Spider Crab

Ren Tao made up his mind to act.

Under his mental control, a golden thread quietly slipped from his robe, burrowed into the sediment on the seabed, and crept toward Sea Witch.

At that moment, seven Evil Spirit Orcas had formed a circle in the water, surrounding Sea Witch, Jenny, and Yeonnie-the three "girls." They displayed such gentlemanly manners and refinement that it was hard to associate them with the ocean's slaughterers from earlier.

But they had another reason for doing this: to stop Sea Witch from escaping in the chaos. The sea was such a mess that, without Ren Tao releasing his oppressive aura up ahead, the surging tide of sea soul beasts would probably have scattered their group long ago.

At that moment, no one noticed Ren Tao's little maneuver.

He watched the golden thread break through the sediment like a tiny enoki mushroom sprout. It swayed once, then swiftly reached the edge of Sea Witch's large tail.

Suddenly, Ren Tao felt his vision blur-

Sea Witch flicked her tail and moved aside...

At the same time, a red-and-white crab scurried past like an enormous spider.

Ren Tao was about to adjust the angle of his Devouring Golden Threads, but just then, the spider scuttled back again, as fast as a video playing in reverse.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Why does that crab look familiar?"

Feng Ba, who had lost one eye, asked in surprise. Ever since losing that eye, he had treasured his remaining vision all the more, terrified that another accident would make him a burden to the entire clan.

Ren Tao's expression shifted slightly.

Because the crab had run past on Feng Ba's blind side!

"You're not seeing things. I've seen that Spider Crab several times myself!"

Ha Jun spoke slowly, trying to soothe Feng Ba's nerves.

"Seriously, is this crab running back and forth because it's moving house? Get lost!"

Jun Hyuk swung his tail, preparing to catch Spider Crab off guard with a smack.

Whoosh!

A wave rolled past, and Spider Crab's tall form became a phantom, splitting into at least seven or eight identical figures that scattered in every direction.

Everyone's vision blurred.

An oppressive, eerie presence rapidly spread, and the entire stretch of sea fell silent after its earlier turmoil and clamor.

Not far away, a perfectly synchronized rustling arose. Thousands upon thousands of densely packed Spider Crab figures emerged from the murky water, advancing swiftly and resolutely toward the Evil Spirit Orca Group.

"Fuck!"

Ren Tao swore. When things strayed from the ordinary, something sinister was surely at work. These crabs were far too strange, and he had no choice but to interrupt his "fishing" plan.

"Who's playing these supernatural tricks?"

A vast swarm of Spider Crabs marching in formation amid this raging tide of sea soul beasts was plainly absurd. More importantly, every crab looked exactly alike. Wasn't an illusion like this an insult to its audience's intelligence?

As he asked the question, Ren Tao glanced back at Sea Witch. She held the Black Flute, her expression wary, though she otherwise looked fairly calm.

As for what she was thinking, he had no idea.

That was also why Ren Tao wanted to finish "Devour" here before letting her go back. Taking a Douluo who might defect at any moment into battle was practically asking to die.

But the sight unfolding before him made his heart jolt.

The vast swarm of Spider Crabs abruptly dispersed, as fleeting as a wisp of mist. From within it, an old man whose features were indistinct, but whose back was clearly somewhat hunched, slowly walked out.

"Among the powers in this world that no one can withstand, one is the mighty power of time. Another is..."

The familiar words and familiar scene made Ren Tao wonder whether he had returned to the dream within the Sea of Inheritance.

"Didn't you ever wonder why you were able to find the Drift Bottle? The Evil Soul Master was struck by the Sea God Trident. If his soul had already been scattered to nothing, how did he still have time to unravel the brand of hatred? Or, to put it another way, if he was dead, how could the brand remain?"

It was like a flash of insight from the depths of his subconscious, but those questions undoubtedly struck Ren Tao right in the heart.

For that second, his mind visibly drifted.

Then...

A thousand troops and ten thousand horses surged past, trampling his soul and body. The hooves of several unidentified soul beasts even kicked him in the balls, twisting Ren Tao's face with pain.

"Boss, watch out!"

A voice rang in his ears. The clouds and mist before his eyes dispersed again, and Ren Tao lay amid the surging tide of soul beasts.

If this had not been the Douluo World, and if he had not possessed a body tougher than that of a two-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, he would already have been dead.

