"Can't fire? Why not? Is that Soul Beast incredibly powerful?"
Hearing Xu Tianxi's loud interjection, Jing Hongchen, confused, put away his Soul Guided Cannon and pointed at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who wished to remain anonymous.
Xu Tianxi's mouth twitched. He said, as if disappointed, "Dean, why don't you even look? That's a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. What kind of Soul Beast could scare it like that?"
Jing Hongchen looked further, examining the Three-Eyed Auspicious Beast, his voice growing softer and softer: "You mean the Soul Beast behind it? That Soul Beast is... I really don't recognize this Soul Beast..."
The Hongchen Dean, who had intended to show off his strength but realized he was rather ignorant when it came to Soul Beast knowledge, felt a bit awkward. He then chuckled at Xiao Changfeng beside him, "Brother Xiao, what kind of Soul Beast is this? One that can scare a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear like this?"
Xiao Changfeng's expression grew unprecedentedly serious. He said solemnly, "I didn't recognize it at first either, but I do now. This is the legendary Emperor Auspicious Beast, extremely rare. Ancient Texts record that there might only be one such Auspicious Beast on the entire continent."
"Auspicious Beast? How rare?" The Hongchen Dean, from the Sun Moon Empire, was like a novice when it came to Soul Master knowledge.
Xu Tianxi said, "This Soul Beast possesses two ultimate attributes: Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light. Its ten thousand years of cultivation are no weaker than an ordinary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast. Its bloodline is supremely noble, probably even surpassing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger."
"Hiss~" The Hongchen Dean gasped.
"In the Soul Beast habitat where the Auspicious Beast resides, which is the Star Dou Great Forest, all Soul Beasts grow at twice the normal speed. Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beasts have double the chance of breaking through once they reach a bottleneck. Any Soul Beast that sees it must bow down in reverence. If chosen as food, they can only flee and not resist..."
"Hiss~ Hiss~" The Hongchen Dean inhaled more cold air, his eyes darting around, his face paling slightly.
Xu Tianxi took out his Flying Soul Guided Device and put it on, preparing to make a quick escape at any moment, before continuing:
"The Star Dou Great Forest owes its current prosperity primarily to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Wherever it goes, Ferocious Beasts are sure to follow..."
"Tianxi, I understand what you mean. Now, the problem is, they're charging at us. What do we do?"
Jing Hongchen pointed at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear that was courting death.
"Simple, just take it down." Xiao Changfeng pointed forward, summoning a frosty white Soul Light that split into three in mid-air, piercing through the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's two massive legs and heart like a silk ribbon.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, already fleeing for its life, hadn't expected the despicable humans to launch a direct sneak attack. Just as it was about to raise its right paw to unleash a Dark Gold Terror Claw, its legs, frozen by the white light, betrayed it. Its Meridians stiffened and weakened, and its body tilted forward, collapsing.
It was already covered in wounds, and now, struck through the heart by Xiao Changfeng, who was Level Ninety-Seven, even its robust physique had most of its vitality cut off. It could not rise again.
*Bang~!*
The massive golden bear crashed to the ground, shaking the earth for thousands of meters around. The golden stream of light, however, seemed unaffected, charging forward undeterred. It pounced onto the fallen Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, casually swiping a claw at its head.
With that one claw, the already heavily wounded and heart-pierced Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear instantly went silent. A rich Soul Light slowly condensed into a precious and extraordinary purple Soul Ring.
Due to inertia, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had jumped onto the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear but didn't immediately start eating. Instead, it glanced out of the corner of its eye at the source of the two Soul Lights in the distance, and then...
It saw the fully armed Jing Hongchen, the relatively relaxed Xiao Changfeng, and Xu Tianxi standing beside Xiao Changfeng, speaking.
"Huh? Humans?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion blinked its three eyes, confirming it hadn't seen wrong—the three small creatures opposite were indeed a rare species in the Star Dou Great Forest: foreign humans.
