Intercepting the Eight Spider Lances! Tang San, Justice Will Be Served This Round!

In the core area of the Star Dou Forest, by the banks of the Lake of Life.

This was the sacred ground of soul beasts, where the life energy contained in the air was so dense it had almost liquefied, swirling over the lake surface as a faint, cyan mist.

At this moment, that mountain-like Titan Giant Ape was squatting by the lakeside, looking aggrieved. Its hundreds-of-tons-heavy body was curled up, resembling a giant toddler who had done something wrong.

"Er Ming, you were really too reckless this time!"

Xiao Wu stood with one hand on her hip beside Er Ming's millstone-sized toes, looking up to lecture him.

"If it weren't for Brother Su Yun having a good temper, and you'd run into someone hot-headed instead, your monkey fur would have been plucked clean today!"

"Woo... roar..."

Er Ming let out a low growl, its massive head drooping, its lantern-sized eyes filled with humility.

It was actually feeling quite depressed as well.

It had originally wanted to come out to pick up Xiao Wu and take her home, but it had ended up running into a man whose aura was as terrifying as a god's.

The god-level pressure that had erupted from Su Yun just a moment ago had made even it, the King of the Forest, develop an instinctual urge to kneel and worship.

What was even more absurd was that this human was not only unafraid of it but had even dared to sit on its shoulder and tell it what to do.

Su Yun was currently sitting leisurely on a stone bench by the lake, watching the harmonious scene before him, and casually pulled out that iconic black diary.

[Checked in at the Lake of Life. This silly oaf Er Ming is even more 'simple-minded' than I imagined.]

[I suppose it's because of Xiao Wu; this big guy looks at me now as if I'm closer than his own brother. However, since I've come to the core area, I can't leave empty-handed.]

[If I remember correctly, right at the boundary between the core area and the inner circle, that 'Human-Faced Demon Spider' with a cultivation near two thousand years should be waiting there.]

[That is the source of one of the most important cheats in Tang San's life—the External Soul Bone, Eight Spider Lances. Although Tang San is currently a loser with only two soul rings, under the blessing of that damned plot armor from the original work, he is very likely to absorb this soul ring beyond his limit and activate his 'Spider-Man' mode.]

[Heh, since I'm here, this disgusting cheat might as well be kept by me, this 'emissary of justice', for safekeeping.]

Xiao Wu leaned over, saw the contents of the diary, and asked curiously:

"Brother Su Yun, are you going to kill that spider? That kind of soul beast is sinister and vicious; it's a butcher in the forest, and I hate them too."

Su Yun closed the diary, patted Xiao Wu's head, his gaze deep:

"Killing it is not just to act on behalf of heaven, but to completely cut off certain people's delusions. That kind of cheat with an evil aura shouldn't exist in this world, unless I am the one to purify it."

"Let's go, Er Ming, take us to catch some crabs... oh no, catch a spider."

Meanwhile, in a dense forest in the inner circle of the Star Dou Forest.

Tang San was rushing through the bushes like a madman.

His clothes were in tatters, his face crisscrossed with bloody scratches from thorns, and his eyes, originally full of spirit, were now bloodshot, revealing a near-maniacal obsession.

"Xiao Wu, you must wait for me! That bastard Su Yun can't protect you; only my Hidden Weapons, only my Tang Sect techniques can survive in this forest!"

As Tang San sprinted, he subconsciously touched the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist.

Suddenly, an extremely cold and evil aura came from the front-left.

"Swish—!"

A purple-black afterimage swept past from the treetops.

Alarm bells rang in Tang San's heart, and his Purple Demon Eye activated instantly.

He saw a giant spider coldly staring at him.

The spider was pitch black, with a distorted human face growing on its abdomen, and its eight spear-like spider legs shimmered with a ghostly green toxic light, leaving corroded pits on the ground with every step.

"Human-Faced Demon Spider!"

Tang San did not retreat; instead, he revealed a morbid, ecstatic joy.

"Looking at this size, it has at least two thousand years of cultivation! Although it exceeds the limit for a Soul Grandmaster to absorb, if I can kill it, if I can absorb its soul ring..."

