Encountering a Third-tier Sabertooth Tiger Again

Monster Mountain Range.

As Liu Yun completely tamed Crimson Fire, the temperature around them gradually dropped. The surrounding area was pitch-black, and the ground was covered in black ash.

Just then, a violent tiger roar rang out. Everyone was startled, and after several leaps, they gathered around Liu Yun.

"A tiger roar?" Liu Yun frowned, his heart pounding. To be honest, these past few days had left him with something of a fear of tigers!

Looking closely, they saw a ferocious saber-toothed tiger baring its fangs atop a nearby hill, emanating an extremely terrifying aura.

It was a brown-and-white saber-toothed tiger. It stood two meters tall and measured nearly five meters long. Light flowed across its body, its muscles sharply defined, making it appear incomparably powerful.

"A third-tier saber-toothed tiger!" Liu Yun muttered. He was quite familiar with this saber-toothed tiger—it was the very Third-tier Magical Beast that had nearly caused Elder He to meet his end.

Did the commotion from taming Crimson Fire draw this saber-toothed tiger here? Liu Yun thought, feeling a headache coming on.

Even Elder He, a Nine-Star Great Dou Master, could only flee upon encountering this saber-toothed tiger. He was merely a Five-star Dou Master now and had no confidence that he could defeat it.

Throughout his journey of cultivation, Liu Yun had come to understand one truth: the higher one's realm, the harder it became to fight above one's level. Back when he was at the Tenth Stage Dou Qi, he could easily kill First-order Peak Magical Beasts. But when he had been a Nine-star Dou Zhe, fighting Peak Tier 2 Magical Beasts had already been extremely taxing, and each battle had been a near-death experience.

Now that he was a Five-star Dou Master, he had no confidence at all in facing a third-tier saber-toothed tiger. Elder He had once said that although saber-toothed tigers were only third-tier, as combat-type Magical Beasts, their strength was comparable to certain third-tier peak Magical Beasts.

Should he run? Leaving aside whether he could even escape, if he truly fled, then every mercenary here, along with Xiao Yi Xian, would end up in the tiger's jaws!

He simply could not bring himself to abandon them and run away!

After all, they had saved his life. As long as they were not morally coercing him, Liu Yun would find a way to repay them. He had originally planned to give them some cultivation resources, but since this unexpected situation had arisen, he would repay their kindness with his own.

"Senior, what should we do now? This Magical Beast's aura is so frightening—it must be at least Tier 2," Mu Li said in a trembling voice.

"It isn't Tier 2. The Magical Beast before us is a third-tier saber-toothed tiger. Even a Nine-Star Great Dou Master would flee at the sound of its roar!" Liu Yun said solemnly.

The surrounding mercenaries immediately broke out in cold sweat, so terrified that they barely dared breathe.

These mercenaries had spent years active around the outskirts of the Monster Mountain Range. Even when they encountered a Tier 1 Magical Beast, they treated it as a formidable foe and needed to join forces to kill it. Yet now, they had to face a Third-tier Magical Beast. How could they not be afraid?

"Senior!" Mu Li swallowed and cast a pleading look at Liu Yun.

Liu Yun took a deep breath and made his decision. "You go first. I'll stay behind and cover your retreat!"

"Thank you, Senior!" Mu Li was overjoyed. The mercenaries around him also had their eyes light up as they saw hope of survival.

"Wolf Head members, tread lightly. Begin the retreat!" Mu Li ordered in a low voice.

No one dared make a sound. They slowly edged backward and began retreating.

This saber-toothed tiger was quite strange. Just like last time, it paid no attention to the retreating group. Its eyes remained fixed on Liu Yun, as though it saw only the strongest opponent.

Liu Yun could not understand its behavior at all. This saber-toothed tiger's temperament was simply too bizarre!

But something even stranger happened. When he looked around again, the mercenaries had already scattered and fled, yet a slender figure still stood behind him. It was Xiao Yi Xian.

"Why haven't you left?" Liu Yun asked with a frown.

"You're clearly no match for this Magical Beast, so why are you staying behind to cover our retreat?" Xiao Yi Xian asked instead of answering.

"How do you know I'm no match for it?" Liu Yun asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I'm a physician. When I treated your wounds, I realized that you weren't some senior with the secret to preserving your looks. You're actually very young, probably only in your teens. So you definitely aren't a Da Dou Shi," Xiao Yi Xian said with absolute certainty.

People on the Dou Qi Continent generally began cultivating Dou Qi at the age of four. Even those with exceptional talent could not possibly reach the Da Dou Shi realm by the age of fifteen.

Of course, there were also rare monstrous geniuses who could break convention due to inheriting the bloodline of their ancestors.

The reason Xiao Yi Xian was so certain was that just now, she had seen helplessness and indescribable conflict on Liu Yun's face. That meant he had no chance of winning and might not even be able to escape.

"So what? Even if I'm no match for the saber-toothed tiger, what use would it be for you to stay? To be dead weight?" Liu Yun retorted.

"..."

Xiao Yi Xian wanted to speak but stopped herself. For a long while, she said nothing.

Indeed, if she stayed, she could only be dead weight. She would even erase Liu Yun's slim chance of escaping by sheer luck!

Yet for some reason, her subconscious desperately wanted her to stay and face this together with Liu Yun. The urge was incredibly strong.

"Fine, I'll go. You have to survive!" Xiao Yi Xian said, her face deathly pale and her expression desolate.

At that moment, she suddenly realized that while she had selfishly wanted to stand beside Liu Yun, she did not actually have the right to do so, much less the ability.

"Wait!"

Just as Xiao Yi Xian turned to leave, Liu Yun suddenly called out to her. She turned back, a trace of confusion on her pale face.

"Let me give you a gift!" Liu Yun sighed softly. Then he spread out his right hand, revealing a completely snow-white hairpin that emitted a faint jade glow.

"This hairpin is called the 'Liu Yun Jade Hairpin.' Once you successfully bind it to yourself, it can create a barrier. If you can successfully bind it, the two of us will be safe!"

Liu Yun's words astonished Xiao Yi Xian. As far as she knew, only array-type treasures could form barriers, and such treasures were exceedingly rare. She had never expected Liu Yun to give such a treasure to her.

"Young Master Liu Yun, such a treasure is far too precious. How could I possibly accept it? You should refine it and bind it to yourself instead!" Xiao Yi Xian said, waving her hands vigorously.

"If I could bind it to myself, would I have kept it in my Ring all this time? Hurry and bind it. Whether the two of us live or die depends entirely on you!" Liu Yun said.

Liu Yun could use the Liu Yun Sword, but he could not use the Liu Yun Ring or the Liu Yun Jade Hairpin. The system's setup was fucking ridiculous—perhaps it was afraid that once he could use them, he would be too reluctant to give them away!

"Thank you!" Xiao Yi Xian accepted the jade hairpin, nearly bursting into tears of joy.

The saber-toothed tiger had not simply sat by and waited. While the two of them had been talking, it had moved closer from the distant hill. It was now only a dozen meters away from them, eyeing them like prey.

For some reason, the saber-toothed tiger sensed an extreme threat from Liu Yun. This inexplicable feeling made it deeply uneasy. It felt as though his body contained a heaven-shaking power that made it wary.

That was also why the saber-toothed tiger had not launched an attack immediately.

It slowly approached, observing the human before it from up close. His face seemed somewhat familiar. Wasn't this the ant it had spared last time?

The saber-toothed tiger was absolutely certain that it had not felt this way before. Could this human have obtained some fortuitous opportunity during this period?

At that thought, its tiger eyes gleamed as greed gradually filled them.