Liu Erlong raised her head, gazing up at the sky, and spoke in a low, distant voice: "Never let me find out you've done her wrong. If I do, it won't matter whose disciple you are or how deep your connections run — the Earth King from that day will be your example."
Though she hadn't named anyone specifically, everyone knew those words were directed at Tang San.
Gently patting Xiao Wu's back, Tang San released her from his embrace. A resolute light suddenly blazed in his eyes. He pulled a bundle of emerald-green leaves from his Myriad Treasure Pouch and placed them in Xiao Wu's mouth. At the same time, he took the Fragrant Qiluo Spirit Herb from her hands and stowed it safely away in the Myriad Treasure Pouch.
They were Dragon Lingzhi Leaves, possessing healing and body-strengthening properties — also harvested from the surroundings of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye some time ago.
After Xiao Wu swallowed the Dragon Lingzhi Leaves, a cool sensation spread throughout her body, and the discomfort in her chest eased considerably.
Tang San turned his gaze toward the nearby peaks. "Deep in that mountain lies Senior Dugu's secluded cultivation grounds. There, you'll find a truly extraordinary place called the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye. Any person or creature that approaches will be overwhelmed by the extreme cold and heat within and die within moments. But it is precisely because of this that countless rare and precious treasures have been born there. Every herb I currently possess came from that very place. The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye is lethal to others, but because I've consumed two spirit herbs in the past, it actually benefits me instead. Absorbing a Soul Ring there will be far more efficient. I'll have to trouble everyone to wait for me here. I'll complete the absorption as quickly as I can. And under no circumstances should anyone approach the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye — I don't want anyone hurt by its energy."
After offering this brief explanation, Tang San didn't linger. With that look of steel resolve still burning in his heart, he vaulted across the terrain in a few leaps and arrived beside the Cave Demon Spider. Blue Silver Grass surged forth, coiling around the restrained, treacherous beast. Behind him, the Eight Spider Lances deployed, carrying his body at astonishing speed toward the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye.
Tang San's explanation had been meant to put everyone at ease. But his resolve stemmed from power — or rather, the lack of it. Everything that had just unfolded was yet another reminder, delivered by harsh reality, of how insufficient his strength still was. All he wanted now was to become stronger, far stronger, so that he would have the power to protect his companions and the one he loved.
Watching Tang San choose the Cave Demon Spider without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Wu was about to say something, but Liu Erlong stopped her. Her calm voice drifted to Xiao Wu's ear: "A man like that — that's what a real man is. With that kind of resolve, he will absolutely succeed. As a woman, no matter whether her man's decision is right or wrong, she should support him unconditionally. If he's right, you should be happy for him. And even if he's wrong, and he falls because of it — at worst, you simply follow him into the ground."
Liu Erlong's words were spoken quietly, but they were thick with sorrow. The helplessness woven through them was enough to make any listener's heart ache.
Xiao Wu murmured, "At worst... simply follow him into the ground. Mother, you're right. I should support him in everything he does." Liu Erlong's words had thrown open a door inside her. Now that she understood, a wave of relief washed over Xiao Wu.
But on the other side, the Great Master was experiencing something entirely different. Standing behind Liu Erlong, he stared blankly at her, unable to utter a single word. His entire being seemed wooden. He stood there in a daze for a long while, silent.
Flandre's expression was grim as he looked toward the Great Master. "Xiaogang, come with me. I need to speak with you."
With that, Flandre walked off to one side. The Great Master followed behind him, expressionless, giving the impression of nothing more than a walking corpse.
Watching the Great Master trail after Flandre into the distance, Liu Erlong sighed inwardly. Xiaogang, oh Xiaogang — I could never love another man for the rest of my life. If you truly won't accept me, then I suppose this is how I'll live out my days. At least now I have a daughter. I'm beginning to understand why you took Tang San as your disciple. At the very least, a child can become something for us to hold on to.
With that thought, a sense of openness settled over Liu Erlong's heart. The depression inside her eased a little, and she felt considerably lighter. As the tension in her features relaxed, she somehow looked even more beautiful. She gently drew Xiao Wu's shoulder close and gazed out at the horizon.
Tang San crossed over the mountain and quickly arrived at that familiar place.
Returning to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye, the sight before him was deeply impressive. This treasure ground, which he had previously all but plundered, had already returned to lush greenery. The colors weren't as brilliantly varied as before, but the vibrant, teeming sense of life was remarkably refreshing.
