"Uncle Red King, I really… I really didn't mean it…"
"But it just smelled so good…"
"Next time… next time I definitely won't do it again!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion squinted its golden eyes, sneaked a glance at the Red King, and immediately lowered its head, muttering to itself in secret.
Sigh, this Three-Eyed Golden Lion is still just too childish.
The Red King's three huge heads let out a wry smile at the same time, shaking slightly.
From the day it was born, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had lived in the Star Dou Great Forest, always under the protection of the great beasts. It grew up carefree, and even though it had now grown older, its heart was still that of a child.
Moreover, within the Star Dou Great Forest, no soul beast dared provoke this little "Young Master." As a result, the Golden Lion had become the forest's greatest little delinquent, frolicking everywhere.
Including but not limited to: eating the brains of light-element soul beasts, stealing honey from bear-type soul beasts, and raiding the eggs of bird-type soul beasts…
"An Auspicious Beast? I think I saw you during the last beast tide—you seemed to be hauling away soul beast corpses."
At the Red King's words, Du Busi thought for a moment, a glint flashing in his dark-green eyes as he stared at the Golden Lion.
During the beast tide caused by the Body Sect, although they cared little for the outside world, they still joined the fight.
Du Busi had accidentally spotted a little beast. Every time a light-attribute soul beast died, that little beast would sneak away with its corpse.
And it only chose corpses of over ten thousand years. Anything younger wasn't worth a glance.
At that time, Du Busi had been curious: Have soul beasts become so intelligent they know how to recycle resources now?
"Old man, you've got the wrong one! This beast never did that!"
The Golden Lion quickly shook its head and denied it firmly.
"Human, what do you intend to do?"
"The Auspicious Beast cannot suffer any harm, otherwise Di Tian will never let you go!"
"And you don't want those two humans behind you to get hurt, do you?"
The Red King glared coldly at Du Busi, its massive claws raking the ground and leaving deep gouges.
"Hmph! Di Tian isn't here. Don't use him to threaten me."
"With your attitude, you're making things very difficult for me!"
Though Du Busi spoke hard, his heart was uneasy.
It seems this Auspicious Beast is very important to soul beasts. With its dual extreme attributes of light and fire, I was planning to save it for that brat Jiang as a soul ring… but now, that looks unlikely.
If Du Busi were here alone, he wouldn't hesitate. But with Jiang Jue and Weina alongside him—both the Body Sect's future—he couldn't help but worry.
Di Tian was the strongest on the continent. Even with one foot already in the Limit realm, Du Busi was still wary.
If he killed the Auspicious Beast one moment, Di Tian could arrive the next.
The power of space—truly terrifying!
Yet letting this go would make him lose face.
"Sect Master, perhaps we can first hear my proposal."
Seeing the stalemate, Jiang Jue's eyes gleamed. He calmly stepped behind Du Busi and spoke loudly.
"Hm? Sect Master?!"
Did that brat Jiang just call me Sect Master?!
Du Bushi hardly heard the rest, only those two words—"Sect Master"—echoed in his ears like celestial music.
Ever since he'd roped Jiang Jue into the sect, Jiang had always called him "senior," polite but distant. This was the first time he'd said "Sect Master."
That meant Jiang Jue was finally starting to feel some belonging to the Body Sect!
"Come on, say it again."
"…."
"Sect Master, could you please… be serious in this situation?"
The corner of Jiang Jue's mouth twitched. He found Du Busi good in every respect—except that sometimes his brain worked in very odd ways.
"Young human, speak your idea. As long as it's not too outrageous, this king can agree."
All three of the Red King's heads turned toward Jiang Jue, their voices booming together with a gust of foul wind.
"Sect Master…"
Jiang Jue glanced at Du Bushi, since ultimately he had to take his lead.
"Say it boldly, boy. With me here, who dares refuse?"
Still basking in the joy of hearing "Sect Master," Du Busi laughed arrogantly and gestured for Jiang Jue to continue.
Jiang Jue nodded slightly and went on:
"Senior Red King, our purpose in coming to the Star Dou Great Forest is for cultivation advancement…"
Hearing this, the Red King silently rolled its eyes.
Such refined words—'for cultivation advancement.' Isn't that just another way of saying you came here to hunt soul beasts?
But since the Auspicious Beast was in their hands, and it had been at fault first, the Red King could only keep listening.
"So, Senior Red King, you can exchange this little lion for one sixty-thousand-year-old spirit-attribute soul beast and one two-thousand-year-old ice-attribute healing-type soul beast."
Jiang Jue smiled slightly.
In the Star Dou Great Forest, this was Di Tian's territory. There was no way they could take the Auspicious Beast out. Besides, Jiang's future plans required its help. But in the meantime, he could extort some benefit.
Most importantly, he needed to draw the Red King away to prepare for future attribute guidance.
The Red King's dark-red eyes lit up at once, and his gaze toward Jiang Jue softened.
This brat has promise!
But before he could reply, an indignant voice cut in.
"You're the little lion! Your whole family are little lions!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion bristled, pouting and glaring at Jiang Jue in protest.
"Uncle Red King, just beat them up! Don't be scared!"
"Huh? Me?"
The Red King froze, wearing a bitter smile.
My little ancestor, don't mess around. Do you really think that bald one is easy to fight? Didn't you see those fists, bigger than sandbags?
It had seen Du Busi in action during the beast tide. If they really fought, it would be two to eight odds.
Du Busi lasting two minutes, begging mercy eight times…
Jiang Jue's eyes flickered as he looked at the Golden Lion.
"Seems I'll need to give you some stick-and-rod education later."
Seeing Jiang Jue's kindly smile, for some reason the Golden Lion's heart skipped nervously. But unwilling to lose face, it bared its teeth at him.
"What do you think, human?"
The Red King, wanting to avoid further trouble, turned directly to Du Bushi.
Two soul beasts were nothing compared to the Auspicious Beast—like comparing a firefly to the bright moon. He didn't hesitate at all.
"Hm… Let's go with Jiang boy's suggestion."
"But they must be top-quality soul beasts. Don't hand me some inferior ones."
Du Busi waved his big hand and said after a pause.
After all, they'd come for soul rings anyway. If the Red King of the forest handled it, things would be much simpler.
If the Auspicious Beast weren't in your hands, I'd have just thrown you a few Soft Bone Rabbits and sent you off.
The Red King muttered in his heart, but for the sake of principle and the Auspicious Beast's safety, he decided not to play tricks.
If anything happened to the Auspicious Beast, he'd be in serious trouble.
(End of Chapter)