While Xiao Hongchen was happily enjoying his cat-petting time, a bizarre change suddenly occurred in the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The entire Star Dou Great Forest seemed to tremble slightly. Every treetop within sight swayed in the same direction, then slowly swung back.
An invisible pressure slowly spilled out from within the Star Dou Great Forest, as if some tremendous change had taken place between heaven and earth.
In that instant, not a sound could be heard within the Star Dou Great Forest, as though every living creature had fallen asleep all at once.
Suddenly, a terrifying beam of black light shot straight toward Jing Hongchen.
Jing Hongchen activated his second Red Dust Protection without holding anything back. A dense golden light enveloped everyone.
With a bang, the golden barrier immediately dimmed.
Jing Hongchen's expression grew grave.
He could sense that the being about to appear was far more powerful than he was. A casual probing strike had nearly shattered his Invincible Barrier. After all, its defensive power could reach three times the user's own cultivation.
In the original story, with nothing more than a Level 9 Soul Tool like this, Jing Hongchen, at rank 93, had been able to retreat unscathed from before Xuan Zi. It was also what had given him the confidence to sneak into Sea God Island without fear.
Beast God Di Tian—he really had come.
Xiao Hongchen could only silently pray that the Beast God wouldn't hold a grudge against someone as junior as him, and would let them leave safely.
"Oh?" A deep voice came from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, tinged with the faintest hint of surprise. "You're not even a Super Douluo, yet you managed to block one of my strikes?"
Seeing that the strongest among them was only rank 94, Di Tian had intended to tear off the mask and kill them at once. He hadn't expected to be stopped.
A flash of dark red light appeared, and the Three-Headed Crimson Demon Mastiff, Scarlet King, once again came into view.
The Scarlet King was no longer angry. Its eyes were calm, filled with confidence.
The leftmost of its three heads held a Soul Beast in its mouth. The creature was silvery white all over and looked somewhat like a dog, but its limbs were unusually thick and its body strangely shaped. It had no fur; instead, scales covered its body.
Scarlet King said coldly, "Release the Auspicious Beast, and you can take this Soul Beast with you." As it spoke, it flung the creature in its mouth to the ground.
"You attacked us without warning just now, and now you expect us to honor the agreement?"
Though Jing Hongchen lacked confidence, he maintained a show of composure and shielded the Imperial Auspicious Beast behind him.
"Enough." The deep voice paused briefly, then said, "Release the Auspicious Beast, and you may leave. I, Di Tian, give you my word that this matter ends here."
Jing Hongchen drew in a sharp breath. His grandson had actually drawn out Di Tian. The Beast God of the Star Dou Great Forest, with 890,000 years of cultivation, was the foremost of the Ten Great Fierce Beasts.
"So it's the Beast God. We trust you." As he spoke, Jing Hongchen let go and readily pushed the Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, toward the Scarlet King.
The Scarlet King hurriedly stepped in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and checked its body. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion had gained a great deal of vitality by helping Xiao Hongchen's Eye of Life evolve into the Eye of Fate during the attribute connection. After noticing the Auspicious Beast's condition, the Scarlet King's gaze toward Jing Hongchen softened somewhat.
Jing Hongchen picked up the Silver Hero Beast, activated his Flight Soul Tool, and carried Xiao Hongchen and the others into the air, heading straight for the Sun Moon Empire's border.
This trip to the Star Dou Great Forest had been perfect. It was just a shame that Grandpa had flown too fast for them to find that Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.
It was all Di Tian's fault. If that old immortal hadn't shown up, they could have taken their time searching for the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear in the outer region.
Even after they vanished from the Scarlet King's sight, nothing else changed in the Star Dou Great Forest. The fierce pressure from before had also completely dissipated.
"You little rascal! You're far too mischievous. I told you long ago that, for us Soul Beasts, the most dangerous beings are human Soul Masters. If those Soul Masters who came this time had meant you harm, you'd have been in trouble with their strength. We might not even have made it in time to save you. Don't leave the Core Circle so casually again."
When the deep voice sounded once more, it was gentle, even tinged with affection.
"I'm sorry, Di Tian. I was wrong. Let's go home."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lowered its head in apology. After the attribute connection, not only had its vitality increased, but its spiritual awareness had also improved greatly. Its extraordinary intelligence told it that it should listen obediently to Di Tian now.
Di Tian's voice grew even gentler. "All right. Let's go home."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion started to leave, but suddenly looked back toward the direction Xiao Hongchen and the others had gone. In its mind, the memories of that young human grew clearer and clearer. It planned to go back and savor every moment of them, frame by frame.
After traveling far from the Star Dou Great Forest, the group of four and two Soul Beasts landed in a secluded spot.
"Xiao, Guyi, absorb your Soul Rings." Jing Hongchen tossed the Silver Hero Beast and the Sky Dragon Horse to the ground, then immediately reminded them.
Ye Guyi used her Holy Sword to deliver the Sky Dragon Horse's final blow, then sat cross-legged and began absorbing its Soul Ring.
Xiao Hongchen didn't dare dawdle either. He formed a metal spike in his right hand and drove it toward the Silver Hero Beast's head. The Soul Beast was completely unconscious, and showed none of the fearsome might of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
The poor Silver Hero Beast breathed its last just like that.
A ring of pitch-black light quietly rose from its head.
Xiao Hongchen circulated his Soul Power, guiding the Black Soul Ring toward himself.
At once, his Sea of Consciousness shuddered violently. A dense spiritual aura surged through his brain, rushing straight into his Sea of Consciousness.
This was the spiritual shock unique to Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old.
The terrifying impact of Spiritual Power made Xiao Hongchen tremble slightly, but once he recovered, he quickly enveloped it with his own vast Spiritual Power.
His own Spiritual Power had just been enhanced by the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, and he had also gained and mastered the power of a Second Sea of Consciousness. A mere Silver Hero Beast with thirty thousand years of cultivation naturally posed no threat to him, even though it was a spiritual-type Soul Beast.
Xiao Hongchen's Soul Ring absorption took a little over an hour.
His heart was full of excitement. His secondary Martial Soul's brain had finally gained its First Soul Ring, and it had even raised his Soul Power by one level. He was now rank 49, just a step away from becoming a Soul King.
Just as he had guessed, his First Soul Skill was Imprint, the Silver Hero Beast's innate ability.
Imprint could copy an opponent's Soul Skill in the instant they used an ability, then store it in his body. Whenever he needed it, he could unleash it. The entire process was carried out through Spiritual Power. When his own cultivation was equal to or higher than the user's, he could unleash the Soul Skill at one hundred percent power.
The limitation was that only one Imprint could exist at a time. At his current cultivation, he could use Imprint three times a day, and the number of uses would increase as his Spiritual Power and Soul Power improved.
It was a very practical Soul Skill.
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