Douluo Dalu: Starting Evolution as the Man-Faced Demon Spider

After finishing off the Earth Demon Spider, Fang Chang used the tip of his spider leg to pick his teeth, then swaggered away in front of the Man-Faced Demon Spider.

The Sunset Forest was much smaller than the Star Dou Great Forest, and over the past few days, Fang Chang had gained a rough understanding of its layout.

His current target was the current overlord of the Sunset Forest—a 55,000-year Wailing Vine.

Strictly speaking, this spirit beast wasn't a single entity. It had mutated from a relatively low-level spirit beast called the Ghost Vine.

The mutation process was also highly unusual. It occurred when countless Ghost Vines interconnected during their growth and were influenced by certain external factors.

After mutation, these Ghost Vines formed a special structure, with one central vine as the core and the others as its extensions. Their soul power was shared, creating the Wailing Vine.

The most formidable aspects of this spirit beast were its poison and its incredible vitality and regenerative abilities. As its name suggested, encountering it in the wild would make even a ghost cry.

Before entering the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Fang Chang had accidentally wandered into its territory and nearly died. Fortunately, his poison resistance skill and the fact that he had only touched the edge of its territory allowed him to escape.

Now, he was gradually approaching the Wailing Vine's domain once more.

This area was located in the northern part of the Sunset Forest, at the boundary between the warmer and cooler halves of the forest, not too far from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Even from a distance, it was clear that the trees here were much thicker than elsewhere in the forest. The canopy was denser, blocking out almost all sunlight.

In other parts of the forest, even if you couldn't see any spirit beasts, you could at least find traces of their activity.

But here, it was eerily quiet. The only sound was the rustling of leaves in the wind. There were no bird calls, no insect chirps, and not even a single spirit beast footprint in the muddy ground.

In such an oppressive environment, even Fang Chang couldn't help but feel tense. His heartbeat quickened, his breathing grew heavier, and the tips of his spider legs felt cold and numb. The slightest sound would immediately catch his attention.

After walking another hundred or so meters, Fang Chang heard a strange rustling sound around him. Instinctively, he activated his "Stealth" skill.

He remained in "Stealth" mode, standing still for five or six minutes. When no further movement occurred, he cautiously continued forward.

Ahead was the spot where he had been attacked by the Wailing Vine last time. Fang Chang became even more cautious, his eight eyes fixed on the ground to avoid any traps.

The area was even quieter, with deep purple vines hanging from the trees—likely the extensions of the Wailing Vine.

On the ground, there were also purple-black vine-like roots. Last time, Fang Chang had accidentally stepped on one of these and triggered an attack from the Wailing Vine.

This time, with experience on his side, he carefully avoided these vine roots as he cautiously moved deeper into the Wailing Vine's territory.

To defeat the Wailing Vine, he needed to find its core vine. Otherwise, even if he destroyed countless extensions, it would eventually recover by absorbing more vines over time.

The Wailing Vine remained eerily quiet, seemingly unaware that something had entered its territory. Countless vines were tangled together, scattered among the trees.

The deeper Fang Chang went, the denser the vines became, leaving fewer places for him to step.

He frowned slightly. Although he had the "Stretchy" skill, which allowed him to change his size, enlarging himself now might cause him to brush against the vines hanging from the trees, making it even harder to find footing.

On the other hand, shrinking too much would make it difficult to avoid the vine roots scattered on the ground due to his smaller steps.

More importantly, wandering aimlessly through the forest like this didn't seem like a good way to identify which vine was the true core of the Wailing Vine.

Just as he was pondering this, a cold wind blew through, causing the surrounding trees to sway violently. This movement caused the vines hanging from the trees to swing as well.

One of the vines swung down toward Fang Chang. Realizing the danger, Fang Chang quickly scanned the area for a safe spot to land. Finding one, he activated his "Leap" skill and jumped toward it.

Mid-jump, another vine swung toward him from the opposite direction. This vine was anchored to two trees, swinging like a pendulum.

In a panic, Fang Chang activated his "Stretchy" skill, shrinking his body tenfold. He slipped through the gap in the swinging vine and landed lightly on the safe spot he had identified.

He patted his chest with one spider leg and let out a sigh of relief. "That was close."

He didn't want to get entangled by the Wailing Vine before even finding its core vine. If that happened, even if he could escape, it would take a long time.

Moreover, he wasn't entirely confident he could defeat the Wailing Vine. After all, it was a 55,000-year spirit beast, and he wasn't sure if his current strength was enough.

The main reason he dared to come here was because of the Ethereal Fragrance Exquisite Immortal Blossom he had devoured in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Its poison resistance skill had evolved into "High-Level Poison Absorption," which perfectly countered the Wailing Vine.

But before Fang Chang could celebrate, the forest seemed to change. The previously quiet Wailing Vine suddenly became active, as if the cold wind had awakened it.

The Wailing Vine thrashed about like a grumpy teenager rudely awakened from sleep. Vines as thick as an adult's arm swung wildly through the air, and leaves rained down from the trees.

On the ground, the vine roots began to twitch erratically—some moving left, others right, some upward, others downward.

Fang Chang grew increasingly anxious, using all his skills to dodge the vines and roots. He shrank, enlarged, and twisted through gaps, but the vines only grew more active.

It was as if the Wailing Vine, having been dormant for so long, was gradually waking up. More and more vines joined the chaos.

Damn it! Fang Chang realized the situation was turning dire and tried to retreat toward the edge of the Wailing Vine's territory.

But he hadn't gone far when one of his shield-like spider legs accidentally brushed against a few twitching vine roots.

The vines and roots paused for a moment, then surged toward him like a tidal wave, as if they had found their target.

From above, below, and all around, vines and roots seemed to come from everywhere. Seeing no way to escape, Fang Chang had no choice but to brace himself for battle.

Fire Armor, Poison Mist, Hardening… He activated every skill at his disposal. In the next moment, he collided with the vines in mid-air.