Eating Its Flesh

The water was murky, but it didn't affect Su He and Green Snake's vision.

One was used to rolling around in mud all day, and the other didn't rely on sight to gather information. The turtle and the snake looked at each other, staring at the White Tiger that was no longer struggling.

It was dead.

It had taken the combined strength of three beings to finally kill it: Su He, Green Snake, and Lu Ming.

Lu Ming deserved the most credit; without his Myriad Force Talisman, Su He and Green Snake wouldn't have been able to fight the White Tiger. Even underwater, the Three-Star Exotic Beast was not something they could contend with yet.

Green Snake coiled the tip of her tail and tried to shoot a water arrow. The arrow penetrated the White Tiger's forehead by a fraction, only breaking the skin before being stopped by the hard frontal bone.

A water arrow that could pierce mountains and rocks couldn't pierce the White Tiger's bones.

The White Tiger remained motionless, truly dead.

Su He and Green Snake simultaneously charged towards the White Tiger, stopping on either side of it, baring their teeth and glaring at each other.

They both wanted the body of the Three-Star Exotic Beast.

Ordinary beasts swallowed heavenly treasures to strengthen their bodies until they broke through their limits, condensing a Demon Star within themselves. This was how exotic beasts were born.

At this stage, a star would appear between the exotic beast's eyebrows. This indicated a One-Star Exotic Beast.

The Demon Star rotated slowly within the exotic beast, providing it with extraordinary power. When the exotic beast continuously advanced and reached its limit again, the Demon Star would reverse, and a second star would appear between its eyebrows.

And so on. Each time an exotic beast advanced, its Demon Star would reverse once, and another star would appear between its eyebrows.

Therefore, a few-star exotic beast was also known as a multi-turn exotic beast. This continued until the Demon Star completed seven turns, and the exotic beast reached its limit. The Demon Star would shatter, forming a Profound Moon.

A Demon Star exotic beast would then advance to become a Profound Moon exotic beast, and a Profound Moon symbol would appear between its eyebrows.

Just like the Slovenly Old Daoist's Wine-Loving Camel.

It was likely due to the Heaven and Earth Rules that whether it was an exotic beast, a demon, or a human, there were three Great Realms, each divided into seven minor realms.

For exotic beasts, these were the Demon Star, Profound Moon, and Sun-Eating stages. For humans and demons, they were Mortal Shedding, Demon Transformation, and Heaven-Treading.

As the Slovenly Old Daoist mentioned, the first Great Realm for humans and demons was Mortal Shedding, also known as the Seven Steps Mortal Shedding. It was divided into seven minor realms: Heart Aperture, Divine Treasure, True Blood, Will Aperture, Bone Offering, Spirit Awakening, and Essence Gathering.

A Three-Star Exotic Beast was already equivalent to a human in the True Blood Realm of Mortal Shedding. Its entire body had undergone a qualitative change, distinguishing it from ordinary creatures.

Especially since it was a tiger, which was already considered a great tonic.

Both Green Snake and Su He wanted to eat it.

Especially now, with hibernation fast approaching, it was a time when large amounts of food were needed.

The snake and the turtle eyed each other menacingly, both looking at each other with ill intentions.

Two breaths later, Su He sighed. He backed down. This damned sense of morality; Green Snake had come to help him, and he couldn't bring himself to kill her and hoard the entire meal for himself as a single turtle.

If it had been an ordinary wild beast, he would have done so long ago.

Suppressing the beastly urge to devour it all, Su He let out a low "Roar" sound.

The tiger is big, half for each of us, let's eat quickly!

The White Tiger was dead, and Lu Ming was still behind them. If they were going to eat, they should eat quickly and then flee.

Green Snake agreed, slithering onto the White Tiger and coiling around it with all her might, trying to squeeze it into a long strip before swallowing it whole, as pythons were known to feed.

If the prey was too large to swallow in one bite, they would crush its bones and stretch it out before swallowing.

Su He understood. This White Tiger was a Three-Star Exotic Beast. Its bones were indestructible, several times harder than his own shell, and even the Myriad Force Talisman hadn't crushed its bones. How could a mere Green Snake manage it? Su He stepped forward and bit off the White Tiger's heart.

This was truly a great tonic. It was a shame it was a female tiger; otherwise, it would have been even more nourishing—after two years as a turtle, he had found that any fresh meat was edible.

He was truly hungry, and even unfresh meat would have been fine.

He hadn't eaten in four or five days, his stomach was completely empty, and Su He contracted his internal organs to make more room for his stomach.

After a hearty feast, with the tiger's heart and gallbladder, and at least forty pounds of tiger meat in his belly, Su He was stuffed to the brim. He turned his head and saw Green Snake glaring at him with a ferocious look, her forked tongue flicking rapidly.

