Lu Yang wielded a sword in one hand while fighting and held Qi Wu by the neck with the other, throwing him backward. "There's a door behind us. Hurry and run!"
In the blink of an eye, Qi Wu was flung three or four meters away. Just as he was about to hit the ground, an invisible force rose beneath him and caught his body, allowing him to land steadily.
"Thank you for saving us, Immortal Elder!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately led A Yue and the others outside without the slightest hesitation.
They couldn't figure out Lu Yang's or the tiger demon's cultivation level. They only knew that whenever cultivators fought, regardless of victory or defeat, the surrounding area would inevitably be affected. With their mortal bodies, taking even a glancing blow would leave them either lying in bed for the rest of their lives—or lying in the ground.
The tiger demon's fur stood on end, and the character "king" on its forehead glowed faintly. It wanted to tear Lu Yang apart, and its attacks grew even more savage.
"I'll help you!"
The other two mountain-god statues spoke up. One held a scripture and looked refined and scholarly, while the other radiated light all over, like an enlightened monk who had forged an immeasurable golden body!
Man Gu hefted the scripture in his hand and found it far too light. He put it away and pulled two copies of the Great Xia Dictionary from his robes.
"Not bad in the hand."
From a young age, Man Gu had been taught that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe was a race of warriors. Weapons were not bound by form; anything could become a weapon. Whatever felt best in the hand was what one used.
Right now, books felt best in his hands.
"Knowledge is power!"
Holding the two dictionaries like a pair of bricks, he smashed them toward the tiger demon's forehead. The tiger demon froze for a moment, having never seen a weapon like that.
Meng Jingzhou needed no weapon. His body itself was the strongest weapon. He transformed into a golden man and charged the tiger demon. The changgui standing behind the tiger demon let out a shriek, and its body began to hiss and smoke.
The Pure Yang Spiritual Root was extraordinarily effective against ghosts and spirits!
The changgui was terrified. It no longer obeyed the tiger demon's orders and fled from the temple, vanishing into the curtain of rain.
The tiger demon had never been this furious.
It didn't want to clash with cultivators, but that didn't mean it feared them. It could tear apart these ignorant little brats and flee somewhere else. Who would be able to find it then?
What a pity to abandon Mount Song, this blessed land.
With that thought, the tiger demon stopped holding back. Its tail swept toward Lu Yang with a howl of wind. If Lu Yang continued attacking, he would inevitably suffer serious injuries!
Lu Yang made a snap decision, withdrawing his sword and retreating. The tiger's tail slammed into the ground, and the entire temple shook.
The three men looked solemn. "It's already condensed a Golden Core phantom!"
When a cultivator formed a Golden Core, they first needed to condense a Golden Core phantom. Only after the Golden Core transformed from illusory to real could they officially enter the Golden Core Realm.
The tiger demon before them was clearly in the process of forming its core. Its strength was extraordinary!
"I am a mighty expert who has reached the half-step Golden Core Realm. How dare a bunch of Foundation Establishment Realm brats injure me!"
"Half-step Golden Core?" Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou. He had never heard his senior sister mention such a term.
The ordinary person, Meng Jingzhou, explained, "It means they haven't formed their core yet, but they always feel superior and refuse to be placed on the same level as Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, so they force themselves toward the Golden Core Realm. Golden Core cultivators don't even spare them a glance. It's rather pitiful."
The good-hearted Man Gu added, "It's normal that Brother Lu doesn't know. The senior brothers and sisters of the sect all sneer at this term. Why bother transforming something from illusory to real when forming a core? Only vulgar people do that. They form their cores directly."
The honest Lu Yang gazed at the tiger demon with pity. "It is indeed pitiful."
The tiger demon grew even angrier. Its eyes filled with blood as the cultivation it prided itself on was disparaged by these three brats as worthless.
The most infuriating part was that they genuinely thought so!
At least they could have been pretending!
The tiger demon released its pressure and tried to suppress the three of them first.
Unexpectedly, none of them were affected. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou even sneered, "We've endured the pressure of a Nascent Soul Realm great demon with Ancient Dragon blood in its veins. How could yours affect us?"
