The Auspicious Beast's Symbiotic Sacrifice! The Skull of Destiny!

"Are they here to hunt Soul Beasts?"

Gui Mei watched from the shadows, not daring to get too close.

From what he could sense,

Kong Deming pressed forward aggressively, but it was obvious this was his first time in the Star Dou Great Forest. He kept correcting their course.

And

the two boys with Kong Deming seemed fascinated by the forest.

"Looks like those two are sect disciples."

"Good grief, they're still heading deeper. Are they hunting a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast?"

Gui Mei watched curiously.

He had been searching around Spirit City for traces of the Sun Moon Sect on Bibi Dong's orders.

Instead, he had happened upon Kong Deming as he set out.

Gui Mei had followed him all the way into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Thousand-year Soul Beasts were plentiful here, and even ten-thousand-year ones had begun to appear.

Gui Mei guessed

Kong Deming was hunting Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings for the two boys.

Kong Deming smiled and glanced back at Gui Mei.

The man seemed quite confident in his ability to conceal himself.

Unfortunately,

Kong Deming's spiritual power was formidable, and with the help of a detection Soul Tool, he had known Gui Mei was following them all along.

"A twenty-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider? Heh. Douluo Continent really is rich in Soul Beasts."

Kong Deming sighed.

Douluo Continent had far more soul masters than Sun Moon Continent, and they were much stronger.

That was because it had so many Soul Beasts.

By comparison,

Sun Moon Continent had few Soul Beasts. A thousand-year beast was already a fine find, while ten-thousand-year beasts were rarer still.

On the Top Ten Ferocious Beasts Ranking,

only the second-ranked Evil Emperor hailed from Sun Moon Continent.

Not a single other beast from there made the list.

But that scarcity was precisely why Sun Moon Continent had developed such formidable Soul Tool Technology.

It had even grown stronger than Douluo Continent.

Sometimes,

it was hard to say what counted as an advantage. A setback could prove a blessing in disguise.

"A forty-thousand-year Crystal Ore Beast?"

Kong Deming looked down in surprise at a Soul Beast covered head to toe in crystals.

It was an extremely rare Soul Beast, formed from crystals naturally nurtured within an ore vein.

Strictly speaking,

it could hardly be called a carbon-based life-form anymore.

"What do you think, Li Chen?"

"Not bad. Its attributes suit me, but its age is a little low. My limit should be around fifty thousand years."

Thanks to the Whale Rubber that had tempered his body and the rare resources he had been fed, Li Chen's physique was as strong as his spiritual power.

His Superbrain Martial Soul also devised the most scientifically sound training plans for him, ensuring his body was developed and strengthened systematically.

A prospective Soul King

capable of bearing a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring—

on Douluo Continent, that was astonishing.

"True. I'll mark this spot. Let's see what else we can find."

Kong Deming recorded the location on his Soul Tool and left.

"What's going on?"

Gui Mei followed behind them, stunned.

"First a twenty-thousand-year Man Faced Demon Spider, then this forty-thousand-year beast. Were they both too young?"

"That's absurd!"

Gui Mei could scarcely believe it.

The two boys' Soul Power Levels were only forty-nine and fifty-nine.

At those levels,

a twenty-thousand-year Soul Ring should have been the absolute limit.

"Their attributes simply weren't suitable. That must be it."

Gui Mei kept following,

unable to think beyond the limits of his era.

Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest,

a Soul Beast over three meters tall raced through the trees. It resembled a lion, with dragon claws on all four paws and a coat of brilliant golden fur that gleamed like translucent crystal.

Its eyes were gold, and a third, red eye sat in the middle of its forehead.

Astonishingly,

every step it took left a faint golden footprint of flame on the ground.

It was as if fire blazed beneath its paws.

Wherever it passed,

every Soul Beast dropped to the ground in heartfelt reverence.

Powerful fortune gathered around it. It was the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!

"Such powerful fortune! Where is it?"

The Emperor Auspicious Beast ran on, looking around curiously like a fawn in the woods.

Before long,

following fate's guidance,

the beast entered Kong Deming's range of perception.

"Hm?"

On the ground,

Kong Deming stared in surprise toward a gap between the towering trees. A golden, qilin-like Soul Beast flashed past.

"What kind of Soul Beast is that?!"

Kong Deming was shocked.

"It looks only five thousand years old, yet it feels no weaker than a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast."

