Little Lamb

"Tap."

The sound of hooves landing, crisp as jade striking stone.

A half-grown beast squeezed out from the light curtain of the glowing door.

It had not a single speck of color; its coat of fur was so white it was almost blinding.

It wasn't imposing, but rather looked quite young, with a pair of tiny, just-budding antlers on its head tinged a faint pink.

Its face was somewhere between a lion and a goat, and its golden eyes held only a dazed, half-asleep blankness.

Most importantly, its mouth was still moving.

"Munch, munch."

This little beast had half a strange immortal herb clamped in its jaws, its cheeks bulging. It was clearly enjoying lunch, but had been forcibly teleported mid-bite.

It chewed the grass in its mouth a couple of times in confusion, blinked its pure golden vertical pupils, looked around at the filthy surroundings of the Soul Hunting Forest, then stared at the group of dumbfounded humans before it.

A flicker of human-like confusion and... disdain passed through its eyes.

Like an aristocrat dining in a luxury restaurant suddenly thrown into a roadside garbage dump.

The entire scene fell into dead silence again.

"What... what the hell is this thing?"

Red Hair scrambled up from the ground, rubbing his eyes, staring at the little beast that looked harmless, even a bit cute.

"A sheep? Or a lion? And why is it white?"

Tang San stood to the side, his pupils contracting violently the instant he saw this little beast.

"Pure white body, twin horns on its head, knows all things, avoids misfortune..."

Tang San's breathing quickened, his heart pounding.

"This is... the ancient Auspicious Beast, Bai Ze?!"

"But this size... it seems to be in its infancy? And what it's eating... that's the legendary immortal herb, Star Spirit Grass?!"

Just as Tang San was still reeling from the shock of why this legendary creature had emerged from Su Yun's Martial Soul, Red Hair beside him suddenly slapped his thigh in a flash of realization.

He didn't know Bai Ze from any other beast, but he had his own logic.

"Godfather! I get it!"

Red Hair pointed at the little beast still chewing its grass, shouting excitedly at Su Yun:

"This must be an equal exchange! That door ate your soul ring, felt bad about it, so it spat out this thing as compensation for you!"

"Look at that meat, look at that coat—clearly a great tonic! Whatever comes out of that door has to be good stuff. Maybe it's some rare soul beast. Perfect to catch and stew for godfather to build up his strength!"

In Red Hair's simple values, losing a soul ring was a shame, but this tender-looking white sheep could barely count as a consolation prize.

"Brothers! Go! Catch it! Don't let godfather's compensation get away!"

With Red Hair's command, Green Hair, Blue Hair, and Yellow Hair instantly activated their Martial Soul Possession.

Even though their Martial Souls were all pathetic.

A fire-starting stick, a fire-starting brick, a fire-starting iron shovel, and a big black fire-starting pot.

But that didn't stop them from howling as they charged at the little beast that was still eating, eager to show their loyalty to their godfather.

"Don't act rashly! That's..."

Tang San tried to warn them, but it was too late.

Red Hair's group had already formed an encirclement.

"Little lamb, come quietly into your master's bowl! Blazing Stick Technique!"

Red Hair bellowed, his fire-starting stick whistling through the air straight at Bai Ze's forehead.

At the same time, Green Hair's fire-starting brick sealed off the left, Yellow Hair swung the huge black pot to cover the right, and Blue Hair's fire-starting iron shovel sneaked toward the lower body.

It was a classic thug gang-fight formation.

But.

Facing this ferocious assault, the young Bai Ze didn't even spare them a glance.

It was still leisurely swallowing the last bite of its immortal herb.

Just as Red Hair's stick was ten centimeters from its forehead, and Yellow Hair's pot was about to slam down—

Bai Ze moved.

It simply took an elegant small step forward and to the left, lowering its head slightly as if searching the ground for more tasty morsels.

Whoosh!

Red Hair's sure-hit strike grazed right past Bai Ze's ear, hitting nothing but air.

