"Where are you going?"
Before the Dragon Lion Spirit Beast could speak, Zhu Ziyang heard a rude female voice in his ear, filled with questioning. His expression changed slightly, realizing that this was something only possible when mental force reached a very deep level; at least, his current mental force level couldn't achieve it. The Dragon Lion Spirit Beast's words were clearly directed at the Great Starry Unicorn, Luo Xingxiya. The only reason he could hear was because he and the Great Starry Unicorn were connected in Spirit.
"Oh no! Why did I run into her?" The Great Starry Unicorn didn't answer the Dragon Lion Spirit Beast's question but instead muttered to itself with a worried expression.
"What kind of Spirit Beast is this?" Zhu Ziyang asked curiously.
"She is the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the auspicious beast of fortune for the Star Dou Great Forest, also known as the Imperial Auspicious Beast," the Great Starry Unicorn replied.
"Auspicious Beast!" Zhu Ziyang's heart trembled, and he immediately understood where the familiar feeling from this Three-Eyed Golden Lion came from—it was also an Auspicious Beast! His possessiveness intensified after learning the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's identity, constantly tempting and urging him, making him desire to devour the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, as if doing so would bring him immense benefits. Zhu Ziyang forcefully suppressed his desire and asked, "Can you tell me about the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's origin?"
"Hmm," the Great Starry Unicorn nodded and replied, "The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was born only eight thousand years ago. Its birth startled the kings of the Lake of Life, and Beast God Di Tian even personally took it in and entrusted it to Lady Bi Ji for upbringing. If the Beast God is the emperor of the Star Dou Great Forest, then she is the crown prince of the Star Dou Great Forest. The Imperial Auspicious Beast holds immense significance for the Star Dou Great Forest. Since her birth, the cultivation speed of the Spirit Beasts in Star Dou has doubled, and the bottlenecks they encounter have been reduced by half. In the past five thousand years, more than twenty 100,000-Year Soul Beasts have broken through. Even I was influenced by her to reach a fifty-thousand-year cultivation level."
"Hiss~" Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but gasp, his gaze toward the Three-Eyed Golden Lion filled with awe and unease. He instantly understood the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's significance to the Star Dou Great Forest; this thing was a ticking time bomb for humanity. He knew the abilities of an Auspicious Beast but never imagined they could be so terrifying.
Its existence caused the Star Dou Great Forest's strength to grow rapidly, with the quantity and quality of Spirit Beasts steadily increasing. It wouldn't be long before they surpassed humanity. The appearance of the first beast tide fully demonstrated that the Spirit Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest were not far behind humanity in strength.
If humanity wanted to prevent the Spirit Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest from surpassing them in strength, then the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had to be eliminated. However, once an Auspicious Beast fell, the Star Dou Great Forest would inevitably riot. There were five fierce beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, and even a king of fierce beasts with eight hundred thousand years of cultivation! In the current human race, no one was his opponent. Once the Auspicious Beast fell, Spirit Beasts and humanity would inevitably enter a life-and-death struggle! At that time, even if humanity ultimately won, it would likely be a pyrrhic victory, with civilization barely surviving!
This was almost a dead end! Unless a deity appeared among humanity before the Spirit Beasts fully rose, capable of easily resolving this deadlock. Otherwise, humanity and Spirit Beasts could only, in such a standoff, head towards another outcome where the roles of offense and defense would be reversed.
However, Zhu Ziyang suddenly realized that the Spirit Master's world didn't seem to be aware of the existence of an Auspicious Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest! Because Shrek Academy, as the forefront of humanity's defense against the Star Dou Great Forest, had no knowledge of this Three-Eyed Golden Lion's existence within it, or perhaps, they had discovered it but no one paid attention to it.
Zhu Ziyang stroked his chin, his brain rapidly thinking.
"Hey, human! How dare you enter the Star Dou Great Forest, and even ride a Starry Unicorn? Get down and prepare to die!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, not getting a response to her question, became somewhat enraged. Seeing Zhu Ziyang sitting on the Starry Unicorn's back, her eyes immediately blazed with fury, and she spoke directly.
Her voice was clear and melodious, greatly astonishing Zhu Ziyang, who quickly asked, "Is this Auspicious Beast already a 100,000-Year Soul Beast?"
"No, the Auspicious Beast's cultivation is only around fifteen thousand years. It's just that her bloodline is very powerful, so she can speak human words," the Great Starry Unicorn explained.
"Fifteen thousand years!" Zhu Ziyang immediately had ill intentions and asked, "Can you defeat her?"
"Please, you must not have any thoughts about the Auspicious Beast!" The Great Starry Unicorn heard Zhu Ziyang's words and became agitated, saying, "Auspicious Beasts usually operate within the core area, and if they leave the core area, they are always protected by Beast Kings!"
