Ninety Thousand Year Spirit Beast, Netherlight Orange Cat

"You're the tiger spirit beast that Old Man was looking for just now?"

It took Li Yuan quite a while to finally come to his senses. Looking at the tiger spirit beast before him, as massive as a small mountain, he felt an overwhelming pressure.

He really was unlucky. One wave had barely passed when another rose right after it!

"Not too stupid, Little Slave. That's right, you're the one that Old Man was looking for—your master, me!"

"Well, Tiger King, Old Man has already left. If there's nothing else, can I leave too? Don't worry, I guarantee I won't leak anything. My mouth is sealed tight!"

Li Yuan's survival instincts were still quite strong. Facing a spirit beast that was likely a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, he truly lacked any sense of security.

Right now, he only hoped this Orange Cat—or perhaps Orange Tiger—would spare him. As for keeping it as a pet, what a joke. Li Yuan still wanted to live a few more days.

A pet like this was far beyond what a Soul Scholar without even a soul ring could handle.

At first, seeing how tiny and cute Juhua was, he had thought that keeping a harmless little cat would not be a big deal.

But who could have imagined that this seemingly harmless little Orange Cat was actually a major spirit beast? Once it revealed its true form, it was like a small mountain. Standing beside it, even Li Yuan's build looked tiny and adorable.

"Relax, relax, Little Slave. This Great King finds you rather pleasing to the eye, so This Great King won't eat you."

"Besides, you kid helped me out just now. How could I, the mighty Tiger King, be the sort of person—uh, beast—who repays kindness with ingratitude? So, This Great King has decided to look after you from now on."

"Starting today, you are the human pet of Tiger King!"

As it spoke, the spirit beast that was impossible to tell whether it was a cat or a tiger rapidly shrank down, returning to its previous tiny and adorable form. Then it leaped onto Li Yuan's shoulder, looking utterly lazy.

However, after witnessing its terrifying strength, Li Yuan no longer dared to toy with it as he had before. After all, this was a powerful spirit beast capable of contending with a Titled Douluo.

"Um, Tiger King, can we discuss this?"

"I think we can forget about this human pet business. How about you come up with some other arrangement?"

Li Yuan wore a bitter expression as he did his utmost to fight for his rights without angering the other party.

Having a powerful spirit beast backing him in the Sunset Great Forest was a good thing. It meant Li Yuan could practically walk sideways through the Sunset Great Forest.

Compared to the other spirit beast habitats on the Douluo Continent, the Sunset Great Forest was the most unimpressive gathering place for spirit beasts.

Whether in size, number of spirit beasts, or powerful spirit beast kings, it was far inferior to the other spirit beast habitats.

In the original novel of Douluo Continent, the vast Sunset Great Forest did not even have a single Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. That showed just how low-tier the Sunset Great Forest was.

It was precisely because of this that Li Yuan had dared to come alone to the Sunset Great Forest to obtain a soul ring. If it had been the Star Dou Great Forest or the Extreme North Land instead, Li Yuan might not have had such courage.

After all, the odds of encountering a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in those two places were simply too high. And even if he was lucky enough not to encounter one, a few Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts would still be more than Li Yuan could handle.

That was why Li Yuan had chosen the Sunset Great Forest. According to the records in the original Douluo Continent novel, the Sunset Great Forest was a relatively safe spirit beast habitat. There were no Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and even Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts were rare.

As for ordinary Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts, Li Yuan could fight them head-on with brute force. Even if he could not win, preserving his own life would not be a problem.

Li Yuan's plan had been a good one, but plans often failed to keep up with change. Who told him to have such terrible luck? On his very first trip out, he had encountered a Titled Douluo and a mysterious spirit beast that could speak, likely possessed a Hundred Thousand Years of cultivation, and could not even be identified as a cat or a tiger.

This thing had never been mentioned in the original Douluo Continent novel at all. Who the hell knew why Li Yuan had run into it on his first time out?

Sure enough, the things written in books could not be fully trusted. It had said that the Sunset Great Forest had no powerful spirit beasts, so why had that suddenly changed?

"What? You agree to become This Great King's human pet? That's more like it."

However, Juhua had no intention of considering Li Yuan's thoughts. Ignoring his request outright, it continued, "Listen, Little Slave. This King is a Ninety Thousand Year Spirit Beast, a Netherlight Orange Cat. I'm just one step away from becoming a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, a spirit beast king, the top dog of the Sunset Great Forest."

"With This Great King as your master, you'll have it good from now on. If any beast in the Sunset Great Forest dares to bully you, just give them This King's name!"

Juhua the Orange Cat proudly raised its little face. It looked utterly adorable. If Li Yuan had not known the true nature of the Orange Cat before him, he probably would not have been able to stop himself from picking it up and giving it a good squeeze.

"Um, Tiger King, didn't you say you were a tiger?" Li Yuan spotted the flaw and blurted out the question.

"What? This Great King said I was a Netherlight Orange Cat?"

"That's right!"

"You heard wrong. This Great King said Netherlight Orange Tiger. That's it. Ask again and I'll eat you!"

Juhua the Orange Cat put on an incredibly fierce expression and glared at Li Yuan.

"Fine, I understand. You're an Orange Tiger, not an Orange Cat!"

For the sake of his life, Li Yuan was being extremely compliant. He did not dare argue with Juhua and immediately gave in.

Still, there was one thing Li Yuan could be certain of: the spirit beast before him was a cat, a Netherlight Orange Cat. Well, he had never heard of this species either. He wondered whether Grandpa Duke knew about it.

Moreover, this Orange Cat was clearly not yet a true Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It had only Ninety Thousand Years of cultivation, though it seemed it was not far from reaching one hundred thousand years.

Such a powerful spirit beast was undoubtedly formidable within the Sunset Great Forest. As for why this spirit beast had never appeared in the original novel—

Li Yuan felt that it was most likely related to Dugu Bo. In the original world, Li Yuan had not existed. Therefore, in that original world, Juhua might have been poisoned to death or killed by Dugu Bo, which was why it had never been mentioned.

By that reasoning, he had changed the original plot of Douluo Continent.