Humans die for wealth, birds perish for food. Even soul beasts cannot resist their instincts.
Chen Ming's martial soul was now a genuine Emerald Scorpion Emperor martial soul, of extremely high quality, further enhanced by an external soul bone of the same origin that had grown to the ten-thousand-year level.
In the past three months at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he had undergone tremendous growth through consuming herbs and simulating the essence of immortal grasses.
His essence could be described as exceptionally pure and unfathomably rich. To any soul beast with devouring attributes, he was akin to a walking immortal herb.
If the Man-Faced Demon Spider were to devour Chen Ming, it could break through from less than five thousand years to twenty thousand years in a short period and ascend to the rank of Spider Emperor.
As for the potential benefits afterward, they were beyond measure.
For a soul beast like the Man-Faced Demon Spider, which was universally hunted by beasts and humans alike, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The temptation was simply unimaginable.
Chen Ming was merely a Soul Elder who had not yet obtained his third soul ring. While his Poison Cloud technique had caused significant damage to the Man-Faced Demon Spider, the spider's instincts did not perceive him as an unbeatable threat.
Compared to the threat posed by Chen Ming, the allure of his essence was far greater for the Man-Faced Demon Spider. Driven by its primal instincts, the spider had already marked Chen Ming as prey that must be devoured.
As for the two-legged monkey standing beside him?
From the Man-Faced Demon Spider's perspective, that human was powerless and posed no threat. Otherwise, why would he just stand there watching while his companion was hunted? Surely, it couldn't be that he looked down on it, could it?
The Man-Faced Demon Spider's compound eyes glimmered with dark purple soul power. Its abdomen rapidly expanded and contracted before spewing out a massive web from its mouth. The web expanded in the air, rushing toward Chen Ming.
As a cunning soul beast, the Man-Faced Demon Spider always kept its trump cards reserved for emergencies. Even when injured by the Wind Demon Wolf pack, it refrained from using its web-spraying ability, which could only be activated three times a day.
Although it had sustained injuries in battle, it had not expended even one use of its web-spraying ability. This was one of the key reasons it dared to target Chen Ming under these circumstances.
The spider web came fast, expanding mid-air to a diameter of four or five meters. It was laced with sticky, toxic soul power, capable of injecting venom into its prey the instant it made contact.
For a Man-Faced Demon Spider of around four thousand years, its web-spraying ability was sufficient to restrain any soul beast under ten thousand years for a short period.
Even against super-strength soul beasts like the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear or the Titan Giant Ape, its web could at least hold them off for a second, buying precious time to escape.
"Perfect timing," Chen Ming said. Faced with the incoming web, he did not choose to evade. Instead, he channeled soul power into his tail, extending it before thrusting it directly at the spider web.
Once infused with sufficient soul power, the tip of Chen Ming's tail turned a dark green, emitting a sharp and deadly aura.
Like a whip, Chen Ming's tail lashed out, slicing through the air with a sonic boom. The resulting force severed the spider web cleanly in the center.
Without its stable structure, the soul power within the web dissipated, rapidly weakening its strength. The severed edges of the web were further eroded by the Emerald Scorpion Emperor's venom, leaving only fragments within a single breath.
Taking advantage of the moment the web was launched, the Man-Faced Demon Spider lunged at Chen Ming, its spear-like legs aiming to impale his chest and abdomen like skewers.
In that instant, Chen Ming adjusted his footing, shifting his body angle. Soul power surged beneath his feet, allowing him to slide past the spider's underbelly at an unnatural angle.
Not only did he dodge the spider's attack, but as he passed below its grotesque, human-like abdomen, Chen Ming channeled soul power into his palm and delivered a venomous strike to the twisted human face.
Screech!!!
The Man-Faced Demon Spider crashed heavily to the ground. The critical hit to its weak spot left it unable to maintain balance in mid-air. Its front legs pierced the ground upon landing, leaving a crater beneath its body.
Chen Ming's venomous palm strike was the result of training inspired by legendary poison techniques from martial arts novels in his past life. It allowed him to perfectly channel his internal venom. While it was still far from the legendary Five Venom Divine Palm that combined five supreme poisons, the poison attributes of the Emerald Scorpion Emperor and the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor had already merged flawlessly.
A single strike could reduce ordinary enemies to a puddle of pus.
After taking Chen Ming's venomous palm strike, the Man-Faced Demon Spider's abdomen began to melt. The twisted human face on its abdomen vanished, replaced by oozing pus.
The spider's abdomen was the only weak point on an otherwise resilient body. With such severe damage, there was no saving it.
Even with the vitality of a soul beast, the Man-Faced Demon Spider was undeniably at death's door, with no chance of survival.
In its dying moments, it appeared to make a crucial decision.
Rather than continuing to attack Chen Ming, who had inflicted the fatal injury, the spider turned its focus to Dugu Bo. It burned its remaining life force and soul power, firing the last two webs it could muster.
In the spider's mind, this move could kill the seemingly powerless human. From a soul beast's perspective, this would surely cause immense pain to the human who had dealt the killing blow.
Even in death, it wanted the human who killed it to suffer.
However, just as it prepared to watch the outcome of its final attack, something completely unexpected happened.
Dugu Bo casually waved his hand, and a green curtain of soul power rose to meet the webs.
The moment the soul power came into contact with the webs, the last two webs, fueled by the spider's life force, were instantly evaporated without a trace.
The nine soul rings emanating from Dugu Bo's body struck the spider like a thunderbolt in its dying moments.
Even for the cruel and ruthless Man-Faced Demon Spider, seeing its final attack nullified so effortlessly was unbearable. For the first time in its life, it truly felt anger and despair.
"You had the power to kill me all along, and you waited until now?!"
"Why didn't you just slap me to death earlier?!"
"Were you just watching this whole time to humiliate me on purpose?!"
Screeeeech! In its final moments, the thousand-year-old Man-Faced Demon Spider, with emotions no less complex than a ten-thousand-year soul beast, cursed Dugu Bo in its language with the most vulgar words it could muster.
But its anger meant nothing to Dugu Bo or Chen Ming, only hastening its demise.
The spider's already corroded abdomen finally erupted, spilling its internal organs and fluids.
Though the primary cause of its death was Chen Ming's attack, in the end, it was its anger that finished it off.
To put it bluntly, it died of rage—quite literally, it exploded from anger.
A purple soul ring emerged from the spider's corpse, marking its death.
Looking at the fallen spider, Chen Ming and Dugu Bo exchanged glances, both puzzled.
"How did this spider even dare to attack a Titled Douluo?"
"Did it think anyone could just stand by and spectate in a battlefield like this?"
Chen Ming circled the spider's corpse several times, unable to figure out where the spider's confidence had come from. In the spider's now lifeless compound eyes, he could vaguely discern emotions of despair and fury.