Inside the cavern.
Hearing Di Tian's roar of rage, the other Ferocious Beasts were alarmed as well.
Bi Ji could hardly believe it when she discovered that the blessing of fortune upon her had indeed vanished.
"Damn it! Who was it? What blind fool dared to harm the Auspicious Beast?!"
Beside her, Xiong Jun sprang to his feet. His blade-like bear claws glinted with a sharp, cold light as he roared in anger.
"It must've been those damned humans!"
"When I get out, I'll tear that human to pieces!"
"Calm down, Xiong Jun!"
Di Tian took a deep breath and spoke in an icy voice.
"The most important thing now is to find out what happened."
With that, Di Tian unleashed Dragon God Claw and tore fiercely at the space around him.
"Riiip-"
A pitch-black rift was forcibly ripped open in space.
After leaving the Myriad Demon King and some Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts behind to guard the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Di Tian led the way into the spatial rift.
Xiong Jun, Bi Ji, Zi JI, and the other Ferocious Beasts followed.
The next second, Di Tian and the Ferocious Beasts, including Xiong Jun and Bi Ji, returned to the surface in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Meanwhile, in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Titan Giant Ape lay beneath a towering tree by the Lake of Life, dozing with snores like thunder.
The Sky Azure Bull Python was swimming in the Lake of Life.
When the Titan Giant Ape noticed Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts emerge on the surface, he jolted awake.
The Sky Azure Bull Python hurriedly swam from the middle of the lake to the shore, then respectfully bowed his head to Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts alongside the Titan Giant Ape.
"Greetings, Lord Beast God! Greetings, Lady Bi Ji! Greetings, Lord Xiong Jun..."
Although the outside world had always believed that the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python were the kings of the Star Dou Great Forest,
both the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python knew full well that they were merely "gatekeeper beasts," tasked with guarding the core region while Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts were in seclusion.
The true rulers of the Star Dou Great Forest had always been the unfathomable Lord Beast God standing before them and the other Ferocious Beasts.
At the sight of the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python, Di Tian forcibly suppressed his anger and asked in a deep voice.
"Have any humans entered the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest?"
The Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape exchanged a glance and shook their heads in confusion.
"Lord Beast God, we have not seen any humans set foot in the core region."
"None?"
Di Tian's brow furrowed tightly.
If no humans had entered the core region, how had something happened to the Auspicious Beast?
Could Scarlet King have taken the Auspicious Beast out of the core region?
The thought made Di Tian even angrier.
He had warned Scarlet King long ago not to let the Auspicious Beast stray too far from the core region.
Now it seemed that stupid dog had most likely let his words go in one ear and out the other!
"Scarlet King... you useless fool!"
Di Tian cursed through gritted teeth. Just as he was about to order them to split up and search,
he suddenly sensed a familiar presence coming from a certain direction. It was the presence of the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
Di Tian froze.
Wait!
Why can I sense the Auspicious Beast again?
Although it was much weaker than before and had become somewhat unfamiliar, its essence was unmistakably that of the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
But why was the Auspicious Beast's presence still there when the blessing of fortune upon them had vanished?
It made no sense!
"The Auspicious Beast's presence is coming from that direction. Let's go!"
Di Tian gave it no further thought. A pair of pitch-black dragon wings burst from his back, and he beat them to soar into the sky, turning into a streak of black light as he sped toward the source of the presence.
"Lord Beast God, wait for us!"
Seeing this, Bi Ji and Zi JI spread their wings and followed.
Xiong Jun and the other flightless Ferocious Beasts could only stare wide-eyed before running after them on the ground, shouting urgently.
"Wait for us! Wait for us!"
Meanwhile, in a certain part of the inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Since it was already late at night,
while Xu Qiu'er comforted the injured Scarlet King,
Xu Nuo finished learning about the Soul Skills of his Second Soul Ring and his External Soul Bone, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion Vertical Eye.
He was very satisfied and prepared to use the mushrooms and wild greens he had gathered as ingredients to continue cooking the Soft Bone Rabbit soup, while roasting some rabbit meat and wild greens as well.
