Evil Tiger, Mysterious Egg, Red-Clad Woman

Tigers are creatures of extreme yang and supreme hardness.

Even without having achieved sentience, they are the kings of beasts.

Their natural ferocity is immense; ordinary malevolent spirits wouldn't dare approach.

Common wild beasts and birds, like deer, sheep, and monkeys, even if they had achieved sentience and become demons, would still hesitate to approach a fierce tiger that hadn't yet become sentient.

This is the Tiger's Might!

Earlier, Lin Yan had even considered using its blood and fat to make candles for warding off evil and protecting the home.

But now, this tiger, which had long since achieved sentience and was naturally a sacred item for warding off evil, was actually possessed?

What kind of malevolent spirit could corrupt such a king of tigers that had already become sentient?

"..."

Lin Yan gripped his long saber, staring intently at the "evil creature" with its unrecognizable face in front of him, and retreated continuously.

He had poured all his strength into severing the tiger's head just moments ago.

At this moment, his muscles, bones, internal organs, and blood were all in a state of fatigue and weakness.

Facing such a malevolent spirit, he had no chance of winning!

But just then, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse.

On the blade of the long saber in his hand, a faint light reflected.

Instantly, a chill swept over him!

It was right behind him!

Lin Yan immediately turned and swung his saber!

This strike actually stopped!

And within Lin Yan's heart, a strong sense of shock surged, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

Behind him was the tiger's head, separated from its body!

At this moment, his saber was stuck in the tiger's mouth, firmly bitten by its fangs!

When did the demon tiger's head get behind him?

Just as this thought formed in Lin Yan's mind, he saw the scene behind him reflected in the eyes of the demon tiger he was facing!

The headless tiger corpse had transformed into a grotesquely twisted monster.

Black branches flowed with black blood.

Its writhing muscles began to invert, gradually turning black.

In the blink of an eye, it was behind him.

A chill came from behind.

A sense of mortal terror enveloped his entire body!

Too late to dodge!

Abandon the saber!

Lin Yan made a decisive move!

He channeled all the malevolent energy in his body, with all his might!

He threw a punch!

Demon Suppressing!

In an instant, it was as if a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood erupted from him, unleashing endless ferocity!

He was already exhausted, and his counterattack was hasty. The power of this punch wasn't exceptionally strong; at most, it could split stone slabs.

However, the malevolent energy attached to this punch was extremely ferocious.

With a boom!

Ten thousand streams of black mist dispersed!

The deformed monster was actually scattered by his punch!

To be precise, it was dispersed by the malevolent energy amplified a thousandfold under his Demon Suppressing divine ability!

Bones and sinews shattered, branches scattered!

"That easy?"

Lin Yan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look. The tiger's head... also began to crack.

Its fur scattered, its bones shattered, its eyes withered, and its brain matter spilled out.

The night wind blew, and a chill seeped into his body.

Lin Yan trembled, then suddenly looked down, his pupils contracting.

He saw that his right hand, which had just shattered the deformed monster, was now covered in black patterns, like countless branches spreading, crossing his wrist, reaching his elbow, and still spreading upwards!

In his palm, a white egg appeared!

This white egg had seventeen patterns.

Nine were crimson, and eight were ink-black.

As it devoured his arm, it was gradually revealing the eighteenth pattern… which was ink-black!

Suddenly, a flash of blade light!

Lin Yan picked up his long saber and severed his right arm!

Blood spurted, and the severed arm fell to the ground.

Lin Yan retreated with his saber, immediately activating his cultivation technique, locking the vital essence within his body, and staring intently at the white egg that had already condensed its eighteenth pattern!

"What in the world is this thing?"

His expression shifted rapidly, his heart filled with shock.

Before he could even entertain the thought of investigating, a flash of red caught the corner of his eye.

Lin Yan's heart sank to the bottom.

In this endless night, the cold wind howled, chilling him to the bone.

Even having reached the Essence Refining Realm, could he not protect himself amidst the endless strangeness of this night?

