Food Guarding?

Beast Fighting Zone.

On an artificial mountain, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear casually crossed one leg over the other, lying lazily in the sun. Since its master had told it to stay here, it had no objections. Food and lodging were covered, and it was pretty suitable for doing nothing...

"Roar~"

Suddenly, a low growl rang out.

Little Gold raised a brow and tilted its head, looking at the Flame Lion blocked on the other side by the metal railing. Its head was desperately squeezing between the bars, its claws scraping against them with an ear-piercing screech.

This artificial mountain had originally belonged to it, but ever since this Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear arrived, its territory had been forcibly cleared out, and it had been driven into the narrow area beside it.

It had been captured when it was young and fed some miraculous Spirit Pills, or herbs containing Spiritual Energy, causing it to grow to a cultivation of three thousand years in just a few short decades. It had also happened to receive Old Gong's favor, and had always tyrannized the Beast Fighting Zone. It had never experienced the dangers within the Star Dou Great Forest, nor the ferocity of a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, which was why it kept provoking it.

Otherwise, if it were any other Thousand Year Spirit Beast, the moment it saw Little Gold, it would probably have tucked its tail and shrunk off to the side.

"Huff..." Little Gold glanced at it, seeming surprised by its courage.

It rolled over and continued basking leisurely in the sun.

"Roar!!!" (Lazy bear, fight me to the death if you've got the guts!)

"Roar!" (Get over here! If this metal railing weren't protecting you, this lion would've roasted you into charcoal already!)

"..."

The Flame Lion was ignored, its face full of rage. It clawed at the railing with increasing force, but the latter did not budge at all. It could only roar impotently from behind it, fighting a war of spit.

Finally, its pupils shifted, as if it had thought of something.

"Boom!"

Along with a slight tremor.

Little Gold slowly stood up and touched its back with a bear paw. From the artificial mountain's turf beneath it came a charred smell. A large gap had been burned into the lush green grass, while its fur was unharmed.

"..."

It finally looked toward the Flame Lion on the other side of the metal railing, a trace of killing intent stirring.

"Not good! Hurry, go get Old Gong!"

"This Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear is about to riot!"

"Fuck, does this beast really think it's a Fierce Beast? It even dares provoke a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear?"

Chaos broke out outside the venue.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's fearsome reputation was well known, and everyone present was a professional, so they naturally understood it clearly. As for this Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear that Old Gong had somehow acquired not long ago, although it was only at the thousand-year level, its combat power was absolutely enough to rival a ten-thousand-year beast! In other words, in the entire venue, there were probably only a handful of spirit beasts that could surpass it...

So whether the metal railing that had originally restrained the Flame Lion could stop it was truly unknown.

"Roar!"

As Little Gold approached step by step, the Flame Lion seemed to finally sense a trace of threat of death. It lowered its body, bared its teeth, and let out low growls. Its earlier excitement slowly dissipated with the heavy footsteps of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

Thousand Year Spirit Beasts already possessed intelligence. In the past, most Thousand Year Spirit Beasts could not take even one of its fireballs, but this giant bear had taken one head-on, and its fur had not even melted! This was different from what it had expected!

Fortunately, though, there was still the fence.

Seeing Little Gold stop before the fence, the Flame Lion, though facing its huge body, had some of the fear in its heart dispelled, and it began growling provocatively again.

Little Gold glanced at it indifferently.

"Boom!!!"

Along with a violent rumble.

The extremely sturdy metal railing was smashed apart by a single palm strike. Metal fragments flew everywhere, mixed with several posts whose bases were wrapped in concrete foundation. In an instant, alarms blared throughout the entire Beast Fighting Zone, and dozens of staff members stared nervously into the arena, their hearts leaping into their throats.

The dust and mist dispersed.

Only then did everyone see that the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had not attacked, while the Flame Lion was trembling all over. A stench of urine spread through the arena.

Little Gold swatted its head in disgust, sending the nearly three-meter-long body opposite it flying. Blood spilled from the lion's mouth and dripped onto the venue floor.

"Thud~"

The sound of a heavy object crashing to the ground.

The Flame Lion foamed at the mouth, its life or death unknown.

While the surrounding staff were all full of fear, Little Gold strolled back to its artificial mountain as if nothing had happened. Avoiding the spot that had been scorched just now, it lay down and went back to sleep.

After waiting several minutes, seeing that Little Gold made no other movements, everyone finally ran over cautiously to clean up the Flame Lion.

"Roar!"

But suddenly, a low growl came from across the way.

Several staff members were instantly scared out of their wits and wanted to flee, but they were blocked by a wall. Their eyes filled with terror and despair, but Little Gold merely pointed at its artificial mountain.

"You mean... the grass was burned? You want us to fix that for you too?" a sharper man said.

"Roar~" Little Gold nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, we'll go right now..."

"..."

A few minutes later.

After Old Gong arrived in a fiery rush, he listened to the staff's report, then glanced at the unconscious Flame Lion. Only then did he let out a long breath of relief.

"Old Gong, should we take any measures? Like reinforcing the enclosure or something?" someone asked, still shaken.

"No need. If it had really gone for the kill, that beast would already be dead." Old Gong snorted coldly. "Reckless fool."

The white-haired old man narrowed his eyes, then continued, "Put the two of them together."

"Are you serious?!" the others said in shock.

"Obviously. If that beast hadn't provoked it, would Little Gold have attacked? At this level, it'll at most injure its tendons and bones, just enough to teach it a lesson. If it really wanted to kill, heh..." Old Gong sneered. "This is perfect. Let Little Gold set some proper rules for it. Strutting around like a tyrant all day—when I feed it meat, the one time I wasn't paying attention, it actually dared to roar at me and guard its food!"

"..."

When everyone heard that, they cast pitying looks at the Flame Lion.

Before this Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear came along, your attitude toward it wasn't like this at all...

You'd even picked out a name for it. This favoritism was more than a little obvious.

Still, this Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's quality was absolutely top-tier. Its dark-gold fur and pitch-black, razor-sharp bear claws gleamed under the sun, its looks maxed out. Even across the entire Star Dou Great Forest, it would probably be hard to find a second one that could compare.

Recently, there had indeed been many academy disciples coming specifically for it, looking for a sparring partner, and it also knew its limits well, never once striking too heavily...

"Awooo~"

The Flame Lion huddled timidly in the shadows of a corner, staring outside with a resentful look.

It threw its head back and howled, like a husky that had been abandoned.

Suddenly, the howl cut off.

A dark shadow loomed over it. At the same time, a large chunk of raw meat was tossed over, still streaked with blood, very fresh. Little Gold lowered its head and gave it a flat glance.

The Flame Lion couldn't resist the temptation of food and lowered its head to take a bite.

Seeing that Little Gold still hadn't left and was watching it eat, it subconsciously let out a snarl.

Little Gold: "..."

Guarding food?

"Awooo~~~"

A heart-rending howl rang through the entire arena.