"Yo~ Little spider, I finally found you. Have you eaten yet?"
Bai Mu arrived late, riding Zygarde.
Ignoring the mess on the ground, he stepped directly on the Man-Faced Demon Spider's shattered head and greeted it warmly.
"Hiss—ah!!!"
The Man-Faced Demon Spider let out a despairing shriek. Its broken body struggled violently, trying to tear the human in front of it apart.
Thump!
Bai Mu lifted his foot and stomped down again, forcing the Man-Faced Demon Spider to obediently lie flat on the ground.
"I'm really sorry for making you suffer so much, but I feel like it still isn't enough. Please endure it a little longer—it won't hurt for too long."
He recalled a saying: the more furious, aggrieved, and despairing a Spirit Beast was before death, the higher the chance of dropping rare loot.
To raise the drop rate of the Eight Spider Lances, Bai Mu decided to push this Man-Faced Demon Spider's negative emotions to the absolute limit.
Jungle Healing activated, giving it a bit of recovery.
Then he took out a dagger and began "discussing art" with the Man-Faced Demon Spider, carving strangely beautiful clusters of red spider lilies.
"Hiss—ah!"
With every cut, the Man-Faced Demon Spider twitched violently. Its cries were filled with humiliation and hatred.
"Don't get excited. We still have time. Enjoy it slowly."
"Art… must not be rushed."
Bai Mu's hands never stopped as he diligently carved out an unspeakable fairy tale of Milk Dragon and Peppa Pig.
A quarter of an hour later, the Man-Faced Demon Spider's frenzy faded. It was barely clinging to life, its eyes filled with nothing but deep, bone-chilling hatred.
"Don't look at me like that! I'm doing this for your own good!"
Bai Mu gently used the dagger to close its remaining eye, then suddenly increased the force in his hand.
"That's enough. Die…"
"Awoo~"
Just as Bai Mu was about to send the little spider to eternal rest, Little Soft suddenly let out a low warning growl.
Z2 instantly went invisible, hiding within the nearby bushes.
Rustle—
The trees parted, and an odd group of two elders and one young woman stepped out.
When they saw Bai Mu carving so intently, all three froze.
"Ugh—! What are you doing? That's disgusting!"
The sight nearly made Meng Yiran vomit.
"Young man, if you're hunting a Spirit Beast, just give it a clean death. There's no need for this."
Snake Granny had lived many years and was no stranger to scenes involving Spirit Beasts.
But this level of cruelty was something she had never seen before.
"Wait."
Long Gong narrowed his eyes.
"That spider under his foot… isn't that a thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider?"
"This Man-Faced Demon Spider is perfect for you, Yiran!"
Snake Granny's face lit up with joy.
"We searched everywhere, and it appears right here without any effort!"
Long Gong stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
"Mhm, mhm!"
Meng Yiran nodded excitedly.
The three of them completely ignored Bai Mu, acting as if the Man-Faced Demon Spider already belonged to them.
Snake Granny sized Bai Mu up.
Handsome, young, and capable of hunting a Man-Faced Demon Spider alone—his talent and strength were clearly not bad.
What puzzled her was the Dragon Hound beside him. It looked like an external spirit, yet ever since they appeared, it had been hopping around nonstop…
Was it dancing to welcome them?
"Young man, my name is Chao Tianxiang, known as Snake Granny."
Chao Tianxiang stepped forward, her tone relatively polite.
"Thank you for helping us hunt this Man-Faced Demon Spider. My granddaughter Meng Yiran urgently needs this spirit ring. Please be magnanimous and give it to us. We will certainly reward you generously afterward."
"Just because she needs it, does that mean I don't?"
Bai Mu continued practicing his knife work on the Man-Faced Demon Spider as if nothing mattered.
He looked up, half-smiling.
"And besides… honored guests, trying to take my prey without saying a word—isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"My name is Meng Shu, known in the jianghu as Long Gong."
Long Gong Meng Shu frowned and slammed his Dragon-Head Walking Stick into the ground.
Eight spirit rings rose beneath his feet in sequence—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black!
The oppressive aura of a Spirit Douluo spread outward.
His voice turned cold.
"Give us some face, or else… hehe."
"Oh~ A mighty Spirit Douluo, is it?"
Bai Mu's tone remained casual.
"This Man-Faced Demon Spider has two thousand years of cultivation. Can your granddaughter handle that? Aren't you afraid she'll explode?"
"Two thousand years?!"
Long Gong and Snake Granny were startled.
They hadn't carefully identified its age, nor were they particularly skilled at judging the age of this kind of Spirit Beast.
But the Man-Faced Demon Spider was already on its last breath, ready to die at any moment.
Long Gong's expression hardened.
"No matter how many thousands of years it has, once my granddaughter kills it, I'll identify it slowly. You'd better step aside willingly!"
Snake Granny felt the matter was settled and immediately instructed:
"Yiran, go kill the Man-Faced Demon Spider."
"Okay!"
Meng Yiran pulled out her dagger and stepped forward excitedly.
"Oh~ What great authority you have~"
Bai Mu sighed softly.
"What if I say no?"
As the final word fell, the dagger in his hand dropped straight down, stabbing fiercely into the Man-Faced Demon Spider's head—and twisting hard.
Pfft!
Brain matter burst out.
A deep purple spirit ring slowly rose into the air, its color rich and heavy—clearly over two thousand years old.
"Ah!"
Meng Yiran's excitement froze instantly.
"What?!"
"Brat, this is provocation! You're courting death!"
Long Gong and Snake Granny were furious. They never imagined Bai Mu would dare strike the killing blow right in front of them.
"Anyone can talk big!"
Bai Mu casually tossed the dagger aside and looked at Zygarde.
"Little Soft… the rest is up to you."
"Awoo—!!!"
Zygarde stopped "dancing."
An overwhelming aura erupted from its body, releasing terrifying dragon pressure.
"This aura… how is this possible?!"
Long Gong and Snake Granny's expressions changed at the same time.
They would believe it if someone said this pressure belonged to a Spirit Saint.
But why did it appear on the spirit of a young man who needed to absorb a thousand-year spirit ring?
Could he be an old monster hiding his cultivation?
But that didn't seem right either!
"Brat, how old are you exactly? What rank are you?"
Long Gong forced himself to ask, barely maintaining his composure.
"Twelve years old. Rank 40. What about it?"
Bai Mu grinned, revealing cold white teeth.
As his voice fell, three spirit rings rose beneath his feet at the same time—
Yellow. Purple. Black.
The absolutely optimal combination.
"How… how is this possible…"
Long Gong and Snake Granny were completely shaken.
Being Rank 40 at twelve years old was already unbelievable.
But those spirit ring colors?!
Not to mention the bizarre external spirit whose aura rivaled a Spirit Saint…
A genius like this definitely had terrifying forces backing him!
"What… what family supports you?"
Snake Granny swallowed and asked cautiously.
"I don't have a family."
Bai Mu tilted his head slightly.
"But the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School seems interested in recruiting me as his son-in-law?"
He raised the token Ning Fengzhi had given him.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?!"
"Son-in-law?!"
Long Gong and Snake Granny gasped sharply.
One of the Three Great Sects of the continent.
The strongest support spirit, wealth rivaling a nation, and two Titled Douluo—Sword and Bone—standing guard.
To offend the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, plus a future Titled Douluo, over a dead Man-Faced Demon Spider…
It wasn't worth it.
"This matter was our fault. We will take our leave!"
Long Gong made a decisive choice, grabbing his granddaughter and turning to go.
"Wait."
Bai Mu's icy voice suddenly rang out.
"Did I say you could leave?"