At this moment, Tang San had already slain the heavily injured Man-Faced Demon Spider and begun absorbing its spirit ring. Since the Gai Shi Dragon Snake couple had been seriously wounded by Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na, they naturally would not come out to snatch the spirit ring.
Due to absorbing a spirit ring beyond the normal age limit, even though Tang San had undergone years of body refinement, absorbing the Man-Faced Demon Spider's spirit ring was still quite difficult.
The members of Shrek Academy all wore solemn expressions. Surrounded by the group, Tang San sat cross-legged at the center, completely engulfed by a layer of faint red mist as he absorbed the spirit ring.
The red hue in the mist was not the glow of soul power, but rather Tang San's blood.
A short while ago, as his body surged with intense soul power fluctuations, a fine layer of blood beads began oozing from his skin. As the soul power evaporated into the air, it transformed into this faint red mist.
Tang San's brows were tightly furrowed, his lips pressed firmly together, and his body continuously convulsed. Combined with the blood seeping from beneath his skin, one could only imagine the excruciating pain he was enduring.
However, due to years of accumulated body refinement, Tang San's difficulty in absorbing the Man-Faced Demon Spider's spirit ring was actually not as high as it seemed. After all, his second spirit ring had already surpassed the usual age limit and reached the thousand-year level.
Having witnessed the spirit ring configurations of Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na, Zhao Wuji and the others instinctively believed that Tang San could also absorb spirit rings beyond the normal limit. Furthermore, his second spirit ring was already a thousand-year ring, so the group was not as worried as in the original story.
Suddenly, the rustling of bushes came from the distance. Three sets of footsteps approached—one relatively heavy, the other two more agile.
"Who's there?" Zhao Wuji's gaze turned icy as he looked in a particular direction, his soul power surging. Tang San was at the most critical moment, and he would not allow anyone or any soul beast to disturb him.
"Teacher Zhao." A slender figure ran out of the forest. Seeing her, not only Zhao Wuji but also the others were stunned. The one who had suddenly emerged from the forest was none other than Xiao Wu.
Following closely behind her were Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na.
At this moment, Xiao Wu looked somewhat disheveled. Her clothes were torn in multiple places, and her neatly braided scorpion tail hairstyle had become messy. However, her complexion was unusually rosy, making her seem a bit more mature than before.
As for Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na, they had already changed into a fresh set of clothes—matching couple outfits, no less…
If one were to ask what happened to their previous clothes, well, when they unlocked the fourth seal and transformed into their true forms as the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings, their clothes were naturally torn apart.
Thankfully, Gu Yue Na had purchased hundreds of outfits while shopping earlier; otherwise, they might have had to return completely bare.
"Xiao Wu, Gu Chen, Gu Yue Na, you're not dead?" Oscar blurted out before realizing how inappropriate his words sounded.
"If you died, I still wouldn't!" Gu Chen retorted with annoyance.
At that moment, Xiao Wu noticed the red mist surrounding Tang San. Upon seeing Tang San within the mist, her heart clenched, and she hurried forward in a few swift strides.
"Don't disturb him! He's absorbing his third spirit ring." Zhao Wuji quickly stopped her.
"But why does absorbing his third spirit ring look like this?" Xiao Wu exclaimed, her voice filled with worry. When she turned and saw the corpse of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, she immediately understood. "A Man-Faced Demon Spider? This is bad! This one has over two thousand years of cultivation! Grandmaster once said that the limit for a Soul Master's third spirit ring is one thousand seven hundred sixty years. Xiao San, he..."
Gu Chen patted Xiao Wu's shoulder. "His second spirit ring was already a thousand-year ring, so it's not surprising that his third spirit ring exceeds the limit too. Don't worry, don't worry, Xiao San has great luck. He'll be fine."
"By the way, Gu Chen, how did you all escape the Titan Giant Ape? Tell us what happened," Zhao Wuji asked.
Gu Chen tilted his head and started making up a story. His tale was similar to what Xiao Wu had originally fabricated, with the only difference being that Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na had also obtained spirit rings.
"That actually worked?" Fatty (Ma Hongjun) stared at Gu Chen and the others with an expression of disbelief, as if a blind cat had stumbled upon a dead mouse.
If one person had gained a spirit ring by chance, that would be one thing. But for all three of them to have obtained spirit rings?
"Show me your spirit rings," Zhao Wuji said, his curiosity about Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na's spirit rings piqued.
Seeing Xiao Wu's ordinary spirit ring configuration, Zhao Wuji had no particular reaction. However, when he saw Gu Yue Na's sixty to seventy-thousand-year fourth spirit ring, he couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.
After all, Gu Yue Na's fourth spirit ring was equivalent to his own seventh spirit ring!
But when Zhao Wuji saw Gu Chen's fourth spirit ring, he forgot all about Tang San and shouted in shock, "Black with a hint of red—this is a ninety-thousand-year spirit ring! How is this possible?! Never mind how you absorbed it, but how could a ninety-thousand-year-old soul beast faint from just one beastly roar? Even if that roar came from a hundred-thousand-year soul beast."
