Hybrid Demon Spider

Bibi Dong shot him a helpless look. "Do you think thousand-year Thousand-Thread Demon Spiders grow like cabbages? Thousand-Thread Demon Spiders are already rarer than Venom Soul Demon Spiders, and those over a thousand years old are rarer still. Most have their own territories and hide extremely well. They're not that easy to find."

Even so, she continued leading Bibi Xu deeper inside.

Since her son wanted the best, as his mother, she naturally had to help him find it.

At worst, they could spend a few extra days searching the entire Demon Spider Canyon. They were bound to find a suitable one eventually.

Yet after searching for an entire day, from dawn until sunset, they had combed through several nearby Thousand-Thread Demon Spider habitats, only to find that the oldest one was merely five hundred and thirty years old.

They had not even seen a six-hundred-year-old one, let alone a thousand-year-old one.

The setting sun dyed the forest a warm orange as mist slowly began to rise again.

Bibi Dong found a clean rock, took out a waterskin and some rations, and handed them to Bibi Xu. "Rest for now. The forest will be more dangerous once it gets dark. Tomorrow, we'll head in another direction and check the upper reaches of the canyon. There's more water there, so perhaps there'll be a high-year Thousand-Thread Demon Spider."

Bibi Xu took the waterskin and drank from it, but his brows remained furrowed.

He could not shake the feeling that this was not how it should be. His martial soul had a natural sensitivity toward soul beasts of its own kind, yet throughout the day, every Thousand-Thread Demon Spider they encountered had been utterly ordinary. Not one had given him the feeling of this is the one.

Did he really have to settle for something inferior?

No, he could not. His path was meant to pursue the ultimate. The stronger his foundation, the higher his future limit would be.

If he compromised over something as minor as his second soul ring, how could he ever strive for the position of God King in the future?

Just as he was thinking, the Life Azure Lotus deep within his dantian suddenly trembled faintly.

An incredibly weak pulling sensation came from the direction of the stream. It was faint, almost imperceptible, yet it carried a strange allure, as though something was calling to his martial soul.

Bibi Xu's eyes lit up, and he sprang to his feet.

"Mom, I sense something."

"What do you sense?" Bibi Dong raised a brow.

"Over there, upstream along the creek." Bibi Xu pointed in the direction the water was flowing, barely able to hide his excitement.

"Something is drawing my martial soul. It should be a very powerful Thousand-Thread Demon Spider. Let's go take a look!"

Bibi Dong frowned. She had not sensed anything at all. Was this child's perception even sharper than hers?

Still, he sounded utterly certain, not as if he were making it up.

After pondering for a moment, she nodded. "All right, let's take a look. But stay behind me. Don't run around."

"Okay!"

Mother and son quickly headed upstream along the creek.

The stream gurgled softly beneath their feet. As they stepped over moss-covered pebbles and moved onward, the deeper they went upstream, the heavier the dampness in the woods became, and the denser the Soul-Eating toxin in the air grew.

Bibi Dong spread a soul power barrier, blocking all the toxins outside.

After walking for a little over a mile, they found an emerald-green pool ahead.

The trees around the pool were especially lush, their dense branches and leaves nearly blocking out every trace of daylight.

The rocks along the shore and the trunks between the trees were covered in thick, transparent spiderwebs. The threads were several times thicker than those elsewhere, glowing with a faint green light in the dimness.

Bibi Dong halted, her expression changing slightly. She immediately grabbed Bibi Xu and shielded him behind her.

"Careful. There's something big here."

The moment her words fell, a massive boulder beside the pool suddenly moved.

No, it was not a boulder. It was an unimaginably huge spider.

Its body alone exceeded three meters in length. Its eight long legs were thick and powerful, each ending in sharp black pincers that gleamed with a metallic chill.

Its entire body was dark green, nearly blending into the color of the rocks. Its camouflage was excellent. Its bloated abdomen was covered in fine hairs, clearly bearing the traits of a Thousand-Thread Demon Spider.

But the strangest thing was that a blurred human face pattern had grown on its lower abdomen—its features twisted, its eye sockets sunken, eerie and horrifying. It was the unmistakable hallmark of a Human-Faced Demon Spider.

"This is..." Bibi Xu's pupils contracted before intense delight burst from his eyes. "A hybrid! A hybrid offspring of a Thousand-Thread Demon Spider and a Human-Faced Demon Spider!"

No wonder the Life Azure Lotus had reacted.

This soul beast possessed the bloodlines of two top-tier spider species. It had both the Thousand-Thread Demon Spider's Soul-Eating Spider Silk and the Human-Faced Demon Spider's venom and piercing power. Its dual attributes were a perfect match for his One-Soul Two-Forms Spider Sovereign.

However, Bibi Dong's expression grew increasingly grave.

She focused her senses for a moment, and her heart gradually sank.

"Three thousand five hundred years," she said quietly, a trace of lingering fear in her voice.

"The aura this Hybrid Demon Spider gives off is no different from that of a four-thousand-year-old one. This is already the kind of soul ring suited for a Soul Ancestor's fourth ring. Even many Soul Ancestors can't reach this age for their fourth soul ring."

She turned to Bibi Xu, her tone incomparably stern. "Xu, I know what you're thinking. Let me tell you: no. Absolutely not."

"Mom..."

"There's no room for discussion." Bibi Dong cut him off directly, her attitude leaving no room for compromise.

"Your first soul ring being a thousand years old was already like walking a tightrope. And now you want to try a three-thousand-five-hundred-year ring for your second? Do you know what that means? If the soul ring's energy turns violent, it could shatter your meridians in an instant and make you explode to death. Even if I protect you from the side, I might not be able to save you."

She was not trying to scare him.

The older a soul ring was, the more violent its energy became, posing a triple test to a soul master's body, soul power, and spiritual power.

A three-thousand-five-hundred-year soul ring was something even a level-forty Soul Ancestor would not dare attempt lightly, much less a Great Soul Master who had only just reached level twenty.

This was not an improvement at all. It was gambling with his life.

"We'll head back today. Tomorrow, I'll take you to search another area." Bibi Dong softened her tone somewhat as she earnestly tried to persuade him.

"Thousand-year Thousand-Thread Demon Spiders may be rare, but they aren't nonexistent. At most, we'll spend another three to five days searching. We'll find a suitable one eventually. There's no need to take such a huge risk."

Her words came from the heart. Everything was for her son's sake. She could indulge him in anything, except this.

She had only one son. If anything happened to him, what would she do?

Yet Bibi Xu stood where he was, staring unblinkingly at the Hybrid Demon Spider lying on the rock, his gaze incomparably firm.

He knew full well that this opportunity was rare.

Hybrid soul beasts were already uncommon, and hybrids of two top-tier spider species were one in ten thousand.

Not only did this one's bloodline perfectly match his martial soul, but its age was also right near the limit of what he could withstand. If he missed this one, he might never encounter another like it in his life.

Three to five days? Even three to five months might not yield one more suitable than this.

"Mom, I want to try."

Bibi Xu turned to look at Bibi Dong. His voice was calm, but it carried an unquestionable resolve.

"I know the risk is great, but I'm not being reckless. I've calculated my limit."