"I was looking at you with tenderness in my eyes."
Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena's icy words kicked him out of his memories. He pursed his lips and retorted in displeasure. They had finally reunited after so long—couldn't she let him reminisce in peace? Oh, right. Only then did he realize that, for some reason, Gu Yuena seemed not to know him.
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment. Knowing that if he didn't speak soon, she would attack, he hurriedly said:
"This will sound absurd, and words alone won't prove anything. Why don't I just show you my memories?"
After a brief moment of thought, Gu Yuena accepted his suggestion. This way, she wouldn't have to spend much time on it. She was already starting to lose patience with this human who seemed to have something wrong with his head.
Seeing Gu Yuena agree, Su Qing immediately connected with her using his spiritual power and shared his memories.
She didn't think much of it when she saw this fellow joining forces with her to attack the Divine Realm. It was only when she saw what came afterward...
"You're saying that I, the dignified Soul Beast Co-Master, one of the Dragon God's incarnations, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, used self-detonation to buy time for a mere human—and even gave you my godhood? Utterly absurd."
It would have been better if she hadn't looked. After seeing everything, Gu Yuena was so furious she laughed. It was all far too absurd. But these really were Su Qing's memories; there was no faking them. They even included memories from this life, and apart from the bizarre spacetime turbulence, everything else connected.
"To be honest, I originally thought this was another world. But when you said your godhood had been weakened, I realized this was Douluo Continent, the very place I'd been swept away from by the spacetime turbulence. I just don't know why you, who had died, came back to life."
Su Qing shook his head helplessly. He still couldn't figure out what was going on. It all deviated wildly from what he knew.
"I do have a theory."
Gu Yuena spoke softly. She kept studying the fellow who had inexplicably appeared in her life. Now she understood why he had looked at her with such gooey affection earlier, but she still couldn't accept it so quickly. After all, she had never experienced the events in those memories.
So she had thought of one possibility: while this fellow was being swept away by the spacetime turbulence, time and space had been reversed. Afterward, the turbulence had carried him to this era. But none of it made sense. The turbulence seemed far too purposeful. It was baffling.
But her mind was in a mess, and she didn't want to face Su Qing just yet. For someone who had slept for so long, these memories contained far too much information. She needed time to take it all in.
"What's your theory?"
Su Qing hurriedly pressed her. It concerned what he would do next, so he couldn't afford to be careless. The gods of the Divine Realm had already taken note of him. Now, even the smallest slip could ruin everything.
"I don't want to tell you yet. Di Tian, show our guest out. Take him back to wherever you brought him from!"
Gu Yuena vanished in an instant, leaving only her voice lingering in the air.
"As you command, My Lord."
Di Tian, who had been waiting outside, grabbed Su Qing and pulled him out of the space beneath the lake. Since My Lord had called him a guest, that meant he wasn't an enemy, but neither was he My Lord's incarnation. Di Tian had no reason to treat him with such deference.
After Di Tian dropped him on the ground, Su Qing rubbed his sore backside and frowned. "Di Tian, how come you have a split personality too?"
But Di Tian couldn't be bothered to answer. He immediately called to the Scarlet King. "Scarlet King, take him to find the Soul Beast he wants. Once you've escorted him out of the forest, return to your duty guarding the Auspicious Beast."
"Got it."
The Scarlet King emerged from the shadows, followed by the Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The little creature had clearly never seen a human before. She was unbearably curious. The moment she met him, she clung to Su Qing, sniffing him all over. He couldn't take it anymore and was just about to push her away when a rather cute female voice came from her mouth.
"Human, the thing around your neck smells so nice. Can you give it to me?"
The Qiluo Pill around Su Qing's neck gave off a faint fragrance. Anyone who caught a whiff would immediately feel refreshed and invigorated. The Auspicious Beast, who was bored out of her mind in the forest, adored it.
Faced with this naive little creature, Su Qing felt helpless, but still refused. Youyou had given it to him. How could he just give it away?
Seeing this, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion didn't make a fuss. Instead, she gazed at Su Qing with eager anticipation. She had heard Di Tian tell the Scarlet King to take him outside the Land of Great Calamity. If she went along, wouldn't she get to go out and play too?
"Human, Uncle Scarlet King is all hard and gives off heat. It can't be comfortable riding on him. How about I carry you instead?"
As she spoke, she ran a couple of laps around Su Qing, trying to show off the strength of her hind legs.
The Ferocious Beasts, who had been about to return to the lake and go back to sleep, all turned around and stared at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in disbelief. They had raised the little one like a princess, and now she wanted to be someone's mount? But before they could say a word to stop her, a cold snort came from beneath the lake. It was Gu Yuena's voice.
"Auspicious Beast, you are not allowed to let him ride on your back!"
Hearing Gu Yuena's firm voice, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion drooped her head and meekly replied, "Okay."
"Come on, don't be sad. She only said I couldn't ride you. She didn't say you couldn't go out."
Seeing this, Su Qing rubbed her head. Only then did she realize that My Lord hadn't actually forbidden her from going out. Didn't that mean she could go along after all? With the Scarlet King there, what danger could they possibly run into?
The Scarlet King beside them suddenly realized the same thing and was rather pleased. The Auspicious Beast hadn't been out much lately and was listless every day. He hadn't seen her in such high spirits in ages. He couldn't help thinking that humans really were clever. No wonder My Lord had specifically asked Di Tian to bring him here.
"Auspicious Beast, stay close to the Scarlet King. Don't run off. Understand?"
It was Di Tian who said this. He was glad to see the Auspicious Beast so happy. After all, nothing could go wrong in the Star Dou Great Forest. He might as well let her have some fun. And as for danger, wasn't the Scarlet King there?
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion jumped excitedly at being given permission, frolicking around Su Qing. In her eyes, she owed this chance to go out and play to Su Qing, and she was growing fonder of this human by the minute.
After learning that Su Qing wanted to visit the Elemental Sprites' territory, the Scarlet King asked no more questions and led the human and the beast toward their destination.
Along the way, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion kept asking Su Qing all sorts of questions. When she asked his name, she even wanted him to give her a name too. But Su Qing refused, saying that was something Di Tian and the others should decide. As an outsider, it would be presumptuous of him to take it upon himself. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion didn't understand the reasoning, but still took his advice.
The two of them had a wonderful time along the way. Seeing this, the Scarlet King slowed down and let the two little ones play as they went.
"We're here. You're going for your First Soul Ring, right? Have you decided how many years old an Elemental Sprite you want?"
The Scarlet King turned all three of his heads to look at Su Qing. It seemed he was planning to help Su Qing hunt an Elemental Sprite himself. Perhaps because he had gotten along well with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion on the way, the Scarlet King had developed a good impression of him too. As the saying went, love me, love my dog.
That question really stumped him. His godhood was here, so he only needed to use a little Power of Faith to increase his Soul Ring's age. But if he could choose a higher age, who would pick a lower one? Still, choosing one that was too high came with a problem: it would draw too much attention.