"It's over!" Jiang Mian watched the Spirit Ball twitch twice before going still, and inwardly groaned.
That soul beast had been so fast that Jiang Mian had completed the capture before he could even make out what kind of soul beast it was.
Although his Spirit Ball could capture soul beasts regardless of their cultivation age, there was one strict condition: the more severely injured the soul beast was, the higher the capture probability. For an uninjured target, the odds were practically nonexistent.
But that soul beast just now did not look seriously injured at all. Could it have willingly allowed Jiang Mian to capture it?
The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear plopped down on the ground, despair filling its eyes. Its fighting spirit, which had only grown stronger with every battle, completely withered at that moment.
Jiang Mian retrieved the Spirit Ball. In an instant, his entire body trembled as though he had been electrocuted.
"Emperor..." Jiang Mian slapped himself hard across the face twice before finally calming down. "The Emperor Auspicious Beast!"
Jiang Mian reacted so strongly because the karmic ties surrounding the Emperor Auspicious Beast were simply too great.
In the original story, Black Dragon King Di Tian had launched a beast tide because the Emperor Auspicious Beast sacrificed herself. If he caused the soul beasts to unleash a beast tide now, even Qian Daoliu, Spirit Hall's Level 99 Limit Douluo, might not be able to withstand it.
The Emperor Auspicious Beast was called the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Born from the fortune of the soul beasts within the Star Dou Great Forest, she could double the cultivation speed of soul beasts around her and greatly increase their chances of breaking through bottlenecks.
That was why the Emperor Auspicious Beast had become a priority protection target for those ferocious beasts. In the original story, Yan, ranked eighth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, had never left her side.
Now that those ferocious beasts were all asleep, this Emperor Auspicious Beast must have secretly slipped out to play. Yet for some unknown reason, she had allowed Jiang Mian to capture her.
Jiang Mian's martial soul possessed an outrageously powerful ability: he could use the skills of soul beasts. In battle, that meant he could use both soul skills and summon soul beasts.
Just now, he had clearly felt the attributes of ultimate light and ultimate fire appear within his body. Those were the unique ultimate attributes of the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
"Human..."
From the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest came a majestic, inviolable dragon roar. The surrounding mountains and forests fell silent as countless beasts bowed their heads, while the Soul Power throughout the forest swirled toward the Lake of Life like a vortex.
"Is that Black Dragon King Di Tian?" Cold sweat streamed down Jiang Mian's forehead as his mind raced for a way to deal with this.
The eighty-thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had already fainted from terror. The Emperor Auspicious Beast had been taken by a human while under its watch, and now Di Tian had been forced awake. How could it possibly survive?
"Senior Di Tian, please hear me out," Jiang Mian called loudly. "This junior never intended to capture the Emperor Auspicious Beast, but please rest assured, Senior Di Tian, she is completely unharmed. If you do not believe me, you may come and see for yourself."
As he spoke, Jiang Mian hurriedly released the Three-Eyed Golden Lion from the Spirit Ball. "It is already a fact that I captured the Emperor Auspicious Beast. If you kill me, she will vanish with me. Therefore, this Jiang Mian humbly asks Senior to weigh the pros and cons."
"Are you threatening me?"
A long-haired, golden-eyed man in black robes, at least two meters tall, abruptly appeared before Jiang Mian. His expression was calm, but Jiang Mian could feel pressure so overwhelming that it had nearly taken physical form.
The ruler of soul beasts, Black Dragon King Di Tian!
"I would not dare." Jiang Mian forced his trembling legs to stay still and explained, "The Auspicious Beast possesses the Eye of Destiny and naturally seeks benefit while avoiding harm. She voluntarily entered my martial soul just now, which proves that I can only benefit her."
Di Tian snorted coldly, completely ignoring Jiang Mian as he walked straight to the Emperor Auspicious Beast. "Why did you secretly run out?"
The Emperor Auspicious Beast snorted. "You were all absorbing the energy of that ice silkworm thing. I wanted to eat it, but you would not let me. Then you would not even let me come out and play?"
Di Tian's expression grew somewhat complicated. Watching this, Jiang Mian could not help feeling that they looked like a strict father and a spoiled, tsundere daughter.
"Senior Di Tian, my martial soul is different. Although I captured the Auspicious Beast, she is still free," Jiang Mian quickly explained. "Furthermore, my martial soul can greatly increase a soul beast's cultivation speed. I believe that is also why the Emperor Auspicious Beast chose me."
"Hm?"
