Three-Eyed Golden Lion

"Did it work?" In the Star Dou Forest, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion blinked as she watched the black Soul Ring slowly rise around Huo Yuhao.

"Where did the little fox go? Call her out so we can have a look."

Inside Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox stared blankly at the two terrifying figures before her, unable to utter a word for a long time.

The Ice Empress's queenly presence, in particular, made her tremble.

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm curled his lips into a mischievous grin as he looked at the Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox. Just as he was about to speak, the Ice Empress swept him with an icy glance, frightening him into shutting his mouth at once.

"Go outside first, little fox. Di Tian and the others are waiting."

The Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox nodded hurriedly, turned into a streak of light, and flew out.

The Scarlet King looked at the Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox, whose appearance had barely changed, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"It really worked... So this is a soul spirit..."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion came closer and circled the Illusory-Eyed Spirit Fox, studying her with keen interest.

"This is pretty fun."

Then she ran over to Huo Yuhao's feet and circled him several times, her eyes full of curiosity.

Song Que raised an eyebrow, feeling that something was off about the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

To be safe, he decided to make things clear in advance.

Some things were better brought up sooner rather than later.

"Senior Di Tian, there's something I need to tell you." Song Que walked over to Di Tian and spoke softly.

Di Tian paused slightly. "What is it?"

"It's about the Three-Eyed Golden Lion." Song Que's expression was serious.

Di Tian frowned, his expression turning solemn. "The Auspicious Beast? What do you want to say?"

He raised his hand and released a spiritual barrier, enclosing them both.

Huo Yuhao, Du Busi, and the others looked over, and Song Que quickly raised a hand to reassure them.

Seeing this, everyone looked away without asking any questions.

Song Que took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "Senior Di Tian, someone may have tampered with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion."

"No... To be precise, a god may have tampered with her."

Di Tian's expression sharpened. "Explain yourself."

Song Que glanced back at Huo Yuhao before continuing. "Yi Lao secretly sent us a voice transmission just now. He said there appears to be a unique strand of divine consciousness sealed inside the Auspicious Beast. Were you aware of this?"

Di Tian's pupils contracted. "Divine consciousness? How is that possible?"

"Yi Lao specializes in souls. His perception of them is extremely accurate. He wouldn't be mistaken," Song Que said.

"According to him, this divine consciousness contains an incomplete soul. He would need to examine it further to determine the details."

Di Tian fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly. "To think something like this happened... I'll investigate it myself."

Song Que nodded. "Then I'm sorry for the trouble, Senior Di Tian, but please keep a close eye on the Auspicious Beast. I won't say any more."

"I understand. Thank you for the warning." Di Tian nodded slightly.

He then dispelled the spiritual barrier, and the two returned to the others.

Just then, the Auspicious Beast suddenly spoke. "Di Tian, I want to go have some fun in the human world with them."

Song Que raised an eyebrow, while Di Tian's expression immediately turned cold.

"Don't be ridiculous. Absolutely not."

The Auspicious Beast pouted. "Why not? You can just have the Scarlet King come with me."

Di Tian refused coldly. "Enough. You can do whatever you like within the Star Dou Forest, but the human world is strictly off-limits. This isn't up for discussion."

The Auspicious Beast looked at him pitifully, but Di Tian refused to budge.

Seeing this, Song Que quickly stepped in to ease the tension. "All right, we still have matters to attend to in Star Luo City. We need to hurry back."

"Senior Di Tian, we'll take our leave."

Di Tian nodded. "Go. If you make any progress with soul spirits and need our assistance, come to the Star Dou Forest and activate the dragon scale to notify me."

Song Que nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Huo Yuhao and the members of the Body Sect.

"Yuhao, Sect Master Du, let's go."

Du Busi nodded. "All right, let's go."

"Your match has probably already begun. Old Jin and I will take you back first. The others can follow."

With that, the group turned and left.

Di Tian looked at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's somewhat conflicted expression and sighed softly.

"Scarlet King, I'll take the Auspicious Beast to see our lord first. Follow us later."

The Scarlet King paused, then nodded.

At the Star Luo arena.

"Blood Wolf!"

Ye Wuqing and Yu Mengdi shouted at the same time, their eyes blazing with fury as they watched flames engulf Blood Wolf's left hand and leg.

"Ma Xiaotao! You're deliberately trying to kill him!"

"Referee, we protest!" Ye Wuqing shouted.

The referee, Huang Jinxu, frowned slightly and shook his head. "Ma Xiaotao merely made a normal attack. Situations like this are unavoidable in a match. She hasn't broken any rules."

Ye Wuqing's expression darkened, but there was nothing he could do.

He stared fixedly at Ma Xiaotao and was about to step forward when Bei Bei reached out to stop him.

"Don't act rashly. Let's concede this match."

Ye Wuqing struggled to contain his anger. "But..."

Bei Bei shook his head. "Let's get Blood Wolf, San Shi, and the others off the stage for treatment first."

He glanced at Xu Sanshi, half of whose body was charred black, then turned to Jiang Nannan, his voice somewhat cold.

"Jiang Nannan, when did you become so ruthless?"

"Xiao Ya kept holding back because of your old friendship, but the moment you broke free, you turned around and ambushed her. You even joined forces with Ma Xiaotao to try to kill her."

"If San Shi hadn't used Dark Nether Swap in time to take the hit, Xiao Ya would have been burned to death."

Jiang Nannan's face turned pale, her voice faint. "I... I didn't know it would turn out like this..."

Ma Xiaotao snorted. "Bei Bei, you're still too naive."

"In the arena, it's kill or be killed. There's no room for mercy."

"If we cripple one more opponent in the team match, our chances of winning the individual matches afterward improve. That's a perfectly normal tactic."

Bei Bei did not argue. He swept an indifferent glance over the Shrek team, then turned to leave.

"Perhaps you're right."

"I just never expected to hear those words from you."

Ma Xiaotao could not be bothered to say any more and led her teammates off the stage.

"Shrek Academy wins this match!"

With the referee's loud announcement, the first match of the finals came to an end.

Half a day later, in the hotel's conference room in Star Luo City.

"How are they?" Tang Ya looked anxiously at Bei Bei, Ye Wuqing, and the others as they returned.

Bei Bei sighed. "San Shi is all right. He's a defense-type Soul Master, so he only suffered minor injuries this time."

"But Blood Wolf was badly injured. His life has been saved, but from now on..."

Tang Ya's heart sank.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have held back."

Ye Wuqing shook his head. "It's not your fault. They were stronger than us to begin with."

"It's just that none of us expected them to be so ruthless when they already had such a huge advantage in the first match."

Bei Bei patted Tang Ya's shoulder and reassured her.

"It's all right. The competition isn't over yet."

As his words fell, they heard the door being pushed open.

Song Que entered the room with Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, his expression icy.

"That's right. The competition has only just begun. Since they've already gone straight for the kill, we don't need to show them any mercy from now on."