Chapter 22: Increased Drop Rate — Eight Spider Lances, Appear!
"Hiss~!"
The miserable shriek of the Man-Faced Demon Spider echoed across several miles.
"Why would you do this…"
Even Zhu Zhuqing felt a trace of discomfort witnessing such a cruel scene.
At her core, she was a girl cold on the outside but warm within.
Though decisive and ruthless in battle and occasionally playful like a mischievous kitten teasing her prey, she would never torture a target that had already lost the ability to resist.
"There's a particular theory regarding soul bones,"
Bai Lu explained calmly while continuing his "work" without pause.
"The greater a soul beast's resentment and fury before death, the higher the probability of a soul bone dropping afterward."
"And what I'm doing now is maximizing that probability."
As his voice fell, Bai Lu activated the Slaughter Skull.
Dense blood-colored ripples spread outward, forming a miniature White Tiger Slaughter Formation with a radius of merely three meters.
Within the formation, overwhelming killing intent saturated the Man-Faced Demon Spider's soul like something tangible.
It not only amplified the agony of its physical body but also forcibly magnified its resentment, anger, and despair layer by layer until they reached their absolute peak.
The string of eyes atop the spider's head gradually began to glow with a bizarre crimson light.
"Now!"
The moment that glow reached its zenith, Bai Lu moved with lightning speed.
Hell Rush Stab!
The sharp tip of the cat claw pierced precisely into the Man-Faced Demon Spider's head and twisted violently.
"Puchi!"
Its life force severed instantly.
The struggle stopped.
Even its eight legs drooped limply.
Soon after, a deep purple soul ring slowly rose from the corpse, gradually solidifying as it hovered in the air.
Buzz
At the same time, drawn by the Slaughter Skull, a faintly red-glimmering purple soul phantom drifted slowly from the spider's corpse.
"The quality of this soul is quite good. It's far superior to that three-thousand-year Vajra Tiger from last time."
Though he praised it, Bai Lu had no intention of storing it within the Slaughter Space as another general among the undead.
Relying on his exquisite control over souls and his formidable spiritual power, he forcibly guided the resentment-filled soul and gradually "stuffed" it into the condensing purple soul ring.
Buzz!
At the moment the soul and soul ring fused perfectly, the purple ring trembled violently.
A faint red mist actually began to swirl around it.
Whew…
Only after completing all this did Bai Lu let out a breath.
He briefly inspected the Man-Faced Demon Spider's corpse. There was no sign of an external soul bone.
"As expected of the most special external soul bone."
He was not surprised.
From his memory, it seemed that only the Eight Spider Lances were obtained through absorbing a soul ring.
"I've raised the drop rate to its absolute limit. You absorb it."
With that, Bai Lu returned control of the body to Zhu Zhuqing.
"You… are you alright?"
Zhu Zhuqing keenly sensed that Bai Lu's spiritual form appeared much dimmer than before, and concern surfaced in her voice.
"It's nothing. The process was more taxing than I expected. I've consumed quite a bit of strength. A few days of recovery will suffice."
Using the White Tiger clone to manifest outside, Bai Lu's brows showed faint fatigue.
He felt helpless.
Before the sacrifice, even without breaking through the one-hundred-thousand-year level, such manipulation would have been effortless.
But now, the girl's body was too weak, and the Slaughter Skull had yet to mature, making the operation extremely difficult.
It was like going from freely playing at 120 frames per second to struggling at 20-frame slideshow speed.
Nearly unplayable.
"I'll guard you. Adjust your condition and absorb the soul ring."
Bai Lu sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to recover while reminding her:
"Though I've sealed its soul, some residual spiritual shock may leak out. But with your willpower, it shouldn't be a problem…"
"Don't worry. I'm here."
The perceptive little kitty understood the deeper meaning behind Bai Lu's words.
She said nothing further, silently resolving to grow stronger so that Bai Lu would not have to strain himself like this again.
After a brief adjustment, she circulated her soul power and began guiding the purple soul ring, still wrapped in a blood-red halo, toward herself.
In an instant, violent energy surged into her body like a breached dam!
The two-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider's soul ring was inherently savage in energy, and this one carried an endlessly resentful soul within it.
The power rampaged through her meridians, bringing tearing agony.
An ordinary Rank 30 Soul Grandmaster would likely collapse instantly under such force.
But to Zhu Zhuqing, this level of pain barely qualified as "minor discomfort."
With a physique enhanced by five soul bones, aside from pain, the energy posed little real threat.
Even if damage occurred, the Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone would perfectly restore any injury.
The slightly trickier part was the spiritual shock seeping through Bai Lu's seal.
But for Zhu Zhuqing, who had already endured the tempering of the Slaughter Skull, this level of assault didn't even qualify as a soul concussion.
It could not cause her any substantial harm.
Time passed slowly.
Suddenly—
"Ughah!"
Her brows furrowed as her upper body arched sharply. Her body twisted and convulsed instinctively.
"It's here!"
Bai Lu opened his eyes, staring fixedly at her back.
"Crack~ Click~"
Amid the sound of bones shifting, eight peculiar protrusions suddenly bulged out along both sides of her spine, stretching the black fabric of her clothes taut.
Rip—!
The fabric of her upper garment tore apart.
"Hmm… so there's even a clothing-destruction effect."
Bai Lu subconsciously inhaled sharply.
But the transformation continued.
Those eight deep-purple protrusions burst through the skin, extending outward. After growing to about one and a half meters in length, joint-like structures formed and then extended again in another direction.
At last, they transformed into eight brilliantly lustrous purple appendages, their surfaces gleaming to perfection, with tips as sharp as conical blades.
The Eight Spider Lances!
They curled and overlapped, shielding most of Zhu Zhuqing's body.
Then, dark, ghostly energy wrapped around her like a cocoon, as if undergoing a deeper fusion and reconstruction.
Over half an hour passed before the dark cocoon shattered explosively.
"Whoosh!"
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes snapped open as she slowly stood.
Her clothing had been completely destroyed during the fusion process.
Her once slender physique had become more proportionate and powerful.
Her muscles were more defined than before, yet retained flawless lines.
With the Eight Spider Lances fanned behind her, there was an eerie yet striking contrast in her beauty.
"I feel like… my physical condition has increased by at least fifty percent!"
She clenched her fist, excitement evident in her strengthened power.
"Mm. That's obvious."
Bai Lu stroked his chin in agreement, eyes unblinking.
"Obvious? How can you tell?"
Zhu Zhuqing stopped mid-sentence as she suddenly felt a chill.
Looking down—
The excitement froze on her face.
Her eyes widened.
She stood there, completely stiff.
Like time itself had stopped.
"We're on the same side. Don't panic."
Bai Lu silently took out a black cloak and draped it over her.
After a moment's thought, he handed her a pair of trousers as well.
End of Chapter