Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Escape

Star Dou Forest, core region, beneath Lake of Life.

The perennial aura of life shrouded this area, while heaven-and-earth spiritual energy so dense it was nearly tangible surged about. Even the rocks at the lakebed had been steeped in rich life essence.

At that moment, an inescapable unease permeated what should have been a tranquil, peaceful space.

The golden-furred Three-Eyed Golden Lion sat upon the smooth jade floor. The vertical eye on her forehead was slightly closed, yet it could not conceal the agitation surging around her.

Her pair of golden eyes, which should have been lively and radiant, were now filled with irritation and panic. Her pink claws scratched at the floor again and again, leaving shallow marks in the hard jade.

She was in a terrible mood.

Half an hour earlier, she had inadvertently overheard Bi Ji and Zi Ji discussing the news that had chilled her to the bone: Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, whom they had imprisoned, had escaped.

Those Ferocious Beasts had not deliberately kept it from her. As the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she was the beloved darling of the entire Soul Beast community in Star Dou Forest, the incarnation of the continent's fortune. They had always been reluctant to let her concern herself with such troublesome matters as fighting, killing, and scheming.

Yet this very matter had thrown her into complete disarray.

Only she knew just how serious this was.

"Di Tian!"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly raised her head and looked at the black-clad man standing before her. Her voice was unable to conceal her urgency. "I want to see the Lord! Now! Immediately!"

The black-clad man stood tall, his face cold and stern, an almost suffocatingly terrifying pressure lingering around him. He was none other than the ruler of Star Dou Forest, the Beast God Di Tian.

Hearing this, his deep eyes narrowed slightly, and his tone carried an unquestionable severity. "Nonsense. The Lord is sleeping. Do you think you can see her just because you ask?"

Though he doted on the Emperor Auspicious Beast immensely—after all, she bore the continent's fortune and concerned the future of the entire Soul Beast Clan—he would not utter a single complaint even if she turned the core region upside down. But there was no room for negotiation on this matter.

The Lord, the Silver Dragon King, was the Soul Beast Clan's final hope. She was currently at a critical stage of slumber and recovery, and even the slightest disturbance could cause irreparable consequences.

Forget the Emperor Auspicious Beast—even if several great Ferocious Beasts joined forces, they would not dare disturb the Lord's slumber at such a time.

"I have urgent business! Something extremely important! It concerns the future of our Soul Beast Clan!"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion spun in circles in anxiety, scratching at her ears and cheeks. Her golden fur was practically standing on end.

She understood all too clearly what Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's escape meant. The Diary in her mind had written it in unmistakable terms: his escape was the beginning of the Soul Beast Clan's tragedy.

But she could not say it.

The instant she even entertained the thought of revealing the Diary's existence, an icy warning from some unseen force swept through her Divine Soul.

It was as though, if she said one word more, her Divine Soul would immediately be annihilated. The terror rooted deep in her soul left her unable to overstep the boundary in the slightest.

She could only pace anxiously, unable to offer even half a reason that might convince Di Tian.

Di Tian watched her flustered state, his brow furrowing tighter, though his tone softened somewhat. "Auspicious Beast, you can tell me whatever it is. The Lord's slumber is of utmost importance and must not be disturbed."

Just as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was about to cry from anxiety, Di Tian's expression suddenly shifted. A flash of undisguised astonishment filled his normally still eyes.

He lowered his head slightly, as though listening to something. After a moment, he raised his head again, his gaze upon the Three-Eyed Golden Lion full of confusion.

"Come with me."

A trace of barely perceptible bewilderment colored Di Tian's voice. "The Lord... has agreed to see you."

He truly could not make sense of it. By all reason, the Lord should have been in deep slumber and unable to respond to any movement in the outside world, much less awaken on her own initiative to issue an order.

Why had she awakened at precisely the moment the Emperor Auspicious Beast wished to see her?

Though countless doubts filled his heart, the Lord's command was an absolute iron law.

Di Tian said no more. He turned and headed toward the palace at the deepest part of Lake of Life, while the Three-Eyed Golden Lion hurried after him on her short little legs.

At the outermost edge of Star Dou Forest, deep within an overlooked stretch of dense woodland.

The air suddenly rippled ever so slightly, and a pitch-black fissure silently opened.

A round, plump body laboriously squeezed out of the fissure before landing on the soft fallen leaves with a thud.

It was a gigantic worm with a body the color of white jade, nearly ten meters long. Its fat body was divided into sections, its surface covered in a faint pearly-white glow.

Within that glow, rings of fine golden patterns circulated.

Its head was tiny, set with a pair of little golden eyes that darted about, carrying an indescribably sleazy and cunning look.

Without a doubt, this was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had just escaped alive from the core region of Star Dou Forest.

"Hehehehe..."

A sleazy laugh rang through the forest as Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wiggled his round body, his little golden eyes brimming with the wild joy of surviving a disaster.

"Brother! Brother finally escaped! Finally escaped that damned place! Di Tian and those bastards thought they could trap Brother for life? Dream on!"

He smugly shook his head. Although he had already fled to the outermost edge of Star Dou Forest, he did not dare relax his vigilance in the slightest.

He was nothing but an empty shell with a million years of cultivation but little combat power. If Di Tian and the others discovered that he had escaped, they could send any Ferocious Beast after him and crush him to death.

"No, no. I need to hide quickly."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm muttered to himself, twisted his fat body, and burrowed underground. Leaving behind only the faintest trace of his aura, he completely concealed himself within the soil.

Only after he was safe did he finally let out a sigh of relief and begin reviewing the plan he had devised over hundreds of thousands of years: the God-Making Plan!

As long as he could find a human Soul Master compatible with the spiritual attribute, he could sacrifice all of his million years of cultivation and personally forge a god of his own!

"As long as I can persuade Bingbing, becoming a god won't be a mere fantasy. Hehe, Bingbing, my Bingbing, we'll meet again very soon."

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. But as he continued thinking, his little golden eyes suddenly drooped.

The plan was perfect, but its only difficulty—and its greatest variable—was the Ice Empress in the Far North.

Although Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was sleazy, disgusting, and riddled with all kinds of flaws, he was not an idiot.

He knew just how difficult it would be to persuade the Ice Empress, one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.

Forget persuading her—simply finding the Ice Empress was already a nearly impossible task. Even if he found a Soul Master with the spiritual attribute, when could he venture into the deepest part of the Far North to seek her out?

Was he supposed to wait until that Soul Master became a Titled Douluo? That was impossible. If the Soul Master could cultivate to the level of Titled Douluo, then the Second Martial Soul prepared for that future Soul Master would be useless.

But without overwhelming strength, forget reaching the deepest part of the Far North. Even its outer regions contained many Soul Beasts with cultivation of a thousand years or even ten thousand years.

At this thought, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sighed. He could only take things one step at a time.