According to Di Tian and Red King Uncle's instructions, it seemed it should be vigilant, vigilant, and then even more vigilant now?
But they didn't seem threatening, and for some reason, the youngest-looking human seemed very delicious.
*Whoosh—*
A cold glint flashed. The Emperor Auspicious Beast only felt a blur before its eyes as Xiao Changfeng's figure shot forward like lightning, his hand slicing down like a blade, severing the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's two paws.
"We helped you deal with this guy, so we're taking some spoils of war. These two bear paws are ours."
Xiao Changfeng used his Soul Power to freeze the bear paws and tossed them back, simultaneously releasing a powerful and imposing Soul Power pressure as he explained to the confused Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
"Humans, step back!"
In an instant, a scorching dark red figure streaked from afar. Along with three sharp roars, the air in the surrounding environment grew scorching hot.
"Three-Headed Red Demon Mastiff, Ferocious Beast Red King?"
Xiao Changfeng saw the dark red figure's face clearly. Undeterred, he pushed out a frosty white palm print, which manifested the image of a soaring phoenix in the air.
Seeing this, the dark red figure's three heads spewed scorching flowing flames in mid-air, radiating a lava-like heat.
*Bang~!*
Amidst a violent roar, Xiao Changfeng floated back effortlessly. The dark red figure was also struck back dozens of meters by Xiao Changfeng's palm, but quickly rushed back in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
This dark red figure was a Soul Beast over five meters long, somewhat resembling a lion. It was extremely robust, with three identical heads, each over a meter in diameter. Its terrifying fangs glowed with a reddish-gold luster, and all six of its eyes were filled with vigilance.
"Humans, what are you doing in the Star Dou Great Forest?" The Red King asked with extreme vigilance.
Xiao Changfeng shrugged and chuckled, "I'm in a good mood, so I came here for a stroll; we just took two bear paws, it's not like we're trying to harm your Auspicious Beast, why so nervous?"
Xu Tianxi had just informed him that the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's paws might yield rare palm Soul Bones, so he had taken the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's paws, not expecting to encounter this Ferocious Beast.
However, from a strength perspective, this Red King wasn't a major threat. He and Jing Hongchen could completely handle it.
The Red King breathed a sigh of relief, shaking its middle head. It said, "That's for the best. If you want to hunt Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, that's fine. This King can even point you in the right direction. But absolutely do not touch the Auspicious Beast behind me, or the consequences are not something you can bear."
In that previous clash, he hadn't gained any advantage, even subtly falling into a disadvantage. Bearing the heavy responsibility of protecting the Auspicious Beast, he didn't want to engage in conflict with human powerhouses of this caliber.
Such a powerful opponent, he had never seen when the Star Dou Great Forest and the human powerhouses signed a contract a hundred years ago. It was highly likely that this was a top powerhouse who had risen in the past century, truly making beasts wary.
Fearing that the other party, being young and hot-blooded, might not understand the severity of the "consequences" he spoke of, the Red King's eyes darted around, and he threatened fiercely again:
"If you touch the Auspicious Beast, our Star Dou Great Forest will inevitably launch a Beast Tide at all costs, striking at your human world's most important city, Shrek City."
As his words fell, the expressions of Xu Tianxi and the other two indeed changed.
Xu Tianxi's expression was a mix of shock and anticipation, while Xiao Changfeng raised an eyebrow, and Jing Hongchen's eyes darted back and forth, seemingly deep in thought.
Red King: "???"
What's going on? Are these three humans' expressions not quite normal? I just said I was going to launch a Beast Tide attack on Shrek City, didn't I?
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion shivered and instinctively drew back. For some reason, it felt the two adult humans were looking at it with increased fervor.
