Star Dou Seeks Traces, Meets Auspicious Beast

The end of the official road marked the perimeter of the Star Dou Forest.

Looking into the distance, the endless primeval forest stretched across the earth like a dormant giant dragon.

Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, and a rich aura of life permeated from the depths of the forest, mingled with the roars and bellows of Soul Beasts, as well as the shouts of human Spirit Masters and the clashing of weapons.

But when the two of them truly stepped into the territory of the Star Dou Forest, Qian Renxue's brows furrowed tightly.

"This place is completely different from ten thousand years ago." She looked at the scene before her, her voice tinged with an unbelievable sorrow.

Ten thousand years ago, she had accompanied Qian Daoliu to the Star Dou Forest. Back then, the perimeter of Star Dou was filled with endless thousand-year Soul Beasts, ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts could be seen everywhere in the intermediate zone, and the core area was guarded by Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, with the forest itself being nearly twice as large as it was now.

But now, the perimeter of Star Dou had long been carved up by human Spirit Masters into wide roads. Along the way, there were camps for soul-hunting teams everywhere, and the carcasses of hunted Soul Beasts could be seen discarded randomly by the roadside, rotting and stinking.

They had walked for nearly a hundred miles, and let alone thousand-year Soul Beasts, even hundred-year Soul Beasts were rarely seen. Occasionally, they would encounter a few ten-year or hundred-year cubs, but they would all flee in a panic, their eyes filled with nothing but fear of humans.

"When Martial Soul Hall still existed ten thousand years ago, there were strict rules for hunting souls." Qian Renxue's voice was very soft, carrying a hint of undisguised lament.

"It was forbidden to hunt cub Soul Beasts, forbidden to over-hunt in the same area, and every soul-hunting team had strict limits on the number of souls they could hunt each year. Back then, even the perimeter of Star Dou had a complete ecosystem; although Soul Beasts and humans were opposed, they maintained a balance."

"But now that Martial Soul Hall is gone, no one follows those rules anymore." She looked at the carcass of a fawn Soul Beast by the roadside that had been stripped of its soul ring, a complex emotion flashing through her golden eyes.

"They only know how to endlessly hunt and extract soul rings and soul bones, but if Soul Beasts go extinct, the profession of Spirit Master will eventually come to an end."

Gu Yuan's footsteps paused, and a trace of imperceptible coldness flashed in his deep eyes.

He was the Dragon God, the common master of all Soul Beasts. Every Soul Beast on this continent flowed with blood of the same origin as his; they were all his subjects.

After the Dragon race was wiped out and he fell ten thousand years ago, the Soul Beast clan lost its greatest protection and walked step by step to their current plight. Watching his own subjects being slaughtered so wantonly, even though he had lived through countless ages and his state of mind had long been as still as an ancient well, he could not help but feel anger rising in his heart.

"This is also the reason why we must come here." Gu Yuan's voice lowered a few degrees, and he raised his hand to cast a barrier that isolated their aura, completely concealing their figures.

"I was killed by the Five Great God Kings of the God Realm, and my divine soul was split into two, transforming into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. The Golden Dragon King was sealed in the core of the God Realm, guarded personally by the Five Great God Kings. The Silver Dragon King escaped to the Douluo Continent with the inheritance of the Dragon race and has been sleeping in the very core of this Star Dou Forest—the Life Lake."

Qian Renxue stopped abruptly, her golden eyes filled with shock.

She knew the secret of the Dragon God's fall back then, but she had never known that the Dragon God's soul had actually split into two parts, nor did she know that the Silver Dragon King was actually in this Star Dou Forest.

"The Silver Dragon King..." Qian Renxue steadied herself and asked in a deep voice.

"Then what is her condition?"

"Not good." Gu Yuan shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of gravity.

"Back then, in order to escape the God Realm, she took the full-force strike of the Five Great God Kings. Both her divine soul and physical body suffered irreversible damage, forcing her into a deep slumber to rely on the life energy of the Life Lake to nourish her wounds, and she has been there for countless years. My coming here this time is, first, to repair her injuries. If the Dragon race wants to revive and the Soul Beast clan wants to escape their current desperate situation, they cannot do without her help."

"The second is to look after the descendants of the Soul Beast clan." Gu Yuan's gaze looked toward the depths of the forest.

"The Soul Beast clan is now in decline, and there are fewer and fewer powerhouses capable of shouldering the burden. I must come and see, to leave them a glimmer of hope. Moreover, in the future, we will have to fight against the God Realm and against Tang San; the Soul Beast clan is our natural ally."

