At dawn, when the eastern sky had just begun to turn pale, Yu Xiaogang was already on the roof.
This time, he wasn't cultivating the Purple Demon Eye. He was waiting for someone.
Before long, a boy in blue casual clothes walked out of the house. With a single leap, he landed lightly on the roof.
Yu Xiaogang smiled as he looked over. Just as he'd expected, it was his own Beloved Disciple, Tang San.
When Tang San saw his teacher, delight immediately appeared on his face.
After exchanging greetings for a while, the two jumped down from the roof and sneaked into the small woods beside the academy, making sure no one was around.
They began conducting a detailed study of Tang San's body!
No, that wasn't quite right. More accurately, they were studying the Soul Ring and Soul Bone Tang San had just obtained!
The research continued until morning. Once the sun had risen in the east and the new day's sunlight had spread across the land, Yu Xiaogang finally brought Tang San back to the academy.
After breakfast, Flender gathered all the academy's teachers and students, introduced everyone one by one, and officially handed the academy's teaching duties over to Yu Xiaogang.
At this news, the five remaining members of the Seven Monsters, apart from Tang San and Xiao Wu, all turned curious gazes toward Yu Xiaogang, but none of them harbored the slightest doubt.
That was because they had just heard with their own ears that this Grandmaster was Tang San's teacher.
During their recent trip to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts, Tang San had won everyone's admiration with both his strength and his character.
As a result, everyone was also filled with anticipation about Yu Xiaogang teaching them.
To give the students plenty of time to adjust, Yu Xiaogang announced that they would be dismissed for the day. Lessons would officially begin tomorrow.
They would practice combat in the mornings and do physical training in the afternoons.
To keep the Seven Monsters from suffering hidden injuries due to overtraining, Yu Xiaogang reviewed Bibi Dong's cultivation records and found a Medicinal Soup that nourished the body. He used it to prepare Herbal Baths for the Seven Monsters.
From early morning until evening, the Seven Monsters spent a full day training under Yu Xiaogang's direction. After finishing his teaching duties, Yu Xiaogang himself began his own cultivation that night.
Inside a somewhat shabby wooden house, Yu Xiaogang sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed as he circulated the Soul Power in his body.
His face was contorted, as if something were pressing down on him. His whole body was clearly sluggish, as though he had run into some sort of bottleneck.
But Yu Xiaogang didn't give up. He gritted his teeth and persevered, pushing the circulation of Soul Power in his body with all his might, even when its speed had slowed to a crawl.
No one knew how much time passed. Just as Yu Xiaogang was about to run out of strength, a crisp sound suddenly rang in his ears.
In that instant, it was as if he had pushed a plug out from inside his body. The Soul Power that had been creeping along like a tortoise suddenly began to flow with ease.
A flash of inspiration struck Yu Xiaogang, and he immediately adjusted the circulation path of his cultivation technique. His Soul Power then flowed throughout his body along the new route. His whole body felt like drought-stricken earth receiving rain; his muscles began to tremble rhythmically, and his bones and joints cracked.
After more than ten minutes, the changes in his body gradually subsided.
Yu Xiaogang opened his eyes. With a thought, he brought up the System Panel and opened his Personal Homepage.
[Name: Yu Xiaogang] [Soul Power: Level 30] [Martial Souls: Luo Sanpao, Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon] [Skills: Mysterious Heaven Skill—Third Stage (100%), Purple Demon Eye—Panoramic View (60%), Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track—Minor Mastery (60%), Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon—Minor Mastery (60%)]
"I finally broke through to Level 30!"
After the system confirmed it, Yu Xiaogang let out a breath, and his expression finally relaxed.
For many years, his original body had been stuck at the Level 30 bottleneck, unable to advance. This time, he had rebuilt his Soul Power through the Mysterious Heaven Skill. He had worked hard for six years since transmigrating, and fortunately, he had finally broken through tonight.
But his delight didn't last long before Yu Xiaogang fell back into thought.
He had thought that awakening the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul would greatly improve his cultivation aptitude. But judging by these six years of cultivation, his current speed hadn't improved much compared with that of his original body.
The Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul granted by the system had indeed improved his Martial Soul aptitude. The fact that he had broken through the Level 30 barrier tonight was half thanks to the Mysterious Heaven Skill, and half thanks to the Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
But the improvement brought by the Martial Soul hadn't lived up to his expectations. The reason came down to Yu Xiaogang's age.
When he was young, his Martial Soul aptitude had been the only obstacle to his cultivation. But now, he was already over forty.
The Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul had come far too late!
Yu Xiaogang shook his head helplessly. "The only way to completely solve my aptitude problem is to rely on the Immortal Medicines at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well later."
He lightly touched the panel with his index finger and scrolled down. Yu Xiaogang selected the newly updated entry and chose the Challenge Mission.
[Selected entry "2000 Year Man Faced Demon Spider Spirit Ring"; corresponding mission activated: Enter the Illusion Realm and defeat the 2000-year Man Faced Demon Spider]
The scene shifted, and Yu Xiaogang had appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest.
