Ja Sun has had this idea since he was midway through unraveling the array that was adapting to Goldilocks. Just because their origins made it so that they weren't compatible, Ja Sun's main agenda for finding the Three-eyed Golden Lion was to evolve his own Martial Soul— The Three-eyed Silver Lion. Compatibility only meant one of the possible methods, i.e., the absorption of its spirit ring wouldn't have much effect on his martial soul.

There were few other options known to Ja Sun that directly affected his soul origin, and in return, the bloodline within him related to the Three-eyed Silver Lion. Just because the bloodline belonged to the beast didn't mean Ja Sun wasn't a human. As it has already been explored, Bloodline is far more spiritual than just the blood running in one's veins... in fact, it was highly likely with so much fortune and refinements, Ja Sun was a human only in name. Neither a human, nor a beast. Something far more terrifying that can subdue them both.

Ja Sun willingly spoke a little loudly, allowing the being hidden in the lake to confirm his thoughts, too.

"So? With my essence and yours, I can form a refinement space similar to what you were confined in. But this time, both of us will be refined together."

Ja Sun summarised after explaining everything in detail. Of course, despite being smart, Goldilocks couldn't understand the intricacies of an array. Still, understanding that, Ja Sun had explained things to the T because of the other party present.

"Your array will require at least, double the amount of time expected of my array before. And if the two of you are refined, there will be an innate struggle before the strongest party devour the weaker ones."

The calm retort came from the 'lady' of the lake.

The three of Goldilocks eyes instantly grew cautious while Ja Sun explained, "Not if you have a 10th Grade Immortal Herb that can act as a catalyst to smoothen the process and mediate between us so that the benefits are divided in proportion to our strength and what we can absorb in the first place."

The voice grew silent before mumbling, "I know of such a herb. It resides in a location blocked by powerful inheritances and traps. Traps that threaten the likes of you and Di Tian."

"Well, good for you," Ja Sun shrugged and looked at Goldilocks, "I don't know why you even chose to stay here. She can form an array but needs 10000 years for success? She knows the location of stuff that could have quickened the process but didn't bother to do so?

Good thing I came along...

See this?"

Ja Sun took out a blood-red mango as a soft tremor echoed through the depths of the lake.

"That's—"

"This is called a Myriad Blood Mango. It's of the 10th Grade which in terms of spirit beasts, translated to a million-year-old spirit beast. Go ahead, ask that being inside the lake if I'm still trying to hurt you."

Goldilocks looked towards the Emerald Lake and while it was silent, Ja Sun knew that a mental communication had already begun.

In reality, he was simply setting her up. Sure, he might have softened up barely for his team but to use such an immortal herb without vying for more benefits, useful or not— it simply wasn't rooted in his roguish ways.

He was confident in his ability to secure his treasures so he revealed the Myriad Blood Mango. Not to mention the fact that his spirit rings had recovered and his Immortal Buddha King spirit core was stuffed with spirit energy. Even if the mysterious entity may be strong, explosions of divine artifacts seem to be its limits for now and he still had two such weapons in his arsenal.

The more dangerous aspect about him was that he was crazy enough to destroy these weapons if pushed the wrong way.

The conversation between the Three-eyed Golden Lion and the Mysterious entity lasted for a couple of minutes yet Goldilocks didn't seem particularly convinced. Ja Sun understood early on that Goldilocks wasn't a damsel in distress or some flat individual with low sentience. She was much more complicated, and thus, hypocritical.

As if sensing Goldilocks apprehensions, Ja Sun's smile widened.

It was much easier to deal with selfish thought processes than pure ones.

"Of course, nothing you get after my initial assistance comes for free," Ja Sun chortled with a wicked grin, "Although the Myriad Blood Mango will assist in both of our individual growth instead of forcing us to devour one another, I stand to gain nothing extra from what you do. I'm providing expertise and resources. The only thing you can match with is your essence, sadly, mine will be right there.

Thus, your very support can be shifted to a corpse."

A sliver of bloodlust oozed from Ja Sun. This was simply the most effective method in his skills of persuasion— Dealing in absolutes.

"You get it, don't you? Whether you live or die, I will get the same benefits. So? How would you compensate with for your life?" Ja Sun's arms spread out with a dramatic flair as he cackled, "As complicated as it sounds, the answer is simple!"

His tone befitting a roar, Ja Sun scared Goldilocks witless with the sheer recklessness in his gaze, "You're the compensation!"

Her fur stood at its ends while she quickly retreated. Not minding such a reaction, Ja Sun shrugged, "I guess I'm not deviating from my original plan then. The forest would benefit from two auspicious emperors but even if one of them remains, the situation wouldn't change. Isn't that right?" Ja Sun glanced towards the lake and continued, "Thus, I can continue my original plan. To make use of you in any manner I feel is the best approach."

