Still the familiar Lake of Life.
All the soul beasts were gathered.
Azure Luan looked at the two new "juniors" with a blank face. The crowd was packed even tighter.
In the Lake of Life, a massive creature nearly fifty meters long, as beautiful as a jade dragon and possessing supreme water control, was floating belly-up, blowing bubbles—a true salted fish, eye-catchingly idle.
On the blue dragon's back, a beautiful mermaid lay lazily, curiously observing everything.
"My Pokéball micro-world…" Azure Luan sighed inwardly.
He'd thought subduing nine beasts was the limit. Even after advancing to Soul Sage, there hadn't been a new Pokéball for ages. But to his surprise...
His master was like a soul beast harvester.
Sweeping across the whole continent.
Azure Luan cast a glance at Su Wen, who was fishing by the lake, sighing again. This place was becoming a soul beast vacation resort.
Do you guys not have your own Pokéballs or what!!!
"It's fine, just a meeting." Su Wen smiled.
With a quick flick, his fishing rod sent golden droplets flying across the lake. On the silvery line, a golden carp dangled.
The Lake of Life nourished people, and also fish.
He'd bought some golden-scaled carp fry from Shrek and had them thriving here in no time.
Golden-scaled carp, with incredibly delicious meat and, allegedly, the power to cleanse the meridians and boost cultivation after reaching maturity. But they were extremely delicate, needing precise environments, so true mature golden-scaled carp were rare; most on the market were inferior.
Only Su Wen's carp, raised in the Lake of Life, were far superior to any outside.
To date, no one dared raise fish in the Star Dou Forest's core, borrowing the Lake of Life. Anyone who tried would've been chopped up by Di Tian.
Of course, such cleansing was useless to Su Wen, but as a foodie, it was a treat.
Sizzle~
On the grill, all the beasts stared longingly, but Su Wen adamantly refused.
"These are mine. If you want some, go find your own Lake of Life."
"You say this is Azure Luan's turf? Sorry, Azure Luan is also mine..."
"You're not happy? You're mine too."
"..."
"Bai Xiuxiu, stop blowing bubbles. Maybe I'll just call you Bubble from now on." Su Wen shook his head.
"My nickname actually is Bai Xiuxiu, which sounds like 'bubble'. Bai Xiuxiu is just the homophone of that." The huge Bai Xiuxiu rolled over, looking aggrieved.
"If you want to call me Bubble, that's fine…"
Su Wen: "..."
"This meeting's focus is to criticize Big Eye." Su Wen took a sizzling piece of golden carp and chewed, glancing at Big Eye sidelong.
"I object! I want to change my name!"
Big Eye, like an octopus, waved its tentacles, but next to the massive Behemoth, he could only shrink his body. Even a few meters of tentacle looked unimpressive...
"Denied!" Su Wen almost forgot his earlier promise...
But seeing Big Eye's growing resentment, and all its tentacles pointing accusingly at Xuan Ji, Su Wen smacked his lips.
"If you can finish fixing the training field, then I'll help you change it."
"And isn't 'Big Eye' a good name? Simple and catchy, why hate it?"
"Gale, Ice Empress, Xuan Ji, Azure Luan, Snow Empress… Big Eye?" Big Eye protested. "Say the names out loud: mine is like a minion thrown in with a bunch of bosses! If Xiao Jin can change his name, but I have to keep mine, I'll always be the lamest!"
"Change it!!"
"I'm not Xiao Jin."
The giant creature beside him glanced over disdainfully: "Please use my real name: Xuan Ji."
"Thank you."
"AAAAHHH!!" Big Eye grew even more furious, collapsing to the ground and crawling in a dark, twisted way: "Change it for me!"
"If you don't, I quit! I'm done!"
"Damn it!"
Su Wen sighed.
Why are these pet beasts so hard to manage?
Can't you just accept your fate?
But as their master and guide, he decided to appease him: "Fine, finish this task, and I'll let you change it…"
"Really?!" Big Eye's eyes lit up.
