Xue Ling woke up to pain. Regardless of what kind of modified physique he might have, there was no way he would be left unharmed after being thrown from such a high altitude, especially considering the fact that his demonic core was damaged and he had no strength at all.

  He lay there on the ground for a while before finally lifting his head and looking around.

  It was already dark, but the scene that met his eyes was very different from what he had seen in the Demonic Beast Forest’s other layers.

  Demonic plants did not dare act wantonly in this area. They grew without restraint, magnificently, but there was no trace of their aggression like in the outer layers. The demonic beasts also did not retreat during the night; when Xue Ling lifted his head to look at the sky, there was a stunning bird flying over his head. Glittering sparks fell down from its feathers when it flapped its wings, and its tail plumage was like gorgeous flames that flickered and illuminated the entire sky.

  Perhaps because the bird was there to provide illumination, Xue Ling’s vision was not obscured by the darkness. There were many glowing plants and animals of all kinds; they let off faint light, but were all some distance away from Xue Ling. For some reason, he had been left isolated.

  Xue Ling got up and shook out his legs, confirming that he could still move, then called for the system, who did not respond.

  Perhaps it knew that Xue Ling would not simply overlook the matter of getting tossed off its back, so the system was now playing dead - dodging the bullet once was still better than nothing. Xue Ling threatened it for a good while without success and could only try to climb up to a higher vantage point in order to try and figure out where he was now.

  Like the system, he had not expected to be able to cross the boundary so easily, and it left him a little confused. He explored the area around him, and discovered something strange - the plants and animals were all very careful to avoid him. They all maintained a certain distance between themselves and Xue Ling, treating him as though he was a plague.

  Were these plants and animals so vigilant because he had come in from the outside?

  Xue Ling thought hard, but could not think of any reason for their actions. He currently had nobody to ask, and could only continue his own explorations bit by bit.

  The central layer was shaped like a valley. Xue Ling didn’t know where he had landed, but it should be fine if he headed towards the center. According to the legends and the original story, the Sacred Pool should be in the center of the central layer. Xue Ling ran along the gently sloping ground for a short while before a few spots of light floating in the air caught his attention.

  The central layer was not scary at all, even at night. On the contrary, there seemed to be a fairytale charm to it. It had probably been set up that way so that the protagonist shou could live a carefree life here for a period of time. The environment here was very mild and harmless because the demonic beasts that lived here were legendary five-star godly beasts that would not casually attack for no reason. At their level, they could freely take on human form, and did not need to rely on hunting for survival as they could sustain themselves with the world’s energy. Every single demonic beast that Xue Ling could see, regardless of whether they were flying or walking, was incredibly gorgeous, and completely worthy of the word ’legendary’.

  Those little spots of lights were different from those demonic beasts and plants from before. They did not avoid Xue Ling, and instead, circled around him very closely. A few of them landed on his fur, then rolled around cutely as though demanding to be spoiled. If they weren’t merely spots of lights lacking eyes, ears, noses and so on, Xue Ling would have thought that these spots of light were alive.

  As time passed, the further forward he went, the more spots of light there were. Xue Ling was surrounded by them, and looked ahead in surprise. The distance he could see was limited, but aurora-like ribbons of light had appeared in the sky and were floating in the air up ahead. Those spots of light seemed to come from there.

  Surprisingly, the spots of light that had landed on Xue Ling’s body ultimately transformed into energy that he could absorb. His demonic core had been damaged so he shouldn’t have been able to absorb any energy; even if he did, there should be no way to store it, and the energy should slowly dissipate from his body. But it was different with these spots of light. He could clearly sense that his demonic core had begun to react after they entered his body. Although he still had no way to store the energy, the points of light continued to accumulate, and his body started to feel less weak. Xue Ling had originally been moving rather slowly, but towards the end he was practically trotting towards those ribbons of light.

  It was painfully obvious where the Sacred Pool was. Xue Ling had not expected things to be so simple. These events had really been a blessing in disguise.

  Forget it, in the situation where things were still uncertain, it was probably better if he didn’t randomly raise flags.

  He was currently just a badly injured three-star demonic beast. Anything that lived within this forest could easily kill him in a second. In case something really happened, it would be ridiculous if he had gotten happy too soon.

  After trotting for another short distance, this swarm of little lights had already turned into a misty layer of light that roiled under Xue Ling’s feet like a scene from a fairy tale.

  Legend had it that the Sacred Pool was the place where gods were born. They had stepped out of the Sacred Pool and transformed into gods, becoming the most powerful existences in the world. As long as they soaked in the pool, anyone would have the potential to become a god. Not only had the protagonist shou gotten rid of the darkness polluting his soul when he soaked here, he had also purified his soul.

  Although this purity was completely destroyed later on in the Devil World, the Sacred Pool’s ability to purify was still remarkable.

  Xue Ling was running faster now, and the layer of mist became more and more dense as he arrived at the Sacred Pool.

  This could not really be called a pool. It was in fact a very broad lake, above which hung beautiful ribbons of light. A rainbow mist floated over its surface, and white tendrils of steam curled and rose from the mist. The entire Sacred Pool looked like the Abode of Immortals from the oriental legends. The scene was beautiful to the extreme.

  The mist that was roiling under his feet was already about to cover Xue Ling’s small body when the system finally realized what was happening and jumped out to urge Xue Ling, "Host, quickly go and soak inside! There’s no telling what might happen next!"

  Xue Ling did not speak. Instead, he silently lifted a foot and kicked the system.

  The system fell down into the Sacred Pool with a splat. It muttered an ’ouch’, and didn’t even dare twitch before disappearing from the scene and remaining silent. Its host’s anger hadn’t disappeared yet - it probably shouldn’t come out to provoke him.

