Fierce Battle with the Death Spider Emperor!

Several months later, Star Dou Forest.

The vegetation here was several times more luxuriant than that of Sunset Forest. Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, and the air was thick with a mixture of dampness and decay.

The deeper one went, the more oppressive the atmosphere became, while the soul beasts lurking in the shadows grew increasingly ferocious.

Bang!

With a casual swing of his staff, Wukong smashed the head of a Ten-Thousand-Year Dark Shadow Leopard that had foolishly pounced at him, splattering its brains everywhere.

He then skillfully drew a dagger, gutted the leopard, cut off several tender chunks of meat, and began roasting them.

"Come out and have something to eat."

Wukong patted the Hundred Treasures Pouch.

A flash of light passed.

Medusa appeared alongside it.

After several months of recuperation, along with Wukong constantly feeding her the flesh and blood of various soul beasts, more than half of her injuries had healed.

"Hisss—"

After offering her thanks, Medusa opened her bloody maw and swallowed more than half the leopard in one gulp. Then, satisfied, she flicked her tongue.

"Once you're full, go back and rest. We're about to reach the core region. The farther in we go, the more high-level soul beasts there'll be."

Wukong stuffed the remaining roasted meat into his mouth in a few bites, wiped the grease from his lips, and his expression turned grave.

"Hisss, hisss—"

Medusa nodded, affectionately rubbed against Wukong's arm, then returned to the Hundred Treasures Pouch.

After setting off again, Wukong concealed his aura and moved soundlessly through the treetops like an agile black ape.

After an unknown amount of time, the surroundings suddenly changed.

The once-dense trees became sparse. The ground was covered in a thick layer of dark-purple slime, and a nauseating stench hung in the air.

The light around him dimmed as well. Countless enormous spiderwebs crisscrossed between the tree trunks like a net cast over heaven and earth, sealing off the entire area.

"What a pain. Strenuous exercise right after eating is how you get a stomachache."

Wukong abruptly stopped. His nostrils twitched slightly, and his expression instantly became wary.

The map Dugu Bo had given him was not particularly detailed, especially when it came to the core of Star Dou Forest.

Thus, once he reached this place, Wukong could only rely on his senses to find his way...

But Da Ming and Er Ming were far from the only powerful soul beasts within Star Dou Great Forest.

There were also other terrifying soul beasts lurking within.

And now, Wukong had mistakenly entered the territory of a top-tier poison-attribute soul beast.

"Hisss—"

A scalp-numbing scraping sound came from overhead.

Wukong looked up and saw an enormous purple-black spider staring greedily at him, as though he were some delicious meal.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast... the Death Spider Emperor!"

Wukong had not spent the past few months merely traveling.

During his spare time, he had also read the books inside the Hundred Treasures Pouch.

Among them were illustrated guides to powerful soul beasts.

So the moment he saw this soul beast,

Wukong immediately recognized its identity.

Judging by its age and species, it was highly likely to be the unlucky one Bibi Dong would hunt down in the future.

"You dare trespass into my territory, little monkey? You've got some nerve..."

The Death Spider Emperor sized Wukong up and said teasingly, "But I wonder whether your monkey guts are just as big."

"Heh heh, everything on Old Sun is big. The question is whether you can swallow it all in one bite."

Wukong immediately summoned his weapon and entered a fighting stance.

Soul beasts were savage and brutal by nature. If they could fight, there was no need to waste breath.

Blindly yielding would only invite ever-worsening bullying. Only through battle could one earn the right to speak.

That was the survival law unique to soul beasts that Wukong had learned over the past few months wandering the mountains and forests.

The weak were prey to the strong; only the fittest survived!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

The Death Spider Emperor did not waste any words and launched its attack at once.

Several thick purple webs shot toward Wukong like venomous snakes, sealing off every possible route of retreat.

At the same time, its eight long legs suddenly exerted force, and its massive body pounced at Wukong like Mount Tai collapsing overhead.

"Break for me!"

Wukong's battle intent surged. He swept his long staff horizontally, sending out a fire dragon that instantly crashed into the venomous web.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

The poisonous web caught fire the moment it touched the flames and was reduced to ashes in an instant.

