Sacrifice

Di Tian was furious, tearing through the air at high speed toward the direction of the pillar of light.

Qian Daoliu and Lion Douluo exchanged a glance. After deactivating their Martial Soul Avatars, they took Qian Renxue and Chi Yuan with them and flew toward the rising pillar of light.

"Big Brother, are we still going?"

Titan Giant Ape walked up to Azure Bull Python and looked toward where the pillar of light had risen.

"Let's go. No one told us to turn back."

Azure Bull Python twisted his massive body and followed closely behind the others at high speed.

Inside the cave, that strange fluctuation appeared once more, and a small, beastly silhouette materialized out of thin air before Lie Xu.

"Alright, let's begin."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's crisp voice rang out. She walked up to Lie Xu, and a golden light flashed from the vertical eye on her forehead. Xiao Jiu slowly began to wake up.

The moment he woke, he naturally shuddered, transforming into a massive golden lion. He shielded Lie Xu tightly behind him, his enormous lion head glaring fixedly at the soul beast that looked somewhat similar to him, while the phantoms of eight smaller lion heads flickered in and out of existence.

"That's enough, Xiao Jiu. She means no harm."

Xiao Jiu scrutinized her, and finding no malice, he had no choice but to transform back into a small lion cub. It was indeed uncomfortable to maintain his full form in such a cramped space, but he still positioned himself firmly between Lie Xu and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion stepped toward Lie Xu. With every step she took, a mysterious golden magic circle appeared beneath her feet, bearing the unique luster of the Star Dou Great Forest's destiny, spreading out in layers along her path.

She only stopped when the rose-gold vertical eye on her forehead pressed against Lie Xu's forehead, the golden magic circle beneath them perfectly enclosing both human and beast.

"Although I don't understand why you would choose to sacrifice yourself to me, I still want to ask: have you truly decided?"

Lie Xu felt that vertical pupil on his forehead trembling slightly. As someone who had undergone nine years of compulsory education, he couldn't help but ask.

"Mm. I possess the power of destiny, so naturally, I trust in destiny."

"I am starting."

The moment her words fell, the gilded fur on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's body shimmered and trembled. The third destiny pupil at the center of her brow reflected the surging river of fate. Rose-gold threads of destiny snapped one by one around her, erupting into golden flames that resonated with the magic circle beneath her feet. They formed a massive pillar of light, emitting an incredibly dazzling radiance that pierced through the rock strata and stood between heaven and earth.

It was like the great sun—warm, bright, majestic, and impossible to refuse...

Di Tian, who had just arrived, saw this scene and his eyes nearly split with rage. His immense soul power condensed into a black dragon with wings on its back, which he slammed toward the cave ahead, as if to forcibly interrupt the sacrificial ritual.

"Stop this at once!!!"

After a cloud of dust settled, half of the mountainside had been reduced to powder, and the entire cave was completely exposed.

However, a soul beast's sacrifice is inherently irreversible. Once it begins, under the influence of the laws of sacrifice, it is impossible to stop.

As the soul beast favored by the destiny of the entire Star Dou Great Forest, her self-sacrifice could not possibly be influenced by others. Even with the collapse and shattering of the mountain, the sacrificial process remained unaffected; not even a single small pebble entered the range of the sacrificial circle.

Seeing that the matter was beyond reversal, Di Tian could only forcibly suppress the anger in his heart and watch helplessly as the scene before him proceeded as normal.

The others who arrived later naturally saw the series of events that had just occurred, and they all tacitly chose to remain silent, watching the Emperor Auspicious Beast's self-sacrifice in quietude.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion seemed completely unaware of what had happened, continuing to channel the magic circle on her own.

"In the river of destiny, I heard a compassionate echo; it was the gaze of the Heavenly Venerate..."

As the words fell, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's physical body began to blur and dissolve, bit by bit, transforming into golden light spots that filled the sky. Through the eye of destiny on her forehead, they poured continuously into Lie Xu's body, slowly condensing from the void beneath his feet into a rose-gold soul ring.

The Golden Dragon bloodline within her body was like warm liquid gold, constantly increasing Lie Xu's light attribute and strengthening his physical constitution.

At this moment, with her soul freed from the constraints of her body, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion gazed quietly at the human child to whom she had entrusted her life. Her soul-form flickered slightly, emitting a voice that only Lie Xu could hear.

"I heard that when you humans are born, your parents give you a name. Could you give me a name?"

"Alright!"

Lie Xu responded softly.

"Admiring your bright and elegant grace, like moonlight reflected on cold ice."

"Let's call you Yue'er."

"Yue'er, Yue'er..."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion murmured, then said, "Thank you, it sounds wonderful. I like it very much..."

As her voice faded, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's soul-form became increasingly transparent, eventually leaving only a phantom shadow. Finally, it transformed into a flash of purple-gold light that vanished, entering the head soul bone that carried the eye of destiny.

A shimmer of light passed over the purple-gold soul bone. Without needing Lie Xu to actively absorb it, it transformed into a purple-gold radiance and entered the center of Lie Xu's brow.

Just then, as the rose-gold soul ring at Lie Xu's feet was about to take shape, the purple-gold light flashed, leaving mysterious purple-gold runes on its rose-gold surface, making it appear exceptionally mysterious.

The golden pillar of light slowly receded and dissipated; the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's self-sacrifice had come to a complete end.

As the light faded, Xiao Jiu transformed into a golden lion the size of twelve feet. His eight small lion heads looked much more solid now, though their eyes remained tightly shut. Lie Xu sat cross-legged on Xiao Jiu's back, bowing his head slightly with his eyes lowered, as if an endless compassion were hidden within them.

A purple-gold halo suddenly swept across his brow, and a gilded vertical pupil slowly opened between his eyebrows. He surveyed his surroundings, his pupil gradually solidifying and losing its scattered look. All the previously dispersed purple-gold spiritual light was gathered and dormant within the eye. The strange phenomena around him receded into silence, leaving only a divine mystery hidden within his brow.

Under the effect of the soul bone sharing, a similarly divine vertical pupil naturally appeared on the forehead of the massive central lion head of Xiao Jiu, looking toward the people in front.

Whether it was Qian Daoliu, who stood at the pinnacle of humanity, or Di Tian, the 880,000-year-old soul beast, their heartbeats seemed to stall as they were swept by this mysterious gaze. Their very souls felt thoroughly exposed in that instant. This mysterious gaze existed for only a moment before returning to dormancy.

The crowd, having regained their senses, one after another suppressed their next moves, their gazes turning in unison toward the youth on the golden lion's back.

At this moment, Lie Xu was radiating an aura that was profound and unfathomable.

He was like a clear breeze, ethereal and traceless; like a distant mountain, deep and heavy; like an emperor, majestic and noble; and like a deity in a temple, filled with a divine compassion for the world...