Sensing that his story might soon be exposed, Gu Chen quickly lowered his voice and said, "Xiao San is still absorbing his spirit ring! That ninety-thousand-year-old soul beast was only internally injured by the roar. But then, Yue Na and I used our Martial Soul Fusion Skill again to kill it. It was really dangerous! If there had been other soul beasts nearby, we would have been in serious trouble since we were completely drained of soul power. As for Yue Na's sixty-thousand-year spirit ring, we obtained it after I absorbed my fourth ring and then worked together to take down another soul beast."
Thinking it over seriously, Gu Chen felt that this version of the story should be foolproof.
"Your Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Gu Yue Na is actually powerful enough to kill a ninety-thousand-year-old soul beast?" Zhao Wuji exclaimed in awe.
Just then, movement from Tang San's direction drew Zhao Wuji and the others' attention. Gu Chen wiped his forehead (despite not sweating) and thought to himself, Making up stories is exhausting.
At this moment, under Tang San's immense willpower, all the energy within his body began to submit. The different forces started to merge and transform.
The fine blood droplets stopped oozing, and the tension on Tang San's face eased slightly. A faint blue glow began to radiate from his body.
Zhao Wuji exclaimed with joy, "He did it! The most dangerous phase is over. Now it's just the soul power transformation process. This kid really is a miracle worker. Even a two-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider spirit ring couldn't stop him. He's truly a little monster. Though not as extreme as Gu Chen and Gu Yue Na, he's still impressive!"
Although Tang San had yet to open his eyes, he could still hear Zhao Wuji's words. He was speechless. Teacher Zhao, do you really have to praise me while putting me down at the same time?
Suddenly, a wave of pain surged through him, and Tang San screamed in agony. His body convulsed violently, his chest arched forward, and his upper body bent backward in a terrifying posture. At the same time, eight protrusions emerged on his back.
"Brother!" Xiao Wu shrieked.
Then, the eight protrusions burst open. Strangely, Tang San's skin did not peel back. Instead, eight thick, dark purple appendages extended from the openings and rapidly grew.
As the eight appendages reached over three meters, gleaming with a deep purple luster and tapering into sharp points, Ma Hongjun exclaimed, "Aren't those the Man-Faced Demon Spider's legs?!"
Gu Chen stared intently at Tang San's new limbs. "He's really lucky—he's obtained an External Spirit Bone!"
"External Spirit Bone?"
The Shrek Academy group looked puzzled.
"An External Spirit Bone is a miraculous existence, a special type of bone distinct from the six primary spirit bones. If the probability of an ordinary spirit bone appearing in a spirit beast is one in a thousand, then the chance of an External Spirit Bone appearing is less than one in ten thousand. To absorb an External Spirit Bone, one must first absorb the spirit ring of the corresponding spirit beast. I can say with certainty that this is indeed an External Spirit Bone," Gu Chen explained.
"What?!" The group gasped in shock, their gazes filled with envy as they looked at Tang San.
At that moment, the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around him, forming a giant cocoon.
Just like that, twelve hours—twenty-four full hours—passed. Gu Chen almost wanted to rip open the Blue Silver Grass and drag Tang San out himself. It's just an External Spirit Bone! Why is this taking so long?!
Finally, Tang San emerged—completely naked.
The girls in the group immediately turned their heads away.
"Tang San!" Seeing Gu Chen, Gu Yue Na, and Xiao Wu safe and sound, Tang San was overjoyed.
Just as he was about to walk toward them, the eight spider legs on his back suddenly withdrew. However, since Tang San was still unfamiliar with the changes in his body, he immediately lost his balance and fell straight from mid-air.
"Be careful!" Xiao Wu cried out, opening her arms to catch him. Fortunately, she was strong enough, and Tang San had only fallen from a height of about two meters, so she managed to catch him safely.
The eight spider legs on his back instinctively lifted behind him. Though the sight was strange, they didn't seem to hinder his movement.
The familiar scent reached his nose, and almost instinctively, Tang San wrapped his arms around Xiao Wu.
"Oi, oi, oi! Tang San, don't you feel even a little bit embarrassed?! Standing there stark naked in front of a girl?! Put something on already!" Gu Chen scolded in frustration, pulling out a suit from his system inventory and tossing it to Tang San. Seriously?! Right in front of me? Stop feeding me dog food!
Tang San froze for a moment, then instinctively looked down at himself—only to realize that he wasn't wearing a single shred of clothing.
Xiao Wu, too, suddenly became aware of the situation. Her face instantly turned bright red. She quickly shut her eyes but refused to leave Tang San's embrace. Instead, she simply buried her head in his chest and refused to lift it.
Burying her head… looking at what exactly?! What kind of move is this?!
Gu Chen was utterly dumbfounded.
(End of Chapter)