Strangle Them—Eight-Legged Demon Spear

Zhu Mao looked into Lu Ming's deep eyes. Though he did not understand what his master was saying, he still chose to obey without hesitation!

He closed all eight of his compound eyes and completely calmed his mind...

Under Lu Ming's guidance, his consciousness formed a deep connection with the domain that had remolded him.

Then, he "saw"—

Countless pale arms, and this sealed world filled with absolute order...

Then he felt the summons—a call from the depths of his soul, bound to him by blood!

His consciousness followed that summons, weaving through the countless arms.

At last, he found the hand bearing a spider mark...

The instant his consciousness touched that mark, a massive torrent of information surged into his mind!

They were the thousand-year memories of the Human-Faced Demon Spider—

Hatching in a dark, damp cave...

Killing its own kind to survive...

Its first hunt, its first molt, its first brush with death...

Coldness, loneliness, hunger, slaughter...

Those negative emotions surged like a tide, threatening to completely drown the "intelligence" that had only just been born within him!

"Screech—!"

Zhu Mao's soul let out a pained howl.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, while the dark green spider markings on his face grew increasingly sinister.

It was as though he were about to turn back into that beast that knew only how to survive on instinct!

"Hold on to yourself!"

Lu Ming's furious roar echoed again and again in the depths of Zhu Mao's soul!

"You're no longer a Human-Faced Demon Spider!"

"You are Zhu Mao! You are an Arrancar!"

"You are a higher existence, one that stands above soul beasts!"

"Do you think the instincts of a mere beast can erode your will?!"

Lu Ming's voice awakened Zhu Mao's reason.

Right... I'm not it anymore...

I am Zhu Mao... I am my master's... Arrancar!

Zhu Mao's gaze became clear and resolute once more.

His human will and his beastly instincts began a fierce clash!

What he had to do now... was tame those beastly instincts!

Turn them into a part of his own strength!

"Come... to me!"

Zhu Mao let out a roar, then reached out with his "hand" and fiercely grabbed the spider mark, trying to tear it right off that pale arm!

"Buzz—"

The entire Self-Contained Perfect Enclosure domain shook violently because of his action.

Under Zhu Mao's pull, the mark began to peel away bit by bit...

To Zhu Mao, this process was no different from having his soul torn apart and reforged once again!

The pain far surpassed what he had endured when becoming an Arrancar!

Yet his eyes remained exceptionally firm...

He knew that this was a necessary path if he wanted to grow stronger!

Finally!

After an unknown length of time...

The complete spider mark was forcibly torn out of the domain by Zhu Mao!

The instant the mark left the domain, it transformed into a mass of black light and rapidly rushed into Zhu Mao's body!

"Aah—!"

Zhu Mao threw his head back and howled.

An unprecedentedly powerful force erupted explosively within his body!

The black light rapidly condensed and changed shape in his hand...

Eventually, it became a strangely shaped weapon.

A long, slender blade in an ominous dark green!

Its guard took the shape of a twisted spider.

Black spider silk was wrapped around its hilt.

A Zanpakutō!

Zhu Mao's Zanpakutō was born at this moment!

Zhu Mao gripped the blade in his hand and felt the tremor flowing from it, linked directly to his soul. Excitement flashed in all eight of his compound eyes.

He could feel that this blade was a part of himself.

As long as he wished it, he could use this blade to release his true power!

"Good."

Lu Ming watched the scene with a satisfied smile.

So an Arrancar must also reclaim its own core in order to form a Zanpakutō...

Although the process was extremely difficult, completing it was already a good thing!

Zhu Mao had opened up an entirely new path of self-evolution for Lu Ming's Arrancar Legion!

"Try it," Lu Ming said. "Release it. Let me see your true form."

"Yes, Master!"

Zhu Mao nodded heavily.

He raised his Zanpakutō high, pouring powerful soul power into it.

The release command that belonged to him alone naturally surfaced in his mind.

Then Zhu Mao chanted in a deep, oppressive voice:

"Strangle them—"

"Eight-Legged Demon Spear!"

Boom!!!

Pitch-black soul power erupted from Zhu Mao's body like a volcanic explosion, soaring into the sky!

That violent energy even battered the Self-Contained Perfect Enclosure domain until it seemed on the verge of collapse!

Outside the domain.

Feng Qie and the others, who had been waiting anxiously, suddenly felt a terrifying aura leaking from the white sphere.

That aura was filled with savagery, slaughter, and death!

"This... this is... Zhu Mao's aura?" Feng Qie's face was full of disbelief. "How did it... become so powerful?!"

Giant Fang and Black Blade stared with widened eyes.

From that aura, they felt fear rising from the depths of their bloodlines!

It was as though they were facing an ancient predator...

Just as they stood frozen in shock, the massive white sphere slowly dissipated.

The scene within was revealed before everyone.

When they saw Zhu Mao's current appearance clearly, everyone sucked in a sharp breath...

The Zhu Mao before them had completely changed.

His face still retained a human appearance, but his body now bore far more traits of a Human-Faced Demon Spider.

Zhu Mao's height had surged to nearly three meters. His originally pale skin was covered by a layer of dark purple, shell-like material, filled with strange black patterns.

The dark green spider markings on his face had grown deeper, nearly covering half his face.

But the most striking change was behind him.

The original four black Zhu Mao had now become eight!

These eight Zhu Mao were thicker and more ferocious than before...

Their tips gleamed with an eerie green chill, like eight demon spears dipped in deadly venom, emanating a deathly aura that made hearts tremble!

His hands had also transformed into two sharp, barbed, jointed claws.

His entire body looked like a demonic god that was half man, half spider!

This was Zhu Mao's Resurrección form!

Eight-Legged Demon Spear!

"This... this..."

Feng Qie looked at Zhu Mao's new form and stammered, unable to say a single complete sentence.

He could sense that the soul power fluctuations Zhu Mao was giving off now had already far surpassed his own, and even... surpassed Giant Fang after becoming an Arrancar!

That level of power could no longer be measured by the three-thousand-year tier.

It was a qualitative leap!

It even surpassed ten thousand years...