Lake of Life. Xiao Wu washed the carrots and began to eat them.
The crunching sound made Er Ming's mouth water.
Although Er Ming didn't eat carrots, the sound of a rabbit eating carrots was indeed very appetizing for the ape.
Xiao Wu jumped onto Er Ming's shoulder, her petite body sitting on it, like Beauty and the Beast.
"Er Ming, did you have a conflict with them?"
Xiao Wu asked with concern as she ate her carrots.
"Two of the humans were very strong. I felt threatened by them, so I roared angrily, trying to scare them away. Unexpectedly, instead of running out of the forest, they ran deeper into the forest. They left two people to
block me. I thought I could easily kill those two humans, but unexpectedly, those two humans charged at me and self-destructed.
My eyes were damaged by the force of their self-destruction, and I couldn't see at the time. Then that group of people fled."
Er Ming was furious as he spoke. He, the dignified King of the Forest, had been tricked on his own territory.
Actually, the Titan Ape was still somewhat unwilling. This self-destructive attack method was something it had never encountered before.
Otherwise, with its powerful defense, it wouldn't have been injured and those people wouldn't have escaped if it had just been on guard. It was because it had underestimated its opponents.
"What are these people doing in the forest?"
Da Ming's bull-headed creature asked, full of doubt.
"Hmph, what can humans do in the forest? They must be here to hunt soul beasts,"
Xiao Wu said angrily in a sweet voice.
Er Ming nodded in deep agreement.
"There are at least a hundred of them, and they're shrouded in black energy. The two leaders are very strong, posing a threat to me no less than that of a human titled Douluo.
They don't seem like a normal soul hunting team. I'm worried they'll destroy the forest and slaughter soul beasts indiscriminately.
In short, these people definitely aren't here for anything good!"
Er Ming seemed simple-minded, but his analysis was very reasonable, and Xiao Wu and Da Ming both nodded in agreement.
Xiao Wu's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Er Ming," she said, "I'm bored anyway. I'll go with you to investigate and see what these
humans are doing in the forest. If it's normal soul hunting, then fine. But if they're wreaking havoc, we'll give them a taste of their own medicine."
Humans entering the forest to hunt soul rings is a normal thing, just like the rules of nature, and the soul beasts are used to this rule. A
normal human soul hunting team consists of three to ten people, and they usually leave once they've obtained the required soul ring.
This natural, mutually exclusive relationship between humans and soul beasts is a rule that both sides tacitly abide by.
However, if one side doesn't follow the rules, slaughtering soul beasts without cause, or if soul beasts launch a beast tide to attack human settlements and massacre ordinary people,
then it becomes war, no longer competition, and the high-level combatants of both sides will join the battle.
Just like when Ma Hongjun first obtained a soul ring and began slaughtering Qingzhu, he immediately incurred the Qingzhu Sound Serpent King's wrath.
This was because he violated the rules of nature.
As the kings of the Star Dou Great Forest, Da Ming, Er Ming, and Xiao Wu all have a responsibility to protect the forest,
for it is their home.
As they grow older, they gradually understand many things. Ma Hongjun sometimes thinks back to what he did when he obtained his first spirit ring, and realizes how ignorant and foolish he was.
Thinking of Da Ming and Er Ming of the Star Dou Great Forest, he feels a sense of déjà vu, like the two bears, Xiong Da and Xiong Er.
For long-term development, a balance must be found between humans and spirit beasts. The most crucial point is that the method of hunting spirit beasts to increase power needs further change; another path of cultivation that doesn't require killing spirit beasts needs to be found.
Of course, these are just Ma Hongjun's idle daydreams; with his current strength, he is powerless to change these things.
However, having such an idea provides a direction for the future, and when he has the ability to change things, he can try to walk this path.
Hearing Xiao Wu's suggestion, Da Ming and Er Ming immediately shook their heads.
Xiao Wu is no longer in the body of a 100,000-year-old spirit beast, but a little girl with only the strength of a Spirit Venerable.
As Er Ming said, none of those people are someone Xiao Wu can handle.
Once a 100,000-year-old soul beast transforms into a human, the transformation is irreversible. Xiao Wu, aside from her memories, is now no different from a normal human.
"With you guys here, my safety is definitely not a problem. Besides, we're just going to take a look. If we need to fight, we can gather the soul beasts from the inner circle.
Then I can just stay far away.
Okay?"
Xiao Wu pleaded again.
Da Ming and Er Ming were like her two older brothers. The three beasts had grown up together and lived together for tens of thousands of years, so their bond was very strong.
Xiao Wu had been feeling incredibly stifled lately, spending all her time in the Lake of Life, but her cultivation hadn't progressed, which was particularly frustrating.
The Lake of Life was a sacred place for soul beasts; their cultivation speed there would be greatly increased, and a year of cultivation there would be more effective than several years of cultivation elsewhere.
