Changes in the Star Dou Great Forest

"What kind of Soul Beast is the Light Goddess Butterfly?"

Tang San asked again about the Light Goddess Butterfly eggs described in the diary.

"It is said to be an extremely beautiful Soul Beast, even known as the most beautiful."

Zhou Qing did not hide this, because even in Nuoding City, there were tales of the Light Goddess Butterfly—recorded in children's beginner storybooks. "Come to think of it, if the Light Goddess Butterfly is a human Martial Soul, then it is an especially unusual case."

"Unusual? In what way?" Tang San asked, puzzled.

"According to legend, this Martial Soul does not necessarily need to be inherited from one's parents. It can appear on beautiful women of its own accord, though the odds are very low," Zhou Qing said. "It is as if this Martial Soul possesses consciousness like us humans and actively chooses beautiful women."

In his previous life, many readers who had read the Douluo Series had guessed that Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly was a god-bestowed Martial Soul.

But Zhou Qing did not think so. Not entirely, at least.

Based on the descriptions in the Douluo II novel, as well as the fairy tales about the Light Goddess Butterfly from the Douluo Era that he currently lived in, one thing could be confirmed: before Wang Dong, there had absolutely been Soul Masters with the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul. Moreover, judging from the fact that it "did not necessarily need to be inherited from one's parents," Soul Masters of the Douluo Continent had clearly already summarized the patterns governing the appearance of this type of Martial Soul.

Unfortunately, women with the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul generally did not leave behind descendants.

Why?

Because possessing the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul meant that the Soul Master was most likely female—and breathtakingly beautiful.

To be too beautiful without having the strength to protect oneself was a crime in itself—one was guilty for possessing a treasure.

Why, then, was Wang Dong not guilty?

Because she had disguised herself as a man from the start, and she also had Great God-King Tang backing her. If anyone dared to casually trouble her, perhaps merely entertaining such thoughts would be noticed by the ever-watchful Great God-King Tang, and then—

They would not even know how they died.

Not to mention that Tang Hao and Ah Yin were still on the Douluo Continent.

Now.

Zhou Qing felt that the peculiar nature of the Light Goddess Butterfly, both as a Martial Soul and a Soul Beast, might conceal an enormous secret. It might even be deeply connected to the "God of Love" within the Valley of Asking Love.

After all, the original work's account of that God of Love's fall was far too abstract, far too tragic. She fell into the mortal world... But she was a god, wasn't she? She should have had a divine soul. Was she really that fragile? When Great God-King Tang committed suicide in Douluo V, he still had to disperse his Divine Body first!

And afterward, he had still intended to cultivate anew!

Still, the God of Love's devotion to love must have been genuine, but—

Zhou Qing believed she was definitely not respectable.

In the original Douluo II, the Valley of Asking Love had been taken over by Great God-King Tang and Ning Rongrong. Thus, Zhou Qing had always doubted whether its original trials had truly been like that.

Yet judging from this Soul Saint's diary, the God of Love's trials really did have three stages: sincerity, adventure, and a sincere adventure.

Considering that even the Soul Saint's mother, an ordinary person, had passed the trial and received a reward, the God of Love of the Valley of Asking Love might have been improper, but she absolutely possessed great love. At the very least, she would not casually open her mouth and declare, "Erasure."

Could a god concerned only with romance truly bear the word "love" in their title?

At least.

In the end, that God of Love had used her own power to send the Soul Saint's mother to this side of the Douluo Continent.

That was far too gentle!

But viewed from a darker angle, perhaps that God of Love had been plotting something. After all, both the Golden Ancient Tree's seed—the Seed of Nature—and the Light Goddess Butterfly eggs were far too precious...

At the same time.

In an underground space somewhere within the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest, a golden sphere shattered, revealing a fluffy, adorable creature resembling a lion cub.

Its entire body was covered in golden fur, its four claws were like those of a dragon, and it possessed a third eye in the center of its brow, an eerie crimson color.

The instant it was born, the other Soul Beasts in this space—a black giant dragon, a purple giant dragon, a towering giant bear, an emerald swan, a three-headed Chi Ao, and more—all ceased cultivating and looked toward the little beast that had emerged from the golden sphere.

"The Auspicious Beast has been born!"

The towering giant bear was wildly excited, even speaking human words. "Has the era of Soul Beasts arrived?"

The Emerald Swan transformed into human form and said joyfully, "It is good that it has been born. As long as it slowly grows, the cultivation speed of every Soul Beast in the entire Star Dou Great Forest will increase with it."

The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King was also delighted. "If Master knew, he would certainly be very happy. It is a pity that Master is still asleep."

