Treasure Beast's Sacrifice

As the golden mist continued to erode his mind, Ling Tianchen grew increasingly alarmed.

The thing 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 sole focus on spiritual power, had failed to form divine consciousness!

Although this divine consciousness appeared somewhat weak, his spiritual power had no ability to resist it whatsoever. His defenses collapsed at a speed comparable to France.

In just a few breaths, vast portions of his spiritual space had already fallen.

The golden mist was closing in on the last patch of pure land. One more step, and 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 his final safeguard.

The next moment, a strand of divine consciousness a hundred times vaster than the golden mist suddenly erupted.

The constantly expanding golden mist seemed to have crashed into an insurmountable heavenly chasm and instantly came to a halt.

The balance between offense and defense was 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 at the center of the sea of consciousness.

No matter how it rammed about or struggled, it could not break free in the slightest.

Sure enough, divine consciousness at the level of a supreme God King was not something ordinary divine consciousness could contend with, even in its battle-damaged state.

The golden mist trembled violently.

"Th-this divine consciousness..."

It finally recalled that terrifying existence, and even its voice began to shake.

"No mistake... There's absolutely no mistake! You're the Phoenix God King?!"

It had personally witnessed that ancient battle in the Divine Realm.

That Phoenix God King who had risen from the flames again and again, directly confronting the Dragon God—even after falling, she had left it with an indelible shadow for the rest of its life.

Now that it realized it had just attempted to possess the Phoenix God King, it no longer even had the courage to keep struggling.

Ling Tianchen looked at the golden mist, which had been suppressed so thoroughly it could not move. His expression remained calm, but enormous waves roiled within 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 Divine Realm does not know Your Excellency Phoenix's name?"

The golden mist immediately shrank into a ball, then quickly condensed back into the form 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 sent by Lord Dragon God to guard the immortal herbs of the Divine Realm."

"Do not mention that madman, the Dragon God, before me. And don't address him as 'Lord.' You know what I'm capable of."

Ling Tianchen spoke coldly.

"I wouldn't dare! Lord Phoenix, I won't dare again!"

Even its voice carried a sobbing tone.

Ling Tianchen secretly shook his head. Its earlier arrogance and current submissiveness were truly laughable.

"Continue. Why did you come to the Icebound Forest and intimidate people in Snow Empress's form?"

"After that madman, the Dragon God, killed his companion brother, the Purple Radiance Annihilating Heaven Dragon, and you separately took the Genesis Godhood and Destruction Godhood, he fused the two godhoods and further increased his strength. However, his mental state also became increasingly unstable."

"Later, problems arose within the dragon clan as well, and internal conflict broke out. The Dragon God slaughtered his own kind on a massive scale before ultimately being split in two by Shura God. This little beast does not know what happened afterward. During that battle, I was struck by the aftershocks and suffered considerable injuries, but I eventually escaped to the Douluo Continent."

"These years, this little beast has kept a low profile and rarely used my abilities. Occasionally, I found spiritual herbs to replenish my energy, but I spent most of my time sleeping. 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 wanted to secretly take it to restore my origin, only to discover that the place had long been occupied by a 690,000-year Ice Sky Snow Maiden."

At this point, it could not help showing a deeply aggrieved expression.

"This little beast originally wanted to simulate the strongest being on the Douluo Continent, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian, son of the Light Dragon King and Dark Dragon King, to frighten Snow Empress away. Logically speaking, with Di Tian's reputation, ordinary soul beasts should have fled for their lives at a single glance."

"Who would have thought that Snow Empress was like a reckless fool who refused to act according to reason? Not only did she not run, she even summoned a 390,000-year Ice Jade Scorpion and wanted to fight me to the death. What could I possibly do? Even at my peak, I could only simulate thirty percent of his strength. Now, I cannot even simulate one percent. In the end, I could only flee in disgrace."

It secretly raised its head to glance at Ling Tianchen, revealing a smile uglier than crying.

"Just after escaping that crazy woman, I ran into you, Lord Phoenix..."

Ling Tianchen pondered for a moment and found no obvious loopholes. It seemed that the Treasure Beast was not lying.

Even one-tenth of Di Tian's strength would be comparable to that of a Super Douluo. Coupled with the Treasure Beast's spiritual power beyond 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. Then again, those two loudmouthed sisters had never feared Di Tian—could the Treasure Beast have been the source of their confidence?

If that was really the case, it was far too ridiculous. They had driven back a counterfeit with less than one-tenth of Di Tian's strength and had become so arrogant. 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 power, while its simulation, transformation, and treasure-seeking abilities surpassed those of every soul beast in the lower realms.

After all, it had once been a divine beast whose strength was equivalent to that of a first-class god. Its spiritual power even far exceeded Tianmeng Iceworm's.

More importantly, its abilities were highly compatible with the authority of the Genesis Godhood to simulate all things.

At the very least, it would be a million-year soul ring. Was that not vastly better than absorbing that seven-hundred-year soul ring?

Upon hearing this, the Treasure Beast barely hesitated.

"This little beast is willing! This little beast is willing to sacrifice! I can offer all my origin to my master!"

To it, death was not frightening. Being devoured was true annihilation.

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 have to rely on the Dragon God to survive. The Phoenix God King's aura was likewise a nourishing medicine for it.

As for the fact that this person was the mortal enemy of the Dragon God, who was like a father to it, it selectively ignored that. Lord Dragon God, it isn't that I'm disloyal. I truly have no other choice now.

Compared to the Dragon God, who was half-dead somewhere unknown, the Phoenix God King standing before it—truly revived and real—was far more appealing. You could not possibly stop it from running toward someone better, could you?

Surely Lord Dragon God... would not mind.

"Condense into a skull bone for me, then seal your origin into ten portions. My strength has not yet recovered, so I cannot fuse all your origin at once."

"Understood, Master. But you must release me first. Otherwise, I cannot perform the sacrifice from in here."

The Treasure Beast said with an awkward laugh.

"Hm? Release you? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble? If you had not tried to possess me, you could have easily killed me outside with your own body, couldn't you?"

"Master, please do not mock me. Even if you gave me ten thousand times the courage, I would not dare attack you again."

"If you do not trust me, then form a slavery contract with me first. A slavery contract of divine consciousness cannot be violated under any circumstances. Moreover, if the master dies, the slave dies as well. It is the most unfair contract possible."