Di Tian glanced at Jiang Mian, then placed a hand atop the Auspicious Beast's head and carefully examined her body. Only after discovering that she had not changed in the slightest did he believe that Jiang Mian was telling the truth.
Di Tian coldly asked, "You said that if you die, the Auspicious Beast will die too?"
"Yes." Jiang Mian lied without batting an eye. In a perfectly serious tone, he said, "After all, the Auspicious Beast was captured by my martial soul. If I die, my martial soul will disappear as well. Then the Auspicious Beast will not be able to escape the fate of perishing."
"You also said that you can greatly increase the cultivation speed of soul beasts?" Di Tian asked again.
"That is correct." Jiang Mian nodded firmly. "As long as the Emperor Auspicious Beast battles, her cultivation will steadily increase. In the future, breaking through to godhood may not be impossible."
Pokémon could continuously gain experience through battle, so naturally soul beasts could as well.
"Hm?" At the mention of godhood, Di Tian's eyes lit up. He had lived for more than eight hundred thousand years and had always been dedicated to breaking the rule that soul beasts could not become gods.
And now Jiang Mian was telling him that he could help soul beasts become gods?
More importantly, if Di Tian's senses were correct, this boy was not even ten years old. How could he know so much? Could he truly have been sent by heaven to help the soul beast race rise to its peak?
There were only a few ways for soul beasts to increase their cultivation: through cultivation, consuming innate spiritual treasures, or devouring their own kind.
Devouring their own kind was certainly the fastest method. The Deep Sea Demon Whale King had broken through a bottleneck by consuming his own kind, but the method was extremely risky and could easily lead to backlash.
Moreover, the cultivation gained by devouring one's own kind was like the moon reflected in water or flowers in a mirror. It could not be fully used at all, and becoming a god through it was even more impossible.
"How do they battle?" Di Tian's expression remained unchanged, but Jiang Mian could hear a trace of excitement in his voice.
"The Auspicious Beast only needs to battle soul beasts or soul masters. She does not need to kill them. During battle, she can continuously gain large amounts of cultivation."
Jiang Mian added, "And the stronger the soul beast, the more cultivation she gains."
Di Tian fell into thought. Although the Auspicious Beast currently possessed only several thousand years of cultivation, her own strength could rival that of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
It would not hurt to test it.
With that thought, Di Tian casually dragged over the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear that had been pretending to be dead. "If you do not want to die, obediently follow orders."
The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear jolted all over at his words, then hurriedly sat properly and waited quietly for Di Tian's command.
"Have the Auspicious Beast fight it," Di Tian said blandly.
"Alright." Jiang Mian nodded and walked to the Auspicious Beast's side. He lowered his voice. "Auspicious Beast, are you willing to listen to my command?"
The Auspicious Beast shook her head disdainfully. With a whoosh, she pounced straight at the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, moving so fast that she had already surpassed the speed of sound.
The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was knocked to the ground by a single claw from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Its wounds, which had only just begun to close, split open again as blood gushed out. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion looked displeased and pressed a paw onto the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's face.
The blow was incredibly heavy. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's head immediately deformed, its entire skull caving inward.
"So it is true." Di Tian's insight was exceptionally sharp. He could clearly sense that after only a brief exchange with this eighty-thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, the Auspicious Beast had gained nearly a thousand years of cultivation.
A thousand years! What did that mean? Even though the Emperor Auspicious Beast could accelerate the cultivation of soul beasts, gaining a thousand years of cultivation would still take decades, perhaps even centuries.
Yet Jiang Mian had done it in only a few minutes!
And that was merely through a simple battle. There was not even any need to harm the opposing soul beast's life.
Jiang Mian watched Di Tian's reaction, already planning which soul beasts he would capture next.
Di Tian had witnessed his usefulness. Would he not become the boss of the soul beast world from now on?
"Soul beasts shall rise, and the time is now." Di Tian's excitement was impossible to conceal, but he quickly reined in his emotions. Even the way he looked at Jiang Mian softened somewhat.
"Jiang Mian, remain in the Star Dou Great Forest from now on. I will ensure your safety." Di Tian smiled. "From this day forward, you are an honored guest of the soul beast race."
"No." Jiang Mian decisively refused Di Tian. "Senior Di Tian, soul masters have far more battle experience than soul beasts. You should let me take the Auspicious Beast into the human world to fight, so that she can become a god sooner!"
"The human world is too dangerous." Di Tian said with some displeasure. "You and the Auspicious Beast are gifts bestowed upon me by heaven. If anything happens to either of you, it will be an irreparable loss to my soul beast race."
