As the golden mist continued to erode his mind, Ling Tianchen grew increasingly alarmed.
What was trying to possess him was actually a strand of genuine divine consciousness!
How was that possible? Even the Evil Emperor, with 790,000 years of cultivation and a specialization in spiritual power, had failed to form divine consciousness!
Although this divine consciousness looked somewhat weak, his spiritual power had no ability to resist it at all. His defenses collapsed at a speed comparable to France.
In just a few breaths, vast portions of his spiritual space had fallen.
The golden mist had already approached the last patch of pure land. If it advanced one step further, Ling Tianchen would completely lose control of this body.
Ling Tianchen took a deep breath. Since spiritual power could not stop it, he would use the Phoenix God King's divine consciousness as a final safeguard.
The next moment, a strand of divine consciousness a hundred times more vast than the golden mist suddenly erupted.
The golden mist, which had been continuously expanding, seemed to crash into an impassable heavenly chasm and instantly came to a halt.
The tides of offense and defense reversed in an instant.
The golden mist retreated again and again. In the blink of an eye, it was forcibly compressed into a fist-sized mass and tightly imprisoned in the center of the sea of consciousness.
No matter how it rammed and struggled, it could not break free in the slightest.
As expected, divine consciousness at the level of a Supreme God King, even a battle-damaged version, was not something ordinary divine consciousness could contend with.
That mass of golden mist trembled violently.
"Th-this divine consciousness..."
It finally remembered that terrifying existence, and even its voice began to tremble.
"It can't be wrong... It absolutely can't be wrong! You're the Phoenix God King?!"
It had personally witnessed that ancient battle in the God Realm.
The Phoenix God King who had repeatedly been reborn through flames and faced the Dragon God head-on had left it with an indelible shadow for life, even after her fall.
Now that it thought about how it had just tried to possess the Phoenix God King, it no longer had even the courage to continue struggling.
Ling Tianchen looked at the immobile golden mist trapped under suppression. He appeared calm, but a storm raged in his heart. Could it be a soul beast that had existed since ancient times?
"Oh, you know me? Tell me your origins truthfully. If even the slightest detail differs from what I remember, I'll devour you completely."
"Who in the entire God Realm does not know Lord Phoenix's name?"
The golden mist immediately shrank into a ball, quickly condensing back into the appearance of the golden little beast outside, with dragon horns and a round nose. It spoke pitifully.
"This little beast is called the Treasure Beast. I was originally a parasite on Lord Dragon God's body. After gaining intelligence, I was assigned by Lord Dragon God to guard the immortal herbs of the God Realm."
"Don't mention that madman Dragon God in front of me, much less address him as 'Lord.' You know what I'm capable of."
Ling Tianchen spoke coldly.
"I wouldn't dare! Lord Phoenix, I'll never dare again!"
Even its voice carried a sobbing tone.
Ling Tianchen secretly shook his head. Its earlier arrogance and current submission were truly laughable.
"Continue. Why did you come to the Icebound Forest and frighten people in Snow Empress's form?"
"After that madman Dragon God killed his twin brother, the Purple Radiance Annihilating Heaven Dragon, and you respectively seized the Genesis and Destruction Godhoods, he fused the two and further increased his strength. However, his mental state also became increasingly unstable."
"Later, problems arose within the dragon clan as well, and internal strife broke out. The Dragon God slaughtered his own kind on a massive scale before Shura God finally cut him in half. This little beast does not know what happened afterward. I was struck by the aftermath of that battle and suffered serious injuries, but I eventually escaped to the Douluo Continent."
"These years, this little beast kept a low profile and rarely used my abilities. Occasionally, I found spirit herbs to replenish my energy, but I spent most of my time asleep. Until a few days ago, I sensed through my treasure-seeking ability that a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus had been born deep within the Far North. I intended to secretly take it to restore my origin, only to discover that the place had long been occupied by a 690,000-year-old Heavenly Snow Woman."
At this point, it could not help wearing an aggrieved expression.
"This little beast wanted to imitate the strongest being on the Douluo Continent—the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian, son of the Light Dragon King and the Dark Dragon King—to scare off Snow Empress. Logically speaking, with Di Tian's prestige, any ordinary soul beast should have fled for its life at a single glance."
"Who knew that Snow Empress would be such a hothead and refuse to play by the rules? Not only did she not run, she even summoned a 390,000-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion and wanted to fight me to the death. What could this little beast do? Even at my peak, I could only imitate thirty percent of his strength. Now, I can't even imitate one percent. In the end, I could only flee in disgrace."
It secretly glanced up at Ling Tianchen, revealing a smile uglier than crying.
"After finally shaking off that crazy woman, I ran into Lord Phoenix..."
Ling Tianchen pondered for a moment and found no obvious loopholes. It seemed the Treasure Beast had not lied.
Even one-tenth of Di Tian's strength was equivalent to a Super Douluo, and with the Treasure Beast's spiritual power surpassing the Divine Origin realm, it was perfectly normal for it to knock his parents unconscious with a glare.
Of course, it was no match for the Ice and Snow Empresses. Come to think of it, those two loudmouthed women were not afraid of Di Tian at all. Could the Treasure Beast have given them that confidence?
If that was really the case, then it was too ridiculous. They had become so full of themselves after repelling a counterfeit with less than one-tenth of Di Tian's power. Ling Tianchen did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Do you want to live?"
"Yes, yes!"
The Treasure Beast nodded frantically.
"Then sacrifice yourself to me and become my intelligent soul ring."
Ling Tianchen said indifferently.
The Treasure Beast possessed extremely powerful spiritual strength, and its abilities to imitate, transform, and seek treasures surpassed every soul beast in the lower realms.
After all, it had once been a divine beast whose strength was comparable to a single-strike god. Its spiritual power even far exceeded Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's.
More importantly, its abilities were highly compatible with the authority of Imitate All Things within the Genesis Godhood.
At the very least, it would be a million-year soul ring. Wasn't that far better than absorbing that seven-hundred-year soul ring?
Upon hearing this, the Treasure Beast hesitated almost not at all.
"This little beast is willing! This little beast is willing to sacrifice! All of my origin can be offered to Master!"
To it, death was not frightening. Being devoured was the true end.
If it could survive beneath an existence of a higher level in this manner, it might even be its only way out.
Besides, it did not necessarily need to depend on the Dragon God to survive. The Phoenix God King's aura was now equally potent nourishment for it.
As for the fact that its new master was the mortal enemy of the Dragon God, who was practically its father, it selectively ignored that. Lord Dragon God, it wasn't that I'm disloyal. I truly have no choice now.
Compared to the Dragon God, who was somewhere out there and neither dead nor alive, the Phoenix God King before it, who had genuinely revived, was far more appealing. You can't stop me from running toward someone better, can you?
Lord Dragon God... surely wouldn't mind.
"Condense yourself into a skull bone for me, then seal your origin into ten portions. My strength has not recovered for now, so I cannot fuse all of your origin at once."
"Understood, Master. But you must first release me. Otherwise, I cannot perform the sacrifice from here."
The Treasure Beast gave an awkward smile.
"Hm? Release you? As if I would. If you hadn't tried to possess me, then with your body outside, you could have easily killed me, couldn't you?"
"Master, please don't mock me. Even if you gave me ten thousand times the courage, I would never dare attack you again."
"If you are still worried, then form a slavery contract with me first. A slavery contract formed through divine consciousness can never be violated. Moreover, if the master dies, the slave dies. It is the most unequal contract."
Before you continue