The Unrivaled Tang Sect

Electrolux smiled and said, “Had you asked the little worm or the small scorpion, they probably wouldn’t know the answer to this. But if you’re asking me—you’ve come to the right person. The power of destiny chased me out from the Eye of Life, and it would seem it’s the power of destiny that has taken over your eye. It has amplified and refined your spirit sea, saving you at least five years of cultivating spiritual power. You will continue to feel its positive effects as time goes by. Initially it was my own powers supporting your second mental sea; you would’ve only been able to channel the power within it upon reaching a certain level of spiritual power. However, after this round of refinement, you now can use your second mental sea. From now on, your third eye shall be called the ‘Eye of Destiny’—it gives you power over destiny."

Huo Yuhao reacted in shock. “Power over destiny? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Electrolux answered, “The Eye of Destiny bestows you with the ability to change someone’s destiny for the better within a fixed amount of time. It might sound a little abstract, but it’s actually quite simple; anybody that your Eye of Destiny gazes upon will have their fortunes changed if your will it—for better, or for worse. But, using the Eye of Destiny will consume a large amount of soul power. It will awaken in three days; you’ll have a better understanding of it then.”

Huo Yuhao understood a little more after listening to Electrolux’s explanation. “Thank you, Elder Yi. Thankfully you’re here to explain things. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a clue of what was happening. The power of destiny sounds pretty impressive!”

Electrolux lowered his voice and said, “Don’t speak too soon, Yuhao. While it’s true that you’ve received a unique and unmatched ability, this power of destiny has also linked your destiny with that of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s. You obtained a portion of its memories, while it received all of yours—which includes the information about us. Your fate is now irrevocably entwined with the beast, whether it be as friend or foe. Either way, you should work hard and focus on your cultivation; it’s vital to you now.”

His destiny would be entwined with the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s? Huo Yuhao wasn’t too worried about this. He could acutely feel that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion no longer felt hostile towards him after their strange interaction. In fact, he could feel some kind of faint connection with it now. As for his fate going forwards—who knows?

The Great Star Dou Forest changed mysteriously at that moment: It seemed to quiver, while every tree in sight began to sway in one direction, then began oscillating back and forth. An invisible force gradually emerged from the Great Star Dou Forest, as if some kind of earth-shattering change was taking place. Afterwards, the Great Star Dou Forest became silent and motionless, like every living being had gone into hibernation.

Elder Xuan arrived beside the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in a flash, then released a dense yellow radiance to cover everyone present, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion included. His expression grew dark and solemn—the arriving presence had a higher cultivation than his own, which made his skin crawl.

A wine-red glow shone brilliantly, and the Three-Headed Scarlet Devil-Mastiff appeared before everybody once more.

Huo Yuhao swiftly awakened from his meditation and positioned himself behind Elder Xuan, raising his guard as he did so.

The Scarlet King was no longer infuriated like he’d been before. His eyes seemed extremely calm, and it carried itself with utmost confidence. Its leftmost head held a dark-purple soul beast between its teeth.

The Scarlet King muttered coldly, “Release the emperor beast and take this soul beast with you.” It tossed the soul beast in its mouth to the ground as it spoke. Turning to Huo Yuhao, it said, “Your disciple wasn’t murdered by the emperor beast it seems.”

Elder Xuan answered plainly, “He wasn’t indeed, however it was close. It was his agility and quick thinking that allowed him to evade its attacks—he would’ve perished otherwise. I’ll let this go—but only once. However, the one that doesn’t want to show himself—why don’t you try and come out? Come, show me what you’ve got.”

“Human, if you want to die I’ll grant this wish of yours.” A deep voice boomed from within the Great Star Dou Forest. It sounded as hoarse as sandpaper, but felt like rolling thunder when it travelled through the air. It held an unrivaled prestige that seemed to dull the colors of the sky.

Elder Xuan’s expression didn’t change at all. “If you have the power to put me in the ground right here, you can go ahead and try it.”

“Are you trying to anger me, human?” The deep voice in the sky was now tinged with fury.

Elder Xuan smiled and replied, “So what if I anger you? This was all just a coincidence. My previous decision to leave the emperor beast here—instead of taking it back with me to Shrek—was already quite a generous one. Are you trying to frighten me? You’ve made a mistake. Since this is the case, I’ll be taking this emperor beast back to Shrek City for strict monitoring. Let’s see if the soul beasts of the Great Star Dou Forest dare to launch another large-scale invasion.” He grabbed the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s nape as he spoke. 