This newly born Auspicious Beast was named the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. It represented the Fortune of the Star Dou Great Forest. With it present, any Soul Beast's cultivation speed could increase, which was why no Soul Beast dared harm it.

Even a Ten-Thousand Year Soul Beast, if it were targeted by the Three-Eyed Golden Lion as food, could not choose to fight back. It could only flee.

Yet the crimson Vertical Pupil in the brow of this newborn Three-Eyed Golden Lion blinked.

"Something is wrong."

The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King had lived longer than every Soul Beast present. He knew the purpose of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's third Vertical Pupil: it could sense the power of Fortune in the unseen.

This third eye was not an eye in the true sense. It could not blink like its normal pair of golden eyes. If it did blink, it meant something had happened to Fortune.

But the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had only just been born. It was still ignorant and could not possibly explain anything, so they could only wait until it had grown for some time before making plans.

Behind these super Soul Beasts, a plump white silkworm more than seven meters long and over a meter thick seized the chance to curl itself up, shrinking by a third as it quickly leaped toward a nearby fissure in the ground.

Plop!

The sound also drew the attention of the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King and the others, but it was already too late. The silkworm had entered the earth, and its ability to conceal its aura was such that even the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King found it difficult to detect.

"That worm actually escaped!" The Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear beat its chest and stomped its feet.

"It does not matter. The cultivation it accumulated over more than nine hundred thousand years has released enough Heaven and Earth Origin Energy already." The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King did not care. "For the sake of it being a Soul Beast that has developed intelligence like us, spare its life."

The escaping silkworm had already left the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest and reached the middle region. It burrowed through the rock layer and poked out a round, pudgy head, looking around in every direction. A trace of relief at surviving the disaster showed in its tiny golden eyes. "Those bastards were truly ruthless. Over ninety thousand years, they actually absorbed so much of Brother's Heaven and Earth Origin Energy. Though Brother, as a Soul Beast, still reached the nine-hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year level, aside from Spiritual Power, Brother only has five thousand years of cultivation left!"

"Just you wait!"

"Brother will definitely take revenge and wipe out every last one of you bastards who absorbed Brother's cultivation!"

This silkworm belonged to the ice silkworm race. It called itself the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

In theory, for an ice silkworm to become even a Ten-Thousand Year Soul Beast was difficult. Yet this one had stumbled upon an incredible stroke of Fortune and found a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Mine. It ate, then slept; slept, then ate; and effortlessly reached the nine-hundred-thousand-year level.

But that was precisely why it had almost no combat ability. In the end, it had been captured and brought into a space deep in the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest, where numerous Ferocious Beasts and Soul Beasts had forced it to transform its cultivation into Heaven and Earth Origin Energy and release it for their cultivation. Only now, taking advantage of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's birth and the instant when the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King was distracted by noticing its third eye blink, had it found the perfect chance to escape.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm also understood that, even with five thousand years of cultivation remaining, it was utterly impossible for it to deal with those Ferocious Beasts. It would even need to hide from stronger Ten-Thousand Year Soul Beasts.

Transform into human form?

The moment that thought emerged, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm dismissed it.

Human cultivation was fast, but the uncertainty was too great. What if humans discovered it and killed it for its Soul Ring and Soul Bone? Would that not be a complete loss?

Although it believed humans certainly could not completely Refine its spirit, if its body were Destroyed, reviving would become as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

"Why not cooperate with a human? With the Spiritual Power Brother has accumulated over so many years, if Brother actively sacrifices himself, Brother can preserve his soul completely. As long as my Silkworm Shedding remains, revival will be much easier. If the chosen human does not work, I will find another. Brother has endured ninety thousand years already. Given human lifespans, Brother can wait another ninety thousand years!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was also a creature of action. Once it came up with a method, it immediately began putting it into practice. It quietly roamed the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, observing Soul Masters who came to hunt Soul Beasts and beginning its inhumane experiments in "sacrificing itself."

Why call them inhumane?

Because the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had limited knowledge of humans and could only try them one by one to determine which types of Martial Souls and which ranks of Soul Masters it was more compatible with...

In the mountain forest outside Holy Soul Village.

By the time Zhou Qing and Tang San had cleaned out all the miscellaneous items in the cave, it was already afternoon.

"It is time to go back."

Holding the small gray cloth bag and the beast-hide Map, Zhou Qing called Tang San to return to Holy Soul Village. "This Gray Pouch should be the Storage Soul Tool capable of storing living things. But we do not have Soul Power. Once we awaken our Martial Souls, we can see whether we possess Innate Soul Power."

"Mm."

Although Tang San very much wanted to open it immediately, he restrained the impulse and decided to wait a few days. After all, he had already found a reason to use the Mysterious Heaven Skill and his other techniques before Zhou Qing. There was no need to rush...