After Xiong Jun left, Di Tian slowly spoke.
"Who was that woman at the Sea God Pavilion with the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul? You seem never to have mentioned such a Limit Douluo secretly helping you. And how did she disappear without my noticing?"
Di Tian was not one to pry into others' affairs, but Ye Chenxing was the human favored by the Auspicious Beast. If Ye Chenxing proved to be a potential danger in his judgment, he had to make the Auspicious Beast cut ties with him.
"I did not mean to hide it." Facing Di Tian's barrage of questions, Ye Chenxing explained, "Because she is not some expert secretly helping me. She is my Martial Soul, so naturally, I can recall her into my body whenever I wish."
"What did you say?!"
This time, Di Tian could hardly believe his ears.
"Your Martial Soul?!"
A human who had only just awakened his Martial Soul and had not even obtained his first soul ring... his Martial Soul could actually summon a Limit Douluo on par with him?!
Di Tian's first reaction was: Impossible!
He stared fixedly at Ye Chenxing's face, as if trying to find traces of deceit there.
But he failed.
Seeing Di Tian's reaction, Ye Chenxing secretly found it rather amusing.
"So, Beast God, are you amazed by my talent?"
Provoked by Ye Chenxing, Di Tian felt that he could not quite save face. He hurriedly cleared his throat and returned to his usual expression.
"Heh heh, it is nothing special. A mere Limit Douluo is not enough to make me take notice."
That old black dragon was really good at putting on airs.
Ye Chenxing grumbled inwardly.
Though his words were tough, Di Tian remained deeply shocked inside.
If anyone else had told him that someone's Martial Soul could directly summon a Limit Douluo, he would certainly have shown them the consequences of making a joke out of Di Tian.
But—
This answer really could explain everything that had just happened.
A boy who had just awakened his Martial Soul could already possess ultimate combat power... What would happen after he obtained his first soul ring? His fifth? And what would his Martial Soul Avatar be like?
Di Tian did not dare to think any further.
Seeing that Di Tian had no response, Ye Chenxing shrugged boredly and continued, "To be precise, she is an existence summoned by the rules of my Martial Soul, the Hall of Heroes. Speaking of which, where is the Auspicious Beast? Why do I not see her? Her help was part of why I was able to summon Saber successfully this time."
The moment he finished speaking, a sudden rustling came from the distant forest.
"Chenxing! You're finally back!"
Accompanied by a crisp cheer, a dazzling golden figure sprang from the bushes and pounced directly onto Ye Chenxing, knocking him onto the grass. Her fluffy head rubbed wildly and affectionately against his chest.
"All right, all right, Auspicious Beast, stop fooling around." Ye Chenxing's face was covered in fur from her rubbing. Helplessly, he patted her golden mane. "I was only gone for three days. Get up already."
Only then did the Three-Eyed Golden Lion reluctantly move her head away. Her golden eyes were filled with curiosity. "Quick, tell me—was the human world fun?"
"That can wait. There is something important to do first."
Ye Chenxing's smile faded. He sat upright and looked at the Auspicious Beast's fluffy face. "That feeling I asked you about before, of being watched—do you still feel it now?"
"Watched?" Di Tian's expression suddenly darkened. He strode forward. "Auspicious Beast, is what he said true? Have you felt someone secretly watching you?"
The Auspicious Beast obediently nodded. "Mm, I think it started around ten years ago? It was not too long ago, and the feeling was very faint. If Chenxing had not reminded me to use the Eye of Destiny to sense it carefully, I would never have noticed it at all."
Di Tian's expression instantly darkened to the extreme.
To silently watch the Imperial Auspicious Beast, who bore the fate of the soul beast race, within the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest—and even right beneath his nose... No one on the entire Douluo Continent could possibly accomplish that.
Unless...
Seeing Di Tian's grim expression, Ye Chenxing waved a hand. "Di Tian, don't get worked up yet."
"Auspicious Beast, close your Eye of Destiny and sense carefully again. Has that unpleasant feeling disappeared now?"
The Auspicious Beast obediently closed her Eye of Destiny. After a while, she opened her eyes in delight. "It really is gone! Chenxing, that feeling has disappeared completely!"
"That's good." Ye Chenxing smiled.
Then, he casually beckoned at the empty air.
As a burst of dazzling golden particles gathered, Saber appeared out of thin air once more, clad in golden battle armor with six wings spread behind her back.
