Two hours after the ambush in the Canyon ended, the official road was still impassable.
The Royal Knights were clearing fallen rocks, while the healing Soul Masters traveling with them moved among the wounded. The black-clad attackers' bodies had been gathered at the foot of the mountain. Several Spirit Hall deacons bent over them to check their identities, their faces darkening with each one.
Bai Jin crouched on a broken rock, holding the half sleeve Yue Guan had sliced off. His expression was solemn.
"This fabric was expensive."
Dugu Bo passed by and sneered. "Be grateful he didn't take your arm with it."
"Jealousy makes you look old."
"Get lost."
As they spoke, Grandmaster came over with Tang San.
Tang San's Soul Power had stabilized at level forty, but the trouble caused by revealing the Clear Sky Hammer still hung over his head. A more immediate problem stood before him: without a Fourth Soul Ring, he could still use only three Blue Silver Grass Soul Skills in the finals.
Bai Jin tossed him the thin booklet. "See for yourself."
The first half of the booklet recorded the Void Silver-Eyed Beast. The rest listed several traces of Soul Beast activity on the north side of Sunset Forest. One entry described a Cave Demon Spider estimated to be between eleven and thirteen thousand years old.
Grandmaster frowned as he finished reading. "It's too old."
"His body survived tempering by ice and fire, and the Eight Spider Lances have been nourishing him all along." Bai Jin stood and brushed the dust from his trouser legs. "Let him decide whether he can absorb it."
Grandmaster looked up at him. "You won't take responsibility if it goes wrong?"
"Once a Soul Ring enters his body, no one can bear it for him." Bai Jin swallowed