Wang Qiu'er Arrives, Zhongli Wu Stirs Restlessly

By the Lake of Life, Lei Chen's true body remained immersed in the forging of the Divine Artifact. A seven-colored halo around him intertwined and circulated with the vast vitality of the Golden Ancient Tree and the Lake of Life. The liquid Life Gold fused into the tree trunk continued to transform under the nourishment of the plane's origin power.

Meanwhile, deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, the Auspicious Beast who had just completed her transformation and been named "Wang Qiu'er" was already growing impatient.

Feeling the power brought by the formidable Golden Dragon martial soul within her, she was filled with yearning for the path Lei Chen had promised her: surpassing Di Tian within ten years.

With a thought, the pale golden flame mark on her forehead warmed slightly. An oval spatial gate silently unfolded before Wang Qiu'er, and from beyond it came an unusual aura of interwoven ice and fire that made her bloodline faintly resonate.

Wang Qiu'er turned back and gave Bi Ji, who stood guard nearby, a reassuring smile. Then she took a deep breath and stepped into the spatial gate.

As light and shadow shifted, she found herself in a mountain-ringed valley basin the next moment—the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

Extremely dense heaven and earth energy rushed toward her. The piercing cold of the icy spring and the blazing heat of the fiery spring alternately stimulated her skin, making Wang Qiu'er, whose senses were especially sharp after her transformation, shiver involuntarily. Yet the dark golden origin within her seemed to stir as well, sending through her a comfortable warmth.

She curiously examined this wondrous sight, and her gaze was quickly drawn to the distinctly divided spring waters. However, almost the instant she appeared, several probing and sinister gazes fell upon her in unison.

Wang Qiu'er's heart tightened. Following her senses, she looked over and saw seven figures in the waters of the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

The auras of these seven people differed, but without exception, each radiated a powerful fluctuation that made her heart tremble.

Wang Qiu'er possessed the power of destiny, and her perception far exceeded that of ordinary people. Though she could not accurately judge their exact levels, she could clearly sense that every one of these seven was extremely dangerous. Their strength was likely no weaker than certain fierce beasts within the Star Dou Great Forest.

Why are there so many people here? And why are they all so strong... Wang Qiu'er instinctively raised her guard. She remembered Bi Ji's teachings: be cautious outside, especially when facing unfamiliar experts.

The seven people in the spring had all looked over the instant Wang Qiu'er appeared.

Seeing that the newcomer was merely a girl who looked fourteen or fifteen, whose aura was unusual but whose soul power fluctuations did not seem particularly strong, surprise flashed through their eyes, followed by even more confusion.

For her to arrive so abruptly through a spatial gate left these top experts unable to gauge Wang Qiu'er's background. Naturally, none of them acted rashly.

Mu En and Xuan Zi exchanged a glance and shook their heads slightly, signaling that they should wait and see. Du Bushi grinned, finding the little girl somewhat interesting, but gave it no further thought. Kong Deming was more curious about the technique behind opening the spatial gate itself. Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao's eyes flickered, but they too suppressed their thoughts.

Thus, after their initial scrutiny, the experts refocused and continued using the spring water's power to temper their bodies, merely leaving behind a thread of awareness to watch the situation.

Seeing that no one seemed inclined to bother with her, Wang Qiu'er was happy to have some peace and quiet.

Her target was the Icefire Yin Yang Well. Following Lei Chen's instructions, she was to consume the immortal herb essence before entering the spring to soak. Thus, she carefully circled around the others and headed toward the edge of the water.

However, just as she approached the spring and prepared to take out the two masses of immortal herb essence, an abrupt change occurred.

"Buzz..."

An exceptionally faint hum carrying a soul-shaking tremor sounded from the side of the Icefire Yin Yang Well near the scorching Yang Spring.

There, a massive dragon-shaped creature composed entirely of pitch-black bones lay half-submerged in the spring. Ghostly blue flames danced within its eye sockets, and dense deathly, evil energy radiated from its body. It was Zhongli Wu's natal beast spirit—the Bone Dragon King!

Before its death, this Bone Dragon King had been a powerful true dragon. By chance, it had even come into contact with a trace of the Silver Dragon King's dispersed aura, causing its essence to mutate and far surpass that of ordinary dragon bones.

Zhongli Wu had exhausted tremendous effort back then to refine it into his natal beast spirit. Thanks to its compatibility with his Death God Demon Puppet martial soul, his cultivation had risen all the way to Rank 98.

At that moment, the Bone Dragon King's hollow eye sockets faced Wang Q'er's direction, and its ghostly flames began to leap violently. Even its enormous skeletal body gave off faint tremors.

Zhongli Wu, who had been preparing to temper his beast spirit, abruptly opened his eyes. His sinister gaze instantly locked onto Wang Q'er.

His mind was linked to the Bone Dragon King, allowing him to clearly sense that his incomparably precious natal beast spirit was currently conveying an extremely complicated emotion.

There was an indescribable longing, a trace of instinctive fear, but more than anything, an intense agitation as though it had encountered an existence on a higher level!

This little girl... Zhongli Wu's heart shook violently.

The Bone Dragon King had been refined into his natal beast spirit for many years. It had devoured the souls and remains of countless powerful soul beasts, and its ferocity had long reached the heavens. Even when facing someone like Di Tian, it would only erupt with bloodthirsty fighting intent. When had it ever displayed such agitation, almost like "reverence"?

Something unusual was definitely afoot! This girl who had suddenly appeared was absolutely not simple! She must possess some secret capable of causing the Bone Dragon King to react—perhaps some supreme treasure, perhaps some special bloodline... No matter what, he had to find out!

Greed and curiosity instantly overwhelmed his initial caution. A vicious gleam flashed through Zhongli Wu's eyes, and a cold curve lifted at the corner of his lips.

He slowly rose to his feet. The phantom of the Death God Demon Puppet flickered in and out of sight behind him, while a gloomy, eerie aura shrouded Wang Q'er.

"Little girl, who are you? Why can you come here? What... do you have on you?"

Zhongli Wu's voice was hoarse and cold, carrying an unquestionable pressure that immediately drew the other experts' attention back to them.

Xuan Zi frowned slightly. Du Bushi folded his arms, looking as though he were enjoying a show. Kong Deming looked thoughtful, while Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao exchanged a glance and remained silent.

Mu En sighed softly but did not immediately speak up to stop him. He too wanted to see what was so unusual about this girl who had suddenly arrived here.

Wang Q'er stopped and turned around. Her pure ruby eyes met Zhongli Wu's cold, sinister gaze.

Facing the pressure of this Super Douluo, she felt uncomfortable, and the blood and qi within her churned slightly. Yet the pride stemming from the Golden Dragon King's bloodline kept her from showing any fear. Instead, she raised her chin slightly.

"What does my coming here have to do with you?" Wang Q'er's voice was crisp, carrying a trace of chill.