After several days of travel, Fang Chang finally returned to Whitewater City. Now that he could transform into a human, many of the previous hassles were avoided, and his journey had become significantly faster.
As the "birthplace" of the Spider God Church, the local branch here was naturally the first to be targeted by the Spirit Hall. It was said that the branch had been destroyed a year ago, and Tang Lin'er, that little girl, had also disappeared without a trace.
Fang Chang wasn't too concerned about this. The Spider God Church was something he had created on a whim, and he hadn't invested as much effort into it as he had into the two spider factions. The fact that it had caused some trouble for the Spirit Hall was already satisfying enough for him.
Passing through Whitewater City, he soon returned to the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest. The high-oxygen air that greeted him felt refreshing.
Three years had passed, and he had finally returned!
Out of habit, Fang Chang ignored the two guards stationed at the forest entrance and walked past them.
One of the younger guards frowned at his boldness and stepped forward to block Fang Chang, extending a hand. "Entry fee..."
Before he could finish, the older guard beside him quickly slapped his hand away and bowed respectfully to Fang Chang. "Please go ahead, sir."
Fang Chang was momentarily stunned, then remembered that he hadn't activated his "Stealth" skill and currently appeared as a human.
He looked at the two guards, who were only at the Soul Grandmaster level, and wanted to say something but didn't know how to start. In the end, he simply nodded and walked straight into the forest.
After Fang Chang had walked some distance, the older guard smacked the younger one on the head and scolded him in a low voice, "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Couldn't you tell that the gentleman's strength is far beyond what we can handle?"
Even though Fang Chang had deliberately suppressed his aura, the domineering presence of a strong individual couldn't be completely hidden.
The older guard had been stationed at the entrance of the Star Dou Forest for many years and had seen all kinds of powerful individuals. Just by observing their posture, he could roughly gauge their strength.
In his eyes, the young man who appeared to be only in his mid-twenties ranked at least in the top three among all the powerful individuals he had ever encountered.
The younger guard didn't dare to argue and simply lowered his head in silence. After a while, he turned to look at Fang Chang's retreating figure. After the older guard's reminder, he also felt that the young man seemed extraordinary.
After entering the Star Dou Forest, Fang Chang headed straight for the lair in the outer region. He couldn't shake the feeling that the number of human soul masters in this area had significantly decreased compared to three years ago.
The closer he got to the lair, the more pronounced this feeling became. When he was about five or six miles away from the lair, Fang Chang finally encountered a human Soul King.
The Soul King seemed to be in a hurry and didn't want to linger in the area for too long. However, seeing the direction Fang Chang was heading, he kindly stopped him. "Young man, listen to an old man's advice. Don't go that way."
"Hmm?" Fang Chang stopped and stood beside him. "Why is that?"
He had been curious about the strange phenomena in this part of the forest since earlier, and now was a good opportunity to get some answers.
"Well..." The middle-aged Soul King organized his thoughts. "You must be an outsider, so it's normal that you don't know."
"In recent years, the Star Dou Forest has undergone some changes. The population of some rare spider soul beasts has exploded, and they often attack passing humans."
"Especially in this area, their activity is the most frequent. There are rumors that someone has seen their lair in that direction." He pointed in the direction Fang Chang was heading.
"That's why I'm advising you not to go near there. Don't even stay here for too long. If you run into them, your life might be in danger."
At first, Fang Chang felt a bit nervous, worried that something might have happened to his clan. But as he listened further, he couldn't help but laugh.
So that's what happened. Well done.
The middle-aged Soul King was baffled when he saw the young man not only not showing any fear but even covering his mouth to stifle laughter.
Then, as if remembering something, he quickly pressed down on Fang Chang's hand, which was covering his mouth. "Be careful. Making too much noise can easily attract those spiders."
Fang Chang continued to laugh but followed the Soul King's advice and lowered his voice. Without explaining anything, he continued walking toward the lair.
The Soul King was quite concerned. Seeing that Fang Chang wasn't listening, he chased after him and stopped him again. "Young man, I'm not lying to you. You're still young and don't know how dangerous this is."
"Those spider soul beasts have even killed Soul Sages. If you keep going forward, you're just asking for trouble."
Fang Chang smiled noncommittally. "It's fine. They're just some cute little spiders. If they can really hurt me, I'll reward them greatly."
Cute? Little spiders? Reward? The middle-aged Soul King was even more confused. Had he run into a fool?
"If you insist on going, I won't stop you. Take care of yourself." The Soul King stepped aside to let Fang Chang pass and was about to leave in the opposite direction.
But at that moment, rustling sounds came from the bushes on both sides of the path. Five spider soul beasts, each about five to six meters long, emerged.
Their soul power seemed to be around five to six thousand years. Such a lineup would be extremely stressful for an ordinary human Soul King.
The middle-aged Soul King instinctively summoned his martial soul and faced the spider soul beasts. Then he turned to look at Fang Chang, who was standing behind him as if nothing had happened.
"Little brother, help out! If we don't act quickly, these spiders will really kill us."
Fang Chang still didn't react much. Instead, as if hearing something funny, his smile grew even wider.
Then, under the Soul King's stunned gaze, Fang Chang took a step forward, extended a hand toward the small spiders, and gently pressed down.
At the same time, a voice transmitted through "Telepathy" entered the minds of the small spiders.
The small spiders immediately stood in a row, bent their front legs, and bowed their bodies toward Fang Chang, as if subjects paying homage to their king.
The middle-aged Soul King swallowed hard. What... what kind of ability was this? How could he make the spider soul beasts, which everyone in the Star Dou Forest feared, show him such respect?
But this was only the beginning. More and more spider soul beasts began to gather like pilgrims, continuously pouring in from all directions, each "kneeling" before Fang Chang and the middle-aged Soul King.
In just a few minutes, more than sixty or seventy spider soul beasts of various sizes had gathered.
By this point, the middle-aged Soul King had collapsed to the ground. With so many spider soul beasts, even a hundred of him probably couldn't break through.
His chest heaved as he looked at Fang Chang, only to see him make a gesture similar to "rise," and the kneeling spider soul beasts finally dared to stand up.
Now, surrounded by three layers of sixty or seventy spider soul beasts, hundreds of eyes stared intently at Fang Chang.
Then, Fang Chang called out, "Let's go home," and led the dozens of spiders toward the lair.
As for the middle-aged Soul King, he remained in a daze for a while before scrambling to his feet and stumbling out of the forest, his heart still pounding.