Auspicious Beast, Cooperation Reached

Within the pearly-white space, a man and a woman sat facing each other. Between them, on a low tea table, sat two cups of steaming tea.

"Please, help yourself. According to the customs of you humans, matters should be discussed over hot tea at a table. This is Century Dragon Breath Tea, unique to the core area of the Star Dou Forest. For a soul master like you, it is a rare treasure."

Gu Yuena extended her flawless, white fingers to push the teacup toward Su Zhen, only then picking up her own cup and draining it in one gulp.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

Su Zhen did not drink the tea. He raised his head, his gaze burning as he stared at Gu Yuena's face, which was perfect to an unbelievable degree. In terms of looks alone, only Qian Renxue could stand on par with her, yet unlike Qian Renxue's sacred and noble appearance, Gu Yuena leaned more toward a cold, ethereal dreaminess.

At this moment, her cold and stunning face actually revealed a trace of genuine confusion.

"Why did you want to see me? You even went so far as to have Di Tian secretly find my teacher, forcing him to reveal the truth about the destruction of my family?"

Su Zhen ignored Gu Yuena's look of bewilderment and threw out his question directly.

When he had confronted Qian Daoliu at the Worship Hall earlier, he had caught a trace of black dragon aura on the man. Having worn Di Tian's reverse scale for years, he could not mistake that aura. This proved that before he returned to the Worship Hall, Di Tian had visited Qian Daoliu. Without the permission of his master, Gu Yuena, Di Tian would never easily step into the human world, let alone head directly to the holiest site of the soul master world—Martial Soul Hall.

Furthermore, when he lost control at Martial Soul Hall, the direction his martial soul craved was the depths of the Star Dou Forest, that Lake of Life. The only existence capable of making his Thunder Prison Qilin crave and lose control was none other than the Silver Dragon King, the ancestor of all soul beasts. These signs all silently indicated that Gu Yuena wanted to see him.

"Stopped going down a dead end? Before you came here, you were always convinced that the destruction of Hound Village was caused by you."

Gu Yuena looked at the grim youth before her, putting away her look of confusion and reclaiming her icy demeanor.

"That question is not worth dwelling on. Even if my awakened martial soul caused the destruction of Hound Village, the true murderer will always be Tang Hao and the Asura behind him; that is an unchangeable fact. Even if I am guilty, the first person to face judgment will be Tang Hao, and it will be by my own hand."

Su Zhen spoke the answer in his heart as if a weight had been lifted, and at the same time, a thought emerged within him.

I will make every culprit who destroyed Hound Village pay for their sins.

"Congratulations on seeing the essence of the problem. Your mind is sharp; you are worthy of being the possessor of a Lucky Beast martial soul."

"What did you say? My Thunder Prison Qilin is a Lucky Beast!"

Su Zhen keenly caught the term "Lucky Beast" in Gu Yuena's words, a revelation that completely shattered his worldview.

"That is correct. Your Qilin martial soul is the Lucky Beast of my soul beast clan—a true one, in every sense of the word."

"But can a human really possess a Lucky Beast martial soul? Isn't the Lucky Beast the embodiment of your clan's destiny?"

Su Zhen's heart was filled with doubt; the understanding he had built over two lifetimes was pulverized by these two sentences. If his martial soul were a Lucky Beast, why did it trigger a beast tide when he awakened it in the Star Dou Forest? Shouldn't a Lucky Beast be respected by all soul beasts wherever it goes?

"A human's martial soul can be anything that appears on the Douluo Continent, and naturally, that includes the Lucky Beast of my soul beast clan."

Gu Yuena continued, her expression blank as if she could see right through Su Zhen's heart.

"The Lucky Beast is the true emperor of the soul beast clan. Wherever it goes, it is worshipped by all soul beasts, living as freely as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. However, while your Thunder Prison Qilin is a Lucky Beast, it is also a martial soul. When a Lucky Beast appears on a human as a martial soul, all soul beasts will covet you, dreaming of devouring you, for by consuming you, they would evolve into Lucky Beasts themselves."

"Of course, possessing a Lucky Beast martial soul is not without its benefits: a powerful martial soul, unparalleled cultivation speed, talent that reaches the limit, and the ability to attract soul beasts nearing the end of their lives to sacrifice themselves, bringing unexpected opportunities to those around you—these are all the advantages of having a Lucky Beast martial soul."