Because he had put too much force into it, Red Hair lost his balance entirely, stumbling forward.

At that moment, Green Hair's brick and Yellow Hair's black pot arrived in a pincer attack from left and right.

Smack! Clang!

Two crisp sounds rang out.

The brick that should have hit Bai Ze's left face landed with pinpoint accuracy on Red Hair's big face, which had just leaned in.

The large black pot that should have slammed down on Bai Ze's head smashed heavily against the back of Red Hair's skull.

With a brick plastered to his front and a black pot covering his rear.

Red Hair didn't even have time to let out a scream before the pincer attack sent his eyes rolling back.

At that moment, Bai Ze, as if disgusted by how dirty the ground was, casually kicked a hind leg back, trying to shake the mud off his hoof.

Bang!

That kick, neither off-target nor on, struck the iron shovel Blue Hair had swung over.

The iron shovel rebounded from the force and smacked heavily into Blue Hair's own stomach.

"Ugh..."

Blue Hair's eyes bulged as he clutched his stomach, kneeling like a boiled shrimp, and in the process tripped Yellow Hair.

Just one exchange.

Bai Ze hadn't even truly attacked—he'd only taken two steps, lowered his head to find food, and casually shook his leg.

Red Hair's trio was already in chaos, groans rising one after another.

"Baa? (That's it?)"

Bai Ze swallowed the last mouthful of grass, tilted his head, and looked at the four people tangled on the ground, his eyes brimming with a deep, undisguised contempt.

Foolish mortals, can't even touch This Seat's fur, and you want to stew me?

He elegantly shook his mane, raised his head proudly, and let his gaze sweep past the stunned Tang San, past the still-doubting Yu Xiaogang.

Finally, his sight locked onto the little boy standing still in the same spot, wearing sunglasses.

Su Yun pushed up his sunglasses, a playful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Absolute evasion? Or some kind of future-predicting ability?"

His hand slowly moved toward the Tactical Belt at his waist, his fingertips lightly hooking onto a specially-made high-explosive flashbang.

"Little thing, are you coming over on your own, or should I..."

But before Su Yun could finish his words.

Bai Ze across from him suddenly moved.

His originally provocative and arrogant eyes, the moment they met Su Yun's, those golden vertical pupils sharply contracted into pinpricks.

Huumm—

In Bai Ze's vision, the world changed.

As an Auspicious Beast, he was born with the instinct to comprehend all things and glimpse the signs of the future.

At this moment, through Su Yun's seemingly ordinary body, he saw a corner of a future that would make even gods tremble.

It wasn't the future of the Douluo Continent.

But a vast, boundless Starry Sea he had never seen before.

Countless uncertain fragments of the future flashed before his eyes like a fast-forwarding slideshow:

In those fleeting afterimages, he saw him holding a Scepter of Judgment capable of ruling all beings, overlooking the entire God Realm with eyes as cold as ice, becoming the unique Supreme God King of this world.

He saw that man standing atop the ten-thousand-foot ice peaks of the Extreme North, behind him a Sky-Piercing Tower rising from the ground, countless soul beast spirits circling him in cheers and worship.

He saw that man like a Steel-Cast Demon God, standing alone at the entrance of the Abyss Plane.

He saw that man seated in the captain's chair of a massive Stellar-Class Warship, the Star Gate behind him already transformed into a Supergiant Black Hole devouring galaxies. The Myriad Dragon Clan turned into warship escorts, and fleets from countless planets saluted him.

Crack.

The images shattered, and consciousness returned.

Bai Ze's golden pupils trembled violently, his heart pounding wildly.

"Baa... (Holy... holy crap...)"

Bai Ze's once-proud head froze.

All the threatening low growls he had prepared were swallowed back down.

He looked at Su Yun as if seeing the thickest thigh in all the heavens and realms.

Though the future held uncertainty, no matter which future it was, he was the absolute protagonist standing at the end of the world, trampling gods underfoot, and ruling over all realms!