196 The Pride Of Lions

The intense heat waves hit Sheng Feilong and the others, nearly blasting them backwards. The crimson-maned lion roared another time, vanishing from their sight with a single jump. Sheng Feilong whipped his head around, staring at the lion with a complicated expression.

From the moment he saw this lion, he felt a strange connection to it. After the latter roared in anger, Sheng Feilong could actually feel his own blood boil, getting more and more agitated. As someone who possessed the bloodline of a Three-Eyed Golden Lion, such a reaction from his bloodline could only mean one of two things; Either his bloodline was being suppressed because the crimson-maned lion's bloodline was stronger.

Or the crimson-maned lion's bloodline roused Sheng Feilong's bloodline because the latter's was much purer than his own. He continued to stare at the lion, which was now fighting the Bull-Horned Green Bear, silently trying to make sense of the situation. 'That lion, it must be a Three-Eyed Golden Lion. There's no way that its another race of lion type Soul Beasts with a bloodline superior to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. But why is it crimson?'

Sheng Feilong absentmindedly continued to stare at the fight, before Huang Jialong grabbed his shoulder after a short while. "Feilong! We've got to get out of here! If they continue to fight, we'll be swept up in it as well."

Huang Jialong pulled Sheng Feilong to the side after which all three of them, including Yuanen Yehui, ran deeper into the forest. They had barely reached a relatively save spot among the trees when a few more Soul Beasts joined the fray; The 10.000-years-old and 1.000-years-old bear type Soul Beasts that hadfollowed along the 100.000-years-old Bull-Horned Green Bear.

From among the forest, more lion type Soul Beasts came; Many times less than the bear type Soul Beast, but each of them able to content against many bears at once, easily evening out the disadvantage in numbers and then some.

Sheng Feilong and the others were being surrounded by a few lion type Soul Beasts as well, all of them ready to pounce at them, but one of the stronger 1.00-years-old lion type Soul Beasts among them growled, stopping the others from taking any actions while it stared at Sheng Feilong with a confused expression.

The weaker Soul Beasts simply seemed confused at their supposed leader's command, but remained still, eying Sheng Feilong and the others carefully. With them now standing in plain view, Sheng Feilong got a good view at the lions; Massive, powerful bodies, with long claws attached to powerful paws, majestic, wild manes and feral expressions on their faces.

However, the most notable feature of these lion type Soul Beasts is, by far, their golden coloured fur; All of them possessed it, some of which a bit dirtied, but they all had the same glossy, golden fur with a light, crimson-red hue to it. The biggest and oldest of the Soul Beasts, the leader that growled before, had a strange, scar like mark on its forehead.

Despite it still being a 1.000-years-old Soul Beast, Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui could clearly see that this one was much smarter than the others and possessed a formidable Spirit Power. Sheng Feilong continued to stare at it, faintly feeling the connection between their bloodlines. "...Three-Eyed Golden Lions... A whole flock of them...?"

Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui carefully drew closer to Sheng Feilong. Under the watchful eyes oft eh Three-Eyed Golden Lions, they didn't dare to try anything, especially not when Sheng Feilong didn't seem to be himself.

A few minutes passed during which the Soul Beasts only continued to stare at them; The supposed leader only keeping its eyes on Sheng Feilong, still visibly confused. It paced around Huag Jialong, Yuanen Yehui and Sheng Feilong, seemingly trying to understand the reason why it halted the attack.

A short while later, a loud roar could be heard from some distance away, after which more, similar roars echoed from different directions. The 1.000-years-old Soul beasts surrounding Sheng Feilong and the others also started howling, save for the leader.

After the roars quieted down, the leader started roaring, though its roars sounded different from the roars of the other Soul Beasts. A loud roar, similar in power to the very first roar of victory echoed back, after which Sheng Feilong and the others could feel various powerful auras approaching them.

Sheng Feilong himself didn't seem to mind to much; He was still fixatly staring at the leader of the 1.000-years-old Soul Beasts, but Huang Jialong's and Yuanen Yehu's faces fell. A few, huge lightly-crimson, golden furred lions emerged from the surrounding forest, mostly coming from the direction where the bear type Soul Beasts were.

