Deep in the cave, where the darkness seemed endless, a man sat cross-legged in a shadowy stone pavilion. His hair hung loose and disheveled, and his slender body resembled a sculpture.
He was swallowing a fist-sized inner core the color of amber.
"Clang!"
Jade-Faced Martial Scholar flew backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming headfirst into the stone statue before the pavilion. It grimaced in pain, clutching the pouch of skin split open across its back.
"Master... save me..."
The man with three golden markings on his forehead nearly dropped the inner core from his mouth, caught completely off guard.
The tiger demon hurriedly steadied the inner core, then turned and scolded Jade-Faced Martial Scholar. "Useless trash... You can't even deal with a martial artist in the Late Blood Refining Realm. What use do I have for you?"
Jade-Faced Martial Scholar was the first Chou Ghost the tiger demon had refined into a bonded spirit, and it was born with forty percent of the tiger demon's cultivation.
"Forgive me, Master! That man's fists were huge and hard. One punch tore open my skin pouch... Ow, ow, ow... it hurts so much!" Jade-Faced Martial Scholar crawled and rolled over, then sprawled against the thigh of the man transformed from the tiger demon, rolling around on the ground as it wailed.
"Get away... Disgusting thing!" The tiger demon kicked Jade-Faced Martial Scholar aside, its face full of disgust.
Jade-Faced Martial Scholar rolled around on the ground, looking utterly pitiful.
Seeing this, the tiger demon said impatiently, "Hurry up and change into another skin pouch... How long are you going to keep rolling around?"
"Yes... Thank you for the gift, Master..."
Soon, Jade-Faced Martial Scholar peeled off its martial scholar skin pouch and chose the skin of a beautiful woman as its new pouch.
Seeing that a powerful enemy was before them, yet Jade-Faced Martial Scholar had chosen a woman's skin pouch, the tiger demon was stunned.
Even at a time like this, it was still thinking about pleasing itself.
The tiger demon immediately flew into a rage. It stepped forward, grabbed the woman by the hair, and beat her viciously.
Xia Qi'an and the other two cautiously felt their way forward, probing deeper into the cave.
The cave was extremely dim. Only faint rays of light squeezed through the gaps in their bodies, barely illuminating their surroundings.
The three of them could only make out the general situation inside the cave.
To their surprise, the cave contained several structures built in the style of human courtyards.
"This tiger demon seems to possess considerable intelligence! Judging from the situation in this cave... could it be trying to cultivate a human body?" Seeing the gloomy atmosphere inside, Su Changqing could not help speaking.
Xia Qi'an snorted coldly. "It's an evil beast that has committed countless atrocities... What a delusional fantasy!"
"Roar..."
Suddenly, a deafening tiger roar came from the deepest part of the cave.
The tiger's roar shook the hearts of all who heard it, filling them with dread.
Su Changqing's scalp prickled, and he said in a trembling voice, "This thing really might possess the cultivation of the Spirit Condensation Realm!"
"Why don't we discuss this further? We can wait until reinforcements from Wei Dao Si arrive!"
At that moment, Xia Qi'an suddenly assumed a boxing stance, as if facing a formidable enemy. He warned them, "It's too late... The tiger demon has already come out! Look after your own lives!"
The moment Xia Qi'an finished speaking, a sinister man with a face pale as paper, disheveled hair, and three golden markings on his forehead slowly emerged from the darkness deep within the cave.
"What vigorous qi and blood... Truly excellent blood food... Hmm... The skin pouches aren't bad either." The tiger demon unconsciously licked its lips and spoke in a sinister tone.
Xia Qi'an turned his head slightly and lowered his voice to the other two. "Run outside first! The cave is too cramped. Fighting here would put us at a disadvantage!"
The three exchanged glances, then turned around and ran at once.
"Don't think you can... Damn ants... Why are you running...?" The tiger demon had intended to keep showing off and crush the three's courage, but Xia Qi'an and the others had simply run away.
The sight enraged the tiger demon. It transformed into a black whirlwind and pursued them.
