Chapter 199: Escape, Pursued by Di Tian and the Vicious Beasts
The atmosphere within the Star Dou Great Forest solidified in an instant, growing heavier than lead.
Amidst the distant, ancient sea of trees, a pitch-black rift quietly tore through the fabric of space.
Without a single warning ripple of spirit power, four figures stepped out from the void, boxing Liu Yuan, Du Busi, and Long Aotian into a suffocating fan-shaped formation.
The leader stood tall, draped in an immaculate black robe. His deep, abyssal pupils seemed capable of swallowing all surrounding light.
Behind him loomed a massive Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, a three-headed crimson mastiff radiating a scorching, hellish aura, and a breathtakingly beautiful woman clad in a pale green gown.
Di Tian. Bear Lord. Scarlet King. Bi Ji.
The absolute zenith of combat power within the Star Dou Great Forest had gathered in one place.
Du Busi's hands, previously resting on the shoulders of his two disciples, clamped down like iron vises. The domineering, heaven-defying aura of a Level 98 Super Douluo was violently suppressed, forced to contract inward under the crushing pressure of these four Vicious Beasts.
His pupils shrank to pinpricks as he locked his gaze onto Di Tian. Beneath his dark-green robes, every muscle fiber coiled to its absolute limit.
"Beast God Di Tian," Du Busi growled, his voice dropping to a dangerous, gravelly register. "What is the meaning of this?"
Liu Yuan felt the suffocating gravity of the situation. His breathing slowed, his mind shifting into a state of absolute, icy calculation.
Beyond the overwhelming presence of the four Vicious Beasts, his attention was drawn to a smaller entity perched upon Di Tian's shoulder. It was a beast with dark-gold fur and a striking vertical eye set perfectly in the center of its forehead.
A deep, ancient Force of Destiny flickered within that third eye, locking directly onto him.
"Junior Brother, what exactly is happening?" Long Aotian shifted his stance, stepping protectively in front of Liu Yuan. Dark-gold light surged as the drill-like manifestations of his Body Martial Soul materialized over his arms, grinding against the heavy air. "Why would the rulers of the forest mobilize for us?"
Liu Yuan did not reply. The complex purple-gold patterns within his Double Pupils spun wildly, analyzing the hostile spirit power saturating the environment. His gaze remained anchored to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The Auspicious Beast glared back, its tri-colored eyes practically dripping with raw, unadulterated killing intent.
"Damned human! Did you really think you could just walk away?" The beast's voice echoed directly into their minds, sharp and furious. "You were the one who slaughtered my friend, the Space Beast! Don't even try to deny it. I can smell his spirit ring on your very soul! I will tear you apart to avenge him!"
The pieces instantly snapped into place within Liu Yuan's calculating mind.
The hundred-thousand-year Space Beast he had hunted during his previous expedition had been a companion to the Emperor of Auspicious Beasts. Though he had evaded detection back then, absorbing the beast's spirit ring meant he had permanently assimilated a fragment of its unique spatial aura. Combined with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's absolute mastery over the perception of destiny, his fate had been sealed the second he set foot back across the forest's border.
"This complicates things," Liu Yuan muttered, his expression hardening into a mask of grim pragmatism.
Du Busi's brow twisted into a deep, jagged knot.
The pressure radiating from Di Tian alone was enough to make his bones ache. In a strict one-on-one duel, the Body Sect Master might have carved out a bloody path to victory. But against the Beast God, flanked by the Bear Lord's raw physical might, the Scarlet King's hellfire, and Bi Ji's peerless healing? Even a Level 98 Super Douluo would be ground into dust.
"Retreat."
Du Busi made the call with absolute, ruthless efficiency. He didn't waste a single breath on posturing.
"You two, break for the perimeter!" he roared, his voice laced with spirit power to snap them into action. "Do not look back! I will hold the line!"
Before the final syllable even left his lips, a horrifying display of cracking bones erupted from Du Busi's frame. His muscles expanded violently, tearing the sleeves of his robe as a liquid dark-gold light surged across his skin—the ultimate manifestation of the Body Martial Soul's Gold-grade Secondary Awakening.
"Get out of my way!"
Du Busi threw a devastating right hook into the empty air. A cataclysmic shockwave of violent spirit power and highly corrosive emerald poison exploded outward. It formed a towering green tsunami, crashing forward with enough kinetic force to level a mountain range, aimed directly at Di Tian.
Di Tian's expression remained utterly impassive, a mask of cold, draconic arrogance. He didn't even bother to manifest his true form. He merely raised his right hand and casually clenched his fingers.
"Spatial Lock."
