In the dimly lit forest, a human and a beast stood in a tense confrontation. The human was Chen Yuan, and the beast was a Man-Faced Demon Spider.
Chen Yuan held the Seven Kill Sword in his hand, his gaze locked onto the Man-Faced Demon Spider. In his dark eyes, the grotesque figure of the spider was reflected, but there was no trace of fear on his face—only determination.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider glared at Chen Yuan, its eight eyes filled with human-like malice and cunning. It was furious because this human had caused its previous prey to escape. Now, it intended to make this human its next target.
With a hiss, the Man-Faced Demon Spider let out a roar and spat out a purple orb from its mouth. The orb shot toward Chen Yuan at incredible speed. As it neared, the orb exploded into a web woven from purple spider silk. The threads were thin but incredibly tough, and the dark purple sheen indicated the spider's most terrifying weapon—its corrosive venom.
Unlike ordinary spider-type soul beasts, the Man-Faced Demon Spider did not spin webs externally. Instead, it wove its webs inside its body. Although it could only produce three webs a day, that was more than enough for its hunting needs.
The purple web was now right in front of Chen Yuan, but he remained calm. With a swing of his sword, two intersecting sword beams shot forward. The moment they touched the web, there was a tearing sound, and the web was sliced apart. The sword beams continued their trajectory, heading straight for the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
The spider was baffled. Its webs had always been indestructible, and no prey had ever escaped them. How had this human managed to destroy it?
But there was no time for it to ponder. The two sword beams were closing in rapidly. The spider retracted its eight legs and tried to use its shiny black carapace to block the attack.
Boom!
With an explosive sound, the Man-Faced Demon Spider let out a shrill cry. Its thick carapace had been shattered, and two deep, intersecting wounds now marred its body. Foul-smelling, pale green blood oozed from the injuries, a sight that would make anyone's scalp tingle.
Having succeeded in his attack, Chen Yuan did not press further. Instead, he stepped forward slowly, his voice calm as he spoke to the spider.
"For Tang San, you might have been a Man-Faced Demon Spider that exceeded all limits. But for me, you're just another beast. To obtain that treasure, it seems I'll have to use some special methods."
Seeing this, the Man-Faced Demon Spider initially panicked and retreated. But then, as if overcome by rage, it charged at Chen Yuan again. Two of its spider legs rose high, their barbed tips resembling two dark purple spears, thrusting toward Chen Yuan.
"First Soul Skill, Sword's Edge Unleashed!"
Chen Yuan's first soul ring lit up, and an invisible aura wrapped around his Seven Kill Sword, increasing its sharpness and attack power by 40%. With a swift motion, two flashes of sword light cut through the air, and the two spider legs were severed, flying off to the side.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider let out another agonized screech and began to retreat. It now realized that this human was far stronger than itself.
"Did I say you could leave? You're not going anywhere."
A cold glint flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes. He pushed off the ground with his toes, propelling himself forward rapidly. As he closed the distance, he swung his sword repeatedly.
The spider could only use its remaining legs to block the attacks, but the cost was high. One by one, its legs were severed, scattering across the ground. Pale green blood pooled everywhere, creating a gruesome scene.
With all its legs cut off, the Man-Faced Demon Spider collapsed heavily to the ground, unable to move. Its eyes were filled with panic as it faced an unprecedented crisis.
Chen Yuan walked over and stepped on the spider's head. He then began stabbing it repeatedly with his Seven Kill Sword, slowly blinding each of its eight eyes. The process was deliberately slow, inflicting immense suffering on the creature.
While it could still see, the spider's eyes were fixed on Chen Yuan, whose figure now seemed like a demon. Regret, hatred, fear, and resentment surged through its mind. It was unwilling to die like this.
After blinding all its eyes, Chen Yuan stepped back and swung his sword once more. With the boost from his first soul skill, he unleashed a terrifying sword beam, five meters long and gleaming with cold light.
Crack!
The Man-Faced Demon Spider's body was split in two by the sword beam. Pale green blood quickly soaked the ground, and its organs spilled out in a grotesque display.
Moments later, a milky-white energy seeped out and condensed into a purple soul ring. However, Chen Yuan showed no interest in it.
He searched through the spider's mangled remains but found nothing of value. His expression grew serious. Could it be that this treasure was destined only for Tang San?
Chen Yuan frowned, deep in thought. Then he turned his attention to the soul ring. Unlike ordinary soul bones, the external soul bone had originally entered Tang San's body along with the soul ring.
Chen Yuan channeled his soul power and, with a wave of his hand, dispersed the soul ring with a burst of energy. As the purple ring slowly dissipated, the lifeless body of the Man-Faced Demon Spider began to emit a faint glow. Without the soul ring to anchor it, the remaining energy coalesced within the corpse.
Soon, a pale white light appeared within the body. It was a bone, about the size of a human head, composed of eight barbed spines. Upon closer inspection, it resembled the spider's eight legs.
Chen Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief. After all his efforts, he had finally obtained this treasure. He was glad he had been cautious. If he had allowed the soul ring to dissipate naturally, he might never have known whether the soul bone would have formed.
He extended his left hand, palm up, and channeled soul power into the storage soul tool on his index finger. A finely crafted iron box appeared in his hand. He opened it and used the Seven Kill Sword to carefully lift the Eight Spider Lances, placing them inside the box. He then closed the lid and stored the box back in his soul tool.
The Eight Spider Lances were imbued with the Man-Faced Demon Spider's corrosive venom, so he dared not touch them directly. Now that he had this treasure, comparable to a 100,000-year soul bone, Chen Yuan felt confident that he could strike a deal with Dugu Bo and his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, even without expertise in poisons.
For now, his goal had been achieved, but it seemed the matter was not yet over.
From the distant trees, three figures approached rapidly. Chen Yuan noticed them and raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself:
'The Dragon-Snake Duo and Meng Yiran. They've come after all. But with my background, I have nothing to worry about.'
Soon, the three arrived at the scene. Upon seeing the carnage, they were shocked.
Chen Yuan stood with the Seven Kill Sword in hand, three soul rings circling him—one yellow and two purple. The sight left them speechless.
For a moment, the gruesome scene was forgotten as the three stared at Chen Yuan, trying to figure him out.
(End of Chapter)
Word Count : 1,263
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