*Grrrrr*

"Unfair? Di Tian wouldn't let me?" Ja Sun sneered, "I'm the Beast God, sweetheart. I'm the new ruler of this forest for better or worse and that individual, deep inside the lake, would have robbed me the first chance it got yet months have passed and nothing!"

As if the worst criminal eyeing the sweetest entity, Ja Sun licked his lips, "Wanna blame someone? Blame the nature that made our cultivation so different. I'm just a humble man trying to do my very best."

As Ja Sun's aura erupted, locking Goldilocks in place, he felt the 'evil' aura around her magnifying in an instant. Even if she wasn't as strong, it was Ja Sun's turn in feeling as if something terrible was pressed against his neck. Undaunted, however, Ja Sun cackled, "Evil attribute... is different, I understand that, not evil as in Karma. Good for me then."

A breath even more terrible finally emanated from Ja Sun. Goldilocks felt like tearing her muzzle apart as the back of Ja Sun's right talon oozed with dark grey mist and a dark grey portal began to take shape.

"Stop this instant!" A hint of panic finally emerged as Di Tian came rushing in. But the moment Ja Sun looked at him, his entire being was forced to stay his hand.

"Don't you fucking order me," Ja Sun whispered, his eyes narrowed while every other beast in the forest either fell to their knees or collapsed unconscious.

"I'm gonna do what I want to do," Ja Sun stepped towards Goldilocks with a sincere expression, "And you will fight back if you wish to. However, remember this— once you do attack in any form or manner and it doesn't take me out, your very fate will be sealed to be used as an essence to enhance me. Cooperate and you will come to see a world of strength... far beyond your imagination."

Three-eyed Golden Lion finally growled as he heard her voice erupting beside him for the first time. He had only ever communicated by understanding her bestial language with his divine intent but this was direct communication.

"You think you can oppress me? Evil Attribute? Are you out of your mind? Once I seal your destiny—"

"Give it your best shot," Ja Sun took out the Black Dragon Sword as spatial and darkness elements raged in a form of a storm around Ja Sun that only revealed his golden pupils, "And let's see if I'll knock you out first or not."

She trembled.

"I'm the jewel of this forest! You can't hurt me!"

By now, Ja Sun stood in front of her. Although a beast, she lacked the necessary instincts. She was too human and too coddled to ever hope for facing Ja Sun even if she had the necessary techniques. After all, evil attributes defied common sense!

"You can't—"

"How old are you?" Ja Sun suddenly questioned.

Although dazed, she couldn't help but comply, "5000 years..."

*Smack*

Ja Sun's fist descended in that very instant, shocking Di Tian to the core as Ja Sun's fist struck the top of Lion's head.

"Then act like one!"

Ja Sun's scream shook Goldilocks, her eyes rolling upwards as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Huh? Maybe I did a little too much," Ja Sun mumbled and then looked towards the lake, "You can confirm the array I draw later. As I said, it won't be harmful to her and quite honestly, I have a feeling it's going to be weird as fuck... but I want to see... what a truly evolved Three-eyed Silver and Golden Lion looks, no, feels like..."

"And she gets no choice?" The words for the mysterious entity sounded odd.

"Choice? She did. However, Di Tian, you, and every other beast didn't raise her well enough to realize that. Did I not wait for a few minutes before knocking her out... to the likes of me and you, that should be enough time to destroy the entire forest," Ja Sun shrugged, "Too bad, she lost. Now she doesn't get any choice."

Di Tian lowered his head while the voice fell silent.

As Ja Sun passed the stiff Di Tian, he narrowed his gaze and looked at him, "And I remember requesting privacy, right?"

Heaving a deep exhalation to quell his frustration, Di Tian left again before he suffered another bout of humiliation.

Ja Sun followed the beast with his gaze. It was only a matter of time and a few more insults that he would explode and even stop listening to his 'master's' orders...

'Maybe I should insult his ancestors... he doesn't have any, right? Ohhh... Jokes on orphans may get things done. But do... dad dragons even drink milk? If yes, would they have an excuse to leave for milk since the mother dragon would produce milk inevitably..."

Just as Ja Sun felt like a scholar on the biology and dark humor of black dragons... no pun intended, he focused on the task at hand which was none other than the Three-eyed Golden Lion.

Setting up this particular refinement array was far easier. He just copied the same thing he unraveled. Of course, it was merely the foundation. If he kept such an array, it would leave him exposed to the mysterious entity within the Emerald Lack since this array was her creation. Aside from setting up defenses learned from the Divine Grace Array and the 'aggressive' nature of the Rakshasa Soul Devouring Technique, Ja Sun replaced the essence of the golden dragon with four things— himself, the Three-eyed Golden Lion, the Bloodline Core of the Three-eyed Golden Lion, and finally, the Myriad Blood Mango.

