"A few months?"
The Auspicious Beast nodded and confirmed, "Yes, the estimated timing should be pretty close."
At her words, Zeng Tian's gaze shifted slightly. What exactly was Di Tian after, inviting him and the Auspicious Beast to a gathering that only Ferocious Beasts could attend?
Or had Di Tian already learned how strong they were, decided they had reached the level of Ferocious Beasts, and planned to bring them into the circle of decision-makers?
Seeing Zeng Tian remain silent for so long, the Auspicious Beast assumed he was nervous and said:
"I've actually been to this gathering before. It's nothing interesting. We can just listen from the sidelines when the time comes. A few hours at most."
Hearing her comforting words, Zeng Tian smiled slightly. "I'm just curious about why Di Tian invited us, that's all."
"Then I'll be off. I'll notify you when the gathering is about to begin."
With that, the Scarlet King transformed into a streak of dark-red light and disappeared from Zeng Tian's sight.
A gathering of Ferocious Beasts?
Zeng Tian glanced toward the Lake of Life, his gaze flickering.
When soldiers came, he would meet them with a general; when floodwaters came, he would block them with earth. Whatever happened, he still had a few months, enough time to take another step forward.
On the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
A Soul King led several fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boys along a narrow path, searching for suitable Soul Beasts to hunt for Soul Rings.
Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the ground. The Soul King immediately leaped into the treetops in a few bounds and gazed into the distance.
When he saw what was happening, his expression changed sharply, and even his voice began to tremble.
"This is bad! It's the once-a-century Soul Beast rampage!"
Hearing the Soul King's words, the boys below instantly lost all color, their faces deathly pale.
A Soul Beast rampage was one of the most terrifying events in the Star Dou Great Forest. Vast numbers of thousand-year and even ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts would charge out of the Mixed Zone and even the Core Area, forming a Beast Tide.
Normally, the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest were relatively safe. The Soul Beasts there were only at the ten-year or hundred-year level, with none exceeding the thousand-year level. Under the protection of a senior, there was generally little chance of anything going wrong.
During a Soul Beast rampage, however, the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest could become even more terrifying than the Mixed Zone. Ordinary low-ranking Soul Masters caught within it faced almost certain death.
That was why these people were so terrified the moment their Soul King senior called it a Soul Beast rampage.
The next instant, the Soul King swiftly jumped down from the treetops and shouted at the boys, "Run! Once the Soul Beasts surround us, none of us will escape!"
Once a Beast Tide like this formed, its sheer numbers posed a risk of death even to a Titled Douluo.
It was said that a Titled Douluo senior had once grown curious about the cause of this once-a-century Beast Tide. During an outbreak, he had ventured deep into the Star Dou Great Forest to uncover the truth, only to never return.
If even a Titled Douluo had perished, what chance did they have?
Scenes like this played out time and again throughout the Star Dou Great Forest. At that moment, the humans hunting for souls gained a profound understanding of how terrifying Soul Beasts could be.
Blazing Flame Valley.
In the midst of a patch of vivid red spirit herbs, an Orange-Red Fire Dragon nearly three meters long lay asleep on the ground. Gusts of hot air streamed from his nostrils with each breath, while a pure red flame burned at the tip of his tail.
Faint traces of his aura seeped out, and the flakes of skin he shed were absorbed by the surrounding blazing fire grass, causing subtle changes in the form of the grass encircling him.
"Hmm?"
Seemingly noticing the commotion outside, the Giant Dragon opened his eyes, revealing draconic pupils as dazzling as sapphires. He raised his head and looked toward the source of the noise.
Zeng Tian stood up. Sensing the waves of powerful auras coming from outside, he said in surprise, "I only slept for a while. How did things outside end up like this?"
Yesterday, he had studied Sunny Day late into the night. Only after finally making a little progress had he settled down to sleep, never expecting such a drastic change outside in just one night.
Just as Zeng Tian was about to fly out of Blazing Flame Valley to investigate, a dazzling streak of golden light skimmed across the ground and rushed through the valley's entrance.
"Zeng Tian, Zeng Tian, are you awake? The gathering Di Tian is hosting is about to start!"
The Auspicious Beast's voice arrived almost at the same time she did, reawakening memories that had grown hazy from Zeng Tian's deep sleep.
The gathering? I almost forgot. The Ferocious Beasts' gathering was due to begin around now.
The Auspicious Beast bounded up to Zeng Tian. Seeing that he was already awake, she said delightedly, "Oh, you're awake! Then let's hurry, or that annoying Scarlet King will start nagging us again."
Zeng Tian nodded, then beat his wings and shot into the air, transforming into a swift streak of red light as he flew out of the valley.
Naturally, Miss Auspicious Beast followed close behind. After all her diligent practice during this time, her Flame Charge could accelerate her to the very limit her body could currently withstand. Her top speed was not much slower than Zeng Tian's; she merely needed far longer to reach it.
After flying out of Blazing Flame Valley, Zeng Tian watched the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts along the way fleeing madly toward the forest's outskirts. Puzzled, he asked Miss Auspicious Beast, who had caught up behind him, "What are these Soul Beasts doing? Why are they running outward?"
"Oh, them? Why else? They got scared."
The Auspicious Beast glanced at the distant Soul Beasts and answered casually.
"Because of the Ferocious Beasts' gathering, many powerful Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest have awakened. These Soul Beasts aren't very bright. Suddenly sensing so many powerful Soul Beasts' auras, they naturally don't dare linger here, so all they can do is run farther out."
Listening to the Auspicious Beast's explanation, Zeng Tian's mouth could not help twitching.
He could already imagine how, once these Soul Beasts fled from the Core Area into the Mixed Zone, their arrival would inevitably force the Soul Beasts originally living there to migrate farther outward.
Ultimately, this would leave thousand-year Soul Beasts running rampant throughout the outskirts, with no shortage of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts among them.
And all of this was merely caused by the auras released when Soul Beasts such as Xiong Jun woke up.
Both Zeng Tian and the Auspicious Beast were now far faster than before. Moreover, Blazing Flame Valley, where Zeng Tian lived, was already within the Core Area, so it did not take long for the two of them to reach the vicinity of the Lake of Life.
"Such powerful auras."
As soon as he came within a few kilometers of the Lake of Life, Zeng Tian sensed several powerful auras, each no weaker than the Scarlet King's.
Without a doubt, these auras came from the Ferocious Beasts led by Di Tian. An ordinary Soul Beast would probably collapse to the ground and tremble from merely enduring their Pressure. No wonder those Soul Beasts had chosen to abandon their original habitats and migrate to the outskirts.
But soon, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Zeng Tian's mouth, and he thought, Still, fortunately, I'm no pushover now either!