Imprint's Guidance, Imperial Auspicious Beast!

Night hung low, and the Star Dou Forest seemed shrouded in a thick black fog.

The branches and leaves of towering ancient trees intertwined into an impenetrable net, blocking out every trace of starlight and moonlight from the heavens.

The forest, relatively quiet during the day, was now filled with all manner of rustling, eerie sounds.

Nocturnal soul beasts had begun to emerge in search of food. The bloodthirsty vertical pupils hidden deep within the undergrowth were enough to make even the most seasoned soul-hunting team stop in its tracks, light a bonfire where it stood, and nervously endure the long night.

But for the two who had just arrived at the edge of this primeval forest, the darkness was not an obstacle. It was the finest hunting ground.

Mu En withdrew the golden Soul Power light that had enveloped them both, his feet landing steadily upon a thick ancient branch.

He looked down at the boundless sea of forest below, his breathing calm. The extreme speed of an Ultimate Douluo had forcibly shortened the vast distance between Dragon City and the Star Dou Forest to merely a few hours.

Standing beside Mu En, Yun Yi took a deep breath of the damp forest air tinged with the scent of decaying leaves, a satisfied curve rising at the corner of his mouth.

Entering the Star Dou Forest at this time was perfect.

His goal this time was clear: to fill the vacant fifth soul ring slot of the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow.

The Sun-Shooting Divine Bow possessed the dual attributes of ultimate light and ultimate fire, so the soul beast he sought naturally had to match those two elements.

In this pitch-dark, cold, damp forest night, soul beasts with high-level light or fire attributes were practically living beacons.

The elemental fluctuations and heat they emitted would be infinitely magnified against the backdrop of the night, leaving them nowhere to hide.

The two exchanged a glance, each understanding the meaning in the other's eyes.

With this natural environmental filter, the efficiency of this soul-hunting operation would surely rise dramatically. It probably would not be long before they could return with a suitable soul ring.

But Yun Yi did not intend to rely on luck alone.

Since he held a god-level cheat in his hands, there was no reason to hide it.

He closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into his spiritual sea.

Above the vast golden sea of consciousness, among the four divine imprints coiled around the firmament, the golden hexagram representing the Goddess of Light and the crimson Flame Dragon Mark representing the Fire God responded at the same time.

Yun Yi slowly opened his eyes. At the center of his brow, one golden and one crimson pattern, both intricate and profound, flashed in alternation.

The moment the aura of the divine imprints was released, the light and fire elements drifting through the surrounding space instantly became restless.

The two imprints were like super-radars operating at maximum power, conducting a carpet-like scan in every direction across the Star Dou Forest with Yun Yi at the center.

In only a few breaths, the two divine imprints gave feedback simultaneously.

Yun Yi raised his right hand and pointed toward somewhere deep in the forest.

"Over there."

Mu En followed the direction of Yun Yi's finger, his eyes filled with delight.

He had clearly sensed the guiding fluctuations coming from Yun Yi's brow just now. What excited him most was that the guidance trails of the two attributes, light and fire, had perfectly overlapped, pointing toward the same destination!

What did that mean?

It meant that a rare soul beast possessing both high-level light and fire attributes was lying dormant in that direction!

Such a dual-attribute creature was practically custom-made for the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow.

"Time is of the essence. Let's go!"

Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, Mu En stepped forward and gripped Yun Yi's shoulder with one hand.

Vast Soul Power surged forth once more, completely concealing their figures within the night.

The two turned into an invisible afterimage and sped toward the direction indicated by the divine imprints.

They weaved through the dense canopy at extreme speed, yet did not stir a single fallen leaf or alert any soul beast feeding below.

Only the faint sound of wind remained in their ears after being filtered through the Soul Power barrier.

Yun Yi allowed Mu En to carry him at high speed, but a strange look appeared in his dark eyes.

Watching the shadows of trees race backward, he silently calculated the results of his earlier detection.

There were countless high-level soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest, but those that possessed both top-tier light and fire attributes and could provoke such a powerful resonance from the imprints of two chief gods were exceedingly rare.

It could even be said that in this forest, the number of creatures meeting those harsh conditions could be counted on one hand.

Putting those clues together, a name was about to emerge in his mind.

Yun Yi rubbed his chin and muttered in a lowered voice, "Both light and fire attributes... Could it be her?"

A few minutes later, Mu En came to a stop.

The two landed atop a concealed cliff, using protruding rocks to hide themselves as they looked down at a valley below.

