Conceal One's Presence, Observe the Enemy's Approach

(Female lead guards the tower)

Gu Chensha stopped before the young girl, looking down at her from above, and asked.

"Your name is Zhu Zhuqing, correct?"

The girl pursed her lips warily.

She didn't answer, only stared fixedly at him.

Gu Chensha chuckled self-deprecatingly.

He raised a finger, pointing to the dense cracks covering his body.

"No need to guard against me. In at most the time it takes an incense stick to burn, my divine soul will completely dissipate."

Zhu Zhuqing's pupils trembled slightly.

An incense stick?

A Primordial Demon Spider Emperor of two hundred thousand years, and it only had this much time left?

But then she thought...

Hadn't she herself also reached the end of her life?

Seeing the wariness fade from her eyes, Gu Chensha slowly leaned down.

His dark golden eyes met her pitch-black pupils directly, and he spoke word by word.

"Zhu Zhuqing, I know everything about you. I know you're unwilling to die here like this, and even more unwilling to live your whole life as someone's subordinate, to be pushed around by fate your entire life."

"I, the Demon Emperor Gu Chensha, can give you an opportunity."

"Accept my sacrifice, and I will grant you the power to step into godhood."

"I will use my entire two-hundred-thousand-year origin as a sacrifice, forging for you a unique two-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring on the Douluo Continent, giving you the strength to defy fate, giving you the qualification to stand at the pinnacle of the continent."

"And you, you only need to form a symbiotic contract with me, and from then on, we live and die together."

"All that this world owes us, we will, together, take it back, one by one!"

The girl's pupils contracted.

Sacrifice?

A fierce beast of two hundred thousand years wanted to sacrifice itself to her?

She bit her lower lip, finally gathering her courage, and hoarsely asked the question.

"Why me?"

"Because... you and I are too alike."

"Both of us are the type who, even if abandoned by the whole world, refuse to bow our heads until death."

Gu Chensha extended his hand, palm facing up. His palm was also covered in cracks, and dark golden blood continued to seep out.

"In this life, I believe in no heaven, believe in no fate, only myself."

"But in the end, heaven does not tolerate me, fate does not obey me, and the whole world is my enemy!"

"What belongs to me, Gu Chensha, even if I die, will not be cheaply given to those hypocritical righteous path cultivators."

"Rather than let them feast on my spirit rings and bones, I'd rather give it to someone like me."

His voice grew lower and lower, his figure becoming more and more transparent, clearly reaching his limit.

"I don't have much time. Zhu Zhuqing, now you only need to tell me, are you willing to seize the future?"

The girl raised her head, her gaze meeting his dark golden eyes directly.

In them, she saw unwillingness, saw anger, saw mockery of this world, but not a shred of pleading.

This was a soul that, even at its dead end, would never bow to anyone, exactly like her own.

Zhu Zhuqing slowly closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, there was no longer any hesitation in her pitch-black eyes.

"I am willing."

Gu Chensha smiled.

This was the first time in five hundred years since he came to this world that he had smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"Good."

In an instant, Gu Chensha's figure completely dissipated, replaced by the complete true form of the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor.

That dark golden giant spider, covered in cracks, let out a long roar to the sky, transforming into a stream of light that burrowed into Zhu Zhuqing's body!

The domineering impact of the two-hundred-thousand-year fierce beast's origin, unreservedly surging, caused Zhu Zhuqing's entire body to shake violently, her slender body arching uncontrollably.

It was as if scorching magma was surging madly through her body.

Wherever it passed, her meridians were torn apart inch by inch, only to be forcibly reshaped by the boundless vitality within the demon spider's origin.

Each cycle was a soul-wrenching agony that seeped into the bone marrow.

"Mmm..."

A muffled groan escaped the girl's throat.

Her black combat uniform, already soaked through with blood, was instantly drenched by cold sweat, the damp fabric clinging to her skin and outlining her developing, graceful figure.

Her cinched waist was astonishingly slender, as if it would snap with a slight squeeze.

Above her waist, the sweat-soaked fabric outlined two soft, full curves.

They rose and fell violently with her rapid breaths, nearly bursting through the thin material.

Her exposed neck and forearms were snow-white and delicate, but now flushed with an alluring crimson from the extreme pain.

Fine beads of sweat trickled down her jawline, dripping onto the fabric of her chest and creating small, dark water stains.

Gu Chensha's remnant soul was still within the origin.

He intended to pour all the humiliation, unwillingness, and mad obsessions accumulated over five hundred years, along with the hope of a comeback, into this young, tender body.

"Ah!"

The girl could no longer bear it, and a pained cry, laced with tears, tore from her throat.

She curled up on the ground, her slender body trembling uncontrollably. Her snow-white fingers dug fiercely into the dirt beneath her, blood seeping from beneath her fingernails.

"Very good, you can still cry out, which means you can endure it."

Gu Chensha praised, "Next, we'll begin fusing the soul bone. I can freely decide the form of the soul bone."

His eyes flickered slightly.

Apart from external soul bones, soul masters could only fuse six soul bones: head, torso, and limbs. Among these, the head and torso soul bones were the rarest and most precious.

The world knew that the Man Faced Demon Spider's external soul bone, the Eight Spider Lances, had infinite potential, but he didn't plan to give that to Zhu Zhuqing.

"I will give you a hundred-thousand-year head soul bone."

