"Mm… mm…"
Weina's little face had gone pale, her eyes glistening with tears. She looked completely terrified, nodding frantically until Mu Xue finally let go.
"Uncle Mo, can we leave now?"
Mu Xue turned toward Mo Yunfei. She calmed herself quickly, determination settling over her features.
As royalty, she naturally understood the art of leadership. Out here in the wilderness, she lacked experience, and if she started giving reckless orders to assert herself, she would only drag everyone to their deaths.
Mo Yunfei had wandered the world in his younger years before the royal family took him in. He had eaten far more salt than she had eaten rice.
"Difficult…"
Mo Yunfei's face grew even grimmer.
"In this situation, retreat is impossible. We're already deep into the outskirts near the core of the Star Dou Forest. To fully withdraw would take at least three or four days. Worse still, it's nighttime. Soul beasts are most active at night—we're at a huge disadvantage…"
He paused, voice dropping.
"And if our luck is bad… we might run into that presence we felt just now…"
"Haa…"
Mu Xue slowly exhaled a breath. Her beautiful eyes grew calmer.
"In that case, we stay here. Treat this place as our camp. Build a simple line of defenses… and leave the rest to fate."
"Sigh…"
Mo Yunfei gave a long sigh.
The Heavenly Soul Empire attached great importance to Mu Xue's acquisition of her second spirit ring, dispatching him as her escort. Since soul beasts tied to spiritual and mental attributes were exceedingly rare, their fruitless search in the outer regions had driven them to press deeper toward the forest's core.
But to think—they had barely reached the first night, and disaster had already struck.
"Soul beasts! Countless of them—everyone on full alert!!!" Beitang's panicked cry rang out from atop a towering ancient tree. "No… It's a beast tide!!!"
"What?!"
Mo Yunfei's face changed instantly. His figure flickered up into the canopy of an ancient tree, his gaze sweeping in the same direction as Beitang's.
His expression froze.
That was…
Heaven and earth blurred into a single line. The forest stretched endlessly to the horizon, and a vast cloud of dust surged upward, making the night sky look all the more terrifying.
The ground suddenly began to quake.
Everyone's faces drained of color.
A countless horde of soul beasts swarmed together; among them were even Ten-thousand-year-class beasts. If they charged this way…
"Bring the princess up! Here, we make our last stand!"
Mo Yunfei's mind raced, then he clenched his teeth as if breaking a pot to sink with it.
These unstoppable natural forces—if they tried to run, the tide of soul beasts would catch them in moments and grind them into paste.
Only on the great trees did they have a sliver of hope.
"Let us pray… that we survive this."
Neuvillette, meanwhile, felt his spirit pulled through the depths of time itself. His consciousness surfaced in the midst of a vast, ancient forest.
Suddenly, everything around him turned to gold. The radiant brilliance was so dazzling that even the plants bathed in its light transformed into shimmering golden forms.
The plants grew wildly at an incredible rate. Upon the forest floor, a golden egg emerged, its shell aglow with a sacred, otherworldly brilliance.
A crisp, cracking sound echoed as a fissure spread across the egg's surface, splintering rapidly.
Crack!
A tiny claw broke through, followed by a small head.
Covered in damp golden fur, it resembled a puppy as it wriggled free from the shell, then turned back to devour the fragments piece by piece.
Crunch. Crunch.
The crisp sounds continued as faint golden light started to emit from the little beast's body.
In the next instant—
A beam of radiant golden light descended from the heavens, piercing the thick clouds and enveloping the "puppy" that had just finished eating its shell.
The sticky fluids clinging to its body evaporated beneath the holy glow.
In the blink of an eye, its size grew from barely a foot long to over a meter. Its golden fur crystallized into a transparent brilliance, radiant rings of light rippling outward.
The beast threw back its head and released a sharp, piercing cry.
Its forehead split open, revealing a single eye that seemed to perceive clearly through heaven and earth.
As the vision unfolded within Neuvillette's consciousness, everything began to accelerate.
Countless images surged through his mind.
In the span of a breath, it was as if he had lived through ten thousand years, memory fragments flashing past—every single one set within the depths of a great forest.
"So this is… the Auspicious Beast…"
Neuvillette's mind replayed the visions like a living hologram, images flashing faster and faster.
He didn't know how much time passed before ripples spread across his sight.
It was like a mirror shattering, glass splintering into fragments before being pieced again.
And then—
He slowly lowered his head.
Their gazes met. Both saw the complexity in the other's eyes.
At last, even Neuvillette's usually calm gaze rippled with emotion.
Some hidden resonance bound their spirits together.
And then—
The corner of Neuvillette's lips curved upward.
Success.
The Auspicious Beast interception plan—complete!
(End of Chapter)