A look of delighted surprise flashed through Wang Jin's eyes when he saw that it was Yan Qing.
"Yan Qing! What are you doing here?"
"I happened to be nearby. I saw signs of a fight and hurried over."
"Just in time!"
Wang Jinxi's heart settled. No longer holding back his Soul Power, he sent the Gentle Breeze Wolf lunging at him from the left flying far away with a single blow.
"We're all part of Class Zero. Looking out for each other is only right."
Yan said no more and joined the fight.
His left eye flickered, and the Soul Ring of his Second Martial Soul lit up.
Sword light shot from his eye, and the Gentle Breeze Wolf it struck instantly dissolved into specks of light.
With the two of them working together, the remaining Gentle Breeze Wolves were soon dealt with.
After finishing off the last Soul Beast, Wang Jin dropped onto his backside in exhaustion.
Even with Yan Qing's help, his all-out attacks had consumed most of his Soul Power.
"Find somewhere to rest first. I'll stand guard."
Yan Qing looked around. Finding no sign of any other Soul Beasts, he finally turned back and spoke to Wang Jinxi.
Warmth filled Wang Jinxi's heart at those words. He had still been unwilling to accept his defeat by Yan Qing in last month's class promotion tournament.
He had never expected Yan Qing to step forward in his hour of danger and show such generosity of spirit.
Wang Jin did not refuse again. He found an ancient tree, sat with his back against it, and closed his eyes to recover his Soul Power.
Yan Qing looked up above where he had sat down.
Sure enough, a dark shape was rapidly descending.
A closer look revealed what was actually a delicate woman's face.
But that human face was embedded in an enormous spider's body, with eight long, barbed claws trailing behind it as it hurtled toward the figure beneath the tree.
There really was no avoiding it after all.
"Watch out!"
Yan Qing shoved aside Wang Jinxi, who was still meditating to recover.
He concentrated his Soul Power in both hands and instantly activated Mysterious Jade Hand.
His palms turned white as jade and clamped firmly onto the Man Faced Demon Spider's protruding fangs.
Bang!
The human and beast rolled across the ground in a tangled struggle.
Yan Qing did not forget to shout toward the other side.
"Wang Jinxi, run!"
Wang Jin rolled over and over like a gourd tumbling along the ground before coming to his senses.
At a glance, he saw that, in order to protect him, Yan Qing had been caught in the Man Faced Demon Spider's bite and was struggling nonstop.
"Aah!"
Wang Jin roared, hot blood rushing to his head. Disregarding his current condition, he immediately summoned his Martial Soul.
A dim Bone Dragon appeared behind him. Without enough Soul Power to support it, the Bone Dragon was only a thin phantom.
"Yan Qing, I'm coming! Hang on!"
"Six-six-six!"
Yan Qing looked back. Instead of running, this reckless fool was charging over with his Martial Soul raised.
The Man Faced Demon Spider before him was infinitely close to a thousand years old, and it was a T0-type Soul Beast capable of fighting above its level.
Yan Qing could still handle it easily alone, but the same could not be said for Wang Jinxi, especially now that his Soul Power had dropped sharply and he had less than thirty percent of his original strength.
Sure enough, the moment Wang Jin approached, the Man Faced Demon Spider casually stretched out a claw and kicked him away.
Wang Jin's condition plummeted after being knocked down a second time, but he sprang right back up and charged forward with a roar.
Seeing that this idiot was about to rush back to his death, Yan Qing could no longer keep his composure.
He had no choice but to release one hand and time his move, slapping the emergency exit button on Wang Jin's hand just before a Spider Spear pierced his body.
Only after his companion turned into a streak of light and disappeared did Yan Qing let out a long breath.
He had used Mysterious Jade Hand instead of a Soul Skill precisely because he was afraid of accidentally killing the spider.
Yan Qing was still planning to follow this Man Faced Demon Spider back to its lair.