She couldn't swallow the whole tiger, nor could she tear off pieces of meat, and she was already filled with anger, ready to attack Su He at any moment.

Su He thought for a moment and tore off a large piece of meat, throwing it to her.

Green Snake immediately retracted her threat and pounced on the tiger meat, swallowing it in one gulp.

Look at this snake, it's like a dog.

Feeding, devouring.

Su He discovered that this Green Snake could eat even more than he could! And she was indiscriminate about food, even eating the fur! Had she never been full before? Two streaks of sword light cut through the sky and stopped on the surface of the water. Su He and Green Snake simultaneously stopped their actions and looked up.

The tiger's blood had dyed the lake water red, and from this angle, the entire sky took on a strange, eerie atmosphere.

On the two streaks of sword light were two young men, one fat and one thin. They were under orders to capture a runaway beast pet and had followed its aura here, only to witness the horrifying scene below.

"Senior Brother, the one being torn apart and devoured below is probably Senior Brother Lu's White Tiger, right?" the thin young man asked, staring in astonishment at the White Tiger, which was being eaten into a mess by Su He and Green Snake.

The fat one swallowed and nodded, "It's that White Tiger, no doubt about it. Senior Brother Lu's Lifebound Beast."

The two looked at each other. They both understood the implication: this was a big deal!

"Senior Brother Lu's Lifebound White Tiger was killed, but there's no trace of Senior Brother Lu around. Why didn't he come to help?"

A Lifebound Beast shared the same fate as its master, prospering and suffering together. How could Senior Brother Lu stand by and let his White Tiger be killed?

The Fat Senior Brother shook his head, "You don't know, do you? Because of Junior Sister Qiao's incident, Senior Brother Lu was confined for three months."

Being confined in the Azure Origin Sect, not even allowed out when his Lifebound Beast was killed?

At the bottom of the lake, Su He's eyes lit up.

The Thin Junior Brother: "..., what should we do? Capture this Green Snake and the big turtle?"

With a Beast Taming Valley pet escaping and Lu Ming's Lifebound Beast being killed, someone had to take responsibility. The Sect Leader's young daughter couldn't escape, but given her status, she'd only be confined at most; they couldn't truly lock her in the Suppression Prison.

So, this snake and turtle were just unlucky.

The Fat Senior Brother looked at his junior brother in astonishment, "Are you crazy? This is the Green Snake from Snake Valley that swallowed the Demon Transformation Fruit!"

He was specifically in charge of monitoring the sect's Demon Transformation Fruits, so he recognized this Green Snake.

"This Starfall only produced eighteen Demon Transformation Fruits in the Azure Origin Realm, but only six beasts that swallowed them survived. The rest either couldn't withstand the aura of the Demon Transformation Fruit and self-destructed, or died in beastly competition."

"If you use it to take the blame, are you afraid the Law Enforcement Elder won't flay you?"

The Thin Junior Brother suddenly understood.

Demonic races were naturally favored. Any beast capable of Demon Transformation and becoming human could at least cultivate to the Demon Transformation Realm. Moreover, demonic creatures were simple and, if brought back to the sect and taught well, would develop strong loyalty.

And demonic creatures had long lifespans, serving the sect for longer. Every transformed beast was a treasure to the sect.

"Then we can't capture this turtle either," the Thin Junior Brother mused, "I saw from afar just now that the turtle was tearing flesh to feed the snake. It's likely the Green Snake's pet."

This Green Snake would definitely transform into a human eventually, and its status wouldn't be low. There was no need to offend it. Beasts were simple but also held grudges, especially wolves and snakes.

The Fat Senior Brother nodded, but then looked puzzled. He closed his eyes and channeled his technique, his eyes suddenly snapping open, a sharp glint flashing within.

"Come out!" he shouted, and with a flick of his wrist, the Myriad Force Talisman armor pressing down on the White Tiger burst out of the water.

The Fat Senior Brother pointed a finger, nullifying the Myriad Force Talisman's effect, and held the armor in his hand. He suddenly understood, "I knew it. With just the current Green Snake and this turtle, it would be impossible to kill the White Tiger."

Someone had interfered and specifically targeted Senior Brother Lu. This talisman armor needed to be handed over to the Law Enforcement Hall.

He flicked his finger again, completely sealing the Myriad Force Talisman to prevent it from dissipating over time. Then, with another flick of his wrist, he summoned the Location Talisman armor from under the White Tiger, processed it similarly, and then cupped his hands towards the Green Snake, "Esteemed Fellow Daoist of the Snake Clan, this White Tiger is our sect brother's Lifebound Beast. My junior brother and I need to retrieve it. We hope you won't mind!"

The Green Snake would eventually transform into a human. It was important to show proper etiquette now, lest the Green Snake recall this moment later and harbor resentment.