Star Dou Great Forest, core region.
This was the most forbidden of forbidden zones, a place that struck fear into every Soul Master on the continent.
By now, nearly all the Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest had gathered here, and almost all of them had taken human form.
In a place like this, their enormous bodies would be cumbersome, so they had chosen to look human instead. Smaller bodies let them move freely.
At that moment, the Ferocious Beasts stood respectfully gathered around several figures at the center, their eyes brimming with fervent adoration and awe.
At the center stood a young woman dressed in a long, jet-black gown.
She stood quietly, her dark hair, black as the night, falling loosely down her back to her waist.
Her beauty could not be described with a simple word like beautiful. She possessed a peerless appearance that transcended mortal standards, as if carved from the most perfect things in all creation.
Her skin was as fair as snow, her brows like distant hills. Her eyes seemed to contain the profound truths of the universe's creation and destruction; cold and unfathomable, they revealed an innate majesty and dominion.
She only had to stand there to become a world unto herself. It was as though the will of the entire Star Dou Great Forest had gathered around her, and her invisible imperial aura made the air itself grow still.
She was Di Ling'er, recognized by the Soul Beast Clan as the foremost of its three Auspicious Beasts, with a supreme bloodline and absolute authority.
Standing quietly beside Di Ling'er were two other stunning young women, identical to her in appearance, like triplets cast from the same mold.
Yet their hair colors and temperaments were entirely different.
One had luxurious purple-gold hair