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Soto City's Night Market was still a whirlwind of activity, with vendors' shouts filling the air and people flowing by in an endless stream. Yet, in the middle of this chaos, Tang San's eyes suddenly hardened, and his body shot forward.
"Buzz!"
Two yellow and one purple spirit rings appeared below his feet, and a wave of spirit power radiated outwards. The sudden pressure caused nearby street vendors to scatter, and for a moment, the air seemed to grow heavy and still.
"First Soul Skill, Binding!"
With a low shout, Tang San raised a hand that was glowing with a faint blue-purple light. From his palm, a strand of Blue Silver Grass shot out like a snake leaving its den. It instantly split into more than ten quick-moving vines that lunged towards a young man in a bamboo hat not far away.
"Still using that same old 'Mama's Binding' move after all this time?" the young man, Tang Chuan, thought to himself. His expression shifted slightly as he watched the Blue Silver Grass approach. His gaze sharpened, but his feet stayed rooted to the spot.
As the Blue Silver Grass vines tore through the air, Tang Chuan made no attempt to retreat or dodge. Instead, he straightened his posture and prepared to face the attack head-on.
"Hm?" Tang San's eyebrows shot up. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, followed by a surge of secret delight. "This person is really arrogant. He's not even going to dodge my Blue Silver Binding?" he thought. "After I absorbed the Man Faced Demon Spider's spirit ring, my Blue Silver Grass's toughness and toxicity have increased greatly.
Not only is it much harder to break free from, but it also carries a powerful venom. Even if you're a Spirit Ancestor, once my Blue Silver Grass entangles you, you won't be able to break free quickly."
A confident smile slowly spread across Tang San's lips. "Once you're controlled, I'll just use my hidden weapons. It'll be like shooting at a fixed target!" He looked as if victory was already within his grasp.
However, in that exact moment, a sudden change occurred.
With a soft 'chi' sound, a brilliant golden light flashed in front of Tang Chuan. Tang San watched in shock as his Blue Silver Grass was instantly severed by something he couldn't see. All of the blue-purple vines were cut into tiny fragments that scattered like snow. They didn't even touch the ground before turning into dust and vanishing.
"What? This is impossible!" Tang San's face changed drastically. His pupils shrank, and his expression was one of complete disbelief.
He almost subconsciously muttered, "How is this possible? After I absorbed the Man Faced Demon Spider's spirit ring, my Blue Silver Grass became incredibly tough. Even a Spirit Ancestor would have a hard time breaking it easily. How could it... how could it instantly turn into fragments?!"
Tang San's eyes narrowed, and he quickly looked closer. He saw that on the right arm of the young man in the bamboo hat, five sharp claws had appeared. They were like golden blades, gleaming with a terrifying light. What shocked Tang San even more was the faint outline of a dark golden giant bear that had emerged behind the young man.
It was unmistakably the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. The phantom was tall and majestic, as if it stood between heaven and earth. Though it let out no sound, it gave off a heavy pressure, as if it could tear the sky apart.
"Is this the top-tier Spirit Beast that Yu Xiaogang told me about? The one known as the 'Earth Ripper,' the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear?" The name immediately surfaced in Tang San's mind.
Looking at Tang San's shocked and hesitant expression, a hint of disdain flashed in Tang Chuan's eyes. He thought to himself, "My Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear isn't a true spirit.
It's just a projection I simulated using my first soul skill. I did it so I could use my external spirit bone, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw, without revealing it. If I used it openly, there would be a risk of exposing my spirit bone to others."
Thinking this, Tang Chuan's lips curled into a cold, mocking smile. He taunted, "The Blue Silver Grass spirit? You don't actually think I'm afraid of your Blue Silver Binding, do you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his right arm violently. A golden light surged, and the five sharp, golden blades tore through the air like the claws of a divine punishment. They let out a piercing whistle and carried an intense sense of pressure directly towards Tang San's face.
