Fire Spider

While Huo Wushuang was absorbing the Soul Bone, Huo Wu grabbed Xiaofei by the ear and said, "What are those wings on your back? Why have I never heard you mention them before?"

Xiaofei hurriedly covered his ear and begged, "Sister Huo Wu, don't do this, it hurts."

Huo Wu said fiercely, "If you know it hurts, then hurry up and tell me your secret. Otherwise, I'll tear your ear right off."

Left with no choice, Xiaofei extended the Fire Phoenix Wings on his back. Twelve blade-sharp wings slowly emerged from behind him, each one as sharp as a steel knife.

Xiaofei said, "I obtained these External Soul Bones, the Fire Phoenix Wings, when I acquired my second Soul Ring. The claws on my hands are the Blazing Lion King palm External Soul Bones I acquired with my first Soul Ring. After years of tempering and upgrading, both External Soul Bones have now reached fifty thousand years. I've never displayed or used these Fire Phoenix Wings in public before. Today is the first time I've shown them to anyone."

Huo Wu asked, "You actually have two External Soul Bones? Then how many Soul Bones do you have on you?" As she spoke, she examined the External Soul Bones from every angle and even carefully inspected Xiaofei's body, touching him here and there from time to time.

Xiaofei quickly said, "Sister Huo Wu, I only have one Head Soul Bone and one Right Leg Soul Bone, plus these two External Soul Bones."

Huo Wu asked viciously, "Why have I never heard that you had a Right Leg Soul Bone?"

Xiaofei said gravely, "This Right Leg Soul Bone can't be revealed. It's a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. If people find out, it'll bring Titled Douluo after us."

"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone? One of the greatest treasures in the Soul Master World? Then what Soul Bone skills does your Right Leg Soul Bone have?"

"It has two skills. One allows me to fly, while the other can heal injuries." As he spoke, he grasped Huo Wu's arm. A ball of green light flashed from the Soul Bone, and Huo Wu's injuries rapidly recovered. Before long, she was completely healed.

Huo Wu smiled. "This Soul Bone skill is pretty good. Big sister won't have to fear getting injured anymore."

Xiaofei shook his head. "This Soul Bone skill is a little too heaven-defying, and there's also a problem with the Soul Bone's origin, so I'll use it as little as possible. But this Soul Bone has given me extremely powerful vitality. That's why I can absorb Soul Rings beyond my level every time."

Huo Wu said, "No wonder your vitality is so tenacious."

With a serious expression, Xiaofei said, "Sister Huo Wu, you absolutely can't tell anyone else about this Soul Bone. Otherwise, a lot of Titled Douluo really will come fight us to the death. That would be troublesome."

Seeing Xiaofei's solemn expression, Huo Wu nodded seriously as well.

This Soul Bone's skill was special—a healing skill. If someone was injured someday and Huo Wu could not bear to watch, asking Xiaofei to heal them, word getting out would cause trouble. That was why Xiaofei had especially emphasized it to Huo Wu.

A day later, Huo Wushuang finally finished absorbing the Soul Bone. He gained an excellent Soul Bone skill: it could unleash sonic attacks and carried a certain degree of Mental Shock. It was also a wide-area skill. It could be called a Divine Skill, though its age was still somewhat too low.

Over the next half month, the three continued deeper into Undying Volcano. During these three days, quite a few Soul Beasts attacked and ambushed them, but the trio avoided them all. They also killed many Soul Beasts, including some Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, but none dropped any Soul Bones.

The closer they drew to the volcano's core, the higher the concentration of Fire Element energy in the air became, and the faster they cultivated. Yet they had found no information resembling anything on the Divine Fire Sect's map. Could the Divine Fire Sect truly have been swallowed by history?

That day, the three set up their tent and rested. Suddenly, Xiaofei sensed that something around them was amiss, though he could not tell what it was. He carefully felt the fluctuations of Soul Power in the area, only to find not even the faintest trace of life. That was highly abnormal. Could there not even be any Soul Beasts nearby? Unless...