The atmosphere within a thousand-meter radius instantly hardened into impenetrable steel. The moment Du Busi's apocalyptic wave of poison and kinetic force slammed into that invisible barrier, the space warped, forcibly sucking the devastating attack into a fractured dimensional void.
"You think you can just leave?!"
The Bear Lord threw his head back, unleashing a deafening, bloodthirsty roar. His massive, tree-trunk-like legs stomped the earth, shattering the bedrock for miles. He swung his massive arms, and two hundred-meter-long projections of dark-gold terrorclaws shredded the very fabric of reality, slashing downward to bisect Liu Yuan and Long Aotian.
Du Busi moved faster than the eye could track. Forcing his way through the immense pressure of the Spatial Lock, he thrust both palms upward. His emerald poison crystallized instantly, forming massive, solidified chains that crisscrossed the sky, clashing violently against the descending terrorclaws in a shower of blinding sparks.
"Go! Now!" Du Busi bellowed. Thick beads of dark-green blood began to seep from his pores—the brutal, agonizing backlash of pushing his Gold-grade Awakening past its limits against the spatial suppression.
Liu Yuan didn't hesitate. Pragmatism ruled his actions.
He grabbed Long Aotian by the shoulder, refusing to waste the bloody opportunity his master had carved out for them. With a sharp flex of his back, the majestic Amethyst Giant Wings tore through his clothing, unfurling to their maximum wingspan. He simultaneously ignited the Qilin Protection Art, his skin taking on an indestructible sheen.
Merging his flight with Long Aotian's explosive physical speed, the two transformed into a singular, blinding streak of purple-gold light, tearing a vacuum through the air as they bolted for the forest's perimeter.
Behind them, the sky turned a sickening shade of green. Du Busi detonated his spirit power with reckless abandon, flooding the entire mountain hollow with a toxic, emerald tempest. With his own strength, the Body Sect Master became an immovable mountain, stubbornly intercepting the apocalyptic combined assault of the Beast God and his generals.
For a grueling half-hour, Liu Yuan and Long Aotian burned their spirit power to the dregs, sprinting at supersonic speeds until the oppressive canopy of the Star Dou Great Forest finally broke, spitting them out into the barren outer wastelands.
They skidded to a halt, scanning the horizon. Only after several agonizing minutes of silence did a battered figure stumble out from the distant, tall grass.
It was Du Busi. His signature dark-green robes were reduced to charred rags. Large, gruesome patches of his skin were blistered with hellfire burns, and his chest heaved erratically.
He staggered forward a few paces before his knees buckled, collapsing onto the dry earth. He gasped for air, his lungs rattling. Reaching out with a trembling, blood-stained hand, he ripped a handful of wild grass from the dirt and shoved it into his mouth, chewing mechanically to help suppress the violently chaotic spirit power rampaging through his meridians.
"Damn it to the deepest pits of hell," Du Busi spat, coughing up a mixture of grass and dark blood as he glared at his two panting disciples. "Why in the world would Di Tian personally orchestrate an ambush? And bringing out freaks like the Bear Lord and the Scarlet King? Have the beasts finally gone rabid? We didn't even provoke them this time!"
Long Aotian braced his hands on his knees, his chest heaving as he stared back at the distant tree line. The forest was now as silent and still as a graveyard, but the lingering terror of that encounter chilled his blood. "If you hadn't burned your vitality to force a breach in that spatial lock, Master... the three of us would be nothing but fertilizer right now."
Liu Yuan slowly straightened his posture. He looked toward the colossal silhouette of the forest, watching as it gradually faded beneath the rolling clouds. He remained silent for a long moment, his purple-gold pupils narrowing as he analyzed the variables.
"Master, do you recall the Space Beast I hunted during our last expedition?" Liu Yuan asked, his voice low and measured.
"Why are you bringing that up now?" Du Busi frowned, his erratic breathing finally beginning to stabilize.
"Because that Three-Eyed Golden Lion and the Space Beast were old companions," Liu Yuan stated, his tone devoid of fear, only cold realization. "By absorbing the Space Beast's spirit ring, I permanently integrated its unique spatial aura into my own. That Three-Eyed Golden Lion possesses an absolute perception of destiny. The moment I crossed the border, it locked onto that lingering scent. That is why they found us."
Du Busi turned his head and spat a thick glob of bloody phlegm onto the dirt. A dangerous, cold light flickered in his sunken eyes. "So that's how it is. No wonder they mobilized an army for a single junior."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his charred hand. "However, this makes things incredibly troublesome."
"That creature is the Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest. It is protected by the very laws of this land, making it nearly impossible to assassinate quietly. But if we don't kill it, it will sense your approach the instant you return. From this day forward, stepping foot into the Star Dou Great Forest will be a death sentence for you."
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