After hearing Gu Yuena's words, the doubts in Su Zhen's heart were swept away instantly. All the anomalies that had occurred around him and the sacrifice of the Thunder Prison Hell Vine were now explained.

"Is this the real reason Asura wants to erase me?"

Su Zhen thought of the deity behind Tang Hao, the true murderer who had destroyed his family.

"You could say that. Because you awakened as a Lucky Beast, nearly half of the Star Dou Forest's destiny was diverted to you. If you are killed, the soul beast clan will be on the verge of extinction. Asura had always wanted to kill the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, but it remained within the Star Dou Forest, protected by Di Tian and me, so Asura never found an opportunity. When you awakened your Lucky Beast martial soul, the chance for Asura to wipe out the soul beast clan arrived."

"So you had Di Tian send me the reverse scale just to hide me from Asura's detection?"

Ever since he began wearing Di Tian's reverse scale, the shadow of Asura had vanished from his side.

"Correct. Di Tian's reverse scale can obscure the gaze from above and protect you to a certain extent. But this protection is not absolute; the aura of a Lucky Beast cannot be hidden by just anyone. A single scale can only protect you until you reach the Soul Saint realm. Once you reach the Soul Saint realm and possess your Martial Soul Avatar, the scale will lose its effect, and Asura will certainly do everything in his power to eliminate you. However,"

Gu Yuena paused here, her tone shifting.

"The scale would have been fine protecting you until you were a Soul Saint, but your martial soul seems to have evolved, making the Lucky Beast aura even more potent. Once you reach the Soul Emperor realm, this scale will be useless."

Su Zhen was shocked to hear this. He was currently at level fifty-nine; he was one step away from appearing in Asura's sight. He had cultivated to level fifty-eight at the Crown Prince's Mansion in Heaven Dou City, and he had gained another level when his emotions spiraled out of control at the Worship Hall, triggering his Martial Soul Possession.

"You can help me, right?"

Su Zhen looked up at Gu Yuena. He firmly believed that this Sovereign of Soul Beasts would not go to such lengths to see him just to tell him a story.

"Naturally. Your Lucky Beast aura is leaking because it is incomplete. Once you fill in the final piece of the puzzle, you will never be detected by the gods above again."

"A puzzle? Could it be the Imperial Lucky Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion?"

Hearing Gu Yuena mention a puzzle, Su Zhen immediately thought of the Lucky Beast unique to the Star Dou Forest.

"Exactly. It is her. As long as you can unite with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the two scattered auras of the Lucky Beast will become one, solving the problem of the aura leakage. Furthermore, you will be able to enjoy the same imperial treatment as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion within the Star Dou Forest."

"But what about the Imperial Lucky Beast? She is also the hope of your soul beasts."

Su Zhen could not help but speak up. He truly could not understand why Gu Yuena would place her hopes on him, a human soul master, rather than the existing Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

"You are both Lucky Beasts. Whoever survives will consolidate the destiny of our soul beast clan. The current Three-Eyed Golden Lion only has five thousand years of cultivation; it is far from enough. Placing all the destiny on you is the only way to lead the soul beast clan to rise more quickly."

Besides, there is not much time left.

Gu Yuena said this with iron-clad certainty. She needed to cultivate a top-tier combat force that could assist her in the shortest possible time. In her dreams, the future Asura God had driven the soul beast clan to the brink of extinction.

"What do you need me to do?"

Su Zhen asked about the purpose of Gu Yuena's cooperation. No one would help another for no reason, even if his martial soul was a Lucky Beast.

"After you become a god, eradicate all the power of the Asura God's lineage, and at the same time, help me heal my wounds."

Gu Yuena's eyes were filled with fury as she spoke; had she not been suffering from unhealed wounds, and had a rash strike not risked drawing the siege of the God Realm—not to mention the fact that the future Asura God was constantly watched over by the current Asura God—she would have long since gone out to annihilate that bastard in advance.

"Fine, I agree. I, too, need to seek revenge against the one above."

Su Zhen nodded in agreement; he was in urgent need of the full support of the Soul Beast clan right now.

"Pleasure doing business with you."

The two extended their right hands and clasped them together. Two individuals who both harbored a grudge against Asura had formed an alliance, coalescing into a blade named vengeance, poised to strike at him.