First Encounter of Fate

"Thump—"

Before long, a huge sound came from the small open space where Ning Fan was, raising a cloud of dust.

As the smoke cleared, a cyclops, completely imprisoned by golden soul power and severely injured, was trembling and crawling on the ground.

"Cough cough cough... Elder Xuan, this commotion is too loud! Don't let it affect Ning Tian and the others!"

Coughing violently, Ning Fan was covered in a layer of dust. He shook himself and sneezed forcefully.

"Hehe, I'm anxious too. I'll leave the Cyclops to you now. I need to go check on the two little girls."

Elder Xuan did not give Ning Fan any weapons.

He believed that the boy's strange, large fan could easily defeat the heavily injured Cyclops.

"Once you're ready, begin. First, consume the Cyclops's brain matter, then take three pieces of whale glue. After that, don't hesitate, immediately begin cultivating. Once dawn breaks, I'll bring that thousand-year-old baboon to protect you and help you absorb the thousand-year soul ring."

"Don't worry, I've already set up a barrier around you. During this time, all soul beasts with a cultivation level of less than ten thousand years will be driven away, and even I won't bother you."

Elder Xuan did not linger in the sky. He simply tossed a sentence to Ning Fan and immediately turned around, flying hurriedly towards the camp.

He had been gone for about twenty minutes, and he needed to check on Ning Tian and Wu Feng to see if anything was amiss.

Although not as important as Ning Fan, these two young girls are also the sect's most promising talents. If anything happens to them, there will be no way to explain it.

He used his soul power to set up barriers within a radius of several kilometers, making it impossible for any soul beast with a cultivation level of less than ten thousand years to enter. Therefore, Ning Fan's environment was very safe.

After staring at the sky for a long time and confirming that Elder Xuan really wouldn't bother him, Ning Fan held his fan and turned to stand in front of the one-eyed giant who had no ability to resist.

"Ugh...ugh..."

This cyclops had just escaped the hunter's pursuit, but now it had unfortunately fallen into the hands of Elder Xuan and was severely injured, on the verge of death.

Facing the human cub in front of it, it let out a whimper, as if begging for mercy.

The Cyclops, which stands upright, is seven or eight meters tall. Even now, lying prone on the ground, it is still a colossal creature to the boy.

The giant was covered in wounds, and tears were streaming from his dark eye in fear.

Even if this human cub in front of it doesn't kill it, the guy who just captured it, and the powerful human who brought it here, will definitely not let it go!

It has such a miserable life!

Staring at this pitiful big guy, Ning Fan stood there hesitating for a long time.

Finally, he gently wiped away the Cyclops's tears, and a murderous intent gradually arose in his blood-red eyes.

"Sigh, I'm sorry... I didn't want to do this either, but for the future of the sect, I have no choice. Go ahead and curse me all you want!"

Ning Fan was not like a pure and innocent scoundrel; he slaughtered soul beasts without any burden.

He was a mentally healthy ordinary person who thought he only needed to kill a thousand-year-old soul beast on this trip, but in order to safely absorb the thousand-year soul ring, he needed to use something else to help him.

This cyclops neither provoked him nor bullied anyone around him, and it was not something he needed for his spirit rings.

The boy's attempt to kill him was purely an unnecessary complication, bordering on indiscriminate killing, and therefore he felt somewhat guilty about it.

But no matter how much his conscience troubled him, Ning Fan was a man who could understand right and wrong, and he would never hesitate to act decisively at crucial moments!

After wiping away the giant's tears, the boy gripped the fan tightly with both hands, raised it high, and murmured something.

"Use your last moments to hurl insults at me; I'll mourn for you!"

Speaking the gentlest words, the boy exuded a surging killing intent.

However, just as he was about to strike and finish off the dying Cyclops, his attack missed its mark.

With a loud "boom," the fan slammed into the ground, and Ning Fan, exerting all his strength, created a two-meter-deep dent in the grass.

"Um?"

