Chapter 76: Flying Lion Beast

Xie Sen saw that not far away, the sunflower’s thick branches were filled with a faint green light. Next to it stood the giant flying lion beast.

The flying lion beast was more than three meters tall, with an enormous lion-like body; a soft, flowing golden mane on its neck; huge wings of the same color on its back, while it’s feathers had a metallic texture. Its size was even bigger and more ferocious.

But its behavior was strange. It stared fiercely at the sunflower branches, roared at the enemy, and then pounced to bite. Its movements were fast and fierce, as it tried to bite off the branches.

However, the moment it touched a branch, its fury suddenly disappeared. The branch instantly became its beloved thing. Its mouth didn’t bite closed, instead it greedily stretched out its tongue and licked the branch while its body also gradually moved closer.

This frenzied fondness didn’t last long. It seemed to freeze, then backed up with a fierce face. It pulled away from the branch, roared in anger, pounced on the branch again, and then repeated the action.

That was it!

In Xie Sen’s mind, floated countless dog blood plots, love and hate, sadistic love. If the flying lion beast and sunflower were both human, this scene really wouldn’t be inconsistent.

“What is it doing?” Long Teng looked confused. He and Bai Jiao came to investigate the situation yesterday. When the flying lion beast turned its back to them, it seemed to them that the flying lion beast had attacked the branch, but couldn’t do anything to it, however the real scenario was actually like this!

Maine frowned slightly. “I don’t know.”

Bai Jiao stared at the branch. “It seems to be afraid of the sunflower and wants to destroy it, but after getting near, it can’t help but get closer.”

Xie Sen looked at the faintly glowing branch, and had a probable answer in his mind. “What A’Jiao said should be correct.”

He didn’t know why the flying lion beast was attacking the sunflower, but he could understand it’s transformation after it touched the branch.

The wood energy in the sunflower trunk was the closest to natural energy, so all creatures born in nature had a strong affinity. The moment the beast touched it, it instinctively got closer to the trunk and simply couldn’t harm it.

The flying lion beast recovered from this instinctive attraction enough to attack the sunflower again and again, which showed that it had an extremely strong feeling in its heart, and it wanted to destroy the sunflower.

The leaf that gave them the lead scurried to the flying lion beast as it attacked the branch again, and quickly put the leaf up and blocked the branch with a wide leaf surface. The flying lion beast hit the leaf with a lighter movement, as it had no control, then rubbed it with its big head.

Xie Sen, “…” This frequent switch of hate and love emotions. Wasn’t it tired?

Another leaf of the sunflower reached out to Xie Sen, and made a beckoning gesture, as it signaled them to continue.

Xie Sen guessed, “You want to take me to the branch?”

The blade waved in line and Xie Sen felt another wave of pleasure, as the sunflower transmitted it to him through the wood energy.

Xie Sen looked at the branch, and didn’t walk over directly. The flying lion beast was there, so he would be very close to the flying lion beast when he went over. The flying lion beast didn’t seem to be in a normal mental state, and although he had a high affinity, he couldn’t just take the risk.

What’s more, Maine was the master of the flying lion beast. If Maine went over with him, he might be rejected after getting close.

He looked at Maine, “Can you feel the synchronization rate?”

Maine nodded, “It’s peculiar. I can feel its consciousness, and it’s very agitated. Our synchronization rate should be very high. It reasonably would have found me, and rejected me long ago, but it didn’t notice that I was close to it.”

Xie Sen guessed that this might have something to do with the flying lion beast being too close to the wood energy. He thought about it, “Can we get its attention?”

Maine nodded. “Yes,” he said. His eyes fixed on the flying lion beast, and a harsh, almost physically present aura moved towards the flying lion beast. Maine’s face remained unchanged as he confronted it.

Bai Jiao pulled Xie Sen and Long Teng away. He was about to pull them to a farther position when he saw the flying lion with a fierce expression abruptly gather its strength. He froze and didn’t move for a moment.

The flying lion beast’s head tilted. It blinked, and with a flap of wings, it flew to Maine almost in the blink of an eye. It’s wings pointed at the branch, full of murderous intent.

Maine’s face changed slightly. “Are you asking me to help you destroy it?” 

The flying lion beast’s large head moved up and down a bit.

Xie Sen looked at the flying lion beast in surprise. Did that mean, as long as Maine destroyed the sunflower, it agreed to the contract? He couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you want to destroy it?”

The flying lion beast tilted its head and roared towards the sky above, then roared towards the overgrown trees around, its voice tinged with anger.

At that moment, the green leaf scurried to Xie Sen, rolled into a long thin strip, wrapped around Xie Sen’s arm, and gently pulled him closer like a prod. It didn’t use force, but the meaning was clear.

