Zi Ji

Imagine a giant dragon pawing at your child right outside your home—any ordinary mother who saw that would probably be scared into cardiac arrest.

But Dark Cloud merely raised an eyebrow. "Alright, Zi Ji, stop playing with my daughter."

"Hehe, Dark Cloud, you're back? I just came out of seclusion." The purple dragon opened her blood-filled maw and let out a somewhat silly laugh.

Her four claws were a vivid bright purple, the color deepening farther up until her back was nearly blackish-purple. Her curved horns resembled polished black jade, and at the center of her forehead was a jet-black scale as beautiful as obsidian, gleaming beneath the sunlight.

She was Zi Ji, one of the few pure-blooded true dragons in the Star Dou Great Forest—a pure-blooded Hell Demon Dragon with one hundred and eighty thousand years of cultivation.

She had yet to undergo her second Heavenly Tribulation, so she could not take human form and did not yet count as a Fierce Beast.

Compared to Di Tian, who was also a dragon but had a far more stern and aloof personality, she was closer to the Tiger Empress, who shared her darkness attribute. She practically regarded Dark Cloud as her own elder sister.

Although Zi Ji had one hundred and eighty thousand years of cultivation, her exceptional talent meant that her actual age was much younger. Having also spent much of her time cultivating, her disposition remained exceedingly innocent, and Dark Cloud almost treated her as a biological daughter.

"Dark Cloud, look." Zi Ji extended a massive dragon claw and carefully poked the little black tiger, who had just staggered to her feet, right back onto the ground.

The tiger cub let out a childish roar and pounced on Zi Ji's claw, viciously clawing and scratching at it.

"That's not how you play. Watch me." As Dark Cloud spoke, she stretched out a slender hand and pinned the little tiger cub to the ground on her back.

The little tiger immediately clamped her hand between her front paws, tilting her head as she bit at it while kicking hard at it with her hind legs.

Only after the little black tiger had scratched herself tired, limply tilted her head aside, and began to play dead with all four limbs splayed out did Dark Cloud chuckle and remove her hand.

Mm... was this really her biological mother?

Right afterward, Dark Cloud pulled a golden lion cub from her arms, still sleeping soundly, and carefully placed him beside her own cub. Then she transformed back into a giant tiger and tucked both cubs beneath her belly.

"Ah, as expected of an Auspicious Beast born of heaven and earth. He's so much prettier than one I gave birth to myself," Dark Cloud, the biological mother, remarked sentimentally.

The black tiger cub did not understand her mother's disdain. She curiously nudged the little lion, sniffed him for a while, then lay atop him and began a very friendly feline social activity—grooming his fur.

Wang Rui was sleeping like the dead, still unaware that he was about to gain an adoptive mother who liked to mess with her cub and a lively, energetic older sister.

Still, it was plain to see that his future days would be very, very exciting.

"This is the Auspicious Beast, right? I can feel my power circulating a little faster." Zi Ji curiously stretched out her head to sniff the Auspicious Beast. "I came out of seclusion when I sensed the Auspicious Beast's birth, but I think I was a little late, so I didn't go over."

"Mm." Dark Cloud nodded.

"The Auspicious Beast has a very pure dragon scent! Does he have dragon bloodline?" She sensed him carefully. There really was a resonance between their bloodlines, and the sensation coming from that golden lion cub even seemed to suppress her own. "I feel like this bloodline is even nobler than mine!"

"I don't know much about dragon matters." Dark Cloud shook her head and yawned tiredly. Her fight with Bear Lord earlier had not been easy for her either. "Di Tian flew off right away. Ask him when he returns."

"Alright." Zi Ji dejectedly lay down beside Dark Cloud. The Hell Demon Dragon had just emerged from seclusion and was brimming with energy, wholly unwilling to give her sleepy friend any peace.

"But, Dark Cloud, who's this cub's father? Why does this cub have a dragon scent too?" Relying on how close they were, she asked gossipyly.

"Does he?" The giant black tiger's eyelids drooped heavily. "I had him with a relatively weak member of my clan. Does he really smell like a dragon? Maybe Di Tian secretly touched him."

Zi Ji did not look convinced, but she let the matter go. "Come to think of it, Dark Cloud, why did you decide to have a cub?"

