Xiao Yan Rides the Lion King

Xiao Yan flicked his fingertip, and a crimson pill, overflowing with medicinal fragrance, traced a precise parabola before landing in the Golden-Haired Lion King's half-open mouth.

This item was a top-tier product he had spent a fortune on, draining his funds entirely and requiring three grueling nights of refinement. He had originally intended it for self-preservation, but it was proving useful right now.

The pill melted upon contact, transforming into pure medicinal energy that shielded the beast's shattered heart meridians.

After finishing this, Xiao Yan brushed the medicinal residue off his hands, sat cross-legged on a pile of rubble nearby, and propped his chin up to study the massive creature, which was currently taking in more air than it was letting out.

In truth, he wasn't some saintly soul out to save this fallen spirit beast. In his eyes, all spirit beasts that harmed humans deserved to die; if one had eaten people once, it had eaten people its whole life. Why would he bother saving a Lion King that ruled over ten thousand beasts and had countless human lives on its conscience?

It was simply because he had some selfish motives.

The Golden-Haired Blazing Lion King before him was a genuine new breed that had experienced an atavistic return to the bloodline of the "Golden Lion Mastiff," making it an SSR-tier existence among spirit beasts.

If he were to kill it now while it was severely wounded to obtain a spirit ring, Xiao Yan would at best gain a standard thousand-year spirit ring, or if he were lucky, a spirit bone of unknown origin. While ordinary spirit masters might consider this a heaven-sent opportunity, for Xiao Yan...

Was that really a profit? That would be a massive loss!

Compared to other worlds of cultivation, the Douluo Continent was inherently abstract. To cultivate, one had to kill spirit beasts; if you killed too many and they went extinct, you couldn't cultivate anymore. This contradiction remained unresolved even in later generations.

Even in the third installment, the situation only calmed down because the Silver Dragon King led the spirit beasts to compromise. But could you say the contradiction was solved? Spirit masters still relied on sacrificing spirit beasts to form spirit souls, so the root problem remained.

Therefore, even though these spirit beasts were wicked, Xiao Yan couldn't just use a Great Desolation Imprisoning Heaven Finger to wipe them all out. Otherwise, where would future spirit masters go to cultivate?

He wasn't Tang God King, who dismantled the City of Slaughter after receiving the Asura inheritance, only to leave behind Evil Soul Masters to stink for ten thousand years and then another ten thousand.

Thus, what Xiao Yan needed to do wasn't just cultivate. It wasn't that spirit beasts shouldn't be killed, but that they should be killed with a plan—killing the old to foster the new... ahem, what he meant was, maximizing the value of spirit beasts.

In the long run, in a few years, young Huo would obtain the method for creating spirit souls from Elder Yi.

And he only needed to keep the Golden-Haired Lion King captive within Shrek Academy, feed it some pills, and by the time young Huo developed the spirit soul system, this Lion King would likely have broken through to the ten-thousand-year level. Then, he could convert it into a ten-thousand-year spirit soul...

Tsk tsk tsk, what he would have in his hands then would be two, or even three, top-tier ten-thousand-year spirit rings!

Between one top-tier thousand-year spirit ring and two or three top-tier ten-thousand-year spirit rings, even a fool would know how to choose.

Xiao Yan stroked the Golden-Haired Lion King's flame-like mane. After the great battle, its fur was no longer lustrous, stained with mud and dust, making it quite unpleasant to touch.

However, the Lion King's self-healing ability was still strong. With the aid of the pill, the deep, bone-exposing wounds had stopped bleeding, and new granulation tissue had even begun to grow.

Seeing that this human wasn't killing it, the Lion King finally let out a sigh of relief, closed its weary eyes, and drifted into a deep sleep.

Looking at this big guy, Xiao Yan figured leaving it here wasn't a solution, and he had no way to carry it back to Shrek. He simply performed Martial Soul Possession with his Charmeleon, using skills like Scratch and Fire Fang to carve a cave into the nearby rock face.

Afterward, Xiao Yan took out the tent and other supplies from his pack, set up a simple shelter inside the cave, and then, together with his Charmeleon, carried the massive Lion King inside.

For the next few days, Xiao Yan lived in this shelter, coexisting with the Charmeleon and the Golden-Haired Lion King.

The lingering power of the clash between the Great Sun Rainbow Bird and the Lion King had not yet dissipated, so the mid-to-high-level spirit beasts within a hundred-mile radius had already fled. Thus, Xiao Yan's herb-gathering process was surprisingly smooth.

