As dusk fell, the dense forest became eerily quiet. Lu Jingming's heart suddenly stirred. His keen spiritual power detected a surge of soul power rapidly approaching, but it wasn't just one soul beast. In front of the soul beast Jingliu had previously mentioned, another soul beast, also exuding light and fire energy, was fleeing in desperation.
Lu Jingming's heart skipped a beat. From its aura, this soul beast's cultivation was also around ten thousand years. Clearly, this was a hunt, and the pursuer was the very soul beast Jingliu had described as suitable for his soul ring.
Jingliu frowned slightly. She had also sensed the hunted soul beast. Although its lifespan met the requirements, in her opinion, a creature that couldn't even contend with a soul beast of its own level and only knew how to flee was unsuitable to become Lu Jingming's soul ring.
Thus, she merely informed Lu Jingming of the pursuer's presence and ignored the fleeing one.
With a rush of air and the sound of rapid footsteps, Lu Jingming narrowed his eyes. A giant soul beast, eight meters long and three meters tall at the shoulder, came into view.
Its golden fur flowed with scarlet flame patterns, its pupils were a deep amber, its limbs were wreathed in blazing flames, and its tail tip burned with dazzling light, emitting powerful light energy fluctuations.
The moment he saw this soul beast, Lu Jingming's pupils contracted. In the past two years, he had learned some soul beast knowledge and was no longer the novice he was when he first entered the Star Dou Great Forest.
Such obvious characteristics instantly made him recognize it: this was a Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger, a top-tier soul beast of light and fire attributes. But at this moment, this majestic Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger was fleeing for its life, and the one pursuing it was actually a soul beast of the same level!
Jingliu also turned around, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. She, too, recognized the Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger. From a distance earlier, she could only sense its aura, not determine its species, which led to her misjudgment.
"Teacher, stop it!" Lu Jingming reacted instantly. Among those of the same level, only she could be pursuing a top-tier soul beast like this. Moreover, this Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger happened to possess the light attribute, fitting perfectly into her diet.
Whoosh— In an instant, a chilling aura permeated the air, and the temperature plummeted. On the empty grassland, an ice mountain rose from the ground, encasing the Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger solid. Its eyes still held terror; it clearly hadn't recovered from the fear of being pursued before being frozen by Jingliu.
As Jingliu moved, the trailing hunter seemed to sense a deadly danger. It slammed to a halt, its four limbs planted firmly, bringing its charge to a stable stop. Simultaneously, a more powerful aura, exuding terrifying might and a fiery presence, rapidly approached from a distance.
Lu Jingming focused his gaze and saw a soul beast with golden fur, beneath which golden scales were faintly hidden.
Its limbs ended in dragon claws, which burned with golden flames. Seeing the blood-red vertical pupil in the center of this soul beast's forehead, Lu Jingming's mouth twitched, and he gave Jingliu a resentful look.
It turned out that the soul beast Jingliu had just said was suitable for him was precisely the Imperial Auspicious Beast—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Recalling this soul beast's identity, Lu Jingming quietly retracted his Abyssal Spear.
His earlier grand ambitions instantly flew out the window. He might have been able to fight the Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger, but the Imperial Auspicious Beast was truly unbeatable.
Don't let its similar fifteen-thousand-year cultivation to the Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger fool you; the Imperial Auspicious Beast possessed the strength to contend with hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, equivalent to the combat power of a Titled Douluo.
With his current soul power cultivation, he would be utterly vulnerable before the Imperial Auspicious Beast. Perhaps just one slap, and the Imperial Auspicious Beast would be crying and begging him not to die.
Of course, Jingliu's judgment wasn't wrong; if he could truly absorb the Imperial Auspicious Beast's soul ring, he would indeed gain extremely powerful soul skills. But the prerequisite was actually being able to kill the Imperial Auspicious Beast.
Not to mention the fierce beasts and the Silver Dragon King lurking in the shadows, the first one to come knocking would probably be the Divine King Tang San.
After all, the Imperial Auspicious Beast represented the destiny and luck of the Star Dou Great Forest and had long been targeted by that Divine King. Lu Jingming didn't want to provoke such massive trouble for himself by attacking the Imperial Auspicious Beast just for a third soul ring.
The Imperial Auspicious Beast looked at the frozen Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger, a fierce glint flashing in its eyes.
Then it looked at Lu Jingming and Jingliu, its eyes full of curiosity. She had never left the Star Dou Great Forest, and her activity area was limited to the Forbidden Land and the Core Zone, places where humans rarely came.
"Humans, that's my prey," she said, her voice clear and melodious. It was hard to imagine such a sound coming from a beast over three meters tall.
The Imperial Auspicious Beast had a handsome and majestic appearance, but she was actually a girl. This huge contrast made it a bit hard to suppress laughter.
"Oh, how do you prove it's your prey? My teacher caught it!" Lu Jingming was fearless. Looking at the handsome Imperial Auspicious Beast, he couldn't resist the urge to tease this favored pet of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Imperial Auspicious Beast was momentarily stunned. Her not-so-clever little brain began to spin wildly. Right! How could she prove that this Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger was her prey? Unable to react, she simply stood there, dumbfounded. Fortunately, the arrival of a crimson figure interrupted her brainstorming.
"Auspicious Beast, are you alright!" A deep voice boomed, and a massive soul beast appeared in the clearing. It had three lion-like heads, was five meters long, and its dark red fur was wreathed in scarlet flames. It first looked at the Imperial Auspicious Beast, and only after seeing that she was unharmed did it breathe a sigh of relief.
"Red King, how can I prove that this Sacred Flame Heavenly Tiger is my prey?" The Imperial Auspicious Beast's single sentence instantly silenced the Red King. It had just heard Lu Jingming and the Auspicious Beast's conversation, but it never expected the Auspicious Beast to be so straightforward. She didn't seem so naive when they usually interacted with her!
Lu Jingming was also a bit speechless. The Imperial Auspicious Beast, who hadn't even merged with half of Tang Wutong's divine consciousness yet, was actually this innocent.
But this question truly stumped the Red King. How do you prove whose prey it is? When did soul beasts ever need proof when snatching prey?
But now they were facing humans, not soul beasts. Moreover, the Red King vigilantly glanced at Jingliu and had already secretly notified Ditian. Just by getting close, it felt an immense sense of danger from Jingliu.
This sense of crisis, within the entire Star Dou Great Forest, could only be given to it by Ditian, apart from their sleeping Lord. Faced with such a powerful being beyond its capabilities, and with the Auspicious Beast involved, it had to be cautious.