The Emerald Gecko's territory was quite far from the Dark Illusion Scorpion, and most soul masters would need to take a lengthy detour to reach it. However, with Dugu Bo accompanying him, Chen Ming could take shortcuts through the domains of some high-level soul beasts, significantly reducing the time required. About two-thirds of the way there, Chen Ming and Dugu Bo noticed something unusual: small soul beasts in the surrounding forest had been killed but not eaten. This strange occurrence immediately caught their attention.
Dugu Bo stepped forward to investigate and discovered that the injuries on these small soul beasts were caused by sharp weapons, with traces of venom belonging to a Man-Faced Demon Spider.
Recalling the characteristics of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, Dugu Bo quickly deduced that one had likely passed through the area not long ago. He immediately halted their journey toward the Emerald Gecko's territory and began carefully scouting the surroundings.
Before long, using the trail of dead soul beasts and marks on the ground, Dugu Bo pinpointed the location of the Man-Faced Demon Spider. He then led Chen Ming to track it down.
After a short while, the two arrived at the spider's hunting grounds. There, they saw a Man-Faced Demon Spider with a body diameter exceeding 1.5 meters and eight spear-like legs over 3 meters long, cruelly torturing a Wind Demon Wolf that had only recently broken through the thousand-level.
Surrounding the Man-Faced Demon Spider were more than a dozen corpses of Wind Demon Wolves. Most of the corpses emitted yellow soul rings, while two or three juvenile wolves had faint white soul rings drifting above them.
Several of the spider's spear-like legs showed signs of cracking, and its carapace was oozing thick, sticky liquid, evidence of a fierce battle.
From this scene alone, Chen Ming could tell that the Man-Faced Demon Spider had encountered and exterminated a pack of Wind Demon Wolves during its wanderings.
Perhaps it had been injured by the wolves, or perhaps it was simply acting out of pure cruelty. Either way, the spider had not killed the Wind Demon Wolf leader outright. Instead, it was torturing the creature slowly with its legs.
As soon as Chen Ming and Dugu Bo appeared, the Man-Faced Demon Spider became instantly alert. It swiftly plunged one of its spear-like legs into the Wind Demon Wolf leader's head, ending the life of the severely mutilated soul beast. Then, it turned its attention to Chen Ming and Dugu Bo, watching them warily.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider was cruel but not foolish—or rather, truly foolish and cruel spiders didn't survive long before being hunted down by other soul beasts or soul masters.
This particular spider displayed a wary demeanor as it faced Dugu Bo and Chen Ming. The soul power on the leg it had pierced into the wolf's head surged with dark purple energy, rapidly absorbing the life force and soul power from the corpse.
Though the Man-Faced Demon Spider lacked rapid regeneration skills, this method of absorbing life force and soul power allowed it to quickly restore its condition.
Under the influence of the Wind Demon Wolf's life force, the cracks in the spider's legs began to shrink, and the foul-smelling liquid oozing from its carapace started to solidify.
Chen Ming watched with great interest as the spider's soul power and life force flowed within its body. Dugu Bo, on the other hand, made no move to interfere.
After all, to a Titled Douluo, a mere Man-Faced Demon Spider under 5,000 years old was little more than an oversized bug. If the spider had surpassed 10,000 years, it might have piqued Dugu Bo's interest—after all, he had never seen a Man-Faced Demon Spider over that age. But for a spider of just a few thousand years, he could squash it with a single slap.
After absorbing the life force and soul power, the Man-Faced Demon Spider did not attempt to flee. Its wariness seemed to gradually fade.
Despite its cunning nature, this type of soul beast was not truly intelligent. Its inherent cruelty and bloodthirst often led it to leave behind obvious traces of its actions.
The spider misinterpreted Dugu Bo and Chen Ming's passive observation as a sign of weakness. Their lack of martial soul summoning was taken as a sign that they had given up struggling.
Once its condition had improved slightly, the spider's murderous instincts took over once more. Its compound eyes locked onto Dugu Bo and Chen Ming, viewing them as its next prey.
Sensing the malicious intent in the spider's gaze, Dugu Bo's expression shifted slightly with irritation. He decided to slap the spider until it was nearly dead before dealing with it further. However, before he could act, Chen Ming stopped him.
"Grandfather, there's no need for you to intervene. Let me test the strength of this Man-Faced Demon Spider myself. I want to see if this Spider Emperor is truly worthy of becoming my soul ring."
"Alright, but be careful," Dugu Bo replied, nodding as he stepped aside. His expression grew a bit more serious.
Although he didn't believe that Chen Ming, a Soul Grandmaster, could defeat a Man-Faced Demon Spider comparable to a human Soul Elder or even some weaker Soul Ancesotr-level fighters, as a Titled Douluo, he was confident in his ability to eliminate the spider before it could harm Chen Ming.
Since Chen Ming wanted to try, Dugu Bo decided to observe and let the younger generation gain some experience.
As Chen Ming was speaking to Dugu Bo, the Man-Faced Demon Spider saw an opening and leaped into action. Its eight spear-like legs moved rapidly, covering the distance between them with a speed that seemed unnatural for a spider. One of its dark purple, lance-like forelegs stabbed directly at Chen Ming.
However, Chen Ming's perception far surpassed that of the spider. The moment it moved, Chen Ming was already prepared to counterattack.
With a flicker of movement, his martial soul activated and attached to his body. Soul power coursed through his leg meridians as he lightly tapped the ground with his toes, dodging the spider's vicious strike like a phantom.
In theory, Chen Ming could have attacked the cracks in the spider's forelegs during this moment, using the opportunity to cripple one of its most dangerous limbs.
However, Chen Ming's goal was to practice and evaluate whether the spider was suitable for him. Thus, he chose not to exploit this chance, allowing the spider to continue its performance.
A yellow soul ring flickered around him as a deep green poisonous mist began to spread from Chen Ming, spiraling outward like living serpents that coiled around the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
Sssssssss—!
Thanks to his training at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Chen Ming's poison had become far more potent than before.
Even though the Man-Faced Demon Spider's carapace was exceptionally durable and its resistance to toxins was among the best, under the corrosive power of the Emerald Scorpion Emperor's poison, thick smoke began rising from its body. Its supposedly impenetrable armor even showed signs of melting.
It was worth noting that the Man-Faced Demon Spider was considered a top-tier poison soul beast. Its defenses were not only robust, but it also possessed exceptional venom, making its poison resistance extremely high. Even poison-type soul masters at the Soul King level would hesitate to claim they could corrode the spider's carapace with their toxins.
"Screeeeeee!!!"
The spider let out a pained screech but did not retreat. Instead, it became even more frenzied, launching a ferocious assault on Chen Ming.
Despite the threat posed by Chen Ming's poison, the spider felt an instinctive greed emanating from the martial soul Chen Ming had released, as though it craved the power in his bloodline.