The Amethyst Winged Lion King

The Eastern Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Inside a cave.

An enormous magical beast rested with its eyes closed.

The beast was massive, its body a full seven or eight meters long, and its surface was covered in a layer of purple crystals.

Its head was a ferocious-looking lion's head, with blood-red eyes suffused with an eerie purple glow and a huge mouth bristling with fangs. A fiery-red, spiraling horn rose from its crown.

Clusters of purple flames coiled around the horn's tip. A pair of purple wings grew from the sides of its immense leonine body, sending purple flames surging out with every flap. Its four powerful limbs were likewise encased in purple crystals, lending it an otherworldly appearance and an overwhelmingly imposing air.

With such unmistakable features, anyone who saw it would recognize it at first glance.

One of the overlords of the Magical Beast Mountain Range-the Amethyst Winged Lion King!

"Aooo!"

An ape's howl rang out beyond the cave, its sound gradually weakening as it traveled, clearly to avoid disturbing this sovereign of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

The Amethyst Winged Lion King's purple-tinged eyes opened slightly, and, astonishingly, it spoke in the human tongue:

"Come in."

Its voice was quiet, yet it could be heard clearly within a hundred meters.

With the Lion King's permission granted, a rush of wind sounded at the entrance, and a gigantic demonic ape, some ten-odd meters tall, jogged inside.

The fur covering its body did not lie flat. Instead, each strand stood erect like a steel needle, glinting with a sharp, cold light that made the spines' deadly edges obvious at a glance.

Its scarlet eyes gleamed red, and two fangs pressed down over its lower lip, giving it a truly savage appearance.

It was the Spineburst Mad Ape, one of the fifth-order magical beasts serving the Amethyst Winged Lion King deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Though even larger than the Lion King, the ape reined in its entire aura upon seeing it, not daring to reveal the slightest trace of ferocity.

"Aooo..."

"Hmm? You're saying a human is enslaving magical beasts?"

The Spineburst Mad Ape gave a low growl, seemingly reporting something to the Lion King.

The Lion King clearly understood and sought confirmation that the report was true.

The Spineburst Mad Ape nodded and roared, its tone angry yet tinged with grievance. "Aooo!"

The Lion King narrowed its eyes. Purple light blazed within them, and a dangerous, vicious gleam flashed past as it said coldly, "You're saying that human not only enslaved magical beasts, but more than a dozen fourth-order magical beasts at that?!"

"Aooo!"

"And all of them were subordinates of the fifth-order magical beasts under my command!"

"Roar!"

A powerful aura erupted from the Lion King. Its immense pressure pulverized even the loose stones on the ground as it rose to its feet and stared coldly at the Spineburst Mad Ape.

Frightened by the sudden surge of pressure, the Spineburst Mad Ape dropped to the ground, trembling and not daring to make a sound.

Purple flames surged from the Amethyst Winged Lion King's eyes, killing intent flooding their depths as it said icily, "That damned human! Enslaving the magical beasts under my command-ten thousand deaths would not atone for his crime!"

Had someone killed one of the magical beasts under its command, the Lion King would most likely have ignored it.

Magical beasts were different from humans. They comprised many races, and deadly struggles were not limited to those between humans and magical beasts.

Magical beasts of different races also slaughtered one another. In their world, there had never been any so-called benevolence or morality, only nature's most fundamental law: the strong devoured the weak.

Unless the victims were magical beasts of their own race, they generally would not interfere in the deaths of beasts unrelated to them.

An overlord of the Magical Beast Mountain Range like the Amethyst Winged Lion King had countless magical beasts under its command. If it had to avenge every single one that was killed, wouldn't it work itself to death?

But this was different. Someone had actually dared to enslave its subordinates on its own territory. Wasn't that a slap in its face? And they were all fourth-order magical beasts!

It was like the Lion King was a gang boss with a host of underlings, and one day, someone from a rival gang suddenly poached all the promising recruits favored by its trusted lieutenants.

When those lieutenants reported it, how could it react? Wasn't that an outright slap in its face? If it ignored this, how could it ever hold its head up in the underworld again? Naturally, it would draw a melon-cleaving machete and hack the bastard down.

That was exactly the situation the Amethyst Winged Lion King faced now.

"Gather every fifth-order magical beast and search the Magical Beast Mountain Range with everything you have! Dig three feet into the earth if you must, but find that human! I'll tear him into ten thousand pieces!"

The Amethyst Winged Lion King spoke coldly, driving its thick, powerful amethyst forepaw downward and gouging a hole in the stone beneath it.

The Spineburst Mad Ape hastily lowered its head, not daring to meet the Lion King's gaze, and answered with a respectful growl. "Aooo..."

Then it jogged out of the cave with its massive body.

After the Spineburst Mad Ape left, the Amethyst Winged Lion King lay down again and closed its eyes to doze, as though nothing had happened. Only magical beasts familiar with it knew this was merely the calm before the storm.

If that human fell into its grasp, he would likely find death preferable to life.

"Achoo!"

At that moment, Xiao Yu sneezed. It was his first sneeze in all this time.

"Sniff... sniff..."

Twitching his nose, Xiao Yu reached up to pinch it and said involuntarily, "That felt great..."

"It's been so long since I sneezed, I'd almost forgotten what it felt like."

Then he lounged on the back of a bovine magical beast, basking comfortably in the sunshine and enjoying the pleasant moment.

Wisps of dark-red lightning flickered through the bovine magical beast's eyes-the distinctive mark left when he used Three Thousand Puppet Thunders to enslave a living creature. He had enslaved this demonic bull simply to have somewhere to lie down.

It reminded him of tending cattle as a child. Every morning, he would get up, wash, eat a little, then leisurely lead his family's big water buffalo out to graze.

Rice grew everywhere across the fields. After riding the buffalo to his usual grazing spot, he would lie on its back and sleep. The sunshine was just right, the air fresh-a pleasure beyond words.

He had yet to realize how serious things had become. He was still sunbathing while using Three Thousand Puppet Thunders to direct magical beasts in their search for medicinal herbs.

With the Myriad Transformation Flame concealing his aura, the fifth-order magical beasts under the Lion King's command could not find Xiao Yu anywhere.

The results enraged the Lion King, which roared incessantly, leaving magical beasts throughout the entire Magical Beast Mountain Range on edge. None of them knew what madness had seized it.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu, the very one responsible, was getting a splitting headache from the Amethyst Winged Lion King's roars and occasionally grumbled a complaint or two.

"Who is that? Roaring all day long-it's driving me crazy!"

Little did he know that the Magical Beast Mountain Range had ended up like this entirely because he had enslaved more than a dozen fourth-order magical beasts.

Outside the Magical Beast Mountain Range, a mysterious figure with pale-cyan Dou Qi Wings on their back was racing toward its depths at full speed.

As the figure streaked across the azure sky, a long cyan trail lingered behind them, a testament to their extraordinary speed.

Everyone on the ground who saw the figure wore a look of reverence, slowly lowering their head before cautiously watching them depart.