Douluo V: Reborn White-headed Eagle, Many Children, Many Blessings

Before long, Su Ran led the women back to their territory deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.

As soon as they arrived over the territory, an unusual aura rushed towards them.

The air was thick with the lingering stench of blood. The edge of the forest below was a scene of devastation, with many trees broken and the ground riddled with potholes, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had taken place.

Su Ran frowned slightly.

His three guardian spirit beasts—the Brown Bear King, the Thorn Bird, and the Otter—are leading a dwindling number of low-level spirit beasts, most of whom are injured, gathered on an open space at the foot of the mountain, eagerly awaiting his return.

Upon seeing that familiar and majestic figure in the sky, they all revealed a look of relief in their eyes.

"My lord! You've finally returned!"

As soon as they landed, the largest brown bear king eagerly took two steps forward, lowered his massive head, and spoke in a deep voice, his tone filled with obvious tension and guilt.

It had several fresh scratches on its body, and its fur was disheveled, stained with blood and dust.

"What happened? Are enemies attacking?" Su Ran looked around, his gaze sweeping over the wounded soul beasts before finally settling on the three guards, and asked in a deep voice.

"Yes, my lord." The nimble thornbird, its wings slightly torn, flapped its wings and answered eagerly:

"Shortly after you left yesterday, two powerful soul beasts, each about 60,000 years old, attacked our territory with a group of subordinates."

The otter beside it added that one of its front paws was tucked in somewhat awkwardly:

"However, thanks to the power left behind by Your Majesty and our desperate resistance, we finally managed to repel them. But... we also suffered considerable losses."

Su Ran's gaze swept carefully over the three soul beasts once more.

The brown bear king has thick skin and flesh, and although its injuries may look frightening, they are mostly superficial wounds.

The thornbird's wings need rest, and the otter's claws may have injured its tendons and bones.

Fortunately, none of them caused any fundamental damage.

However, the loss of territory and the casualties of low-level soul beasts are real.

"But they might come back again," the Thornbird added worriedly, a hint of fear flashing in its eyes.

"What kind of spirit beasts are they? Have you figured out why they suddenly attacked us?" Su Ran pressed, his eyes sharpening.

Upon hearing this, the thornbird and the otter instinctively turned their gazes toward the brown bear king.

The brown bear king's massive body seemed to flinch. It lowered its head and stammered for a long time. Under Su Ran's calm yet extremely imposing gaze, it finally mustered the courage to speak, its voice much lower than before:

"My lord... my lord, those two invading soul beasts, one is the Mighty Ape King, and the other is... the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear King."

It paused, glanced at Su Ran's expression, and then continued.

"That bloodthirsty demon bear king... back then, he had a territorial dispute with his subordinates."

It left the area for a while afterward, and its whereabouts are unknown.

And then...and then your subordinates were subdued by you, my lord, and occupied this place.

This time it appeared suddenly, and somehow it even won over that mighty gorilla king, to come together... to seek revenge.

After saying that, the brown bear king lowered his head even further, looking as if he was waiting for his fate.

Su Ran's expression didn't change much after listening; she simply nodded and said, "I see. Alright, it's not entirely your fault."

He said calmly, "I will handle this. You all go down first, take good care of your injuries, and calm the other soul beasts down."

Although the root of this matter lies in the past grudges of the Brown Bear King, territorial disputes are common in the world of soul beasts. Now that the Brown Bear King has submitted to him, Su Ran sees the other party's provocation as a challenge to his personal authority.

In a way, this was an inevitable problem brought about by his expansion of territory and the recruitment of subordinates.

……

After safely escorting the women back to the cave and calming their slightly uneasy emotions, Su Ran went down the mountain alone.

He chose a smooth, flat boulder and stood quietly on it.

The mountain breeze swept through the treetops, bringing with it a strong scent of grass and trees, and the lingering smell of blood.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the distant direction where the enemy might attack. His figure was as steady as a mountain, yet he naturally exuded a chilling, silent pressure.

I had just sat down for a short while.

"roar--!!!"

"Whoa—!!!"

From the depths of the distant valley, a series of violent and ferocious roars suddenly resounded, one after another, like rolling thunder piercing through the dense forest, the sound shaking for miles, startling countless birds into flight!

The roar was filled with fury and undisguised aggression.

Su Ran slowly opened her eyes, a hint of coldness flashing in them.

These are the two soul beasts, who have returned with their clans.

Sure enough, not long after, accompanied by a faint tremor in the ground and the sound of trees being violently smashed open,

Two exceptionally large figures, exuding a menacing aura, appeared on the edge of the forest, one on the left and one on the right. They were none other than the Mighty Ape King and the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear King.

Behind them, indistinctly, followed a dark mass of hundreds of powerful gorillas and bloodthirsty bears with fierce eyes.

When they saw that Su Ran was sitting alone on the giant rock below the mountain, the Mighty Gorilla King and the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear King stopped in their tracks.

Their eyes, filled with cruelty and cunning, locked onto Su Ran, scrutinizing him from head to toe, seemingly assessing this guy who dared to face their army alone.

A rough and arrogant surge of mental energy swept unceremoniously towards Su Ran, originating from the bloodthirsty demonic bear king with dark red fur:

"You're the so-called 'master' that stupid bear talked about, right? The Bald Eagle King? You don't look like it at all. You look more like a strange phoenix?"

Su Ran met its gaze, her expression remaining calm, and responded with her mental power:

"Yes, it's me. I heard you have some old grudges with the Brown Bear King? I hope this matter ends here, and that you can live in peace from now on."

"Roar!" Upon hearing this, the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear King was enraged. It stood upright and slammed its huge paws into the ground, creating a small crater and sending dust flying.

"Who do you think you are to order me around?!"

Beside it, the mighty gorilla king also let out a deep roar, pounding his thick chest with his arms, making a dull "thump-thump" sound, as a show of force.

"That stupid bear who only knows how to run away is hiding? And you, his so-called master, have to take the fall?" The Bloodthirsty Bear King's mental fluctuations were filled with sarcasm and murderous intent. "Tell him to come out and face his death! Otherwise, I'll tear you to pieces first!"

Upon hearing this, Su Ran laughed instead of getting angry.

He couldn't help but clap his hands lightly, making a few crisp clapping sounds.

Having engaged in too much fighting and killing before, he had considered whether he should try a more peaceful approach to getting along with his forest neighbors, attempting to establish some kind of order rather than simply conquering them.

Unexpectedly, his rare good mood was met with even more contempt and provocation from the other party.

This instantly dispelled any lingering thoughts of trying to change things, and instead solidified his original belief.

In this dog-eat-dog world of soul beasts where strength reigns supreme, it seems that only absolute power matters.

Being mild-mannered is sometimes just seen as weakness.

"It seems there's a lack of necessary education." Su Ran slowly stood up, stretched his neck, and an invisible, suffocating aura began to rise from him, making the surrounding air seem to thicken.

"Otherwise, any Tom, Dick, or Harry will dare to bark at me."