Beast-Battling Zone.
On an artificial hill, the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear lounged with one leg crossed, lazily sunning itself. Since its master had told it to stay here, it had no complaints. Food and lodging covered—perfect for slacking off…
"Roar~"
Suddenly, a low growl sounded.
Little Gold cocked a brow and tilted its head toward the Flame Lion penned off by a metal railing. The lion was ramming its head in between the bars, claws scrabbling and screeching against the metal.
This artificial hill had originally been its territory. But ever since the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear showed up, it had been forced to vacate, driven into a narrow area to the side.
It had been captured as a cub and fed all sorts of elixirs or spirit-imbued herbs, letting it reach three thousand years of cultivation in just a few decades. Favored by Elder Gong, it had run rampant in the Beast-Battling Zone and had never seen the perils of the Star Dou Forest or the ferocity of a Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear. Hence the constant provocation.
Any other thousand-year soul beast, upon seeing Little Gold, would probably have tucked its tail and cowered.
Little Gold shot it a glance, as if surprised at its nerve.
It rolled over and went back to basking.
"ROAR!!!" (Lazy bear, fight me to the death if you dare!)
"Roar!" (Get over here! If not for that metal railing protecting you, I'd have roasted you to a crisp already!)
"…"
Being ignored enraged the Flame Lion. It clawed at the bars harder and harder, but they didn't budge. All it could do was bellow uselessly from behind them, spitting saliva.
At last, its pupils turned as if it had thought of something.
Boom!
With a light tremor, Little Gold slowly stood up. It touched its back with a paw. The turf on the hill reeked of char, a big patch of green had been burnt through. Its fur, however, was fine.
"…"
At last it looked at the Flame Lion on the other side of the railing, a flicker of killing intent in its eyes.
"Not good! Go get Elder Gong!"
"That Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear's about to riot!"
"That beast thinks it's a savage beast for real? It dares provoke a Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear?"
The outside of the arena was in chaos.
The Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear's ferocity was infamous. The people here were professionals—they knew. And this one, which Elder Gong had gotten from who-knew-where not long ago, while only a thousand-year beast, absolutely had combat power on par with ten thousand years! In other words, there were probably only a few soul beasts in the entire venue stronger than it…
So whether the metal fence that had held the Flame Lion could hold it was anyone's guess.
"Roar!"
As Little Gold drew nearer step by step, the Flame Lion finally seemed to sense real danger. It crouched low, baring its teeth and letting out low growls. The excitement from before faded with each heavy footfall of the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear.
A thousand-year soul beast had intelligence. Most thousand-year soul beasts couldn't withstand its fireball, but this giant bear took a head-on hit and hadn't even singed its fur! This wasn't what it had expected!
Luckily, there was a fence.
Seeing Little Gold stop before the bars, the Flame Lion—though big—had its fear abate a little and started to taunt and growl again.
Little Gold glanced at it coolly.
BOOM!!!
With a thunderous crash, the rock-solid metal bars shattered under a single slap. Metal shards flew, mixed with chunks of concrete still wrapped around their buried ends. In an instant, the Beast-Battling Zone's alarms blared. Dozens of staff watched the arena with tight faces, hearts in their throats.
When the dust settled, they saw that the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear hadn't struck again. The Flame Lion was trembling, and the arena reeked of urine.
With a disdainful swipe to its head, Little Gold flipped the nearly three-meter-long lion bodily. Blood spurted from its mouth, splattering across the arena floor.
Thud.
The heavy thump of a body hitting the ground.
The Flame Lion foamed at the mouth, its life or death uncertain.
While the staff around them were all taut with fear, Little Gold, as if nothing had happened, sauntered back to its artificial hill. It avoided the scorched spot, lay down, and went back to sleep. After a few minutes, seeing Little Gold make no further moves, the staff gingerly hurried over to deal with the Flame Lion.
"Roar!"
But suddenly, a low growl came from across the way.
Several staffers nearly died of fright and tried to flee, only to be stopped by a wall. Terror and despair filled their eyes. But Little Gold merely pointed at its artificial hill.
"You mean… the grass got scorched? You want us to fix it for you too?" one quick-witted man asked.
"Roar~" Little Gold nodded, satisfied.
"Alright, right away…"
"…"
A few minutes later—
Elder Gong rushed in, listened to the staff's report, then took a glance at the unconscious Flame Lion and let out a long breath.
"Elder Gong, should we take any measures? Like reinforcing the fences," someone asked, still shaken.
"No need. If it had really gone all out, that beast would already be dead," Elder Gong snorted. "Doesn't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth."
The white-haired old man narrowed his eyes and continued, "Put the two of them together."
"Are you serious?!" the others exclaimed.
"Nonsense. If that beast hadn't provoked it, would Little Gold have acted? At most it's got some strained muscles and broken bones—let it learn a lesson. If Little Gold had truly gone for the kill, heh…" Elder Gong sneered. "Might as well have Little Gold lay down some rules for it. It's been strutting around every day. I feed it meat and the one time I wasn't looking it dared roar at me—and guard its food!"
"…"
At that, everyone cast the Flame Lion a pitying look.
Before this Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear came, your attitude toward it wasn't like this, Elder…
You even picked out a name for it. That wasn't just a little favoritism.
Still, that Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear's looks were top-tier: that coat of dark-gold fur, those black, razor-sharp claws, gleaming under the sun—maxed-out charisma. Across the Star Dou Forest, there probably wasn't a second one to match it.
Lately quite a few academy students had come specifically for it, looking for a sparring partner. And it had good sense—never once had it used a heavy hand…
…
"Awooo~"
The Flame Lion cowered in a corner's shadow, staring out with a wounded, resentful look.
It threw its head back and howled at the sky like an abandoned husky.
Suddenly, the howl cut off.
A black shadow fell over it, and a big hunk of raw meat—still bloody, very fresh—was tossed down. Little Gold lowered its head and gave it a cool glance.
Unable to resist the lure of food, the Flame Lion dropped its head and took a bite.
Seeing Little Gold still there, watching it eat, it let out an instinctive snarl.
Little Gold: "…"
Guarding food?
"Awooooo—"
A heart-rending howl echoed through the whole arena.