I'll Treat You to Rabbit Meat

Seeing Hu Liena depart, the cardinal finally spoke respectfully: "The Young Lady seems to have known that Snake Lance Douluo would relay this message to you, so she ordered someone to bring a word."

"Speak," Bibi Dong frowned.

The cardinal's voice trembled as he said: "The Young Lady says that Lan Si is her friend, and she will not allow anyone to harbor designs against him. Otherwise, she will fight to the bitter end."

"Good, very good. It seems my precious daughter has truly grown up; her wings have hardened." Bibi Dong laughed out of extreme anger. A majestic aura surged from her as the center, rippling through the air like water waves. Instantly, the entire grand hall shook violently.

The cardinal standing closest was the first to be affected. He was sent flying, his back slamming into the hall wall, blood spilling from his mouth incessantly. Fortunately, Bibi Dong did not intend to kill him; otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the chance to vomit blood, as the crushing pressure of her aura would have ground him into a pulp.

"Your Majesty the Pope, spare me! Your Majesty the Pope, spare me!" Ignoring his severe injuries, the cardinal knelt on the ground, begging for mercy repeatedly.

"Get up." After venting slightly, Bibi Dong felt much better. She let out a long sigh, her figure flickering as she instantly returned to her throne.

"Your Majesty the Pope, what about that Lan Si? Do we still need to recruit him?" With a heart full of trepidation, the cardinal asked in fear and trembling.

"No need. As long as he does not become an enemy of Martial Soul Hall, leave him be for now. Very well, if there is nothing else, get out. Do not come to disturb This Seat." Bibi Dong said with some impatience.

"Yes." Hearing Bibi Dong tell him to leave, the cardinal felt as if he had been granted an amnesty. He performed a respectful bow, then stood up and limped out of the hall.

Watching the cardinal's disappearing back, Bibi Dong leaned lazily against her throne and murmured, "A friend? I truly didn't expect Xue'er to have made a friend."

Having said this, a subtle, imperceptible arc lifted the corners of Bibi Dong's mouth. Perhaps even she herself did not realize that she felt happy because the daughter she found so detestable had made a friend.

On the other side, in the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was nearing noon, and the sun was shining brightly.

At this moment, Lan Si and Qian Renxue were sitting by a campfire, eating barbecue.

"I didn't expect your skills to be quite good!" Qian Renxue took a skewer of roasted rabbit meat and took a light bite.

"That goes without saying. Roasting rabbit is my specialty, especially Soft Bone Rabbit. The taste is simply superb. It's a pity that the highest-year beast nearby is only this hundred-year Soft Bone Rabbit; there are no thousand-year or ten-thousand-year ones, otherwise you could have had a real feast," Lan Si laughed.

"You really aren't humble at all, are you? Give you an inch and you take a mile. Soft Bone Rabbits are very weak soul beasts and are prey for the vast majority of carnivorous soul beasts. Being able to grow to a hundred years is already quite good, let alone a thousand or ten thousand," Qian Renxue pouted, unimpressed.

"Don't be so dismissive. When I have the ability one day, I will treat you to ten-thousand-year roasted rabbit meat," Lan Si said with a serious expression.

Hearing this, Qian Renxue subconsciously wanted to continue teasing him, but when she looked up at Lan Si, she found his gaze to be extremely clear, without any impurities. It was clearly not a pretense.

"Alright then, I'll wait for you to treat me to ten-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit meat," Qian Renxue giggled. As she spoke, she took another bite of the rabbit meat.

Time returned to an hour ago.

As Lan Si was enveloped by the giant Cyan Lotus, a brilliant purple ring of light gradually condensed and formed on the outside of the lotus.

"Ah!" Just as Qian Renxue thought the outcome was decided, a scream suddenly came from inside the Cyan Lotus. Immediately after, the surface of the lotus began to bulge. With a "clang," a purple, translucent spike, similar to the long leg of a Soul-Eater Demon Spider, pierced through the lotus petal, which had a hardness comparable to Iron Essence.

"This is..." Qian Renxue covered her lips in excitement, her face showing disbelief. Before she could finish her sentence, "Clang! Clang!"

Another series of ear-piercing stabbing sounds rang out. Looking at the Cyan Lotus that wrapped around Lan Si, its surface had already been pierced by eight purple, translucent spikes. The spikes propped up the entire lotus, suspending it in mid-air.

With a "rip," the Cyan Lotus was instantly torn to shreds by the eight spikes. It fell slowly, finally turning into wisps of cyan energy that merged into the spikes.

Looking at Lan Si, his upper body was arched, his limbs hanging freely. From his back extended eight pale purple, translucent spider legs, almost identical to those of the previous Soul-Eater Demon Spider, though a size smaller. The eight spider legs were thrust into the ground, propping up Lan Si's entire body.

At first glance, those eight spider legs seemed to lack substance; their surfaces were shrouded in a pale purple light mist, looking hazy, as if real yet illusory. Qian Renxue felt as if she were having a surreal dream.

It gave one a sense of unreality.

"Haa..." Lan Si stretched comfortably, feeling an unprecedented sense of ease in his body. The eight Spider Spears seemed to have a mind of their own, following his movements and slowly lowering him to the ground.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Although I know I'm handsome, you don't have to stare at me like that," as his heels touched the ground and he opened his eyes, Lan Si saw Qian Renxue standing not far away, staring at him with a strange look, as if she were looking at a monster.

As he spoke, Lan Si shrugged his shoulders and subconsciously scanned his surroundings. He didn't look at first, but when he did, he was startled and couldn't help but shout, "Holy crap!"

He discovered that eight purple, translucent spider legs had appeared on his back, each about two meters long. Their surfaces shimmered with a pale purple mist, and every time they swayed, they left behind a faint purple afterimage.

Lan Si tried to move the Spider Spears, but controlling them was not as easy as he had imagined. He wanted them to go east, but they went west; he wanted them to go north, but they went south. After trying for a good while, he finally managed to barely control them. Looking at the nearby trees, which were as thick as water barrels, they were already torn to pieces. The cuts were smooth and flat, shimmering with purple mist. As the mist seeped into the cross-sections of the trees, the trunks withered instantly and turned into rotten wood. With a gust of wind, the wood shavings scattered.

"What terrifying toxicity; it actually drained the life force of the trees in an instant," Lan Si couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't expected that he would be able to obtain an External Soul Bone from a Soul-Eater Demon Spider. After all, looking at the entire original Douluo Dalu, only Bibi Dong, Tang San, and Hu Liena possessed one in the first installment. One can imagine how difficult it is to obtain an External Soul Bone.

However, looking at it from another angle, Lan Si felt relieved. In the original work, Tang San obtained the Man Faced Demon Spider External Soul Bone under the condition of absorbing a soul ring beyond his limit. Furthermore, that Man Faced Demon Spider was burdened with deep resentment. When Tang San's strength was far inferior to it, it had already exhausted its strength—being able to spray spider webs only three times a day—due to being injured and having its energy depleted by Meng Shu, the Dragon Duke, before it encountered Tang San. Only then did it die miserably under Tang San's Godly Zhuge Crossbow.

Under the influence of various factors, Tang San was able to obtain the External Soul Bone.