"That tiger demon hasn't yet entered the Spirit Condensation Realm. The three of us still have the strength to fight if we join forces, but we can't clash with it head-on!" Xia Qi'an said to Su Changqing and Bata as he ran.
"You're stronger than me... We'll fight however you say..." Su Changqing replied.
"Then... like this..."
Fortunately, Xia Qi'an and the other two had not gone too deep into the cave. They escaped before the tiger demon.
The tiger demon transformed into a black whirlwind and gave chase all the way.
The instant it burst out of the cave entrance, a Mountain Suppressing Stone the size of a small hill came rolling down from above.
It happened to crush the black whirlwind surging out.
The Mountain Suppressing Stone had originally been a trap Jade-Faced Martial Scholar had made out of boredom. At a critical moment, it could even block the cave entrance. No one had expected Xia Qi'an to use it to trick the tiger demon.
"Rumble!"
The Mountain Suppressing Stone crashed down with the force of Mount Tai.
Caught off guard, the tiger demon let out a pained "Roar!" that resounded through heaven and earth.
However, Xia Qi'an knew perfectly well that a single Mountain Suppressing Stone was not enough to kill the tiger demon.
He had merely decided to give it a try, hoping to exhaust some of the tiger demon's demonic power.
"Boom..."
The Mountain Suppressing Stone exploded violently. The tiger demon shot out like a cannonball, though its earlier sinister aura was gone, leaving it covered in dust and grime.
Yet just as the tiger demon steadied itself, two Vajra Arms descended from the sky like meteors, slamming straight into its crown.
The tiger demon raised both palms and forcefully met the Vajra Arms.
"Boom..."
The Vajra Arms shattered explosively, transforming into a sky full of golden fragments that scattered away.
Xia Qi'an raised his slightly trembling arms and thought, That was still too much of a stretch. The gap between our realms is simply too great!
This tiger demon was extraordinary. Compared with the giant snake he had encountered on the outskirts of the Burial Ridge Mountains, it was the difference between clouds and mud.
That scarlet giant snake had cultivated for roughly seven or eight hundred years, and its strength was equivalent to that of a martial artist in the mid-to-late Bone Forging Realm.
Just as the tiger demon was preparing to pursue Xia Qi'an, a streak of sword light arrived in the blink of an eye like a falling star. It lurked like a venomous snake waiting for an opportunity, thrusting straight toward the tiger demon's left eye.
The tiger demon was forced to abandon Xia Qi'an and turn to deal with the sword light.
After all, no matter how powerful it was, it could not simply let Sword Qi blind its eye.
"Ant... How dare you!"
The tiger demon struck out with both palms, pouncing like a starving tiger descending the mountain.
It slapped the incoming Sword Qi into pieces.
Immediately afterward, just as before, a huge stone came crashing toward it.
Bata had made his move.
The tiger demon changed targets again and pounced toward Bata like a starving wolf.
At that moment, Xia Qi'an had also caught his breath. Iron Claw Skill struck from the side like a ghost, reaching straight for the tiger demon's crotch.
The tiger demon sensed Xia Qi'an's intention, and its face instantly became extremely ugly.
Its abilities in that area were already weak. If Xia Qi'an managed to grab it, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Xia Qi'an's Monkey Steals the Peach was sinister to the extreme. The tiger demon, which had originally held the upper hand, suddenly panicked and lost control of its movements.
"Despicable human!" the tiger demon roared. With no other choice, it tore through its skin pouch and revealed its true form.
"Roar..."
A deafening tiger roar shook the heavens and resounded through the clouds. The mountains and forests trembled, while birds and beasts fled in panic.
Xia Qi'an estimated that the tiger demon's true body was about eight zhang long—twenty-four meters—and one zhang tall—three meters.
Its body was as immense as a small mountain, and the two huge lychees on its rear were each the size of a human head.
Xia Qi'an secretly calculated just how nourishing the bones and penis of this thousand-year-old tiger would be.
He would probably be nourished until his nose bled.
Speaking of those huge lychees...
Xia Qi'an grinned at Su Changqing, and a vicious scheme welled up in his mind.
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