Afterward, Furina discussed the details of their future exchanges and cooperation with Gu Yuena and Di Tian. The two sides went back and forth, finalizing every detail one by one. Once a consensus was reached, Furina bid farewell to Gu Yuena and turned to leave with Neuvillette.
Watching the two disappear into the depths of the dense forest, Di Tian immediately set off and brought the Three-Eyed Golden Lion before Gu Yuena.
"Lord, I have brought the Three-Eyed Golden Lion." Di Tian bowed respectfully.
Gu Yuena nodded slightly: "Mm."
As soon as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion saw Gu Yuena, her eyes lit up instantly, and she skipped forward happily: "Sister Silver Dragon King!"
She curiously examined Gu Yuena's human form, her mouth chirping incessantly: "Sister Silver Dragon King, did you need something from me? Did something big just happen? I saw many Soul Beasts hiding; they seemed to be afraid of something. Di Tian also told me to hide obediently and not come out."
She tilted her head, her tone carrying a hint of grievance and complaint: "I also felt a very powerful Bloodline aura... By the way, Sister Silver Dragon King, why did you turn into a human?"
Gu Yuena smiled slightly, leaned down, and reached out to gently stroke the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's furry head. The movement was gentle and natural, much like an older sister soothing a spoiled younger sister.
"No particular reason." Her voice was soft, "I just think this form looks quite nice. What do you think?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion felt extremely comfortable being stroked, squinting her eyes and wagging her tail gently. She wasn't at all averse to Gu Yuena's intimacy; instead, she thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Mm!" She nodded vigorously, her tone certain, "Sister looks beautiful no matter what she looks like!"
She looked up, her eyes sparkling with longing: "Can I turn into a human too? I heard the human world is quite fun, with many strange and wonderful things..."
"Transforming is fine." Di Tian spoke with a stern face, his tone very much like a strict father disciplining a child, "But going to the human world? No. That is simply nonsense! It's too dangerous! What if something happens to you? If you go to the human world, it won't be easy for us to take care of you."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion curled her lip and muttered: "Hmph! I was just saying..."
Di Tian shook his head and sighed helplessly.
The child has grown up and is no longer obedient. Alas!
Gu Yuena watched him like this, the corners of her lips curling slightly, then she said warmly to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion: "Your Uncle Di Tian is right. The human world is indeed very dangerous for Soul Beasts. You'd better not go."
"Alright..." The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lowered her head, her tone filled with a bit of disappointment, but she still nodded obediently.
"By the way." Gu Yuena changed the subject, her expression becoming a bit more serious, "Let sister look at you and check your body."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion immediately looked up and said nonchalantly: "Sure, of course! But there's nothing wrong with my body. After all, no one can hurt me!"
She spoke with total confidence, and it wasn't a boast.
Under normal circumstances, Chi Wang, one of the Ten Great Vicious Beasts, would always follow closely by her side. Moreover, with her body as an Auspicious Beast and possessing the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, ordinary Soul Beasts wouldn't dare to be disrespectful. If there were truly any blind fools, her own super-strong mental attributes, along with the power of the Ultimate Light and Ultimate Fire attributes, would be enough for self-preservation.
The only problem would be encountering the Evil Eye Tyrant or a human Titled Douluo, especially when she was being playful. Because she would often sneak away or tell Chi Wang to stay further back. In such cases, even if Chi Wang intended to protect her, he couldn't be foolproof.
Fortunately, the above situations rarely occurred. As an Auspicious Beast, she controlled the Luck of the Star Dou Great Forest, was blessed with the Power of Destiny, and combined with multiple layers of protection and her own strength, it was indeed difficult for her to encounter danger.
"Next, I will carefully examine your entire body, including your Sea of Consciousness." Gu Yuena instructed solemnly, "Do not resist, understood?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's mental force was already not weak; although it didn't reach the level of Di Tian and the other Vicious Beasts, it far exceeded ordinary hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts. If what Furina said was true—that half of the Divine Sense of Sea God Tang San's daughter had already fused with her Soul—then her current mental force was likely several times stronger.
After all, no matter what, that was half of a god's Divine Sense.
Furthermore, Furina had mentioned more than one Divine Sense. Since the daughter's part of the Divine Sense had already fused with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, then the other one... Gu Yuena already had a guess; it must be the surveillance method left by Sea God Tang San.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nodded obediently: "Okay. But why do you even need to check my Sea of Consciousness?"
"Because I'm worried that problems might also arise in your Sea of Consciousness." Gu Yuena explained patiently, "A comprehensive check is the only way to be sure. It's okay, just don't resist."
"Okay!"
Gu Yuena closed her eyes and slowly extended her mental force into the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Sea of Consciousness.