Di Tian's gaze sharpened. At such close range, he could sense it even more clearly.
This truly was the fluctuation of a summoned Martial Soul.
Meanwhile, the Auspicious Beast was completely stunned.
"Who... who is she?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's eyes widened. This was only the second time in her life that she had seen a human. Curiously, she circled Saber and examined her.
She looked at Ye Chenxing, then at Saber's incomparably beautiful face.
"Chenxing, is she... your mother?"
"Pfft—"
"Of course not! Auspicious Beast, how did that little head of yours reach such a conclusion?"
The Auspicious Beast tilted her head, looking utterly matter-of-fact. "Uncle Di Tian told me that soul beasts and humans all have their own mothers. Only I was born from the plane of the Star Dou Great Forest, so I thought..."
The Auspicious Beast's train of thought: an adult female human with a young human cub, and both of them carried the same aura—
Mm, then they were mother and child. Perfect logic. Nothing wrong with it.
Ye Chenxing, who had been mistaken for a child, had several black lines hanging from his forehead. He glanced sideways at Saber beside him. This Six-Winged Angel, usually cold and imposing, also looked slightly uncomfortable at this moment.
"Ahem..." Ye Chenxing hurriedly coughed twice and forcibly brought the topic back on track. "Auspicious Beast, she is my Martial Soul. The current contract is not yet stable, and I need to absorb a soul ring to completely solidify it. That is exactly where I need your help."
"Human, I warn you." As if some keyword had been triggered, Di Tian immediately spoke up. "You had better not have any improper thoughts toward the Auspicious Beast."
There was no helping it. To Di Tian, the words soul ring and Auspicious Beast appearing in the same sentence were simply too sensitive.
"Do not worry. I merely intend to help the Auspicious Beast clear away certain people's methods that were left on her."
"No!" Di Tian quickly raised a hand to stop him. "Even I have not detected the slightest trace of the abnormality on the Auspicious Beast. Do you know what lies behind this..."
Ye Chenxing smiled faintly. "Di Tian, have you considered that if the God Realm could still cause trouble for me, then after I drained the Golden Tree and stopped us from leaving, it would not have sent merely a Limit Douluo."
Di Tian's heart shook violently. That was right—he had been astonished by Ye Chenxing's successful actions, but he had overlooked a crucial question.
Shrek Academy had countless ties to the Sea God.
Yet now, Ye Chenxing had effortlessly taken away Shrek Academy's most important Golden Tree, and the other side had remained completely indifferent.
Could something have happened to the God Realm? But even if that were the case, how had Ye Chenxing known?
Under Di Tian's extremely grave and shocked gaze, Ye Chenxing extended his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and lightly touched the closed Eye of Destiny on the Auspicious Beast's forehead.
His fingers slowly pulled back, forcibly stripping a translucent bead that emitted strange golden light from between the Auspicious Beast's brows.
Di Tian stared fixedly at the bead. Through its golden radiance, he clearly saw that inside it lay the sleeping soul of a rare human girl with pink-blue hair!
As the bead completely left the Auspicious Beast's body, Ye Chenxing suddenly brought his hands together in the air, then pulled them apart.
The bead containing a fragment of divine consciousness instantly collapsed and reformed, gradually condensing into a special soul ring flashing with blinding golden light.
The function of this first soul ring was crucial. It had to possess an extremely high degree of compatibility with the catalyst used to summon Saber—the Auspicious Beast's golden fur.
Therefore, in theory, directly killing the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and taking her soul ring would undoubtedly have been the most perfect way to break the deadlock.
However, whether by emotion or reason, Ye Chenxing could never do such a thing.
Yet Tang Buddha's super dismantling had helped him solve this enormous problem.
A forcibly separated soul fragment had lurked within the Auspicious Beast's body and fused with her for more than a decade. It had long since formed an extremely deep bond with her.
At this moment, this hidden move, originally meant to steal the fate of the Star Dou Great Forest, had instead become the one and only perfect choice for a soul ring to replace the Auspicious Beast's sacrifice! Moreover, it contained a trace of exceptionally pure "divinity."
"Sorry, Tang Buddha."
"I never expected that not only Ah Yin, but even a fragment of Tang Wutong would fall into my hands."
"Looks like I'm definitely eating this parent-child rice bowl."
Before you continue