Lin Chen did not fly towards the core of the star formation, secretly calculating in his mind.
After continuously using soul skills and activating the Thunder God bloodline, his soul power had already been depleted by more than half.
At this moment, he was too far from the core area, and before Da Ming and Er Ming could sense the auspicious beast's aura, he would probably be torn to pieces by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
"There's no other way but to gamble on that mysterious treasure land!"
He gritted his teeth, turned around, his blue-silver wings trembling behind him, and flew towards the intermittently appearing spiritual light on the map, carrying the three-eyed golden lion.
A moment later, Lin Chen arrived at his destination.
What he saw was a pitch-black poisonous pool, filled with miasma, and roaming around were hundreds and thousands of soul beasts that had adapted to the deadly poison, making it a sinister and terrifying place.
"Is this the place?" Lin Chen frowned and immediately took out a sharp spatial dagger from his spatial ring.
This dagger could briefly tear through spatial barriers and was one of his few trump cards.
He held a dagger and slashed wildly in the air around the poisonous pool, trying to trigger the hidden spatial node.
But no matter how he tried, the dagger only created ripples in space; he couldn't touch that mysterious place at all.
"Damn it! What's going on?" Lin Chen was extremely frustrated and couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Is this Star Dou Great Forest specifically designed to jinx me? I was targeted by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger the first time I entered, and now even entering a treasure land is so difficult!"
Just when he was at his wit's end, the three-eyed golden lion in his arms suddenly broke free, and the small golden figure leaped down and ran to the edge of a poisonous pool with its short legs.
Just as Lin Chen was wondering, a childish yet clear voice suddenly entered his ears:
"Human, come here and make a mark here."
Lin Chen was startled and looked at the three-eyed golden lion in disbelief.
This little guy... he actually spoke?!
Lin Chen was completely stunned. He stopped in his tracks and stared incredulously at the golden beast in front of him: "You can talk?"
He remembered that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in the original story did not appear until ten thousand years later. He thought that this auspicious beast would not be able to speak until ten thousand years later, but the one in front of him was only four or five thousand years old and could speak human language!
"Forget everything else! Hurry!" the three-eyed golden lion urged anxiously, its vertical eye flashing with golden light. "That black tiger is about to break free from Thunder Prison and catch up with us. If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"
Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately focused his senses. Sure enough, a violent and evil aura came from afar. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had actually broken through the Blue Silver Senluo Thunder Prison and was rushing towards them at top speed!
I'll trust you this once!
Without further hesitation, Lin Chen immediately took out his spatial dagger and, following the direction indicated by the auspicious beast, slashed fiercely into the void!
"Sizzle—"
With a soft sound, the spatial barrier opened, and a pitch-black rift suddenly appeared. Beyond the rift lay a piece of land!
"Walk!"
Lin Chen picked up the three-eyed golden lion and leaped into the spatial rift.
Just as his figure disappeared, the massive body of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger arrived with a roar. Looking at the closing spatial rift in front of him, it let out a furious roar of unwillingness, but could only linger by the poisonous pool, unable to step into this mysterious space.
Upon entering the space, the miasma and tiger roars of the outside world were instantly shut out.
After landing, Lin Chen confirmed that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could not pursue him, and his tense mind finally relaxed. Holding the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, he looked up and surveyed this mysterious space, his heart slightly trembling.
This is a vast and desolate land, with yellow sand filling the sky and not a blade of grass growing. The air is filled with an ancient and desolate atmosphere, as if it has been precipitated by hundreds of millions of years.
At the edge of the horizon, three enormous corpses stood silently, long since decayed to the point of being nothing but bare bones, yet still exuding a chilling aura.
Two of the skeletons are clearly shaped, with huge bone wings and sharp claws and teeth. They are clearly the remains of legendary dragons. Even though only skeletons remain, one can imagine their magnificent power in life.
But when Lin Chen's gaze turned to the third corpse, his pupils suddenly contracted.
The skeleton was equally enormous, but it was shrouded in a hazy, chaotic mist. No matter how intently he looked at it, he could not see its true form, as if some supreme law was deliberately concealing it, which even his penetrating divine eyes could not penetrate.
