Star Dou Great Forest, the largest gathering place of Spirit Beasts on the continent, was also an inevitable place for the vast majority of Spirit Masters to obtain a spirit ring.
However, for ordinary Spirit Masters, they only dared to move around in the outer area and the mixed area, and they would never dare to step into that core area shrouded in layers of ancient trees and dense Origin Qi.
After all, the entities entrenched there were basically terrifying presences that had survived for over Ten Thousand Years.
Yet today, a figure actually rushed into the core area of Star Dou Great Forest alone.
Her flying speed was extremely fast, her figure shuttling between tree shadows like Gui Mei, with that light and decisive posture showing not the slightest hesitation.
If other Spirit Masters were to see this scene, they would probably secretly think to themselves, "Courting death."
After all, this person looked to be only around twenty years old; no matter how strong her talent was, it was impossible for her to possess the cultivation to forcefully break into the Core Circle at this age, and what was the difference between this and courting death.
But strangely enough, this person did not deliberately hide her figure, yet those keen-perceiving Ten Thousand Years Spirit Beasts along the way all seemed to turn a blind eye to her.
She walked unimpeded through the dense forest of the core area just like that, her head of golden-red long hair looking like a beating flame against the dark green background, making her exceptionally eye-catching.
And this person was naturally none other than the little princess of Star Dou Great Forest, the Emperor Auspicious Beast whom all Spirit Beasts held in the palms of their hands.
Of course, by now she had already transformed into human form, and had a name she was called in the human World, Jin Li.
On the day Huo Yuhao and Wang Donger left the Spirit Pagoda to head toward Clear Sky Sect, Jin Li also quietly packed her luggage and embarked on the journey back to Star Dou Great Forest.
Safely passing through layers of dense forests all the way, Jin Li stepped into that region at the deepest part of the Core Circle of Star Dou Great Forest.
Her very first glance saw Di Tian; he was always sitting cross-legged by the edge of the Lake of Life, like a silent stone statue, merging into one with this ancient forest.
Di Tian had long since perceived her Qi, but only until this moment did he slowly open that pair of golden vertical pupils.
His expression was still as calm as an ancient well, but when his gaze fell upon Jin Li, a trace of gentleness flashed extremely quickly deep within his eyes.
When he spoke, his tone carried a seemingly casual concern, like a father seeing a daughter who had not returned home for a long time, holding both worry and a trace of unnoticeable grievance in his heart.
"Why did you think of coming back? Were you bullied in the human World?"
According to Jin Li's usual temperament, hearing these words she would definitely loudly refute, sticking her neck out to say how she could possibly be bullied by humans.
Yet today's Jin Li was exceptionally quiet; she even lowered her head slightly, her gaze falling upon her own toes, not daring to make eye contact with Di Tian.
Di Tian naturally noticed these subtle changes; that pair of golden vertical pupils of his abruptly shrank, and his originally casually leaning sitting posture also tightened slightly by a few fractions, the temperature in his tone plummeting abruptly: "Were you really bullied?"
Jin Li did not answer, but her silence made Di Tian confirm his own guess.
Di Tian's expression completely turned cold, and an aura silently diffused around his body, carrying a sense of oppression that felt as though it could turn into reality at any moment: "Who bullied you? I will drag him to Star Dou right now to vent your anger."
He paused for a moment, then added another sentence: "And that brat Huo Yuhao, how did he promise back then? He clearly said he wouldn't let you suffer any grievances."
Hearing Di Tian mention Huo Yuhao's name, Jin Li finally raised her head.
She looked at Di Tian and said: "No one bullied me, it's my own problem."
Hearing this, Di Tian furrowed his brows tightly, his gaze falling upon Jin Li's complex-expressioned face.
He was silent for a moment, then asked: "What on earth is going on?"
Spirit Beasts had always been straightforward, saying whatever was on their minds; how was it that now, not long after Jin Li entered human society, she had become so indecisive and nagging.
