Kapitel 53: Encounter With A Real Three-Eyed Golden Lion!

Sheng Feilong, Tang Wulin and the others hid in the bushes again after the terrifying howl ravished through the forest. Slowly making their way in the direction of it's source, they found themselves in front of an incredible scene. Within a steep mountain valley, two enormous Soul Beasts were fighting; A huge, Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, a top-ranked Soul Beast amongst the ones on the same level, that had an incredibly profound, dark gold aura, and a similarly huge golden lion, with a more majestic, brightly shining golden aura. Moreover, both of their auras certainly didn't belong to the class of 1.000-years-old Soul Beasts; They were bonafide 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts!

Although Sheng Feilong never saw a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear inside the Spirit Ascension Platform before, he had read about it and its trait. The Bear got its name from its huge, dark gold coloured right claw. Among Soul Beasts, a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear had one of the most terrifying physical strengths and was said to be able to easily tear apart Soul Beasts of a higher level; A 10.000-years-old one like the one before them, would be able to kill normal 100.000-years-old Soul Beasts like it was nothing!

Still, this wasn't the truly incredible part; Sheng Feilong's body stiffened, his eyes locked onto the golden lion while his thoughts were running wild. This was a real, living Three-Eyed Golden Lion of at least 10.000 years of age! Although it hadn't opened its third eye yet, greatly limiting it's true strength, it was already strong enough to fight toe to toe with the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear!

Everyone was dazed for a while, before Xie Xie's shaking voice could suddenly be heard. "I-I finally know where I saw this lion before...! This is an auspicious beast! The guardian beast of the forests that only appeared in legends thousands of years ago! It is said to bring fortune upon everything near it and everywhere it lived; it was called the Auspicious Emperor! This beast is even stronger than the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear! I didn't recognize it before because its third eye hasn't opened yet!"

While they were talking, the fight between the beasts become more and more heated, causing stormy winds to brush past the children continuously. After a while, they couldn't keep their eyes open anymore and had to take shelter from the violent collisions. Just when all of them hid away, the winds suddenly stopped, and the sounds of fighting sounded more and more distant. Looking out of their hiding spot, they saw the devastated valley, but no signs of the beasts could be seen, only faint howls in the distance were barely audible.

Jian Wang looked doubtful and unconsciously muttered out loud.

"Are they gone...?" and Sheng Feilong cautiously spread his Spirit Power out again before nodding and quietly speaking. "There's no more soul Beasts near here; They've taken their fight elsewhere. Let's quickly get out of here, it'd be way too dangerous if they came back."

Tang Wulin nodded in agreement, but Xie Xie suddenly stopped them. "Wait. This region should belong to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. That mean's it should have its lair somewhere around here, right? It's known as a sign of good luck, so there has to be some treasures in its lair, right? Why don't we check it out?"

Gu Yue and Xu Xiayan looked at Tang Wulin, letting him decide the matter, while Jian Wang seemed excited, nearly instantly agreeing to Xie Xie. Sheng Feilong contemplated for a while, deciding to go with the flow and waiting for Tang Wulin's decision. It didn't take long for the latter to make this decision, though. A fiery light burned in his eyes and he instantly blurted out. "Let's go, then!"

The six of them made their way down the valley and searched for the lair. It took a few minutes, but they eventually found a cave big enough for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion to enter. Xie Xie and Sheng Feilong confirmed that it was the lair of the Golden Lion and the group quickly made their way into it's depths. The cave was pitch black, but Sheng Feilong sneakily used his Mental Detection on Jian wang and himself, making them able to see. After a while, the found a huge pile of gemstones and Soul Treasure littering on the ground, brightly shining and causing all of their eyes to light up as well. Xie Xie stormed for the treasure while laughing out loud, but Sheng Feilong's senses suddenly spiked with danger. "Xie Xie, dodge!"

Despite being distracted by the treasure, Xie Xie still recognized the warning, quickly jumping back, only to see a dangerous, scaled claw shatter the ground where he just stood. He looked up and cold sweat drenched his back. Before him stood another Three-Eyed Golden Lion! There were actually two of them living here! Xie Xie sprung back and Tang Wulin and his friends quickly got into a battle formation with trained movements while staring at the golden Lion.

In their hurry, no one noticed that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion before them was actually way smaller than the one they saw outside; it stood barely one and a half metres tall and its shoulders were just over 2 metres wide. Sheng Feilong's eyes widened and he quickly informed the others while still being surprised himself. "A juvenile Three-Eyed Golden Lion?!"

Tang Wuling and the others quickly came to a conclusion with just a few words and engaged the golden lion in battle, leaving Jian Wang and Sheng Feilong out to stay behind. Judging from how they fared against the Beast, it was most certainly only a 10-years-old Soul Beast, but still pressured them greatly. They managed to injure it and force it back, but failed to see the cold glint in its eyes due to their excitement. Sheng Feilong's countenance changed and he quickly charged forward and activated his Spirit Essence.

The Radiant Emperor's Phantasmagoric Eyes light up in their bright golden colour and three purple Soul Rings appeared behind Sheng Feilong's back with the second and third one lighting up brightly. He jumped in front of the fray while sharing his Mental Detection, amplified by his third Soul Skill, with all of Tang Wulin's team at the same time and attacked the Golden Lion with his Spirit Power, stunning it and causing its attack to stop.

