Open Rivalry and Secret Theft

The massive corpse of the Man-Faced Demon Spider lay amid a pile of decaying leaves. The inch-long incision behind its neck had been left by Chen Xuan's Earth-Splitting Claws. The cut was clean, and the fascia and spinal cord within had been instantly shattered and severed by some exquisitely applied force.

That warm, jade-like external spirit bone now lay quietly inside his soul tool.

Having done all this, Chen Xuan did not even glance back at Tang San, whose fate remained unknown on the ground. With a light tap of his toes against the trunk, he leaped several times and disappeared into the dense canopy above. He found a branch with an excellent view, sat down, and casually pulled out a hard flatbread.

The aftershocks of the battle below had yet to settle.

A black figure wreathed in dark green poisonous flames sprang out from the woods to one side. With a flick of the cane in his hand, the poisonous fire lunged like a spirit serpent toward the Man-Faced Demon Spider's corpse. His intention was obvious: burn this valuable spirit beast corpse, along with the spirit bone inside it, to erase all traces.

Chen Xuan's biting motion paused slightly.

He had not acted because Tang San's life or death had nothing to do with him. But if this black-robed man destroyed the corpse and made a commotion, he might draw Flender and the others over, leading them to discover that the spirit bone was missing. That did not fit Chen Xuan's principle of keeping a low profile while developing his strength.

"Troublesome."

Chen Xuan muttered, his body suddenly diving down from the canopy.

His dark-golden Earth-Splitting Claws tore through the air, trailing a heavy yellow glow. Though launched later, they arrived first and struck fiercely at the poisonous fire.

Bang—

The poisonous flames exploded, scattering dark green fluid that hissed and sizzled.

The black-robed man swiftly withdrew his cane and retreated. A flicker of alarm and suspicion passed through his eyes beneath the hood. "Where did this little rat come from? How dare you ruin the Medicine Hall's business!"

Chen Xuan steadied himself, holding the Earth-Splitting Claws across his chest. His tone was calm. "This spider's spirit ring is reserved for my young master. Who are you to touch it?"

He casually made up an excuse, both explaining why he had intervened and pinning the label of "stealing another's prey" on the black-robed man. As for what the Medicine Hall was, he did not care. He only needed this identity to stop the other man from questioning him further for the moment.

The black-robed man snorted coldly, clearly unconvinced. Yet upon sensing Chen Xuan's strange explosive power—his spirit power was clearly only in the teens, yet exceptionally solid—and feeling several formidable spirit power fluctuations approaching from afar, he decisively feinted before turning into a cloud of black mist and fleeing.

"Consider yourself lucky!"

Chen Xuan did not pursue him. Instead, he turned to look toward the sky. The sound of rushing wind drew closer, and the auras of Flender and Zhao Wuji had become unmistakable.

Almost the instant the two landed, Flender threw Yu Xiaogang onto the ground. The Master scrambled toward Tang San, and when he saw the violently pulsing third spirit ring around him, dark purple bordering on black, his pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints.

"Tw... over two thousand years! How is that possible?!" Yu Xiaogang's voice cracked completely. He clutched his hair tightly, trembling all over. "The limit for absorbing a spirit ring is one thousand seven hundred and sixty years! That is an iron law! He's gone mad! He's truly gone mad!"

Flender's expression was grim. "Can we stop it?"

"No!" Yu Xiaogang nearly roared, his eyes bloodshot. "The backlash has already begun! If we interrupt him now, he'll immediately explode and die!"

Zhao Wuji stamped his feet anxiously nearby. "Then what do we do? Look, blood is seeping out all over his body!"

In the center of the clearing, Tang San's body convulsed violently under the unbearable strain of the raging energy. The veins beneath his skin bulged as though they might burst at any moment. He clenched his teeth tightly as blood mixed with saliva spilled from the corners of his mouth. It was the miserable sight of a body at its limit.

Chen Xuan sat in the tree, watching the scene without expression.

Tang San was risking his life, that much was true. But this gamble rested on blind confidence in his own strength and absolute reliance on the trump card of his Twin Martial Souls. He had broken Yu Xiaogang's "iron law," and perhaps somewhere in his subconscious, he even felt a trace of pride at surpassing his teacher's theory.

"You're gambling." Chen Xuan slowly chewed his flatbread, his gaze icy. "You're gambling that your Mysterious Heaven Technique is strong enough, that your spiritual power is powerful enough. You're gambling that you'll always be right."

Crack.

A faint, brittle sound came from Tang San's shoulder bone—the groan of bone buckling beneath unbearable pressure.

Yu Xiaogang seemed to have been struck by lightning. He collapsed limply into the mud, muttering over and over, "Hold on... Xiao San, you can hold on... My theory can't be wrong... You're the miracle of Blue Silver Grass..."

Chen Xuan swallowed the food in his mouth and looked at the middle-aged man beneath the tree, who was on the verge of collapse. The corner of his lips lifted into an almost imperceptible curve.

Master, oh Master.

You always said, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters," and built that seemingly flawless system of theory. But when your prized disciple openly defied the "absolute limit" you established for his own selfish reasons—finding Xiao Wu—what could you do other than kneel there and pray?

If Tang San died, was your theory wrong, or was Tang San simply too foolish?

If Tang San lived, was your theory correct, or did Tang San merely have too many hidden cards?

Your so-called truth was nothing more than a castle in the air built upon Tang San, an "exception." And now, its foundations were being shaken by its very own builder.

[Ding—]

At that moment, the system notification suddenly rang out in Chen Xuan's mind, carrying an unprecedentedly cold, mechanical quality.

[Warning: A key plot point has been forcibly altered (external spirit bone missing).]

[Worldline stability damaged.]

[Initiating correction mechanism: archenemy Tang San—adaptive mutation in progress...]

Chen Xuan abruptly stopped chewing.

Worldline correction?

So that was it. By taking the spirit bone and disrupting the predetermined course, the will of the world was going to "compensate" through another method?

He immediately turned his gaze toward Tang San.

After shrinking to the extreme, the dark purple spirit ring did not fully merge into Tang San's body as expected. Instead, an entirely different energy—cold, sinister, and reeking of blood—suddenly erupted from Tang San's spine!

Rip!

The clothes on Tang San's back instantly burst apart. Yet instead of the expected spider limbs growing out, layers of dark blue scales the size of fingernails appeared, tightly interlocking! Like living creatures, those scales spread from his spine across his body, giving off a metallic chill. At the same time, two hard bumps faintly rose beneath the skin at either side of Tang San's forehead, as if something was about to break through.

"Wh... what is this?!" Yu Xiaogang was completely stunned. In all his lifelong research into Martial Soul theory, there had never been any record of "scale symbiosis"! This was absolutely not a trait the Man-Faced Demon Spider should possess!

Flender and Zhao Wuji both drew sharp breaths and instinctively took half a step back. The aura emanating from the scales was ancient and savage, unlike that of any spirit beast they knew.

Chen Xuan narrowed his eyes at those bizarre dark blue scales, thoughts racing through his mind.

Not the Eight Spider Lances, but scales... Was the worldline's correction actually compensating by altering biological form? Did the source of this mutated power come from a change in the spirit ring itself, or had something deeper inside Tang San been awakened?

He had originally thought that taking the spirit bone would deprive Tang San of a trump card. He had not expected the worldline's correction to give him another unknown "gift."

"Heh..." Chen Xuan chuckled softly, stuffed the last bite of flatbread into his mouth, and brushed the crumbs from his hands.

"Tang San, you really do always know how to surprise people."

"How many open and hidden attacks can that new skin of yours block for you?"