Returning to the Great Star Dou Forest, when Yuwen Tuo left previously, he had agreed with Crimson King and Three-Eyed Golden Lion to meet by the roasted fish lake. He didn't want to go to the Lake of Life with them just yet.
Yuwen Tuo didn't dare to gamble on Di Tian's reaction.
After all, Di Tian might suddenly decide that this human's potential was too strong to be allowed to live.
Against Crimson King, Yuwen Tuo still had countermeasures. But against Di Tian, even Empress Snow wasn't a match. If it were the Far North, perhaps they could contend, but the Lake of Life was absolutely Di Tian's home ground.
"Human, you are indeed trustworthy." Crimson King's voice rang out. It had arrived as promised, with the Imperial Beast of Auspperity standing on its back.
Seeing Yuwen Tuo, it jumped down immediately.
"Tuo, I want to eat fish again."
After tasting Yuwen Tuo's cooking, it felt that the food in the Great Star Dou Forest was simply too terrible. Forget fruits, even their usual staple food, the brain matter of Light Soul Beasts, was utterly bland. If it weren't for the need to eat to grow stronger, it probably would have gone on a hunger strike to prove its point.
"Don't just think about eating fish all day. This time when I went to town, I bought a lot of ingredients for you two," Yuwen Tuo chuckled. "It's all sorts of meat. I guarantee you'll like it."
After all, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had the form of a small lion, and Crimson King was a genuine dog; how could they not eat meat?
Crimson King and Three-Eyed Golden Lion were a little expectant and a little worried. Of course, they liked meat, but what if it wasn't as delicious as the fish?
However, they would soon put their worries aside, because the first dish Yuwen Tuo was going to make today was a famous Sichuan dish: a super spicy version of braised rabbit head.
Both of these fellows were fire-attributed, so they would surely love this stimulating flavor.
Before coming here, Yuwen Tuo had already put the rabbit heads along with all the seasonings and broth into a clay pot, brought it to a boil over high heat, and let it soak for 12 hours.
Now, he could directly start cooking it over high heat. As the rabbit heads began to emit waves of fragrance, Crimson King's drool was already pooling on the ground.
"Human, this king cannot wait for this to be ready. Give this king some fire to eat first." Crimson King couldn't help but say.
"Alright." Yuwen Tuo was just about to condense flames when he suddenly thought of something, smirked, and condensed the flames into a bone shape. Then, with a forceful flick, the flame bone flew over Crimson King's head.
"Hmph, human, are you testing this king? With your meager power, could you possibly throw this king off?" Crimson King spun around, swiftly chasing after the flame bone. It ran faster than the bone flew.
As it got closer, Crimson King leaped, rising to be level with the bone, bit down on the flame bone, and then performed three beautiful 360-degree aerial flips before landing.
Finally, it swallowed the flame bone whole, its face filled with an expression of pure enjoyment.
Yuwen Tuo and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion were both moved by Crimson King's incredibly spectacular actions and applauded.
Only after eating did Crimson King finally realize what was amiss. This human, was he... walking the dog? And the one being walked seemed to be... itself?
"Damn human!" Crimson King roared, flames erupting all over its body. Where are its teeth? It wanted to bite this human to death.
Crimson King furiously charged towards Yuwen Tuo. However, just at that moment, the spicy rabbit heads were ready. Smelling the aroma, Crimson King screeched to a halt in front of Yuwen Tuo as if applying emergency brakes.
Alright, this human still seems to have some use. I'll bite him to death later; for now, it's time to eat.
Soon, Yuwen Tuo once again filled the bellies of Crimson King and Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
"Human, this king is willing to bestow upon you the title of Chef Grandmaster among humans. If you are willing to remain in the Great Star Dou Forest, this king will grant you rewards." Crimson King said, picking its teeth with a paw, and invited him again.
It should have detested and looked down on humans, yet for some reason, it had an extremely good impression of Yuwen Tuo.
Perhaps it was because he possessed the legendary power of the Sacred Path, which could help the Three-Eyed Golden Lion suppress the power of destiny in the Great Star Dou Forest, ensuring that their soul beasts' luck would no longer be lost. Or perhaps it was because he possessed a Pure Fire martial soul, which inherently held a certain attraction for all fire-attributed individuals or soul beasts.
In any case, Crimson King deeply hoped he would stay.
"Senior Crimson King, I am very pleased to receive your invitation. However, I am a human after all, and I must return to human society. Furthermore, I still bear a deep-seated blood feud that I must repay one by one," Yuwen Tuo said. "But once I have accomplished everything, if Senior is willing, we can become friends."
"Hmph, this king is one of the kings of the Great Star Dou Forest. A mere human is not worthy to be my friend," Crimson King said haughtily. "Human, since you are unwilling, this king will not force you. Now that we have eaten, let's do some post-meal exercise. Use your Pure Fire martial soul to help me and the Imperial Beast of Ausperity cultivate."