Some of them were littered with big and small wounds, but none of them seemed to care; Their auras were still flaring up with incredible vigour. One of the less injured lions growled lightly at the leader of the 1.000-years-old Soul Beast, to which the latter replied with a similar growl; They were seemingly having a conversation.

Moments later, the 10.000-years-old Soul Beast stared at Sheng Feilong and the others, glancing at Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui for merely a moment before focusing on Sheng Feilong, A few low growls and roars came from the back rows of the lions, causing them to part a way for another lion to step forward; The greatest, crimson-maned lion, that had attacked the 100.000-years-old Bull-Horned Green Bear before.

It was completely uninjured, looking unlike what one would expect after a fight against a 100.000-years-old Soul Beast. It stared at Sheng Feilong and the others, its gaze alone sending deep shivers down Huang Jialong's and Yuanen Yehui's spines, while Sheng Feilong wordlessly stared back at it.

His heart was pounding like crazy. Standing right in front of the crimson-maned lion, as well as being surrounded by the other Soul Beast, left him with an inexplicable feeling rising from his bloodline. He took a deep breath, still staring at the humongous crimson-maned lion. "...Do you know of Sheng Wuyong?"

No reaction came from the surrounding lions; none of them seemed to understand Sheng Feilong. However, after a short moment, the 10.000-years-old Soul Beasts – the ones who were able to generally understand human language – started growling. The crimson-maned lion stared at Sheng Feilong, the actually spoke in human language. "What have you come here for, descendant of the traitor?"

Again, Sheng Feilong's heartbeat hastened. His breathing become slightly ragged and he swallowed dryly; This was the first, real lead he had gotten on Sheng Wuyong – A Soul Beast who actually knew him! However, the word 'traitor' weighed heavily on him, as he could clearly feel the displeasure of all the surrounding, 10.000-years-old lions. "I am searching for my Ancestor, Sheng Wuyong's, remains. My father and I are the last that remain of the Sheng Clan he founded."

The other 10.000-years-old Soul Beast were visibly agitated by now, so much so that the 1.000-years-old Soul Beasts started growling at Sheng Feilong and the others as well, displaying their killing intent. The crimson-maned lion still stared at them, completely focused on Sheng Feilong. "Follow me, descendant of the traitor. This decision is for my king to make."

The crimson-maned lion turned to the side, then growled and lowly roared a few times before walking towards the north. The 10.000-years-old Soul Beast followed it without making any sound. The killing intent radiated by the 1.000-years-old Soul Beast vanished completely and they too followed the crimson-maned lion.

Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui hesitated for a moment, but Sheng Feilong had already started running into the same direction as the Golden Lions, causing the two of them to have no choice but to follow.

The pride of lions started slowly speeding up, to the point where the 1.000-years-old Soul Beast were sprinting. Still, as Soul Kings and Emperors, this speed was still something Sheng Feilong and the others could keep up with. Soon, they passed the 1.000-years-old Soul Beast, catching up to the 10.000-years-old ones and remaining just behind them.

They continued to run for half an hour, always moving into the same direction. Sheng Feilong and the others were about to say something, when they saw a towering mountain through the treetops. Sheng Feilong's eyes widened, as he clearly recognized the towering mountain; A wide plateau burning under the sun and overlooking an impossibly vast forest of red leafed trees.

Soon, they reached said mountain, the lions starting to crawl it up in practised movements and seemingly effortless. Sheng Feilong and the others couldn't quite keep up with their speed, falling back about halfway through the group of 1.000-years-old Soul Beast.

Upon reaching the top, Sheng Feilong looked around him again. This was exactly the same plateau atop the mountain he remembered from the time he awakened his bloodline. He could even recognize the ledge Sheng Wuyong stood on after he transformed into a human and announced his new name.

This whole time, his blood hadn't stopped boiling up and his heartbeat hadn't calmed down in the slightlest; In fact, the closer they got to the back of the plateau, where another, deep cave was located, the more agitated he became. Finally, the crimson-maned lion stopped, right in front of the cave entrance, bowing its head deeply. "My king, the descendant of Sheng Woyong has come."

Although it spoke and most of the other Soul Beasts couldn't understand the human language, they all lowered their heads as well after seeing the crimson-maned lion do so. For a long time, no answer came from the cave, but Sheng Feilong could feel a terrifying gaze land on him, looking him up and down before meeting his own gaze. "Enter."