Not long before, when Ji Lin had just summoned the Judgment Of Shamash and was preparing to absorb the soul ring…
In the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, the fearsome land beside the Lake of Life, a golden soul beast was lying lazily by the lakeside, dozing.
This soul beast was over three meters long. Its entire body resembled translucent crystal, exuding a strange texture. Its overall appearance was lion-like, but its four limbs were dragon-like. Beneath its golden fur were tightly packed scales. In addition to its normal two eyes, it possessed a third eye on its forehead.
That third eye flickered with red light, and a melodious female voice came from its mouth,
"Such pure fire attribute… it's almost like mine. I should check what's emitting it."
After roughly determining the direction, its figure flashed, transforming into a streak of golden light.
At the same time, another three-headed canine soul beast by the lakeside sensed the departure of this strange beast and also spoke in human tongue,
"The Auspicious Beast is going again? Didn't it just finish eating?"
It also transformed into a stream of light and chased after the strange beast.
If anyone familiar with the ferocious beast rankings were present, they would instantly recognize this three-headed canine as the Eighth-ranked of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts — the Scarlet King.
Back with Ji Lin, just as he was preparing to leave with Chi Yuan…
A golden streak shot toward them from the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Forest.
Just as it was about to reach Ji Lin's location, a three-headed dog-like beast appeared in its path.
"Auspicious Beast, you can't go any farther. There's a powerful human ahead. I'm not confident I can defeat her."
The golden light came to an abrupt stop, revealing the majestic form of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. A melodic voice sounded again
"Scarlet King, I sensed an extremely pure fire attribute ahead — even purer than mine. Let me take a look. If it's from that strong human, we'll go back."
"Purer fire attribute than even the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who possesses near-ultimate fire? I'll check it out."The Scarlet King's curiosity was piqued.
The Scarlet King rose into the sky and gazed toward Ji Lin's direction."Hmm? Such a powerful woman… fire attribute?"
First, it saw Chi Yuan. As a ferocious beast, it could clearly sense Chi Yuan's strength — and that she also possessed a fire attribute.
"Could the purer fire attribute the Auspicious Beast sensed be coming from this powerful woman?"
Then it noticed the young boy beside Chi Yuan — Ji Lin — holding a crimson greatsword. Centered around that sword, the temperature within a kilometer was noticeably higher than surrounding areas.
The Scarlet King suddenly understood
"An ultimate fire-attribute soul master… No wonder the Auspicious Beast felt it was purer than hers."
The Scarlet King descended and said to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion,
"The one emitting the fire attribute is a human boy with an ultimate fire martial soul. Let's go back and report this to Di Tian — he'll definitely be interested."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion responded,
"I'm interested too, Red King. There's only one strong human over there, right? I'm equivalent to a Titled Douluo. You block the strong one — I'll go play with the boy."
The Scarlet King was tempted, but after a moment's thought, all three heads shook,
"No way. I can't take responsibility if something happens to you."
"Oh come on, nothing will happen! I'm going to catch that human boy!"The Auspicious Beast's figure flashed as it darted toward Ji Lin.
The Scarlet King was helpless — the Auspicious Beast only really listened to Di Tian. When others spoke, it went in one ear and out the other.
The Scarlet King's figure also flashed and, moving faster than the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, charged directly at Chi Yuan.
At that moment, Chi Yuan's expression shifted.
"Be careful, a soul beast is approaching. Judging by its aura, it's likely one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts."
Ji Lin's face also changed.
"A ferocious beast? Why would one appear here?"
The two looked toward the direction the Scarlet King and Auspicious Beast were coming from.
Before them appeared a soul beast over five meters long, immensely muscular, resembling a lion with three large heads. All three heads roared simultaneously, blocking Chi Yuan's path.
Ji Lin's expression turned strange.
"The Scarlet King? Why is it here? Isn't it the guardian of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion? Then… the one following behind must be the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!?"
This ancestor actually showed up?
Ji Lin wasn't too worried for his life — not with Chi Yuan there. Unless Di Tian came in person, no one could harm him under Chi Yuan's protection.
But this creature was the reverse scale of the Star Dou Great Forest — the default emperor among soul beasts. If something happened to it, it could trigger a beast tide that would bring calamity to the land.
The Auspicious Beast is the natural emperor of soul beasts — in areas it resides, all soul beasts grow at twice the normal rate, and ten-thousand-year beasts have double the chance of breaking through bottlenecks.
Suddenly, a golden figure appeared from behind the Red King, charging straight at Ji Lin.
Seriously? Did this Auspicious Beast just offer itself up for nothing? Why does she think the Red King can block Chi Yuan?
Chi Yuan stepped forward. A terrifying pressure burst forth like a mountain, crashing down on the Scarlet King and the Auspicious Beast.
Feeling this pressure, the Scarlet King's expression drastically changed, and the Auspicious Beast froze mid-air.
The Scarlet King was alarmed,
"Not good! This woman is an Extreme Douluo! We're finished!"
The Red King shouted:"Auspicious Beast, run! Go find Di Tian. I'll hold her off!"
The Auspicious Beast also sensed something was wrong. It abruptly halted, turned around, and fled.
"Come and go as you please? Not so simple."
Chi Yuan directly tore open space, appearing in front of the Auspicious Beast. Her delicate hand clenched into a fist wrapped in flames and struck the beast. With a bang, it was sent flying back, landing heavily not far in front of Ji Lin. It was clearly seriously injured, unable to get up for a while.
Only then did the Scarlet King react. All three heads roared in unison, and within a ten-mile radius, all soul beasts dropped to the ground, not daring to move.
The Scarlet King roared,
"You madwoman! Do you know who she is? If you harm her, you're declaring war on every soul beast in the Star Dou Great Forest!"
Chi Yuan coldly responded, "I don't care who she is. All I know is you were the ones who attacked first."
As she spoke, she took another step forward. Her terrifying aura surged once again, pressing down like a mountain.
"Wait!"
The Scarlet King panicked. Although his cultivation had surpassed 300,000 years, placing him eighth among the ferocious beasts, he was no match for the woman before him. It was too late to call for reinforcements — even the top powerhouses of the forest needed time to arrive. And this human clearly wasn't going to give them that time.
"Wait for what?" Chi Yuan asked coldly.
The Scarlet King said,
"Human, don't act rashly. The one you just injured is the Auspicious Beast — the emperor of the Star Dou Great Forest and the only one of its kind on the entire continent. If it dies, the entire forest will go berserk."
Chi Yuan replied emotionlessly, "I don't care whether you go berserk or not — you attacked us first."