  Xue Ling raised a small, furry, and especially cute paw and touched the water in the pool. Other than making his fur a little wet, there was no other reaction, which reassured Xue Ling a bit. He didn’t know if this was the real Sacred Pool, or even if everything that met his eyes was real, but the options he could choose from were really limited and he could only take things step by step and try not to pass up on any opportunities that were in front of him.

  He made his way step by step into the pool and slowly soaked his entire wolf body in the water. His fur turned wet, but it was strangely not cold at all as the water in the Sacred Pool was rather warm. When it swirled around Xue Ling, it made his entire body relax, and he soon lowered his guard and allowed the water currents to move him around as they pleased.

  Although his body was relaxed, Xue Ling’s spirit was still stretched taut. He remained aware of his surroundings, and soon discovered that the water in the Sacred Pool was alive. He was moving with the flow, but it was not a regular current. He was being pushed in a certain direction, and even the rainbow mist seemed to be moving with him.

  The current carried Xue Ling to the middle of the pool. The closer he went to the center of the lake, the more energy he could feel entering his body. Xue Ling closed his eyes and found that his demonic core was slowly being repaired; it began to glow once again, and was no longer dull and lifeless.

  His body was also shimmering with light. The divine power of the Sacred Pool ran through his body while Xue Ling kept his eyes shut and meditated. By the time he woke up, his body had become quite different from before.

  He raised his hand and discovered that it was already daytime. After he put his hand back down, he realized - what he had lifted was a hand!

  Xue Ling flailed, and the water from the Sacred Pool lifted his body up; a sheet of water rose up like a mirror and allowed him to clearly see his own appearance.

  The appearance that this form had was not under Xue Ling’s control. Other than his eyes, the rest of his face did not look like his own appearance at all. It was a face that seemed stiff and cold, exuding a cold-blooded aura. Hatred had wrapped around his heart, making it so that he would not interact with people other than Ivan. His deep eyebrows were like swords, and he looked like a very typically handsome Western man. Because he was a Ink Flame Wolf, his hair and eye color was black with traces of red, and when paired with the fox-shaped eyes, the feeling he gave off had changed a lot. Although it was still heroic, there was now an inexplicable sense of wickedness. Xue Ling pressed his lips together as he stared at his reflection for half a second, then discovered that he had no clothes on.

  He silently slipped back into the Sacred Pool as he began to think about how he would go ashore.

  His magic core had been completely restored, but the water from the pool was still remodeling his body; improving his muscles and making his body more flexible. His figure became more slender, and he had a pair of beautiful legs that could be played with for a year.

  Xue Ling stuck out his head, said ’thank you’ to the water in the pool, and was splashed in the face with water. He couldn’t figure out if that was a response to his thanks, or the Sacred Pool playing tricks on him.

  Xue Ling tilted his head and took in the appearance of the Sacred Pool during daytime.

  Unlike last night’s beautiful scene, there were no ribbons of light over the Sacred Pool during the day. The colourful mist had basically dissipated, and only the tendrils of white smoke still rose up from its surface. It still looked like something from a fairy tale, but everything now seemed to be sleeping.

  Xue Ling wanted to go back to where he had first entered the water, but the Sacred Pool stubbornly pushed him towards the other side of the pool. Xue Ling finally recalled that according to the original plot, the Beast God lived by the Sacred Pool. It was described that he liked to live in a treehouse, and it looked like a place where fairy tale characters would live. But when Xue Ling was pushed near the shore, he discovered that something was wrong……

  Didn’t they say it was a treehouse?

  The white fog from the Sacred Pool was the densest on this side. In front of Xue Ling, there was a castle made of ice. It was not big, but it covered a large area, and the entire thing was made with ice that appeared to be created from the water in the Sacred Pool. With this level of extravagance, could it be that the Sacred Pool belonged to the Beast God?

  After Xue Ling went ashore, he changed back into a demonic beast. After all, he had no clothes, and his smaller beast form made him appear like a lost, immature cub, which was more suited to deception.

  Xue Ling had thrown things like dignity to the side long ago.

  The pool water rippled against Xue Ling’s paws as he slowly and carefully made his way forward, stealthily heading towards the castle made from ice, using the fog coming off the pool as a cover. He was not easy to spot with the naked eye, but some people were obviously not merely using their eyes to see; they had watched this little fellow for so many days that they would naturally be able to keep track of him.

  The second Xue Ling stepped into the castle, his forelimbs were immediately caught in someone’s grasp, his entire body lifted up. The fur on Xue Ling’s body stood on end, and he raised his head to try and bite the person who was holding him, but the other party simply held his head still. His furry face was filled with grievance, his eyes watery as he acted pitiful to no avail.

  That man gave a low laugh, "What an immature wolf cub! You soaked in my pool for an entire night and obtained all the benefits, but now you’re trying to bite when I want to cuddle you?"

  Xue Ling had known who this person was as soon as he picked him up. His movements were too gentle, and his aura too familiar. He didn’t need to consider it at all to realize that his man had appeared. But even if that was the case, he had not given up his intention to bite the other party.

  He knew it! There had been too many strange occurrences along the way, and someone must have been playing tricks on him. After making trouble for so long, it turned out to be this fellow. Now that he had some ability, he no longer made his move personally; commanding those animals and plants to torment him and taking advantage of the fact that Xue Ling couldn’t bite him to death.

  With that in mind, he glared at the man again.

  The man curved his lips. His smile was extremely gentle, but Xue Ling inexplicably felt a shiver run up his spine.