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's eyes burst open, all three of which were full of indignation.

“That’s enough,” the deep voice hesitated momentarily, then continued, “release the emperor beast, then you can go. I shall swear upon my reputation as Di Tian that we’ll let this go just like that.”

Elder Xuan’s expression relaxed a little and a look of astonishment flashed across his face. “So it’s Di Tian. Alright, I believe you.” He released his grip once he’d finished speaking and decisively pushed the Three-Eyed Golden Lion towards the Scarlet King with a beam of yellow light.

The Scarlet King positioned himself beside the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, then took the chance to inspect its body. He then realized that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion’s injuries had all been completely healed, and his gaze became noticeably more tender when he glanced at Elder Xuan again.

Elder Xuan reached his right hand forward and grasped the dark purple soul beast in his hands. Yellow radiance flickered as he swept up Huo Yuhao and the others, then he raced back towards Shrek Academy.

Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but anxiously ask, “That fellow hidden within the forest really won’t attack us, teacher?”

Elder Xuan answered plainly, “You guys would do well to remember that soul beasts are generally more trustworthy and honorable than humans.”

…… 

Just as Elder Xuan had said, nothing else happened within the Great Star Dou Forest once they vanished from the Scarlet King’s sight. The fearsome and intimidating aura around the Scarlet King vanished into thin air as well.

“You! You’re too mischievous. I’ve long since told you that human soul masters are our greatest threat. If he hadn’t been from Shrek Academy, your life would have easily been forfeit considering his abilities. We probably wouldn’t have even had the time to rescue you. Don’t leave the Core Regions like that again.” 

The deep voice sounded a lot more tender and amicable, a little doting even.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion raised its head, a strange sparkle in its eyes as it said, “That human said that you guys are just using me. If I wasn’t an emperor beast, or I didn’t bring you enough good fortune, you guys wouldn’t be so nice to me, eh?”

The owner of deep voice contemplated momentarily before muttering, “You have to realize, little fellow, that there’s nothing absolutely pure in this world. I can tell you with confidence that he’s right. But it can’t simply be described as ‘using’ within the world of soul beasts. I can confidently say that once we’ve been together for ten thousand years, you’ll still be my friend, and even my child—even if you were to lose your powers of fortune right now. Whoever dares to hurt you with me around will have to suffer my wrath.”

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lowered its head as if it had been aggrieved. “I’m sorry, Di Tian. I shouldn’t have doubted you. I was wrong—let’s go home.”

Di Tian’s voice became even more gentle. “Alright, let’s go home.”

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion raised its leg as it prepared to take off. However, it suddenly turned back to face the direction that Elder Xuan had gone and glanced at the company of humans quickly disappearing into the distance. The memories that it had received from the young human became even clearer in its mind, but it would still take it quite a long time to digest these memories.

…….

A gold and wine-red streak flickered simultaneously, the Great Star Dou Forest returning to its original tranquility afterwards. Meanwhile, Elder Xuan continued to surge through the sky as he swiftly carried Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao back to Shrek Academy along with the soul beast.

Elder Xuan only put them down once they’d reached the Sea God’s Pavilion.

“Absorb its soul ring, Yuhao.” Elder Xuan tossed the dark purple soul beast onto the ground and reminded Huo Yuhao to absorb its soul ring.

Huo Yuhao didn’t idle about any longer. His right arm transformed under the Ice Empress’ Pincer and he lashed out at the unconscious dark purple soul beast, who didn’t seem to have any of the trademark ferocity a ten thousand year soul beast normally would at the moment.

It looked like a wolf, but it was a little smaller than normal wolves. Aside from its brilliant dark purple fur, its appearance was rather wretched. It had a slightly collapsed nose bridge and tiny narrowed eyes, as well as incredibly short legs that didn’t seem capable of carrying its own weight.

Huo Yuhao struck at the unconscious soul beast and turned it to ice. Then dull golden blades appeared at the fingertips of his right hand, which he then stabbed into the frozen beast’s skull. It didn’t feel any pain as it passed into the netherworld, as its body had already been completely frozen, nor did it lose a single drop of blood.

A dark black soul ring gradually rose into the air from its head.

Huo Yuhao didn’t mess around; he quickly sat cross-legged in front of the soul ring, then activated his soul power and quickly began to fuse with it.