It's You, Human-Faced Demon Spider!

They walked for more than two hours.

An open valley appeared ahead.

Just then, Venom's voice rang out in Ning Yuan's mind.

[Ahead. I sense a presence that disgusts me! And... it's strong!]

[Tsk, tsk, tsk. That smell—it's like some distant relative of mine, but ugly as hell. It can't compare to this handsome face of mine at all.]

Ning Yuan wondered what was up ahead.

Beside him, Title Douluo Yue Guan also spoke up in warning.

"Be careful. There's a very powerful soul beast up ahead."

That made Ning Yuan curious. A soul beast that could make both Venom and Yue Guan warn him at the same time?

What exactly was it?

Ning Yuan followed Yue Guan's gaze and looked over. In the shadows at the center of the valley, a massive black figure was sprawled.

It was a giant spider, pitch-black all over, its body the size of a millstone.

Its eight long, slender legs were like eight black spears, each one covered in barbs.

The most striking thing was the sinister human-face pattern on the carapace of its back. Its features were twisted, its eyes hollow, like the ghostly face of someone who had died with eyes still open.

But this Human-Faced Demon Spider had not noticed them at the moment.

All its attention was on the corpse of the soul beast before it, already dead.

It was an Iron-Armored Rhino more than two meters long, its body covered in torn wounds. Clearly, it had been hunted not long ago.

The Human-Faced Demon Spider had lowered its head and was tearing into the Iron-Armored Rhino's abdomen with its hideous mouthparts, making dull gnawing sounds.

Black fluid trickled down the corners of its mouth and dripped onto the ground, producing a burst of sizzling corrosion.

For any predator, feeding was when it was most focused—and also when its guard was most relaxed.

This Human-Faced Demon Spider had clearly claimed this valley as its territory and had just completed a hunt.

So much so that it had yet to realize two uninvited guests had already barged into its domain.

That let Ning Yuan breathe a sigh of relief, and it also allowed Yue Guan beside him to calmly size up this soul beast.

Judging from the luster of its blackened carapace, the density of its barbs, and the clarity of the human-face pattern, Yue Guan frowned slightly and reached a conclusion.

But facing the Human-Faced Demon Spider, Ning Yuan's eyes lit up instead, as if he were looking at a woman with a fine figure.

After all, in the original work, Tang San's third soul ring had come from a Human-Faced Demon Spider around two thousand years old.

Not only had it given him the powerful control-type soul skill Blue Silver Cage, it had also given Tang San an external soul bone he used all the way into the late stage: the Eight Spider Lances.

If his second soul ring came from a Human-Faced Demon Spider, that would be perfect!

First of all, the Human-Faced Demon Spider's combat style was very similar to Venom's.

Venom's very first host had been a loser.

That was basically an oversized spider monster.

Having a soul skill produced by a Human-Faced Demon Spider was, in a sense, a dream crossover across worlds.

As for being afraid?

That did not exist. Standing beside him was a genuine Title Douluo.

He had not expected his luck to be this good. On the very first day here, he had encountered a soul beast that met his requirements.

He just did not know whether this Human-Faced Demon Spider was the one Tang San had killed in the original work. If it was, could the Eight Spider Lances drop as well?

Ever since he joined Spirit Hall, he was bound to be irreconcilable with Tang San.

Ning Yuan was more than happy to snatch Tang San's opportunities.

"This Human-Faced Demon Spider looks to be around nine thousand years old."

At his side, Yue Guan sensed it briefly and came to a conclusion.

"Nine thousand years..."

Ning Yuan murmured.

Then it probably was not the one Tang San had fought.

But why would a Human-Faced Demon Spider close to ten thousand years old appear in the outer reaches of Star Dou Forest?

"Title Douluo Yue Guan, I'll have to trouble you. I've decided I want this one."

"What? You want it?"

Hearing Ning Yuan's answer, even Yue Guan, who was usually calm and composed, nearly lost his composure.

"This soul beast is indeed suited to you, but its age is too high. What you're obtaining is your second soul ring, not your fourth!"

A nine-thousand-year spirit ring was not something anyone below the Spirit Ancestor level could attempt.

This was common knowledge across the continent. Even if Ning Yuan's martial soul was special, even if his physical condition was stronger, and even if he had absorbed a thousand-year ring as his first spirit ring...

Wanting to absorb a nine-thousand-year spirit ring?

Wasn't that just wishful thinking?

"I know, Douluo Yue Guan, but trust me. I can take it."

Ning Yuan had his reasons for being so confident.

Ever since Venom had awakened as his martial soul, it had been strengthening his body at every moment.

Not to mention the brains of those thousand-year spirit beasts it had eaten earlier, which had fed back into him and greatly reinforced his body again.

On top of that, after he obtained his first spirit ring, his body had also been strengthened.

All things considered, Ning Yuan was confident he could take this nine-thousand-year spirit ring.

Seeing Ning Yuan so confident...

Yue Guan sighed.

In any case, he was here.

"Fine!"

With that thought, Yue Guan glanced at the Human-Faced Demon Spider and condensed his spirit power into his palm.

In an instant, his right hand shone with brilliant golden light.

The next moment, his figure flashed right up to it.

At the same time, his hand swept down like a blade.

Swish!

Before the Human-Faced Demon Spider could even react...

All eight of its spider legs were severed at once.

Another slash.

The Human-Faced Demon Spider was split open from chest to belly.

Only a breath remained in it.

