"What a Spirit Hall!"
"You win!"
Tang Hao clenched his teeth, a flash of desperate madness in his eyes.
He knew this was no time to feel sorry for himself.
"Boom!"
The yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring beneath his feet exploded in an instant.
Great Sumeru Hammer, Ring Explosion!
A wild, unstoppable surge of Soul Power erupted inside him like a volcano.
The power of the Clear Sky Hammer increased several times over in an instant, forcibly shattering the blood-red strands of web wrapped around it.
Tang Hao used the momentum to wrench back his giant hammer. His face deathly pale, he turned and prepared to flee toward the edge of the forest.
"Trying to run?"
"Not so easily!"
Bibi Dong cried out.
The purple wings behind her beat fiercely.
She turned into a streak of blood-red lightning, moving so fast that a string of afterimages trailed through the air.
In the blink of an eye, she had reached Tang Hao.
Two razor-sharp, blood-veined spider legs, like the reaper's scythes, stabbed straight toward his back.
Tang Hao was horrified. In his haste, he could only turn and block with his giant hammer.
"Clang!"
A deafening metallic crash rang out.
One spider leg was deflected by the giant hammer, narrowly avoiding a hit.
But Bibi Dong's angle of attack was exceptionally tricky.
The other spider leg darted out like a venomous snake, precisely slipping past the hammer's defense.
"Squish!"
A grating sound of tearing flesh rang out.
The spider leg pierced straight through Tang Hao's sturdy shoulder armor.
Its sharp tip instantly impaled his collarbone, spraying a great sheet of scarlet blood.
"Argh—"
Tang Hao let out an agonized scream.
The domineering dark power poured through the wound and into his body, ruthlessly destroying his vitality.
Tang Hao's expression changed drastically, veins bulging on his forehead.
With death looming, he had no time to think.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
He detonated his second, third, and fourth Soul Rings in succession.
Three Soul Rings exploded all at once.
The terrifying energy of the Ring Explosion burst out, forming a black, violent storm that forcibly sent Bibi Dong, who was mere feet away, flying back more than ten meters.
Tang Hao endured the soul-splitting pain of his impaled shoulder bone.
Riding the terrifying force of the explosion, he unleashed the fastest speed of his life.
He turned into a black shooting star and fled wildly toward the distant horizon, battered and disheveled.
He was so fast that, in the blink of an eye, he had shrunk to a tiny black speck.
Only his furious threats still echoed over the forest.
"Bibi Dong!"
"I, Tang Hao, will remember this!"
"One day, I'll make Spirit Hall pay a hundredfold!"
Only after Tang Hao's presence had completely vanished beyond the range of her senses did Bibi Dong's taut nerves finally relax.
She let out a long breath, her chest rising and falling slightly.
The terrifying phantom of the dark spider in midair slowly faded away.
The purple-black armor covering her body receded as well, revealing her original tall and stunning figure.
With the danger over, Bibi Dong couldn't spare a thought for her own exhaustion.
She quickly turned and hurried toward Lin Yuan, who stood not far away.
She swept the swaying little figure into her arms.
Bending her head, she carefully checked Lin Yuan's condition.
His cheeks were pale as paper, and blood still dripped from his fingertips.
Bibi Dong's eyes brimmed with an ache that wouldn't fade.
She knew all too well that the astonishing transformation her body had just undergone, and the surge in her strength, were surely thanks to the child in her arms once again.
Just as they had been on Hell Road in Slaughter City.
He had given her a miracle that let her survive.
Bibi Dong gently wiped the cold sweat from Lin Yuan's forehead with her sleeve.
She lowered her head, her voice so tender that the lofty authority she usually carried was gone, replaced by nothing but a mother's warmth.
"Thank goodness you were here."
Hearing her gentle voice, Lin Yuan
nuzzled lightly against her in Bibi Dong's arms.
The touch was so soft, and carried such a soothing warmth, that he felt completely at ease.
He had drained all his strength by forcibly drawing on his blood essence to activate his skill.
Now that the danger had passed, his tense nerves relaxed, and exhaustion swept over him like a tide, completely swallowing him.
Lin Yuan didn't even have the strength to answer. He was so tired he nearly collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
Only a short while later,
Lin Yuan, who had just been drained of strength and gone deathly pale, suddenly stirred.
In his parched meridians, the Nine Nether Beast's domineering bloodline was circulating on its own, devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him at a terrifying rate.
He drew a deep breath and rose straight out of Bibi Dong's arms.
His face had regained its healthy flush, and his whole body was once again filled with abundant vitality.
"How is that possible?"
Hu Liena, standing guard nearby, widened her eyes and cried out in shock.
Dugu Yan also covered her red lips in astonishment, staring at the six-year-old boy before her.
After such severe exhaustion, an ordinary Soul Master would need at least half a month in bed to recover.
Yet he had bounced back after resting for only a little while?
His recovery was nothing short of monstrous!
Lin Yuan ignored the two girls' astonishment and turned to Bibi Dong beside him.
After the fierce battle, Bibi Dong's beautiful face was flushed, and her purple-gold crown sat slightly askew.
It didn't make her look disheveled. Instead, it took away some of her lofty holiness and added a bewitching, soul-stirring allure.
Her tight dark-purple armor traced her breathtakingly full curves, while her long, straight legs were faintly visible beneath her skirt, radiating the deadly allure unique to a mature woman.
Lin Yuan looked at her, admiration flickering in his eyes.
He reached out and gently took Bibi Dong's slender, soft wrist.
"Mother, take Senior Sister back to Spirit City first."
"Senior Dugu and I still have some things to take care of."
Feeling the warmth of his hand on her wrist, Bibi Dong clasped Lin Yuan's hand in return, concern showing in her beautiful eyes.
"You're still staying here?"
"You just spent your blood essence. You need complete rest."
Lin Yuan met her gaze, his tone calm but utterly composed.
"I know what I'm doing."
"A fortuitous opportunity is right before me. It would be a shame to leave now."
Hearing Lin Yuan speak with such composure beyond his years, and seeing his unruffled gaze, Bibi Dong felt a strange urge to simply obey the little fellow.
She sighed in reluctant concession and used her slender fingers to straighten Lin Yuan's slightly rumpled collar.
Then Bibi Dong turned and fixed her gaze on Dugu Bo not far away.
In an instant, the resolute, decisive Pope of Spirit Hall, the woman who ruled all under heaven, had returned.
"Old Poison."
"Since Yuan'er wants to stay, I'll entrust him to you."
"If he so much as loses a single hair in Sunset Forest, Spirit Hall will fight you to the death!"
Her icy killing intent made the air around them sink heavily.
Dugu Bo had always been eccentric and proud, but now he nodded again and again, his expression utterly solemn.
"Your Holiness the Pope, rest assured!"
"I'd give my life before letting anyone lay a finger on him!"
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