Xie Sen looked at the flying lion beast, and thought about how after he retrieved the energy, he would be able to communicate with it smoothly, without having to ask questions like now, and guess its answers by its movements.

He looked to Maine. “I’ll go to the branch for a moment. You guys wait.” Maine grabbed his hand, and he smiled. “It’s okay, the energy is there. I’ll go and retrieve it.”

He followed the green leaves and went near the branch. He looked up at the flower that was covering the top of the mountain, then he raised his hand and touched the branch. In a flash, the surging and raging energy ran down his arm and into his right shoulder. The temperature of the peony on his shoulder suddenly rose to the extreme.

During the whole process, the sunflower leaves didn’t take any action to stop him. Not long afterwards, the green light in the sunflower’s branch faded. Adam’s excited voice rang in his head, “A’Sen, you’re great! The wood energy was recycled successfully. Eh–” After a pause he said excitedly, “Wow! Awesome! Finally a highly intelligent plant! I’ll talk to it.”

Xie Sen was surprised. “Can you communicate with it?”

“Of course,” Adam said proudly. “I’m a Plant System! It said thank you for taking back the energy. It lured you here because it wanted to make a contract with you. It couldn’t control its desire to keep growing, and wanted to make a contract with a beast master to help control it, but didn’t think you could recover the energy.”

Xie Sen thought about the beast tattoo on his left shoulder and the sunflower in his consciousness. “How can I make a contract?” He had seen several contract beasts become bonded, but had no concept of plant bonding.

Adam paused for a moment. “It says you smear blood on its branches, touch it, and then sincerely swear a lifetime of mutual loyalty.”

Xie Sen was a little confused. “Won’t the contract plant reject the beast master?”

“It said it would, but you have a natural aura, so it doesn’t reject you, and feels very close to you.” Adam sounded smug. “With me, the plants will definitely like you!”

Xie Sen smiled, thought for a moment, then took out a dagger from his spatial pack. He made a cut on his index finger, and wiped the blood onto the sunflower branch. The blood was absorbed by the sunflower almost instantly. At the same moment, the sunflower in his consciousness became extraordinarily clear.

He closed his eyes and felt a strange power, heavy and solid, as if he had an additional loyal companion. He spoke the words easily, “I, Xie Sen, swear to be loyal to the sunflower for the rest of my life.”

The moment the vow was complete, the sunflower in his consciousness came to life, and he felt a consciousness that didn’t belong to him. It was like sunlight, very warm.

Xie Sen opened his eyes, and felt the sunflower’s pleasant emotions. He touched its branches, looked up at its huge size and began to fret, “Even if I had an S class contract beast space buckle, it won’t fit!”

Adam said, “Small problem. It is a plant. Let it live with me. I recovered the original energy and can also nourish it, let it become stronger.”

As Adam said that, the huge sunflower in the forest suddenly disappeared, and the forest that had been covered by the flower finally saw the light of day again. The sunlight spilled in through the gaps in the trees, and formed a beautiful play of light and shadow.

At the same time, in the System panel, a small sunflower appeared in the lower left corner of the green hard-backed book cover.

“Well, it’s not a System plant. It needs light, it’s rooted in my place, but it also needs to emerge into the sun. It’s so big, it won’t work…There it is!” Adam finished talking to himself, and then said happily, “That’s good!”

Xie Sen was about to ask him what he had done, when Maine came running towards him. Maine looked at him with a complicated expression, and then pointed to the top of his head. “How did this happen?”

Xie Sen was confused. He reached out and touched his head. Something had grown on top of his hair somehow. It felt soft, and when he touched it, he felt a pleasant emotion that didn’t belong to him.

“Wow,” Long Teng circled around Xie Sen. “A’Sen, you have a flower growing on your head.”

Bai Jiao stared at the top of his head. “You made a contract with the sunflower? How did it get so small?”

Xie Sen guessed what was happening through their words. He opened his bracelet, brought up the mirror mode, looked at the small and delicate sunflower on top of his head and the corners of his mouth twitched. A natural plant hairpin?

“Adam, what’s going on?” He asked breathlessly. This was what Adam considered a good idea?

Adam said in an inviting tone, “A’Sen, aren’t I super smart? I discussed it with Aoi. I let it release its energy into the System, then its body shrunk, so it decided to stay on top of your head. It can be in the sun at any time, and won’t attract attention. With it there, if someone appears from behind you, it will immediately find out. You also don’t have to worry. I taught it to absorb and release energy. If you need to fight, it can quickly absorb energy to become larger. Isn’t it great?”