There were no tall, dense trees in the valley. Vast stretches of soft grass carpeted the ground.

The natural energy of heaven and earth here was so dense it was outrageous, even condensing into a faint milky-white mist in the air. One breath of it made one's meridians feel refreshed.

And at the very center of that mist lay a strange soul beast, one so captivating that no one could look away after seeing it once.

It was asleep. Its body was small and agile, somewhat resembling a spirit cat, but beneath those gentle lines lay the imposing majesty of a superior being.

Its entire body was covered in translucent, warm crimson-gold fur. The fur was fine and fluffy, its luster shifting as though molten gold slowly flowed across it.

Its limbs were slender and well-proportioned, and every claw tip condensed with pure golden radiance.

Fine golden patterns ran along its back, extending all the way to its soft, fluffy tail, crimson and gold interwoven across its entire body.

Most eye-catching of all was its head.

Its ears were small and pointed, their edges adorned with natural pale-golden patterns.

Though its eyes were closed, the long, elegant corners of its eyes still exuded a lively spirit.

And at the center of its forehead was a third eye standing vertically.

That golden vertical pupil was slightly closed, a deep and clear glimmer flowing through the slit of its eyelid. Within it lay an unfathomable aura of fate and spirit.

It lay there quietly, breathing evenly.

No violent energy leaked from its body, yet it naturally carried a pure, sacred auspicious aura of heaven and earth, perfectly blending delicate beauty and liveliness with the noble bearing of an ancient auspicious beast.

Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Imperial Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Forest.

Seeing the soul beast's true form, Yun Yi braced one hand against the rock, his eyes full of unsurprised certainty. As expected, it was her.

Mu En, standing beside him, had gone completely rigid.

His weathered old eyes were filled with profound shock and wariness.

As the master of the Sea God Pavilion who had lived for a century, he had read countless ancient texts. How could he fail to recognize the origin of the creature below?

The Imperial Auspicious Beast! This was the lifeblood tied to the fortune of the entire Star Dou Forest!

Mu En's fingers clenched tightly beneath his sleeve as a fierce internal struggle began in his mind.

His first reaction was to immediately take Yun Yi and retreat.

The consequences of touching this Three-Eyed Golden Lion were simply not something the human world could bear.

The Beast God Di Tian deep within the Star Dou Forest usually turned a blind eye to human soul masters hunting soul beasts in the outer regions, but if anyone dared harm even a single hair of this auspicious beast, Di Tian would surely go mad.

When that happened, a devastating beast tide capable of sweeping across the entire continent and leveling Shrek Academy to the ground would inevitably descend.

The karmic consequences tied to the survival of the continent were simply too heavy.

Yet when Mu En's gaze fell upon the Three-Eyed Golden Lion again, intense unwillingness rose in his heart.

Ultimate light! Ultimate fire! And that mysterious fate attribute, capable of changing a soul master's destiny!

This Three-Eyed Golden Lion was practically the ultimate soul ring tailor-made for Yun Yi's Sun-Shooting Divine Bow.

If they missed this opportunity, they would never find a soul ring more compatible in this lifetime.

Besides, how could his junior brother's trump cards compare to those of ordinary people?

Mu En turned to look at Yun Yi.

This kid bore the imprints of four gods!

No matter how powerful Di Tian was, no matter how much he could dominate this continent with one hand, could he truly be stronger than the true gods in the heavens who wielded the laws?

With the protection of gods, coupled with Yun Yi's wisdom and scheming far beyond his peers, perhaps they could safely swallow this tremendous fortune.

Kill or spare it, retreat or stay.

The two thoughts tore madly at Mu En's mind, leaving this Ultimate Douluo, normally decisive in battle and slaughter, so conflicted that even his breathing lost its rhythm.

Just as Mu En's brows knotted tightly and he remained unable to make a decision,

Yun Yi beside him paid no attention at all to his senior brother's struggle.

Yun Yi released the hand bracing against the rock and directly stepped out of the concealed area Mu En had set up.

He neither summoned his martial soul nor assumed any attacking stance. Instead, he opened up his meridians.

The pure auras of ultimate light and ultimate fire poured from his pores without reservation.

Crimson-gold light and heat instantly spread through the cold night, like a small sun that had fallen into the dark forest, warm and dazzling.

With both hands in his pockets, Yun Yi walked calmly across the grass of the valley slope, carrying those unmistakable ultimate attributes as he headed straight toward the sleeping Three-Eyed Golden Lion.