After its Bone Dragon Claw sent the Dark Demon Dragon flying in one blow, the aura and Soul Power fluctuations radiating from the Man Faced Demon Spider grew stronger and stronger.
Perhaps to Wu Zhangkong and the vast majority of Soul Masters on Douluo Continent, this was merely the reaction of a Soul Beast like the Man Faced Demon Spider as it evolved from a hundred-year Soul Beast into a thousand-year one.
Though rare, it was nothing worth making a fuss over.
But to Lan Kai and Juggler, the aura radiating from the Man Faced Demon Spider, along with those energy fluctuations, meant something entirely different.
"Something's wrong! Very wrong!"
Noticing the Man Faced Demon Spider's extremely abnormal changes, Lan Kai and Juggler sprang into action almost simultaneously, one inside the screen and one outside it.
Lan Kai immediately rushed up to the Man Faced Demon Spider, seized its two front legs with both hands, and strained to lift it slowly off the ground.
Meanwhile, Juggler swiftly pulled up the records, especially those concerning the Man Faced Demon Spider.
"Just as I thought, something's wrong with this Man Faced Demon Spider. It may be a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, but it's already very close to becoming a thousand-year one.
"In other words, it can break through to become a thousand-year Soul Beast at any moment, and right now, it's trying to complete that breakthrough...
"Lan Kai, don't hold back. Kill the Man Faced Demon Spider! Everyone else, get back immediately!"
After confirming in the records the even more dangerous possibility he had already suspected, Juggler immediately activated his communicator and shouted to Lan Kai inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Although what Juggler said sounded closer to what Wu Zhangkong and the other Soul Masters were thinking, he was certain his disciple would hear the unspoken meaning behind his words.
"Is a thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider really that dangerous?"
A Spirit Pagoda staff member nearby asked in confusion.
Wu Zhangkong's expression remained calm, even somewhat cold, but he had already understood Juggler's first point, so he took the initiative to explain:
"Man Faced Demon Spiders are naturally capable of fighting opponents above their level. Even a hundred-year Man Faced Demon Spider can hunt thousand-year Soul Beasts without much difficulty.
"Once a Man Faced Demon Spider reaches a thousand years of cultivation, its strength and fighting style are beyond what Soul Masters entering the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform can handle. It has to be placed in the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.
"Is that right, His Excellency Snake Heart?"
Juggler nodded in agreement with Wu Zhangkong's explanation.
However, Wu Zhangkong knew nothing about the existence of the Spirit Ascension Platform guardians. He had no idea that even a thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider was far too powerful to serve as one.
He was even less aware of the real reason this thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider had alarmed both Juggler and Lan Kai.
Even if Leng Yaozhu, who had a relatively cordial relationship with Juggler, had been there, she would have had no way of knowing.
"As expected, it's turned into a monster, and it's been affected by evil power. No wonder Teacher Juggler reacted like that. He's been through this kind of thing plenty of times himself."
Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, Lan Kai nodded and heaved the Man Faced Demon Spider aside once more.
Then, he produced the Orb Ring out of thin air and began transforming again.
"Ultraman seniors!"
"Tiga senior!"
"Please lend me the power of your light!"
"Fusion Up!"
"Ultraman Orb: Specium Zeperion Form!"
After transforming, Lan Kai didn't hesitate for a moment. He raised the Speperion Ring once more and charged at the Man Faced Demon Spider.
With a shriek, the Man Faced Demon Spider changed again. Its original carapace had completely shattered, revealing an even more terrifying shell and fangs beneath, sharp as blades.
It then spewed a burst of green light wrapped in black energy. A spiderweb, tougher and larger than before, shot toward Lan Kai.
Facing the Man Faced Demon Spider's web attack, Lan Kai noticed that there were no teammates in its path, and that the other members of Class Zero had obediently retreated a good distance. The purple parts of his body lit up, and his form grew more indistinct as his speed surged by more than one level, leaving a trail of afterimages behind him.
At once, Lan Kai raised the Speperion Ring in his hand. Moving at high speed around the Man Faced Demon Spider, he repeatedly slashed at its legs.
Both Ultraman and Ultraman Tiga were skilled at tearing off the strange parts of monsters.
The Man Faced Demon Spider's legs might not have any special abilities, but their very presence was enough to hamper Lan Kai in battle.
So he had to deal with them first.
With each downward slash of Lan Kai's blade, another joint in the Man Faced Demon Spider's legs was severed. It let out anguished cries and kept trying to fight back furiously.
But given the difference in size between the Man Faced Demon Spider and Lan Kai, and the speed advantage Lan Kai gained from using Tiga's Sky Type, the Man Faced Demon Spider could barely sense Lan Kai's position when he broke one of its legs. It had no way to counterattack.
Before long, its eight spider legs had been chopped into twenty-four segments, scattered all over the ground.
Although the Man Faced Demon Spider looked as if it could no longer fight back, Lan Kai still showed no mercy. He hurled it into the air, then raised his hand and fired a Speperion Ray, blasting a hole through its abdomen.
The cold Man Faced Demon Spider turned into warm spiritual power that gathered around everyone present.
Lan Kai quickly ended his transformation, but remained alert, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.
Outside the screen, Juggler's expression grew even more grave.
"That's unmistakable. It was the influence of the Dark Ring's power.
"But for it to affect even the inside of the Spirit Ascension Platform... Could the person holding the Dark Ring be inside the Spirit Pagoda?"
"I don't think so. The dark power was far too impure, and the Man Faced Demon Spider's transformation into a monster wasn't very pronounced."
After returning home, Lan Kai immediately shook his head in response to Juggler's speculation.
As the one who had fought the Man Faced Demon Spider, transformed into a monster by evil power, head-on, Lan Kai naturally had his own thoughts on the matter.
"Although I only fought as Ultraman Orb for a very short time, based on the Light of Orb and my own instincts, that wasn't the result of being affected by the Dark Ring's full power.
"Actually, Teacher Juggler, I have a really terrible idea.
"Unlike the Light of Orb inside me, which weakened itself of its own accord to adapt to this world and to my inexperienced self, what if the Dark Ring that came to this world chose to split itself into more pieces, so it could influence the entire world?"
Juggler had been drinking water. He immediately used the skill "Spit Take," then wore the expression of someone about to be dissected by some mad scientist.
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