Before long, Fang Chang led the little spiders back to their nest, though the nest had changed so much he could hardly recognize it.
The once-familiar tunnels had expanded into a vast network, stretching deep into the heart of the great forest. Rows of spider-type soul beasts lined the paths, silently welcoming their king's return.
When they reached the central hall, Fang Chang was stunned to find it filled with four to five hundred spider soul beasts.
How did this happen?
When I left, there were only a few dozen...
Amid the crowd, Xiao Bai slowly emerged.
She had grown noticeably larger in the three years since he'd last seen her, her soul power now reaching an astonishing 87,000 years. Clearly, she had thrived in his absence.
Xiao Bai didn't seem particularly excited to see him, merely standing quietly to the side until he established their mental connection.
"Xiao Bai, I'm back," Fang Chang greeted her.
"Mhm." Her mental voice carried a hint of displeasure. "Finally decided to return, huh?"
Fang Chang chuckled awkwardly, unsure how to respond, and quickly changed the subject. "The nest... has changed quite a bit."
At this, Xiao Bai's mood visibly lifted. "Of course! Who do you think I am?"
"Over the past three years, I've conquered nearly all the spider-type soul beasts in Star Dou Forest. Our clan has grown from a few dozen to over three thousand."
She spoke with pride, but the numbers were so staggering that Fang Chang's jaw nearly dropped.
"Of those three thousand, about seventeen hundred are our direct descendants. The rest are from other spider clans that have sworn allegiance to us."
Fang Chang blinked. "Wait... seventeen hundred?"
"Yep." Xiao Bai smirked. "You didn't realize how fast we spiders reproduce, did you?"
"Of those seventeen hundred, the second generation—our direct children—only numbers about fifty. But the third generation has already reached over four hundred, the fourth generation exceeds a thousand, and we even have a fifth generation now..."
Fang Chang suddenly remembered—spiders weren't like humans.
Especially since his and Xiao Bai's offspring all possessed the Devour skill, allowing them to mature from birth to adulthood in just a few days.
After that, they could reproduce almost yearly, with each pair producing dozens of offspring...
Given that he'd been gone for over three years, the first generation of offspring he'd left behind could indeed have reached the fifth generation by now.
Swallowing hard, Fang Chang listened as Xiao Bai continued boasting about her achievements.
She summoned over a hundred of their descendants—mostly second-generation offspring, with a few third-generation and assimilated spiders from other clans mixed in.
What shocked Fang Chang even more was that every single one of them had already surpassed the ten-thousand-year soul power threshold.
The two strongest among them had even reached over fifty thousand years—almost matching Fang Chang's strength when he had first left Star Dou Forest.
Though he had expected their growth to be rapid thanks to the Devour skill, the sight of over a hundred ten-thousand-year soul beasts still left him speechless.
And these weren't ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
Working together, they could easily overpower human Soul Sages or even Soul Douluos. A few coordinated teams could even threaten weaker Titled Douluos.
If he were to lead this army out now, they could easily wipe out several human factions.
After taking it all in, Fang Chang rubbed Xiao Bai's head approvingly. She had done an excellent job managing the nest in his absence.
"By the way," he asked, "I heard the power balance in Star Dou Forest has shifted. Was that your doing?"
"Partly." Xiao Bai nodded, though her expression darkened slightly. "But not entirely."
"Mainly, our little ones were just... too good at eating. They nearly wiped out several powerful soul beast clans, which made the others resent us."
"Eventually, the more intelligent ten-thousand-year soul beasts banded together to form an alliance against us."
She sighed, clearly frustrated by this development.
"They don't have a name or formal structure—their sole purpose is hunting our kind."
"Over the past two years, they've killed many of our kin. If not for them, our numbers would have at least doubled by now."
Fang Chang's mood soured.
Who dares interfere with my plans and harm my descendants?
"What kind of creatures are they?" he asked. "Even you couldn't handle them?"
Given Xiao Bai's strength and the nest's current forces, ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts shouldn't have posed much of a threat.
Xiao Bai hesitated, glancing at Fang Chang—whose aura had clearly grown far stronger, likely nearing the hundred-thousand-year threshold—before answering.
"The ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts aren't a problem. The real trouble comes from that damn ape and snake in the forest's core. They joined the alliance."
"Every time we fight, those two show up. Whenever they appear, I have no choice but to retreat underground with our kin."
"After several battles, we were forced to abandon our territory in the deep forest and relocate to the outer regions."
"But that seems to have angered the humans too. They've started targeting us as well, hunting down many of our kin."
Fang Chang couldn't help but laugh darkly.
So it's them.
One of the reasons he had returned was to deal with Da Ming and Er Ming. Now that they'd made themselves his enemies, he had all the more reason to crush them.
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Bai felt the need to warn him. "Be careful. They're both hundred-thousand-year soul beasts—ancient bloodlines from primordial times. Their strength is no joke."
Fang Chang remained unfazed. "Just a couple of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts? Leave them to me."
"Wait... you've reached the hundred-thousand-year level too?" Xiao Bai lifted one leg in surprise.
Fang Chang playfully lifted three of her other legs, nearly making her lose balance. "Not just a hundred thousand. Try... four hundred thousand."
The next day, countless spider soul beasts emerged from the earth, marching in a massive wave toward the deepest parts of Star Dou Forest.