Although a sunflower on his head was a bit silly, he had to admit that Adam’s idea was really great. Otherwise, with the sunflower’s large size, if he wanted to carry at all times, but also let it be in the sun at all times, it would be difficult.

“Well, that’s great. Thank you,” Xie Sen said, but he couldn’t help asking, “Can we change it? The top of my head is a bit hit and miss.”

Especially since his height was shorter than many people here. Others would look at him, and at a glance they could see the top of the head included a golden flower in his black hair. Ignoring it would be difficult.

“Of course you can. It can be anywhere you want, but it’s most convenient to sunbathe above!”

Xie Sen thought for a moment, “I’ll put it on my left or right shoulders. Anywhere, but not on my head. When there’s no sun, take it back.”

So Maine saw the little sunflower disappear from Xie Sen’s head, and appear on his right shoulder.

“Wow, it’s changing position!” Long Teng said in amazement.

Xie Sen laughed. He didn’t know how to explain. “It’s the sunflower. It needs the sun, and can’t always stay in a space.”

Long Teng laughed. “Big Black doesn’t want to stay in the space buckle all the time either. He always wants to come out.”

At that moment, the flying lion came up to them, which created a large shadow.

The flying lion beast turned to where the sunflower was originally located, and then walked up to them. It looked at Xie Sen with its head down, its big eyes full of doubts. “Roar..”

Xie Sen thought about it, and reached out to touch its chin, but couldn’t reach it. Maine immediately knew what he wanted to do. He knew that Xie Sen could communicate with some contract beasts through contact. Maine picked him up.

Xie Sen was startled and turned his head. Maine said, “Don’t be afraid, you’re light. You won’t fall down.”

Xie Sen didn’t doubt Maine’s strength, he was just surprised because of the suddenness of the movement. He looked at the flying lion beast, and raised his hand to touch its chin, “Can you understand us?”

“Yes, you have gotten rid of the destroyer?” The flying lion’s voice was low.

Xie Sen said, “Destroyer? Did you mean the sunflower?”

“I don’t know what it’s called. It’s just that not long ago, it started to grow bigger and bigger, until it gradually covered the whole mountain. The mountain can’t see the sun, while the plant grows like crazy. The animals’ nests were destroyed, and countless animals were forced to leave. It is the destroyer,” The flying lion beast said with a deep sigh. “I wanted to destroy it, but it has a strange power. As soon as I touch it, I cannot control the need to get close to it. There is no way I could do anything to hurt it.”

Xie Sen thought to himself, this was really the case.

The flying lion beast stared at him, “You dealt with the destroyer, and guarded my home. I have to repay you. It is a pity that you are not the flying lion beast master, otherwise I would like to make a contract with you.”

Xie Sen looked at Maine, “My friend is. He is very powerful, can you try to make a contract with him?”

The flying lion beast also looked at Maine. “I originally wanted him to help with the destroyer, and if he succeeded I would have made a contract with him. Since you are friends, I will give him a chance, but whether or not to form a contract depends on his ability.”

Xie Sen smiled, and relayed the words of the flying lion beast to Maine who said, “Just what I want. You guys stand back.”

Xie Sen’s trio walked to the side, and watched the confrontation between the flying lion beast and Maine.

Long Teng was excited and looked at Xie Sen with bright eyes as he said enviously, “If only I could communicate with the contract beast.”

Xie Sen laughed, “Can’t you communicate with Big Black?”

Long Teng, “Yeah. Hahaha! Super great.”

Bai Jiao laughed, then sighed. “Plant beast masters are really amazing.”

As they talked, overwhelming, almost physical, auras emanated from Maine and the flying lion beast’s body in every direction. The three immediately turned to watch.

There was a long process of bonding. Although the flying lion beast didn’t directly touch the energy, every time it attacked the sunflower, it often got very close to touching the energy. So under the energy’s influence, its combat power was greatly improved, and the original ability of an S class contract beast was very strong.

Unlike the flying dragon beast, who was very fond of, and obsessed with bright and shiny things which Long Teng pitched in to make the bonding process less difficult, Maine and the flying lion were pitted against each other in a substantial confrontation. The only thing that reassured Xie Sen, was that the bonding confrontation was about momentum, not actual sparring.

As time passed, Maine’s face became whiter and whiter, but his eyes became brighter and brighter, as if he was polishing a blade that was continually being sharpened.

After a long time, the flying lion finally lay down, and rested its chin on its front paws. Its big eyes looked appreciatively at Maine, who was so wet with sweat that at first glance he looked like he had been caught in the rain. Main walked slowly but firmly to stand before the flying lion beast, and began the bonding ceremony.

