Exterminating the Tiger

##DONE## At this moment, Li Qinglin walked up to the mountain peak alone. The peak was where the clouds and mist gathered most densely. Various jagged rocks stood on the scene, blurred in the mist, truly looking somewhat like a fairyland.

He reached out and touched one. The edges of the rock were rough, indicating that they hadn't been frequently touched by people. There was nothing special about it. However, there were faint dried bloodstains on the rocks everywhere, as if someone had been severely injured here, with blood spilled on the peak.

He pondered for a moment, then deliberately reached out, scraped his skin on a rock edge, and smeared a patch of blood on it. He waited patiently for a moment, but there was no reaction.

This showed that the bloodstains were indeed irrelevant and held no secret.

However, there were some patterns carved haphazardly on the ground. They were very complex and irregular, their purpose unknown. They looked more like random scribbles by a bored child.

Li Qinglin thought for a moment, then untied a jade pendant from his waist and placed it beside him.

The clouds and mist, which had seemed to be avoiding him, no longer did so, but instead avoided the jade pendant. Li Qinglin shook his head, and a faint glow appeared around him. His outward-projected true qi isolated the clouds and mist.

These were indeed "resentful spirits," but they weren't the battlefield malevolent spirits avoiding him; they were avoiding his treasure. However, similarly, their martial artist's true qi could also suppress these resentful spirits, so there was no problem.

Li Qinglin put away the jade pendant and was about to look for the strange tiger among the rocks. Just then, abloody stench suddenly came from the center of the rocks. He gripped his spear and stared intently. In the night, a pair of blood-red eyes the size of copper bells slowly appeared.

A tiger half the height of a man slowly emerged. Li Qinglin narrowed his eyes, looking at the fleshy wings on the tiger's back. The wings were spread out, already several feet long. In those blood-colored pupils, there was actually a hint of displeasure at being disturbed. Compared to the mutated wild boar he had seen before, this tiger clearly had a bit of intelligence... it had already become a demon.

With a roar, the fierce tiger leaped forward.

Li Qinglin deliberately tested the so-called "doesn't chase people" and retreated outside the rock formation.

As expected, the tiger seemed to be blocked by something and couldn't come out.

Li Qinglin's gaze fell on the patterns on the ground again, and he smiled slightly. This must be the array that bound this tiger. There was indeed a master here.

"Since that's the case, I'll get rid of it for you."

Li Qinglin's long spear vibrated, sending out the shape of a silver dragon. As the spear whistled, it sounded like a dragon's roar.

Over there, Li Qingjun wasn't sleeping. She was too angry with Qin Yi to sleep, so she sat cross-legged, concentrating and calming her mind. She hadn't been meditating for long when she faintly heard the sounds of a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry in the wind. Li Qingjun suddenly opened her eyes: "Heavenly Dragon's Roar? Brother!"

She couldn't sit still any longer. She grabbed the silver spear by her bed and rushed out.

Watching Li Qingjun disappear into the night, Qin Yi slowly followed.

He had deliberately spread the news of the immortal trace, which no one had paid attention to for a long time, precisely to attract new immortal seekers to eliminate the tiger.

This tiger had already demonized. He couldn't defeat it, so he had to learn the Demon Binding Array from Liu Su and bind it in the pile of rocks to prevent it from harming people. But this wasn't a long-term solution. What if it couldn't be bound one day? After all, this hidden danger had to be removed.

Once the demon tiger was removed, he could also dig up that Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist. From then on, the sky would be high and the sea wide. Whether he lived here or traveled the world, there would be no more worries.

He hoped the Li family siblings would be reliable.

Before reaching the mountaintop, he could already see silver light like lightning, illuminating the stars. The terrifying energy aftermath in the air shook the grass, trees, sand, and stones, scattering them everywhere. Getting closer, it seemed as if the entire space was filled with sharp, fierce light. Approaching it felt like being pierced through with countless holes.

"A very powerful martial artist. I'm afraid he has already passed the Yi Jing Stage and entered the Peak of the Acquired Realm," Liu Su said. "I didn't expect such a remote and small country to have someone who has cultivated mortal martial arts to such a high level."

