The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lay quietly beside the Lake of Life, golden eyes flickering with shifting images, as if she were experiencing a long cycle of reincarnation.
A vast flood of memories surged into her mind like a tide. They were... memories of the future!
After a long while, she suddenly opened her eyes, her golden pupils contracting sharply!
"Th-this is actually the future?!"
She began sorting through the jumbled images, shock surging through her heart like a tsunami.
That human named Su Chen...
He had not only become a god, but had also swept through the Divine Realm single-handedly, trampled the lofty Five Great God Kings beneath his feet, and united the entire Divine Realm!
What incredible dominance! What invincible power!
And in those memories, she seemed to have stayed by his side the whole time. They had even... been very close.
Yet the end of those memories was filled with endless darkness and despair.
The images were shattered and fragmented. She remembered only the heavens collapsing and the stars wheeling backward.
A pair of bizarre hands, blurred in her memories yet radiating an aura that made her soul tremble, reached out from the depths of the universe. As easily as crushing a glass marble, they refined the planet they were on into nothing!
At that moment, even Su Chen—who had already united the Divine Realm and stood invincible above all—was as insignificant as an ant before those hands, powerless to change their fate.
But in the final moment of his life...
That man hadn't tried to escape. Instead, he held her tightly in his arms and used his divine body to shield her from the devastating impact.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Those were the last words she heard.
"Su Chen..."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion curled in on herself without thinking, as though she could still feel the lingering warmth of that embrace.
The feeling of warmth in her body and heart had been so real—so real that she wanted to cry.
"Those hands... What were they?"
At the thought of that scene, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's golden fur stood on end. Terror from deep within her soul made her tremble.
She didn't know where these memories had come from, but her instincts told her they hadn't been a dream. They were memories of a future that had truly happened!
"Since the heavens have shown me all this, I absolutely won't let the tragedy happen again!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's gaze gradually grew firm.
She didn't know exactly when it was, but since Su Chen hadn't appeared yet, there was still time to change everything!
She slowly got to her feet and shook out her golden fur, all her usual laziness swept away.
Cultivate! She had to work hard at cultivation!
Not only to gain the power to change fate, but also to... make a good impression on that man when he came to the Star Dou Great Forest!
Well, the version of herself in those memories seemed a little too "useless." All she did was eat and play. This time, she'd become a helpful partner to him—(crossed out) an Auspicious Beast!
And so a strange sight appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Auspicious Beast, who normally did nothing but eat and sleep—and sometimes went to the mixed zone to torment Soul Beasts—had, for once, begun secluded cultivation!
Scarlet King, who was watching over her from the shadows, stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out.
"What the hell? Am I still asleep?"
"That's the Auspicious Beast! The little ancestor's actually cultivating on her own?!"
"Has the sun risen in the west, or has the Auspicious Beast gone crazy?"
Scarlet King scratched his doglike head, completely baffled.
Meanwhile.
A remote village in the Heaven Dou Empire.
Su Chen slowly opened his eyes as the images in the simulator faded away.
In the simulation, he had been a peerless badass who pummeled Ferocious Beasts and kicked Titled Douluo around. But in reality, he was still just a young man who had only recently left the beginner village.
"Phew... You eat one bite at a time, and you walk one step at a time."
Su Chen slung his pack over his shoulder and gazed at the distant outline of bustling Heaven Dou City, his eyes gleaming.
Now he stood at a crossroads in his fate, facing two choices:
First option: head straight to the Body Sect and find someone powerful to back him!
Thanks to the memories he'd gained from the simulation, the hidden location of the Body Sect's mountain gate was as familiar to him as his own backyard.
As long as he revealed his Body Martial Soul, Du Busi—the fiercely protective maniac—would treat him like a priceless treasure.
It was a shortcut to success, but it also meant he might be thrust into the spotlight too soon, even arousing the suspicions of certain people with ulterior motives.
Second option: go to the Sunset Forest and train on his own!
His Soul Power was currently stuck at the Level 20 bottleneck, and he urgently needed a Soul Ring to break through.
He might not have the "Auspicious Beast's gift" from the simulation, but with the powerful physique granted by his Body Martial Soul and the battle experience he'd accumulated in the simulations, he had complete confidence in breaking the rules!
His first and second Soul Rings would both be Thousand-Year Soul Rings!
Now that was the kind of style a transmigrator should have!
"Relying on others is worse than relying on myself. Only power I've fought for with my own hands feels truly secure."
Su Chen clenched his fist, feeling the power surging within him.
His Body Martial Soul had given him a physique far superior to others at his level, giving him the confidence to absorb Soul Rings beyond the usual limit.
"I'll head to the Sunset Forest first and stock up, laying a solid foundation. As for the Body Sect, I'll think about that later."
Having made up his mind, Su Chen didn't hesitate any longer. He turned and strode toward the Sunset Forest.
A week later.
The Sunset Forest.
Su Chen made his way alone through the dense woods.
Though this was his first real battle, he wasn't nervous.
The simulator's memories were like a live map in his mind, clearly marking every place where Soul Beasts gathered.
He knew exactly where it was safe, where the treasures were, and where the monsters were.
Before long, he'd picked out the perfect target.
A three-meter-long creature, emerald green all over like jade—an Emerald Mantis!
It was around three thousand years old.
For an ordinary Soul Master, an Emerald Mantis was a nightmare. But to Su Chen, who had King Crimson, it was just a walking Soul Ring.
The Emerald Mantis spotted him, too.
Cruel light glinted in its compound eyes. Its two razor-sharp forelimbs scraped together with an ear-piercing sound, like the scythes of the Death God.
It had clearly decided that this tender-looking human would be its lunch.
"You think I'm prey? You've got some nerve."
[Su Chen's lips curled into a cold smile.]
King Crimson, possess!
A dark-red apparition appeared behind him, its imposing eyes fixed coldly on the Emerald Mantis.
Innate Domain—Time Erasure!
The world fell into a deathly, dark-red silence.
In Su Chen's eyes, the Emerald Mantis's swift pounce became a frozen image.
He strolled over to it, raised his right hand, and prepared King Crimson's iron fist.
He aimed at its hard, triangular head and slammed down!
Time resumed its flow!
Bang—!
The Emerald Mantis didn't even have time to react before its head exploded like a watermelon, spraying green fluid everywhere!
Its body continued rushing forward from the force of its momentum, but its life force had already been extinguished.
A purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly rose from its corpse.
Just as Su Chen was about to draw in the Soul Ring, a shrill cry suddenly rang out from the bushes beside him!
Whoosh—!
Another emerald-green figure burst out, seething with murderous intent!
It was a slightly smaller female Emerald Mantis! From the looks of it, she was here to avenge her husband.
"Oh? A husband-and-wife team?"
"Buy one, get one free. That's pretty good service."
Su Chen grinned.
King Crimson swung its hand blade again.
Crack!
There was no suspense.
The next moment, two purple Soul Rings floated side by side in the air, shining with an eerie light.
A family should stay together.
Before you continue