Since they were outside the range of civilization, the Charmeleon didn't need to worry about being targeted and could move freely outside. While Xiao Yan gathered herbs and searched for food in the forest, the little guy followed by his side, guarding his safety.

And in the evenings, when Xiao Yan cooked dinner and refined pills, the Charmeleon would help him out. The man and the dragon lived quite comfortably in the wild.

The Golden-Haired Lion King was unconscious for three days in total. For those three days, every time Xiao Yan finished refining healing pills, the Charmeleon would pry open the beast's massive mouth, toss the pills in, and then hold its jaw to help it swallow.

It was a bit of a hassle, but for the sake of a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, it was well worth it.

After the Lion King woke up, it didn't need such trouble. Xiao Yan would just toss a refined pill over like he was feeding a dog, and the Lion King would catch it. However, if Xiao Yan tried to get close to change its dressings, the Lion King would still hiss and bare its fangs.

Xiao Yan didn't indulge it. If the Lion King dared to hiss today, it would dare to bite tomorrow; it had to be broken in as soon as possible. So, taking advantage of the fact that the Lion King wasn't fully healed, he would perform Martial Soul Possession with his Charmeleon and give it a sound beating.

After the beating, Xiao Yan wouldn't take its life, but would continue to feed it medicine and change its bandages, and even feed it during meals like a dog. After this "carrot and stick" approach, the Lion King gradually lost its temper.

After all, the food Xiao Yan provided was truly delicious.

Deep in the forest, Xiao Yan didn't have the conditions to make gourmet meals, but he would pick up some unlucky spirit beasts that had been caught in the crossfire of the Great Sun Rainbow Bird, skin them, marinate them with seasonings bought from Shrek City, and roast them.

The stimulating aroma of cumin and chili opened a new world for this King of Spirit Beasts, who usually ate raw meat. Damn, how can this be so good?

Thus, when the Lion King saw Xiao Yan approaching with roasted meat, it no longer hissed. Instead, it would lower its body, rub its massive head against his thigh, and wag its tail excitedly on the ground, completely abandoning its royal dignity.

Xiao Yan looked back at his Charmeleon, pointed at the Lion King, and laughed:

"Hey, look at that, this big dog isn't stupid at all!"

The mentality of this once-arrogant overlord of the Sunset Forest had undergone a complete transformation.

It was what people commonly called... corrupted.

In short, a week passed. When Xiao Yan woke up from his meditation, he found the Golden-Haired Lion King prostrate before him.

"Roar—!"

The Lion King let out a low growl, then bent its front limbs and leaned its head forward, a blinding golden light igniting between its brows.

The golden light peeled away, transforming into a complex, ancient rune array that rotated slowly in mid-air before finally drifting toward Xiao Yan.

This was a Subordination Contract initiated voluntarily by a spirit beast. It meant handing over the power of life and death to a human in exchange for coexistence. It was similar to a sacrifice, but it wouldn't provide the spirit master with a spirit ring or spirit bone; it simply meant the beast would obey the spirit master's commands.

Xiao Yan extended his right hand, his fingertip touching the golden rune.

The rune followed his fingertip into his palm, transforming into a miniature lion-head mark.

A mental connection appeared in his mind. He could directly read the Lion King's emotions:

Submission, dependence, and hope for the future.

At the same time, a stream of pure fire-attribute spirit power flowed back into Xiao Yan's meridians through the contract. This power was domineering yet harmless, coursing through his limbs and bones, purging the remaining impurities from his body.

Although Xiao Yan did not yet possess a spirit ring, he could sense that the moment he obtained one, he would be able to use this surge of spirit power to level up; it was even possible he might charge straight to level thirty.

"I'll call you Goldie from now on." Xiao Yan patted the Lion King's broad forehead, casually stroking the golden mane that had regained its luster and felt excellent to the touch.

The Lion King snorted, expressing slight dissatisfaction with such a perfunctory name, but it still lowered its head obediently, allowing Xiao Yan to pet it.

Xiao Yan briefly estimated the time; the Freshman Tournament was only a couple of days away, and since it concerned the position of Core Disciple, he could not afford to be careless.

"Although I wasn't able to obtain a suitable spirit ring, but..."

"My apologies, but the Freshman Tournament will be taken over by me."

"Little ones, you had best stay out of this obediently and not waste my time."