First Encounter with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion

Early morning.

Having just caught two hours of sleep, Xuanyuan Sheng felt as if he were being crushed by a thousand-pound weight.

He lowered his head and discovered that Xiao Xiao had somehow placed a tree trunk beside him.

She was lying on it herself, sleeping while pressing down on Xuanyuan Sheng's hand.

The commotion Xuanyuan Sheng made when he left to investigate last night didn't seem to have woken her, but come morning, Xiao Xiao had rearranged her position.

Last night, Xuanyuan Sheng and Zhang Lexuan hadn't discovered anything; although they clearly sensed human activity in that area, it vanished the moment they arrived.

Forget it, there was no point in dwelling on such strange matters.

But why did the weight on his chest feel wrong? Xiao Xiao hadn't been this heavy yesterday.

The weight currently on his chest was making it hard for him to breathe.

Looking down, he saw Xiao Xiao's long, curled eyelashes and a faint smile hanging at the corners of her mouth.

Xiao Xiao was only pressing on his hand; it was impossible for her to cause such a strong sense of suffocation.

Xuanyuan Sheng reached his other hand toward his chest, and based on the contours, he discovered that there was a massive head resting on him.

It was currently sprawled across his chest, using Xuanyuan Sheng as a pillow while it slept.

"This soul beast is quite heavy."

"Hey, time to wake up."

Hearing Xuanyuan Sheng's voice, Xiao Xiao yawned with sleepy eyes and sat up. She had slept very comfortably; her little wish had indeed been fulfilled, and she had slept soundly.

The only drawback was that she had to manage the continuation herself.

Waking up in the morning to find herself sleeping alone on the grass by the campfire, she felt a bit displeased; she didn't remember having poor sleeping posture.

Xiao Xiao got up, but Xuanyuan Sheng's main goal just now wasn't to call her, but to call the invisible soul beast on his body.

"Are you still not getting up?"

Xiao Xiao looked at Xuanyuan Sheng with a blank expression: "I'm already up?"

"It's fine, go wash up with Lexuan and the others. Lexuan has everything fully stocked, you can ask her for what you need."

Xiao Xiao was confused, but since she was up, it was time to wash up. She stretched and walked toward the direction of the tents.

After Xiao Xiao left, Xuanyuan Sheng chose to grab the large head on his chest with both palms and shook it back and forth at high speed.

"Stop sleeping."

"Mmm... why is everything spinning?" A cold yet goofy female voice rang in Xuanyuan Sheng's ear.

"Because you're in my hands."

The soul beast resting on Xuanyuan Sheng immediately moved its head away.

Xuanyuan Sheng also stretched.

He was quite curious.

What exactly allowed this soul beast, which could speak and turn invisible, to evade Zhang Lexuan's Soul Tool and spiritual power, as well as Xuanyuan Sheng's own investigation.

He had never heard of any soul beast possessing such an ability.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was now some distance away from Xuanyuan Sheng, watching him with a vigilant gaze.

Yesterday, she had played with that soul beast that could transform into a human for a long time, and this morning, she was drawn to the human sleeping there.

Then, seeing that little human break a tree with one punch just to sleep next to him, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion curiously tried it out as well.

She hadn't expected that just one contact with that person would allow her, a playful creature, to fall into such a peaceful sleep.

[Because he is the Master of Humanity.]

"What is a Master of Humanity?" the Three-Eyed Golden Lion asked World-Shocking Wisdom curiously, wondering if this was what she understood it to be.

Just like how she was the Emperor of soul beasts, the Master of Humanity was actually the emperor of all humans, right?

[Not quite. In layman's terms, the Master of Humanity should be the superior of an Auspicious Beast like you.]

World-Shocking Wisdom explained the matter, then felt quite gratified.

She really hadn't expected this fellow to actually develop the behavior of thinking for herself; there was truly a change.

"What is a zombie? It sounds so scary."

[Someone is talking to you; you should chat with this human. Come find me when you need to talk about something else.]

World-Shocking Wisdom wanted to shut herself away for a few minutes; she really couldn't handle this problem child.

"Oh, then I'll go play with him."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion listened to World-Shocking Wisdom very obediently.

She slowly approached the tickling Xuanyuan Sheng, then suddenly deactivated her invisibility.

Her two large eyes stared at the human head in front of her, full of confusion.

What was going on? With such a sudden move, shouldn't he have been scared and fallen to the ground? Why wasn't this human cooperating with her?

Xuanyuan Sheng stared at the three eyes blinking in front of him.

After a moment of contemplation, he recalled the name of this golden three-eyed creature; it was the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. How did this thing manage to sneak over here?

Wait.

Xuanyuan Sheng immediately stood up, but unfortunately, he bumped into the chin of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Ignoring the pain, he clutched his head and scanned his surroundings.

He remembered that the guardian of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was supposed to be that three-headed dog, Chi Wang, and that thing was notoriously vicious.

However, he sensed the area several times and found no presence of any high-age soul beasts.

"Did your guardian not follow you?"

"What guardian? Am I not the only Three-Eyed Golden Lion in existence?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion gave Xuanyuan Sheng a look of disdain before speaking with disgust.

He had been looked down upon, and by a soul beast that wasn't exactly known for its intelligence, no less.

To be looked down upon by you—why do I feel like I'm not worthy of being human?

Xuanyuan Sheng didn't understand where this feeling was coming from.

But the arrival of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was timely; he had just been thinking about this Emperor Auspicious Beast last night, and here it was, delivered to his doorstep first thing in the morning. It was truly fated.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion heard Xuanyuan Sheng's words and understood the meaning behind them.

She nudged him directly with her large head.

"Human, I'm sticking with you today. I'm going to bully you."

She spat out the threat fiercely, then vanished into invisibility right in front of Xuanyuan Sheng.

A malicious human.

Xuanyuan Sheng shook his head with a wry smile.

Meanwhile, Zhang Lexuan and the others finished packing and came over to Xuanyuan Sheng.

"Xiao Sheng, shall we go get a soul ring for Xiao Xiao today? What do you think?"

Zhang Lexuan had originally planned to stay for a few more days, but after the strange incident last night, she felt that this outer area might not be as safe as it seemed.

It would be better to return as soon as possible.

"That works. Our original goal was to obtain a soul ring for Xiao Xiao anyway," Xuanyuan Sheng nodded.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion beside him bit onto his clothes, intending to lift him up: "Wuu... stinky human, trying to bully us soul beasts again."

Xuanyuan Sheng immediately held the Xuanyuan Sword horizontally between them.

As soon as she bit down: "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! What is this strange thing?"

"Is something wrong?" Zhang Lexuan thought she had just seen Xuanyuan Sheng summon his martial soul.

"It's nothing, my clothes were just messy, I was just straightening them out."

Xuanyuan Sheng covered the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's mouth with one hand and whispered to her: "Be quiet. As long as you stay quiet, you can follow us wherever you want, deal?"