Douluo Yue Guan tossed the dying Human-Faced Demon Spider in front of Ning Yuan.

Ning Yuan was secretly shocked.

As expected of a Titled Douluo. Once he made a move, he was swift and decisive. A Human-Faced Demon Spider over nine thousand years old, killed directly without even releasing his martial soul.

When would he become that strong too?

Ning Yuan wasted no more words and immediately finished it off with one slash.

At the same time, a spirit ring so purple it was almost black slowly emerged.

That was enough to show that this Human-Faced Demon Spider was not merely nine thousand years old. It should already have one foot in the ten-thousand-year threshold.

However, Ning Yuan did not absorb the spirit ring right away.

Instead, he released Venom and let it eat the Human-Faced Demon Spider's brain first, further feeding back into him and strengthening his body.

That would give him a higher chance of successfully absorbing the spirit ring.

A layer of black, fluid-like matter covered Ning Yuan's entire body, then transformed him into a huge monster with a ferocious, gaping mouth.

The sight startled Yue Guan.

If he had not already seen Ning Yuan's martial soul before, he might have thought Ning Yuan had been possessed by something filthy.

Then, under Yue Guan's astonished gaze, Ning Yuan, after completing the possession, opened his mouth full of white fangs and bit down on the Human-Faced Demon Spider's head on the ground.

Crack...

The sound of bone shattering was especially clear in the quiet valley.

Yue Guan's expression froze on his face.

He saw the black monster, which had only a head and half a neck, lying on the corpse of the spirit beast several times larger than itself, tearing and swallowing it down in huge mouthfuls.

Its white fangs were as sharp as sawteeth. With every bite, it chewed through flesh and bone together, and black fluid dripped down the corners of its mouth, falling to the ground with faint sizzling sounds.

The monster ate very seriously, completely absorbed.

But after a while, its movements gradually slowed.

[Burp—]

A long, satisfied belch came from its mouth.

[No more, no more. I can't eat another bite.]

[This thing looks ugly, but it's pretty filling. Just this one head is almost worth five or six thousand-year spirit beast brains I usually eat. No, wait, seven or eight!]

Ning Yuan: "..."

[And honestly, the Human-Faced Demon Spider's flavor was pretty unique. A little fishy, a little pungent, but after chewing it for a while, there was actually a faint sweetness in the aftertaste. It was like... like eating a plate of offal that hadn't been cleaned properly, except the chef was decent.]

[Could it be because your constitution is what it is?]

[You're doing a tasting review while eating? Are you a food streamer?]

[I was helping you analyze the quality of the prey!]

Venom retorted with perfect confidence.

[This is called professionalism! You think just any brain is worthy of entering my stomach? It has to go through strict selection!]

Ning Yuan could hear a note of smugness in its muffled voice.

[But seriously...]

[I really am stuffed. Seriously, I can't fit in another bite. Look at my belly—never mind, you don't have a belly. Anyway, I feel round and plump right now, like a ball.]

The corner of Ning Yuan's mouth twitched.

Yue Guan watched as the black head finally stopped eating. It slowly raised its head and stared straight at Yue Guan with those pupil-less, pure white eyes.

Then it split its mouth open, revealing a blood-and-flesh-smeared grin that made one's scalp crawl.

"Heh heh."

Yue Guan: "..."

The corner of his eye twitched.

"Ning Yuan." Yue Guan's voice was a little dry. "Your martial soul... can eat?"

Ning Yuan stood up from the ground and patted the dust off his clothes.

"Sorry you had to see that."

"Mm, you could consider it one of my martial soul's abilities. It can absorb the remaining life essence and blood energy from soul beast corpses, then feed that back to strengthen my body."

Yue Guan's eyelid twitched again. "So when you said you needed to feed your martial soul until it was full, this was what you meant?"

"Yes." Ning Yuan nodded. "When ordinary soul masters absorb a soul ring, they only absorb the soul beast's spiritual energy. The flesh-and-blood energy left in the soul beast's corpse will dissipate into the world if it isn't used. My martial soul just happens to be able to recover that extra portion of energy. No waste."

Yue Guan fell silent.

He looked at Ning Yuan's harmless face, then at the black fluid that had already withdrawn into Ning Yuan's body in total satisfaction, and a rather bad thought suddenly rose in his heart.

This way of eating... was far too much like an evil soul master.

Soul masters across the continent all knew that one of the traits of evil soul masters was increasing their strength by devouring the flesh or soul power of others.

Although Ning Yuan only ate soul beasts, that gnawing motion and that satisfied expression did not look like a proper path no matter how one looked at it.

If he hadn't known this boy reasonably well, known that he was a nominal disciple accepted by Her Holiness the Pope, and that his temperament was reliable enough, he might have almost acted first and restrained him.

This matter had to be reported to Her Holiness the Pope after they returned.

And in the future, he definitely had to keep a close eye on Ning Yuan. He could not allow him to walk the path of an evil soul master.

Otherwise, with the characteristics of his martial soul, once he set the precedent of eating humans, sooner or later he would become the public enemy of every soul master on the continent.

Ning Yuan seemed to sense the complicated emotions contained in Yue Guan's silence and spoke first.

"Title Douluo Yue Guan, please don't worry."

"Although my martial soul needs to eat, I can control it. It can only eat if I let it eat."

"I won't let it act recklessly without my permission."

He paused, then added another line.

"And... I won't eat soul masters' brains."

"At least, I won't eat good people's brains."