Pulling the Spear Ruthlessly

Zhao Youji clamped his mouth shut, forcing the mouthful of blood back down his throat. He straightened his body, feigning composure as he patted his chest, and said with an expressionless face, "Very good, you have passed."

Qian San immediately retracted all the liquid metal back into his body. Although his face was pale and he was panting heavily, he still managed to flash a brilliant smile and cupped his fists slightly:

"Teacher Zhao, thank you for the lesson."

The entire arena fell silent.

Following this, the eyes of Dai Zhuqing, Yu Rongrong, and the others flickered with various emotions. Regardless, they had witnessed a true monster today.

[Surface World]

Star Dou Forest.

Deep within a hidden canyon, seven figures sat cross-legged in silence. The two at the lead were the masked Qian Xunji and Qian Daoliu. Behind them, the powerhouses of the Worship Hall—Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, Light Feather, and others—were lined up. Even though they had deliberately restrained their auras, the pressure belonging to Super Douluo still sent low-level soul beasts within a radius of several miles fleeing in terror.

A streak of white light silently wove through the forest, manifesting as Huang Tian in her white robes. A hint of gravity etched her beautiful face as she walked before Qian Xunji.

"Did you find out clearly?" Qian Xunji opened his eyes.

Huang Tian nodded, her silver eyes revealing a trace of wariness:

"I only sensed it very subtly. Deep within the Lake of Life, there is indeed a black dragon lurking. His bloodline aura is of the same origin as mine, and his cultivation is on par with my own—both around eight hundred thousand years. To avoid being detected by him prematurely, I did not probe any deeper."

"Well done. That is enough."

"What do you intend to do next?" Huang Tian looked at the group of formidable human experts around her. "Charge in directly? The Lake of Life is the base camp of the soul beasts. Even with your numbers, if you force him to detonate his own core, I fear it will result in mutual destruction."

"A head-on clash is the style of a brute; we are here to use strategy." Qian Xunji stood up slowly, his gaze cast toward the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Forest.

"Wait here patiently for a few days. In a few days, the Titan Giant Ape in this forest will leave the Lake of Life. That will be the perfect moment for us to strike."

Qian Xunji scanned his surroundings and began to lay out a detailed tactical plan for the members of the Worship Hall and Huang Tian:

"Once the Titan Giant Ape leaves, I will depart for a moment to snatch a small, important trinket. Once I return, the real show will begin."

He looked directly at Huang Tian. "After the plan commences, I will have the members of the Worship Hall unleash their full aura and pursue you frantically. You need do nothing else but release your full eight-hundred-thousand-year bloodline and cultivation aura, pretending to flee in a panic toward the Lake of Life!"

Huang Tian frowned slightly, seemingly realizing something: "You want to use me as bait?"

"Precisely." Qian Xunji nodded.

"As the Beast God of the Star Dou Forest, if Di Tian suddenly senses a dragon of equal cultivation being hunted by human experts, given his pride and sense of responsibility as a king, he will absolutely not stand by! He will surely break through the water to protect you!"

"When he confronts us and focuses all his attention on us human experts..." A murderous intent erupted in Qian Xunji's eyes.

"Huang Tian, that will be your chance to strike. At the most lethal distance, give him a blow!"

Huang Tian fell into a long silence. The pride of the dragon race made her instinctively reject such a backstabbing tactic. But recalling her ultimate goal for coming here—to devour Di Tian—and the pressure from the God Realm, she bit her lower lip hard, the taste of blood spreading in her mouth.

"...Fine, I agree." Huang Tian finally spat out the words coldly.

For the next few days, the group lurked in the canyon like ghosts until the late night of the seventh day.

ROAR—

A roar that shook the heavens echoed from the outer forest, followed by a violent tremor of the earth. It was the roar of the hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming!

"It is time." A trace of fanaticism flashed in Qian Xunji's eyes.

"That Xiao Wu has been captured. Wait here; I shall return shortly!"

Before the words had even faded, Qian Xunji's figure had transformed into a streak of light, completely merging into the night.

A clearing on the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest.

The ground was a mess. Tang San sat cross-legged on the ground, his body trembling violently. Before him lay the corpse of a Man Faced Demon Spider.

Tang San's face was as pale as paper, and sweat had soaked through his clothes, but he continued to grit his teeth and persist. A purple soul ring pulsed around his body, but most striking of all were the eight bulges rising high on his back!

"Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!—"

Accompanied by the bone-chilling sound of flesh tearing, eight spider legs, pitch-black and shimmering with a cold, eerie light, burst violently from Tang San's back!

External Soul Bone, Eight Spider Lances!

Though Tang San was in extreme agony, a flash of uncontrollable ecstasy crossed his eyes. He could feel the potent poison and power contained within these eight spider legs. Even if he did not know what they were, this was definitely a fortuitous encounter that surpassed ordinary soul rings. With this, his strength would surely soar!

However, at the very moment Tang San was contemplating this harvest, completely off-guard!

BOOM—

A terrifying pressure belonging to a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo descended without warning, slamming heavily onto Tang San.

Tang San was pinned firmly into the mud, unable to move even a single finger. Fear instantly gripped his heart.

A slender figure in grey robes and a silver mask descended before Tang San like the Grim Reaper.

Qian Xunji looked down at Tang San, who was struggling like an ant on the ground, then glanced at the eight sharp, hideous purple-black spider legs on his back. A cold sneer emanated from beneath his mask.

"Such a top-tier External Soul Bone, growing on a weed like you, is truly a waste. Only my precious son is worthy of it. It seems this item is destined for This Seat."

"You... what do you want..." Tang San's eyes were bloodshot, his breathing ragged, and an unprecedented sense of crisis rose in his heart.

Qian Xunji did not waste words, slowly extending his hands wrapped in golden soul power. He used no weapons, instead using his iron-clamp-like hands to grab the roots of the eight spider legs on Tang San's back!

"NO!!!" Tang San seemed to realize what was happening and let out a scream.

"RIP—!"

A cruel scene unfolded! Qian Xunji exerted force with cold, ruthless intensity. Accompanied by the teeth-gritting sound of shattering bone and tearing muscle, the Eight Spider Lances, which had just fused with Tang San's spine, were ripped out from his flesh by the roots by Qian Xunji!

"AAAAAAHHHH—!!!"