Dream-Weaving Spider

After Duan Fan had settled on his development path, Fang Qingshan found him several Soul Beasts of roughly the same type as the Dream-Weaving Spider and worked out matching battle plans for each of them.

Two hours passed quickly, and the carriage arrived safely at the Soul Hunting Forest.

As they climbed down from the carriage, they found themselves in front of a bustling market.

Fang Qingshan paid the full carriage fare and told the driver to wait for them outside the market. Then he led Duan Fan straight down one of its roads.

"Pretty lively here, isn't it? There's a bustling market like this outside every Soul Beast Forest."

As they walked, Fang Qingshan briefly explained how the place worked.

He didn't keep Duan Fan in the market for long. Before long, they had left it behind and reached a vast circle of iron railings.

Outside the railings, more than a hundred soldiers in heavy armor stood guard. Their mere presence gave off an air of solemn menace.

"You need a warrant issued by the Spirit Hall to enter the Soul Hunting Forest. The one I have was given to me by your father."

Fang Qingshan produced the warrant and led Duan Fan into the Soul Hunting Forest without a hitch.

The moment they entered the forest, fresh air mingled with the scent of earth filled their nostrils, refreshing their spirits.

"Our first target is the Dream-Weaving Spider. They live in the Withered Wood Forest, southeast of the Soul Hunting Forest. We're heading this way, so stay close."

Fang Qingshan carefully checked their direction, then set off with Duan Fan.

The two made steady progress through the forest, snapping dry twigs beneath their feet with soft, crackling sounds.

Along the way, they encountered quite a few Soul Beasts, most of them ten-year-level.

Fang Qingshan carefully explained each one to Duan Fan, covering their habits and abilities, as well as how to identify their age. Duan Fan learned a great deal.

With a clear target and a complete hunting plan, Fang Qingshan led Duan Fan to their first destination, the Withered Wood Forest, in just half a day.

As they entered the Withered Wood Forest, they saw dead trees stretching in every direction.

Some trees were not quite dead yet. Gray-green moss covered their trunks, and their sparse canopies let sunlight filter through the gaps, scattering flecks of gold across the ground.

The air was heavy with the damp, rotten smell of decay. Their feet sank into soft, rotting leaves that nearly swallowed their ankles.

Fang Qingshan suddenly stopped and crouched down.

"Xiaofan, take a look at this."

Duan Fan came closer and saw a clump of grayish-white silk wrapped around a dead tree trunk. Its surface had a faint sheen, as though it had been coated in oil.

"This is Dream-Weaving Spider silk."

Fang Qingshan used a small knife to pick off a strand of silk, held it beneath his nose to sniff, then handed it to Duan Fan. "Give it a smell. It's a little sour."

Duan Fan took it and indeed caught a faint, sharp sourness.

"Dream-Weaving Spider silk is very tough, but they don't weave webs to catch their prey."

Fang Qingshan stood and scanned their surroundings. "Their ability is to weave larger spiders out of silk and make them fight and hunt on their behalf. I mentioned that back in the carriage."

"After the giant spiders kill their prey, they turn back into silk and wrap the prey up."

"Look over there."

As he spoke, Fang Qingshan pointed in one direction.

Duan Fan followed his gaze and soon spotted a clump of spider silk about the size of a watermelon. A dead mouse was faintly visible inside.

"Judging by the size of that clump, the Dream-Weaving Spiders living here are less than a hundred years old. We'll have to keep going deeper."

With that, Fang Qingshan continued onward.

Duan Fan immediately followed.

The deeper they went into the Withered Wood Forest, the darker it became.

The canopy overhead grew thicker and thicker until hardly any sunlight could penetrate it.

The rotting leaves on the ground gave way to wet mud that squelched beneath their feet.

Suddenly, Fang Qingshan stopped.

Duan Fan stopped right after him.

"Xiaofan, look over there."

Fang Qingshan lowered his voice.

Duan Fan followed the direction Fang Qingshan was pointing. About thirty meters away stood an unusually thick dead tree.

A pitch-black hole gaped halfway up its trunk, with a spider crouched at the edge.

The spider wasn't very large. Its body was about the size of a washbasin, and its eight legs spanned a good two feet.

Its carapace was dark brown, mottled with patches of deeper color. Its eight eyes were arranged in three rows, the two at the front the largest, glowing a ghostly green.

"Lucky us. This is a Dream-Weaving Spider a little over four hundred years old, just right for you!"

"Dream-Weaving Spiders are territorial Soul Beasts. With this four-hundred-year-old one here, there won't be any other threats within a hundred meters."

"Stay right here. I'll take it down. The fight will be over in no time."

"Azure Ox, Martial Soul Possession!"

After speaking, Fang Qingshan activated his Martial Soul.

A flash of azure light enveloped him. Fang Qingshan, already tall and burly, grew even more powerfully built.

Next, two enormous horns sprouted from his head.

At the same time, two yellow Soul Rings and one purple Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath Fang Qingshan's feet, radiating a heavy, oppressive aura.

With his Martial Soul Possession complete, Fang Qingshan charged straight at the Dream-Weaving Spider.

As he advanced, his First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring lit up in succession. His body grew larger still, and azure light glimmered over the horns on his head.

The Dream-Weaving Spider reacted quickly, too.

Almost the moment Fang Qingshan used Martial Soul Possession, it sensed danger and immediately used its weaving ability.

Its abdomen suddenly contracted, and a clump of grayish-white silk shot from its rear.

The silk spread out in midair. It didn't turn into a web, but instead swelled rapidly like a tangled mass of thread.

In less than two seconds, the silk had pieced together an outline: four legs, a body, and a head.

A spider woven from silk, about three times the size of the original.

Its four legs propped up its body as it pounced at Fang Qingshan.

Fang Qingshan wasn't the least bit afraid. He charged straight into it.

Bam!

With a muffled thud, the giant spider woven from silk shattered into pieces.

Fang Qingshan continued charging toward the Dream-Weaving Spider.

There were no fancy tricks to his attack. He simply charged straight ahead.

Bam!

Another muffled thud. The Dream-Weaving Spider was sent flying, and the dead tree it had been on shattered into fragments that whirled through the air.

As Duan Fan watched, the Dream-Weaving Spider flew a full ten meters before slamming heavily into the ground.

"Xiaofan, your turn. Take your knife and finish it off!" Fang Qingshan shouted.

Duan Fan immediately did as he was told and hurried over to the Dream-Weaving Spider.

Its body was twisted out of shape. Its brown carapace had cracked all over, leaking gray fluid as it twitched weakly, on the verge of death.

So this is the strength of a Soul Elder?

Taking down a four-hundred-year-old Soul Beast is child's play for him.

Duan Fan couldn't help marveling at the sight. Then he brought his knife down, ending the Dream-Weaving Spider's suffering.

The next moment, a yellow ring of light slowly rose from beneath the Dream-Weaving Spider's corpse.