Fine, I'll Go with You

"Clever!" Leng Qingning praised. "The Emperor Auspicious Beast is born to rule, the one and only in all of heaven and earth. The Phantom Sea Spirit Kun's level of fortune can't compare to that."

She continued, "In fact, Di Tian was the first to realize that the Soul Beasts' fortune was crumbling. He tried to cultivate the Golden Hawksbill clan, hoping to build up their fortune through sheer numbers and trigger a qualitative change through quantitative accumulation, thereby stabilizing the Soul Beast Clan's fortune."

"That takes time." An Lan didn't deny that Di Tian's plan made sense.

For the Golden Hawksbills to influence the fortune of the Soul Beasts, they would need to cultivate for at least a hundred thousand years.

Even with Di Tian doing everything in his power to cultivate them, it couldn't be accomplished overnight.

What's more, from An Lan's perspective, Di Tian had brought this on himself.

The Golden Hawksbill that had sacrificed itself to Xu Sanshi back then had been a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.

According to it, every member of their clan was destined to become a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, but none had ever broken through the two-hundred-thousand-year bottleneck.

Whether the Golden Hawksbills could break through to two hundred thousand years was beside the point. In theory, their clan should never have lacked hundred-thousand-year Beast Kings. Di Tian had no reason to start cultivating them from scratch.

The Golden Hawksbills held an extraordinary status and had no natural enemies. And their innate skill, Invincible Shield, meant that even ordinary hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts couldn't do a thing to them.

Yet when it mattered, the Star Dou Great Forest couldn't produce enough Golden Hawksbills.

There was only one explanation—those few Ferocious Beasts had been gorging themselves.

A hundred-thousand-year Auspicious Beast brimmed with vitality and fortune. For Ferocious Beasts nearing the end of their lifespans, it was a nourishing treat—one bite, and they'd fall silent.

That also offered the most reasonable explanation for why the Golden Hawksbills couldn't break through the two-hundred-thousand-year bottleneck.

A clan of Auspicious Beasts shouldn't have had such a limit. The real reason was that their entire clan had been livestock, raised by the Ferocious Beasts—just with a longer time to market.

Xiong Jun's habit of devouring hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts showed that Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts had never cared about the lives of hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts.

Only by reaching two hundred thousand years and joining the ranks of the Ferocious Beasts could one sit at the table in the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Golden Hawksbills couldn't break through to two hundred thousand years because those Ferocious Beasts didn't want them at the table.

"That's right," Leng Qingning said. "Di Tian really didn't have enough time to raise enough Golden Hawksbills to carry the Soul Beasts' fortune."

She changed tack. "But after the Spirit Pagoda's master at the time uncovered the secrets of fortune, she keenly turned her attention to the ocean."

"Remarkable foresight." An Lan couldn't help but praise her.

On land, aside from the Emperor Auspicious Beast, there was a clan of Auspicious Beasts like the Golden Hawksbills. The ocean covered seventy percent of Douluo Planet and stretched endlessly. There was no reason it couldn't have given rise to an Auspicious Beast of its own.

"In the end, the Spirit Pagoda obtained the one and only Auspicious Beast Soul Spirit, the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun. And, notably, just one year later, the Four-Word Battle Armor technology was achieved, completely crushing the Soul Beast Clan."

As she spoke, a chill had settled over Leng Qingning's face, sharp as an icy blade.

"Those who aren't of our kind will never share our hearts!"

The hatred between humans and Soul Beasts ran deep and endless. Leng Qingning was no saint.

Hearing this, An Lan's expression grew contemplative. He had never imagined that such a secret lay behind the advent of Four-Word Battle Armor.

If it wasn't a coincidence, then as the Auspicious Beast sustaining the Soul Beast Clan's last remnants of fortune, the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun might not have matched the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, but it was in a league far beyond the Golden Hawksbills.

The great conflict between humans and Soul Beasts had long since been settled. The Soul Beasts left were only a handful, eking out a miserable existence in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, no longer capable of stirring up trouble.

At this thought, Leng Qingning's expression softened. She spoke gently to An Lan. "As the Spirit Pagoda's one and only Auspicious Beast Soul Spirit, the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun's most basic ability is to fear no creature's bloodline pressure."

"She possesses the Ultimate Ice, Ultimate Water, and Space Attributes. She also has the Mental Attribute you want, as well as a talent similar to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Eye of Destiny: Boundless. She can slip into the void in an instant and become immune to all damage for one second."

At that, An Lan's eyes lit up.

Seeing how tempted her disciple looked, Leng Qingning decided to tell him everything she knew. "Besides, as an Auspicious Beast born in the ocean, the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun has an ability similar to the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. She can create a shield underwater that ignores the pressure of the deep sea and take people down into the abyss, thousands of meters below."

"Teacher, it's her." An Lan made up his mind at once, eyes blazing as he fixed his gaze on the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun, still unconscious in midair.

"Fine. I'll establish a spiritual connection between you first." Leng Qingning said no more. With a sweep of her jade hand, she awakened the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun.

In truth, she hadn't known beforehand that the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun was asleep. But the Auspicious Beast was highly intelligent. It would have been better if she hadn't woken her while introducing her to An Lan, so she had left her sleeping.

The Phantom Sea Spirit Kun slowly opened her eyes. They were larger than An Lan's head, clear as deep-sea sapphires, with a hint of regal gold deep in her pupils.

The moment her eyes opened, a tranquil, gentle mental wave, utterly free of hostility, spread out around her.

Feeling the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun's powerful mental strength, An Lan was even more pleased. He immediately guided a wisp of mental power toward her.

He was a little curious about what a spiritual connection would feel like.

His brow felt faintly lighter, and in the instant his mind cleared, the spiritual connection was established.

A soothing warmth flowed through the connection and spread through his limbs. An Lan's body relaxed of its own accord.

The Phantom Sea Spirit Kun's Spiritual Origin was exceptionally pure, without a trace of savagery. She was unlike a Soul Beast.

"Hello, Phantom Sea Spirit Kun."

"Hello, human."

The Phantom Sea Spirit Kun's ethereal voice rang out in An Lan's mind, full of life.

In an instant, An Lan understood what his teacher meant by the charm of a ten-thousand-year-old spirit.

"Would you be willing to become my Soul Spirit?"

"No."

An Lan got straight to the point, and the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun rejected him just as bluntly.

She tilted her head, curiously studying the Little One below.

She knew he was a human child, but this human was different from the ones before. He smelled so good, and she was drawn to him.

Still, that wasn't a reason for her to go with him. At the very least... she had to say no first.

An Lan had been prepared for an Indomitable Soul Spirit. He continued, "Won't you think it over?"

Who could have guessed that the next moment, the Phantom Sea Spirit Kun would quietly swallow, her clear eyes blinking as she instantly changed her mind. "Fine. I'll go with you."

It wasn't that the Auspicious Beast lacked resolve. He just smelled too good!

The Phantom Sea Spirit Kun wailed inwardly. She had already refused once, so agreeing now wouldn't make her lose too much face.

"Hmm?"

The words of persuasion An Lan had prepared caught in his throat. He stared, momentarily stunned. "What did you say? Say that again."