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Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, dense foliage blocked out the sun, making it difficult for even fragmented slivers of sunlight to penetrate the layers of branches and leaves, leaving only a deep, oppressive shadow.
Amidst the damp scent of decaying leaves, a pungent, sickly sweet smell lingered—the intertwined scent of Man Faced Demon Spider venom and fresh blood.
At this moment, the Man Faced Demon Spider, a creature comparable in size to an ox or horse, was steadily retreating.
Its characteristic ferocious human face was contorted in pain, and its eight thick spider legs carved deep furrows into the ground, each movement slow and clumsy—Chen Yi's previous heavy blows had already caused several of its legs to subtly crack.
Chen Yi's figure was as agile as a leopard in the forest, his footwork shifting mysteriously, each step precisely evading the spider silk and venom sprayed by the Man Faced Demon Spider.
Taking advantage of the Man Faced Demon Spider's momentary disorientation from the intense pain, he stomped his foot hard on the ground, his body shooting out like an arrow from a bowstring, instantly circling to the side of the Man Faced Demon Spider.
This was a weak point in its eight eyes' field of vision, and a blind spot that its spider legs struggled to reach.
"Hmph!"
A low grunt erupted from Chen Yi's throat as his hands quickly clasped together, a dense spirit power condensing in his palms, a purplish-gold halo swirling between them.
Without the slightest hesitation, his palms, carrying immense force, slammed fiercely onto the Man Faced Demon Spider's head.
"Bang—"
A dull thud echoed through the forest as Chen Yi's palms firmly imprinted on the Man Faced Demon Spider's crown.
The tremendous impact caused the ground to tremble slightly, and the Man Faced Demon Spider's massive body instantly lost balance, stumbling backward, crashing into a small tree the size of a bowl behind it.
Green spider blood gushed from the cracks in its crown, sliding down its hideous human face, dripping onto the decaying leaves with a faint "sizzling" sound, corroding small pits.
Chen Yi gave it no chance to recover.
His body followed closely, his right palm suddenly tensing, knuckles flexing.
His originally broad and thick palm instantly transformed into a sharp "palm blade," spirit power condensing along its edge into a razor-sharp gleam as thin as a cicada's wing.
Using the momentum of his charge, he twisted his wrist, and the palm blade plunged directly towards the Man Faced Demon Spider's wide-open compound eyes.
With a "shhh" sound, the palm blade pierced in without resistance, dark green venom splattering from the gaps in his fingers, landing on Chen Yi's sleeve and instantly burning several small holes.
The Man Faced Demon Spider let out a shrill, ear-piercing wail, its eight spider legs flailing wildly, attempting to shake Chen Yi off.
But Chen Yi had already thrust half of his forearm into its eye socket, his fingertips pressing firmly against its internal vital points.
Immediately after, he exerted force with his wrist, the spirit power in his palm suddenly erupting, a powerful punch force vibrating through his arm, directly shattering the Man Faced Demon Spider's brain tissue.
The wailing ceased abruptly, the Man Faced Demon Spider's flailing legs instantly froze, then dropped limply, its massive body crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Its wide-open compound eyes gradually lost their luster, green blood still flowing, but without any sign of life.
The next moment, a purple spirit ring slowly appeared above it.
Chen Yi slowly withdrew his arm, shaking off the bloodstains from his palm, his gaze falling on the Man Faced Demon Spider's corpse, his eyes devoid of any ripples.
This was already the second thousand-year Spirit Beast he had slain today, and the twelfth Spirit Beast he had defeated since coming to the Star Dou Great Forest.
From initial hesitation to his current decisiveness, the life-and-death struggles within a hundred moves were slowly eroding the "comfort" in his bones.
A gentle breeze blew past, and the Grand Elder's figure appeared beside Chen Yi.
He glanced at the corpse on the ground and said with satisfaction:
"You've performed well these past few days.
Being able to kill a Man Faced Demon Spider within fifty moves means your strength now surpasses a considerable number of Spirit Elders."
It must be said that Chen Yi's adaptability was truly excellent.
In just three days, he could already choose the most energy-efficient and fastest way to kill Spirit Beasts.
He even used a "trade injury for life" tactic yesterday afternoon, killing a Shadow Leopard at the cost of a minor injury.
This kind of fighting style made the old man very satisfied.
Fortunately, Chen Yi couldn't hear the Grand Elder's thoughts, otherwise he would definitely have gone berserk.
Because yesterday, he had just repelled a thousand-year Spirit Beast and was about to take a good rest.
Suddenly, the next moment, a Shadow Leopard darted out from behind a tree, almost scratching him.
In the end, he had no choice but to use the "trade injury for life" method to kill the opponent.
