With that, Luo Chen sat cross-legged beside the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's corpse.
After taking a deep breath, he was just about to begin absorbing the Soul Ring when another familiar, scorching tremor came from his left hand.
"Could it be the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor again?"
Puzzled, Luo Chen opened his left hand. A crimson light slowly bloomed in his palm, and moments later, a familiar scene unfolded once again.
A palm-sized scorpion, crimson all over, with flames faintly flickering within its shell, slowly materialized in his palm.
At that moment, the scorpion held both pincers high, its tail stinger curved into a blazing arc. Who else could it be but the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor?
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!" The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor made a sound Luo Chen could understand. "Just focus on absorbing the Soul Ring. I'll protect you."
Hearing this, Luo Chen smiled and tapped the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's head with a finger. "I'm absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring this time. It's very dangerous. One careless mistake, and my body could explode and kill me."
"You're still too weak right now. Listen to me and go back."
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!" The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor anxiously waved its tail several times toward the purple Soul Ring hovering in midair, then gently pinched Luo Chen with a pincer. "A 1,780-year-old Netherworld Stinger Scorpion Soul Ring is something your current physique can absorb."
"Even if something unexpected happens, I can still protect you."
Although Luo Chen did not know why the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor was so confident it could protect him, the longer he looked at it holding its pincers high, the more moved he felt.
And so, smiling, Luo Chen gently patted the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's shell and said with a faint smile, "Thanks."
The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor nodded in satisfaction and jumped down from his palm. It pierced the ground with its hooked tail and drew a complete circle around Luo Chen and the Netherworld Stinger Scorpion's corpse.
Once it finished drawing the circle, it raised its pincers toward it, then extended its tail and waved it at Luo Chen, indicating that he must not leave the circle while absorbing the Soul Ring.
Understanding its meaning, Luo Chen sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. After calming himself, he began absorbing the Soul Ring.
Once the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor saw Luo Chen begin absorbing the Soul Ring, its palm-sized body instantly grew as towering as a mountain.
It crouched beside Luo Chen, wrapping its crimson tail around him in layer upon layer until not a single gap remained, then kept both pincers raised as it watched the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest warily.
Meanwhile, deep within the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
In a mysterious place surrounded by ancient trees, with clear skies and a blue sea, an enormous, pitch-black dragon coiled atop a giant ancient tree suddenly opened his eyes.
The black dragon was named Di Tian, the Black-Eyed Golden Dragon King who served under the Dragon God.
His dragon bloodline was exceptionally pure, and his cultivation had reached 810,000 years. He was the guardian of the Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
At that moment, Di Tian's golden, slit-pupiled eyes were filled with shock and confusion.
"This presence..." His voice was low, carrying a trace of disbelief. "It's the presence of the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor!?"
As the guardian of the Star Dou Great Forest, Di Tian knew every presence within the forest like the back of his hand. It could be said that whenever a powerful Soul Beast entered the Star Dou Great Forest, he could sense it immediately.
But the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor had been formed from heavenly fire and earthly soil, two of the four great elements of creation, and also bore the power of destiny. If it did not wish to reveal its identity, it would make no difference who came.
"The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor..." Di Tian murmured, a trace of complexity flashing through his eyes. "That's a legendary existence. Doesn't it normally slumber in the heart of the Douluo Continent?"
"Why would it appear in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
"Could something major be about to happen in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Countless mysteries drove him to rise and investigate, and just as he was about to get up and head to the outskirts to find out what was happening-
Suddenly, torrential rain began pouring down across the entire core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Rainwater cascaded like a waterfall, shrouding the entire core region behind a curtain of water.
At the sight, Di Tian immediately realized something was wrong.
"This rain... something's not right." Di Tian deliberately examined the rainwater with his divine sense, only then discovering that it had completely concealed the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's presence.
"Someone is deliberately concealing the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's presence?" A cold gleam flashed through Di Tian's eyes. "Possessing the power to alter heaven and earth, yet keeping me from noticing-no one in the entire Douluo World could do that."
Yet the scene before his eyes was undeniably real, and it truly frightened Di Tian.
Just as he prepared to pass through the curtain of rain and use his Soul Power to track the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's location, an aged, majestic voice suddenly came from underground.
"Di Tian."
"This is the Heavenly Dao Consciousness concealing it."
"Stop wasting your effort."
Hearing that voice, Di Tian trembled all over.
"Lady Silver Dragon King..." He lowered his head and looked respectfully toward the ground below.
No one would have imagined that underground, in the deepest reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest's core region, there was actually a crystal-clear Lake of Life brimming with the rich breath of life.
At that moment, the Silver Dragon King, who had been slumbering deep within the lake, slowly opened her eyes.
The Silver Dragon King was half of the Dragon God, commanding the ultimate power of seven attributes: water, fire, earth, wind, space, darkness, and light. Unable to defeat the Asura God, she had been forced to drag her gravely wounded body away and flee to the Douluo Continent.
Normally, the Silver Dragon King left all Soul Beast affairs entirely in Di Tian's hands while she slumbered at the bottom of the Lake of Life, healing her gravely wounded body.
Yet now, she had opened her eyes because the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor had appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest, showing just how serious the situation was.
At that moment, her eyes were filled with bitter hatred as she gazed at the sky.
"Damn it!" Her voice was icy, carrying boundless killing intent. "The world order of the Douluo Continent is undergoing enormous changes."
"Yet my injuries prevent me from emerging," she said, her voice filled with unwillingness. "Wipe out the humans!"
After hundreds of thousands of years of slumber, the Silver Dragon King's injuries had still not healed. She could only watch helplessly as humans rose, as Soul Beasts were slaughtered, and as the order of the Douluo Continent changed bit by bit.
And now, the Heavenly Dao Consciousness had acted personally to conceal the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor's presence.
Others might not know what this meant, but as a god, the Silver Dragon King could make a rough guess.
The Heavenly Dao acting to conceal a presence undoubtedly meant that someone capable of changing the entire world had appeared.
If she could win him over to her side, the Silver Dragon King believed she could absolutely wipe out all humans.
Of course, if that person refused to come over, she would show no mercy either.
And so, her voice once again rose from beneath the ground:
"Di Tian, keep a close watch on movements in the outskirts, especially the shadowy areas there."
"If it is the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor, invite it to the Lake of Life for a conversation. If it isn't..." She paused, a sharp, vicious gleam flashing through her eyes. "And is instead a human who threatens the existence of Soul Beasts, kill him at any cost."
Hearing this, Di Tian respectfully lowered his head. "As you command, Lady Silver Dragon King."