Xiaofei decisively flew into the air and carefully surveyed the surroundings. Within nearly a kilometer, there was not a single Soul Beast. That meant there had to be an exceptionally powerful Soul Beast nearby, one that had frightened all other Soul Beasts away from this region.

Suddenly, Xiaofei felt an enormous fluctuation of Soul Power, and it was coming from where the three had pitched their tent.

Xiaofei immediately flew toward the tent. Suddenly, a massive spiderweb burst from the ground beneath it, wrapping around the entire tent. The earth loosened, and a gigantic Fire Spider emerged from underground. Its whole body was crimson, its eight legs sharp as blades. The tent was burned to ashes, while Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu had already been surrounded by dark-red spider silk. They struggled relentlessly within the silk and even unleashed Soul Skills, but the web was only slightly damaged. Even when it was severed, the Fire Spider immediately repaired it. Moreover, the spider silk was clearly highly venomous, and both of them were already showing signs of poisoning.

The situation was extremely dire. Xiaofei swiftly flew toward the Fire Spider. He had to kill it first before rescuing them; otherwise, he might get trapped as well.

Xiaofei launched attacks against the Fire Spider with his bone claws and wing bones. The Fire Spider seemed intelligent. While using its web to contain Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang, it used its spider legs to block Xiaofei's attacks.

The Fire Spider's legs repeatedly collided with Xiaofei's bone claws, yet they suffered almost no damage. This Fire Spider was likely nearing fifty thousand years in age. Moreover, Fire Spiders were hunters among Soul Beasts, and it was clearly highly experienced in killing.

Seizing an opening, Xiaofei unleashed his Sixth Soul Skill. A flaming slash flew toward the Fire Spider, severing its two front legs. The Fire Spider actually used the impact to fling its body away. As expected of a top predator among Soul Beasts, its ability to evade danger was exceptional.

The Fire Spider let out a strange cry and continued fighting Xiaofei with its remaining legs, occasionally spitting out spider silk for sneak attacks. Clearly, the Fire Spider's only goal now was to stall for time. The longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for Xiaofei.

Half an hour later, Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu had been wrapped in spider silk and were practically unable to move. The Fire Spider was not in good condition either. Only two spider legs remained, and its agility was far inferior to before, while its close-combat ability had greatly declined. Xiaofei had already cut off its other six legs.

In close combat, Xiaofei seized an opportunity and unleashed his Fifth Soul Skill—Phoenix Shakes Heaven Strike. Xiaofei's entire body resembled a Fire Phoenix as he slammed directly into the Fire Spider's head. The Fire Spider's entire head was blasted into fragments. Xiaofei sat on the ground, gasping heavily. His Soul Power was clearly nearing its limit, while the Fire Spider finally collapsed to the ground.

Enduring his depleted Soul Power and the aching pain throughout his body, Xiaofei hurried over to Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang. He used his steel claws to cut apart the spider silk around them strand by strand, finally rescuing them. However, both had suffered grievous injuries and fallen unconscious.

Xiaofei activated the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone skill and healed the two of them.

Three hours later, Xiaofei's Soul Power had fully recovered, while Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu slowly woke up. They looked at each other, then at Xiaofei and the Fire Spider's corpse beside him, and a wave of fear washed over them. If Xiaofei had not risked his life, they would likely have been devoured by the Fire Spider.

It was only after an entire day that Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang recovered more than half their strength and could move normally again. Xiaofei had also taken out a large amount of antidotal herbs. Otherwise, they would have needed much longer to recover. For Fire Attribute Soul Masters, the Fire Spider's Fire Poison seemed even harder to purge than other toxins.

Next came the part where they looted the corpse. After dissecting the Fire Spider's body, they discovered a special Soul Bone on its back. This Soul Bone was crystal clear and glowed red, occasionally emitting traces of Fire Attribute energy. It resembled a spine, with four miniature Fire Spider legs on each side. The three could not help widening their eyes at the sight. Ignoring the others' gazes, Huo Wu directly put the Soul Bone away. Seeing their stunned expressions, she said, "What? Got a problem with that?"

Xiaofei and Huo Wushuang hurriedly shook their heads. How would they dare have any objections?