Ja Sun's body by itself had three cores. Although, Ja Sun felt that the limit of three cores could be easily voided since it was based on one's own capacity, he didn't want to form more cores itself. After all, Ja Sun's capacity was surely deep, but why act impatiently and fill it up? Just like how each mental space has its own capacity and limits to support Spirit Souls, Ja Sun's own was raised through Life Gold and mental core, his body and spirituality would surely have their limits, too. Turning divine, or something stronger may give an illusion of 'infinity' but that just meant he had to look even deeper and push through to find those very limits.

It's one of the joys of his life.

So, Ja Sun didn't intend to use this array at a chance for another core. Instead, he wanted to maximize the benefits to his martial soul— the Three-eyed Silver Lion. If his martial souls were sentient, the Evil Title would surely feel envious of how much resources Ja Sun had already placed into the silver counterpart.

Before the array was set, Ja Sun had dug out a small area of land where he placed the unconscious Three-eyed Golden Lion and sat down himself. The external items weren't just placed on the ground. Since the main function of the array was to refine, the effects were enhanced several times by the War God's Cauldron.

The War God was surely a genius when it came to refinement through arrays. Even now, the War God's Cauldron was Ja Sun's go through array when it came to refining materials and since he and Goldilocks were materials this instance, Ja Sun chose to meld the War God's Cauldron with the Essence Refining Array.

The result came in the form of a giant cauldron made from tiny, yet uncountable rune marks that adopted a golden brown color with a silver sheen under sunlight as faces of oni and rakshasa grew on its pot-like surface that soon surrounded Ja Sun and Goldilocks. The Myriad Blood Mango floated in the center with the golden blood core as both of them were dematerialized into wisps of energies that moved in the opposite direction through the Cauldron and began to fuse together, forming threads of divine energy that covered Ja Sun and Goldilocks.

It was at this moment, just when Ja Sun's consciousness was about to get pulled away, did he hear the mysterious entity of the lake that he dubbed as the Lady of the Lake.

"Do you wish for an essence of the same quality as the Golden Dragon but far suitable to the Divine Phoenix from which this martial soul is an offshoot of?"

Although Ja Sun felt that the Lady of Lake had timed this moment so he felt a little pressed and impatient to make a trade, he wasn't particularly annoyed. In her position, Ja Sun would have done the same, if not worse.

"For what?"

"Life Gold..."

"5 grams."

She chuckled, "The essence is worth more than 5 grams."

"I only have 5 grams."

"You're lying."

"No, I believe this is called protecting one's interest. Oh, no, I think I'm about to go unconscious. You better agree to 5 grams."

"40 grams."

Ja Sun rolled his eyes. It was a third of what he had!

"I'm gonna pass out due to your big mouth!"

"The essence belongs to a Divine Beast and the ancestor of the sibling of Golden Dragons, the Silver Dragons..."

Ja Sun fell silent for a second.

"10 grams..."

It was the Lady of Lake's turn to be speechless.

"Fine, 20 grams initially and 20 grams after you have satiated my curiosity regarding cultivation. You did claim to know about the history of spirit cultivation, right?"

"I will settle for 50 grams total then," the voice retorted.

Frowning, Ja Sun reluctantly agreed, "Fine... so? Who's the ancestor of the Silver Dragons?"

"The Silver Dragon King, of course," the voice chuckled as the silver pole trembled and ejected a brilliant silver orb that shot into the array and began to melt alongside the core of the array.

Seeing this, Ja Sun took out the Golden Dragon's essence to balance the emergence of almost all the attributes within that silver orb with pure tyrannical strength that the Golden Dragon is known for.

The array was instantly pressurized. The essence of the two dragons was overbearing yet Ja Sun's killing intent proved useful as the essence of the Rakshasa Soul Devouring Technique immediately raged with irrational and mindless slaughter intent that threatened to simply devour these essences.

And in this maelstrom of energy where everything contested against one another, Ja Sun smiled softly. A rare moment of sincerity flashed through his eyes as he petted the head of the Golden Lion, "You know, even with what I said, I really don't wanna kill you. Of all the beasts out there... you're the one closest to me. I think, together, we can have a lot of fun but girl, you've gotta grow. At least, in mind... good thing you're about to get a peek of what I really am... that ought to set you straight."

In the end, before he gave up his consciousness for the time being to let his hard work refine their bloodlines, Ja Sun's Fiery Golden Pupils let out a blinding golden light, surrounding the entire cauldron with a resplendent golden hue that flickered with divine aggressive intent.

"Hmm, if I wished to attack you, why would I have offered a treasure worth the Myriad Blood Mango... oh, Asura, here, in front of me is a human with bloodlust rivaling yours and Rakshasa... yet, his temperament is more bestial than the best of us. These outsiders... truly have envious fortunes and nature... well, some of them, at least."

With that, the being carefully watched the process. This was a sight set to broaden her horizons, too, after all.

What could be the evolution of the Three-eyed Golden and Silver Lion when instead of using the essence of dragons to revert to their ancestry, they devour it to make their own and let their nature carve out a future of their own— a being truly unique to the two of them.

***

Shoutout to Temnizziv and shadow!!

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