Xuan Zi stroked his chin, his eyes shifting as he muttered,
"Leaving for a little while... should be fine, right?"
He lowered his head and looked at Mu Tianyi.
The boy sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly shut.
The black ten-thousand-year soul ring was slowly drawing closer to him. The phantom of the Bright Sacred Dragon rose and fell faintly behind him, while his Soul Power fluctuations remained steady and calm.
Just as Mu Tianyi had anticipated.
The soul shock of a ten-thousand-year soul beast was utterly insignificant before the Dragon Core.
At that moment, he had just destroyed the Golden Earth Dragon King's soul and was at the crucial stage of absorbing its soul ring. Even the slightest disturbance from the outside world could not wake him.
Xuan Zi scratched his head, more than half reassured.
But on second thought, this was Mu En's great-grandson, the future treasure of Sea God Pavilion. If anything really went wrong...
He rummaged through his sleeve and took something out of the Soul Tool he carried with him.
It was a palm-sized bronze mirror. Its surface was polished smooth, its edges covered in ancient runes, and it faintly emitted a pale golden glow.
With a casual toss, Xuan Zi sent the bronze mirror hovering three feet above Mu Tianyi's head, where it slowly rotated.
A visible pale golden barrier spread outward like ripples on water, enveloping Mu Tianyi completely.
This bronze mirror was an inherited treasure of Sea God Pavilion, an ancient eighth-grade defensive Soul Tool.
Not only could it release a shield capable of withstanding a full-force strike from a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, more importantly, it could simulate the aura of a Super Douluo.
Ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts would not dare approach after sensing such an aura.
"As long as I don't run into some hundred-thousand-year old monster, it should be fine," Xuan Zi muttered. He glanced at Mu Tianyi again. "Even if something does happen, I can rush back with a single thought."
After saying that, he clapped his hands. His figure flickered, leaving only an afterimage behind as he vanished into the depths of the forest.
Who knew how much time passed.
Mu Tianyi opened his eyes.
The black ten-thousand-year soul ring had completely merged into his body, and the information on his third soul skill surfaced clearly in his mind.
But he had no time to examine it, because...
Xuan Zi was gone.
Mu Tianyi's gaze fell on the slowly spinning bronze mirror above him, and he froze slightly.
He reached up, took down the bronze mirror, and turned it over in his hands a few times.
Based on what Mu Tianyi knew, this should have been a defensive Soul Tool.
It looked to be of no low grade, and he could even sense the oppressive aura of a Super Douluo emanating from it.
Mu Tianyi held the bronze mirror in silence for three seconds.
Then he took a deep breath, and his expression became extremely strange.
Damn it, there was no need to guess.
That old man Xuan Zi had slipped off to find food while he was absorbing the soul ring.
Though, due to the nature of Xuan Zi's Godly Taotie Bull martial soul,
Xuan Zi needed to constantly eat in order to keep his Soul Power abundant.
But this was the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest!
He, Mu Tianyi, was Mu En's most favored descendant, and Xuan Zi had really just up and left?
Mu Tianyi slowly let out a breath, his expression darkening for a moment.
He had even tried to reassure himself before.
"Even if Xuan Zi is ridiculous, he wouldn't joke around with Mu En's great-grandson."
Now it seemed he had overestimated Xuan Zi's lower limit.
In the Core Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, he had left a nine-year-old child who was absorbing a soul ring alone and gone off to look for food.
That was beyond absurd.
Mu Tianyi silently gave Xuan Zi full marks for being unreliable.
He swore that from now on, he would never participate in any outdoor activities involving Xuan Zi.
Still...
He swept his gaze over the surroundings, then looked at the bronze mirror in his hand.
At least Xuan Zi had left him a trump card to save his life.
With this bronze mirror present, no soul beast within several hundred meters dared to come near.
Although the bloody scent coming from the Golden Earth Dragon King's corpse was intense, not a single soul beast dared cross that pale golden barrier.
Mu Tianyi got to his feet and stretched his somewhat stiff limbs. Then his stomach suddenly rumbled.
He looked down at his belly, then at the enormous corpse of the Golden Earth Dragon King beside him, and a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He had heard dragon meat tasted pretty good?
Over the past half year, he had occasionally helped Zhang Lexuan when she cooked.
He had learned most of the basics, such as chopping vegetables, flipping the wok, and seasoning dishes.
Though he could not compare to Sister Lexuan's cooking, it was more than enough to satisfy his own cravings.
Mu Tianyi licked his lips, pulled a short dagger from his waist, and walked toward the Golden Earth Dragon King's corpse.
Meanwhile.
In a dense forest roughly three miles away from Mu Tianyi's location, within the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"It smells so good..."
A crisp, pleasant young girl's voice rang through the woods, carrying a hint of curiosity.
Following the sound, however, revealed no trace of anyone.
Deep within the forest, a strangely shaped soul beast stood on the branch of an ancient tree. It raised its head high and sniffed in the direction from which the fragrance drifted.
Its body resembled a lion, yet not quite. Golden fur covered its entire body, glittering brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
A vertical eye grew on its forehead, half-open and half-closed at the moment, while its third eye was wide open, its pupils seeming to reflect the stars.
Flames burned beneath its four hooves, and a tuft of golden fire flickered at the end of its tail. A faint golden halo lingered around its body.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The Emperor Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest, the king of all beasts.
It sniffed the fragrance drifting through the air again, and a trace of humanlike curiosity flashed through its vertical eye.
"What a strange smell..." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion tilted her head and lightly leaped down from the branch, her four hooves landing without a sound. "I've never smelled it before. It's coming from over there."
She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately could not resist the temptation of that scent. She began walking toward where it came from.
Mu Tianyi was nearly finished on his end.
He dug out a set of portable cooking utensils from his storage Soul Tool.
Zhang Lexuan had stuffed the thing in there for him.
He had thought it was unnecessary at the time. Now, he only wanted to go back and bow to Sister Lexuan in gratitude.
He sliced the Golden Earth Dragon King's meat into evenly thick steaks and placed them on a makeshift stone grill, where they sizzled as oil bubbled out.
Golden fat dripped into the fire, sending bright flames leaping up. The aroma of meat, mixed with a faint charred fragrance, spread through the forest.
There were no extra seasonings, only a light sprinkle of salt.
But the dragon meat itself was simply too good.
The meat was firm and springy, with evenly distributed fat. The first bite brought crisp, charred skin, followed by juices bursting across his mouth, carrying the gentle warmth unique to a light-attributed soul beast. It slid down his throat and left his whole body feeling warm. (Damn it, writing this in the middle of the night when there's nothing to eat in the dorm feels like it's going to kill me.)
Mu Tianyi took a bite, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Delicious.
He took another bite, chewing slowly as he felt the juices spread through his mouth.
After swallowing, a warm force flowed down his esophagus and into his limbs and bones.
The sensation was incredibly faint, like a barely perceptible warm breeze in spring. He might not even have noticed it if he had not paid close attention.
His body was slowly absorbing something.
Mu Tianyi lowered his head to look at the steak in his hand, deep in thought.
The Golden Earth Dragon King carried a thin trace of Bright Sacred Dragon bloodline within its body.
As the owner of the Bright Sacred Dragon martial soul, eating the flesh of a soul beast with the same origin would naturally produce some positive feedback in his body.
It was just that the improvement was not significant—one could even say it was negligible.
Before you continue