Chapter – 86
The Matron’s Favor
Rupert knew very well that he shouldn’t trouble the Matron at every turn.
But the Matron was the Mother Tree’s Earthwalker.
Any changes in the cursed lands could very well be blessings sent down by the Beast God or the Mother Tree.
Rupert always believed that the Matron’s arrival was a turning point—a chance for the Lion’s Roar Tribe, and even for the entire cursed land, for change, for the future.
At the moment, since the Matron didn’t come to see him, it likely meant that the protective wall’s light screen was safe.
He had no choice but to leave.
“Then I won’t disturb the Matron’s rest. If anything happens, you can come to me or the Chief Matron at any time.”
Horen nodded.
After sending off Rupert and the rest of the beastmen, Horen turned to Yiyuexi, finally having time to sort through everything.
“What happened?”
Yiyuexi stroked his chin, thinking carefully. He wasn’t sure which parts he should tell and which he shouldn’t.
After all, as far as he knew, the Golden Lion Clan and the cursed lands had some secret connections.
Yiyuexi didn’t want to drag the Matron into it, so he waved his hand dismissively.
“You should go ask Lu Liufeng and the Matron yourself.”
His eyes flicked toward the ruins, catching sight of Mu Linghou. He gave an even more perfunctory explanation.
“As for Mu Linghou, wait until he wakes up and ask him yourself.”
Though Mu Linghou seemed completely unconscious in his beast form, Yiyuexi felt that he was okay.
Perhaps, like him and Lu Liufeng, he had his own destiny waiting.
Horen’s emerald lion eyes darkened.
He knew that something must have happened just now.
But he might not have the right to know it.
After all, among the current beastmen, only he and Duan Si were set to leave.
Since they were leaving, it was understandable that they would keep things from him.
Still, the thought of being left out stirred an indescribable annoyance in Horen.
“I understand.”
Yiyuexi didn’t care about his mood and instead called him over to help.
“Help me move Mu Linghou into his room.
“It’s snowing so heavily; it’s not right to let him stay outside all the time.”
Yiyuexi was in a good mood and was doing a kind act.
As they carried Mu Linghou’s wolf body, Horen noticed that Yiyuexi’s aura had grown significantly stronger.
It must have been a recent breakthrough, unstable and spilling out, which allowed him to sense it.
But this time, he didn’t ask.
He knew Yiyuexi wouldn’t tell him anything.
Horen also carefully sensed the aura of his subordinate, Mu Linghou.
Other than being weak and devoid of his powers, Mu Linghou showed no other differences.
Yet an almost impossible thought surfaced in Horen’s mind.
After moving Mu Linghou into his room, Horen stood by the door, glancing at Lu Liufeng and the Matron’s room.
Earlier, he hadn’t had the chance to think it through. But now, recalling the dirt on Lu Liufeng’s body, could it have been the byproduct of a major breakthrough?
Horen knew about Lu Liufeng’s powers.
Back in the Holy City, Lu Liufeng had already shown signs of breaking into the Fourth Major Stage.
But after arriving in the cursed lands, he had been suppressed at the Third Major Stage, unable to advance further.
Then… how could he explain what he had just seen?
Horen thought for a moment and then knocked on the door.
He didn’t hesitate and asked directly,
“Lu Liufeng, have you entered the Fourth Major Stage?”
A voice answered with a simple, “Mm.”
Then Lu Liufeng continued,
“Boil some hot water. If the Matron wakes up, she might want to bathe.”
The Matron liked cleanliness, so it was best to prepare hot water.
Yiyuexi’s approach was defensive—he wanted to prevent Horen from learning too much and letting the Golden Lion Clan know.
But Lu Liufeng’s approach was the opposite—he aimed to draw Horen onto the same side.
If the ship sank, no one would survive easily.
After all, Horen was intelligent and powerful.
Living under the same roof, he couldn’t be kept in the dark.
Lu Liufeng’s breakthrough through the curse and entry into the Fourth Major Stage couldn’t be hidden.
If the ice river expedition encountered a serious battle, the Matron’s ability to extract the beastmen’s powers would also be exposed.
Trying to hide too much would only push Horen further away, returning him completely to the Golden Lion Clan’s side, loyal solely to them rather than the Matron.
So, Lu Liufeng not only didn’t intend to hide it, but wanted Horen to remain indispensable to the Matron as well.
However, Lu Liufeng didn’t intend to tell Horen that Mu Linghou might come from the long-lost Ancestral Forest.
The Golden Lion Clan’s ambition was too great.
Horen would keep secrets for the Matron’s safety, but not necessarily for Mu Linghou’s.
Outside the door, Horen froze for a moment, then slowly processed it.
For a moment, his expression became complicated.
He hadn’t expected Lu Liufeng to be honest.
Horen knew that Lu Liufeng’s breakthrough must be connected to the Matron.
He could guess part of Lu Liufeng’s thoughts. After a moment of silence, he simply said,
“I understand.”
Inside the room, Lu Liufeng sat holding the Matron, unable to calm his racing heart.
His palm faced upward, the invisible wind spreading in all directions.
In an instant, the area around him seemed to split into two worlds.
He could sense all movements in the surrounding area, but he hadn’t released his wind ability.
Because this wasn’t a power.
It was a domain.
A small number of beastmen with bloodline power, if they broke through the Fourth Major Stage and entered the Earth Stage, could possess a domain.
The Grand Priest of the Eagle Strait, for instance, was an Earth Stage warrior with a rain domain.
Within a domain, beasts could not act freely.
A domain greatly amplifies a beastman’s powers while suppressing the powers of others within it.
Everything inside the domain moves at the master’s will.
If the domain is strong enough, it can remain in the world permanently, even if the owner dies.
It is said that Wuwang Sea exists because, thousands of years ago, a dragon-blooded beastman left his domain behind after dying.
Only beastmen with dragon blood could enter Wuwang Sea.
Lu Liufeng had long wondered whether the cursed land was also an externalized domain left by a great being centuries ago.
That speculation now gained a faint confirmation in his mind.
Before, he only felt a suffocating weight in the cursed land.
But after breaking through to the Fourth Major Stage and obtaining a domain, his perception changed.
Besides the pressure, he also sensed resistance and subtle opposition.
This was the unconscious incompatibility, exclusivity, and uniqueness between domains.
Lu Liufeng never imagined he could break through to the Fourth Major Stage in the cursed land.
He had never imagined that at the Fourth Major Stage, he could possess a domain.
This… was incredible.
Even the ancestral beasts likely couldn’t compare.
Of course, Lu Liufeng understood clearly that he had obtained all of this only because of the Matron’s favor.
He lowered his eyes, gazing at the Matron sleeping in his arms.
His long, slender fingers gently touched her face.
The Matron had regained two-thirds of her fair complexion. Her delicate, beautiful face was more stunning than any female he had ever seen.
Yet, inexplicably, a wave of unease rose in his heart.
Even though he had reached the Fourth Major Stage and possessed a domain, making him nearly invincible among peers, he still felt he could not protect the Matron.
Lu Liufeng looked at the Matron and murmured,
“I’m still… too weak.”