A great mass of golden threads rose from the ground like an exploding burst of golden light, charging wildly and savagely in every direction. They instantly pierced countless soul beasts, and a flash of blood was devoured by the threads.

Countless streams of life energy and information flooded into him.

The life auras of countless soul beasts withered in an instant as well. Under the full force of the Blood Sea Pagoda domain, they did not even last a single breath, drained dry before a drop of blood could spill.

"Holy shit... Boss, it's me!"

The unlucky Hu Dong had also been caught in the attack and quickly sent a thought to Ren Tao.

Ren Tao beat his wings and burst out of the sediment, his eyes blood-red. Without even wiping the mud and sand from his face, he shouted wildly:

"Where are they? Where are Jenny and the others?!"

With no time to deal with Spider Crab, Ren Tao immediately realized that his Evil Spirit Orca Group had been scattered.

Everything just now had merely been an illusion, but it was a projection of his inner emotions, stirring up the doubts buried in his heart. That was why Ren Tao had fallen for it instantly while completely unprepared.

"Boss!"

Hu Dong received the life energy Ren Tao transferred to him, his aura stabilizing as he quickly said, "I was only thinking about coming back to find you... But I think they're with Princess Xin Luo!"

"Whew!"

Ren Tao steadied his emotions, then bellowed, "Anyone who dares hurt my Evil Spirit Orcas will have their entire clan buried alongside them!"

This message was directed at the beast tide. He infused it with tremendous soul power and bolstered it with the full might of the Blood Sea Pagoda domain. Its immense pressure made the seabed quake and shudder.

Even the wildly stampeding tide of sea soul beasts stalled for an instant.

"Eek! What shameless boasting!"

A shrill voice rang out, dripping with mockery. It seemed to be accompanied by a red figure that swiftly disappeared into the beast tide and raced into the distance.

"It's that Spider Crab!"

Sharp-eyed Hu Dong spotted the figure at once. It had darted back and forth before them several times earlier, clearly provoking them, and had even dared to ambush his boss. If they could tolerate that, what couldn't they tolerate?

Almost as soon as he shouted, he charged toward the source of the voice.

"Come back!"

Ren Tao bound Hu Dong with golden threads and lightly hooked a finger, dragging him back. Then he hurled Hu Dong in the direction the beast tide was moving. "Find Jenny and Yeonnie first, and regroup with everyone! This Spider Crab is trying to lure us away! If I'm right, its target is Sea Witch!"

Huh?

In the water, Hu Dong flicked his tail and used the momentum to swim swiftly forward, but he could not resist asking, "Boss, how do you know?"

"I'm bluffing!"

Ren Tao laughed heartily. He and Hu Dong had shouted their entire conversation, letting the water carry their words far and wide. He had deliberately said those things for Spider Crab to hear.

Given the situation in the sea, soul beasts over two hundred thousand years old were currently as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. He believed Spider Crab had no confidence in defeating him, especially with Sea Witch on his side as well! Yet it had still brazenly attacked, which meant it had a reason that left it no choice. Its target could not possibly be the orcas around him, leaving only one possibility: it was after Sea Witch.

Its deliberately mocking response when he spoke earlier made Ren Tao even more certain that it wanted to lure him away.

But how could I let you dictate the pace? This is the perfect chance to turn the tables and trick you instead!

It took a long string of words to explain, but in Ren Tao's mind, the reaction had happened in a single thought. If he had to say why, it was probably because the growth in his intelligence through evolution had surpassed even the growth in his physical strength and soul power.

Ren Tao followed a short distance behind Hu Dong, fully deploying the Blood Sea Pagoda domain to intimidate the surrounding soul beasts while probing for movement within a thirty-li radius. Soon, he found Sea Witch.

Jenny and Yeonnie trembled behind her, while an enormous sea anemone over a dozen meters tall stood before Sea Witch.

Its entire body was purplish-black, and its basal disc clung to a huge purplish-red crab. It was moving slowly toward Sea Witch.

Sea Witch Xin Luo wore a vacant expression. There was no need to guess: she had fallen into an "illusion of the inner mind."

"Shameless! Let her go! She's mine!"

Ren Tao roared angrily and abruptly accelerated forward, his beating wings forming a brilliant wave of light that crashed into a huge reef in the distance.

Crack!

The reef split apart. A Spider Crab's body was torn in two and slowly floated up, only to be smashed to pieces an instant later by the surrounding soul beasts.

I just revised the previous chapter a little, so I might as well post this next one too!

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