Staring at the empty lawn in front of him, the boy was stunned for a moment. He turned around abruptly and found that a strange beast had already snatched the heavily injured Cyclops away at an unimaginable speed and was chewing it vigorously in its mouth, enjoying the delicious meal.

This is a very beautiful soul beast, with golden fur all over its body. The fluffy fur is like a semi-transparent crystal, full of strange texture.

Her overall shape resembled a small lion, but she was far more noble than the fiery lion he had seen that morning.

This little lion has a long, slender mouth and four claws like a dragon. Each little paw rests on a tiny golden flame, and through her crystal-clear fur, you can clearly see the delicate golden scales underneath.

Even more amazingly, in addition to her normal eyes, she had a third vertical pupil between her eyebrows, which, like Ning Fan's eyes, emitted an eerie red color.

Although the other party was just a soul beast, Ning Fan could see satisfaction on her face.

And that's how she ate the Cyclops' head.

"This is... an imperial auspicious beast... the Three-Eyed Golden Lion?!"

Staring at the beautiful soul beast in front of him, the boy's brain worked at lightning speed, and he activated his personal flying soul tool almost immediately.

The beautiful soul beast in front of him was so distinctive that Ning Fan was certain that this was the Emperor Beast from the original work, a spirit-type soul beast with 15,000 years of cultivation, the emperor among soul beasts!

Elder Xuan's soul power barrier can deter soul beasts under ten thousand years old from approaching.

But who would have thought that a creature over ten thousand years old would appear in the outer area?

Damn it, isn't this just asking for trouble?

Without a moment's hesitation, Ning Fan activated his personal flight-type soul tool with all his might and immediately rushed towards the camp at top speed.

You can let him kill a Cyclops who is so badly injured that he has no ability to fight back, but if he faces the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who has the same cultivation level of ten thousand years, he will be doomed!

Just as the boy put away his fan and took off, before he had gone far, a barrier made of crimson soul power suddenly appeared in front of him and brought him down.

"Holy crap..."

Ning Fan crashed his plane on his first use of the flight soul tool.

The speed of a level 2 soul tool is still too slow in the opponent's field of vision.

Slow, huh? Out of the loop!

The boy rolled several times on the ground, narrowly escaping injury.

"To be able to set up such a soul power barrier... how come it's just a human cub? No, that should have been his protector! Is he not here right now? Interesting..."

In the darkness, a whisper filled with doubt arose.

Soon, a terrifying three-headed lion emerged from the dense forest, guarding the three-eyed golden lion.

The Crimson King completely concealed his and the auspicious beast's presence and quietly infiltrated the area enveloped in soul power.

He had intended to heed the auspicious beast's words and teach the human who had stolen her prey a lesson, but he never expected that the one who wanted to harm the Cyclops was just a child.

"A three-eyed golden lion and a three-headed red demon hound? Wait... what kind of luck is this?"

Ning Fan struggled to his feet, stared at the two powerful soul beasts in front of him, and was immediately dumbfounded.

Before him, having finished chewing the Cyclops's head, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion sniffed again before finally fixing its gaze on the small fire beside it.

Three lumps of whale gelatin were baking on the grill, and the aroma of seasonings and sauces piqued the curiosity of the mythical beast.

"Hmm? It smells delicious. Human, did you make this food?"

The mythical beast sniffed the soft, mushy whale glue with its nose and licked the sauce on it with its tongue, a sense of novelty immediately welling up in its heart.

Staring at the burly, three-headed dog Red King beside him, Ning Fan knew he couldn't escape. He could only awkwardly dust himself off and hand over a piece of whale glue.

"This...is this for you?"

At first, the Red King intended to stop it, but then he thought that this little one was just a human cub and posed no threat at all.

They had no interest in killing the little creature, so they simply let the auspicious beast roam free.

Ning Fan's delicate and refined face greatly reduced the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's suspicions.

After a brief hesitation, she rolled her tongue and swallowed the warm, soft whale gelatin.

The oily whale glue was chewed several times by the auspicious beast, and finally swallowed with a gulp. Soon, a look of joy appeared on her slender face.

