Just a Glance, One Glance Will Do (Seeking Collections and Follow-ups)

Tianmeng Iceworm quickly grasped the true utility of the Soul Spirit contract, placing its short forelimbs on its waist with a flamboyant air: "So it can actually do this! Haha, watch Brother's skills!"

The spiritual origin that Tianmeng Iceworm had accumulated was compressed and released once more, ten golden orbs of spiritual essence transforming into a golden torrent that flowed gently into Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye martial soul.

In later eras, especially during the times of Tang Wulin and Lan Xuanyu, those fierce beast soul spirits could provide more than just one soul ring. Although Tianmeng Iceworm, as a million-year soul beast, lacked the combat power of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, it was an absolute titan when it came to spirit and soul. Even with a lack of offensive means, providing two million-year soul rings was well within its capabilities.

In just a short moment, two massive golden soul rings, each over three meters in diameter, manifested around Huo Yuhao. The brilliant golden light was as dazzling as a rising sun, illuminating the forest in a radiant glow before immediately dimming and shifting color, transforming into two purple thousand-year soul rings.

Little Huo Yuhao's soul power, which had been stuck at level 20, surged rapidly: level 21, 22, 23... it didn't stop until it hit level 28.

Over the past two years, little Huo Yuhao had been practicing the Spirit Ice Art without pause, which included methods for compressing soul power. Furthermore, as his soul power continuously nourished his own blood and qi, the blood and qi fed back into his soul power. On the surface, he had only gained 8 levels of soul power, but if one looked solely at the total volume of his soul power, little Huo Yuhao was in no way inferior to an average level 39 assault-type soul master.

Baili Du had told little Huo Yuhao that in a godforsaken place like the Douluo Continent, levels were just for show. There was Xuan Zi at level 98 who couldn't handle a level 50 Death Messenger, and later, Lan Xuanyu at level 69 who fought a level 99 Limit Douluo to a draw...

What truly mattered was always one's own hard power.

"Hehe... truly worthy of being the host Brother chose!"

Tianmeng wiped its nose smugly, thinking that its luck still hadn't lost its touch after all these years!

Watching little Huo Yuhao, who had completed the fusion with Tianmeng and was now in deep meditation, Baili Du pondered for a moment before casually casting a defensive barrier around him and turning to walk toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Since he had made the trip, it would be inexcusable not to take a look.

To see her...

He muttered to himself as he walked: "Just one look, I'll just take one look, one look is enough."

For him, a distance of several hundred miles was merely a matter of a few steps, and he soon arrived at the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The once fearless Emotion God King now acted like a pure-hearted young boy wanting to go on a date with the girl he loved, moving his feet stiffly, afraid to face her...

He touched his forehead, where the nearly shattered super-divine artifact, the Eye of Eternity, was slowly emitting a soft, golden light of destiny, seemingly resonating with excitement at the prospect of seeing its true master.

Dragging his somewhat stiff feet, even though he was terrified to see her, he saw her nonetheless.

It was a very peculiar soul beast, over three meters long with a shoulder height of eight feet, its entire body covered in a layer of brilliant golden fur.

Its whole body seemed like translucent crystal, filled with a strange texture. Its overall form resembled a lion, but its four claws were like those of a dragon, and beneath each dragon claw stepped a cluster of golden flames. Its muzzle was longer than that of a lion-type soul beast, and beneath the fur, there appeared to be fine, dense golden scales. Beyond its normal eyes, it possessed a third eye—a vertical pupil.

Its two eyes were a somewhat eerie red, while the vertical pupil emitted a golden light, almost identical to the Eye of Eternity on his forehead.

It seemed to be hunting, pausing briefly in place before its burning gaze turned toward the northwest.

It was the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who was supposed to be the Beast of Luck and join hands with the Child of the Plane to change the hostile state between humans and soul beasts.

"!!!"

Baili Du felt his entire being go into a trance, swaying as if he couldn't stand steady, his vision blurring with a mist of tears...

Though it wasn't right to say it, ever since he married Tang Wutong, he had increasingly missed the days he spent going through hardships with Wang Qiu'er.

"Qiu'er... Qiu'er..."