Qian Renxue nodded slowly, completely understanding his intentions.

She had a blood feud with Tang San, and Gu Yuan, naturally including Tang San, had an irreconcilable feud of genocide with the Five Great God Kings of the God Realm.

Their goals were the same, and the power of the Silver Dragon King and the entire Soul Beast clan would be the best assistance in fighting against the God Realm.

"Then shall we go directly to the Life Lake now?" Qian Renxue asked.

"No rush." Gu Yuan smiled, raised his hand to remove the barrier, and kept only the most basic concealment of their aura.

"We will walk inward slowly, just to see what this Star Dou Forest looks like today. And to see how much foundation the Soul Beast clan still has after ten thousand years."

The two looked at each other and continued to walk toward the depths of the Star Dou Forest.

They restrained all their auras, lowering their presence to the minimum, like two shadows merging into the forest, passing silently through the perimeter and entering the intermediate zone.

Here, the presence of human soul-hunting teams gradually decreased, the surrounding ancient trees became denser, and a rich aura of soul power and life rushed toward them. Occasionally, they could see Soul Beasts with thousand or ten-thousand-year cultivation levels appearing.

It was just that these Soul Beasts, without exception, were filled with extreme hostility toward humans.

"It seems the harm humans have brought them over the years is too deep." Qian Renxue sighed softly.

"The law of the jungle is the rule of this world." Gu Yuan said indifferently.

"But the greed of you humans has long broken the balance of this rule. Soul Beasts give humans soul rings, yet humans are so eager to exterminate them for power."

The two chatted as they walked, talking about many things.

A tacit understanding that others could not reach developed between them. They were allies, partners, and the only people in these ten thousand years who could understand each other's obsessions.

Qian Renxue looked at Gu Yuan beside her, and she could not help but feel moved.

Ten thousand years ago, she never imagined that she would walk side by side with the Dragon God, nor did she imagine that she would slowly learn to adapt to this completely unfamiliar era.

If not for Gu Yuan, she would not be who she is today, and might have ultimately ended up dead and dissipated.

"Gu Yuan." Qian Renxue suddenly spoke.

"Do we really have to go to war with the God Realm? With the Five Great God Kings joining forces, and Tang San, the enforcer with dual god positions, the power of the God Realm is far more formidable than we imagine."

Gu Yuan stopped and turned to look at her, his deep eyes filled only with the determination of one who had lived through eternity.

"It is not that I want to start a war; it is that they have never given us a way to live." Gu Yuan's voice was very soft, yet carried an iron-clad resolve.

"They fear the power of the Dragon race and fear that I could threaten their rule, so they joined forces to set a trap to kill me and exterminate the Dragon race. For countless years, they have stood high above, viewing mortals as ants and Soul Beasts as nourishment for humans, arbitrarily manipulating the landscape of the continent."

"Tang San was able to walk step by step from a mortal to the position of God Realm enforcer because of the support of the previous Asura."

"He destroyed Martial Soul Hall, seemingly giving the continent peace, but in reality, he turned the entire Douluo Continent into his own backyard, a container for him to continuously obtain the power of faith."

"Either we overthrow their rule to revive the Dragon God's kin and restore the balance between soul beasts and humanity, or we perish. There is no third option."

Qian Renxue looked at the resolve in his eyes, and the same light ignited within her own golden gaze.

She gripped the Angel Holy Sword in her hand and nodded slowly. "Ten thousand years ago, I failed to protect everything I held dear. This time, I absolutely cannot lose."

Just then, a sound of light, pattering footsteps drifted over from the nearby bushes.

Immediately following, a milky, high-pitched exclamation rang out, laced with a hint of panic and a touch of grievance: "Ouch!"

The two stopped their conversation simultaneously, their gazes turning toward the direction of the sound.

A tiny soul beast came stumbling out of the nearby shrubbery.

The creature was covered in golden fur that shimmered with a dazzling luster in the sunlight filtering through the leaves, looking like a glowing little ball of fluff.

It resembled a cute little lion, yet it possessed three vertical eyes on its head. The two on the sides were clear gold, while the middle one was a magnificent rose-red, currently wet with a hint of alarm.

A long, fluffy golden tail trailed behind it, swaying back and forth as it ran, looking incredibly adorable.

