Why Is This Big Dog So Mean?!

"Overlord Drumstick, restore all my soul power; keep me full for ten days, drive hunger and thirst away! Overlord's Belly-Filling Leg!"

As soon as Gao Ren finished speaking, he raised his right hand. A Yellow Soul Ring began to revolve beneath his feet, and an Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg appeared out of thin air.

Xuan Zi leaned in, examined it from every angle, then brought his nose close and took several deep sniffs.

"On the surface, this Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg doesn't seem any different from an ordinary Overlord Drumstick."

Gao Ren handed the Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg to Xuan Zi. Xuan Zi took it and devoured it down to the last scrap, then smacked his lips.

"The meat's a little firmer. It's rather like eating the leg of a Tireless Ostrich..."

Halfway through his sentence, Xuan Zi froze.

A sensation he had nearly forgotten slowly rose from his stomach for the first time in ages.

He was full.

For the first time in over two hundred years, he felt full again.

Xuan Zi's eyes instantly reddened. Two hundred years!

Ever since his Godly Taotie Bull Martial Soul had grown more voracious alongside his cultivation, he had forgotten what it felt like to eat his fill.

Now that he felt it again, the old man could not stop his tears from streaming down his face.

"A-Ren..." Xuan Zi seized Gao Ren by the shoulders and said, his voice trembling with excitement, "How am I supposed to live without you from now on?"

The next moment, he released Gao Ren and pulled the vat of wine Gao Ren had produced earlier from his Storage Soul Tool.

"Taking you as my disciple was the best decision I've ever made! To celebrate, I'm going to eat and drink my fill!"

Yes, Xuan Zi could still eat after consuming the Overlord's Belly-Filling Leg.

Feeling full did not mean his stomach could hold nothing more. He was full, but he still wanted to eat.

Seeing Xuan Zi's spirits soar, Gao Ren could not resist throwing cold water on them.

"Teacher, you can eat meat, but you can't drink wine."

"Why can't I drink wine?" Xuan Zi asked, puzzled.

Because you might get drunk and accidentally drag me into trouble, Gao Ren thought.

Naturally, Gao Ren did not dare say that to Xuan Zi.

Xuan Zi had promised not to do anything Gao Ren objected to, but with his stubborn temper, he would probably do it anyway.

After all, Gao Ren had not wanted to enter the Mixed Zone, yet Xuan Zi had brought him in.

So if Gao Ren wanted to persuade him, he needed a more tactful approach.

"Teacher, didn't you say you wanted to celebrate with a big meal and plenty to drink?"

"But what does that have to do with not drinking wine?" Xuan Zi pressed.

"Everything," Gao Ren replied with a straight face. "You can't celebrate all by yourself. Otherwise, what was the point of taking me as your disciple?"

"If you want a big meal, I can join you. But if you want to drink your fill, I'm afraid I can't keep you company... Unless you think I can drink wine with you?"

"Of course you can't!" Xuan Zi shook his head repeatedly. In his long life, he had seen children as young as Gao Ren drink themselves to death.

"Exactly. If you want wine, wait until we're back and find someone else to drink with."

"You're right. I'll drink this when we get back." Xuan Zi nodded and put the vat away with a smile. "For now, let's have a picnic."

And so, master and disciple spent the following hours enjoying a leisurely picnic in the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Xuan Zi always carried more than ten cubic meters of food whenever he went out, so his Storage Soul Tool held just about everything. Gao Ren could eat whatever he wanted.

Xuan Zi, known as Chicken Leg Douluo, ate nothing but Overlord Drumsticks.

Only after eating roughly a hundred and fifty Overlord Drumsticks did Xuan Zi, satisfied at last, tell Gao Ren to stop making them... In truth, Gao Ren simply could not eat a second Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg.

Having absorbed a five-hundred-year Soul Beast, Gao Ren's Soul Power Level was currently thirteen, and he could produce about seventy or eighty Overlord Drumsticks.

Xuan Zi gazed at the little mountain of drumstick bones piled before him. Apparently pleased with his handiwork, he wore a delighted smile.

"Come on, Ah Ren. I'll take you home."

"Okay."

Not long after they left, two Soul Beasts appeared in the messy clearing.

The one in front was brilliant gold from head to tail, more than three meters long and eight feet high at the shoulder.

Her body resembled translucent crystal, with a strange sheen to it. She was shaped like a lion, but her four paws were like a dragon's, each treading upon a cluster of golden flame.

Her muzzle was longer than that of a lion-type Soul Beast, and fine golden scales showed faintly beneath her fur.

Most striking of all was the third eye on her forehead. An eerie red light shone from its vertical pupil.

She was the imperial Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!

The other Soul Beast was none other than the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Mastiff: the Scarlet King, eighth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts and guardian of the Auspicious Beast.

The lingering aroma of the Overlord Drumstick had drawn them there.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion sniffed at the pile of chicken bones on the ground like a dog. Clear drool slipped from the corner of her mouth.

"Uncle Scarlet King, these bones smell (╯▽╰) so good~~!"

Unlike the Auspicious Beast, whose brain had been smoothed flat by the scent of the Overlord Drumstick, the Scarlet King was scanning their surroundings with great caution.

He had caught the lingering scents of two humans. One was familiar: it belonged to Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi.

"Uncle Scarlet King, I want to try those bones."

The Scarlet King hurried forward and blocked the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's path. "Little ancestor, don't you eat only the brains of light-attribute Soul Beasts?"

"I do." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nodded, looking eager to give the bones a try. "But I want to try something new!

"You always look so happy eating bones, Uncle Scarlet King, and now I've finally found some that tempt me..."

"No!" the Scarlet King declared sternly. "Humans left these bones behind. They might be poisoned!

"Humans are treacherous and cunning. Those bones smell good because they deliberately made them tempting to lure us Soul Beasts in!"

"But..." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion tilted her head.

"No buts!" the Scarlet King urged. "A light-attribute Soul Beast passed nearby. Don't let it get away!"

At that, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion took off at once. A light-attribute Soul Beast really had passed through the area.

Once she had run out of sight, the Scarlet King disposed of the chicken bones to make them harmless.

How did he dispose of them?

"These bones are delicious!" The Scarlet King crunched through the drumstick bones like little snacks.

When he finished, he even smacked his lips, still wanting more.

For the first time in his long life, the Scarlet King had used his wits to deceive another Soul Beast.

"How could the Auspicious Beast eat a human's leftovers? What if they upset her stomach?" He used that reasoning to excuse his deception of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. "I did it for the Auspicious Beast—for the Star Dou Great Forest!"