Man Gu needed no explanation. The blood of the Ancient Barbarian Tribe made him fearless of any pressure. The Ancient Barbarian Tribe had run rampant in ancient times, relying on nothing but its fearlessness of Heaven and earth.
In a word, barbaric.
The tiger demon abandoned its imitation of standing on two legs. It lowered its forelimbs and crouched on the ground, its chin nearly touching the floor as its tiger eyes glared fixedly at the three men.
Boom—
The tiger demon shoved off with its hind legs and shot at the three of them like a cannonball. Lu Yang held the Azure Edge Sword across his chest and barely blocked the tiger demon's claws.
Lu Yang spun and retreated, finally dispersing the force of the tiger demon's blow.
Unlike the painted-skin ghost before, whose advantage lay in its eeriness and who was not skilled at attacking, the tiger demon was different. Once its identity was exposed, defeating the painted-skin ghost was not difficult.
The Demon Race was renowned for its physical bodies. Not to mention that the tiger demon's cultivation was practically a full major realm above the three of them, it was no small feat that Lu Yang had blocked that blow with his sword without being injured.
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu attacked from both sides. Runes flickered in the tiger demon's blood, transforming into a fierce wind that carried it above the two men, where it viciously swiped at them.
Clouds followed dragons, and wind followed tigers. Tiger demons were born able to control wind-element spells. This was an instinctive spell originating from their bloodline!
Meng Jingzhou had no leverage in midair. He met the tiger demon's palm with his own, while Man Gu shielded his chest with a dictionary. Half the dictionary was shredded by the tiger demon's claws.
Lu Yang seized the opportunity to thrust his sword. Moving forward with unstoppable force, his long sword was like a bolt of lightning, reaching the tiger demon in the blink of an eye. He stabbed several times, but the tiger demon's hide was too thick, and Lu Yang's sword simply couldn't pierce it.
The tiger demon was just about to laugh heartily and mock Lu Yang for overestimating himself—for being unable even to break through its defenses—when several bursts of Sword Qi suddenly erupted inside its body, stabbing it until blood streamed freely.
The bursts had erupted precisely where Lu Yang had struck!
Hidden-force Sword Qi!
Lu Yang didn't need to pierce his opponent. All he had to do was send the Sword Qi into its body!
This was where the Demon Race was inferior to body cultivators. A demon's body might be tough on the outside, but its internal organs and blood were incomparably fragile!
The tiger demon retreated, unwilling to clash head-on with Lu Yang's sword again.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yang refused to let up. He raised his sword with his right hand, but the tiger demon dodged it. With his left hand, he pulled out a youtiao and smacked the tiger demon squarely on the head!
The tiger demon could originally have dodged it, but when it saw that its opponent had pulled out a youtiao, it relaxed. It secretly laughed at how its opponent was truly a child, resorting to any random object once the fight got heated.
Then it was smashed dazed.
What kind of youtiao was that?!
Meng Jingzhou transformed into a mountain. Taking advantage of the few seconds while the tiger demon was dazed, he aimed at its waist and slammed into it. The tiger demon seemed shrewd and experienced, but in reality, it was riddled with openings.
It believed in the principle of avoiding battle: if it could flee, it would never fight. In all its years of cultivation, it had barely fought anyone.
The tiger demon was knocked off balance. Man Gu attacked, smashing straight at its eye. The tiger demon hurriedly turned its face aside, so the blow struck its cheek instead, tearing away a patch of fur.
The tiger demon instinctively lashed out with its tail, sweeping into Man Gu. Man Gu pushed off in the direction of the tail and was not seriously injured.
Lu Yang thrust out several swords in an instant, following up with a few blows from the youtiao. He beat the tiger demon back repeatedly.
After exchanging blows, the three men had instead gained the upper hand.
The tiger demon realized that although its opponents were young and their cultivation was low, they possessed astonishing foundations. There had to be a massive power backing them, and it began to consider retreating.
How could the three of them allow the tiger demon to escape? If they let the tiger return to the mountains today, who knew how many people it would harm tomorrow?
They couldn't let it escape!
"You're bullying me too much!"
The tiger demon roared in fury. The three men saw that it intended to fight to the death and secretly went on guard.
The tiger demon's eyes bulged as it roared toward the outside of the temple and revealed its hidden trump card: "Wife, someone's trying to kill me!"
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