Tang Wulin...
Shi Yu looked at the golden scales covering the opponent's right hand, extending into a dazzling golden blade, and instantly recognized him.
His gaze quickly shifted to the soul beast Tang Wulin and the others were facing—a massive, dark golden bear.
"That should be the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear," Shi Yu thought to himself.
The bear towered over Tang Wulin—comparable to the size difference between a full-grown adult and a small child. Its fur wasn't soft, but metallic in texture and appearance, as if it were clad in dark golden armor.
Each of its front paws bore five long, razor-sharp claws that gleamed with a chilling light. Even from a distance, one could feel its oppressive aura.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was no ordinary soul beast. Yet even so, Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and the other two soul masters dared to take the initiative in battle, which showed their level of confidence and coordination.
Shi Yu's expression turned cold.
"So this is what they call karma. Twenty thousand years ago, Tang San tried to steal the external soul bone of the Human-Faced Demon Spider from me. If I hadn't been lucky, I'd have died.
And now, in the era of the Dragon King's Legend, I meet his son... trying to obtain a soul bone."
"If I don't steal it back now, how can I face what you did to me in the past?" Shi Yu thought darkly.
He had already made up his mind. He would be the patient fisherman, waiting in the shadows for the others to kill the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
After all, this wasn't about absorbing a soul ring. A soul bone doesn't necessarily belong to the one who kills the beast.
And as for snatching it from Tang Wulin? Shi Yu didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt. Tang San had nearly taken his life. Speaking of morals now would just be hypocrisy.
He concealed his aura and observed from a hidden spot, waiting for the moment to strike.
The battle had reached its climax. The bear's ferocity pushed Tang Wulin to his limits, forcing him to take a risky move.
Tang Wulin struck the beast's weak point with the full power of his Golden Dragon Claw, finally landing a critical blow that brought the giant bear down.
Panting heavily, Tang Wulin collapsed to the ground. He was completely drained but relieved to have survived.
Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie were also thoroughly exhausted. The victory hadn't come easily—luck had played a part as well.
"What's that?" Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed, pointing at the spot where the bear had died.
Everyone turned to look.
Normally, when a soul beast died in the Spirit Ascension Platform, its body would dissolve into pure energy and be absorbed by the victor.
But something different happened this time.
The body of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear didn't fully dissipate. Instead, a sharp golden claw separated from the corpse, hovered momentarily in the air, and then dropped to the ground.
Tang Wulin, being the closest, naturally reached for it.
He was just about to bend down and retrieve the claw when a flash of light appeared—and a hand made a pulling gesture.
The claw lifted off the ground before he could touch it.
Startled, Tang Wulin instinctively leapt backward, wary of an attack.
The others reacted quickly. Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie were all shocked—when had this person appeared?
"Who are you?! Why are you stealing our stuff?!" Xu Xiaoyan shouted angrily.
Gu Yue frowned deeply.
The intruder had clearly used space-based abilities, but what shocked her most was that she hadn't even sensed him approach. His space control was terrifyingly advanced.
She immediately grew wary, and her expression darkened.
Elemental energies swirled around her, and at the same time, she activated her space-blocking ability to prevent the intruder from escaping.
Working in perfect sync, the four quickly surrounded Shi Yu, their expressions filled with hostility.
"This belongs to the Spirit Transmission Tower. It doesn't belong to you," Shi Yu said with a light chuckle, holding the soul bone up and inspecting it with satisfaction.
Such a rare soul bone, obtained so effortlessly—of course he was pleased.
"We defeated the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. If it doesn't belong to us, then who does it belong to? You?" Tang Wulin growled, his voice low and threatening.
"Put it down now, and maybe we'll let you leave in one piece," Gu Yue warned coldly.
Shi Yu glanced briefly at her, then turned back to Tang Wulin.
"This thing might not originally be mine," he said calmly, "but now that it's in my hand, I have no reason to hand it over."
"If you want it back… then prove your strength."
The moment he finished speaking, Shi Yu launched a heavy palm strike in mid-air toward Tang Wulin.
Having been on guard, Tang Wulin instinctively raised his Golden Dragon Claw to defend.
The spatial power condensed into a giant energy hand and slammed into him, launching him several meters away with a tremendous impact.
"Wulin!" Gu Yue shouted anxiously, her eyes brimming with killing intent. Multiple elemental blasts surged toward Shi Yu in retaliation.
Xu Xiaoyan followed up with a control skill, casting ice chains to bind Shi Yu in place.
Xie Xie darted forward like a shadow, Light Dragon Blade in hand, aiming to strike a fatal blow.
But facing all this—Shi Yu vanished on the spot.
They lost their target entirely.
"How is this possible?!" Gu Yue was stunned.
Before attacking, she had sealed the space, specifically to prevent teleportation.
Why hadn't it worked?
What's more, there was no fluctuation at all when he teleported—this wasn't a soul skill. It was like an innate ability of his martial soul.
"He can teleport… as a basic function of his martial soul?" she thought in disbelief.
Even her martial soul didn't allow that. Her teleportation required charging and preparation. But this… this was on an entirely different level.
Xu Xiaoyan's ice chains snaked through the air, catching nothing.
Xie Xie froze mid-step, glancing around, trying to locate their attacker.
Tang Wulin had just stood up when he sensed a new danger. Acting purely on instinct, he attacked forward with his Golden Dragon Claw, surging with destructive energy.
"That's fake."Shi Yu's voice came from behind him.
Tang Wulin's pupils shrank. The fierce energy in front of him… was an illusion, bait.
He tried to leap forward—but before he could move—
Sharp pain stabbed into his back.
It wasn't just one point of pain. It was eight.
Unseen behind him, Shi Yu had revealed the eight spider spears on his back.
In a blur, they pierced forward, striking Tang Wulin from behind—leaving him no time to dodge.
Tang Wulin's body, forged and tempered far beyond ordinary humans, was incredibly resilient… but even he couldn't withstand this.
All eight Spider Spears penetrated his body—each to a different depth.
The shallowest drove in half a finger's length…
The deepest—
pierced halfway through his body.
"Ahhh—!!"