Big Kitty! Want a Cup of Luckin Coffee?

Bai Ran had no idea where he had been taken. The moment he woke up, he felt sore all over, as though his body were about to fall apart.

Compared with the pain in his body, the unfamiliar surroundings filled Bai Ran with even greater despair.

Bai Ran: Was this still Douluo Continent? Where the hell had I been sent?

His powerful survival instincts drove Bai Ran to start searching the area for a way out.

Although he could encounter a powerful Soul Beast at any moment and end up in its belly, staying where he was meant waiting for death. Since that was the case, why not seek out that sliver of hope?

After walking for an unknown length of time, Bai Ran suddenly saw a bright expanse ahead of him, followed by a vast pool of green water.

Lake of Life!

The words that surfaced in his mind made Bai Ran feel as if he had fallen into an ice pit.

What kind of luck was this?

If he said his luck was bad, he had gone straight from the edge of the core region into the forbidden zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, yet he had not encountered a single powerful Soul Beast along the way.

If he said his luck was good, then upon arriving before the Lake of Life, Bai Ran's aura would soon be detected by the ruler of the Star Dou Great Forest—the Beast God, Di Tian.

Di Tian: Where did this little brat come from? He seems to be one of those little brats from Shrek Academy. Hm, I'll just pretend I didn't see him.

"Strange, isn't this the Lake of Life?"

Bai Ran gathered his courage and walked in, only to discover that the place was frighteningly quiet. Forget ferocious beasts—even a single Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was nowhere to be seen.

Could he have guessed wrong?

Because Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had vanished, the Life Forbidden Zone now had only Di Tian, the Beast God, remaining to guard his lord, Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena. The other great ferocious beasts had all returned to their own clans to see how their clans had developed during the years of their absence.

However, the Life Forbidden Zone had another special existence.

It was the Emperor Auspicious Beast, Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who bore the Power of Destiny of the entire Star Dou Great Forest. She was also the most noble existence in the Star Dou Great Forest aside from Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena.

"A human?"

A human had appeared within the Life Forbidden Zone, and he was still a young child.

With a sudden urge to play, Three-Eyed Golden Lion leaped straight out of the Lake of Life and landed steadily before the human child. At the same time, she shook her body, splashing all the water from her fur onto him.

Di Tian, who saw this, made no move to stop her. Leaving aside what fighting strength a human cub could possibly have, if Three-Eyed Golden Lion could still get hurt right under the watchful eyes of the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, then he might as well slam his head into a wall and die.

"Wuh..."

A Soul Beast three meters long and shaped like a lion had suddenly appeared before him.

Bai Ran, who had never experienced any great storms in life, was so frightened that he could not utter a word.

As for resisting?

He had neither a Soul Tool capable of inflicting damage, such as a fixed-mounted Soul Guidance Cannon shell, nor any offensive means himself, being a Food-type Soul Master.

All he could do was close his eyes and pray inwardly that he would die quickly.

"Human, how did someone as timid as you barge into the Life Forbidden Zone?"

Three-Eyed Golden Lion simply could not understand it. Especially after sensing Bai Ran's faint aura—it was even weaker than the aura emitted by a hundred-year Soul Beast.

"Y-you're a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast..."

It was not that Bai Ran failed to recognize Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Rather, given the situation, he had no room to think any further.

He only remembered that a Soul Beast had to break through the hundred-thousand-year threshold before it could speak, and to speak so fluently meant it ranked among the strongest even within the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

"I didn't expect someone so small to know so much, but I'm not a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

Three-Eyed Golden Lion shook her head.

At the same time, a trace of disappointment appeared in her eyes.

Although he appeared extremely frightened on the surface, there was not much fear in his eyes. It was nothing like the emotion a normal human child should have displayed.

Three-Eyed Golden Lion had originally imagined that after leaping out of the lake and baring her teeth at this child, even if she could not scare him into wetting himself, she would at least make him fall flat on his backside and reveal an embarrassed expression.

Yet she had accomplished nothing, other than making his tone change slightly.

"Oh, I know. You're Big Kitty."

Bai Ran: Not a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, yet able to speak and living in the Lake of Life... throughout the Star Dou Great Forest, Three-Eyed Golden Lion was probably the only one who fit those traits.

"Big Kitty?"

At that form of address, Three-Eyed Golden Lion's fur instantly stood on end.

She was the noble Emperor Auspicious Beast. Did this brat before her really dare call her that? Was he truly unafraid of death?

Bai Ran: Who wouldn't be afraid of death? But ever since I learned that I had accidentally entered the Life Forbidden Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, I stopped believing I could survive.

"Would you like some Luckin Coffee, Big Kitty?"

Since he was going to die anyway, Bai Ran simply gave up trying. He condensed a cup of Luckin Iced Americano with his Soul Power and made a cup for Three-Eyed Golden Lion as well.

Sensing no malice from the child before her, Three-Eyed Golden Lion accepted the cup of Luckin Coffee with her paw.

Still, the pitch-black liquid looked strange no matter how she looked at it.

However, when she saw the child before her drinking it, Three-Eyed Golden Lion decided to give it a try. Imitating Bai Ran, she began drinking the Coffee through a straw.

Di Tian, hidden in the darkness, did not stop her.

After all, in his perception, the item the child had produced was merely condensed from Soul Power.

Though its inky-black appearance gave off an unsettling feeling, it was actually harmless.

Even if it were poisonous, with Three-Eyed Golden Lion's abilities, unless it was a method from the Divine Realm, ordinary poison was no different from protein to her.

Feeling the coolness brought by the liquid in the cup, Three-Eyed Golden Lion could not help taking larger gulps.

On such a scorching day, being able to drink a cup of flavored iced water was simply too refreshing.

Wasn't the reason she had been soaking in the lake just now because its water was cool?

But after a few sips, the bitterness of the Coffee overwhelmed the chill brought by the ice.

"Pfft~"

Apart from the first two mouthfuls, which she had swallowed, Three-Eyed Golden Lion spat out every subsequent mouthful once she came to her senses.

"Child, how did you manage to drink something so bitter?"

Three-Eyed Golden Lion had been about to give the little brat before her a proper lesson, but then she saw him drinking with obvious enjoyment.

Suspecting that the problem lay with herself, she took another sip.

"Peh, peh, peh..."

Three-Eyed Golden Lion: There's dog!

"Is this what humans drink?"

Having experienced the darkness of this beverage, Three-Eyed Golden Lion's curiosity about human society immediately faded by more than half.

Di Tian: There's actually something this good?