At that moment, the surrounding air seemed to be shredded by the claw shadow. Tang San felt a wave of death rush towards him. His face changed instantly, and he almost instinctively used the Tang Sect's unique skill, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
With a quick shift of his feet, his body blurred and he retreated rapidly like a phantom. His speed was so great that he almost left afterimages.
"Boom!"
The next second, Tang Chuan's Dark Gold Terrorclaw slammed into the spot where Tang San had been standing. Five deep claw marks tore through the ground, as if a sharp sword had sliced through a canvas.
A dull roar echoed as stone chips and dust flew everywhere. A deep gully was carved into the ground, and cracks spread out from it like a spiderweb, as if the ground itself had suffered a terrifying impact.
"What? How can the power of those claws be so terrifying?" Tang San's back was soaked in cold sweat as he stared at the shocking destruction before him. His face was grim, and his voice trembled slightly. If he had dodged even a split second later, he would have been torn to pieces by those five golden lights.
"That's not right," he thought. "He didn't seem to use a soul skill just now. Can he really unleash such terrifying power just with the strength of his spirit? If I keep fighting like this, I'll definitely lose! Unless I use..."
At this thought, the clothes on Tang San's back bulged. He was about to use his external spirit bone, the Eight Spider Lances, to fight back, but he suddenly remembered that Yu Xiaogang had warned him that the Eight Spider Lances had not yet fully fused with his body and should not be easily shown to outsiders.
"In that case, I can only launch a sneak attack using the Blue Silver Grass seeds," he decided.
"Second Soul Skill, Parasitism!" A cold smile curled Tang San's lips. He let out a low shout, his eyes slightly narrowed, and he raised his right hand. The spirit power within his body rapidly activated, and his second spirit ring lit up.
A ripple of spirit power spread outwards, and more than ten Blue Silver Grass vines suddenly grew on Tang Chuan's body. They grew wildly and entangled him. In just an instant, he was completely wrapped up like a large dumpling.
Even before Tang San had reached level twenty, Yu Xiaogang had already decided which spirit beast he should hunt for his second spirit ring. Tang San's second spirit ring came from a plant-type spirit beast called the Ghost Vine.
Ghost Vine is a plant-type spirit beast with an extremely powerful neurotoxin. As soon as its thorns pierce a victim, the toxin will immediately spread until the person turns into a pile of pus, becoming fertilizer for the Ghost Vine.
Furthermore, what Spirit Masters fear most is the Ghost Vine's parasitic ability. When it attacks, it releases countless tiny seeds that directly parasitize the enemy. As long as the Ghost Vine provides enough energy, these seeds will grow on the host, and once the neurotoxin spreads, the effect will be the same.
Immediately after, Tang San's purple third spirit ring lit up. "Third Soul Skill, Spider Web Restraint!" he shouted again. A black light shone in the center of his palm, and a blue-black orb shot out towards Tang Chuan. When the orb flew into the air, it instantly unfurled into a large net with a five-meter diameter that descended from the sky.
"Boom!"
The spider web hit the ground with a heavy thud, stirring up dust. Tang Chuan's body was completely restrained within it, once again wrapped up like a dumpling.
Looking at the young man who was now completely wrapped up like a large dumpling, Tang San's heart instantly calmed down. His expression became stern. The fear he had felt before was completely gone, replaced by triumphant confidence.
He said with a slightly mocking smile, "Did you think I only knew how to dodge? Dodging just now was merely to lure you into attacking and falling into my trap. The moment you shredded my Blue Silver Grass, its seeds had already parasitized your body through the air.
My Blue Silver Grass is poisonous. Once you are entangled and restrained by it and the toxin enters your blood, the poison will take effect. You might not feel anything right now, but once you continue to circulate your spirit power, your body will become numb. Therefore, you lose."
As Tang San's words fell, a soft chuckle suddenly came from the tightly wrapped, dumpling-like bundle of vines. The voice was unhurried, with a hint of mockery in its low tone. It was as if he didn't even put Tang San in his eyes.
"Still the same old saying," he said. "You don't actually think I'm afraid of your Blue Silver Binding, do you?"