The ceremony ended with a firm oath, then Maine fell unconscious and collapsed on top of the flying lion.

Xie Sen’s heart tightened. He rushed over to him, and wrapped him in his arms. Bai Jiao quickly checked Maine’s condition. “He’s okay, he’s just weak. He needs rest.”

So the three of them decided to set up the tent first. They discussed and decided to go back to the previous area, where there was extra firewood, and it was close to the water source, which made it good for resting.

Maine was lithe, but he was still tall and muscular, and he weighed a lot. Xie Sen tried to carry him, but couldn’t. Eventually Long Teng carried Maine effortlessly on his back, and followed Bai Jiao at a brisk pace.

Maine woke up three hours later. Xie Sen had been sitting next to him as he watched him. When he opened his eyes, he rushed over to him. “Are you okay?”

Maine reached out and touched his face, then a smile spread from the corners of his mouth, “Fine, just very hungry.” Xie Sen couldn’t help but smile too. Not long ago, the two of them were in the opposite role.

When they came out of the tent, the flying lion beast, which was lying on its side with its eyes closed, opened its eyes abruptly and went to Maine. It rubbed against him, “Are you okay?”

Maine’s eyes flashed with surprise, but he quickly calmed down. “Very well.”

The flying lion said, “You are very good, my beast master.”

Maine raised his hand, and rubbed the side of its neck, “Your mental condition isn’t good, and you need more rest. Do you need to eat?”

“No, just once every two days.” The flying lion said, as it lay back down and continued to rest its eyes. The flying dragon beast looked at it curiously for a while. It finally couldn’t resist going up to it, and chatted with it with great interest.

Long Teng and Bai Jiao were roasting meat. When they saw them like this, they knew it was okay, so Long Teng beckoned, “Come sit down. We’ll eat soon.”

Xie Sen looked around, and saw that there were many beasts watching them with green eyes.

Maine took it all in with a glance, “There are more beasts.”

Long Teng nodded. “Yeah, I hadn’t seen any animals before, but all of a sudden there’s a lot of them.”

Bai Jiao said, “Maybe they know about the changes in the mountain and have come back.”

The flying lion beast lifted its eyes to look, opened its mouth to roar, and chaotic footsteps sounded all around. The original tiger-eyed beasts had all disappeared.

Long Teng laughed out loud. “The flying lion is so powerful, all the animals in the mountain seem to be afraid of it!”

After they finished the roasted meat, Xie Sen took out another big watermelon and the four of them ate it.

After they ate, the four of them talked. They decided to go down along the west side of the mountain. They looked for medicinal herbs and edible plants as they went. The animals all fled in panic at the sight of the flying lion, often accompanied by harsh howls.

Xie Sen was a bit amused. The flying lion hadn’t done anything yet!

The road on the mountains wasn’t easy to walk, and many plants were affected by the wood energy. Their root systems grew rapidly, spreading across to the ground to form obstacles. The trees in the mountain weren’t suitable for flying through. Big Black began walking, and with a flip of its tail, it cleared the road.

Maybe because the Yamu Continent originally had a lot of plants, or because it was influenced by the wood energy, they found a lot of herbs and edible plants.

Xie Sen also collected a lot of tree seeds. Some trees he didn’t recognize, but if he saw that the trunk was straight and long, he deliberately collected them. He did recognize some trees, like pine, camphor, etc.. He intended to plant tall trees on the periphery of the piece of land he bought, and then open up a location to plant some shorter trees and create a scaled-down version of the forest. A few plants could also be planted next to their villa to improve the environment.

“Wow, what a big fruit.” Long Teng shouted excitedly, and scurried to the front.

Xie Sen looked over and immediately walked faster, with surprise in his eyes. It was actually a durian! Durian was an amazing fruit, there were many people who liked and disliked it. Xie Sen liked to eat it, and he knew very well that it had high nutritional value.

Brandt Star citizens needed plant nutrition. They all relied on drinking nutrient liquid, and Xie Sen really couldn’t say anything good about the taste of that synthetic liquid.

Long Teng curiously poked at it, felt that it was too spiky and looked around, ready to go. On the way, he saw the strange shape of the fruit were all like this. He has a childlike curiosity.

Xie Sen called him, “Come and help me pick them all off.” He picked the lowest one himself, put it in his pack, and then continued to pick.

Maine listened, didn’t ask any questions, and started to pick durians.

“Why are you picking this?” Long Teng wondered.

Bai Jiao looked at the durian tree and wondered, “What kind of plant is this? I don’t recognize it.”

Xie Sen smiled, “Durian. It’s a fruit that can be eaten. The taste is very strong, it’s rich in nutrients, and good for the body.”

