The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was thoroughly frustrated.
Today should have been another boring day like any other. All she had to do was enjoy the offerings of her Soul Beast subjects as usual and find some amusement to pass the time.
Yet while passing the time, she had unexpectedly sensed the presence of her own kind.
That had piqued her interest.
She already controlled the fortune of the Douluo Continent's Soul Beasts. For certain special reasons, humans could not become her kind even if they possessed powerful fortune. So what could this visitor be?
On a whim, she rose and left the Core Circle, intending to meet this peculiar visitor.
To her surprise, the visitor turned out to be human.
This truly exceeded her expectations. As far as she knew, the collective consciousness of this world's humans had long since fallen dormant for unknown reasons. In theory, an existence like her should not have been born among them.
More importantly, the power of destiny possessed by this human calling himself Lin Xi was outrageous even by her standards. He hardly seemed like a Divine Beast of Destiny as she understood it, but rather the Executor of some great existence.
Just where did this fellow come from? The Three-Eyed Golden Lion grew interested.
The outcome of their conversation once again defied her expectations.
This fellow actually claimed he could accurately predict the future. He even said that, according to his foresight, the big worm Di Tian and the others had trapped would escape in a few days!
If that was true, it was certainly not something she could ignore. Yet this human named Lin Xi told her:
"Don't stop him. As far as I know, if you meddle recklessly, humans will drive Soul Beasts into a desperate corner within ten thousand years."
It was a naked threat, but the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had no choice but to listen.
Because she, too, was a divine beast with the destiny attribute, she could sense that this human was telling the truth.
What else could she do? Events had already slipped beyond her control. She could only follow Lin Xi's instructions and stand obediently to one side, watching.
At least if Lin Xi intended to use that big worm to do anything harmful to Soul Beasts, she could stop him immediately, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion consoled herself helplessly.
In complete contrast to her, Lin Xi was practically on cloud nine.
With the Emperor Auspicious Beast presiding over things, their trip to the Star Dou Great Forest had truly become an outing.
Not a single Soul Beast dared disturb them. Aside from having to sort out their own food, the entire journey went unimaginably smoothly.
He could count it as experiencing the treatment of the Star Dou Great Forest's crown prince firsthand.
After nightfall, Lin Xi and the others lit a campfire.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been practically suicidal, but now they had no need to worry about that.
To express his thanks, Lin Xi gave the Three-Eyed Golden Lion a few fish Huo Yutong had grilled.
In the original story, practically every female character who liked Huo Yuhao had eaten his grilled fish and praised it to the skies. There was even an oddball like Ju Zi who fell for him because of it. To Lin Xi, the stuff was practically an aphrodisiac.
It was no less fantastical than the ice-filled rods in hentai.
Sure enough, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion loved it.
Although she maintained a cold, aloof exterior, the speed at which she wolfed it down had already betrayed her.
As a result, she became even more frustrated.
She kept feeling that her role had somehow changed without her noticing.
Thus, two days later, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion finally lost her patience.
She sought out Lin Xi and asked:
"When exactly is that big worm going to escape? And what exactly are you planning to do with him?"
Two days ago, Lin Xi had only told her that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was going to escape and warned her not to interfere. He had not told her how he intended to deal with him.
After spending these two days together, her impression of Lin Xi and the others had changed completely.
At first, she had thought he was merely a human with relatively strong fortune. Although a twelve-year-old Soul Elder could be considered a genius among humans, he still could not escape the palm of her hand.
Yet after seeing how Artoria and Melusine turned Soul Beasts into ingredients, that understanding had been completely overturned.
In what world could a Soul Elder thrash a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast like that? This was ridiculous!
Although the result would not have been much different had she acted herself, at the very least, she was no longer confident she could keep these humans here.
If they wanted to run, they could slip away at their leisure at any moment.
Only then did the Three-Eyed Golden Lion realize that things had long since slipped completely beyond her control.
This couldn't go on! She had to find out what they were thinking! The Three-Eyed Golden Lion made up her mind.
If Lin Xi refused to talk, she would not shrink from fighting him.
"Hmm..." Contrary to her expectations, Lin Xi merely pondered for a moment before nodding. "Right, you must be feeling uneasy? That's my fault. I didn't explain things clearly."
"Huh?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion blinked in astonishment.
He was surprisingly easy to talk to?
Barely two seconds after that thought arose, Lin Xi's next words shattered it.
"Then how about this? Go touch foreheads with Yutong. As far as I know, doing that will let you exchange memories. She knows my plans for what comes next, so you'll get answers to everything you want to know."
Looking at Lin Xi's spring-breeze smile, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's brain froze for two seconds.
Then she flew into a rage.
"Insolence! You would have me, a Divine Beast of Destiny, touch foreheads with a human? Are you provoking me?!"
Having her touch foreheads with someone essentially meant asking her to share her fortune with them. In the vast majority of cases, it brought a hundred harms and not a single benefit.
Touching foreheads with Lin Xi would have been one thing, but Huo Yutong?
What a joke!
Lin Xi shrugged as though he did not care. "Forget it if you don't want to. But in that case, don't expect to learn my plans from me. I don't trust you."
"...!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was so furious that she wanted to slap this human dead with one swipe of her paw.
Yet the instant that thought arose, a chill suddenly erupted in her heart.
All her power of destiny screamed a warning at her: Don't do it! You'll die! You'll die! You'll die!!!
She instantly came to her senses.
After a moment of silence, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion asked reluctantly:
"Does it have to be this way? Aren't you afraid I'll call Di Tian?"
"I am. Of course I am." Lin Xi chuckled and spread his hands. "But you're more afraid than I am, aren't you? If Di Tian comes, things will no longer be under your control. As the Emperor Auspicious Beast who can sense destiny, I don't believe you have no premonition of how things will unfold."
"..." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was left utterly speechless.
Indeed, although she was very reluctant to admit it, she could vaguely sense that if she called Di Tian over, Lin Xi's prophecy about the destruction of Soul Beasts within ten thousand years would come true. Everything would be over.
The entire Soul Beast Clan would join the two humans before her in death.
"Haah..." After a long while, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion finally made her decision and heaved a long sigh. "Fine. It's just sharing the power of destiny, isn't it? I agree. Call that girl over."
She was the Emperor Auspicious Beast. Since that was the case, she had to take responsibility for her subjects.
"Thank you for understanding."
Lin Xi smiled faintly and brought Huo Yutong to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's side.
"Yutong, come here. Touch foreheads with Miss Auspicious Beast."
"?"
Huo Yutong tilted her head in confusion.
What was going on?
Still, she did not ask any more questions and obediently leaned her forehead toward the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
She trusted that Brother Lin Xi would not hurt her.
As a result, the instant their foreheads touched, a vast flood of memories poured in, and Huo Yutong immediately fainted.