"Mmm, smells delicious! It tastes good. Human, what's your name?"

After tearing off the highly nutritious whale gelatin, the auspicious beast simply lay down by the fire and finished the remaining two pieces in a few bites, then gazed at the boy with a satisfied expression.

"My name is Ning Fan... May I leave now?"

The boy was speechless; he never expected to run into these two living fathers.

Just as Ning Fan had the thought of leaving, the Crimson King blocked his way, his blood-red eyes fixed on him.

The Crimson King has shielded all auras here, so even Xuanzi cannot sense their presence.

Moreover, Elder Xuan had promised that he would not disturb Ning Fan's absorption of the Cyclops' power before dawn.

"Hmm... Ning Fan, I'll remember you! Although you tried to steal my prey before, consider this food as your apology."

The boy was forced back by the Crimson King's aura and could only stand still, and the auspicious beast approached him.

As she sniffed the boy's scent, she curiously examined Ning Fan's delicate face, and the dark red vertical pupil in the center of her eyebrows eventually met Ning Fan's crimson eyes.

The man and the beast stared at each other, their breaths audible.

"Such strange eyes... Why does this human seem so familiar?"

"Your name is Ning Fan... Hmm, Xiao Fan, do you still have the food from earlier? I really liked that flavor, could you make it for me again?"

"If you still want some, I can make you some more, but right now... eh? eh?"

Ning Fan was halfway through his sentence when the auspicious beast gave him a look.

The Red King was taken aback at first, but quickly understood what she meant.

One of its heads grabbed Ning Fan by the collar and held the boy in its mouth. Then the two giant beasts turned and ran away at lightning speed.

"Very good, then you belong to me from now on! Hehe..."

The mythical beast sniffed Ning Fan again and nodded in satisfaction.

She ran, her four paws nimbly bouncing, looking very happy. "I've heard that emperors in your human world have personal chefs to provide them with food. Now, I'll have mine too!"

"And while I'm at it, let Sister Brigitte and the others see what's going on with this familiar aura on you. Hehehe, I've unknowingly done another good deed!"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's delighted expression left the Crimson King somewhat helpless.

"Let's hurry up and leave. The powerful human I just sensed is nearby. We can't let him find us."

The way the two beasts were discussing things left Ning Fan completely bewildered.

He was carried in the mouth of the Crimson King and sped deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest. He had no ability to resist, and even his shouts were ignored. No one came to his rescue.

Soon, Ning Fan could no longer even sense the fluctuations of Elder Xuan's soul power.

They have entered the mixed zone and are heading straight for the core area.

One of the Red King's heads was carrying the boy. Listening to the child's fuss, he was somewhat unwilling, but he still did as the auspicious beast wished.

The reason he was willing to lower himself and bring a human back was exactly as the auspicious beast had said. At such close range, he also sensed an extremely subtle and familiar aura.

This force may go unnoticed by humans.

Because this is clearly the life force emanating from their ancient tree of life? How could it possibly appear on a human?

And it also possesses a unique wildness... Could it be the legendary child of nature?

No, how could the power of the Children of Nature appear in a human? I must go back and find out!

With this doubt in mind, the Red King quickened his pace.

……

As the figures of the two beasts and the one person completely disappeared at the edge of the forest, a chill inexplicably arose.

A sorrowful voice echoed softly in the air.

"No!!! I finally found a perfect spirit-type Soul Master!!!"

"Brother went to great lengths to create this situation, laying a trap that seemed impossible, how did it all get snatched away by that auspicious beast?"

"If I hadn't secretly interfered with that powerful human's senses with my mental power, could you have infiltrated so easily? Damn it..."

"Now, this human cub is probably doomed... Is poor brother really destined to be alone and miserable for the rest of his life?"

In the cold underground cave, a silkworm managed to do a somersault.

It kept rolling around, cursing the super soul beasts deep in the perilous land, its tone full of grievance.

If silkworms could cry, perhaps Tianmeng would already be in tears right now...