We Are Friends!

"Damn it! Stop running!"

Three-Eyed Golden Lion put every ounce of strength into it, a golden sun streaking through swath after swath of dense forest.

At the very front, the Rainbow Deer King rolled its eyes in a human-like manner. Though it was only seven thousand years old, its bloodline and mutation had given it the intelligence of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

What a joke. Just because she told it not to run, was it supposed to stop? If she caught it, it would lose its life.

The Rainbow Deer King did not want to die. It believed its speed and endurance were enough to shake off the Imperial Auspicious Beast.

Its opponent was strong, a genuine super soul beast, but the best way to hunt it was still through a sneak attack. In a contest of speed, the Rainbow Deer King feared no species.

Three-Eyed Golden Lion visibly flushed red.

She was a soul beast with fifteen thousand years of cultivation, after all. If she failed while hunting a seven-thousand-year Rainbow Deer King, how could she still show her face in the Core Zone if word got out?

The scene became chaotic for a moment. The Auspicious Beast began accelerating wildly, barely keeping up with the Rainbow Deer King's trail.

The dense ancient forest had been left far behind at some point. The terrain kept rising, and petrified, pale-white skeletons began appearing around them.

Those bones pierced through the earth, their postures savage and twisted, intertwined to form a forest of white bones. Only a narrow path ran through the middle, and the eerie atmosphere made the place resemble a mass graveyard.

This place, located in the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, was called the Hidden Dragon Land by the intelligent Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

Long ago, a True Dragon at the level of a ferocious beast had failed to survive its Heavenly Tribulation and died here. Its enormous corpse had weathered into a mountain over time.

It was precisely because that True Dragon had fallen that the essence of its flesh and blood nourished this land, turning it into a paradise for plant soul beasts—and likewise a paradise for herbivorous soul beasts.

As long as I can reach that place!!

That will be my escape route!

Auspicious Beast, you truly delight me. I probably won't forget you for the rest of my life, will I? Where should I go next?

North, then!

The Rainbow Deer King had already delivered its victory speech in its heart. It had survived on this land for a thousand years. When it was weak, every soul beast wanted to take a bite out of it. After countless years spent fleeing, it knew the terrain here like the back of its hoof.

Beyond this forest of white bones lay a vast Blue Silver Grass forest! Within it lived an extremely laid-back thirty-thousand-year Blue Silver King.

Blue Silver Grass was indeed a very weak species, at the very bottom of the food chain. But once enough Blue Silver Grass soul beasts gathered together, they could unleash an utterly terrifying power.

That Blue Silver Grass forest had an exceptionally strong ability to conceal auras due to its abundant life energy and the characteristics of Blue Silver Grass itself.

The stronger one's spiritual power was, the more easily it was affected by life energy. With such a wide range of perception, one became even more sensitive.

Interwoven bones were smashed apart by two figures. The Rainbow Deer King looked at the cliff ahead and leaped forward. The azure forest before it reflected in its multicolored eyes, and human-like delight appeared on its face.

"Bang!!"

That delight froze on the Rainbow Deer King's face. A dull impact reverberated through its body, sending ripples through its internal organs.

A monster clad in blue dragon scales, with enormous black wings spread behind it, crashed into the Rainbow Deer King like a speeding truck and forcibly sent it flying back.

Miss Golden British Shorthair was somewhat stunned, but she immediately reacted. She bit through the Rainbow Deer King's neck, ending its life without pain.

"This thing was really hard to catch. If I hadn't found a shortcut, it almost would've gotten away."

The two Soul Rings around Lin En faded away, and the blue dragon scales and black wings withdrew back into his body.

He nudged the giant deer on the ground with his leather shoe and said,

"Looks like we're in for a treat today. Boss, why do you seem a little unhappy?"

The Auspicious Beast lay on the ground, her soft ears drooping at her sides. Her lion-like face was buried in her forepaws, making her look like an unhappy little girl.

"Didn't I tell you to wait over there?"

Lin En sat beside her and smiled. "Couldn't sit still."

"But, Boss, you really are imposing. When I came over, the soul beasts around here looked like they wanted to burrow into the dirt. They barely dared breathe, terrified you'd notice them."

The Auspicious Beast raised her head again and said proudly, "Of course!"

"I'm the Imperial Auspicious Beast! Who in the entire Star Dou Great Forest isn't afraid of me?!"

"And! Could you take your hand off me already? Believe it or not, I'll bite you!"

Lin En awkwardly withdrew the hand he had placed on the Auspicious Beast's head. She was fluffy, warm to the touch, and had no strange smell at all. She was simply the cat of his dreams.

Let him state in advance once again: he was not a furry enthusiast. His tastes were perfectly normal.

Perhaps because of what Lin En had just said, the Auspicious Beast perked up again. Her three eyes looked at him, and the vertical eye on her forehead that represented fate flashed with a glimmer of light.

Frowning, she said, "I never noticed before—what's going on with your body?"

"Your life force, physical body, spiritual power, and Soul Power are completely out of balance. What did you do before? Did you drain your life force?"

Lin En scratched his head awkwardly, marveling inwardly at how powerful the Power of Fate was. His greatest problem right now was precisely the imbalance in his life force.

Whether it was the Immune System Martial Soul or the Nervous System Martial Soul, both Martial Souls were actually dangerous things. If the immune system went wrong, it would treat his own normal cells and tissues as enemies, causing immune diseases.

If the nervous system went wrong, the consequences would be even more terrifying.

Fortunately, the two Martial Souls existed at the same time and restrained each other through neurotransmitters and hormones.

Little Sage assisted from the side and monitored everything in real time, while the bloodline of a Next-Generation Species served as a final safeguard. Only then could Lin En perfectly control both Martial Souls.

What he lacked most now was life force. Both of those Martial Souls required sufficient life force to sustain them.

Dragons without dragon bodies were truly nothing special in terms of life force. They could not even withstand modern high-powered thermal weapons. After all, they were a species whose essence was spiritual; as long as they had a cocoon, they would not die.

The Auspicious Beast sighed. "Forget it. Come to the Core Zone with me after some time."

"I'll pick some life-attribute spirit fruits and medicinal herbs from Di Tian's herb garden for you, then get you a few barrels of water from the Lake of Life."

"Together with this deer's meat, it'll be enough to build you back up."

"The Core Zone..." Lin En was a little intimidated. Was that really a place humans could enter?

The Auspicious Beast said proudly, "What are you afraid of?"

"With me here, the Power of Fate will conceal you. It's not like I'm taking you for a stroll in front of Di Tian. You can just stay in my cave."

"Even if you're discovered, it'll be fine. I'll protect you!"

Lin En looked deeply moved. "En has drifted through half his life, regretting only that he never met a wise master!"

"If Ni does not reject me! En is willing to acknowledge you as his godmother!"

Miss Golden British Shorthair shook her head, looking a little disappointed.

"No."

"I don't want to be your godmother. I want you to be my friend. The Star Dou Great Forest is so boring."

Seeing how serious Miss Golden British Shorthair looked, Lin En suddenly could not bring himself to say the nonsense already on the tip of his tongue.

That lonely look deeply moved Lin En. He was the same. Though he called himself human, in essence, he was a monster.

He had thought that in this fantasy world, the loneliness that had once nearly driven him insane would fade considerably. But after truly living here, he discovered that the loneliness had only grown stronger, because he was still an outsider.

Uncle Yu was dead. Old Wolf was dead. Zhang Lexuan had gone to Shrek Academy.

He was free, but he had also returned to loneliness—or rather, to the fate that dragons were meant to have.

"Mm. Then we'll be friends."