"Humans, you dare set your sights on the Auspicious Beast."
The resplendently dressed, regal middle-aged man's eyes now blazed with barely contained fury.
As the ruler of this forest—
It had been a long time since he'd been this enraged.
"Hand over the Auspicious Beast!"
Zhongli Wu: "…"
He twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"If I said the Auspicious Beast isn't with me, would you believe it?"
"Die!"
Di Tian roared.
He struck out with a palm from afar.
A colossal black dragon formed behind him, and its sky-blotting claw descended.
"Pffft—!!!"
Zhongli Wu's body blasted backward, smashing through dozens of ancient trees. He spat a mouthful of blood in midair before crashing down with a thunderous boom, dust billowing to hide his figure.
Di Tian's pupils shrank.
The dragon claw swiped, scattering the dust—only to reveal a bottomless crater. Zhongli Wu had vanished.
"Damn it! He ran!"
Di Tian ground his teeth.
Though that strike grievously wounded the foe—half his life gone—escaped was escaped. This was an insult to Di Tian.
He turned, and the enormous black dragon above also turned. Its eyes went icy as it gazed at the trembling black-robed crowd. "Kill them all!"
"Yes—"
Countless thick vines erupted from the earth, drowning the figures.
High in the air, a soft-faced man in green attire nodded respectfully.
"Bear Lord, mobilize all soul beasts. Prepare to launch a beast tide against Shrek Academy!"
…
High in the air.
The gray pillar had long since vanished.
Electrolux withdrew again into the spiritual sea. This time, however, the black mist around him had clearly thinned. After all, he was a fragment of divine consciousness. Without a body as anchor, recovery was one-use-less-one.
"Rest assured, senior, I'll find the purest life force to aid your recovery," Su Wen said solemnly.
"Hahaha, I trust you, child. But I'm exhausted—need a good sleep…" Electrolux's voice grew lighter and lighter until it faded away. If Su Wen didn't know better, he'd think this thigh of a backer had just croaked.
"…"
After pondering a while,
He patted his head and released the Auspicious Beast.
The latter looked around blankly. It had been frolicking in the poke ball, when it was suddenly teleported out—it hadn't had its fun yet…
Wait!
It looked at Su Wen, whose body slumped and then toppled to the ground, golden pupils shrinking—its guardian envoy looked kind of dead.
"Hey, don't you die on me!"
The Auspicious Beast called anxiously.
It crouched low and nudged Su Wen's face.
But his left arm showed stark white bone; his aura was thread-thin.
"What do I do, what do I do… Right, go find Bi Ji!" the Auspicious Beast cried. It gently bit down, carefully holding Su Wen's body in its mouth, then bounded away—within that mysterious space, many of its own injuries had healed.
Midway, it paused.
It looked back toward the border of the Star Dou Great Forest.
If it wanted to leave, this might be its only chance. But it still resolutely headed back to the "prison" that had "confined" it for ten thousand years. It chose to trust Su Wen—whether or not Di Tian would let it go.
…
"Di Tian, what are you doing?!!"
Xuan Zi's furious shout rang out.
Seeing the whole forest boiling over, he clenched his fists, eyes red. Su Wen's life or death was unknown, and Di Tian was launching a beast tide. The sudden turn left his head spinning.
"Cut the crap. Are you blind?"
Di Tian snarled.
"Launch the beast tide. If the Auspicious Beast isn't handed over, I'll destroy Shrek Academy today!"
With the Auspicious Beast lost, he had no mind for anything else.
He'd had the Myriad Demon King probe the forest, but not a trace of the Auspicious Beast was found.
"Are you kidding me…"
Xuan Zi was dumbfounded.
The Auspicious Beast is missing?
What does that have to do with Shrek?
Like we'd have the guts to capture the Auspicious Beast?
"Di Tian, the Auspicious Beast's disappearance has absolutely nothing to do with Shrek. You can search us—we haven't hidden it!" Xuan Zi ground out, forcing down his anger.
"Find it within three days. I'm giving you only three."
Di Tian snorted coldly.
Then he turned to leave.
He knew full well this had nothing to do with Shrek.
But those guys had slipped away too fast, and he wasn't familiar with the human world. All he could do was dump the problem on Shrek. If you don't bring the Auspicious Beast back, I'll wreck Shrek—heh, that trick never failed before.
…
Very soon, however, Di Tian froze.
By the Lake of Life, the Auspicious Beast was hopping about alive and well. He doubted reality itself. "Huh?"
"A human saved me."
The Auspicious Beast pointed with its mouth at the boy lying on the ground as Bi Ji treated him. "If not for him, I'd have been captured by those evil humans."
"…"
Di Tian glanced at Su Wen, expression strange.
"Him? He stopped that lot?"
Much as he scorned humans, he couldn't deny their strength; they had quite a few powerhouses. Otherwise, they wouldn't have slipped from his grasp more than once.
"It's true!"
The Auspicious Beast nodded solemnly.
"You don't understand him at all."
Di Tian felt a block in his chest, like a cabbage he'd raised for ten thousand years was about to be munched by a pig.
He stared silently at the lake.
But at least all was well.
The Auspicious Beast was back. The Scarlet King, that useless thing, wasn't dead either. Good…
…
"Ugh…"
Su Wen felt as if his head had been hammered. He opened his eyes groggily. Around him towered sky-high ancient trees and a clear azure lake, thick with life energy.
"This is… the Lake of Life?!!"
He'd only been confused at first, but after seeing the figures gathered around, he instantly confirmed where he was.
Facing several ferocious beasts, Su Wen felt no fear.
After all, this had been his goal.
The Auspicious Beast was definitely not his fourth target.
The Emerald Swan was naturally the first choice.
"You're awake!"
The Auspicious Beast crouched by his side. Seeing Su Wen sit up in a daze, joy flashed in its golden pupils.
"Mm. This is the Lake of Life?" Su Wen asked softly.
"Yeah! This is the core of the Star Dou Great Forest. Want me to take you around?" the Auspicious Beast asked excitedly.
"Ahem—"
Di Tian coughed, not kindly.
"Better not. This is the soul beast clan's core. I'm a human—might not be appropriate," Su Wen shook his head.
Di Tian nodded in satisfaction.
At least the kid knew his place.
He spoke blandly, "Human, for saving the Auspicious Beast and contributing to the Star Dou Great Forest, I can grant you one wish. Nothing excessive."
"Make it two." Su Wen held up two fingers.
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