Tang San: I'll Carry It All

Upon hearing these words, Tang San remained silent for a long time.

Turning the matter over in his mind, countless memories surged through his brain, eventually coalescing into a single thought: he could not be manipulated by that madwoman forever.

Since his reincarnation, Tang San had lived a life of unbearable agony and extreme humiliation.

But what he found even more intolerable was that sense of powerlessness, of being unable to control his own fate.

If things continued this way, how could he ever establish the true Tang Sect in this world?

How could he purge that fake Buddha Tang? And how could he fulfill the dying wish of Old Master Tang Lan?

Old Master Tang Lan had knelt before the Ancestor for three days and three nights just to come to this realm and guide him, tasking him with restoring the prestige of the Tang Sect—what a heavy expectation that was!

Yet, if he could not even control his own body, how could he possibly destroy that false Tang Sect!

How could he possibly contend with that Buddha Tang!

And how could he possibly rebuild the true Tang Sect on this continent!

"Senior Bamboo God... I... I am willing! As long as it allows me to restore the glory of the Tang Sect."

After a long while, Tang San gritted his teeth and said with firm resolve, "Revitalizing the Man Faced Demon Spider clan... I, Tang San, shall shoulder this burden alone!"

Feng Yan looked at him, the smile at the corners of his mouth growing deeper. "Shoulder it alone? What a magnificent spirit."

"Since that is the case, there is no need to wait for the third day."

Tang San suddenly raised his head: "Senior, what did you say?"

He had only agreed; he hadn't said he was ready to start right now!

Feng Yan turned to face the swarm of Man Faced Demon Spiders without another word.

An invisible ripple of divine consciousness spread out from his body.

The swarm of Man Faced Demon Spiders began to stir almost simultaneously, as if they had received an irresistible command in the very same instant.

That ten-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider with the honest-looking face was the first to move, its eight long, sharp spider legs stepping forward as it slowly approached Tang San.

Its expression was no longer honest; it had been replaced by an look of incomparable excitement.

Following closely behind, almost all the male Man Faced Demon Spiders with over ten thousand years of cultivation stepped out at once.

Clearly, their target was the only one of their kind in the clan, a Spider Emperor with one hundred thousand years of cultivation...

They formed a semicircle, surrounding Tang San.

Then, the group of ten-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spiders began to sway their bodies in unison, the pale human-face patterns on their lower abdomens swinging along with them.

Some even began to hop rhythmically from side to side.

This was the courtship ritual of the Man Faced Demon Spiders!

Of course, Man Faced Demon Spiders were different from other spider-type soul beasts; their method of courtship was just this simple.

Exerting all their strength to display their gleaming bodies, as long as the eyes met, they could...

"Senior Bamboo God."

Tang San exclaimed, "What did you say to them?"

"I said nothing. I merely told them... that their Empress is ready at this moment."

"But I am not ready yet!"

"But your body is ready." Feng Yan's gaze, heavy with meaning, landed on Tang San.

"Can you not feel it yourself?"

Tang San shuddered, and in that moment, he seemed to sense something.

This one-hundred-thousand-year Spider Emperor body seemed to be awakening in a way entirely foreign to him.

His muscles tightened involuntarily, and a sensation he had never experienced before surged from somewhere below his dantian.

It was a very strange feeling...

Though his human soul was clearly resisting, this spider body seemed to be yearning for it with incomparable intensity.

Listen to the surging of the great sea!

As the rhythmic hopping of the ten-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spiders grew faster and faster...

Tang San seemed unable to resist any longer, his body gradually ceasing to obey his commands.

This situation meant that the female Man Faced Demon Spider had accepted the courtship, and the next step could begin at any moment...

"No! Absolutely not!"

Tang San tried to forcibly regain control of this body, only to find that everything he did was in vain.

Suddenly!

That previously honest-looking ten-thousand-year spider stopped its movements and gradually stepped forward...

Then, that once-honest-looking Man Faced Demon Spider... moved.

Of course, nothing actually happened; only the ancient proceedings had quietly begun...

At the edge of the clearing, those thousand-year cultivation Man Faced Demon Spiders watched the scene before them, not one of them able to tear their eyes away, even forgetting to blink.

This was the first time this group of thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spiders had dared to witness the ceremony of the Spider Emperor; for them, this was a moment worthy of being etched into their memories for a lifetime.

Feng Yan closed his eyes, sealing off his divine sense. He was not bored enough to watch spiders fulfill those ancient vows...

I do not know how much time passed, but as the first ten-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider finally stopped, a second ten-thousand-year Demon Spider immediately stepped forward.

Of course, at this moment, Tang San had not entirely given up on trying to put an end to this absurd spectacle.

However...

As the second Man Faced Demon Spider began to move.

Tang San's pupils became vacant, as if he had begun to sink into a certain kind of trance...

The second Demon Spider was clearly somewhat impatient, and it did not ease into the rhythm as gradually as the first one had.

What a joke!

This was the legendary hundred-thousand-year Man Faced Spider Emperor!

To encounter the Emperor... that was something one wouldn't even dare to dream of in the past...

After the second one finished, it was the third...

As the ten-thousand-year cultivation Man Faced Demon Spiders dispersed, those with only thousand-year cultivation could no longer restrain themselves.

They knew they were not qualified to perform this grand rite with the Spider Emperor, but the Spider Emperor was not the only one present here...

The first thousand-year Demon Spider crawled out from the group, prostrating itself on the ground with its head lowered...

Immediately following, the second, the third—all the thousand-year cultivation Man Faced Demon Spiders began to move...

As the last ten-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider came to a halt.

For Tang San, this entire nightmarish trance had finally come to an end...

The surroundings gradually fell silent, and Tang San seemed to have lost all his strength, staring blankly into the air with hollow eyes.

Feng Yan slowly opened his eyes at this moment.

Finally over? Little Scumbag, you can consider this a repayment for your sins.

Since that is the case, I shall give you a little sweetness to taste...

Thinking of this, Feng Yan looked at the motionless figure and said, "Congratulations to the examinee Tang San, the Bamboo God's Third Trial, first trial, Spring of the Man Faced Demon Spider, successfully completed."

"Reward: God-Bestowed Martial Soul—Blue Silver Grass."

Having said that, Feng Yan casually plucked a stalk of Blue Silver Grass from the ground and placed it in his palm.

It was a stalk of Blue Silver Grass that could be seen everywhere, the most ordinary kind imaginable—the sort that even if you fed it to a pig, the pig wouldn't eat it.

Subsequently, he condensed a strand of divine power and channeled it into the blades of grass.

Very quickly, the Blue Silver Grass began to burn, turning into ash inch by inch, leaving behind only a pale blue halo the size of a fist, floating silently.

Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

It was no surprise; after Tang San transformed, his Martial Soul would be the Man Faced Spider Emperor, but since this Tang San was, after all, Tang San, how could he be without his standard-issue Blue Silver Grass?

It was just that...

Feng Yan suddenly laughed.

This Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul in his hand could only absorb a ten-year spirit ring.

If the spirit ring's age were even a single year higher, Tang San could forget about absorbing it...