There was obvious entanglement in Jin Li's expression, as if she were repeatedly weighing something in her heart.
After a moment, she simply gritted her teeth, raised her head to look at Di Tian, and her tone carried a kind of reckless openness: "I have fallen in love with Huo Yuhao!"
"What?!"
Di Tian abruptly stood up from the ground.
The action of him standing up was extremely fast, and the tyrannical aura at that instant uncontrollably spread outwards, sweeping across the entire Core Circle instantly with him as the center like an invisible shockwave.
The surface of the lake was rippled into circles by that aura, the surrounding trees trembled slightly, and the branches and leaves rustled.
Sensing this sudden sense of oppression, those Spirit Beasts of the Core Circle shrunk their bodies one after another, honestly lying prone down.
They were all secretly guessing in their hearts what on earth had happened to make the Beast God so furious.
At this moment, Di Tian's gaze stared straight at Jin Li, the anger and disbelief in his tone intertwined, almost squeezed out from between his teeth: "You have fallen in love with that brat?!"
Simultaneously as the words fell, several figures appeared around the Lake of Life, precisely several Vicious Beasts of the Star Dou Core Circle.
Xiong Jun stood at the very front, clearly not yet figuring out what on earth had happened, and he asked in a rough voice: "Fallen in love with which brat?"
Di Tian glanced at him with an icy gaze, that glance carrying no extra emotions whatsoever, yet carrying an oppression close to substance.
Xiong Jun's heart trembled slightly, subconsciously wanting to stick his neck out and glare back, but in the end, under the gaze of that look, he unconsciously averted his gaze, swallowed back the words that had already surged to his lips, and fell silent.
Di Tian cast his gaze back toward Jin Li, his chest rising and falling continuously, showing that this Beast God's mood at this moment was also not calm.
Complex emotions surged within that pair of golden vertical pupils, and after quite a while, he spoke once more: "Humans cannot be trusted, and Spirit Beasts who stay together with humans never meet a good end."
"Ten Thousand Years ago, those Spirit Beasts who walked together with humans all ended up sacrificing themselves to become the spirit rings of humans."
Hearing this, Jin Li trembled violently all over, lowering her head, not daring at all to say that she had also almost sacrificed herself to Huo Yuhao.
At this moment, she was like a child who had done something wrong, and after being silent for quite a while, she spoke in a low voice, her voice so small it was almost covered by the sound of the wind: "The Spirit Beasts you are speaking of were sacrificed to Tang San... But in the end they ascended to the Divine Realm and gained eternal life."
Hearing that Jin Li still dared to talk back, Di Tian's anger grew even more intense, and his voice also raised by a few fractions: "Over hundreds of thousands of years on the continent, how many people have become gods?"
Bi Ji stepped forward at this time, her voice soft and gentle, flowing into this tense air like a clear spring: "Stop stirring up Life Qi; when emotions come, they cannot be stopped, let alone that Huo Yuhao's talent has already been recognized by the Lord, and he is very likely to become a god in the future."
Prompted like this by Bi Ji, Di Tian also calmed down slightly by a few fractions.
He remembered the Lord's words; Huo Yuhao had already obtained the Legacy of the God of Destruction, and indeed possessed the possibility of becoming a god in the future.
But immediately afterwards, he let out another cold snort: "So what if he can become a god? The Divine Realm will not allow Spirit Beasts to become gods."
Jin Li's voice sounded once more, low, yet carrying a kind of stubbornness: "But... I have already transformed into human form now."
Di Tian let out another heavy snort: "So what if you transformed? There is no precedent of transformed Spirit Beasts becoming gods either."
"Even if you fluke your way up to the Divine Realm, you would merely be a vassal after all, and everything still depends on the Lord's grand plan."
As soon as he finished these words, the surroundings of the Core Circle instantly quieted down.
Several Vicious Beasts exchanged glances with one another, and no one spoke again.
The surface of the Lake of Life rippled with fine ripples in the breeze, like a shattered mirror, reflecting those silent figures.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.