At that moment, elsewhere.
Xuan Zi sat cross-legged on a bluestone, holding a wine jar in one hand and stuffing sizzling, grease-dripping roasted beast leg meat into his mouth with the other.
"Burp-"
He let out a drunken belch, his eyes narrowed, his whole body feeling as though it were floating.
"Good wine... good meat..."
Xuan Zi mumbled indistinctly and took another great swig. He paid no mind to the wine running down his grizzled beard, casually wiped it away with his sleeve, and went on gnawing at the meat.
He had no idea that a pair of cold, golden slit-pupiled eyes were staring fixedly at him from the shadows.
They belonged to a powerfully built man with knotted muscles, dragon scales faintly shimmering across his bronze skin, and long black-and-gold hair hanging loosely down his back.
This man was none other than the foremost of the Great Star Dou Forest's ten great fierce beasts, the Black-Eyed Golden Dragon King-Di Tian!
Watching Xuan Zi's shameless display, he curled his lips into a disdainful sneer, his eyes filled with contempt.
He had thought dealing with this slightly stronger ant would take some effort. Who would have thought a few jars of fine wine and a few chunks of good meat would take care of him? Was trash like this worthy of guarding the Mystic Bird?
Di Tian raised his hand and lightly tapped a fingertip.
A voice transmission formed from Soul Power shot out soundlessly and vanished into the depths of the forest.
"You can make your move."
Meanwhile, atop the bluestone, Xuan Zi remained completely oblivious. Hugging his wine jar, he hummed an off-key tune and gazed up at the canopy through bleary, drunken eyes.
"Burp... this wine is really fucking... strong..."
Meanwhile, Lin Mo watched the Man-Faced Demon Spider and Rock Armor Giant Crocodile inch closer, wanting to cry but having no tears.
It had not even been a year since he had restarted!
If he croaked now, whether he could restart a third time was still an open question!
And that Xuan Zi-what happened to being a level 98 Super Douluo? What happened to protecting him from the shadows? The bastard had vanished at the critical moment! Had Lin Mo known it would turn out like this, he would have been better off having Zhou Yi take him to obtain a Soul Ring!
Yet what struck Lin Mo as somewhat strange was that after trapping him here, the Man-Faced Demon Spider and Rock Armor Giant Crocodile still had not attacked.
They simply blocked his way, one to either side, their bodies completely motionless, without even much killing intent.
Instead, they seemed to be waiting for something.
Lin Mo's heart lurched.
Something was wrong. Twelve parts wrong out of ten, utterly wrong. Was there another big fellow behind them?!
Just as that thought arose, suddenly-
"Rustle."
The dense forest ahead and to his right stirred slightly.
Then a Three-Eyed Golden Lion, golden all over with blue-jade antlers growing from its head, slowly walked out.
The instant they saw the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Man-Faced Demon Spider and Rock Armor Giant Crocodile lowered their enormous bodies together, pressing their heads to the ground in submission and respect.
At the sight before him, Lin Mo's legs suddenly went a little weak.
Among soul beasts, the weak were absolutely prey to the strong, and the weak would submit to the strong. Yet this golden lion before him could make a ten-thousand-year Man-Faced Demon Spider and Rock Armor Giant Crocodile bow their heads on the spot...
Then its cultivation had to be at least eighty or ninety thousand years, if not a hundred thousand!
"Oh, heavens..."
Lin Mo's eyes were hollow as his lips trembled and he murmured:
"Can someone please save me-pfft!"
Before he could finish, the golden lion suddenly turned into a bolt of lightning and pounced on him.
Lin Mo felt a tremendous force slam into his chest, nearly making him spit out a mouthful of blood on the spot. Suddenly, all he could see was white.
Steps slowly unfolded before him.
At the end of the stairway stood a gigantic cross radiating gentle light.
A lilting melody sounded beside his ears:
"Dun dun dun dun dun~ dun dun dun dun~"
And then there was no then. Lin Mo passed out on the spot.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion that had pounced onto Lin Mo immediately lowered its head and kept nuzzling his chest, letting out contented purrs along with a clear, melodious human voice whose gender was impossible to distinguish:
"Little bird~ little brother~"
It nuzzled him for ages, but there was not the slightest response.
Only when the Three-Eyed Golden Lion looked up did it discover that Lin Mo had fainted at some point, and it hurriedly sniffed him.
Good, good, he had only fainted.
Ahem, it had just been too excited, so it had pounced a hundred million tiny bits too hard, that was all...
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion sighed in relief.
Yet just as it lowered its head to lick Lin Mo's face-
"BOOM!!"
Without warning, dark clouds filled the previously clear sky. The heavy black clouds blotted out the sun, and deep within them, purple-gold heavenly lightning leaped and cracked incessantly.
This heavenly lightning seemed to have eyes.
At the sight of Lin Mo lying unconscious on the ground, it first froze, then instantly went berserk!
"RUMBLE-!!"
Dark clouds filled the sky, thick with heavenly lightning!
The rolling thunderclouds were several times more imposing than before, and purple-gold lightning bathed the entire dense forest in mingled purple and gold.
"ROAR!!!"
The heavenly lightning instantly transformed into a purple-gold lightning dragon and descended from the sky with the might to destroy heaven and earth!
The lightning dragon split into three in midair.
Three bolts of lightning struck toward the Man-Faced Demon Spider, the Rock Armor Giant Crocodile, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion simultaneously.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider and Rock Armor Giant Crocodile trembled in terror. Eight spider legs and four stone-pillar-like legs instantly went limp, and their bodies pressed tightly against the ground, wishing they could bury themselves in the earth.
Such terrifying Heavenly Might...
The Heavenly Dao was enraged!
The Man-Faced Demon Spider and Rock Armor Giant Crocodile did not even dare raise their heads.
Yet faced with this spectacle, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion showed not a trace of fear. Instead, it raised its head and let out an "Awoo" at the purple-gold lightning dragon.
The purple-gold lightning dragon hurtling down upon it suddenly slammed on the brakes, forcibly stopping right in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
It looked at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Then it looked at Lin Mo lying beneath the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Oh~
So its little kitty wanted to see the little bird!
Nothing wrong with that, then. Have fun!
The purple-gold lightning dragon instantly broke apart, then reassembled into a huge heart in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The heart flashed, then shot back into the heavens with a whoosh.
The dark clouds in the sky instantly dispersed, and sunlight shone down once more, as though that world-destroying thunderstorm had never happened.
In fact, as early as a year ago.
The moment the Three-Eyed Golden Lion first sensed the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird's appearance, it had wanted to carry him home in its mouth. Yet in the time it took to go back and inform Di Tian, it turned around again and saw-
Where was the bird? Where had its great big bird gone?!
Later, when Lin Mo and Huo Yuhao used their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion once again sensed the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird's presence.
Had Di Tian not stopped it then, it would have plunged straight into the midst of the humans.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird.
One was an auspicious beast, the other an auspicious omen, both favored children of the Heavenly Emperor.
Simply put, the Heavenly Dao was their parent, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird were his two children. Their bloodlines were connected, and each would instinctively feel closeness toward and a desire to protect the other.
Thus, in the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's eyes, Lin Mo was its little brother. Although it did not know why its little brother was human, their shared bloodline could never be mistaken!
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion took Lin Mo's collar in its mouth and gently placed him on its back, its whole being looking especially delighted.
"Little bird, little bird!"
"I'm taking the little bird home~"