The Star Dou Great Forest's Core Area, Life Lake.
The lakeside, usually so peaceful, was now crowded with figures, buzzing with noise.
They weren't humans. They were Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in human form.
Some had transformed into burly men, others into old women, and still others into children.
Quite a few Soul Beasts had bruises on their faces, and their heads were swollen like risen dough.
Those were all souvenirs from being "invited" here over the past few days.
Wouldn't follow orders?
Di Tian came to "invite" them in person.
Still wouldn't listen? He beat them until they did.
"Why have we all been driven here?"
"I've lived on my own territory for tens of thousands of years. Why should I move?"
"What's gotten into Lord Di Tian?"
The chatter buzzed across the lakeside.
On a jutting rock, Xiong Jun stood with his arms folded across his chest, his dark golden eyes sweeping coldly over the crowd.
"Why bring them all here?"
Zi JI stood beside him.
Zi JI ignored him, her expression dark.
But the reason for her sour mood had nothing to do with Xiong Jun.
Will you stop squeezing me already? she gritted her teeth inwardly.
Jiang Ce's cackling laughter echoed in her mind, and that damned black bodysuit tightened another notch.
Zi JI was about to go mad.
Ever since the moment she'd been parasitized, this bastard hadn't given her a moment's peace.
Squeezing her while she walked, while she stood, while she flew—even when she spoke to other Ferocious Beasts, he kept squeezing her.
But she couldn't shake him off.
That mass of Black Slime had seeped into every corner of her body.
She couldn't separate from it or tear it off.
And what was more—she really had grown stronger.
Her speed, strength, defense, perception, mental power, and everything else were surging.
The price was that it was far too humiliating.
On the outside, she wore a purple dress. Underneath, however, was a sheer black bodysuit that showed through.
It clung tightly to every inch of her skin.
This bastard was wantonly groping a body no one had ever touched before.
Squeezing and kneading it.
"Damn bastard."
She cursed again.
Xiong Jun watched Zi JI's face shift from livid to flushed, utterly baffled.
"What's wrong with you?"
"None of your business," Zi JI replied coldly.
Xiong Jun was about to say something when a voice came from Zi JI's body.
"What, do you have a problem with your master's decision?"
Xiong Jun's pupils contracted as he stared at the pitch-black tentacle protruding from Zi JI's shoulder.
It was that mass of Black Slime.
The culprit that had bewitched their master and caused all this nonsense.
"What gives you the right to throw your weight around in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
"It doesn't matter what I am." Jiang Ce's tentacle swayed. "What matters is that your master has recognized me."
"Recognized you?" Xiong Jun snorted. "Who knows what despicable method you used to bewitch our master?"
"Bewitched?"
Jiang Ce's voice held a hint of amusement.
"So you think your master is the sort of fool who can be easily bewitched?"
Xiong Jun opened his mouth, but every word caught in his throat.
He couldn't answer that.
What sort of being was the Silver Dragon King? A God King at her peak. Mm.
Even gravely injured and asleep, she was still beyond his reach.
He was a nobody who wasn't even a level-99 Peerless Douluo. To call his master a fool? To say she'd been bewitched?
He was asking for death.
Xiong Jun gritted his teeth, his face turning ashen.
Jiang Ce's tentacle swayed, his voice still languid.
"Looks like you don't dare say it."
"Then I'll say it for you—you think your master is wise and mighty, and couldn't possibly be bewitched.
"So when you said 'bewitched' just now, you were questioning your master's judgment?"
Once more, Jiang Ce slapped a label onto Xiong Jun.
Xiong Jun's pupils contracted.
Questioning his master?
Cold sweat beaded on Xiong Jun's forehead.
He could talk back to Di Tian and curse this mass of Black Slime to its face.
But he absolutely couldn't say that his master had been "bewitched" in front of the Silver Dragon King.
That she lacked judgment! Mm.
That was suicide!
His master wouldn't even need to lift a finger. One look could destroy him a thousand times over!
"I... I didn't mean that."
"Then what did you mean?"
Jiang Ce's tentacle stretched toward him.
"You say I bewitched your master. That means you think your master lacks judgment and can be easily swayed."
"You say your master lacks judgment. That means you think your master is unfit to be the Co-Lord of Soul Beasts."
"So what you mean is—you want that position for yourself?"
Jiang Ce's old-school tactic of pinning labels on people turned Xiong Jun's face deathly pale.
"I don't! Don't you dare slander me!"
"Oh? Then what do you mean? What did I supposedly bewitch your master into doing? Which decision did she make because of my influence?"
Xiong Jun couldn't utter a word.
Unifying the Soul Beasts? Banning infighting?
Opening up resources? Those were all orders given by their master herself.
If he said she'd been bewitched into doing those things, he'd be saying she lacked judgment. Mm.
And if he said she lacked judgment, he'd be questioning her authority.
He didn't dare say another word.
Silence fell over the entire crowd.
All the Ferocious Beasts and Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts stared blankly at the scene.
That mass of Black Slime had cornered Xiong Jun with just a few words, leaving him unable to say a thing?
Just then, a cool voice rang out from the middle of the lake.
"Xiong Jun."
Silver light burst forth, and Gu Yuena appeared in midair.
A white dress, silver hair, and violet eyes.
The Co-Lord of Soul Beasts—the Silver Dragon King.
All the Ferocious Beasts and Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts bowed their heads at once.
Gu Yuena didn't look at Xiong Jun. Her gaze swept over the crowd.
"Do any of you have objections to this seat's decision?"
The entire crowd fell silent.
Xiong Jun forced himself to speak.
"Master, I don't understand. Why should we listen to that mass of Black Slime? Ban high-ranking Soul Beasts from fighting? Gather every Soul Beast that's lived for over ten thousand years in the Core Area? This is no different from raising us like humans!"
"We're not humans! We're Soul Beasts! We rely on strength, claws, and fangs, on the survival of the fittest! Not on rules and unity!"
Gu Yuena didn't answer at once.
She merely lifted her chin slightly, her gaze settling on Xiong Jun.
In an instant—an utterly terrifying pressure descended from the sky.
Xiong Jun's knees slammed into the ground, and the sound of bones breaking rang out from within him.
He couldn't even stand.
Blood began to seep from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
His dark golden bear eyes were filled with terror.
It wasn't pain, but terror—fear that came from deep within his bloodline.
The Silver Dragon King didn't need to lift a finger. One look was enough to make even a Ferocious Beast over three hundred thousand years old unable to breathe.
Every Soul Beast in the crowd lay prostrate on the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
The instant that pressure descended, every Soul Beast's instincts screamed one thing—submit.
Gu Yuena spoke slowly.
"Do you still have objections to this seat's decision?"
Xiong Jun couldn't say a word.
It wasn't that he didn't want to. Under that pressure, he couldn't even form a complete thought.
This was their master.
Even injured, she was a being he could never hope to oppose.
And now Gu Yuena had fused with the Golden Dragon King Bloodline. Her aura was countless times more terrifying than before.
Di Tian stood to the side, his pupils contracting slightly.
That mass of Black Slime really had helped their master recover a great deal.
"Since this is your first offense, I won't kill you. If there's a next time, you won't be getting back up."
Gu Yuena withdrew her pressure and swept her gaze over the crowd.
"Since no one has any objections, let's begin."
She looked at Zi JI—or, rather, at Jiang Ce, who was on Zi JI.
"You're up."
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