195: A change of attitude?

“Oh, you're still here, old timer?”

The Moonrise Time Wheel spun continuously behind Luo Chen, making him appear like a god descending.

Hearing Luo Chen's voice, the Golden-Winged Spirit Carp's wings trembled slightly with excitement.

However, its behavior was strange; it no longer displayed its previous aggressive and unwelcoming demeanor.

“Human, I am willing to apologize for my previous rudeness. I now earnestly beg for your forgiveness.”

???

Luo Chen looked at the sun in the sky. Had it risen from the west today?

He had only taken those three little guys away for two or three days, and this apology, this change in attitude, was too sudden.

If the Golden-Winged Spirit Carp had maintained its previous hostile attitude, Luo Chen wouldn't have minded a bit of sarcasm, but with its current sincere apology, Luo Chen was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Ahem, where's A Xi?”

Luo Chen walked around the giant Golden-Winged Spirit Carp and flew towards its back.

The Golden-Winged Spirit Carp turned its body, following closely behind Luo Chen, and asked hesitantly, “Are the three of them doing well?”

Luo Chen clasped his hands behind his back. “They're doing very well, eating and drinking, consuming a lot of my rations.”

Speaking of which, Luo Chen found it a bit strange. He wondered if those three spirit beasts were deliberately trying to annoy him.

As soon as they settled down, they started devouring everything edible, as if doing so would make Luo Chen dislike them and release them.

However, Luo Chen didn't care about their ration consumption at all. First-Rank spirit herbs, costing a dozen spirit coins per jin, wouldn't make Luo Chen feel pained, no matter how much they consumed.

Although the Golden-Winged Spirit Carp completely distrusted the human in front of it, hearing Luo Chen's words, it still seemed to let out a quiet sigh of relief.

While it didn't know if they were truly eating and drinking well, it seemed true that they were not in any mortal danger.

At this moment, A Xi, the Xi Rui Regenerating Beast, all warm yellow in color, leaped lightly from the surface of the lake.

“Human friend, we meet again. Welcome.”

The feeling of seeing it was as warm as last time.

Luo Chen pointed at the Golden-Winged Spirit Carp to his left-rear and asked with some suspicion, “It, why did its attitude change?”

A Xi glanced back quietly, then said gently, “It's nothing, Grandma just came to her senses these past two days.”

Then it turned its direction, looked at the valley on the other side of the lake, and tilted its head at Luo Chen,

“Come with me. The Elder has been waiting for you for a long time.”

“Who is the Elder?”

“Hunsheng Elder, the great wise one of our clan. He can make many decisions on behalf of our Auspicious Spirit Beast Clan.”

Luo Chen's eyes deepened. This Auspicious Beast Clan actually had a figure like an Elder. Perhaps this trip to the secret realm could bring him some surprises.

“Alright, lead the way then.”

Luo Chen clasped his hands behind his back. The Moon Wheel of the Moonrise Time Wheel detached from his back and continuously circled around Luo Chen, diligently fulfilling its duty of protection.

After A Xi arrived, the Golden-Winged Spirit Carp no longer followed behind Luo Chen. It watched the figures of the human and beast depart.

Complex emotions appeared in its eyes. In just two days, the energy intensity on this human had already reached the Wild Rank.

The Elder was right; confined to this secret realm, the Auspicious Spirit Beast Clan's cultivation would only get lower and lower, and they would perish on their own, without external factors.

It flapped its wings, then sank into the lake in front of it, its body continuously descending.

After an unknown depth of descent, luminous glowing seaweeds illuminated the surrounding environment.

However, the surroundings did not look like a normal lake bottom. It was boundless, covered with dense, massive crystal blocks.

Sealed inside were various fish-like spirit beasts of different appearances. Some looked fierce; even sealed in crystal, one could still feel their powerful aura.

If Luo Chen were here, he might complain that the Auspicious Beast Clan's burial method was quite unique, using crystals for interment.

The Golden-Winged Spirit Carp bypassed the crystal coffins, continuing to descend until it reached the deepest part of the lake.

A bright, luminous pearl hung here, with layers of ripples radiating outwards from it.

The Golden-Winged Spirit Carp came beneath the bright pearl, then bowed as if in worship. The bright pearl seemed to sense something, and a ray of light shone out, creating a virtual phantom at the bottom of the lake.

The background looked like a battlefield.

“Kill.”

Blood splattered everywhere. In the aftermath of various light attacks, spirit beasts with insufficient physical strength wouldn't even leave a corpse behind.

The leader of this battle was a spirit beast covered in Golden Scales, like a mythical dragon.

However, even with all its various techniques, its opponents were extremely powerful and numerous.

Even as it tried its best to protect the weaker Auspicious Spirit Beasts around it, its opponents continuously seized opportunities, snatching them away one by one.

Watching the scene unfold, the Golden-Winged Spirit Carp was enveloped in sorrow. It seemed to empathize with the experiences of the Auspicious Spirit Beasts in the virtual image.

“Holy Dragon Ancestor, you left these images not just to warn the Auspicious Beast Clan not to leave the secret realm?

But to make the Auspicious Beast Clan remember who our true enemies are, right?”

At this point, the scene showed the Holy Dragon, using an unknown Skill, manifesting a dazzling golden shield around the remaining Auspicious Spirit Beasts.

Then its entire body turned into dust, reforming into a dragon gate spanning the shield.

The remaining Auspicious Spirit Beast clan members orderly passed through the dragon gate to an unknown place.

With that, the scene ended.

“I watched these batches of cubs grow up. I truly can't bear to let them face this blood and chaos.

If it's truly necessary, then let me face it.”

Its gaze was firm as it looked at the object above its head, which might have been a dragon pearl. Its mouth opened slightly, and it swallowed the pearl into its belly.

On the other side, Luo Chen and A Xi had already crossed the lake and arrived at the mouth of the valley, or rather, it was more appropriate to call it a canyon.

“It's just ahead.” A Xi walked in front, leading the way for Luo Chen.

Entering this deep canyon, which seemed to swallow even light, Luo Chen's expression remained unchanged.

He merely quietly had the Moon Wheel summon a phantom of the moon, illuminating a three-hundred-meter radius around him.

Luo Chen subtly observed the surroundings, noticing that the most abundant things here were various stone statues.

However, these statues were carved so lifelike, as if they truly possessed life.

Besides these, there was only the hard ground beneath his feet. After walking for an unknown duration, the number of surrounding statues also became fewer.

Luo Chen took another step, as if passing through an invisible membrane. Suddenly, it brightened in front of him, and his vision also became much wider.

Various patterns were drawn on the ground, intertwining and extending, seemingly forming a complex sacrificial array.

A spirit beast with white wings and a body somewhat resembling a goat stood in front of the array, smiling at Luo Chen.

Luo Chen's pupils contracted. Wasn't this the spirit beast that could see him across space last time? Was the Hunsheng Elder A Xi spoke of this one?

“Young man, we meet again.”

Indeed, as soon as the old goat-like spirit beast spoke, it confirmed that it had truly seen him last time, and it wasn't his imagination.

Luo Chen cautiously checked its information while speaking.

“Haha, you're joking. This is our first meeting.”