"Beast Kings?!" Zhu Ziyang was startled again, and immediately crouched on the Starry Unicorn's back, cautiously scanning his surroundings.
"Heheheh~ What a timid human!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion saw Zhu Ziyang's reaction and burst into laughter, her tone filled with mockery and arrogance. She said, "Come and kneel at the feet of this Auspicious Beast, and I might consider sparing your life."
"Auspicious Beast, please show some respect!" Zhu Ziyang didn't react to the Auspicious Beast's arrogant attitude, but the Great Starry Unicorn angrily said, "This is the Child of Light, you cannot be so arrogant towards the Child of Light!"
"Tch~ So what if he's the Child of Light?" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was very disdainful. She was the Imperial Auspicious Beast; since childhood, which Spirit Beast around her wasn't respectful? Besides Uncle Di Tian and Aunt Bi Ji, she looked down on everyone else!
Zhu Ziyang also realized at this point that there were no Beast Kings around. If there were, upon seeing him, a human, they would have probably rushed out and slapped him to death, rather than letting him chatter with the Auspicious Beast here. However, to confirm, he decided to test the waters. He straightened his body and instructed the Great Starry Unicorn, "Ask her if she snuck out?"
"Alright," the Great Starry Unicorn didn't understand Zhu Ziyang's intention, but she didn't refuse his request. After thinking for a moment, she said to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, "You shouldn't be here. Go back to the Lake of Life!"
"I don't want to!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion heard the Great Starry Unicorn's words and immediately said rebelliously, "I finally managed to sneak out while the Crimson King was sleeping. I don't want to go back so soon."
The Crimson King, one of the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, ranked eighth, a three-headed Crimson Demonic Mastiff with three hundred thousand years of cultivation, and the Auspicious Beast's bodyguard.
Zhu Ziyang heard the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's words and was completely relieved. Then, a mischievous smile appeared on his face, and he said to the Great Starry Unicorn, "Luo Xingxiya, go, teach this fellow who dared to offend the Child of Light a lesson."
"This..." The Great Starry Unicorn immediately looked troubled and said, "Respected Child of Light, please do not make things difficult for the Auspicious Beast; it's very dangerous."
"Don't worry, we'll just give her a beating; we won't really hurt her," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile. This Auspicious Beast was just a mischievous child; a beating was necessary to vent his frustration.
"Then... alright," the Great Starry Unicorn hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and agreed. As long as the Child of Light didn't truly intend to kill the Auspicious Beast, then there was no problem. After all, it was she who was making the move; she could just control herself a bit, go easy, and scare the Auspicious Beast away.
After the Great Starry Unicorn, Luo Xingxiya, made her decision, she didn't hesitate and directly attacked. The horn on her head emitted golden light, and then a wave of light energy shot towards the Auspicious Beast.
"Ah! Damn it, how dare you attack me!" The Auspicious Beast didn't expect a Spirit Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest to dare lay a hand on her. She immediately felt her dignity trampled, and roared in anger. A golden flame instantly erupted from her mouth, clashing with the Great Starry Unicorn's energy wave, and both energies dissipated.
Zhu Ziyang wasn't idle, letting the Great Starry Unicorn act alone. This kind of thing needed to be resolved quickly, otherwise, if her parents arrived, it would be over. So, he directly leaped from the Great Starry Unicorn's back, and his Silver Right Eye instantly activated, instantly immobilizing the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. However, what puzzled Zhu Ziyang was that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was only immobilized for a split second before immediately recovering. She raised her head, staring angrily at Zhu Ziyang. Zhu Ziyang didn't have time to ponder why the Silver Right Eye had failed. He unhesitatingly released his Heavenly Frost Sacred White Dragon Spirit, and the Heavenfrost Chill instantly activated. This time, it effortlessly immobilized the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
He landed steadily in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's head, looking at her eyes filled with anger, intimidation, and fear, feeling a bit smug. Since it wasn't activated with a Spirit Bone skill, Zhu Ziyang's spirit power consumption was less than two-thirds of his own. He still had enough energy to teach this mischievous child a lesson.
The effect of Heavenfrost Chill was to immobilize the target's time and space, so Zhu Ziyang had three seconds to both admire the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's expression and teach her a lesson.
As Zhu Ziyang prepared to act, the Great Starry Unicorn's voice came, "Don't go too far."
He reached out and unhesitatingly slapped the Auspicious Beast's head. The Auspicious Beast was furious at being hit on the head, but she could do nothing but watch. Zhu Ziyang delivered another slap, again on the head. The Auspicious Beast's three eyes, besides anger, now only held grievance.
With one second left, Zhu Ziyang planned to immediately escape after finishing. Looking at the rapidly spinning vertical eye on the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's forehead, he suddenly, as if possessed, lowered his head and pressed his glabella against the Auspicious Beast's vertical eye.