The Sovereign's Gaze and the Dragon's Challenge
The information from the Eye of Observation was stark. A three-hundred-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider, with combat power rivaling a three-thousand-year beast. A low-level Soul Master equivalent. The analytical part of Yao Xuan's mind, honed by transmigration and survival, advised caution. The risk-to-reward ratio was poor; this was a training simulation, not a life-or-death struggle for resources. He began to calculate his retreat, his body subtly coiling for a swift, disengaging movement.
Then, the system interface pulsed with a new, urgent light.
A hundred Gold Evolution Points. That was not just generous; it was transformative. It represented a significant leap in his personal cultivation or a crucial upgrade for a future soul skill. The system was not merely offering a reward; it was issuing a challenge aligned with the very nature of his power. To retreat now would not be caution, but a denial of his own legacy.
The calculus shifted instantly. A fierce, focused light ignited in Yao Xuan's eyes.
'A perversion of order… and my role is to enforce the original one,' he thought. The Ancestral Dragon was not just power; it was a concept. The foundation upon which all later draconic, and by extension, many natural orders, were built. This spider was a hateful outlier.
"Ancestral Dragon, possess me!"
He did not shout. The command was a mental whisper, but the effect was profound. The air around him thickened. A faint, nine-colored halo—visible only as a heat-shimmer distortion—expanded from his body. The majestic form of the Ancestral Dragon materialized, let out a silent roar that vibrated in the spiritual frequency of the simulation, and plunged into Yao Xuan.
His transformation was swift and awe-inspiring. Lustrous, nine-colored dragon scales sheathed his limbs and torso, not as bulky armor but as a second skin of living myth. His hands and feet elongated into elegant, deadly claws that seemed to dim the very light around their edges. But more than the physical change was the aura. A sense of ancient, calm authority radiated from him, pushing against the cloying, fearful miasma the spider exuded.
The Human-Faced Demon Spider, which had been skittering forward with nightmarish grace, faltered. The purple compound eyes flickered. The grotesque human face on its abdomen contorted further, not in hunger, but in something resembling confusion and primal unease. Its advance slowed by a crucial fraction.
In her section of the forest, Gu Yue was dispatching a Giant Hornet when she felt it—a ripple through the simulated world's core code. Not the earlier, profound tremor of Yao Xuan's bloodline trial, but something sharper, more aggressive. A pulse of supreme draconic authority, followed by the vile, skittering signature of a top-tier predator being challenged.
Her silver eyes narrowed, slicing through the digital sunlight. She dismissed the Giant Hornet with a negligent wave of her hand, freezing it solid mid-air.
'He's engaging it,' she realized. The cool, analytical Gu Yue assessed the data: the predator's signature matched records of a Human-Faced Demon Spider. A dangerous, cunning foe. The risk was calculable but high. Yet, the sovereign part of her, the Silver Dragon King, felt a stir of… approval. This was the proper response of a superior being to a chaotic blight.
But beneath that, Na'er's memories surfaced in a silent, urgent wave. Memories of watching Yao Xuan train, of a shared bowl of noodles, of absolute trust. A knot of fear, small and human, tightened in her stomach. Her feet, almost of their own accord, took a step in the direction of the spiritual disturbance before she forcibly stilled them.
'He must face his trials. I cannot intervene,' she told herself, the sovereign's logic warring with Na'er's heart. Her fists clenched at her sides. For the first time, the mask of detached observation cracked, revealing a sliver of intense, focused worry. She became a statue of conflicted silver, her consciousness tethered to a distant, silent battle.
In the observation room, panic sparked among the junior staff monitoring the feeds. "The Yao Xuan participant is not evading! He's powering up! He's going to engage the Demon Spider!"
"Activate forced ejection protocol for his pod!"
"Halt." Wu Changkong's voice, though quiet, cut through the tension like a blade. His eyes were fixed on the main screen showing Yao Xuan's poised form. "Look at his bearing. There is no panic. Only resolve. He has assessed the foe and chosen to fight. This is the essence of practical training. Monitor him closely, but do not interfere unless his vital signs crash. The responsibility is mine."
Long Xuheng watched, a thoughtful frown on his face. This child was full of surprises.
Back in the clearing, the moment of spiderly hesitation was over. Its predatory instincts overrode its unease. With a horrific, skittering shriek, it lunged. Its two foremost spear-legs became blurs of polished darkness, cutting diagonally towards Yao Xuan's torso in a scissoring motion meant to bisect. Simultaneously, its abdomen convulsed, and a stream of viscous, purple venom shot forth, not as a loose spray but a concentrated, arrow-straight jet aimed at Yao Xuan's face—a diabolical one-two strike.
Yao Xuan's world narrowed to the incoming threats. His mind, operating with the clarity of battle, processed both.
He did not retreat. Instead, he flowed. Pivoting on the ball of his foot, his body seemed to liquefy, the venom arrow passing so close he felt its corrosive heat against his cheek. It struck a tree behind him, which immediately began to sizzle and melt with a sickening sound.
At the same time, his right arm—now a limb of scaled power—surged forward. Not with a wild swing, but a precise, almost clinical thrust. The nine-colored glow around him intensified as he consciously pushed his bloodline aura outward, focusing it like a weight upon the spider's spirit.
The spider's movements hitched, just for an instant. Its perfectly coordinated strike faltered.
"Ancestral Dragon's Right Claw!"
The first layer of his Qi and Blood Meridians blazed with power. His right arm swelled slightly, the muscles coiling with primordial strength, and the claws gleamed with a light that seemed to fray the very edges of the simulation. He did not meet the spider legs head-on. He intercepted them at the joint, where the chitin was theoretically a fraction less resilient, aiming to cripple rather than block.
CLANG—SCRREEEECH!
A sound like a monstrous bell being struck and torn echoed through the digital forest. Sparks, real simulated sparks, flew from the point of impact.
Yao Xuan felt the impact shudder through his bones, driving his feet inches into the soft earth. A streak of white appeared across two of his dragon claws—the sign of incredible pressure. But the scales held. The Ancestral Dragon's defense, bolstered by his bloodline, proved its worth.
The Human-Faced Demon Spider was not so fortunate. A sharp crack sounded. One of its prized, sword-like forelegs was violently bent backwards at the joint, deep fissures spider-webbing across the glossy black surface. The force of the collision, combined with its own compromised momentum, sent its massive body spinning away. It crashed through a thicket, flattening saplings and carving a trench in the soil before coming to a heap thirty meters distant.
Silence descended, broken only by the faint, pained chittering of the wounded beast and the sizzle of dissolving wood.
Yao Xuan stood his ground, his right arm slowly lowering. He took a steadying breath, the nine-colored aura around him pulsing like a steady heart. The first exchange was his. But the battle was far from over. The most dangerous beast was a wounded one, and the human face on its abdomen was now twisted into a mask of silent, insane fury.
He had taken its measure. Now, he had to finish it.