Qin Yi was a little speechless. He also practiced martial arts and knew that this statement meant that Li Qinglin's martial arts level was already first-class in the mortal world. Anyone stronger than him could be considered a peerless expert in the mortal world. To go further, one would have to take the sword cultivation route or the path of becoming a saint through the physical body. That would no longer be considered mortal martial arts, and there were very few people in the world with such an opportunity.

That's why people sought immortals.

Stepping onto the peak, the first thing he saw was Li Qinglin's silver light flashing. The strange tiger actually spread its wings and flew away, extremely agile. Li Qinglin's spear missed, and he directly swept it, hitting the strange tiger's flank. The strange tiger swung its wings, and the wings and spear clashed with a loud "bang." The thousand-jin fierce tiger was actually swept sideways, hitting the mountain wall.

However, Li Qinglin only retreated slightly, clearly having the absolute upper hand.

With a light shout, Li Qingjun joined the battle with her spear. The fierce tiger, still somewhat stiff from crashing into the mountain wall, was met head-on by another silver spear, carrying the exact same cold glint and the same unstoppable momentum.

At the same time, Li Qinglin, in perfect coordination, thrust his spear straight at the other side of the fierce tiger, blocking its escape route.

"Roar!" The strange tiger leaped violently, its tail flicking and striking Li Qingjun's spear shaft. Li Qingjun grunted but didn't retreat. Instead, she pressed forward against the momentum, agile as a startled dragon.

The strange tiger lost its chance to break through from that side and could no longer avoid Li Qinglin's spear. It was finally pierced in the flank, and blood gushed out.

The injured fierce tiger roared furiously and slammed heavily towards Li Qingjun. Li Qingjun blocked with her spear, and a massive force surged through, sending her flying far back, her long boots dragging long marks on the ground. Li Qinglin dragged and pulled the spear stuck in the fierce tiger's flank, actually slamming the entire giant tiger onto the mountain rock with a "bang," shaking the ground.

Li Qingjun crashed into the scattered rocks on the other side, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of her lips. She didn't even wipe it away and charged forward again.

She's quite formidable, this girl, Qin Yi thought, feeling a bit of admiration. This fierce tiger was much stronger than when he had set up the Demon Binding Array. It seemed to have absorbed a lot of demonic energy from the Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist here and had evolved. If it had been this strong back then, he probably wouldn't have been able to set up the Demon Binding Array at all.

But Li Qingjun, who looked like a delicate young girl, was actually so tough!

This brother and sister truly had the temperament of iron-blooded warriors. Although Li Qingjun had a bit of a spoiled air about her, she was definitely not a hothouse flower. He wondered what kind of family could raise such a pair of siblings. They looked like they came from a general's family?

Li Qinglin alone was enough to deal with the demonic tiger, and with Li Qingjun joining forces, there was even less suspense. The injured fierce tiger could no longer withstand the siblings' combined attack and finally struggled before being stabbed to death on the ground.

A wisp of demonic energy drifted leisurely, dispersing into the air.

Qin Yi breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, this brother and sister were reliable...

Liu Su let out a cold snort. Qin Yi's plan succeeding meant his more malicious scheme had gone down the drain.

"Brother Qin, come out." Li Qinglin smiled without changing his expression. "You've been watching for so long without helping. That's not very friendly. This is a fierce beast from your mountain."

Qin Yi walked out of the shadows, his face and heart unchanged, and smiled, "Each to his own. I have other things to do."

Li Qingjun leaned on her spear, panting, and watched strangely as Qin Yi walked into the pile of rocks. The siblings exchanged a look and followed him in.

Soon, they saw Qin Yi squatting down, pulling out a small shovel, and digging in the ground. After a moment, he whispered, "As expected."

They saw Qin Yi pull out something covered in mud from underground. After brushing away the mud, it looked like a small incense burner, with demonic figures carved on its sides, and a faint dark red smoke emanating from it.

Li Qingjun suddenly realized something. "So you deliberately spread the news that there were traces of immortals here just to trick people into coming up the mountain to kill the tiger so you could take this thing!"

Qin Yi turned his head to look at her and smiled. "It's not for me to take, but..."

As he spoke, he raised his Wolf Tooth Club and smashed the incense burner to smithereens with one blow.

Li Qingjun was stunned for a moment, still feeling a bit indignant. "Then you still used us!"

Qin Yi fumbled around and pulled out a silver ingot. "How about... I give you money?"