Tang Wulin and the others were perplexed by the sudden change of their perception and came to a halt as well; Sheng Feilong stopped the whole fight in an instant! The juvenile golden lion quickly snapped out of its stun and viciously stared at Sheng Feilong before stopping again and looking incredibly confused. Sheng Feilong smiled gently and spoke with his back facing Tang Wulin's team.

"All of you, leave now."

The faces of everyone other than Jian Wang changed. The enhanced perception they obtained had vanished and they stared daggers at Sheng Feilong's back. They couldn't see his eyes or the symbol on his forehead from their perspective, but that didn't stop them from understanding Sheng Feilong's intention. Tang Wulin spoke to him in a low and cold tone with a clear frown and displeased glint in his eyes.

"You want to hog the benefits all for yourself?!"

Sheng Feilong didn't respond to them and instead continued to look at the golden lion with a gently smile. The lion still seemed confused, but didn't attack Sheng Feilong as it felt some kind of familiarity from him. Until now, Sheng Feilong wasn't able to confirm whether his bloodline really came from a Three-Eyed Golden Lion, but this sense of familiarity was a clear proof! He continued to look at the golden lion for a while longer before turning back around to face Tang Wulin and the others, who's gazes made sure he understood that they were prepared to eliminate him if needed.

Still, seeing Sheng Feilong's eyes, their hearts wavered. Those majestic and bright golden eyes with a red glint in his pupils and the strange symbol on his forehead gave them a sense of inferiority. Staring at him for a moment, they started to doubt if they could even beat Sheng Feilong 4 on 1! However, seeing him not take any action, Tang Wulin quickly calmed down and looked at Sheng Feilong vigilantly.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Sheng Feilong calmly looked at him, silently nodding in his head again; Tang Wulin's actions and level-headedness really were praiseworthy! Sheng Feilong took a deep breath, calming his agitated heart and resolutely looked at them as well as Jian Wang who looked back at him questioningly.

"We're not going to hunt this Three-Eyed Golden Lion. I don't care what you say, but I won't let you attack it again."

This time, Gu Yue coldly stared at Sheng Feilong, clearly displeased by his commanding tone. "And who do you think you are to stand in our way?" Sheng Feilong stared back at her, his Spirit Power surging, filling the whole room with a bloodthristy pressure, greatly startling everyone and causing Gu Yue, who bore the brunt of the pressure, to pale considerably. He then spoke with the same eerily calm voice again. "Someone strong enough to stand in your way. I've said it before; I won't let you attack it. I don't care if you clean out the gemstones or kill any other Soul Beast in the forest, but I won't let you kill this Three-Eyed Golden Lion."

Gu Yue wanted to refute him and a vicious glint flickered in her eyes, but before she could act, Tang Wulin stopped her and looked at Sheng Feilong again, with a solemn expression. "Fine. We won't attack it. But you're forbidden to take it for yourself as well." The pressure that Sheng Feilong radiated dispersed and he nodded at Tang Wulin. "Good. You don't have to worry about your condition; I never intended to attack it." He then turned back around to look at the juvenile golden lion and gently spoke to it as he touched its snout with his hand.

"Sorry to disturb you, big guy. We'll leave now."

He then turned around again, walking past Tang Wulin and the others while Jian Wang followed behind him. Surprisingly, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion also followed a few metres behind him, not minding Tang Wulin and his friends as it passed them to catch up to Sheng Feilong's side. Tang Wulin and his friends looked at each other, before hurriedly following them out of the cave. When they neared the entrance, the six of them had regrouped and walked near each other while the golden lion walked besides them, when they suddenly heard terrifying growl and saw 2 golden and one red dot in front of them, blocking the exit.

Everyone other than Sheng Feilong, who still had his Radiant Emperor's Phantasmagoric Eyes activated, froze in fear. The adult, 10.000-years-old Three-Eyed Golden Lion had returned and it was clearly not happy to see them in its lair! Just when the pressure increased to the point where they couldn't stand it anymore, the juvenile golden lion stepped forward and let out a few short howls, causing the adult golden lion to cease its actions and look at Sheng Feilong and the others cautiously. Sheng Feilong stepped forward and lightly bowed to the adult Three-Eyed Golden Lion in apology.

The juvenile golden lion howled again, seemingly understanding Sheng Feilong's gesture and looked at the adult golden lion, while the adult's gaze travelled from Sheng Feilong over to Jian Wang, Tang Wulin and the others and a murderous light flickered in its eyes, terrifying the others even more than before. By now, they couldn't keep their calm anymore and started violently shaking with pale faces, but other than intimidating them, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion eventually did nothing and took a few steps to the side, opening enough space for everyone to get out of the cave comfortably.

Walking a few hundred meters away from the cave, they came to a stop and looked at each other in silence, their hearts still racing from fright. They could've died just now. They stood face-to-face with a 10.000-years-old, unimaginably powerful Soul Beast, but came out of it alive. After a while, Sheng Feilong, who was still eerily calm, lightly spoke up. "I think that's enough adventure, exploring or survival for today. Should we leave?"

Without even thinking about it, everyone nodded and quickly pressed the exiting mechanism to leave the simulated forest. The space around them warped again and the weird feeling pulled them out of there before it changed back to the inside of the capsule they entered from. Unhurriedly opening the lid of the capsule, Sheng Feilong was greeted with Shen Yi, as well as unfavourable old acquaintance and an unknown old man, who all looked like they had lost their souls when they looked at him, standing in front of the big computer screen, staring at him.