"What fierce flames! They actually burned through my spiderweb!"

Spider silk feared fire, but this was silk released by the Death Spider Emperor, harder than steel.

Even so, it was burned away completely by this monkey's flames in the blink of an eye.

At the same time,

Wukong moved like lightning, darting out through the smoke and colliding head-on with the Spider Emperor's descending foreleg.

Clang!

Staff and leg collided, erupting with an ear-splitting metallic crash.

Wukong's arms went numb, and he was sent flying in an instant.

He plowed two trenches through the ground before barely managing to stop.

"What tremendous strength!"

Wukong grinned, the ferocity in his eyes growing even more intense.

That strike might have seemed as though Wukong had suffered a slight loss.

But the Death Spider Emperor had not fared well either.

The icy and fiery force had invaded its body through its foreleg, instantly freezing half its body while the other half burned with searing pain.

"Damn stinking monkey!"

The Death Spider Emperor flew into a rage and crazily sprayed purple-black venom at Wukong.

The venom was incredibly corrosive. The instant it landed on the ground, it melted the rocks into poisonous liquid.

Bang, bang, bang—

Wukong immediately spun his staff, wielding the Twin Dragon Staff so swiftly that it formed an impenetrable red-and-blue barrier, blocking every drop of venom.

"Wheee—"

Seeing that this stinking monkey truly had some skill, the Death Spider Emperor no longer dared delay. It immediately raised its head and let out a shrill hiss.

In an instant, rustling sounds came from the forests in every direction. Hundreds upon thousands of death spiders surged forth like a tide.

"Calling for backup? I can do that too!"

Wukong plucked a tuft of monkey fur, placed it near his mouth, and blew fiercely. "Split!"

Bang, bang, bang!

Dozens of identical Stone Monkeys appeared out of thin air. Waving their fists and howling strangely, they charged into the spider swarm and instantly began slaughtering one another.

Meanwhile, Wukong himself gripped his staff and once more engaged the Spider Emperor in battle.

The two sides traded blow after blow, fighting until the heavens and earth seemed to darken.

Relying on the might of the Twin Dragon Staff of Ice and Fire and his absurdly strong defense, Wukong forcibly fought this Hundred-Thousand-Year Fierce Beast to a standstill.

The Spider Emperor was massive and could not turn agilely. It was repeatedly "immobilized" by Wukong, followed by a merciless barrage of staff strikes raining down upon it.

But gradually, Wukong realized something was wrong.

This Spider Emperor's vitality was far too tenacious, and its shell was incomparably hard.

Although he could suppress it, he lacked any powerful killing techniques and simply could not seriously injure it.

And this was its home ground. The longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for him.

"Forget it. Old Sun has important business to attend to and has no time to play with you today. I'll spare your life for now!"

Wukong acted decisively. He drove the Spider Emperor back with one strike, then used Gather Form, Disperse Qi, turning into an afterimage as he fled at full speed.

"You damned stinking monkey! If you've got guts, don't run! Fight this old lady until dawn!"

The Death Spider Emperor burned with rage. Its eight long legs moved, and it charged through the forest like a heavy war chariot, smashing through everything in pursuit.

Trees along the way were shattered to pieces, while countless low-level soul beasts fled in all directions in terror.

Wukong pushed his speed to the limit, yet he still could not completely shake off the spider.

"Eight-legged things really do run faster than two-legged ones!"

Wukong grumbled, then accelerated again without hesitation.

The wind howled past his ears.

Gradually, the trees ahead became sparser, but the spiritual energy in the air surged by geometric multiples. He could faintly hear the gentle sound of flowing water.

"The Lake of Life is ahead!"

Wukong rejoiced inwardly and charged straight in.

The instant he stepped into that area,

the Death Spider Emperor, which had been relentlessly pursuing him, suddenly stopped.

The Spider Emperor halted at the edge of the core region. Looking at Wukong's retreating figure as he ventured deeper, it could not help but sneer. "Foolish creature! Do you think you'll be safe if you flee in there? That place is a Life Forbidden Zone! Running in there is simply seeking death. You might as well have stayed behind obediently and become this emperor's nourishment. At least then, you could have died quickly!"