With her First-Class God level mental force, she quickly discovered an anomaly—an extremely hidden Divine Sense, quietly lurking in the depths of the Sea of Consciousness. That Divine Sense was very strong, carrying the aura of a God King level.
If she were in her prime, she could naturally suppress it easily. But now...
Gu Yuena sighed inwardly and did not disturb that Divine Sense. She observed carefully and found that there were some Restrictions set around that Divine Sense; as long as one didn't actively trigger it, there wouldn't be any problems.
She quietly placed a layer of Restriction around that Divine Sense. This way, she wouldn't alert the other party and could also better protect the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in secret.
After setting the Restriction, she continued to probe deeper.
This time, her discovery was even more shocking; the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Soul was indeed already different from ordinary Soul Beasts. Her Soul was mixed with other components, somewhere between human and Soul Beast. That divine aura had already integrated into one with her Soul.
Without such a detailed investigation, it would have been extremely difficult to find any clues. Even more terrifying was that the Fusion process was silent, the individual was completely unaware, and her personality had not changed.
It could only be said that Sea God Tang San had indeed acted with extreme precision and stealth.
A chill rose in Gu Yuena's heart.
It was now impossible to separate that Divine Sense; it had already become one with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Soul. Unless the Three-Eyed Golden Lion died and then fused with the owner of the other half of the Divine Sense, it would not separate.
But in that case, if the Three-Eyed Golden Lion wanted to be resurrected, it would be difficult even if she became a god. Because that Divine Sense had already devoured too much of her Soul's Origin.
Gu Yuena withdrew her mental force and opened her eyes.
"Alright, that's enough."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion immediately leaned in and asked impatiently: "Ah? How is it? Is there really nothing wrong with me?"
Gu Yuena didn't answer directly. Instead, she took a scroll from her robes; it was the Cultivation Technique Furina had given her before leaving, said to be specially prepared for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
"Of course there's no problem." She handed the Cultivation Technique to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, "By the way, I have something good here. You can try to Cultivate this technique. If you find the Soul Beast state inconvenient, you can also try to transform into human form to Cultivate."
She paused, her tone becoming a bit more serious: "But don't think about running straight out of the Star Dou Great Forest to the human world, remember?"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion took the Cultivation Technique and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I got it! Thank you, Sister Silver Dragon King!"
She flipped through the scroll in her hands, her eyes bright; she clearly loved this gift very much.
Looking at her like this, Gu Yuena added: "If you really want to go out and play, you must tell me first, or tell Di Tian. We have some things here we can give you, such as tokens that can protect you and herbs that can let you turn into human form."
She calculated in her mind: the Golden Dragon Spear could be given to her for self-defense, and the shapeshifting grass from Furina could save her the trouble of sacrificing her cultivation to become human. Combined with Di Tian's scale for protection, she would have the power to fight even if she encountered a Titled Douluo.
"Yay! Thank you, Sister Silver Dragon King!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was so happy her tail almost reached the sky, and she skipped away clutching the Cultivation Technique.
Di Tian watched her departing figure, remained silent for a moment, then couldn't help but speak: "Lord, is it really alright?"
Gu Yuena stood with her hands behind her back, her gaze distant: "The way she is, she would have run out on her own sooner or later. Instead of letting her sneak away, it's better to let her go out and gain some experience; it will also be good for her."
She paused and continued: "Besides, didn't we reach an agreement with that girl Furina? We can have her help arrange a place for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Her Axis Cult doesn't sound bad, and more importantly, there is a powerful Water Dragon King presiding over it."
"Mm... I understand, Lord." Di Tian nodded thoughtfully.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked the question he was most concerned about: "So, regarding the situation of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Sea of Consciousness and Soul... is it truly as that girl said?"
Gu Yuena nodded slightly, a complex light flashing in her purple eyes: "It is the same."
She was silent for a moment, then said slowly: "Therefore, that Sea God Tang San... is also an enemy of us Soul Beasts."
Hearing this, Di Tian felt a chill in his heart.
Gu Yuena sighed softly: "His scheming is deeper than any other God King."
Di Tian clenched his fists, his tone carrying a hint of regret: "If we had known such a strong enemy would be bred back then, we should have launched a beast tide and wiped out the Spirit Hall of that time along with him."
"Enough." Gu Yuena waved her hand, her expression returning to calm, "Let the past be the past. What's most important now is to seize the present and be prepared."
She looked at Di Tian and ordered: "Go find some Soul Beasts and have them try to Cultivate those Cultivation Techniques to see how effective they are."
Di Tian nodded solemnly: "Alright, I understand."
A breeze brushed over the Lake of Life, and ripples spread across the surface. Gu Yuena looked in the direction Furina had left, her purple eyes filled with a myriad of thoughts.
This game of chess has only just begun.
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