"Alright, but Senior, are you sure you won't absorb my soul power?" Yuwen Tuo asked again.
"Of course not. As this king said, don't think this king's control over its cultivation is as incompetent as that person who absorbed your soul power before. Cultivating together with this king and the Imperial Beast of Ausperity will only benefit you, not harm you," Crimson King said.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion also jumped in front of Yuwen Tuo, constantly nodding, indicating that Crimson King was right.
"Xiao Tuo, you can rest assured. We fierce beasts, with hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation, have already mastered control over our soul power as if it were our own limbs. This Crimson King is not lying to you," Empress Snow also interjected as a reminder.
Hearing this, Yuwen Tuo no longer hesitated. He sat cross-legged, his Fire Elephant Power surging, his entire body bathed in red light.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion and Crimson King stood directly in front of Yuwen Tuo. The flames emanating from their bodies were completely different.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Ultimate Fire was golden, while Crimson King's Hell Fire was pitch black.
The three flames touched and connected at the center. For a moment, their cultivations merged.
As Crimson King said, Yuwen Tuo's cultivation didn't waver in the slightest; on the contrary, it began to circulate at high speed.
Yuwen Tuo quickly activated the Divine Fire Clone Cultivation Method. Crimson King's majestic power propelled Yuwen Tuo's soul power circulation at least sevenfold faster. Since his cultivation wouldn't be absorbed, Yuwen Tuo naturally wouldn't miss such a heaven-sent cultivation opportunity.
Additionally, Pure Fire was acquiring some of Hell Fire's abilities. As for Ultimate Fire, even Pure Fire found it difficult to absorb.
It seemed this place was also a cultivation treasure trove for Yuwen Tuo.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion even discovered that its power of destiny seemed to be able to slightly sense Yuwen Tuo's Sacred Path power through this flame.
Because it didn't directly touch the Xuanyuan Sword, its power of destiny wouldn't be taken by Yuwen Tuo, nor would it be connected to Yuwen Tuo's destiny, thus preventing it from becoming the fated vessel to sacrifice its power of destiny for the Child of Fortune, as in the original work.
The reason Yuwen Tuo always refused its touch on the Xuanyuan Sword was precisely because he didn't want this guy to suffer the same fate as in the original story.
In this situation, even though the two were connected, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could even see the River of Time on Yuwen Tuo, limited to this lifetime of course, its power of destiny remained as stable as a mountain.
On the contrary, because the Sacred Path power had the effect of suppressing the power of destiny, it made its destiny even more stable.
Thus, it would not easily be schemed against again.
As long as Yuwen Tuo prevented its power of destiny from being taken by Huo Yuhao later, regardless of whether Tang Wutong's divine consciousness was currently within its body, it would not have the tragic ending of the original work.
"Wow, Tuo's previous life was so miserable, I have to help him!"
Similarly, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion also felt how much help Yuwen Tuo had given it. It also saw Yuwen Tuo's unfortunate past seven years from the River of Time and decided to give Yuwen Tuo a good return.
That was to allow Yuwen Tuo's Pure Fire to absorb as much of its Ultimate Fire as possible, helping his Pure Fire achieve the Ultimate and Supreme Power as soon as possible!
Just as the three of them were cultivating joyfully, the Sun Moon Empire's participating team had also returned to their country.
After all, they were quite far, so the journey back was slower.
Elder Ma reported the details of the competition to Hall Master Jing Hongchen of the Mingde Hall. Jing Hongchen didn't say much about Shrek's victory once again.
After all, they had been winning for thousands of years; in short, the Sun Moon Empire was used to losing.
But the fact that the 100,000-year soul beast embryo was snatched by the Star Luo Empire enraged him to the extreme.
"Hmph, what a despicable Star Luo Empire. First, they put their treasure up for auction, and after realizing our Sun Moon Empire people bought it, they secretly sent people to steal it back, fearing that we would cultivate soul masters who would threaten them in the future. It's utterly shameless."
"Yes, Grandfather, you must uphold justice for us. Not only Brother's soul beast embryo, but also my 50,000-year Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone was stolen by them," Meng Hongchen complained to her grandfather.
Xiao Hongchen had bought the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone for this sister of his. He didn't know the requirements for absorbing the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone, only that this soul bone was ice-attributed like his sister, and thus must be very suitable.
From this perspective, Poison Douluo still saved Meng Hongchen's life.
"Don't worry, Grandfather will definitely seek justice for you in the future," Jing Hongchen said.
Meng Hongchen nodded, "Oh, and Grandfather, about Yuwen Tuo..."
🚨 Note : Consider to Support this Story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access +300 advance Chapters & 2 Chapters Daily and To Support The Daily Update