A bright moon hung in the sky, casting its light over the surrounding scenery and rendering it hazy.
A rustling sound came from all around. Yu Xiaogang immediately tensed, circulating the Purple Demon Eye with all his might as he scanned his surroundings.
With the Purple Demon Eye's enhancement, Yu Xiaogang keenly picked out one dark afterimage after another.
He quickly adjusted his stance. Suddenly, a huge black shadow pounced from directly in front of him.
The shadow moved incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it was only a meter away.
Yu Xiaogang instinctively used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and dodged nimbly, barely avoiding the attack. Then he split into two afterimages that fled in opposite directions.
The shadow didn't move again. Instead, it remained where it was and watched carefully.
After the two afterimages had fled ten meters, the one that had run into the moonlight quickly vanished, while the other, in the shadows, transformed back into a real body.
Yu Xiaogang was already drenched in cold sweat. He looked up and saw a black spider, nearly one and a half meters long, slowly turning toward him.
In the moonlight, its eight thick black legs stabbed into the ground like sharp spears, propelling its body forward.
"Seeing really is believing. So this is the Man Faced Demon Spider."
Yu Xiaogang immediately used Martial Soul Possession and released Luo Sanpao, hiding him among the trees nearby.
Then he activated his first Soul Skill, "Thunderous Poison Dragon Claw," and prepared to attack at any moment.
Once the Man Faced Demon Spider had steadied itself, it slowly raised its body, revealing white markings beneath its abdomen.
They formed a hideous human face. With the Purple Demon Eye's enhancement, Yu Xiaogang clearly saw eight ghostly purple eyes growing within it.
All eight eyes were fixed on him, glinting with mockery.
Yu Xiaogang's face darkened. This posture was the Man Faced Demon Spider's way of taunting its prey while hunting.
It meant that after their brief exchange, the Man Faced Demon Spider had decided that the human before it was already its meal.
"Damn it, you think you can look down on me?"
Yu Xiaogang's temper flared. Just then, the Man Faced Demon Spider across from him began to move in an extremely strange way.
Another dark afterimage flashed past. Yu Xiaogang used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track again, hoping to throw it off.
But this time the Man Faced Demon Spider was ready. It lowered its body close to the ground, and the eight eyes on its abdomen split into two groups, swiftly examining the two directions in which the afterimages had fled.
Then, as if it had spotted something, it immediately charged toward one of the afterimages.
Yu Xiaogang had just finished his move and returned to his real body when he saw the Man Faced Demon Spider rushing toward him.
With no other choice, he used Thunderous Poison Dragon Claw first, swinging out two claw-shaped blasts of energy, then used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track again to flee.
Clang!
Two metallic impacts rang out in quick succession. The claw blasts left two gashes in the Man Faced Demon Spider's legs. It cried out in pain.
Yu Xiaogang was delighted. Since his claw blasts could break through its defenses, he had a chance to kill the Man Faced Demon Spider as long as he could hit its abdomen with Thunderous Poison Dragon Claw.
It was a good plan, but reality was harsh. After he repeated his hit-and-run trick of claw blasts followed by Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track several more times, the Man Faced Demon Spider was thoroughly enraged.
After it once again detected the direction Yu Xiaogang had fled, the Man Faced Demon Spider didn't pounce. Instead, it spat a black orb of light in that direction.
The orb unfurled in midair, turning into a huge black web about five meters across, and tried to trap the afterimage in front of it.
"Farts like thunder, shake the heavens and earth—Luo Sanpao!"
Luo Sanpao, who had been concealed in the woods from the start, flew out from behind Yu Xiaogang and blew a powerful gust of air at the web hurtling toward them.
Boom!
The powerful blast successfully blew the black web away, but the yellow mist released by Luo Sanpao blocked the view of the battlefield.
Yu Xiaogang's Soul Power was nearly exhausted. He frowned and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
Suddenly, a black web burst through the mist and flew toward him.
Yu Xiaogang summoned what little Soul Power remained in his body and used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track one last time, barely escaping the web.
But before he could even be glad, another black web came flying toward him.
Helpless, Yu Xiaogang could only watch as the web trapped him. He then swung Thunderous Poison Dragon Claw, trying to tear it apart.
But things didn't go as he hoped. Those dragon claws, which could break through the Man Faced Demon Spider's own defenses, couldn't cut through the threads in front of him.
As Yu Xiaogang struggled, the black web tightened around him, wrapping him up like a dumpling.
The web was also highly corrosive, and black poisonous mist continually rose from its threads. After breathing in just a few mouthfuls, Yu Xiaogang's arms and legs went limp. His Soul Power, already nearly depleted, came to a complete standstill.
His Martial Soul Possession was forcibly dispelled. Yu Xiaogang collapsed limply to the ground, his clothes completely corroded away and his skin striped with bloody welts.
The Man Faced Demon Spider had now reached him. The eight eyes beneath its abdomen stared at him, full of mockery.
It elegantly raised one of its legs and stabbed down at its prey on the ground.
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