In the sky, dark clouds hung low. Thick layers of clouds pressed down upon the horizon, blocking out every last ray of sunlight, and the entire land was shrouded in a stifling gray gloom.
The air was heavy and damp, and occasionally, muffled thunder rolled from deep within the clouds, as if a torrential downpour could pour down on them at any moment.
Huo Yuhao and Jin Li were flying in mid-air, the soul guidance flight devices on their backs trailing two pale blue exhaust flames in the dim light.
Below, the outline of Shrek City was faintly visible under the gloomy sky. Jin Li turned her head to look at Huo Yuhao beside her and asked, "Aren't you going back to take a look?"
Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment. "No, I'll go home after this trip to Star Dou is over."
Having said that, the two did not linger. Their speed suddenly increased, and they transformed into two streaks of light, racing towards the direction of Star Dou.
After Huo Yuhao successfully absorbed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass Spirit Soul at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he and Jin Li had headed straight for Star Dou, and after two days, they had finally arrived at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Looking down from the sky, the Star Dou Great Forest was like a boundless, dark green ocean. The canopies of towering ancient trees were intertwined in layer upon layer, stretching endlessly as far as the eye could see.
The two landed slowly at the edge of the forest. The air was filled with the rich fragrance of plants and the damp scent of soil, which was completely different from the air outside.
Huo Yuhao was just about to lift his foot to walk deeper into the forest when his arm was suddenly grabbed by Jin Li.
Seeing Huo Yuhao turn his head, Jin Li shook her head and said, "No need to walk inside. Di Tian will come to pick us up; just wait here."
As the Emperor Auspicious Beast, Jin Li carried the Luck of the Star Dou Great Forest clan.
As long as her foot stepped into the territory of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Luck of the entire forest would undergo subtle yet undeniable changes, and Di Tian would naturally sense it immediately.
And with his strength, it wouldn't take much time for him to find Jin Li's exact location.
Indeed, not long after Jin Li finished speaking, Huo Yuhao suddenly turned his head as if he had sensed something.
In the mid-air directly in front of him, a spatial rift suddenly tore open without any warning.
The edges of the rift were irregularly jagged, and the interior of the pitch-black fissure was bottomless, as if even light could not escape from it, like a wound that was difficult to heal had suddenly appeared in the sky.
Immediately after, a tall figure stepped slowly out of the spatial rift.
Even though he did not deliberately reveal any aura, Huo Yuhao still felt a pressure as heavy as a mountain rushing towards him.
Because the person who arrived was none other than Di Tian, the 890,000-year-old Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, the supreme ruler of the Spirit Beast Clan on the Douluo Continent.
Having now completed the Fusion with the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass Spirit Soul, Huo Yuhao's strength had improved once again, and he was already comparable to an ordinary Titled Douluo.
Yet, facing Di Tian at this moment, he still clearly felt that the gap between himself and this Beast God remained like a chasm.
He tensed his back slightly, but his expression remained calm and composed as he met Di Tian's deep, abyss-like eyes without being servile or overbearing.
Di Tian glanced down at Huo Yuhao from his height, a trace of surprise flashing deep within his golden pupils.
He clearly had not expected that Huo Yuhao would actually return to the Star Dou Great Forest with the Auspicious Beast.
Facing Huo Yuhao, the culprit who had "kidnapped" the Auspicious Beast, he naturally would not have a pleasant expression.
He snorted coldly, and then, when his gaze fell upon Jin Li, his sharp, chiseled face softened slightly.
Jin Li tilted her head, looking at Di Tian with a beaming smile, and called out affectionately, "Di Tian, Di Tian, did you miss me?"
Di Tian looked at her cheeky appearance, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curling up slightly, but he immediately forced them back down, keeping a straight face and saying in a deep voice, "You still know how to come back?"
His voice was still as deep and dignified as ever, but Jin Li giggled, "Don't be so serious. I know you aren't angry."
Di Tian looked at Jin Li, a trace of imperceptible surprise flashing in his eyes.
After the Auspicious Beast took human form and entered human society, she seemed much more lively and spirited than she had been before in the Star Dou Great Forest, and even the radiance in her golden eyes when she spoke was brighter than before.
