The city of Vastsea was still shrouded in gloom. As the sky brightened, more and more people packed their belongings, preparing to leave the city and seek refuge elsewhere.
As the saying goes, "Those who live by the sea rely on the sea." Most of the residents of Vastsea were simple fishermen or worked in sea-related industries. Now that they couldn't go out to sea, their livelihoods were effectively cut off.
Just then, a strange voice suddenly echoed in the hearts of everyone in the city: "I am the envoy sent by the Spider God. The monsters in the sea have been eradicated by me. You may now return to the sea without fear."
Fang Chang, worried that some might miss the message, deliberately repeated it twice.
Then, he remained hidden in the seaweed, maintaining his "Stealth" state, quietly observing the city from a spot dozens of meters away from the shore.
The citizens of the city gradually stepped out of their homes and gathered in the streets. Seeing their neighbors doing the same, they quickly realized that everyone had heard the same message.
The crowd, half-believing and half-doubting, made their way to the shore but stopped about five or six meters away from the water, too afraid to approach.
The voice they had heard was indeed strange, but their fear of the deadly sea soul beasts that had suddenly appeared was even greater.
In the end, it was the old man who had prayed at the Spider God's temple the previous night who stepped forward. Pushing past his youngest son, he walked straight toward the sea.
As a devout follower of the Spider God and having personally witnessed the Spider God's envoy the night before, he was far more confident in the message's authenticity than the others.
When he reached the shore, his legs began to tremble. One of his sons and a daughter had lost their lives to the sea soul beasts in a similar manner. Now, he was about to lead the way back into the sea.
As he hesitated, voices rose from the crowd behind him.
"That old man should hurry up and get in the water already."
"What's he waiting for?"
"Isn't he a follower of that Spider God Church?"
...
Hearing these comments, the old man mustered his courage. He had always valued his reputation, and if he backed out now, he would never be able to hold his head high in the city again.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed off the ground with his toes, took a small leap, and plunged into the sea.
Seeing that he had actually entered the water, the crowd, driven by curiosity, inched closer but still remained two or three meters away from the shore, just close enough to see the old man in the water.
The old man took a few more steps into the sea, then turned around excitedly and shouted to the crowd, "It's safe!"
The people exchanged uncertain glances, still not fully convinced. Someone shouted, "Why don't you go a bit further?"
The old man, as if to prove a point, stomped further into the sea, taking a dozen more steps.
By now, the water had risen to his chest. He lost his footing and tumbled sideways into the water.
The crowd, thinking he had been attacked by a monster, immediately panicked and scrambled backward, fleeing toward safety. Chaos ensued.
Amid the commotion, someone shouted, "He's up again! He's up again!"
The crowd turned to see the old man climbing out of the water, spinning around in the shallows, and shouting with all his might, "I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Only then did the crowd regain some composure, watching as the old man splashed around in the water, almost showing off.
A few brave young men, shaking off their parents' restraining hands, approached the shore. They didn't enter the water but instead cast fishing nets into the sea.
Seeing that nothing happened to them, more and more people returned to the shore, resuming their old routines. Some even fetched wine jugs from their boats, downed three cups of strong liquor, and followed the old man into the sea.
The commotion grew louder, and even those who had initially been too afraid to approach now joined the crowd at the shore. The crisis in Vastsea had been resolved, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, this was something even the Spirit Hall couldn't handle, and yet it had been solved by a small Spider God Church?
A few of the old man's close friends came forward to testify, saying that he had knocked on their doors late last night, claiming to have met the Spider God's envoy and that the envoy had promised to deal with the sea soul beasts.
At the time, they had thought the old man had gone mad from grief after losing his son and daughter. Now, it seemed he had been telling the truth.
That night, the soul masters of Vastsea gathered in an unusually unified manner at the local branch of the Spider God's temple.
Fang Chang didn't disappoint them. Seizing the opportunity, he used telepathy to summon them one by one and bestowed upon them a "Blessing of the Spider God."
This further confirmed the existence of the Spider God's envoy, adding credibility to the rumors that the envoy had defeated the sea soul beasts and saved Vastsea.
Word of the events in the city spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the entire western part of the continent. This coincided perfectly with the earlier rumors of Fang Chang's "generosity," and the Spider God Church suddenly gained immense fame.
In the eyes of many, the Spider God Church, which they had previously dismissed, had quietly grown to rival the Spirit Hall in power.
Even some issues that the Spirit Hall couldn't resolve might now be handled by the Spider God cult.
Of course, those with a bit more knowledge and understanding of the Spirit Hall's true strength wouldn't be so quick to believe this.
While the rumors spread and everyone searched for the legendary Spider God's envoy, Fang Chang had already left Vastsea and returned to the depths of the sea.
After a few days of adjustment, the Sea Spider Queen had managed to calm her severely damaged clan.
Following the battle with the chimera jellyfish, the Sea Spider clan, which had originally numbered nearly two hundred, was now reduced to just over eighty, half of whom were injured to varying degrees.
Fang Chang suddenly appeared by the shipwreck, feeling a small sense of accomplishment as he looked at the Sea Spider clan.
Although the Sea Spiders were severely weakened and far from their former glory, they still outnumbered and outmatched the creatures in his own nest in terms of both numbers and combat power.
Of course, in terms of potential, these Sea Spiders were far inferior to his own offspring. He wasn't generous enough to evolve all of them.
He turned to the Sea Spider Queen and sent her a telepathic message, ordering her to lead the clan forward. He then set off first in the direction of the chimera jellyfish's lair, as she had described.
The Sea Spider Queen, having received her orders, immediately emitted a strange sound to rally her clan and followed closely behind Fang Chang.
With her as his lieutenant, Fang Chang felt much more at ease. These Sea Spiders weren't his offspring, nor had they been trained by him from a young age. Without her, he might not have been able to control them.
After traveling through the sea for half a day, the group of spiders finally arrived at a massive underwater cave, about ten meters in diameter. This was the legendary lair of the chimera jellyfish.
According to the Sea Spider Queen, the chimera jellyfish had previously only been able to fuse into a single entity with a soul power of around eighty to ninety thousand years, which was still within their control.
But in the past two years, their strength had skyrocketed, and with their racial talent for fusion, they had overwhelmed the Sea Spider clan.
Now, it seemed that the secret to their rapid growth might lie within this very lair.