Bai Jiao’s eyes lit up at that, and he started to help. Anything that could be used for medicine was a treasure in his eyes.

Long Teng picked one by stem and twisted it in his hand, his eyes shining brightly. He chose a sharp corner with a raised edge and bit into it. “Yuck, yuck, yuck. So hard. Not good.”

Xie Sen turned his head to see him like this, and couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not ready to eat. After we finish picking, we’ll eat one.”

Xie Sen and Bai Jiao picked the lower ones, while Maine and Long Teng both went up the tree.

Xie Sen looked up, and saw that there were only a few left on the unfolded branches of the tree, so he quickly said, “Let’s just pick these and save some for later.”

Maine and Long Teng jumped down from the tree. Long Teng immediately went to Xie Sen, and asked expectantly, “How do you eat them?”

Xie Sen took out the knife he used to cut the watermelon, and made a slice at the top of the durian. Then used his hand to pick it up, split it in two and revealed the yellow flesh inside, which smelled like durian.

Xie Sen took off a piece of the flesh, and looked at the three of them. “Do you think this smells bad?”

All three shook their heads. Xie Sen handed the pulp to Long Teng, gave a piece each to Maine and Bai Jiao, then finally took a piece for himself and took a bite.

He looked at Maine, and wondered if he liked the taste. Maine said, “It’s good.”

“Yummy!” Long Teng finished it quickly, his eyes alight. “I didn’t expect the skin to be sharp and hard, but the inside is so fragrant and soft.”

Bai Jiao said, “It tastes a little strange, but it’s not bad.”

Xie Sen smiled when he saw that they didn’t hate it. On second thought, they grew up drinking that weird tasting nutrient solution, so as long as it didn’t taste worse than that, it was acceptable to them!

The four of them continued to walk. When the sky began to darken, they discussed whether to return or to stay at the sacred mountain. Bai Jiao’s eyes glowed as he looked at the endless plants. “The sacred mountain is like a huge treasure trove. We’ve only walked a small piece of it. I want to wander again.”

Long Teng said, “The mountain is so interesting. There are so many things I haven’t seen before, so let’s stay on the mountain!”

Xie Sen nodded, “Okay.” All four of them had their own purposes for the trip, and they were a group. Only when everyone’s purpose was achieved could the trip be considered a success.

And it was not easy to come here once, so he did not want to leave in a hurry. He also wanted to find more plants, and change the painful days of eating meat every day.

The four people had made a lot of preparations before the trip. Because they weren’t sure of the climate of the small planet, they carried a lot of things, including sustenance equipment, cold equipment, accommodation equipment … Things to deal with all kinds of possible conditions.

They also bought large spatial storage devices for each of them just for this purpose, though it cost a lot of money.

Lying in the tent, Xie Sen sighed. Money was indeed a good thing. Even in the forest of a primitive planet, they could sleep comfortably.

The next day, they continued their search for plants. At noon, a hawk’s cry came from above the forest, and the flying lion came up to Maine, “It’s the eagle beasts.”

Maine told the rest of the group what it said. Xie Sen listened to call after call and wondered, “The way they’re hooting like this, it’s not like they’re scouting.”

Bai Jiao said, “It feels like they are calling for something. Maybe they’re looking for us. It’s our third day in the forest.”

When he said that, Xie Sen also thought it was very likely. The four of them conferred. Maine and Xie Sen sat on the back of the flying lion beast, while Long Teng and Bai Jiao sat on the back of the flying dragon beast. Both of them took off at the same time, and quickly flew over the mountain.

The flying dragon beast called to the group of eagles not far away. The giant eagles heard the sound, and turned to look at them. Then the whole group of eagles, like they’d been shocked, forgot to flap their wings and fell straight down.

One of them snapped back to attention and gave a high-pitched cry, while the rest of the giant eagles flapped their wings and steadied themselves. The giant eagle flew to within five meters and stopped. They called at them, but Xie Sen’s group didn’t understand. However the flying lion beast and flying dragon beast understood.

The flying lion told them, “He said he was happy to see you guys were okay, and then surprised why I was with you.”

The Flying Dragon also translated the words for Long Teng.

Xie Sen, “It seems they really were looking for us. It’s not convenient to talk like this, let’s find a place to land and talk!”

Maine nodded, “Go to the foot of the mountain.” The flying lion quickly flew to the foot of the mountain, and the flying dragon followed closely behind it. It didn’t take long for the eagles to descend in unison, then they turned into seven tall men, the foremost of which was Voser who, without speaking, knelt down before the flying lion.

“Beast God.”