Li Qingjun was so angry she almost spat blood and nearly drew her spear. Li Qinglin waved his hand to stop her. "Brother Qin already warned us about the strange tiger on the mountain. I wanted to see for myself. I willingly became a spear in Brother Qin's hand this time, so who can I blame? But looking at it this way, was this fierce tiger bound here by Brother Qin?"

Qin Yi nodded. "I couldn't let it harm people."

Li Qinglin said, "There is other resentment in the mountains, which Brother Qin's pill can resolve. Coupled with his familiarity with this kind of special object and his knowledge of arrays that bind demonic creatures, Brother Qin is indeed a Fangshi who understands various strange arts and has real talent and learning. May I ask which school you belong to?"

"I just fumbled around and played with it myself. I can't really be considered a Fangshi..." Qin Yi could only say, "Does Brother Li have any advice?"

"Oh, it's like this." Li Qinglin sighed slightly. "My father has been misled by some fraudulent Fangshi in recent years and has been abusing medicinal pills, causing his health to decline day by day. As children, we see it and are extremely worried. Since Brother Qin has true arts, I wonder if you would consider our filial piety and come out of the mountains to help my father set things right, distinguish the true from the false. As for the reward, I will certainly satisfy Brother Qin."

He paused for a moment and added, "Because of this, Qing Jun has always had a bad impression of fraudulent Fangshi and acted a bit excessively. Please don't take offense."

It seemed he thought that when his sister had troubled Qin Yi before, Qin Yi must have suffered a loss, hence the apology. Li Qingjun lowered her head and didn't speak. Qin Yi didn't know what to say either, so he could only say, "I am a free and easy person in the mountains and am used to being unrestrained. I'm afraid I will disappoint Brother Li."

Li Qinglin said, "Consider this my repayment to Brother Qin for eliminating the fierce tiger. How about it?"

Qin Yi choked for a moment, then laughed, "So Brother Li eliminating the tiger was also part of your plan."

Li Qingjun glanced at her brother. No wonder he didn't care about being used as a pawn; he clearly intended to be the pawn this time, using this favor to get Qin Yi to come out.

Only she had been completely clueless the whole time, like an idiot.

Meanwhile, Qin Yi still wanted to refuse. He was quite a homebody and felt perfectly fine in the village. Why would he want to go out with someone and get involved in some Fangshi dispute? He pondered for a moment, took out the detoxification pill he had just refined, and said, "Consider this medicine my thanks to Brother Li for eliminating the tiger for me."

Li Qinglin sighed, about to persuade him further, but Li Qingjun couldn't hold back anymore. She said angrily, "If he doesn't want to go, he doesn't want to go! What's the big deal! We'll find someone else. I don't believe he's the only Fangshi in Nanli!"

Li Qinglin gently soothed her, "Qing Jun, you know that finding someone else will take a long time."

Li Qingjun angrily said, "Look at him, full of bad intentions. How do you know he won't be a second Dong Huazi!"

Qin Yi had already turned to leave, but the words "Dong Huazi" entered his ears. He suddenly stopped, turned around abruptly, and said, "Who did you say you want to deal with?"

The original owner's soul had been devoured by Liu Su, but the strongest obsession and hatred still lingered in the body. The so-called "National Teacher" whom that lingering thought deeply hated, wanting to ask "why," had influenced Qin Yi's nightmares so much with that profound obsession. Of course, Qin Yi had inquired during these days: the National Teacher of Nanli was named Dong Huazi!

Seeing Qin Yi's change in expression, Li Qinglin felt a little regretful. Qin Yi already looked unwilling, and revealing that they were going to deal with the National Teacher would make it even less likely for him to go. He had originally planned to trick him into going, but unexpectedly, his sister couldn't keep quiet and let it slip.

He looked at Qin Yi helplessly and slowly said, "The National Teacher of Nanli, Dong Huazi. If Brother Qin is afraid, then I will have to seek out someone more capable."

"No." Qin Yi said word by word, "I'll go with you."

Li Qinglin was stunned, "Brother Qin, this is..."

Qin Yi pointed coldly at the fragments of the incense burner on the ground, "I want to ask him for someone, why!"

Even Li Qingjun looked at Qin Yi in astonishment. She hadn't expected this seemingly frivolous person to have such a cold, stern, and sharp expression, almost wanting to devour someone.