Like Da Ming and Er Ming, they are 100,000-year-old soul beasts, but that doesn't necessarily mean they've lived for 100,000 years; it just means their cultivation has reached that level.
Of course, Da Ming has truly lived for 100,000 years.
Just like the Water Dragon Pool in the Soul Hunting Forest of Mu Su Country, and the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in Sunset Forest, special terrains are extremely beneficial for soul beast cultivation.
In the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, 10,000 years of cultivation by the plants there is equivalent to 100,000 years of cultivation elsewhere.
The cultivation bonus provided by such a treasure land is tenfold.
While the Lake of Life doesn't provide such a huge bonus, it's still at least fivefold.
However, Xiao Wu is different now. Having transformed into human form, she is no longer a soul beast, and her cultivation method is different; the Lake of Life no longer provides her with a cultivation bonus.
After transforming into human form, soul beasts need contact with humans to cultivate quickly. The aura of humans is their precious medicine for cultivation.
This is also why, after Xiao Wu transformed, she went to a human city and shared a bed with the young Tang San for six years.
Back in the Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Wu felt out of place. She was no longer the forest's darling, which explained her boredom.
Unable to resist Xiao Wu's persistent pleading, Da Ming and Er Ming finally agreed to take her out to investigate.
They knew she was bored.
"Er Ming, you must protect Xiao Wu. Don't engage in battle unless you're confident. As Xiao Wu said, if humans really do kill soul beasts, summon the inner circle of soul beasts to resist,"
Da Ming said.
"Da Ming, why don't you leave the Lake of Life?"
Xiao Wu asked, puzzled. In her memory, Da Ming had never left the Lake of Life.
Many humans outside knew Er Ming, believing him to be the sole king of the forest because he would occasionally wander through the Star Dou Great Forest, like patrolling his territory. Da Ming
was also a 100,000-year-old soul beast of the Star Dou Great Forest, and his cultivation was much stronger than Er Ming's. However, unlike Er Ming, he didn't show himself off; only a small group of high-level humans knew of him.
From the moment Xiao Wu met Da Ming until today, she has never seen him leave the Lake of Life.
Compared to his title as the King of the Forest, Da Ming is more like the guardian of the Lake of Life.
"Because I need to protect this place!"
Da Ming replied seriously.
"Protect what? Is there anything at the bottom of the Lake of Life that needs your protection?"
Xiao Wu looked at the calm, deep blue surface of the lake and asked curiously.
She had swum and bathed in the lake, but she didn't know how deep it was. She had tried to dive to the bottom, but as a rabbit, swimming was already a feat, diving was difficult.
However, the Lake of Life felt very mysterious to Xiao Wu; it was unfathomably deep.
Sometimes she watched Da Ming dive down, but his figure would always disappear unexpectedly.
"This is the sacred ground of us soul beasts. The Beast God we uphold is here."
Da Ming's eyes were glazed over as he reminisced, his bull-like face filled with worship.
"The Beast God, does he really exist?" Xiao Wu had also heard the legends of the Beast God, but she had never seen him.
She had always thought the Beast God was like the gods humans spoke of, a legendary being.
"Xiao Wu, you mustn't blaspheme! The Beast God resides in the Lake of Life."
Da Ming looked at Xiao Wu seriously, his voice unusually critical, whereas he had always spoken to her gently.
Er Ming also stared wide-eyed at the lake; the calm, deep blue surface remained unchanged, revealing nothing.
Er Ming didn't know if the Beast God existed, but he trusted Da Ming.
Xiao Wu remained indifferent, showing no reverence, even throwing a half-eaten carrot into the lake.
"Beast God, I don't believe it. If the Beast God truly exists, he should protect us soul beasts.
But why wasn't the Beast God there when my mother was killed?"
Tears welled in Xiao Wu's eyes. The Beast God had always been their faith, just like humans, praying for divine intervention when in danger.
But over a decade ago, in her deepest despair, when she called upon the Beast God in her heart, no one answered her.
She could only watch helplessly as her mother was murdered by humans, her soul ring and soul bone stolen, and even her corpse was not spared.
"Xiao Wu..."
Da Ming wanted to say something to comfort her, but he couldn't speak.
He and Er Ming weren't there when Xiao Wu's mother was killed.
This was what they felt most guilty about towards Xiao Wu; they were absent when the mother and daughter needed help the most.
However, Da Ming was very certain that the Beast God truly existed, because he had heard the Beast God's voice before.
The Beast God resided beneath the Lake of Life.
At the bottom of the lake, there was a sealed space that Da Ming couldn't enter.
"Xiao Wu, humans are indeed despicable, and we are very sorry for what happened back then.
But the Beast God truly exists; you must not harbor any more blasphemous thoughts, especially not in the Lake of Life."
"Then tell me, what is the Beast God, and what is its name?" Xiao Wu stubbornly asked.
Da Ming looked around, then back at Xiao Wu's tear-streaked face. He
said in a deep voice,
"The Black Dragon King, Di Tian!"
(End of Chapter)