"Do you want to hear my own reason, or the explanation I give everyone else?"

"The public explanation?"

"Because my end is drawing near, and I wanted to leave proof that I had existed in this world. So I had a cub to inherit everything I have," Dark Cloud said lazily.

"...Then what's your own reason?"

"I'd never had one before, so I had one for fun."

Zi Ji choked on her sheer confidence.

"It does look fun." She swished her tail. "Can you lend her to me for a couple of days?"

"No. Go have one yourself." Dark Cloud raised a paw and smacked her large head aside. "I'm going to sleep."

As they laughed and played, an enormous black dragon swept over the Star Dou Forest and descended into the Forbidden Land at the heart of the forest.

Di Tian dropped to one knee beside the Lake of Life.

A faint silver glow rose in mist-like waves from the lake's surface.

"The Divine Realm was examining the Douluo Plane just now." An ethereal voice rang out.

"Yes, my lord." The Beast God of the Star Dou Great Forest bowed his head respectfully. "The Imperial Auspicious Beast that gathers the fortune of soul beasts was born just now. That Auspicious Beast seems to possess pure dragon bloodline." He hesitated. "The Auspicious Beast's bloodline... seems even more powerful than mine and the Hell Demon Dragon King's."

"So it is an Auspicious Beast born of heaven and earth? No wonder... no wonder." The mysterious, drifting voice murmured. "Your senses are correct. The Auspicious Beast's bloodline comes from the Golden Dragon King... If the Golden Dragon King were not impossibly weak, I would have almost thought that my other half had returned to the Douluo Plane."

The mysterious voice paused, then continued with intense disgust. "Hmph, those damned fellows in the Divine Realm must have sensed something as well, which is why they went to such lengths to search the lower realm... I can sense the nauseating power of the Asura God."

"What?!" Di Tian was greatly alarmed. "Then—"

"Do not worry. I was not exposed, and the Auspicious Beast likely was not discovered either."

"My apologies, my lord. I lost my composure." Di Tian lowered his head.

"My injuries are still far from healed. At this rate, it will take at least another fifty thousand years," the mysterious voice said calmly. "Di Tian, remember this: as long as the Asura God remains in his position, soul beasts must keep a low profile."

"Yes." Di Tian acknowledged. "But, my lord, the Divine Realm cannot interfere with the lower realm, so why..."

"Hmph, the righteous and impartial Divine Realm enforcer, the Asura God... Hehe..." The mysterious voice let out a string of hate-filled sneers. "Do you truly think he will enforce the law impartially? The Asura God who personally split the Dragon God in two is the one most afraid of the Soul Beast Clan rising again. For that, he will spare no effort in suppressing the Soul Beast Clan."

"North of Star Dou lies the site of the Asura God's inheritance." The mysterious voice was filled with gritted hatred. "As long as he wishes it, he can at any time use divine trials as an excuse to have the lackeys he chooses interfere in the affairs of the continent."

"Yes, I understand." Di Tian nodded, and the same bone-deep hatred surged within his golden eyes.

"Alright, I will enter slumber once more... I will not awaken again within ten thousand years." The silver light swayed. "One more thing, Di Tian. Remember this: nothing must happen to the Auspicious Beast!"

"If no turning point emerges, the Auspicious Beast may be the Dragon God's only chance at resurrection." The mysterious voice spoke coldly. "Even if the Auspicious Beast dies, you must ensure that his corpse returns to Star Dou intact."

Stormy waves surged in Di Tian's heart.

The Dragon God's only chance at resurrection... Could it be that my lord intended to...?

It was true that the Auspicious Beast gathered the fortune of all soul beasts, but compared to the return of the dragon race's supreme God King...

Hesitation welled in the Beast God's heart for a second before vanishing without a trace.

"I will certainly devote all my strength to ensuring the Auspicious Beast's safety," he said in a deep voice.

Digging through the stockpile, here's an extra chapter!

A little skit:

On some day in some year, Bi Ji heard Dark Cloud calling for her loudly. Thinking something had happened, she hurried over.

She saw the big tiger pointing at a black lump on the ground. "Bi Ji, it's over! The poop I took can move! Am I going to die???"

Thus, that day, every Fierce Beast witnessed the Emerald Swan beating up a tiger.