Hachimi Oil North-South Mung Bean

In the distance, within the gloomy, dense forest, a pair of golden vertical pupils were staring this way from afar through the gaps in the leaves.

Mu Tianyi was eating dragon meat, his mouth glistening with grease, while he calculated in his mind exactly when that old man Xuan Zi would return.

Then, the bronze mirror above his head suddenly vibrated.

Hum—

The pale golden light barrier flickered violently. The runes that had been flowing steadily began to spin at an accelerated rate, emitting a sharp, buzzing sound as if something had triggered the highest level of alert.

With the meat patty still hanging from his mouth, Mu Tianyi froze.

He slowly looked up toward the perimeter of the light barrier.

Without him noticing, a soul beast had suddenly appeared near his territory.

Covered in golden fur and shaped like a lion, the soul beast stood at the edge of the light barrier, lifting a front paw as if it had just swiped at the pale golden protective shield.

Its size was not exaggerated; with a shoulder height of about 1.5 meters and a body length of just over three meters, it was quite petite compared to those ten-thousand-year soul beasts that were easily over ten meters long.

Yet, the aura emanating from its entire body made a layer of cold sweat instantly break out on Mu Tianyi's back.

Its golden fur was distinct, shimmering with iridescent light under the sun as if each strand were condensed from pure sunlight.

Its four hooves trod upon pale golden flames, landing silently, yet causing the grass and wood beneath them to instantly wither and char.

A cluster of flames danced incessantly at the tip of its tail, radiating intense heat.

Most striking of all was the vertical eye in the very center of its forehead.

That eye was currently half-open, its pupil reflecting the depth of an entire starry sky. As it occasionally blinked, a golden light spilled out, sharp enough to pierce through everything.

It tilted its head, staring at Mu Tianyi inside the light barrier, its golden vertical pupils filled with curiosity.

To be precise, it was staring at the half-eaten, sizzling, greasy dragon meat patty in Mu Tianyi's hand.

"What is this?" the Three-Eyed Golden Ni asked.

The voice was crisp, carrying the innocence of a young girl, and the tone was one of matter-of-fact inquiry.

Mu Tianyi subconsciously took a step back, alarm bells ringing in his mind.

Holy mother of heavens, are you kidding me?

A soul beast that can speak—that means it's at least a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?!

His heart skipped a beat as he prepared to assume a defensive stance.

The next second, the Three-Eyed Golden Ni's patience seemed to run out.

It raised its front paw and swiped at the pale golden light barrier once more.

Where the claw landed, golden light splattered everywhere!

That ancient defensive Soul Tool, inherited from the Sea God Pavilion, trembled violently under this strike. The runes on the surface of the bronze mirror flickered frantically, and cracks began to spread from the edges of the mirror.

Mu Tianyi's pupils constricted.

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni seemed to grow impatient; the speed at which its front paw fell was several times faster than the first strike, and a golden beam as thin as a hair shot from its vertical eye, landing on the light barrier simultaneously with the claw strike.

BOOM—

The bronze mirror exploded.

Fragments scattered in all directions. Mu Tianyi tilted his head to dodge a shard that grazed his ear, his hearing ringing with a dull roar.

That ancient Soul Tool, capable of withstanding a full-force strike from a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, had lasted less than three breaths in front of the "Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast" before him.

Mu Tianyi stood where he was, looking at the bronze mirror fragments covering the ground, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

Damn it...

Is this where I meet my end?

Even so, waiting for death was not Mu Tianyi's style.

He took a deep breath, his mind racing as he calculated the possibilities of escape.

Yin-Yang Divine Dragon Transformation, three hundred percent increase in all attributes, five hundred percent bonus to light and dark attribute damage.

With his current soul power foundation, he could barely hold his own against a Soul Emperor-level opponent if he unleashed his full power.

But against a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?

Well, Mu Tianyi actually had zero confidence.

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni was in no rush to attack.

It retracted its claw, lowered its head, and stared straight through the shattered protective barrier at the meat patty in Mu Tianyi's hand. Its nose twitched slightly, and then it spoke.

"That very fragrant thing—did you make it?"

Mu Tianyi was stunned for a moment.

He looked down at the meat patty in his hand, then back at the Three-Eyed Golden Ni, who was clearly salivating but pretending to be calm.

"...Yes."

"How did you do that?" The Three-Eyed Golden Ni tilted its head.

Mu Tianyi was silent for a moment, a preposterous thought suddenly flashing through his mind.

He looked up, carefully scrutinizing this "Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

Wait.

Golden fur all over, shaped like a lion, a vertical eye on its forehead, hooves treading on flames, a flickering flame at the tip of its tail...

With all these features stacked together, why did it look more and more like...

Mu Tianyi's pupils constricted slightly.

No.

This wasn't an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

This was the Three-Eyed Golden Ni.

The Emperor Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest.

In other words, the visitor wasn't some Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast at all.

Mu Tianyi breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to those calculating Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast uncles and aunties, it was clearly easier to trick—ah, no, talk to—this Emperor Auspicious Beast, which only had over ten thousand years of cultivation and was as simple as a blank sheet of paper.

As for why it could blast through that Soul Tool that looked so tough, Mu Tianyi guessed it likely wasn't due to a suppression of cultivation.

It was its innate ultimate attributes.

Ultimate strength, ultimate fire, ultimate spiritual power, plus the blessing of heaven and earth's luck bestowed upon it by its status as an Auspicious Beast.

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni looked at Mu Tianyi's "thoughtful" expression and suddenly became a bit unhappy.

"Were you afraid just now?" it asked.

Mu Tianyi blinked: "...Hm?"

"No, you were clearly afraid, but there was no fear in your eyes." A trace of imperceptible disappointment flashed through the Three-Eyed Golden Ni's vertical eye. "Human, you were faking it."

The corner of Mu Tianyi's mouth twitched slightly.

This big cat... had quite sharp observation skills.

He decided to stop pretending and sighed: "Fine, I admit it, I was indeed wondering whether I should run just now."

"But now I can see it too, you're not a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, just a slightly larger cat."

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni's pupils constricted violently, and the golden fur all over its body stood on end.

"Who are you calling a big cat?!"

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni wanted to hiss to prove that there was a fundamental difference between itself and an ordinary Hajimi.

Mu Tianyi didn't answer the question, instead doing something the Three-Eyed Golden Ni never expected.

He bent down, picked up an unfinished dragon meat steak from the grill, and held it out toward the Three-Eyed Golden Ni.

"Want some?"

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni's vertical eye blinked:

"May I?"

"Uh, what do you think?"

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni was silent for two seconds.

Then, it lowered its head, moved closer to the steak in Mu Tianyi's hand, and its nostrils flared as it took a deep breath of the charred, fragrant aroma of the meat.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

It took a bite.

The Three-Eyed Golden Ni's eyes lit up instantly.

In that moment, it felt its soul trembling.

This taste—

It had lived for over ten thousand years, from its infancy to its maturity, and everything it had ever eaten was raw meat.

Living its whole life eating fur and drinking blood, it had never known how to write the words "cooked food."

And at this moment, as that dragon meat—grilled until charred on the outside and tender on the inside, filled with grease, and carrying a faint salty flavor—exploded in its mouth, only one thought remained in the Three-Eyed Golden Ni's mind:

"What kind of miserable life have I been living all this time?"

It even forgot to maintain the dignity of an Auspicious Beast, swallowing the steak in two bites.

Then it raised its head, its vertical eye filled with an unprecedented eagerness, staring straight at Mu Tianyi.

"...Is there more?"