Douluo Continent: Breaking Through the Clouds, the Qilin Marches!

On a flat blue stone by the lake, a seemingly slow-moving soul beast, no bigger than a millstone, was lazily basking in the sun.

Its entire body is a deep, dark gold color. The shell on its back is not a single piece, but rather composed of thirteen hexagonal plates that are as clear as black crystal. Under the sunlight, mysterious dark gold patterns flow across those black plates.

"What...is this...a golden turtle?"

Yang Yuntian couldn't recognize it at first; this was knowledge that a 6-year-old child should not have.

"This is... a black-armored golden hawksbill turtle?!"

Dugu Bo caught up carrying the unconscious one-horned earth dragon. After seeing the spirit beast clearly, he couldn't help but exclaim, "There are actually such almost extinct species in Sunset Forest?"

"A black-armored golden hawksbill turtle? Poison Grandpa? What is this?"

"I've never seen this Xuanjia Golden Tortoiseshell before. I only found its shed shell when I first came to this Sunset Forest. I only found out about it after I sold it to the Spirit Hall."

The shell has the function of attracting good fortune and avoiding misfortune. At the time, Salas said that this soul beast originally had the potential to become an auspicious beast, but it was too lazy and could only be considered a soul beast with the attribute of luck.

"Then... is it old enough?" Yang Yuntian asked expectantly, looking at Xiao Hei, who had run to the lakeside and was wagging its tail at the turtle.

"Determining the age is not difficult." Dugu Bo's eyes were sharp.

"Look at the golden ring around the edge of its carapace. Every hundred years, a complete golden ring grows on the edge of the Xuanjia Golden Tortoise Shell. It now has ten bright golden rings on its back, and they are showing a tendency to converge and merge with each other. In other words, this tortoise shell's cultivation is a little over a thousand years old, less than 1,100 years."

"It's not as old as that earth dragon, and the hawksbill turtle clan isn't known for its attack power. Why would Xiao Hei abandon that one-horned earth dragon and choose this one instead?" Dugu Yan asked, puzzled.

As Yang Yuntian gazed at the two strange soul beasts, one black and one gold, by the lake, memories of ancient Chinese mythology from his past life flashed through his mind like lightning.

Adding to Dugu Bo's introduction, an extremely bold yet logical deduction instantly took shape.

"Because of luck."

Yang Yuntian turned his head, looking at the puzzled gazes of the crowd, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "Objectively speaking, hawksbill turtles are indeed not good at fighting. But according to extremely ancient records, they are auspicious beasts that are naturally close to heaven and earth."

Now, this golden hawksbill turtle, with its thirteen plates on its carapace, corresponds to some profound principle of the workings of heaven and earth. It does not cultivate killing, but only lifespan and fortune.

"Xiao Hei is no ordinary beast, but a mutated form of the auspicious beast Qilin. For Qilin, the most nourishing thing is never the bloodline of the dragon race, nor the violent elemental power, but this kind of ethereal yet real 'luck' and 'auspiciousness' that originates from the same source!"

Yang Yuntian looked at the black-armored golden hawksbill turtle that was peeking out, seemingly also full of curiosity about Xiao Hei.

"Xiao Hei is right. Although this Xuanjia Golden Tortoiseshell is not as old as that One-Horned Earth Dragon, it's only a step away. However, its unique luck attribute is a hundred times more precious than ten thousand-year-old earth dragons combined!"

"A beast of destiny?"

"Good lad, as expected of my grandson Yang Wudi, your eye is much sharper than mine!" Yang Wudi laughed heartily, casually tossing the thousand-year-old one-horned earth dragon far away like trash. It crashed into the bushes with a "bang" and he never looked at it again.

"Since this Xuanjia Golden Tortoise Shell is so extraordinary, what are we waiting for? Yun Tian, ​​let's do it and absorb it!" Yang Wudi urged immediately, and Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan beside him also showed expectant expressions.

However, faced with this auspicious soul beast that was within his grasp, Yang Yuntian stood still, his brows furrowed, and hesitated to make a move.

"Everything has its cause and effect, and so does fortune." Yang Yuntian looked at the black-armored golden tortoise shell by the lake that not only didn't run away but was also curiously examining them, and a deep sense of apprehension flashed in his eyes.

"The ironclad rule of Douluo Continent is that one must personally hunt and kill a soul beast to absorb a soul ring. However, this hawksbill turtle itself is the embodiment of destiny. If I forcibly end its life today with blood-stained methods for the sake of a soul ring, will it trigger a backlash from destiny? If I bring misfortune upon myself, then it won't be absorbing a soul ring, but rather drinking poison to quench my thirst."

Yang Yuntian, who was always calm and rational, was caught in a dilemma by this uncontrollable and unknown risk of fate.

Just as Yang Yuntian was weighing the pros and cons, Xiao Hei, who had run to the lakeside, seemed to have no such concerns at all. It hopped and jumped around the black-armored golden tortoiseshell, making rapid but soft low growls, its tail wagging rapidly, as if it was trying its best to express something.

The black-armored golden hawksbill turtle was also very intelligent. Instead of retracting into its shell, it stretched out its long neck and blinked its intelligent little eyes, as if listening to Xiao Hei's "sales pitch".

After the beast and the tortoise negotiated for a while by the lake, Xiao Hei suddenly turned around, took off running back to Yang Yuntian's side on its four short legs, bit his trouser leg, and desperately pulled him toward the Xuanjia Golden Tortoise.

"What's wrong, Xiao Hei?"

Yang Yuntian followed its momentum to the lakeside. The instant he approached the hawksbill turtle, an extremely clear emotional fluctuation, along with the soul bond between him and Xiao Hei, was directly transmitted into his spiritual sea.

That was Xiao Hei's translation of the Xuanjia Golden Tortoise Shell's thoughts.

Upon receiving this information, a hint of undisguised astonishment appeared on Yang Yuntian's usually calm and composed face.

"You...you're saying it agreed to the sacrifice?"

Sacrifice!

Upon hearing these two words, Yang Wudi and Dugu Bo, standing behind, could hardly believe their ears. In the common knowledge of the Soul Master world, sacrifice is usually an extreme method possessed only by 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts, or only when a Soul Beast has an extremely deep emotional bond with a Soul Master will it voluntarily offer its soul and cultivation.

A thousand-year-old wild soul beast offered to sacrifice itself after only exchanging a few words with Xiao Hei?

Yang Yuntian took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart. He squatted down, looking directly at the black-armored golden hawksbill turtle.

In the other person's dark golden eyes, he saw not a trace of fear of death, but rather a calmness like that of an old monk in meditation, and... a gambler's frenzy.

Combining his memories of online novels from his previous life, Yang Yuntian's sophisticated brain worked at lightning speed, instantly penetrating the underlying logic of this beast of destiny.

"I understand..." Yang Yuntian murmured to himself, "This Xuanjia Golden Tortoiseshell has always relied on luck to avoid harm and turn misfortune into good fortune. With two titled experts descending upon Sunset Forest, it should have sensed the danger and fled long ago. But it didn't. Today, it just had a sudden urge to lie down on this exposed bluestone and sunbathe. And Little Black just happened to sense it!"

"May your good fortune be boundless! May your luck be as great as a tortoise's!"