As if drawn by an invisible force, the three-eyed golden lion spurred its short legs and rushed straight toward the mysterious corpse shrouded in chaotic mist.
"Watch out!" Lin Chen's heart tightened, and he quickly caught up. "There's something strange about this place, don't wander off!"
"There's no danger here." The auspicious beast didn't turn its head, its childish voice tinged with urgency, "On the contrary, there's an opportunity that's crucial to me!"
Before the words were even finished, it had already run up to the remains. Lin Chen followed closely behind, observing them up close, and was even more awestruck by the immense power of the skeleton.
The skeleton was incomplete, with only the core skeletal structure remaining in the abdomen; the limbs had long since broken off and were scattered around. In the center of that massive abdominal bone, a fist-sized, golden bead floated, its surface swirling with mysterious patterns and emanating a vast, primordial aura—it was this aura that attracted the auspicious beast.
"That is..." Lin Chen's pupils contracted slightly, his heart filled with shock. This bead was no ordinary object; the energy fluctuations it contained far surpassed any immortal herbs or soul bones he had ever seen, and it didn't seem like a dragon's core either.
A strong light burst forth from the three-eyed golden lion's eyes. Unable to contain itself any longer, it darted its small body into the gap in the huge skeleton, tilting its head back and staring intently at the round bead. Its little claws twitched restlessly, as if it had seen the most precious treasure in the world.
The auspicious beast stared at the round bead for a long time, then suddenly leaped up and opened its mouth to swallow it whole.
"Wait!"
Lin Chen reacted swiftly, his Blue Silver Emperor Vines shooting out instantly and precisely coiling around the bead, securing it in his hand first. The auspicious beast missed its target, crashing heavily to the ground, and immediately flew into a rage.
It angrily crawled out from the gap in the skeleton and growled at Lin Chen, "Human! Give me that thing!"
Lin Chen weighed the slightly cool round bead in his hand, gently shook it with his fingertips, and smiled, "Everyone who sees this treasure has a share, so we should discuss how to distribute it, right? There are only the two of us here, so let's clarify what's yours and what's mine before we take it."
"This one is mine!" The auspicious beast said without hesitation, pointing its little paw directly at the round bead, its tone resolute, "I don't want the others!"
Lin Chen was stunned, somewhat incredulous: "Do you know what you're saying? There are two more dragon skeletons over there, maybe they contain dragon cores and dragon bones, treasures like that, and you don't want any of them? You only want this bead?"
"Those are useless to me!" The mythical beast stamped its feet in frustration, its golden eyes fixed on the bead. "This bead is of immense benefit to me, ten thousand times more important than any dragon pill! Give it to me, and everything here is yours; I won't touch a thing!"
Seeing the auspicious beast's resolute attitude, Lin Chen no longer hesitated and casually tossed the round bead over: "Alright, a gentleman's word is his bond. The bead is yours, and the rest is mine."
The auspicious beast's eyes lit up instantly. It leaped up, caught the round bead steadily, and swallowed it in one gulp without hesitation.
The moment the bead entered its body, the auspicious beast erupted with dazzling golden light, its third vertical eye on its forehead fully opened, and an aura far more profound than before soared into the sky! Its golden light surged, and it immediately curled up on the ground, beginning to refine the bead with all its might. Enveloped in golden light, its aura steadily increased, clearly undergoing a tremendous transformation.
Seeing this, Lin Chen stopped disturbing them and turned to explore the secret realm. With a thought, he unleashed his Blue Silver Domain, and invisible fluctuations swept across the entire barren land, precisely capturing every energy fluctuation.
Within the domain, two points of spiritual light flickered within each of the two giant dragon skeletons, clearly the dragon core and dragon bone that Lin Chen had anticipated. However, he was in no hurry to collect them, as they were already his for the taking. His attention was completely drawn to the mysterious corpse.
"Um?"
Suddenly, Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. Under the perception of the Blue Silver Domain, an aura of law that transcends all things slowly overflowed from the front of the mysterious corpse's abdomen, ancient and majestic.
"This is..." Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stepped forward, "Could it be the soul bone that condensed after the mysterious creature died?"
He walked up to the skeleton and stared intently. In the indistinct mist, he saw a palm-sized golden skull silently floating.