Su Yun's arrogant and heroic figure flashed through Tang San's mind, and the jealousy in his heart turned into endless power.

"I can become stronger! I can snatch Xiao Wu back from that pretty boy's hands!"

Tang San roared, pushing his Mysterious Heaven Skill to the limit, unleashing his Zhuge Divine Crossbow and various Hidden Weapons in a frenzy.

This was a brutal gamble.

Although the Human-Faced Demon Spider was formidable, Tang San was fighting with a death wish, throwing out endless Hidden Weapons and even willing to trade injury for injury.

After nearly half an hour of fierce fighting, Tang San paid the price of several broken ribs and a shoulder pierced by a spider leg, finally driving a poisoned Sleeve Arrow into the spider's compound eye.

"Hiss—!"

The Human-Faced Demon Spider let out a shrill, miserable shriek, its massive body crashing to the ground. Its eight spider legs twitched unconsciously, and a soul ring shimmering with a faint purple light began to condense above it.

Tang San slumped to the ground, panting, covered in blood, yet a hideous, victorious smile appeared on his face:

"I won! Su Yun, do you see this? This is the resilience of Tang San! Once I absorb this soul ring, it will be your death day!"

He braced his body, trembling as he reached out, preparing to harvest the soul ring that would change his destiny.

However.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the Soul Ring.

"Hum--!"

A golden stream of light, holy to the extreme, descended with a roar from the nine heavens. Like the sword of a god, it instantly swept away the evil aura within a hundred-meter radius.

Tang San was sent flying by the sudden shockwave, slamming heavily into a tree trunk. His already severely wounded body spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Who is it?!"

Tang San looked up in anger and despair.

Beside that purple Soul Ring, Su Yun had already landed gracefully on the ground at some unknown moment.

He was still wearing that pristine white robe, even ostentatiously waving a folding fan, while behind him, Xiao Wu was staring at Tang San with the look one might give a pathetic worm.

"Yo, isn't this little San?"

Su Yun's lips curled up, revealing a smile that chilled Tang San to the bone.

"How did you end up in such a sorry state? Tsk tsk, almost lost your life just to kill a little spider?"

"Su Yun! That is my Soul Ring!"

Tang San's eyes were splitting, and he roared, "That is my destiny! Are you trying to steal my Soul Ring?!"

Su Yun laughed, his smile filled with the arrogance of one looking down upon an ant.

"Steal?"

Su Yun slowly raised his right hand, and the soul power of the Judgment Angel instantly enveloped the corpse of the Human-Faced Demon Spider.

"Tang San, you've misunderstood one thing. In this world, destiny without the strength to back it up is just suicide."

Su Yun didn't even look at the Soul Ring; his gaze was locked onto the spine of the spider's corpse.

As the golden light permeated it, a mass of eight rib-like objects emitting a deep blue glow slowly peeled away from the carcass.

External Soul Bone: Eight Spider Lances!

"You..."

Tang San watched that mass of light, a sense of loss he had never felt before tearing at his heart, as if a part of his own body had been forcibly gouged out.

"This thing has too much baleful energy; you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Su Yun beckoned casually, and the deep blue shadow flew obediently into his palm. Under the purification of his holy soul power, it gradually shed its evil aura, transforming into a pendant as clear and crystalline as a sapphire.

"Since you worked so hard to cripple the spider for me, I won't kill you. I'll leave you your dog's life; crawl your way back through this forest slowly."

Su Yun turned around, took Xiao Wu's hand, and soared into the sky amidst a flash of golden light.

"No--!! Su Yun!! I will kill you!! Ah--!!"

In the dense forest, only Tang San's shrill howling remained.

He looked at the empty soul beast corpse and felt the throb in his spine—a sensation that should have belonged to him but was now gone forever—and for the first time, he understood what true despair was.

[Ding! Due to the host's extremely ruthless behavior and precise interception of the Eight Spider Lances.]

[Tang San's Luck Value has decreased by 3000 points! Reward obtained: Soul Power increased to Level 48! Special skill obtained: Angel Wings evolution--Eight Wings of Judgment!]

Su Yun flew through the air, listening to the system prompts, feeling incredibly clear-headed.

"Writing a diary really is the only proper way to get stronger!"