Slaying the Tiger Demon

The tiger demon revealed its true form, which actually made it somewhat easier for Xia Qi'an to deal with.

With Ghost Shadow Tracelessness, staying alive was naturally no problem at all.

Xia Qi'an immediately called over Bata, who was still constantly throwing stones. After whispering a few words into Bata's ear, he joined forces with Su Changqing and charged toward the tiger demon.

His goal was clear: take advantage of the tiger demon's enormous true form and have him and Su Changqing crawl beneath its belly.

That way, no matter how agile or powerful the tiger demon was, it could not bring its strength to bear.

When the tiger retreated, Xia Qi'an retreated with it. When the tiger demon leaped forward, Xia Qi'an leaped forward as well.

He remained between the tiger demon's four legs, hidden in the shadow beneath its belly.

For a while, the tiger demon was actually unable to do anything to the two of them.

Meanwhile, Bata kept throwing stones from a distance. Xia Qi'an had instructed him to throw smaller ones, specifically stones about the size of fists.

"Awhoo..."

A boulder struck the tiger demon's two enormous lychees. As though hit by a heavy hammer, its tiger body shuddered, and it sprang three zhang into the air.

"Hiss... tsk, tsk, tsk..." Su Changqing seemed able to feel that pain himself. He could not help baring his teeth and teasing it aloud.

But he and Xia Qi'an did not remain idle either. They drew their sabers and swords, striking while it was down and focusing their attacks on the tiger demon's two especially conspicuous lychees.

Xia Qi'an rarely used the saber issued by the Wei Dao Si. He had originally thought it was merely an attractive but useless decoration, but after severing one of the tiger demon's sharp claws with a single stroke, he realized that this saber was definitely no ordinary weapon.

Naturally, Xia Qi'an also knew saber techniques. After all, among the two cultivation methods issued to newcomers of the Wei Dao Si, one was the Wood Burning Saber Technique.

This saber technique was extraordinarily effective against demons and monsters. Its reputation was clearly well deserved.

After activating the Wood Burning Saber Technique, a layer of flame rose over the black saber in Xia Qi'an's hand, with sparks constantly scattering from its edges.

Xia Qi'an slashed at the tiger demon's hind leg, leaving behind a charred black saber mark.

"It works..." Seeing this, Su Changqing regretted it so much that he slapped his thigh. He regretted not studying this saber technique properly.

Although the Wood Burning Saber Technique was a saber art, its attached property of burning with flames could indeed be borrowed for swordsmanship.

Xia Qi'an decided that he would practice the saber technique properly in the future and not waste the fine saber in his hand.

After all, the weapons equipped to ordinary members of the Wei Dao Si already counted as divine weapons among the secular dynasties. The sabers issued to commanders, grand commanders, and directors could only be even better.

Although Xia Qi'an currently seemed to have everything under control, Su Changqing was not so fortunate. He cried out as the tiger demon slapped him flying with one claw.

Xia Qi'an cried out inwardly, This is bad!

He immediately shouted at Bata, "Bata, keep smashing its balls!"

There was no need for Xia Qi'an to say it. Bata was having the time of his life, enjoying himself immensely.

Bata's physical gifts were exceptional as well. He seemed never to tire, possessing astonishing stamina.

In terms of physical talent alone, Bata was absolutely a born prodigy of the Iron Body technique.

Xia Qi'an also decided that once they returned, he would give the Golden Body Technique to Bata and personally help him cultivate it.

"Whoosh..." "Whoosh..." "Whoosh..."

Stones the size of fists flew like cannonballs, tearing through the air as they smashed toward the tiger demon's rear.

This drew most of the tiger demon's attention.

Yet Xia Qi'an was still constantly harassing it from beneath, so for a time, the tiger demon could not turn its jaws around to pounce on Bata.

Suddenly, the tiger demon finally made up its mind. It stopped paying attention to Xia Qi'an's harassment and instead charged toward Bata.

"Bata... run!" Xia Qi'an shouted when he saw this.

Bata listened to Xia Qi'an more than anyone else. Upon hearing him, he immediately turned and ran, still clutching two stones in his hands.

As the tiger demon pounced on Bata, it exposed a huge opening behind itself.

Its two lychees were completely exposed to Xia Qi'an's view.

Xia Qi'an immediately let out a savage grin and leaped into the air.

The black saber wrapped in flames in his hand struck like a venomous snake, plunging viciously toward the tiger demon's left lychee.

"Pff." The entire blade sank into it.

Still unsatisfied, Xia Qi'an gripped the hilt and twisted it viciously.