Fortunately, all three were rational individuals. Their apprehension about Di Tian and the dangers of a Beast Tide quickly overshadowed their desire to "surprise" Shrek. They waved their hands, indicating their willingness to coexist peacefully with the Star Dou Great Forest and absolutely would not harm the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
Setting aside the threat of being killed by Di Tian if they laid hands on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, they all knew the immense impact a Beast Tide would have. It wouldn't just affect Shrek City, but also the common people.
From his stance, Jing Hongchen was a neutral party in the Sun Moon Empire. He supported neither the warmongering faction's desire for war nor the peace faction's advocacy for coexistence. His daily life revolved around researching Soul Guided Devices and engaging in academic studies, building a stronger future for the Hongchen Family.
He very much wanted to lead the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to replace Shrek's position, but this didn't mean he wanted to destroy Shrek City. There were still some reservations about causing widespread devastation and harming the natural order.
Researching large-scale destructive Soul Guided Devices didn't mean he wanted to use them to destroy the world; that was something only Evil Soul Masters would do.
Xu Tianxi and Xiao Changfeng were eager for revenge, but neither wished to involve too many people. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. They intended to kill Shrek's Soul Masters, not innocent civilians.
To put it less politely, this was essentially a dog-eat-dog fight among the Soul Master class; there was no reason to drag civilians into it.
In Xu Tianxi's vision, he had not only new and old grievances with Shrek but also a conflict of interests.
In a sense, Shrek Academy was a symbol of victory after the Tang God King ascended to godhood. As long as the statues of the Original Shrek Seven Devils remained in this world's foremost academy, which was also outwardly the world's foremost Soul Master power, it meant the Sea God Tang San's achievements would last for eternity.
Throughout the Original Three Kingdoms, legends circulated of the Shrek Seven Devils, led by the Tang God King, defeating the evil Martial Soul Hall ten thousand years ago. As long as these legends persisted, the Tang God King, far away in the God Realm, would receive an endless stream of Faith.
The problem arose: if all the Faith was on the predecessors, what should newcomers do if they couldn't gather enough Faith to ascend to godhood? They could only tear down the predecessors' statues!
As long as Xu Tianxi was unwilling to remain subordinate, he had to eliminate Shrek and eradicate the Tang God King's Faith on the Douluo Continent.
Of course, if he was willing to kneel, obediently follow Yuhao's old path, revive the Tang Sect for the Tang God King, fiercely crush the aggressor Sun Moon Empire, kowtow three times beneath the Sea God statue in Shrek City to bring the Sea God's Faith to the Sun Moon Continent;
And then copy all his opportunities to the high and mighty Tang Princess, preferably going through hell and back a few times for her, to express his determination to be a loyal dog for the Tang Family, disregarding everything, and willing to have his life manipulated by the Tang God King...
Then he might still attain the position of a Level 1 God. Currently, the Tang God King's influence and foundation above weren't strong, far inferior to the veteran God King, the God of Destruction, so a Level 1 God was still very valuable.
Never mind if, after becoming a god, the Tang God King would put a chastity lock on his daughter, or punch him a couple of times for no reason, calling it the father-in-law's attitude and test for his son-in-law. After all, he is immortal!
The Tang God King's attitude was clear: If you want to become a god, kneel.
But Xu Tianxi considered himself young and spirited. If he didn't want to kneel but still wanted to become a god, he could only confront all the forces the Tang God King left behind on the Douluo Continent.
Confronting them was one thing, but he didn't need to do something as outrageous as Dugu Bo poisoning and slaughtering a city ten thousand years ago, requiring the Sea God to step in and save people. That was too abstract and not good.
Out of caution towards Di Tian, Xu Tianxi and the two others said "goodbye" and temporarily departed. Before leaving, Xu Tianxi kindly reminded the Red King:
"The Emperor Auspicious Beast is critically important. It's best not to let it run around. There are scoundrels in the human world who dare to harm the Emperor Auspicious Beast, and they are powerful. You might not be able to protect it."
-----------
Translation by: randomtranslator.com
Read 2500+ original & fanfic translations and Translate for Free at: randomtranslator.com