man Faced Demon Spider's proud carapace defense shattered inch by inch as though it were made of paper.

Its eight spider legs struggled desperately, but it was still useless.

Gradually,

the Man Faced Demon Spider stopped struggling. The point connecting its body had been completely constricted into two halves by Dugu Yan.

Yet even so, its six Compound Eyes remained filled with terror and unwillingness.

It seemed unable to understand where such immense strength had come from in a mere Little Thin Monkey.

"Damn!" Tang Xuan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

In the Original Work,

even Tang San, wielding the Clear Sky Hammer at over five hundred jin, had failed to harm a two-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider.

Yet now, it had been forcibly... torn apart by Dugu Yan?

Even if Dugu Yan had attacked the weak point shared by all spider-type Spirit Beasts, it should not have been this easy, right?

"Hehe, Man Faced Demon Spider? Taken down!" Dugu Yan's tone was full of pride.

But she could not conceal the weakness hidden beneath it.

Her face was as pale as paper.

It was clear that this Perverted Soul Bone Skill consumed an enormous amount of her energy.

"Nine Heart Begonia, heal!"

"Nine Treasures Manifested as Glazed Tile, Nine Treasures Have Name, third: Soul!"

Two soft shouts rang out at the same time.

With the dual Soul Power Amplification of Ye Lingling and Ning Rongrong,

Dugu Yan instantly recovered to full strength. She smiled lightly and said, "Ling Ling, Rong Rong, thanks~"

"Stop saying pointless things, Sister Yanzi. Hurry and tell us about your Soul Bone. That strength is almost on par with Brother Xuan's." Ning Rongrong's face was full of anticipation.

The others felt the same, even Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi.

Dugu Yan did not keep them guessing and said directly, "This Soul Bone Tang Xiao Xuan gave me is a Trunk Bone. Its Soul Bone Skill, Dragon Binding Strangulation, does exactly what the name implies—it uses Dragon Binding Strength to complete a strangulation. Other than consuming a lot of energy, it basically has no flaws."

"And most importantly, this Soul Bone came from a Nine Nether Binding Dragon Python and is over thirty thousand years old!"

"What?" Everyone cried out in unison.

They were not shocked by its thirty-thousand-year cultivation or by the most valuable Soul Bone location.

They were shocked by the Nine Nether Binding Dragon Python itself.

This type of Spirit Beast was extremely special.

First, it possessed nothing but strength, yet that strength was powerful enough to rival the Titan Giant Ape.

Second, only Spirit Masters with Snake Type Martial Souls could possibly inherit the Nine Nether Binding Dragon Python's terrifying power.

For ordinary Spirit Masters, it was basically just a Waste Ring.

No matter how high its cultivation was, it was useless for anything other than a Martial Soul Avatar.

This was a rule countless Spirit Masters had deduced through the endless blood of the Nine Nether Binding Dragon Python clan.

As a result, on the current continent,

Nine Nether Binding Dragon Pythons were likely rarer than Titan Giant Apes, perhaps even rarer than Sky Azure Bull Pythons.

"Whew~ Xue Xing, Xue Xing, you really did send me a huge treasure..." Tang Xuan sighed.

The weakness of Control System Soul Masters had always been close combat.

Dugu Yan was naturally no exception.

But now that Dugu Yan had the Nine Nether Binding Dragon Python Trunk Bone,

her strength in team battles could rise by several levels entirely.

To put it bluntly,

the current Dugu Yan could even contend with Tang San of the same period in individual combat strength.

"What does this have to do with Xue Xing? This is all thanks to you, Tang Xiao Xuan. Without you, forget this top-grade Soul Bone. Whether Grandpa and I would even be alive would be uncertain. Everything I have today is something I should thank you for." Dugu Yan's gaze toward Tang Xuan was full of gratitude.

Removing the In-Utero Poison was one great kindness.

Giving her a Soul Bone was another.

And then there was the Narcissus Jade Marrow Bone, enough to defy fate itself.

No matter how they repaid Tang Xuan, the Dugu family would never be able to repay all he had done for them.

