Forging a Divine Artifact, the Auspicious Beast Takes Human Form

By the Lake of Life, Lei Chen hovered in midair, his calm gaze sweeping over the several dozen emerald crystals before him, each one containing the essence of life from the entire plane.

They varied in size and shape, yet every one of them radiated boundless vitality as vast as the sea. Especially the dark-green crystal at the center, the size of a human head and drawn from the depths of the Lake of Life—its life energy was as unfathomable as an abyss. The natural ripples it emitted alone caused the surrounding plants to grow wildly.

"Begin."

With a thought from Lei Chen, the supreme authority of the Plane Lord quietly began to operate. He slowly raised his right hand, held his palm toward the floating Life Gold, and gently clenched his fist.

There was no earth-shattering display, yet the dozens of pieces of incomparably hard Life Gold, which even a Titled Douluo could scarcely damage with a full-force attack, softened and became translucent in an instant, melting like heated glass.

Streams of emerald liquid flowed from every piece of Life Gold, drawn toward the center as if guided by an invisible hand.

They merged and seeped into one another, eventually becoming an enormous mass of light like liquid jade.

Within the light mass, the life energy was so dense that it emitted a deep hum like the beating of a heart. Emerald radiance flowed through it, bathing the entire Lake of Life region in a dreamlike glow.

Lei Chen's expression did not change. With a slight gesture of his fingers, the liquid Life Gold, condensed from the Plane Origin of life, slowly flew toward the towering Golden Ancient Tree, which radiated a gentle golden light like fledglings returning to their nest.

Thump!

The moment the light mass touched the trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree, an unusual soft sound rang out, as though it had struck the very origin of the world.

The entire Golden Ancient Tree shuddered faintly. The mysterious natural patterns across its trunk suddenly lit up, reflecting one another with the emerald light mass.

The emerald light mass was not repelled. Instead, like a droplet sinking into a sponge, it silently merged into the Golden Ancient Tree's trunk, leaving only a ripple-like mark on the surface, continuously shimmering with emerald and golden halos.

The next moment, an even more immense and pure aura of life spread outward from the Golden Ancient Tree like a tide.

Under Lei Chen's precise control, the Golden Ancient Tree, the manifestation of the Plane Life Core, used its unparalleled vitality to nourish and cleanse that mass of Life Gold origin.

At the same time, guided by the will of the Plane Lord, Lei Chen mobilized the Life Law of the entire plane and began the earliest stage of shaping that mass of origin, laying down the foundational law framework for it to serve as a vessel of "life" and "creation."

This process required time, patience, and the day-and-night nourishment of Plane Origin power. It could not be accomplished overnight.

Lei Chen was in no hurry. He sat cross-legged in the air, the seven-colored halo around him blending with the auras of the Golden Ancient Tree and the Lake of Life. He entered an enigmatic state, as if he had completely fused with heaven and earth.

However, although his true body remained by the Lake of Life to forge the Divine Artifact, his consciousness was not entirely focused there.

As the Plane Lord, his perception could cover every corner of the plane. While concentrating on forging the Divine Artifact, he still split off a trace of awareness to observe the situation throughout the plane, especially a place not far from the Lake of Life.

Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, in a secluded place surrounded by vines and exotic flowers, lay the little nest where the Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, usually resided.

At this moment, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had returned. She lay on the soft moss, her golden eyes filled with excitement and anticipation. Soon after, Bi Ji quietly descended and landed not far away, her face bearing gentle concern as she silently stood guard over her.

"I'm starting!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion glanced back at Bi Ji. After receiving an encouraging look from her, she no longer hesitated. She focused her mind and activated the unique power belonging to an Auspicious Beast within her body.

In an instant, the vertical eye at the center of her forehead, which had always remained shut and flickered with an eerie red glow, abruptly opened.

Hummm—

A dazzling pillar of golden light suddenly burst from that vertical eye and shot into the sky, dyeing a patch of the heavens gold. The pillar did not continue erupting. Instead, it rapidly contracted, becoming a massive golden cover that completely enveloped the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's body.

The golden light grew denser and more solid, ultimately forming an oval golden Light Cocoon roughly the height of a person. Countless fine and intricate patterns formed and flowed across its surface, as if they contained the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, while also carrying the unique auspicious aura of an Auspicious Beast.

Inside the Light Cocoon, a warm and powerful force was reshaping the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's body. Her bones made faint cracking sounds, her flesh rearranged itself, and a wondrous feeling of transformation spread through her entire body. She could feel her Soul Beast essence changing into another form.

Just as she reached the crucial stage of taking human form, an unexpected change occurred.

The dark-gold origin belonging to the Golden Dragon King, which had remained dormant deep within her body, seemed to be stirred by this transformation involving the level of Life Origin and trembled faintly.

Though it was only an extremely slight tremor, an indescribable, supreme aura of majesty flashed past, causing the entire Light Cocoon to shake for an instant.

Bi Ji's expression changed slightly as she stood guard outside. She could feel that terrifying aura, one that made even her soul tremble. Though brief, it had been utterly real. She immediately stepped forward, brilliant jade light blooming around her as she guarded the Light Cocoon even more vigilantly, afraid that anything might go wrong.

Fortunately, the disturbance from the Golden Dragon King Origin did not last long. It soon returned to silence, the Light Cocoon's shaking subsided, and the transformation within continued smoothly.

Time passed bit by bit. After roughly half an hour, the golden Light Cocoon finally began to turn transparent, while the patterns on its surface gradually dimmed and faded away.

Crack...

A faint crisp sound rang out as a crack appeared on the surface of the Light Cocoon. Then, like a spiderweb, the crack rapidly spread. In the end, the entire Light Cocoon burst apart, transforming into countless specks of golden light that dispersed into the air.

At the spot where the Light Cocoon had shattered, a slender figure appeared.

She was a girl who looked to be around fourteen years old.

She wore nothing, her skin as fair as fresh snow and glowing with a lustrous sheen beneath the mottled forest light. Her brilliant golden hair fell to her waist, its ends curling slightly, while her face retained the youthful innocence and purity unique to a young girl.

Most striking were her eyes. They were no longer beast eyes, but as clear and translucent as the purest rubies, though deep within them remained a trace of the agility and nobility belonging to an Auspicious Beast.

Where her vertical eye had once been, there was now only a faint golden mark shaped like a flame, lending her an added touch of mystery.