"And there's something strange about its aura. Even I can't see through it."

Kong Deming hurried forward to track it. But when he turned back, the Emperor Auspicious Beast had appeared right in front of Li Chen and Huo Yuhao!

Kong Deming frowned.

This Soul Beast is too strange! It slipped past my senses!

It was as though the entire forest was helping the beast!

"Watch out!"

Kong Deming rushed back at once, silver light flaring around him as he prepared to attack.

But Li Chen raised a hand to stop him. "Elder Kong, wait. It doesn't seem hostile."

Li Chen studied the brilliant golden, three-eyed creature resembling a qilin.

The Emperor Auspicious Beast tilted its head and studied him in return.

After looking Li Chen over,

the Three-Eyed Golden Lion even circled him twice, carefully sniffing his scent.

"Mother's scent!"

"Are you my mother?"

The eye on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's forehead flickered as the beast sent a thought to Li Chen.

"What?"

Li Chen was stunned.

What is this creature talking about?!

Is the Emperor Auspicious Beast some kind of weirdo?!

Wait.

It says I smell like its mother?

Li Chen pondered. Could it mean the aura of the Plane Spirit on me?

Whoa.

The Emperor Auspicious Beast was a special being born of the Star Dou Great Forest, gathering the fortune of all Soul Beasts.

And since Douluo Star had given birth to the Star Dou Great Forest, calling that aura its mother's scent wasn't entirely wrong.

"This creature looks so much like Qiu'er."

Huo Yuhao sounded puzzled.

He didn't know why,

but this Soul Beast reminded him of Wang Qiu'er.

Because Li Chen had changed the course of events, Wang Qiu'er had not yet sacrificed herself for Huo Yuhao.

As a result, Huo Yuhao had no idea Wang Qiu'er was the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

"What do you want?"

Li Chen asked cautiously.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion brought its head close to Li Chen. "Let me in."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Into your spiritual sea."

Li Chen blinked in surprise. Does this creature want to become my Soul Spirit of its own accord?!

Holy hell.

This Emperor Auspicious Beast really is something else.

The Soul Spirit system had not yet been developed as it would be in Douluo Three.

With the power of Electrolux, the Holy Necromancer, that task naturally fell to Li Chen.

But he did not actually have a Soul Spirit yet.

Electrolux spent most of his time asleep. Only rarely had he taught Li Chen a little Necromancy. Li Chen didn't even know whether Electrolux could become a Soul Spirit.

"Are you sure? If it fails, you'll cease to exist."

Kong Mingde shot Li Chen an astonished look.

Why tell it the whole truth? Just trick this Soul Beast into it!

This foolish creature hardly looks bright.

"It won't fail. I'm ready."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nuzzled Li Chen's hand affectionately, even narrowing its eyes in contentment.

The next moment,

the beast's body shone, then dissolved into golden motes of light that streamed into Li Chen.

"Is this... a sacrifice?!"

Li Chen felt an immense surge of power pour into him.

As the Emperor Auspicious Beast's body vanished,

a golden skull bone appeared in midair.

A brilliant golden Soul Ring appeared beneath Li Chen's feet.

And that was not all.

Li Chen felt his spiritual power soaring as well!

The Auspicious Beast appeared in Li Chen's spiritual sea, bounding and leaping about joyfully.

"I get it. This is a Symbiotic Sacrifice!"

Realization struck Li Chen.

A Symbiotic Sacrifice was like the Ice Empress's sacrifice for Huo Yuhao, not the fatal kind performed by Wang Qiu'er or Xiao Wu.

In either case, the Soul Beast's physical body perished and became a Soul Ring for the recipient.

The difference was

that a Symbiotic Sacrifice did not destroy the Soul Beast's soul. It continued to exist alongside the soul master.

Even so, Li Chen had never imagined

the Emperor Auspicious Beast would offer him a Symbiotic Sacrifice so willingly.

Because the Soul Beast had sacrificed itself voluntarily, there was no spiritual backlash. He absorbed the brilliant golden Soul Ring in moments.

What was more,

although the Emperor Auspicious Beast looked only fifteen thousand years old, it was actually stronger than a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

This Symbiotic Sacrifice also granted Li Chen a powerful special ability.

Eye of Destiny: See through and exploit an enemy's physical and spiritual weaknesses!

Li Chen reached out and caught the golden skull bone floating in midair.

The Skull of Destiny.