"Talking like this makes us strangers. Hurry up and absorb the Spirit Ring. If we delay any longer, this Man Faced Demon Spider will have died for nothing." Tang Xuan waved his hand.

Only then did everyone snap out of it.

They hurriedly cleared an open space for Dugu Yan and cleaned up the surrounding area.

As the Purple Soul Ring settled above Dugu Yan's head,

Tang Xuan's gaze instantly sharpened.

The Man Faced Demon Spider's corpse seemed to have lost all of its nutrients.

Not only had it completely shriveled up, even its texture carried traces of having been weathered by the wind.

Ordinary Spirit Beasts would not end up like this after death.

But had not the Shadow Demon Tiger that gave Tang Xuan the Mysterious Wing Soul Bone looked exactly the same after dying?

"It worked!" Tang Xuan suddenly swung his arm, unable to suppress the smile at the corner of his lips.

First, because he had intercepted Tang San's greatest aid from both the early and even later stages.

Second, because Dugu Yan had completely lost the risk of a Poison Outbreak.

In truth,

Tang Xuan still did not know whether the Dugu bloodline's poisoning came from their Beast Martial Souls, their Poison Attribute Soul Rings, or some other cause.

But no matter what,

given Dugu Yan's talent after consuming the Immortal Herb,

it was possible for her future strength to surpass the carrying limit of a Soul Bone.

The probability was infinitesimal, of course, but possible was still possible.

Only an External Soul Bone could completely eliminate any future danger.

On the surface,

Tang Xuan seemed to be treating Dugu Yan a little too well.

Curing her poison and saving her life, giving her a Soul Bone, and even an Immortal Herb were not enough.

Now, just for that nearly negligible possibility, he was going to go to great lengths to get her an External Soul Bone.

But in Tang Xuan's heart, he still felt somewhat indebted to Dugu Bo.

With just one Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well,

Tang Xuan's Grandpa could avoid losing an arm and avoid the fate of his cultivation stagnating forever.

His Uncle—his father-in-law—could avoid being nailed to the Pillar of Shame in the sect.

His Younger Sister—his lover—could break through the Martial Soul Shackles and achieve greater heights.

Even the thousands of familiar faces within the sect could avoid death.

How could that possibly be repaid with just two lives and one and a half Immortal Herbs?

Even if Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan did not know these things,

Tang Xuan could not simply ignore them.

After all, Tang Xuan was not Tang San, the kind of man who cursed the cook after filling his belly.

"Little Monster, what has you so happy? Has Yan Yan's great opportunity been found?" Dugu Bo suddenly appeared behind Tang Xuan like a Ghost.

Tang Xuan was already used to it. "That's right. Just watch later. But I suggest you stay here and keep guard yourself. There may be a special situation later. Trust me, I have experience with this."

When a Back External Soul Bone first emerged, it would definitely tear through the wearer's clothes.

Tang Xuan had been like that, Tang San had been like that, and probably even Bibi Dong and Hu Liena had been like that.

There were eight people in the Imperial Dou group, and five of them were men.

Having them all stand around watching a girl's clothes explode was somewhat inappropriate.

Dugu Bo was full of question marks, but seeing Tang Xuan's solemn expression, he could not help feeling doubtful. "Fine, then. But where are you going?"

Tang Xuan looked at Dugu Yan and Qin Ming in turn. "Sister Yanzi will probably take a long time to wake up. While we have the time, we'll go obtain a Spirit Ring for Teacher Qin."

Qin Ming needed a Spirit Beast around thirty thousand years old.

That cultivation range was stuck awkwardly in the middle.

It was hard to find in the Mixed Zone, where Thousand Year Spirit Beasts were most common.

It was even harder to find in the Core Zone, where Fifty-thousand-year Soul Beasts were everywhere.

It could be said that obtaining a Spirit Ring for Qin Ming would likely take longer than it had for the entire Imperial Dou Fighting Team combined.

Right now, both Tang Xuan and the team members were in their golden period of growth.

Saving even a bit of time meant gaining a bit of advantage.