This change couldn't be called good or bad, but it made Di Tian faintly feel that perhaps agreeing to let the Auspicious Beast leave Star Dou in the first place had not been a wrong decision.
He suppressed the subtle sentiment in his heart and cast his gaze back to Huo Yuhao, who was standing beside Jin Li, his tone returning to that cold, icy pitch from before: "What is this kid following here for?"
Jin Li also turned her head to look at Huo Yuhao. Seeing him nod slightly, she met Di Tian's gaze again, her tone serious: "Yuhao came over this time specifically to discuss something with you."
Hearing the natural "Yuhao" from Jin Li's lips, Di Tian only felt an inexplicable irritation welling up again, and he couldn't help but snort heavily once more.
If it had been any other human who dared to swagger into the Star Dou Great Forest and demand to see him by name, even if he didn't directly teach them a lesson, he would definitely have kicked them out without any courtesy.
To discuss matters with him, Di Tian, that would depend on whether he was willing.
However, Huo Yuhao was different after all. Not only could he make the Auspicious Beast subconsciously want to be close to him, but this young man also harbored secrets concerning their Lord.
Di Tian descended slowly from mid-air, his black robe fluttering slightly in the wind, and stood steadily between Huo Yuhao and Jin Li.
He looked at Huo Yuhao expressionlessly and said three words in a deep voice: "Do not resist."
To be honest, Di Tian was also secretly shocked at this moment.
How long had it been since he last saw Huo Yuhao? Yet the feeling this kid gave him was as if he had been reborn; his aura was clearly much more refined, by more than just one level.
Di Tian even had a faint intuition that if this kid really resisted, he might not be able to take him away so smoothly, which was why he had broken his usual habits to issue a warning in advance.
Huo Yuhao nodded, indicating that he understood.
The next moment, a familiar feeling of dizziness surged over him, overwhelming everything.
That was the unique feeling of Transmigration through space, something Huo Yuhao had long been accustomed to.
When the scene before his eyes brightened again, the first thing to hit him was an overwhelmingly dense, almost suffocating, amount of Origin Qi and Life Qi.
Huo Yuhao subconsciously took a deep breath and looked up. Before him was a lake as emerald green as jade.
The surface of the lake was smooth as a mirror, and the emerald green color was so rich that it seemed almost unreal; the entire lake was like a huge piece of jade inlaid into the earth.
Huo Yuhao recognized at a glance that this was the Lake of Life, the true core of the Star Dou Great Forest, and the supreme Holy Land of the Spirit Beast Clan.
Huo Yuhao turned around and looked at the tall, dignified black-robed figure behind him. His lips parted, and just as he was about to say something, he saw Di Tian's expression suddenly become stern.
Before Huo Yuhao could react, Di Tian suddenly extended his right hand, fingers slightly spread, and reached straight towards him.
Huo Yuhao's heart skipped a beat, and his expression changed instantly; he subconsciously thought that Di Tian was about to attack him.
His brain raced at lightning speed, almost causing him to instantly equip his Two-Word Battle Armor and run away.
Although he knew that the gap between himself and Di Tian could not be bridged by a single set of Battle Armor, and he likely wouldn't be able to escape anyway.
But at the very moment he was about to react, his Spirit Domain Realm mental force did not sense the slightest killing intent from Di Tian.
Not only was there no killing intent, but one could not even see any power in the right hand reaching towards him.
Therefore, Huo Yuhao forcibly suppressed the vigilance and instinct surging in his heart and did not make an overreaction.
Subsequently, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt something inside his body being abruptly triggered by an invisible force, and immediately after, a thick black light shot out from the center of his forehead, finally landing steadily in the palm of Di Tian's hand.
Huo Yuhao looked closely and finally saw the true appearance of that black light. It was a palm-sized black scale, pitch-black like ink, with a perfect shield shape, glistening with a faint, cold light under the emerald green glow of the Lake of Life.
He was all too familiar with this scale; it was exactly the Black Dragon Reverse Scale that Di Tian had personally given him back then.
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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.