"My martial soul can retrieve the Auspicious Beast at any time and let her enter it to recover from her injuries." Jiang Mian took out the Spirit Ball and demonstrated it for Di Tian on the spot. "And I can also use all of the Auspicious Beast's abilities."
"So..." Jiang Mian smiled. "If you are truly worried, you can send a powerful soul beast to accompany me."
"You..." Di Tian pondered for a moment before asking, "You have no way of capturing a second soul beast yet, correct?"
"That is right." Jiang Mian nodded. "To capture a second soul beast, I need to reach Level 20."
"I see." Di Tian nodded. "Then cultivate in the Star Dou Great Forest for now. Once you can capture a second soul beast, I will have Scarlet King accompany you."
"Do you not want to become a god?" Jiang Mian asked with a smile.
"When you have the ability to manage the soul beast race, I will allow you to capture me," Di Tian said calmly. "Of course, if you do anything detrimental to the soul beast race, I will not kill you, but I will make you wish you were dead."
"Do not worry." Jiang Mian said, "With the Black Dragon King's strength, I am merely a minor figure."
A large part of why Di Tian trusted Jiang Mian so much came from his confidence in his own strength. He was the Black Dragon King, an existence capable of rivaling a Limit Douluo.
As long as Jiang Mian had not reached godhood, Di Tian was confident that he could suppress him.
Jiang Mian followed Di Tian toward the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Because Di Tian had awakened, the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python, who had been lucky enough to occupy the core region, had already vanished without a trace. They really had run fast.
Di Tian did not care about their whereabouts. In his eyes, hundred-thousand-year soul beasts that could not even rank among the ferocious beasts were no different from ants.
"After you captured the Auspicious Beast, even you gained the ability to double the cultivation speed of soul beasts?"
Di Tian walked alongside Jiang Mian, sensing the changes in himself as he sighed. "How wonderful it would have been if you were a soul beast. Why did you have to be born in that stinking human skin?"
"That was not really up to me." Jiang Mian smiled bitterly. "Senior, are you and the other ferocious beasts absorbing the cultivation of that Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm?"
"How do you know that?" Di Tian asked in surprise. "You are only six years old, yet the maturity you display and the knowledge you possess are astonishing."
"Perhaps that is what they call heaven's favor." Jiang Mian laughed. "You will not go wrong by following me. I will definitely become a god in the future."
"I will lead the soul beast race into the God Realm," Jiang Mian promised. "I will restore the Dragon God's former glory."
"Lord Dragon God." Di Tian's eyes filled with reverence. "Back then, Lord Dragon God was split in two by the Asura God, becoming the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. The Golden Dragon King has always been suppressed in the God Realm, while the Silver Dragon King..."
At that point, Di Tian suddenly realized that he had misspoken. He quickly ended the subject and said blandly, "In the future, I will let you meet our lord."
"Mm." Jiang Mian nodded without saying much else.
Seeing that the two living ancestors had gone far away, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear hurriedly got up and fled. It secretly swore that it would avoid them in the future and never see them again.
"What?!"
Within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi had only just returned when he learned that Ning Rongrong had broken off the engagement and driven Jiang Mian away. He felt as if the sky had fallen. An Innate Full Spirit Power genius had been bullied into leaving?
"Go find him immediately! You must bring him back!" Ning Fengzhi glared at the disciples before him and smashed the teacup in his hand to pieces in fury.
"Sect Master, what is done is done." Bone Douluo Gu Rong frowned slightly. "Even if we find him, I am afraid he will not return."
"Uncle Bone." Ning Fengzhi looked helplessly at Gu Rong and suppressed his anger. "You spoil Rongrong too much. That was Innate Full Spirit Power! How many years does it take for the continent to produce a genius with Innate Full Spirit Power? And we simply handed him over to someone else?"
"This..." Bone Douluo was at a loss for words.
"Where is Rongrong? Have her come see me!" Ning Fengzhi sighed and said coldly.
"Princess Xue Ke of the Heaven Dou Empire came looking for Rongrong, so Rongrong has gone to see her," Sword Douluo Chen Xin said from the side. "Besides, Jiang Mian may already be dead by now."
"Uncle Sword, did you send someone to assassinate him?" Ning Fengzhi's lips trembled, but his expression gradually returned to calm. "Fine. Since he cannot be used by us, he should be killed as soon as possible!"
"Offering Xiong Qing should be back soon." Chen Xin calculated the time. "I had him act somewhere secluded. No one will know about this."
"Offering Xiong Qing is more than capable of assassinating a Level 10 child." Ning Fengzhi closed his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking at that moment.
Before you continue