He bit his lip tightly, his hands clenching instinctively until his nails dug deep into his flesh. Regret and anger constantly battered his reason, making him want to rush to the God Realm right now and fight Tang San to the death.

Not for anything else, but just to vent his frustration for Qiu'er!

He couldn't stop the memories of what Tang San had lied to him about from flooding his mind.

[That Wang Qiu'er was actually a wisp of Wutong's divine consciousness that I attached to that Three-Eyed Golden Lion; otherwise, even as a beast of destiny, it could not have possessed such intelligence. Therefore, you need not feel sad about Wang Qiu'er's affairs. She was originally a part of Wutong. Only after Wang Qiu'er sacrificed herself for you did that part of the divine consciousness return to Wutong, allowing Wang Dong'er to become Wutong completely.]

Bullshit! Tang San was spouting absolute bullshit!!!

A ten-thousand-year soul beast could already understand human speech, and a hundred-thousand-year soul beast possessed intelligence not inferior to humans. The Emperor Auspicious Beast, with fifteen thousand years of cultivation, was naturally enlightened; how could its wisdom have been sparked by the divine consciousness of a little girl born in the God Realm!?

And even if one took a step back, no matter how gifted Princess Tang was, what kind of wisdom could a child of a few years old possibly have?

Furthermore, based on her performance in the original timeline and Baili Du's own observations over several decades, truth be told, Princess Tang herself could not really be associated with the word "clever."

Well... at least she hadn't inherited her father Tang San's world-shaking wisdom; that much, at least, had to be praised.

Taking a few heavy breaths, and under the persuasion of the Snow Empress and Liya within his sea of consciousness, Baili Du finally calmed down and slowly opened his clenched hands.

Then, nervously, yet step by step, he walked toward the Emperor Auspicious Beast.

For some reason, the Emperor Auspicious Beast, which had originally intended to pursue the fleeing Radiant Demon Tiger, suddenly trembled and turned its head to look at where Baili Du was standing.

From the perspective of the Emperor Auspicious Beast, there was only an empty clearing, yet for some reason, its gaze was uncontrollably drawn to that spot.

Inexplicably, it felt as if its neck were being gently embraced, and it seemed as if teardrops were falling onto its neck.

Warmth... pain... self-reproach... and a deep, profound love...

These complex emotions wrapped around it gently, leaving it at a loss.

A trail of clear tears also flowed from its red eyes.

Crying? Why was it crying?

A voice sounded in its ears, seemingly an auditory hallucination, or perhaps a dream-talk, but it was so gentle that it made the beast want to weep.

[It is I who have failed you... failed the soul beasts... I don't even have the power to seek justice for you right now; all I can do is compensate you with this little bit...]

[Qiu'er... Qiu'er...]

A slight ache bloomed on its forehead, followed by a warm current flowing from the Eye of Destiny throughout its entire body.

It was a stream of energy so pure that it defied description, pouring into every corner of its being without reservation, so comfortable that it couldn't help but close its eyes.

Its body accepted this power with unbelievable ease, its own cultivation base skyrocketing like a rocket without the slightest hint of rejection.

Fifteen thousand years... twenty thousand years... thirty thousand years... fifty thousand years... one hundred thousand years!

In the blink of an eye, it had abruptly transformed into a hundred-thousand-year soul beast!

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was truly the auspicious beast favored by fate; generally, when a soul beast ascended to the hundred-thousand-year level, a heavenly tribulation would descend to obstruct the process, but for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, no such tribulation occurred. There was only the increasingly dense primordial energy of heaven and earth and the nine-colored glow in the sky.

After a dozen minutes passed, its cultivation surged by another fifty thousand years!

A full one hundred and fifty thousand years of cultivation! Its age had now increased tenfold compared to before!

A fifteen-thousand-year-old Three-Eyed Golden Lion could already rival a hundred-thousand-year soul beast; no one knew just how formidable it would be now with one hundred and fifty thousand years of cultivation.

It did not know how much time had passed, but the surging cultivation finally came to a halt.

Yet, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion felt no joy; instead, its heart felt hollow, unable to find peace for a long time.

Just who... was that?