It seemed to have been running too fast and tripped over a tree root, tumbling twice on the ground before scrambling up, dazed. It shook its little head, and its third eye blinked, locking directly onto the gazes of Gu Yuan and Qian Renxue.

In an instant, the little creature froze. All three eyes went wide, and it stood rooted to the spot, forgetting even to run away.

Qian Renxue was also stunned. In all her years, she had never seen such a pure soul beast.

There was not a shred of malice in this little one, only the most pristine aura of life and the power of destiny. Even just standing there, the surrounding vegetation grew more vibrant, and the soul power in the air grew noticeably denser.

A knowing smile flashed in Gu Yuan's eyes.

He recognized it at a glance: this little soul beast was the core of destiny for the Star Dou Forest, the Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was a unique auspicious soul beast in heaven and earth, born with the ability to control destiny. Wherever it went, soul beasts within a radius of ten thousand miles would see their cultivation speed double, and they would be shielded from natural and man-made disasters.

It was the treasure of the entire Star Dou Forest, a being that all soul beasts would die to protect. He had not expected it to wander alone into the intermediate zone.

The little one finally reacted after a few seconds, shrinking its small body back and watching the two with vigilance. Its third, rose-red eye glowed faintly, as if probing their origins.

Yet, the more it looked, the less vigilance it felt, replaced instead by confusion and a sense of closeness.

It could clearly sense that this golden-haired human woman possessed an aura of light so pure it held no malice, warm like the sun, making it want to draw near.

But the man in the dark robes was beyond its comprehension. Its Eye of Destiny could see the fate and future of all things in the world, but when it fell upon this man, it saw only an endless sea of golden clouds—a destiny so vast it could shroud the entire universe.

It was an aura of supreme majesty it had never seen before. What made its heart tremble even more was the pressure radiating from the man, which made it want to bow from the very depths of its soul. It was a mark carved into the deepest bloodlines of all soul beasts, a summons from the Sovereign of Soul Beasts.

It could feel that this man would never harm it.

The little one tilted its head, took a tentative step forward, and spoke in a soft, milky voice: "Who... who are you? Why do I feel so close to you?"

Qian Renxue looked at its adorable appearance, the coldness in her heart melting away. She softened her tone and asked gently, "Little one, how did you end up here all by yourself? Where are your guardians?"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion puffed out its small chest with a hint of pride, but then its head drooped, and it wagged its tail aggrievedly. "I just snuck out to play... it's too boring inside, and everyone won't let me run around. I kept walking and then I couldn't find my way back..."

As it spoke, its three eyes welled up with watery light, looking pitiful.

Qian Renxue shook her head helplessly. She never imagined that the core of destiny for the Star Dou Forest would be a little one who snuck out to play and got lost.

Just then, Gu Yuan slowly squatted down and reached out a hand toward the little one. A wisp of faint golden dragon energy swirled around his fingertips—the purest essence of the Dragon God, a supreme gift for any soul beast.

The little one's eyes lit up instantly. It leaned in without hesitation, rubbing its small head against Gu Yuan's fingertip, squinting in comfort.

The wisp of dragon energy flowed into its body through its forehead. In an instant, its golden fur became even more dazzling, its internal aura stabilized, and its previously somewhat unstable cultivation solidified significantly.

It could clearly feel that this aura had sublimated its bloodline to the extreme, and even its Eye of Destiny had become more transparent.

The little one wagged its tail happily, looking up at Gu Yuan with three eyes full of reverence and intimacy.

"I know who you are now! You are... you are the Sovereign of our soul beasts! Lord Dragon God!"

The moment its Eye of Destiny touched the essence of the Dragon God, it finally saw Gu Yuan's true identity.

Qian Renxue watched the interaction between the man and the beast, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She had never imagined that this Dragon God, who had shaken the ages, could have such a gentle side.

Gu Yuan stroked the little one's furry head and asked softly, "Are you trying to return to the Life Lake?"

The little one nodded vigorously, rubbing its head against Gu Yuan's palm, acting incredibly clingy. "Mm-hmm! My home is right next to the Life Lake! I'll take you there! I know the way!"

It jumped up from the ground, ran ahead, and turned back to wag its tail at the two, looking like a perfect little guide.

The two followed behind the little one, heading toward the deepest part of the Star Dou Forest.

The golden auspicious beast hopped and skipped ahead, the sunlight filtering through the leaves and casting long shadows of the three on the forest path.

The Life Lake was close at hand, and the Silver Dragon King, who had slept for countless years, was about to encounter someone she could never have imagined.