Zhu Zhuqing gritted her teeth, lacking the strength to even nod. She could only let him do as he pleased.

Of course, she knew too well how rare this opportunity was.

For an ordinary soul master to obtain a ten-thousand-year soul bone in their lifetime was already a sign of exceptional talent, yet she was about to receive a two-hundred-thousand-year soul bone from a fierce beast emperor!

The next second, a solidified dark golden energy surged into her mouth, heading straight for her brain.

"Mmm..."

Zhu Zhuqing's body trembled even more violently.

"Not bad, you can endure more than I imagined."

Before Gu Chensha finished speaking, a mental force carrying the chill of the abyss surged into her mind like a tsunami.

Gu Chensha's five hundred years of memories flashed before her eyes:

From a young spider struggling for survival in the mud of the Star Dou Great Forest, to being hunted by human soul masters, betrayed by her own kind, and finally besieged by the world during her tribulation.

Those feelings of unwillingness, anger, and ferocity poured into her soul with the mental force.

Zhu Zhuqing felt her head was about to explode, her entire being like a duckweed in a storm, on the verge of being torn apart at any moment.

Her consciousness began to blur, and her body convulsed uncontrollably.

"Don't pass out!"

Gu Chensha's voice suddenly turned stern, forcefully pulling back her scattered consciousness.

"Zhu Zhuqing! Didn't you resent being manipulated by your family?"

"Didn't you want to escape your fate, unwilling to be bound by your talent?"

"If you can't even endure this pain, how can you talk about defying fate!"

This statement was like a thunderclap, jolting Zhu Zhuqing, who was on the verge of collapse, awake.

A flame of near madness ignited in her dark eyes, and she forcefully withstood the mental impact that threatened to tear her apart.

Time stretched infinitely within the extreme pain.

When the last trace of dark golden demonic patterns receded into her eye corners, Gu Chensha's voice finally sounded with a hint of relief.

"Soul bone fusion, successfully completed."

Zhu Zhuqing didn't even have the strength to open her eyes, only able to gasp for air, her chest heaving.

"Don't lie down, the main event hasn't started yet."

Gu Chensha gave her no time to catch her breath. "Next is the sacrifice of a two-hundred-thousand-year soul ring, and your Martial Soul Evolution!"

Zhu Zhuqing used all her strength to prop herself up halfway and spoke with a hoarse voice.

"I... I can continue."

"Very good."

Gu Chensha chuckled, "Watch closely, this is a unique gift I'm giving you."

In an instant, the dark golden origin energy within Zhu Zhuqing erupted with a thunderous roar!

Behind her, the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul manifested uncontrollably.

The pitch-black creature hissed in agitation, twisting frantically as it was enveloped by the dark golden demonic flames.

Gu Chensha had previously considered simply devouring this Martial Soul, but doing so would have damaged Zhu Zhuqing's soul, so he had to abandon the idea.

The dark golden demonic flames completely engulfed the Hell Spirit Cat, and Zhu Zhuqing once again felt a tearing sensation that reached deep into her soul.

Her Martial Soul was being dismantled and reforged.

Upon the phantom images of her original cat ears and tail, dark golden demonic patterns gradually emerged.

Her claws became sharper, faintly revealing the texture of bone blades akin to spider legs.

Her vertical pupils were also stained with the dark golden hue of the abyss.

Just as the Martial Soul Evolution was underway, an unexpected change occurred!

A look of surprise appeared on Gu Chensha's face.

He had intended to use the origin energy to forcefully infuse her body.

He planned to max out her innate level seven spirit power, assist the Hell Spirit Cat in completing its transformation, and then seal the remaining origin energy into a spirit ring.

According to his calculations, this should have exhausted his remaining strength.

Yet now, within Zhu Zhuqing's sea of consciousness, a second Martial Soul phantom was slowly emerging.

It was none other than his true form, the Primordial Demon Spider Emperor!

By some stroke of fate, he had inadvertently opened up a second Martial Soul for her!

Gu Chensha was slightly stunned, then immediately understood.

It must have been his spiritual power as a transmigrator, which far exceeded that of spirit beasts of the same rank, that had catalyzed this unexpected boon.

"This is even better; it aligns perfectly with my original growth trajectory."

"Finally... it is over..."

Compared to Gu Chensha's composure, Zhu Zhuqing, having endured several bouts of extreme agony, had reached her limit.

Though the sacrifice and fusion had lasted only a dozen minutes, to her, it felt like surviving countless days and nights of torture.

As all the power settled, she could no longer hold on; her vision went black, and she collapsed, completely drained of strength.

Seeing this, Gu Chensha's phantom transformed into a streak of dark golden light, silently sinking into the center of Zhu Zhuqing's brow.

The next moment, the young girl opened her eyes once more.

Within her gaze, the cold stubbornness of the past was gone, replaced by the icy arrogance and depth of one who had experienced five hundred years of slaughter.

The one currently in control of this body was, naturally, Gu Chensha.

He raised his hand, clenched it, then released it, moving his limbs to quickly make an assessment:

"By utilizing the head spirit bone, the spirit ring, and the connection to the second Martial Soul, my control over this body is significantly higher than I anticipated."

He did not rush to explore the wonders of this young girl's body.

Instead, he immediately severed his dominance over the body, completely retracting his aura into the depths of Zhu Zhuqing's consciousness.

He merely let out a low chuckle, "Conceal the tracks and hide the form; let us wait and see what enemies arrive."