Though his master had flaked once before, the hope of a new name and Xiao Jin's successful name change made him believe again.
However...
His master really had no idea he was terrible at naming.
No self-awareness at all.
And so proud of it...
"You're my greatest spiritual support—even... cough, even the new Li Ya can't compare. Only you can channel divine power, so I'm entrusting you with this. You must do your best..." Su Wen smiled.
"Don't worry."
Big Eye patted its own eyeball.
"What's the assignment?"
"Replicate every evil soul master we've encountered—over seven hundred in total. The twelve Holy Spirit Cult Worshippers, eight Elders, and the final boss, Supreme Elder Ye Xishui's Necromancer's Tower—all must be recreated one-to-one. It's a gift for future generations." Su Wen was quite touched by his own generosity.
Big Eye froze.
"Ye Xishui too?!"
"Of course. Otherwise, it's incomplete." Su Wen nodded.
Big Eye: "..."
Do you realize how much work that is?!!
Even with his seemingly boundless spiritual power, only he could channel that divine faith. But every time he created a copy, it nearly drained him dry.
After all, using faith that hadn't been purified was a massive drain every second.
Being a creator was no easy job.
And this is your gift?!
Why am I the one suffering?
"Ahhhh!!" Big Eye crawled in dark, twisted frustration...
Meanwhile.
In a corner, a large, crimson flower shivered—hoping the master hadn't noticed her, praying not to be given a weird and embarrassing name.
Even a normal name like "Jiao Jiao" would be fine...
"Hey, Jiao Jiao?"
Su Wen glanced over, surprised: "We're all family here, why are you shaking?"
"Heh, probably scared you'll give her a weird new name." Big Eye sneered, venting his own frustrations.
"Hmm…"
Su Wen glanced at him.
Big Eye shrank back, still crawling...
"Jiao Jiao? How did you…" The fire-red flower was bewildered.
"You're from ten thousand years ago, so naturally… Wait?" Su Wen's eyes narrowed as he glanced at Big Eye. If Jiao Jiao, who was sacrificed for Sister Tao's eighth soul ring, was erased by the timeline, that would be trouble.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing." Big Eye boasted. "I only hide certain things from the timeline—like the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud and Ah Yin. The rest will auto-correct."
"That bug won't happen."
"Besides, you've already met Ma Xiaotao, right?" Big Eye smirked.
"Of course, I was testing you." Su Wen said seriously, quickly shifting to a pleased smile. "Looks like you really completed your mission."
Big Eye: "..."
"Myself, ten thousand years in the future?" Jiao Jiao muttered.
"That's right." Su Wen nodded.
He'd chosen this particular blazing apricot flower not for its highest cultivation—since that one was already over a century old and outside the white ball's capture range, likely devoured by Tang San in the original—but for its potential.
To stand out among peers after ten thousand years, it was surely Jiao Jiao.
"She sacrificed herself to become Sister Tao's eighth soul ring, and could become a god in the future. But… compared to you, she still falls short." Su Wen shook his head.
Same flower, different fate.
Such was life.
"So, you don't want to be called Jiao Jiao?" Su Wen rubbed his hands, excited.
"If not, I can name you—"
"I want it!!!" Jiao Jiao blurted.
Su Wen: "..."
"I think you all misunderstand my naming ability…"
"It's no misunderstanding." Big Eye stopped crawling, lifted his eye with his tentacles, and shook it.
"Mm." Xuan Ji hummed.
"I think Jiao Jiao is a nice name." The fire atop Jiao Jiao trembled.
"Sigh…" Su Wen shook his head in regret.
"I really envy humans…" Bai Xiuxiu looked at Snow Empress on the shore and the mermaid on his back, blowing two bubbles.
"After one hundred thousand years, you'll be able to take human form at will." Su Wen smiled.
One hundred thousand years of cultivation, not just one hundred thousand years of soul beast strength.