After all, two were still left. Killing this one alone would not be enough to complete the mission.
Besides, Man Faced Demon Spiders were not solitary Soul Beasts. Since two remained, they were most likely mother and child.
Yan Qing planned to wipe out the whole nest.
That was why he had let this Man Faced Demon Spider gnaw on him for so long without getting anything out of it.
The metal pod popped open. Wang Jinxi had been forcibly ejected from the Spirit Ascension Platform, and people quickly gathered around to check his mental state.
Wang Jinxi instantly sat up, pushed aside the staff around him, and shouted:
"Go save Yan Qing!"
"He got carried off by a Man Faced Demon Spider to save me!"
"Don't panic. He hasn't exited yet, which means his life isn't in danger right now."
A nearby staff member gently reassured him.
The screen in this room showed what was happening inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, and everyone outside had witnessed Yan Qing's actions.
"Sacrificing himself for others-with a character like that, Director Long, your academy really is about to produce a true dragon."
Long Hengxu, standing nearby, also nodded to himself.
Such character was rare. It seemed they would have to consider making Yan Qing a priority for development.
Inside, Yan Qing knew nothing of what was happening outside and was still wrestling with the Man Faced Demon Spider.
No matter how the Man Faced Demon Spider attacked, Yan Qing's Mysterious Jade Hands remained firmly locked around her fangs.
Her other attacks could not break through his protective Soul Power.
The two remained deadlocked like that. Yan Qing did not attack her, merely hanging on to her body and stubbornly refusing to die.
The Man Faced Demon Spider was driven to desperation. No longer interested in eating, she tried to drop Yan Qing and flee.
How could Yan Qing let her escape? He hugged her fangs tightly and refused to let go.
Seeing that she could not shake off this dangling accessory no matter what she did,
the Man Faced Demon Spider had no choice but to drag Yan Qing toward her lair.
Once they reached her home, Yan Qing would turn into nourishment in no time!
The spider carried Yan Qing across the Spirit Ascension Platform. Whenever Soul Beasts happened to pass by and recognized the Man Faced Demon Spider, they all steered clear.
Who knew this spider had so much clout in the Spirit Ascension Platform?
Yan Qing thought to himself, How long has it been? Why is she dragging me farther and farther away?
A full four hours, all traveling in a straight line.
He vaguely sensed that something was wrong and recalled the map of the Spirit Ascension Platform.
The direction this little spider is heading...
We're almost across the boundary and into the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.
Soon, Yan Qing saw the answer. Beneath the canopy of a tree that towered into the clouds lay an enormous spider's nest.
The little demon spider dragging Yan Qing called toward the distant nest.
A piercing screech answered, followed by a rumbling that Yan Qing heard as the earth trembled.
A Man Faced Demon Spider fully five times larger crawled out of the nest and immediately locked onto Yan Qing on the little spider's back.
Black light flared, and long strands of spider silk curled straight toward Yan Qing's face.
A fucking ten-thousand-year-old Man Faced Demon Spider!
Yan Qing decisively released the fangs and slapped the exit button.
As long as the green mountains remain!
When Yan Qing woke up, an enormous crowd surrounded him.
He frantically tried to remember whether he had done anything bad inside.
Then Wang Jinxi suddenly grabbed his hand, tears and snot streaming down his face, and Yan Qing remembered.
"Yan Qing, from now on, you're my own brother!"
Wang Jinxi thumped his chest as he spoke.
Wait!
Yan Qing inwardly cried that things were looking bad. According to the original story, Wang Jinxi had ultimately moved away because Tang Wulin's influence on his Martial Soul was too great.
He had been wavering these past few days, unable to make up his mind.
This incident in the Spirit Ascension Platform had tied him firmly to the ship that was Class Zero.
That meant his Martial Soul Fusion Technique with Zhang Yangzi was going to disappear.
Yan Qing glanced at the oblivious Zhang Yangzi beside him. The world's least fortunate person was about to be born.