A Three-Thousand-Year-Old Man Faced Demon Spider

Blood?!

Flender thought grimly that things were bad. To avoid interference from others, he had deliberately chosen this time.

At this hour, there should only be three people from their academy in the Star Dou Great Forest! Oscar had gone to the right, so it was obvious whose blood this was.

The blood was still fresh. Ning Rongrong probably hadn't been gone long.

There was no time to wonder why Ning Rongrong had left blood in a place where thousand-year Soul Beasts roamed. Cold sweat pouring down his back, Flender began searching the area for traces she might have left behind.

Then he saw something unbelievable—

A huge spider lay sprawled on the ground. On closer inspection, he could make out a human face on its abdomen.

A Man Faced Demon Spider—a three-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider!

Flender felt a chill creep up his neck.

If it were an ordinary Soul Beast that had just reached a thousand years, Flender would have been fairly confident Ning Rongrong could handle it. But this Man Faced Demon Spider was beyond what he'd expected, and it was three thousand years old, to boot!

What were the Man Faced Demon Spider's strengths? Speed, poison, and immense strength.

Just its speed alone would have given Ning Rongrong a hard time, let alone the other two traits.

Yet looking at the fallen Man Faced Demon Spider, Flender couldn't make heads or tails of what had happened.

Images gradually formed in his mind: Ning Rongrong had encountered the Man Faced Demon Spider, been badly wounded, then killed it in a counterattack.

The process... The process was the problem. As far as Flender knew, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no weapon capable of killing a Man Faced Demon Spider. Of course, he couldn't rule out the possibility that such a thing existed.

But the process clearly wasn't the issue right now. Flender was more worried about Ning Rongrong's injuries. If she was seriously hurt, Shrek Academy might not be holding classes for nearly a month.

So he began searching in all eight directions.

At that moment, Ning Rongrong was wandering all over the Mixed Zone. She'd actually found several treasure chests here, and the drop rate was absurdly high. In the short time she'd been there, she'd found three chests, which had yielded three Experience Potions and one Holy Soul Coin.

Then she spotted a familiar figure approaching in the distance. It was Flender.

What was Flender doing here? Could NPCs enter dungeons too?

Lu Ma was a little confused, but quickly understood.

Just as Chen Xin had escorted her out of the dungeon, Flender was probably here to announce that the dungeon was over.

"Dean, were you looking for me?"

A sweet voice came from Ning Rongrong. She smiled, and the whole performance made Flender feel as if a spring breeze had swept over him.

Of course, that was mainly because Ning Rongrong didn't seem seriously injured.

Nor were there any signs of a fight.

But Flender had no time to send Ning Rongrong off to look for another Soul Beast. He gave a slight cough, then put on a seasoned air and asked:

"Rongrong, did you run into any trouble along the way?"

Ning Rongrong blinked her clear eyes and asked with an innocent look:

"Why do you ask?"

"I just saw a dead Man Faced Demon Spider..."

"Oh, I killed that."

"I see... Hm?"

Flender's eyes widened. He'd had his suspicions, but hearing the nearly unscathed Ning Rongrong say it herself was still hard to believe.

"You killed it? What did you use...?"

He was starting to panic. Now that he thought about it, if she'd used some precious weapon from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he might go bankrupt.

"My Martial Soul, of course."

Ning Rongrong smiled, her expression pure and radiant.

"That's a relief. Wait, your Martial Soul?!"

Flender's voice jumped several octaves. He still couldn't figure out what was so special about Ning Rongrong's Martial Soul.

Could she have Twin Martial Souls?

No, he'd never heard of that.

"Dean, this is a secret of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"Understood. I won't pry."

Flender tried to keep his composure. Since she was fine and didn't want him to know, what reason did he have to press her?

"Rongrong, I think you've done an excellent job with your training. You can head back to the academy now."

"All right, Dean."

Ning Rongrong nodded. After a brief cutscene, she successfully appeared at Shrek Academy.

The map flickered a few times. When she opened it, she saw that the teleportation points between Shrek Academy and the Star Dou Great Forest had been activated.

Flender also returned to the academy. Although he felt he'd forgotten something, he decided that Ning Rongrong's situation was more important. He headed for Zhao Wuji's residence.

After last night, Zhao Wuji had been recuperating at home.

"Old Zhao, are you awake?"

Flender knocked on the door perfunctorily, then kicked it open.

Zhao Wuji had just sat up. Seeing Flender's rude behavior, he wanted to curse him out, but the pain in his facial muscles stopped him.

"What is it?"

He spoke weakly.

"What do you think of that girl, Ning Rongrong? I took her to the Star Dou Great Forest today for training as an auxiliary-type Soul Master. Guess what happened?"

"What could a little princess do? Cooperate obediently, then survive an encounter with a Hundred-Year Soul Beast?"

Zhao Wuji racked his brains to come up with that answer.

He knew Ning Rongrong had a way of using an opponent's force against them, but the technique clearly had several drawbacks.

First, she would still get hit.

Second, she could only use it a limited number of times.

Given those two drawbacks, Zhao Wuji didn't think Ning Rongrong could truly defeat an opponent.

"No, no." Flender shook his head with a sly grin. "She killed a Man Faced Demon Spider!"

"A Man Faced Demon Spider? Why weren't you watching her? How could you let her come into contact with something like that?"

Zhao Wuji sat bolt upright, then immediately yelped in pain.

"Hey, that's not fair. It was all part of my plan." Flender's old face reddened.

"A few hundred years old?"

Zhao Wuji hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively.

"Three thousand years."

"How many?"

Zhao Wuji sat bolt upright again.

As a general rule, a Soul Master's third Soul Ring wouldn't exceed around 1,800 years. That meant a Soul Master's personal ability when obtaining a Soul Ring usually wouldn't exceed the 1,800-year level. Winning against a three-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider was truly difficult.

"Then... why did she choose a Man Faced Demon Spider?"

Zhao Wuji's question left Flender stumped.

Right. Why?

If Ning Rongrong had that kind of strength, she could have chosen a Soul Beast suited to the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda and hunted it for a Soul Ring. At worst, its age would have been far below the limit...

Wait, which Soul Ring had Ning Rongrong chosen?

Flender finally realized what he'd forgotten. He'd completely forgotten that Ning Rongrong was at level 30, and one of the main reasons for this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest had been to obtain a Soul Ring.

So which Soul Ring had she chosen?

Flender couldn't figure it out, but reason told him that Ning Rongrong had absorbed the Man Faced Demon Spider's Soul Ring.

"There must be some deeper meaning behind this on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's part."

After taking a few deep breaths, Flender spoke slowly.

Meanwhile, after getting no help from Flender for a long time, Oscar had finally worn out the Wind Wolf and successfully killed it.

Looking at the yellow Soul Ring hovering above the Wind Wolf's head, Oscar felt a pang of regret. He'd finally killed a Soul Beast himself, only for its Soul Ring to go to waste.

But after putting in so much effort, he'd at least have to get Flender to find him a purple Soul Ring when he reached level 30.

"Ptooey!"

He spat and headed for the exit of the Star Dou Great Forest.