He gripped his long saber, mustered his last reserves of energy, and took a deep breath.

He slashed out with his saber!

He didn't expect this strike to slay the red-clad Malevolent Spirit!

But he refused to die without even the courage to swing his blade!

The long saber fell, and the red clothing scattered, transforming into an infinite sea of red mist that permeated the air.

Then... not far away, the red mist converged.

This red clothing was a wedding dress!

Wearing the wedding dress was a phantom girl.

She floated in the air, her eyes distant, gazing quietly at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan was exhausted, barely able to hold his saber, panting heavily.

Yet, the red-clad female ghost did not float closer, merely continuing to watch Lin Yan.

Her originally cold, distant eyes gradually held a strange, complex emotion.

"..."

Lin Yan felt his vision blur.

The night wind continued to blow.

The chill relentlessly invaded.

But the red-clad female ghost remained still.

Lin Yan felt his vision flicker, a sense of dizziness overwhelming him.

They remained in this standoff, for an unknown duration.

In a daze, Lin Yan seemed to have a misconception.

He wasn't sure from which moment after the standoff began, but in the eyes of the red-clad female ghost, there seemed to be a hint of shy bashfulness.

Her gaze was as gentle as water, filled with a thousand charms.

Damn it! I'm hallucinating!

Unknowingly, he had become so weak that even this kind of Malevolent Spirit and ghostly apparition found him pleasing to the eye?

Lin Yan was greatly alarmed, and then he saw the red figure approaching.

He hardened his heart and suddenly bit his tongue!

In the Essence Refining Realm, Blood Essence coalesced, and the body was unified!

The blood from the tip of the tongue was a method used to deal with Malevolent Spirits after reaching the Essence Refining Realm, by gathering the body's yang blood essence!

It was also the only method most cultivators in the Essence Refining Realm had to deal with Malevolent Spirits!

He spat out a mouthful of blood!

This red wedding dress suddenly disintegrated, turning into a large expanse of red mist.

But the red mist did not dissipate; instead, it drifted away gracefully.

"This mouthful of tongue blood is not enough to dispel the Malevolent Spirit..."

Lin Yan was stunned at first, then slowly raised his saber.

A hint of dawn reflected on the blade.

Daybreak had arrived.

Malevolent Spirits, begone.

Heaven and Earth returned to the mortal realm, the world belonging to the living.

Lin Yan took a deep breath, planted his long saber in the ground, and slowly walked toward his severed arm.

The strange egg, with its white base and nine crimson and nine black markings, still rested in his palm.

His expression grave, he kicked his severed arm, turning it in a different direction.

He oriented the strange egg towards the east.

A moment later, the sun began to rise.

The first rays of sunlight shone upon the strange egg.

Purple Energy Comes from the East, all malevolence vanishes.

But Lin Yan's gaze gradually turned peculiar.

"It wasn't destroyed by the sunlight?"

"Moreover, with my Demon Suppressing divine ability, I can amplify the malevolent energy around me a hundredfold, terrifying and repelling demons..."

"Just now, it could enter my body, unafraid of my Demon Suppressing divine ability!"

"And now, it's unafraid of the morning sun, could it be..."

A complex feeling, difficult to describe, arose in Lin Yan's heart. He thought, "It's not a Malevolent Spirit?"

But recalling how that demonic tiger had become so deformed and bizarre, this thing looked like the most malevolent of Malevolent Spirits, twisted to the extreme.

As the sunlight cleared, Lin Yan also recovered about thirty percent of his strength. He used his saber to push the "strange egg" aside.

He stared intently at the strange egg, then picked up his severed arm, his expression solemn.

Taking half a step back, he tore off half of his sleeve and then forcefully pressed the wound of his severed arm against his shoulder.

Essence Refining Realm!

His body was as one!

Flesh, Blood Essence, tendons, bones, and marrow possessed vigorous life force!

Before this severed arm completely lost its vitality, it could be reconnected by its own life force.

This was the mystery of the Essence Refining Realm!