Zhao Youji clamped his mouth shut and forcibly swallowed the blood back down. He straightened up, feigned composure, and patted his chest. Expressionless, he said, "Good. You've passed."
Qian San immediately withdrew all the Liquid Metal into his body. Though her face was pale and she was panting heavily, she still managed a brilliant smile and clasped her hands in a slight salute.
"Teacher Zhao, you were most accommodating."
The whole arena fell silent.
Then Dai Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and the others showed a range of emotions in their eyes. But whatever they felt, today they had witnessed a true monster.
[Surface World]
Star Dou Forest,
Deep in a secluded canyon, seven figures sat quietly in meditation. The two at their head were the masked Qian Xunji and Qian Daoliu. Behind them, Golden Crocodile Douluo, Azure Luan Douluo, Light Feather Douluo, and the other powerhouses of the Worship Hall stood in a line. Though they deliberately kept their auras in check, the pressure of Super Douluos still sent low-rank Soul Beasts fleeing from within several miles.
A streak of white light slipped silently through the trees and transformed into Huang Tian, dressed in white. A grave expression touched her stunning face as she walked up to Qian Xunji.
"Did you confirm it?" Qian Xunji opened his eyes.
Huang Tian nodded, a hint of wariness in her silver eyes.
"I only sensed it very carefully, without drawing attention. Deep in the Lake of Life, there really is a black dragon lying in wait. His bloodline aura shares the same origin as mine, and his cultivation is on par with mine—over eight hundred thousand years. To avoid alerting him, I didn't probe any further."
"Very good. That's enough."
"What do you plan to do next?" Huang Tian looked at the formidable human powerhouses around her. "Attack directly? The Lake of Life is the Soul Beasts' home ground. Even with your numbers, if you force him to detonate himself, both sides could end up badly wounded."
"An all-out fight is for brutes. We're here to win through strategy." Qian Xunji rose slowly and looked toward the outskirts of Star Dou Forest.
"We'll wait patiently here for a few days. In a few days, the Titan Giant Ape in this forest will leave the Lake of Life. That will be our perfect chance to strike."
Qian Xunji glanced around and laid out the detailed plan for the Worship Hall's people and Huang Tian.
"Once the Titan Giant Ape leaves, I'll slip away for a while to snatch an important little trinket. When I return, the real show begins."
He looked Huang Tian straight in the eye. "Once the plan starts, I'll have everyone from the Worship Hall unleash their auras and chase you down with everything they've got. You don't need to do anything else. Just release the full aura of your eighty-million-year bloodline and cultivation, then flee toward the Lake of Life as if you're in a desperate plight!"
Huang Tian furrowed her brow, seeming to realize what he meant. "You want to use me as bait?"
"Exactly." Qian Xunji nodded.
"As the Beast God of Star Dou Forest, Di Tian will sense a fellow dragon of equal cultivation being hunted by human powerhouses. With his pride and his sense of duty as a king, he couldn't possibly stand by! He'll definitely burst out of the water to protect you!"
"When he confronts us and focuses all his attention on the human powerhouses..." Killing intent flashed in Qian Xunji's eyes.
"Huang Tian, that's your chance to strike. Hit him at the most lethal range!"
Huang Tian fell silent for a long while. Her pride as a member of the Dragon Clan made her instinctively loathe such a sneaky attack from behind. But as she recalled her true purpose here—to Devour Di Tian—and the pressure from the Divine Realm, she bit down hard on her lower lip. The taste of blood spread through her mouth.
"...Fine. I accept." Huang Tian finally spat out the words coldly.
For the next few days, they lay hidden in the canyon like ghosts, until the dead of night on the seventh day.
Roar—
A roar that shook heaven and earth rang out from the distant outskirts of the forest. The ground trembled violently right after it. It was the furious bellow of Er Ming, the hundred-thousand-year-old Titan Giant Ape!
"He's here." A feverish glint flashed in Qian Xunji's eyes.
"That Xiao Wu has been taken. Wait here. I'll be right back!"
Before his words had even faded, Qian Xunji's figure had transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the night.
A clearing somewhere on the outskirts of Star Dou Forest.
The ground lay in disarray. Tang San sat cross-legged on the earth, his whole body trembling violently. Before him lay the corpse of a Man Faced Demon Spider.
Tang San's face was as pale as paper. Sweat soaked his clothes, but he gritted his teeth and endured. A purple Spirit Ring pulsed around him, while eight bulging lumps on his back drew the most attention.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft—!"
Amid the horrifying sound of flesh tearing, eight purple-black spider legs gleaming with a cold light burst from Tang San's back!
An External Soul Bone, the Eight Spider Lances!
Though Tang San was in agony, an irrepressible delight flashed in his eyes. He could feel the deadly poison and power contained in the eight spider legs. He didn't know what they were, but they were surely a boon beyond an ordinary Spirit Ring. With them, his strength would certainly soar!
But just as Tang San was mulling over his newfound prize, caught completely off guard—
Boom—
A terrifying pressure, belonging to a level-ninety-nine Peerless Douluo, descended without warning and slammed down on Tang San!
Tang San was crushed face-first into the dirt, unable to move even a finger. Terror seized his heart in an instant.
A tall figure in a gray robe and silver mask descended before him like the god of death.
Qian Xunji looked down at Tang San, struggling on the ground like an ant, then glanced at the eight sharp, menacing purple-black spider legs on his back. A cold laugh came from beneath the mask.
"Such a fine External Soul Bone, wasted on a weed like you. Only my precious son deserves it. Seems this treasure and I were fated to meet."
"You... What are you going to do..." Tang San's eyes were bloodshot, his breathing ragged, and an unprecedented sense of danger rose in his heart.
Qian Xunji said nothing. Slowly, he extended his hands, wrapped in golden Soul Power. He wielded no weapon. Instead, he clamped his iron-pincer grip around the roots of the eight spider legs on Tang San's back!
"No!!!" Tang San seemed to realize what was coming and screamed.
"Riiip—!"
A cruel scene unfolded! Qian Xunji's cold, merciless strength tore into the task. With a grating crunch of breaking bones and ripping muscle, he wrenched the Eight Spider Lances—which had only just fused with Tang San's spine—out of his flesh, roots and all!
"AAAAAAAH—!!!"
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