Melee

The Sky Azure Bull Python beside him paid no heed to the Titan Giant Ape's words. Instead, he fell into thought. The two brothers had occupied the Lake of Life for tens of thousands of years, and they knew every drop of its water like the backs of their hands. How could such a powerful Soul Beast have appeared out of nowhere? Could there be somewhere they had yet to investigate...

"Hmph! If things hadn't happened so suddenly just now, I'd have gone up there and traded blows with him. He made it look like I was afraid of him. Otherwise, why would I be running away like a beaten dog?"

The Titan Giant Ape thumped his chest angrily, then turned to look at the Sky Azure Bull Python, who was still lost in thought.

"Big Brother, say something already!"

"Let's find the Emperor Auspicious Beast first."

The Sky Azure Bull Python was speechless as he looked at his younger brother, whose head was apparently packed with muscle. Ten of you wouldn't be enough to take a beating from him...

The earth trembled, and the forest shook. Tens of millions of Soul Beasts charged toward the outskirts, trampling countless other Soul Beasts to death along the way. Anything unlike a Soul Beast was even less likely to escape death.

"First Soul Skill, Sword of Judgment!"

"Fourth Soul Skill, Burning Heaven Fire Rain!"

"Have these Soul Beasts gone mad? They're charging toward the outskirts like they don't care whether they live or die!"

As Mighty Lion Douluo fought off the Soul Beasts charging at them, he and Qian Daoliu protected the others and hurried deeper into the forest.

"Something's wrong!"

Qian Daoliu stopped at once. "There's a Soul Beast! Its aura is incredibly powerful!!!"

"Look out, get out of the way..."

Before Qian Daoliu's voice had even faded, a tree trunk thicker than a man came flying toward them from up ahead.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Angel Protection!!!"

"Bang!!!"

The massive tree trunk smashed into the golden barrier and instantly shattered into pieces.

As the cloud of dust dispersed, two enormous beasts appeared not far in front of them.

The black giant ape before them was covered from head to toe in thick, pitch-black fur. Moonlight glimmered across his body in a dark, metallic sheen. His towering frame was like a mountain, his shoulders more than seven meters high when he stood on all fours. Muscles bulged like craggy stone, his giant amber eyes shone like lanterns, and his claws were as sharp as iron.

Yellow-brown streams of gravitational force swirled around him. Anyone who came close felt an invisible weight tugging at their flesh and bones. He radiated the vast, ferocious might of the forest's overlord.

Beside the giant ape coiled a green-scaled python more than thirty meters long, like a winding hill of dark green.

The serpent reared up, its massive bull's head lowered. Its bell-like eyes radiated a chill, its gaze brimming with unending fury. Long, curved, spiraling horns swept back from its head, their smooth surfaces gleaming a pale jade. Pale green mist drifted around its body like ribbons, forming a domain of slowness.

The two Beast Kings swept their gaze across the group and immediately locked onto the unconscious little lion beast, Xiao Jiu, in Qian Renxue's arms, protected at the very center of the crowd.

They sensed a trace of energy from Xiao Jiu that was identical to the source aura of the Emperor Auspicious Beast—the one that mysterious Soul Beast had given them.

"Humans!!!"

"Hand over the Emperor Auspicious Beast!!!"

The two enraged rulers of the Star Dou Forest attacked at once.

The Sky Azure Bull Python jerked his massive bull's head up and thrust it forward. His thirty-meter-long dark green python body surged into the air, carrying tremendous force. The pale green mist around him roared and spread, and his Slow Domain instantly covered a hundred yards. Falling leaves and dust froze in midair, as if everything had been brought to a standstill.

Green light flowed across his horns. Vast amounts of water-type Soul Power coalesced into several enormous, savage water serpents. They ripped through the air and roared toward the two human Limit Douluo before him.

Behind him, the Titan Giant Ape stomped the ground with both feet. His mountain-black body rose upright, and the knotted muscles beneath his skin tensed and bulged like solid rock. He slammed his fists into the earth, sending his yellow-brown Gravity Domain crushing forward as the ground beneath it collapsed and cracked layer by layer.

The giant ape's amber beast eyes glinted with icy light. He raked his thick claws across the earth, and heavy rock and soil surged into the air with tremendous force, crashing toward the group like a collapsing mountain.

"Angel Domain!!!"

"Blazing Fire Domain!!!"

Qian Daoliu and Lie Yan quickly countered, using their domains to fight back against the incoming domains.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Angel True Body!!!"

"Seventh Soul Skill, Lion True Body!!!"

"Bang!"

The two of them activated their Martial Soul Avatars. With a tremendous boom, they clashed with the two Beast Kings.

Mighty Lion Douluo Lie Yan unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar. In an instant, flames tore through the damp, murky air of the forest. A blazing lion, large enough to stand toe-to-toe with the Titan Giant Ape, emerged amid the fire. Roiling red flames surged over his powerful body, while the mane around his neck became a vast sea of wildfire that scorched the sky. Heat swept across the land, and every plant the flames touched turned to charcoal in an instant.

His thick tail lashed through the air. Wherever it swept, waves of scorching fire burst forth from nowhere, and the searing air made the rocks and soil hiss and smoke.

Two furious roars shook the forest and tore through the air. Neither beast bothered with flashy Soul Skill probes. Brimming with fury, they crashed into each other!

Crimson flames and black earth collided violently, sending searing waves of heat surging into the sky. Fists and lion claws clashed again and again, each heavy impact shaking the earth.

Flames scorched the giant ape's thick fur, filling the air with the stench of burning hair, while his heavy fists pounded the fire lion's body, scattering the flames in bursts. Every collision between the two beasts sent a violent shock wave rippling outward, snapping towering trees in half.

High among the clouds, Qian Daoliu's Angel True Body had fully manifested. Three pairs of gilded wings spread across dozens of meters, casting golden radiance over the entire forest. His divine golden armor glimmered, and in his hand he held a solid, resplendent Angel Holy Sword, its blade wreathed in strands of judgmental holy light.

He hovered high above, keeping his gaze fixed on the Sky Azure Bull Python as they fought. He didn't recklessly face the python's vast water-type attacks head-on.

Whenever the Sky Azure Bull Python lashed his massive tail, fired a condensed water column, or turned his enormous body, a fleeting opening appeared as his Soul Power shifted. Qian Daoliu would then take advantage of his wings and dive down from above, swinging his holy sword in a slash wrapped in fierce golden light. The blade's holy radiance tore through the vast green mist.

When the Sky Azure Bull Python hurriedly turned his body and stirred up his Slow Domain's mist to block him, Qian Daoliu used his Angel wings to slip away with ease, returning to the skies to circle overhead and constantly seek openings, harassing and keeping his opponent at bay...

As the battle here reached a fever pitch, deep in a secluded mountain ravine in one remote part of the Star Dou Great Forest, an oddly shaped beast lay quietly in the depths of an unremarkable cave.

Her body resembled that of a powerful lion, but a long, narrow third eye stood upright in the middle of her forehead. As its vertical pupil opened and closed, a mysterious radiance flowed within it. A gentle, noble rose-gold glow slowly spread out, casting dappled light across the dark rock walls and dispelling the gloom of the cave. Her entire body was covered in golden fur, like molten red gold, shining brilliantly in the faint purple-gold light.

On the bluestone ground before her, a small figure lay curled up. It was none other than Lie Xu, who had been inexplicably carried off earlier...