But before long,
a terrifying pressure descended from the sky in an instant, as though an invisible mountain were pressing down over the area.
Feeling the pressure, Scarlet King snapped all three heads up, his eyes flashing with a mixture of terror and guilt.
"Not good! Danger!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression changed dramatically. In a flash, he moved in front of Xu Nuo, golden light surging around him. The Golden Crocodile King appeared behind him, and nine Soul Rings rose one after another beneath his feet.
Xu Nuo was startled as well. He stood and looked up at the sky.
Then three figures dived down from high above, bringing an intense sense of pressure with them before slowly coming to a stop in midair.
The man at their head was tall and straight, his face handsome but cold as ice.
His black hair fluttered in the night wind, and a pair of pitch-black dragon wings spread behind him. A pair of black dragon horns grew from his forehead, his eyes were dark gold, and his face was filled with suppressed rage.
Two women stood beside him.
One wore an entirely emerald-green palace gown. Her bearing was gentle as water, her face soft and beautiful, and a pair of emerald wings spread behind her.
The other wore a fitted purple-black outfit that showed off her graceful, alluring figure. She had long purple hair and dragon horns atop her head. Her features were exquisite and coldly beautiful, and anger showed between her brows.
They were Di Tian, Bi Ji, and Zi JI.
At the sight of the grievously injured Scarlet King on the ground, Xu Nuo and Golden Crocodile Douluo, and the Golden Sacred Dragon hatchling emanating the Emperor Auspicious Beast's presence,
Di Tian froze.
He could clearly sense the incomparably familiar presence of the Emperor Auspicious Beast emanating from the Golden Sacred Dragon hatchling.
Although her form had changed drastically, there could be no mistaking the essential presence of the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
This was the Emperor Auspicious Beast of their Star Dou Great Forest, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
But how had she become a Golden Sacred Dragon hatchling?
Di Tian could scarcely believe it.
"Lord Beast God! Lady Bi Ji! Zi JI!"
"I'm sorry! I failed to take good care of Lady Auspicious Beast. I let her... I let her become a human's Martial Soul!"
At the sight of Di Tian, Bi Ji, and Zi JI, all three of Scarlet King's heads drooped, his voice full of self-reproach and grief.
"What?!"
Di Tian's expression changed at those words, disbelief filling his dark-gold vertical pupils.
"What did you say? The Auspicious Beast... became a human's Martial Soul?!"
At last, Di Tian understood.
No wonder the Emperor Auspicious Beast's presence remained, yet the blessing of fortune upon them had vanished.
It was because the Auspicious Beast's original body was gone, and her soul had been transformed into this human's Martial Soul!
Di Tian's gaze locked onto Xu Nuo, filled with killing intent and anger. He was furious.
"Human... what exactly did you do?"
Feeling the terrifying presence emanating from Di Tian, Golden Crocodile Douluo's heart tightened. He immediately released the presence of a Level 98 Super Douluo and spoke in a deep voice.
"I never expected the Star Dou Great Forest to have a Soul Beast as powerful as you!"
"I am Golden Crocodile Douluo, from Spirit Hall."
"Let me tell you, Spirit Hall has experts as numerous as clouds. My elder brother, Qian Daoliu, is a Level 99 Limit Douluo and the High Priest of the great Angel God!"
"If you dare harm us, my elder brother will never let the matter rest once he finds out!"
Faced with Golden Crocodile Douluo's threat,
Di Tian's brow furrowed sharply, and his expression grew somewhat ugly.
Spirit Hall? Qian Daoliu? The High Priest of the Angel God?
With his cultivation, he did not fear a human Limit Douluo.
But the problem was that being the High Priest of the Angel God meant that human had a connection to the Angel God in the Divine Realm.
If they drew the High Priest of the Angel God here, and the Angel God discovered the abnormality in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest and found their lord sleeping there, injured,
what would they do then?
Di Tian's heart clenched.
For such consequences, he would not shrink from dying ten thousand deaths!
But the Auspicious Beast had been turned into a human's Martial Soul. Was he supposed to let that debt go unsettled?
Di Tian felt unbearably stifled, so much so that he wanted to throw back his head and howl at the sky.