Domain of Eternal Love

"You're going to get smacked for that mouth of yours one of these days." Liu Erlong withdrew her hand and turned her gaze back to the road ahead.

"I've been smacked plenty of times already." Deng Tianxin rubbed his cheek and muttered under his breath.

Thanks to Bibi Dong, his skin had grown thicker than the corner of a city wall, both literally and figuratively.

"Alright, alright. Let's get going."

"Mm."

Liu Erlong took Deng Tianxin by the hand, and the two headed toward Heaven Dou City.

The sky gradually darkened, and the mountains swallowed up the last rays of the setting sun.

Liu Erlong found a sheltered slope. Beside a flat boulder, she cleared a small patch of ground, gathered some dry branches, and started a campfire.

The flames danced in the darkness, stretching their shadows long behind them.

Deng Tianxin sat beside the fire, pulled some rations from his Storage Soul Tool, and took a few bites. He was just about to lean against the rock and doze off when he suddenly jolted and sat bolt upright.

A wave of malice.

Like a cold needle, it pierced his field of perception without warning.

The God of Love Martial Soul was naturally extremely sensitive to shifts in emotion. This pure hunting instinct wasn't an emotional bond, but the sheer intensity of the malice was like a black flame, blazing in his perception.

"Sister Liu." Deng Tianxin set down his hardtack, his voice dropping without him realizing it.

"Hmm?" Liu Erlong was poking at the fire with a branch and didn't even look up.

"Something's watching us."

Liu Erlong's hand stilled.

She didn't ask if he was sure or if he was imagining things. Instead, she quietly lowered the branch and soundlessly rested her right hand on the hilt of the short sword at her waist.

"How long?" Liu Erlong's voice was low, audible only to the two of them.

"Not long." For once, Deng Tianxin's little face wore no cheeky grin. "I can feel its malice growing stronger. It's coming this way."

As soon as he finished speaking, a foul wind swept through the woods.

The flames lurched violently, sparks scattering everywhere. The wind picked up several burning branches and tossed them through the air before dropping them to the ground.

The stench made Deng Tianxin cough. He hurriedly covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve.

Liu Erlong had already leapt to her feet, warily scanning their surroundings.

Heavy footsteps sounded from deep in the forest, each one making the ground tremble faintly.

The treetops shook violently. Several night birds roosting in the branches shrieked and took flight, circling overhead without settling.

Then a huge shadow slowly emerged from the trees.

It was a black bear of astonishing size.

Even on all fours, its back stood two heads taller than Liu Erlong. Its body was covered in thick, coarse, dark-brown fur, crisscrossed with old scars like a record of its battles carved into its hide.

A vicious vertical scar ran over its left eye, which had clearly been blind for a long time. Its remaining right eye glowed an eerie crimson as it stared straight at the two people by the fire.

The black bear opened its gaping maw, revealing a mouthful of sharp fangs. A strong stench of blood and rotting flesh hit them, while a low growl rumbled in its throat.

"One-Eyed Violent Bear." Liu Erlong's voice sank. "How could such a powerful Soul Beast be here?"

Liu Erlong slowly shifted her stance, putting herself between the bear and Deng Tianxin. "It's at least seven thousand years old. Its strength and defense are terrifying. I'll hold it off. Take the chance to run."

Bear-type Soul Beasts were the kind most Soul Masters didn't want to encounter. They were powerful, and Soul Masters of ordinary strength simply couldn't beat them.

Unless they were out hunting for a Soul Ring—that was another matter.

Deng Tianxin swallowed as he looked at the One-Eyed Violent Bear. "It's okay. I can support you."

With that, he activated Domain of Eternal Love.

Pink-gold light suddenly spread out from beneath Deng Tianxin's feet, unfurling across the slope, where the campfire cast a shifting glow.

Countless tiny, heart-shaped motes of light floated and spun within the domain, like pink fireflies scattered by the wind. They settled on the grass, the rocks, and the One-Eyed Violent Bear's thick fur.

Liu Erlong felt her whole body lighten. Her nerves, which had been stretched taut, seemed to be gently brushed by a tender hand.

She glanced back at Deng Tianxin. The little guy was focused on sustaining the domain, the dragon horns on his forehead glowing faintly in the pink-gold light.

Liu Erlong could clearly feel the bear's intense killing intent fading at a visible rate, as if something were slowly drawing it away.

The One-Eyed Violent Bear's crimson eye shuddered violently.

It suddenly stopped moving, its paw frozen halfway through a swing. Its sharp claws reflected the soft pink-gold light.

It shook its massive head hard, a low growl rumbling in its throat, as if trying to dispel some invisible hallucination.

But the more it shook its head, the clearer the feeling became.

The scene before its eyes was changing. The two people standing in front of it were no longer intruders to be driven away. In their place stood a figure it had yearned for with all its heart.

The female bear had been killed several years earlier by another, more powerful Soul Beast. Her fur was exactly like his mate's—the same deep brown that shimmered silver under the moonlight.

They had lived together in these woods for a long time, hunting together, catching fish in the streams, and huddling together for warmth in their cave during winter.

Then she died in a battle over territory. When he arrived, all he found was a mess of fur and bloodstains.

After that, he never let another creature near his territory. He drove away all intruders with the fiercest violence, as if guarding his territory meant guarding everything she had left behind.

And now, she stood before him.

The One-Eyed Violent Bear let out a low whimper. The crimson light in its eye faded completely, replaced by an emotion Deng Tianxin had never expected.

It walked up to Deng Tianxin and lowered its enormous head, bigger than his whole body. With its wet nose, it carefully nudged his face.

Deng Tianxin froze.

Before he could react, a tongue rough as sandpaper scraped across him.

"Hss—"

Deng Tianxin sucked in a sharp breath and tipped backward from the lick, nearly tumbling onto his back.

The One-Eyed Violent Bear clearly took that as a positive response. A glimmer of delight flashed in its eye.

Then it extended one huge paw, gently scooped Deng Tianxin up, and drew him into its thick fur like a cub in its embrace.