Later, he learned that the Grand Elder, seeing his good progress over the past two days, had casually caught a Shadow Leopard on the way to hunt and threw it there to train his "alertness awareness," which made his face turn more than one shade darker at the time.
"After I rest for a while, I want to try that Death Demon Spider I saw this morning.
At that time, I'll ask Fourth Grandfather to be my Protector."
These past few days, while searching for Spirit Beasts, Chen Yi had inadvertently found a three-thousand-year-old Death Demon Spider.
As a top-tier Spirit Beast, its cultivation was far beyond Chen Yi's.
He wasn't confident of victory in a direct confrontation, but Chen Yi still wanted to try.
The Grand Elder stroked his beard with satisfaction.
Chen Yi's improvement over the past few days was quite remarkable; his attacks were no longer as indecisive as before, but rather decisive and ruthless enough.
"Don't rush into the Death Demon Spider matter.
Your spirit ring has been found."
Hearing this, Chen Yi, who was contemplating how to deal with the Death Demon Spider, immediately looked up, meeting the Grand Elder's smiling eyes, and said in surprise:
"Really?"
The Grand Elder smiled faintly: "Follow me!"
With that, a gentle spirit power enveloped Chen Yi, and the two quickly flew towards another direction.
Watching the surrounding trees rapidly recede, Chen Yi's heart was also exceptionally excited.
As long as he obtained his second spirit ring, the Realm he had been stuck in for so many days could finally be broken through.
Soon, the two arrived at a small river.
After setting Chen Yi down, the Grand Elder said nothing, merely looking indifferently ahead.
Following the Grand Elder's gaze, Chen Yi finally saw an exceptionally majestic and powerful Spirit Beast resting on the grass on the opposite bank of the river.
Its four limbs were thick and powerful, its tiger claws gleamed with an eerie cold light, and its originally smooth fur emanated a dazzling golden glow.
"This... this is a Gold-Cracking Tiger?
As expected of the Star Dou Great Forest, even this kind of top-tier Spirit Beast, which has been extinct for nearly a hundred years, exists here."
The Gold-Cracking Tiger, one of the golden-type Spirit Beasts, was a top-tier power-type Spirit Beast.
Legend has it that this type of Spirit Beast could tear through metal and split stone not long after birth, and a thousand-year cultivation could challenge ordinary ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
However, this Spirit Beast had low reproductive capabilities and a very high compatibility with the Star Luo Royal Family's Legacy Spirit, so it had disappeared many years ago.
This was also why Chen Yi hadn't initially considered it as an option.
As a golden-type Spirit Beast, the Gold-Cracking Tiger could be said to perfectly match Chen Yi's body Spirit.
Although it didn't possess lightning attributes like the Berserk Thunder Vajra, its terrifying strength was enough to bridge that gap.
Chen Yi quickly calmed his emotions and asked the Grand Elder: "Fourth Grandfather, I remember that Gold-Cracking Tigers evolved extremely high stealth abilities due to hunting needs.
How did you discover it?"
Gold-Cracking Tigers were naturally associated with metal; as long as they were near metal ore, their aura would become almost one with it, making them undetectable even to a Spirit Saint of the Mental-type if they weren't careful.
The Grand Elder hadn't been focusing on these extinct Spirit Beasts during this period, so how could he have the leisure to find a Gold-Cracking Tiger?
Hearing Chen Yi's confusion, the Grand Elder chuckled, revealing a set of well-maintained, bright white teeth.
"Originally, this old man intended to look for other Spirit Beasts, but just now, on the way here, I saw a Spirit Emperor lurking in this vicinity.
He stayed here for a while and then left.
His furtive behavior made this old man very curious, so I followed him to see."
This made Chen Yi even more puzzled.
In the Star Dou Great Forest, let alone a Spirit Emperor, even a Spirit Douluo appearing was normal.
Perhaps he was here to scout for enemy intelligence?
As if hearing Chen Yi's thoughts, the Grand Elder immediately added: "Hehe, that Spirit Emperor was from the Star Luo Empire's Roaring Tiger Guard."
"Roaring Tiger Guard?!"
Upon hearing that name, Chen Yi immediately understood.
The "Roaring Tiger Guard" was a corps of assassins secretly cultivated by the Star Luo Royal Family.
Their numbers were small, but each was a top-tier killer, always obeying only the Star Luo Emperor.
Realizing this, Chen Yi's eyes instantly lit up.
What did a Spirit Beast personally inspected by the "Roaring Tiger Guard" mean?
It meant that this Gold-Cracking Tiger had long been targeted by the Star Luo Royal Family.
Didn't this essentially mean he was snatching someone else's Spirit Beast?
Indeed!
In this day and age, taking things from someone else's bowl was always the most satisfying.