The tiger demon's left lychee shriveled like a deflating ball, visibly collapsing before their eyes.

Su Changqing, who had been slapped flying, happened to see this scene. He drew a sharp breath and instinctively pressed his legs together.

Having struck successfully, Xia Qi'an immediately pulled out his saber and retreated.

He had to prevent the tiger demon from launching a sudden counterattack.

"Awoo..." "Awoo..."

That strike had pierced a vital point. The tiger demon immediately became unsteady, limping as blood gushed like a spring between its hind legs.

"What are you looking at? Why aren't you taking advantage of this chance to kill it?" Xia Qi'an shouted when he saw Su Changqing standing there in a daze.

"Oh..." Su Changqing came back to himself and raised his sword, attacking once more between the tiger demon's hind legs.

"No martial ethics... In the past thousand years, I've encountered quite a few martial artists, but none of you were as underhanded as this!" The tiger demon suddenly spoke human words. Its voice made it clear that it was furious—and in tremendous pain.

The pain in its vital region was draining the strength from its entire body, making it increasingly difficult even to stand.

Xia Qi'an sneered and mocked it. "Those people must have all become ghosts in your belly, then. You ate so many people. Sooner or later, retribution would come. Today... just happened to be the day your death tribulation arrived!"

The tiger demon's body trembled. It closed its mouth and stopped speaking, slowly lying on the ground and spreading its hind legs. Like a dying dog, it licked its wounds.

That was simply how beasts were. They stopped their wounds from bleeding by licking them.

Xia Qi'an naturally would not give it a chance to catch its breath. He shouted, "Bata, keep smashing! Su Changqing, with me!"

They had thought the situation was settled. Seeing the tiger demon lying on the ground, all three assumed it no longer had the strength to stand.

However, a sly glint flashed through the tiger demon's eyes. Then light ignited within its pupils, as bright as the brightest star in the night sky. A beam of radiance spread outward like ripples.

The light swept over Xia Qi'an and the other two, and they immediately stood frozen in place.

The fear in their minds was magnified without limit, as though an invisible hand had seized them in a death grip.

Then a beautiful woman crawled out of the tiger demon's mouth. She was the tiger demon's native Chou Ghost, wearing the skin of a woman.

Seeing Xia Qi'an and the other two motionless, the Chou Ghost fawned on the tiger demon. "Your might is divine, Master, like an immortal descending to the mortal world..."

The tiger demon opened its blood-red maw and roared, "Why are you babbling? Hurry up and kill those three!"

"Yes... Master... I'll strip the skin from those three right away." The Chou Ghost crawled out of the tiger demon's mouth and walked step by step toward Xia Qi'an.

When a Chou Ghost stripped a corpse, it usually crawled inside the dead person's body and devoured the flesh and organs. That allowed it to remove the human skin intact. The cruelty of the method was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

However, just as the Chou Ghost tore open the skin of its own face, the Azure Crystal in Xia Qi'an's storage pouch suddenly emitted dazzling radiance, like the first ray of dawn before sunrise, piercing the darkness.

The blue light jolted Xia Qi'an awake. As though enlightened from the crown of his head down, he instantly recovered his consciousness.

Caught off guard, the Chou Ghost was seized by Xia Qi'an at the opening in its skin. He tore it violently in both directions.

"Ah..."

The female Chou Ghost let out a heart-wrenching scream, like a pig being slaughtered, then exploded into a plume of black smoke and returned to the tiger demon's body.

By then, the tiger demon truly no longer had the strength to stand. It watched Xia Qi'an approach with his saber.

Its eyes were filled with disbelief and fear, as though it had seen its own death.

Mountain spirits and monsters cultivated for many years, and they naturally possessed their own unique abilities. The radiance that had immobilized the three of them was the divine ability it had cultivated after touching the Spirit Condensation realm.

It was also a trump card that had never failed.

Ordinarily, with the cultivation levels of Xia Qi'an and the other two, there was absolutely no way they could break this divine ability.

But perhaps fate had its own designs.

The tiger demon could never have imagined that Xia Qi'an possessed that Azure Crystal of unknown origin. It was practically the nemesis written into its destiny, causing its divine ability to fail in an instant.

"Pff."

In the end, Xia Qi'an drove his saber into the tiger demon's throat. He pressed both hands against the hilt and exerted all his strength to saw open the tiger demon's throat.

As the light in the tiger demon's eyes gradually dimmed and its enormous head crashed to the ground, Xia Qi'an finally let out a long breath of relief.