The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye truly deserved its reputation. The seeds Tang San had left behind had all taken root and sprouted. With a tenfold growth rate, the area had regenerated considerable life in just half a year. Though it would take time before immortal-grade spirit herbs appeared again, the site remained a treasure ground. Given a century or several hundred years, it would surely regain its former splendor.
Tang San tossed the Cave Demon Spider to the side. Behind him, the Eight Spider Lances pierced without ceremony directly into the creature's vitals. The restrained, treacherous spider's life force drained away ceaselessly under the devouring power of the Eight Spider Lances.
Tang San's method of dealing with the Cave Demon Spider was nearly identical to how he had dispatched the Human-Faced Demon Spider moments ago. But he discovered that while the devoured energy made him feel momentarily powerful, that power quickly dissipated — it wasn't being absorbed by the Eight Spider Lances the way before. He understood: this was because the Eight Spider Lances had already taken in sufficient energy during their recent evolution. The devouring ability, after all, could not completely convert outside power into one's own. As for the reasons — one was that Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill had no method of retaining that energy, and two, the foreign energies had different properties; absorbing them rashly would bring harm rather than benefit.
As the Cave Demon Spider neared death beneath the Eight Spider Lances, the small eyes on its head gleamed with vicious, spiteful light. A strange smile played at the corner of Tang San's mouth, and the purple-gold radiance in his eyes suddenly intensified — two sharp beams that plunged deep into the spider's eyes.
The Cave Demon Spider's massive body shuddered violently. Tang San seized that opportunity, pushing both the Eight Spider Lances' poison and devouring power to their fullest.
The violent struggles gradually subsided, and the Cave Demon Spider's life drew to its end.
Xiao Wu had mentioned soul shock. Tang San's solution was to use his Purple Extreme Demon Eye to strike a devastating blow to the creature's spirit in the instant before its death — dispersing the resentment it held in that final moment. That way, the soul shock buried deep in the subconscious would vanish along with it, making the absorption of the Soul Ring far easier.
A faint black glow began to emanate from the Cave Demon Spider, coalescing into a ring above its body. The appearance of the Soul Ring's power confirmed that this thousand-year Soul Beast had been utterly stripped of its life.
Tang San shed his outer garment, spread his arms, and leapt directly into the scorching Yang Spring — the kind of heat that could melt gold and iron — then swam to the point where the two waters of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye converged.
For anyone else, both waters were lethal extremes. But for Tang San, who had consumed the Eight-Angle Mysterious Ice Grass and the Fierce Fire Apricot Tender Dew, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye offered only warmth and coolness.
Two distinct energies flowed into his body simultaneously, harmonizing with the properties of the spirit herbs within him and pulsing in a quiet rhythm. Tang San lay flat in the spring water and slowly raised his right hand. A blue-purple radiance emerged from his palm, and Blue Silver Grass reached out to the Cave Demon Spider's Soul Ring on the shore, summoning it.
The black current finally found its outlet. It surged toward Tang San's right hand like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.
The instant that black current made contact with the Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass in Tang San's palm, ripples of tremendous force radiated outward across the surface of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye's waters.
Tang San's decision to absorb the Soul Ring here had been carefully considered. The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye would not harm him — thanks to the two spirit herbs he had consumed, it would actually nourish him, forming an invisible protective layer within his body. The spring waters would further awaken the properties of those two herbs, creating a second protective layer. And behind him stood the external Attached Soul Bone. Though the Soul Ring energy of a thousand-year Soul Beast was vast, if it wanted to reach Tang San's actual body, it first had to break through all three layers of defense.
With Tang San's current strength, he could already absorb the Soul Rings of any Soul Beast up to six thousand years. With these three safeguards in place, absorbing the Soul Ring of a Cave Demon Spider that had just entered the thousand-year rank was highly likely to succeed. This was the crucial reason he dared to take the gamble.
Plans and reality, however, always diverge. Tang San was learning that now. Without actually trying, one could never imagine just how vast the Soul Power of a thousand-year Soul Ring truly was.
The moment the black current surged into his body through his right hand, Tang San felt the light around him go dark, as if he had been swallowed by a titanic wave.
This was no exaggeration. The energy pouring in from the Soul Ring filled every corner of his body in an instant. He didn't even need to circulate it deliberately — the overwhelming power was already forcing its way through on its own.
The Cave Demon Spider's Soul Power wasn't as domineering as the Human-Faced Demon Spider's, but it was saturated with a bone-deep cold. Not the cold of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye's frigid spring — this was a cold that emanated from the deepest reaches of the spirit. It was the feeling of one's spiritual world being invaded by an icy, sinister chill.