The skull is entirely gilded, as clear and translucent as golden crystal, exuding a sacred aura. Its surface is engraved with mysterious and intricate patterns, each of which seems to interpret the laws of heaven and earth.
Lin Chen stared at the golden skull floating in the mist, his heart pounding, his joy overflowing.
Although he now possesses three external soul bones, he lacks only one true soul bone for the six core parts. The appearance of this skull is like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
If outside soul masters heard this, they would probably be so angry they would vomit blood—the soul masters dream of and are willing to pay a fortune for external soul bones, and you have three of them all and you still don't think it's enough?
Lin Chen glanced at the three-eyed golden lion that was still being refined in the golden light, and a smile appeared on his lips: "Little guy, you said it yourself, that everything here except that bead belongs to me. Then I will accept this soul bone without hesitation."
Without further hesitation, Lin Chen sat cross-legged, carefully reached out, and took the skull of destiny into his palm.
The skull felt warm and smooth to the touch, and a vast and boundless power of the laws of destiny instantly surged into his body, intertwining and colliding with his spiritual power and the bloodline of the Thunder God. Even though his spiritual power far surpassed that of ordinary people, the fusion process was extremely difficult, taking a full hour before he finally completely refined the skull.
When Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes, a flash of understanding appeared in them.
He had already discerned the true name of this soul bone—the Skull of Destiny!
A storm raged in Lin Chen's heart.
The Fate attribute—that's an exclusive ability of Emperor-level auspicious beasts!
But the skull of destiny before him clearly came from that mysterious corpse, not from the one beside him. He subconsciously looked at the three-eyed golden lion that was still refining the bead, his heart filled with doubt: What exactly is going on? Could it be that the lineage of auspicious beasts has such an unknown past?
Shocked, Lin Chen continued to immerse himself in his comprehension, receiving the fragmented information remaining within the soul bone. A secret, sealed deep within the ages, slowly unfolded in his mind.
It turns out that this mysterious corpse was actually the first auspicious beast from the ancient Dragon God era!
It was not born naturally, but was a primordial auspicious beast born from the boundless fortune of the dragon race when the Dragon God ruled over the dragon race and its fortune was boundless. It was born to control the Great Dao of Destiny and had an incomparably revered status. Even the supreme beings of the dragon race had to show it respect.
But later, the Dragon God went mad, unleashing a massive war that swept across the divine realm, causing widespread destruction and suffering. The first auspicious beast, having foreseen the inevitable defeat of the dragon race, and unwilling to perish with them, quietly departed to seek another way to survive.
However, its actions were eventually noticed by the Dragon God. At that time, the Dragon God was engaged in a fierce battle with a human god-level expert and had no time to spare, so it severely injured the creature and sent two god-level dragons to hunt it down, ordering that it must be brought back alive.
The first auspicious beast was heartbroken and despondent.
It knew that the Dragon God was nearing its end and would soon briefly regain his senses, splitting into the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings before his complete demise. With the Dragon God's death, the dragon race's fortune would dissipate, and this auspicious beast born from the dragon's fortune would be crippled even if it didn't die! Moreover, after the human gods won, they would surely purge the remaining forces, and as a subordinate of the Dragon God, it had no chance of survival.
"Success or failure is both determined by fate..."
Endless resentment and unwillingness welled up in its heart. It hated that it was born bound to the dragon race and hated this destined fate.
Ultimately, with nowhere else to turn, the first auspicious beast chose to detonate its own divine position!
A terrifying burst of divine power erupted, and it perished together with the two pursuing divine dragons. Half of its remaining power transformed into the Destiny Pearl swallowed by the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, carrying its bloodline and origin; the other half condensed into this Destiny Skull, imprinted with its unwillingness and resistance against fate.
When the Dragon God was defeated, he swore a blood oath: unless the Dragon God reappears, no soul beast in the Douluo Continent may ever become a god!
This shackle has imprisoned the soul beasts for billions of years.
Lin Chen opened his eyes and looked at the mutilated skeleton, feeling a mix of emotions.
I see.
The three-eyed golden lion beside me, like the first auspicious beast, carries the fortune of the current soul beast race. No wonder it is so eager for that Destiny Pearl, which is the origin of its ancestor and the key to its own evolution.
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