So, after Su Wen reached Titled Douluo, these pet beasts could take on human form.
Unlike Snow Empress's lonely and permanent transformation, this shapeshifting allowed them to hide their vast soul beast energy in a small human body after reaching one hundred thousand years.
Like Di Tian, Bi Ji, and others—whenever they gathered at the Lake of Life, they showed up as humans, not in their soul beast forms...
"That way, meetings won't be so cramped, ahem." Su Wen coughed.
Everyone turned to look at Xuan Ji.
"Master! Just say my name already." Xuan Ji protested.
"I'm big, but not by choice! Every time, you're the loudest—Xuan Ji, take out the enemy; Xuan Ji, how weak; Xuan Ji, you're not big enough, a true beast should be a thousand miles long, towering into the sky..."
"But now you complain I'm too big and take up space."
"Ahem, I didn't say that…" Su Wen coughed.
"You cough when you're embarrassed," Xuan Ji said.
"Ahem, well…"
"You're coughing again." Xuan Ji pursued.
Su Wen scratched his head. "I was talking about Bai Xiuxiu…"
"You scratch your head when embarrassed too," Xuan Ji pressed.
Su Wen: "..."
"So, Master thinks I'm too big?" Bai Xiuxiu said tearfully.
"Ahem, I really don't." Su Wen scratched his head.
"All right, enough!"
At the critical moment, Snow Empress stepped in.
Clad in snow-white robes, her hair coiled up, her features gentle yet carrying a regal, commanding beauty.
Every movement exuded a powerful aura.
Cool, proud, and hard to approach.
Among the pet beasts, Snow Empress had the highest status. The others were ordinary soul beasts advanced by following Su Wen, but Snow Empress had noble blood—a stakeholder, so to speak.
And even now—
Snow Empress's combat power was at the top of the pet beast hierarchy—T0. Only Xuan Ji could match her. Not even Gale, who had advanced to Lord of Winter, could rival her.
Snow Empress's three ultimate skills, self-created and deeply understood, were multiplied by her bloodline advancement.
If the Silver Dragon King joined in, Snow Empress would be guaranteed a first-class god seat.
Thus, Snow Empress was highly respected among the beasts.
At least, everyone showed some respect.
"Oh…" Bai Xiuxiu blew a few bubbles and sank beneath the water, her huge blue dragon body disappearing from the micro-world with Li Ya.
"Your Majesty, I'll go now." Xuan Ji straightened up, secretly gleeful: Yes!!!
As everyone departed—
Su Wen let out a long breath.
These guys are going to rebel!!
Damn it.
Where's my dignity as master!
"It's always you, Snow Empress…" Su Wen sighed in relief.
But Snow Empress only stared at him with ice-crystal eyes: "And what about me?"
Su Wen froze, scalp tingling.
"Snow Empress, what do you mean?"
"I mean, what about me?" Snow Empress stared. "In the past, you just called me 'Snow Empress'. We were just friends, so I let it go. But now?"
"I've given you everything."
"What will you call me now?"
Su Wen was lost.
"Mom, mama?"
Snow Empress: "..."
Sun Moon Empire.
The Imperial Palace.
Xu Tianran suddenly swept all the books off his table, eyes twisted with rage.
"Why?!"
"Royal Father would rather trust those old fogeys than me!"
"But I'm the Crown Prince! Crown Prince!"
"And yet, he still supports Third Brother. What's so great about Xu Jiran?!"
"Did he drug Father or something?!"
"..."
The palace was dead silent.
All the maids knelt on the ground, trembling.
"Juzi, Juzi…" Xu Tianran slumped in his wheelchair, murmuring a name.
Only to sigh mournfully.
"If only you were still here, you'd help me with my worries, right…"
"Right?!"
He grabbed a maid by the collar, his blood-red eyes glaring. The maid's face went white, eyes squeezed shut in terror.
"But you're not her. She's already dead…" Xu Tianran said bleakly.