Douluo Continent: The original Yu Xiaogang brutally defeats Tang San at the start.

External Soul Bone! Eight Spider Lances!

Lin Yuan suppressed his inner elation and painstakingly pried it off with his dagger.

Upon acquiring the Soul Bone, a cold yet powerful force instantly surged forth.

Without hesitation, he sat down cross-legged, placed the soul bone against his back, and began to absorb it.

An indescribable, excruciating pain instantly spread throughout his body, as if eight red-hot irons were piercing his spine, trying to tear his bones and meridians apart and rebuild them.

"what!"

Lin Yuan couldn't help but let out a painful growl, but he gritted his teeth. He knew that this was the price he had to pay to gain great power!

After an unknown amount of time, when the excruciating pain slowly subsided and was replaced by an unprecedentedly powerful sensation, Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Eight menacing spider spears, each three meters long and gleaming with a metallic sheen, covered in purple patterns, instantly extended from his back, like eight deadly arms, dancing nimbly in the air!

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully absorbed the external soul bone "Eight Spider Lances"!]

[Attribute Boost: Attack +300%, Poison +500%, Host Combat Power Rating: Unrivaled among its peers!]

[Ding! Intercepted the protagonist's top-tier opportunity, gained 8000 points for defeating Tang San!]

[Ding! Host's state of mind has changed, corruption level +5%, current corruption level: 14%!]

[Ding! Absorbed an external soul bone beyond your level. Soul power feedback. Current level: 32!]

A series of system notification sounds, like the most beautiful celestial music.

Lin Yuan felt the surge of power within his body and slowly stood up.

He moved the eight spider spears on his back with incredible agility, feeling the unparalleled power and control, a cold and cruel smile appearing on his face.

"Tang San's cheat code is now mine. Now it's time to show you the real gap between us."

Five days later, on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Tang San's face showed an undisguised anticipation and excitement.

Beside him stood a stern-faced master.

Of course, this master was not Lin Yuan, but the familiar figure in Tang San's memory.

"Teacher, according to your theory, this should be the most suitable place for the soul beast for my first soul ring, the Mandragora Serpent."

Tang San's voice was filled with affection and admiration.

The master nodded and said in a deep voice:

"That's right. The Mandragora Serpent is incredibly fast and has potent venom, making it a perfect match for your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. It can compensate for its weakness of having more control than attack."

Tang San clenched his fists tightly.

He couldn't wait to obtain his first spirit ring and then surpass Yu Xiaogang, who had suppressed him at Notting Academy!

The thought of Yu Xiaogang caused a shadow to flash across Tang San's eyes.

That man, despite bearing the name and appearance of my teacher, was incredibly cold towards me, even... subtly hostile.

"Something must be wrong."

Tang San thought to himself, "Once I become stronger, I must find out exactly what happened."

The two followed the possible tracks left by the datura snake and searched all the way.

Finally, Tang San stopped in front of an open space.

A faint smell of blood still lingered in the air.

In the center of the open space, a huge snake skeleton lay scattered on the ground, with traces of being gnawed by wild animals still remaining on the bones, making it look messy and chaotic.

Judging from the size of its skeleton, it was definitely a giant snake in life.

Around the skeleton, the ground was pitted and littered with broken wood, clearly indicating that a major battle had taken place.

Tang San's heart skipped a beat and sank.

He strode forward and carefully examined the snake skeleton. When he saw the unique fleshy crest remnant on the skull, he was struck dumb, frozen in place.

It's a mandrake!

Moreover, judging from the robustness of the bones, it is definitely over a thousand years old!

"How could this be... how could this happen?"

Tang San muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The master's expression changed drastically, and he quickly walked over to examine the scene.

He soon discovered some unusual signs.

"Mistress, look here."

The master pointed to several clear footprints on the ground.

"These are human footprints, and judging by the marks, they were made no more than five days ago. Someone... preemptively hunted down this datura snake!"

Tang San followed the master's finger and saw that the footprints were so glaring.

He crouched down and carefully compared the size and depth of the footprints.

This size...this style...

A figure that he both knew and loathed instantly flashed into his mind!

"It's him! It's him again! It's Yu Xiaogang again!"

Tang San suddenly stood up, his eyes bloodshot, and roared like a madman!

This footprint was exactly the same as the one he had seen countless times at Notting Academy—the footprint of the man who had usurped the title of teacher!

Why?

Why is he here?

Why did he steal the spirit ring that should have been his?

Immense anger and resentment gnawed at Tang San's heart like venomous snakes.

"Calm down, mistress!"

The master was startled by Tang San's appearance.

"How can I stay calm!"

Tang San pointed at the snake skeleton, his voice trembling.

"Teacher, that's mine! That's the thousand-year-old spirit ring that should have been mine!"

Just as Tang San was losing his composure, he suddenly noticed that not far from this chaotic battlefield, there seemed to be another area with signs of fighting, and it was even more intense.

He rushed over like a madman, with the master close behind.

When he parted a bush and saw the scene before him, his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

An even larger, jet-black spider carcass lay there, already beginning to rot and emitting a foul stench.

The hideous human face pattern on its back and its eight spear-like spider legs all proclaim its terrifying identity.

"A human-faced demon spider...it's actually a thousand-year-old human-faced demon spider!"

The master's voice even changed tone.

Tang San's gaze did not linger on the spider's corpse, but instead stared intently at the large hole violently torn open on its back.

The flesh and blood around the cave entrance had dried up, but Tang San could still tell at a glance.

The soul bones there have been taken away!

The most likely thing that the Thousand-Year-Old Human-Faced Demon Spider will produce is that legendary, extremely rare external soul bone!

"ah--!"

Tang San could no longer suppress his inner collapse and let out a fierce roar to the sky.

"Why! Why is it always you! Yu Xiaogang! What did I do to offend you that you target me like this!"

First it was the Mandragora Serpent, and now it's the Human-Faced Demon Spider and the External Soul Bone!

In both of my past lives, my two greatest opportunities were taken away on the same day by the same person in such a tyrannical manner!

This humiliation and anger nearly drove him mad!