At Xu Nuo's request, Golden Crocodile Douluo prepared to set out at once.
But before leaving,
Golden Crocodile Douluo asked Ma Xiunuo to go to Nuoding Academy and request leave on Xu Nuo's behalf, saying that an urgent family matter had suddenly come up.
Then Golden Crocodile Douluo took Xu Nuo out of Nuoding City, traveling through the air straight toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
On the way, Golden Crocodile Douluo could not help feeling moved.
"Xiao Nuo, if big brother knew you'd already broken through to level twenty, he'd certainly be happy for you!"
Xu Nuo smiled faintly and said modestly,
"You flatter me, Grandpa Golden Crocodile. They're all just gifts from fate."
Golden Crocodile Douluo chuckled and shook his head.
He knew that Xu Nuo must have secrets of his own to have broken through so quickly.
But the Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul was a rare Fate Attribute Martial Soul, and its ability to grant wishes was already enough to shock the world.
Compared to that, what was a swift breakthrough to level twenty?
By the time the two arrived near the Star Dou Great Forest, the sky had gone completely dark.
So they found a hotel in the nearest town and prepared to rest for the night.
Tomorrow, they would enter the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Get a good rest tonight. We'll enter the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow morning."
After dinner, Golden Crocodile Douluo said his piece, and they went to rest.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning,
As dawn was just breaking,
Golden Crocodile Douluo set out with Xu Nuo, heading straight into the Star Dou Great Forest.
After merging with the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone and being strengthened by the vitality and Soul Power it released,
Xu Nuo felt that his physical constitution should have improved considerably.
Thus, for his Second Soul Ring, Xu Nuo planned to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Even if he could not withstand it,
The Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone had the Soul Bone Skill, "Wildfire Cannot Burn It All Away; the Spring Breeze Brings It Back to Life," with a healing ability powerful enough to regenerate severed limbs.
It could turn the attempt into an opportunity to strengthen his body!
Thus, Xu Nuo told Golden Crocodile Douluo that he intended to hunt for a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
After he persuaded Golden Crocodile Douluo,
Golden Crocodile Douluo took Xu Nuo deeper into the inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Compared with the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, the inner region had more Soul Beasts and a greater variety of them, and undoubtedly more Soul Beasts with powerful bloodlines.
Thanks to the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit Origin from Xiao Wu, the Soul Skill of his First Soul Ring had become Invincible Golden Body.
Now that he had a defensive Soul Skill powerful enough to save his life,
For his Second Soul Ring, Xu Nuo aimed to find a thousand-year Soul Beast that would grant the Wishing Magic Lamp Martial Soul a control-type ability.
But ideals were plump, while reality was skin and bones.
Xu Nuo and Golden Crocodile Douluo spent most of the day roaming the inner region and encountered plenty of Soul Beasts.
But either their attributes were unsuitable or their ages were too high or too low, and they never found a target that satisfied them.
Before they knew it, the sky was growing dark.
It was getting late.
At night, not only did numerous powerful predatory Soul Beasts roam the Star Dou Great Forest, with danger lurking everywhere, but searching for Soul Beasts was also inconvenient.
Xu Nuo had no choice but to make camp with Golden Crocodile Douluo and rest for the night.
They would continue searching tomorrow.
Elsewhere, a few hours earlier.
In the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Beside the Lake of Life.
The blue lake shimmered, clear as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds above. Lush grass and trees covered its shores.
A rich breath of life filled the air.
This was the core region at the very depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, a place where humans were rarely seen.
At that moment, two figures, one gold and one red, were strolling along the lakeshore.
The scarlet figure was a Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Mastiff over five meters tall.
Its entire body was crimson, its fur like blazing flames. It resembled both a lion and a mastiff, and it had three savage heads, each over a meter across.
Every head bared its fangs, its canine teeth gleaming red-gold, while its six bell-like eyes flashed with a vicious light.
This was the Scarlet King, one of the Ferocious Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest who should have appeared ten thousand years later!
Beside the Scarlet King, the golden Soul Beast looked especially strange.
Her whole body seemed carved from translucent crystal, with a peculiar sheen and texture.
Her overall form was much like a lion's, but her four paws were like a dragon's, and a ball of leaping golden flame burned beneath each one. Her muzzle was somewhat longer than that of an ordinary lion-type Soul Beast, and fine golden scales could be faintly seen beneath her fur.
Besides her normal pair of eyes, she had a vertical eye on her forehead that gave off an eerie red glow.
She was none other than the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion!
Compared with the one from Peerless Tang Sect ten thousand years later, however, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had only recently been born. Her cultivation was merely a few thousand years, and she could not yet be considered powerful.
But her status as the Emperor Auspicious Beast meant that all the Ferocious Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest cherished and revered her.
In this era,
The Scarlet King and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion should have been in the cavern ten thousand meters beneath the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest, absorbing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's origin power alongside Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts.
But not long ago, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had suddenly sensed a strange power of fate appear in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Perhaps it was the pull of fate.
The power of fate was immensely attractive to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Unable to resist, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion told Di Tian that she wanted to go outside and have a look.
In the end, Di Tian agreed and sent the Scarlet King to protect her personally.
But when the Scarlet King escorted the Three-Eyed Golden Lion outside,
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion discovered that the power of fate had vanished.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was somewhat disappointed.
But having finally come out, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion did not want to go straight back.
Newly born, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was playful by nature and did not like the dark cavern underground.
So the Three-Eyed Golden Lion did not return at once. Instead, she planned to have some fun near the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Though the Scarlet King felt somewhat helpless, he did not dare go against this little ancestor's wishes and could only accompany the Three-Eyed Golden Lion as she wandered around the Lake of Life.
But suddenly, as though sensing something, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion jerked her head up, all three eyes lighting up at once.
That power of fate... had appeared again!
And this time, it did not seem to be far away!
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion cried out excitedly, the golden flames beneath her four dragon paws leaping more fiercely as she charged off in the direction she sensed.
Seeing this, the Scarlet King hurried after her, following close behind.
Late at night.
In the inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest, after setting up camp,
Xu Nuo and Golden Crocodile Douluo lit a campfire and prepared to make a pot of rabbit soup with mushrooms and wild vegetables gathered nearby and a Soft Bone Rabbit they had caught.
With some dry rations to go with it, it would make a simple meal.
But suddenly, a rustling sound came from the woods not far away.
Xu Nuo sensed a stirring from his Wishing Martial Soul and looked toward the sound.
The dense bushes were gently pushed aside, and a peculiar Soul Beast poked her head out of the woods, looking around curiously.
When Xu Nuo saw what the Soul Beast looked like, he could not help freezing.
Her body was golden all over, as though carved from translucent crystal. Her head was like a lion's, her four paws were like a dragon's, and a vertical red eye sat on her forehead.
Was that... the Three-Eyed Golden Lion?!
At that moment, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion saw Xu Nuo too. Tilting her head, she stared at him with all three eyes without blinking, her gaze full of curiosity.