The Spider's Return
Another half-hour bled into the relentless advance. The forest grew denser, the air heavier with primal energy. They had penetrated perhaps twenty kilometers into the Platform's heart, leaving the relative safety of the fringe far behind.
Their journey was marked by sporadic, intense encounters. A Millennium Lightning Goose, a swift and lethal flier that harried them with crackling bolts from above, had been their most significant challenge. Before his soul skill's evolution, such a foe would have been a protracted nightmare. Now, Yao Xuan had simply planted his feet, focused his will, and unleashed a Phantom Strike—a semi-solid projection of the Ancestral Dragon's claw that tore through the sky and brought the crackling beast down in a burst of feathers and fading lightning. Gu Yue's precise elemental interference—sapping the air's conductivity with localized vacuum pockets—had made the victory swift and clean.
The lesser, century-level beasts that ambushed from the shadows were left to Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, Zhang Yangzi, and Wang Jinxi. They handled them with increasing confidence and synergy, their movements sharpened by real danger. Yao Xuan and Gu Yue watched from the center, conserving their strength for the true threats, their presence a steady anchor.
The team moved as a single organism, connected by Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass and Gu Yue's subtle wind currents, with Zhang Yangzi's spirit eagle, Xiao Hei, scouting ahead from the treetops.
"Damn it! Xiao Hei!"
Zhang Yangzi's sudden, pained gasp shattered their rhythm. He staggered, face blanching, as a violent, spiritual severance lanced through his mind. Above them, a horrific scene unfolded. From the dense canopy, several obsidian, spear-tipped limbs had shot down with impossible speed, impaling the spectral eagle mid-flight. Xiao Hei let out a silent shriek of dissolving energy before bursting into a cloud of fading black motes.
The death of a spirit companion was a visceral blow, even in simulation. Zhang Yangzi's knees buckled; a cold sweat broke out on his brow as his soul power and senses dulled precipitously.
Before anyone could react further, the perpetrator descended.
It landed with a ground-shaking thud, kicking up a plume of decaying leaves and loam. Eight legs, each a polished, murderous black longer than a man was tall, anchored a body two meters in diameter. Its chitinous carapace shimmered with a sickly, pale purple light that seemed to drink the forest gloom. And on its swollen, pulsating abdomen, the grotesque, silently screaming human face was surrounded by a ring of eight cold, purple compound eyes that swiveled to fix on them with intelligent malice.
Another Human-Faced Demon Spider.
But this one was larger, its aura denser and more oppressive, a tangible wave of predatory dread that washed over the clearing. The [Eye of Observation] fed Yao Xuan the grim details: Cultivation: ~700 Years. Combat Power Equivalent: 4,500-5,000-Year Beast. Threat Assessment: High.
This spider rivaled a high-level Soul Elder in raw power. Factor in its venom, speed, and innate cunning, and it could threaten even a low-level Soul King. For Yao Xuan, even with his Millennium soul skills and bloodline, this was no longer a certain victory; it was a formidable challenge.
Fear was absent, but a profound, icy caution settled in its place. His mind cleared, focusing only on the threat.
"Positions! Zhang Yangzi, fall back and recover. Do not engage." Yao Xuan's voice was a whip-crack of command. Seeing Zhang Yangzi's ashen face and recognizing his incapacity, he added, "If you cannot fight, withdraw. Now."
Nodding painfully, Zhang Yangzi tapped the emergency beacon on his wrist. His form glimmered and vanished, leaving the team of five.
The remaining members didn't wait. Soul power flared around them in unison.
"Ancestral Dragon, possess me!"
"Ancestral Dragon Overlord Body!"
"Ancestral Dragon's Right Claw!"
Yao Xuan's transformation was a cascade of radiant power. Scales of nine-colored light sheathed him, his frame expanding with contained might. His right arm underwent its final, terrible metamorphosis into the dragon's claw. Two brilliant purple soul rings blazed at his feet, their millennium weight thickening the air.
Beside him, Gu Yue's silver hair seemed to lift in a nonexistent wind, her eyes burning with cold, analytical fire as elemental energy coalesced around her. Xie Xie and Tang Wulin flanked Yao Xuan, weapons ready. Wang Jinxi, despite the visible tremor in his legs—a phantom echo of his past death to such a creature—summoned his Bone Dragon King's defense, his jaw set in determination.
The spider observed them for a half-second, its human face contorting. Then, with shocking speed for its size, its abdomen convulsed. Not the instantaneous, inescapable web of its innate ability, but a vast, sticky net of yellow-green silk shot forth, aiming to blanket the entire group.
"Break it!" Gu Yue's command was sharp.
She was the first to react. A surge of azure light preceded a concentrated gale-force wind that roared from her outstretched hands, meeting the web head-on. But this was no ordinary silk. Infused with the spider's potent spiritual energy and sticky resilience, the web merely slowed, bulging inward but not tearing, its edges continuing to drape down toward them like a fatal curtain.
The collision of wind and web created a terrible straining sound. It was clear Gu Yue's attack alone wouldn't be enough.
Yao Xuan didn't hesitate. He took a step forward, placing himself between the descending net and his teammates. His transformed right claw, already glowing with gathered power, drew back. This wasn't the time for finesse.
"Sky-Rending Claw!"
He didn't aim for the spider. He aimed for the web itself, unleashing a concentrated wave of pure, rending force from his claw. The golden-purple energy slash met the sticky matrix. Where Gu Yue's wind had pushed, Yao Xuan's claw tore. The web shrieked as spiritual strands snapped, a large section vaporizing into dissipating smoke. A gap ripped open just as the net would have enveloped them.
Through the hole, the Human-Faced Demon Spider's eight eyes seemed to narrow. It had tested them. Now, it knew their coordination and power. It shifted, its legs tensing, preparing a real assault. The brief stalemate was over. The true, desperate battle for survival in the depths of the Riotous Period had begun.