Skill Selection

Su Yuntao looked at Ye Lan's serious expression and said worriedly, "Xiao Lan, be careful."

Su Yuntao had already decided not to give the Striped Tiger any chance to get entangled with Ye Lan. Once they became locked in close combat, Ye Lan's body would be exposed to the Striped Tiger's claws. That was simply too dangerous.

On the other side, Ye Lan mobilized all the Soul Power in his body and aimed it at the Striped Tiger, letting out a tiger's roar.

Roar!!!

As he roared, Ye Lan taunted the Striped Tiger with his eyes.

The seven-meter-long Striped Tiger furrowed its brow. Faced with Ye Lan's provocation, its round eyes instantly turned fierce, a sinister gleam flashing through them!

With a flying pounce, the Striped Tiger's massive body streaked through the air like a black shadow.

The Striped Tiger's entire body resembled a perfect killing machine. Before Ye Lan had time to admire its flawless physique, it had already closed the fifteen-meter distance between them.

Ye Lan's vision filled with black and white, his eyes fixed on the Striped Tiger's overwhelmingly imposing body. The enormous muscles in its shoulders and forelimbs held power like an erupting volcano, while the claws within its paws were like spring-loaded blades, poised to strike.

Ye Lan avoided its edge and merely stamped his foot, instantly widening the distance between them by several meters. He narrowly evaded the Striped Tiger's twin-paw strike, its claws brushing past his face.

Before the Striped Tiger could land and adjust its stance, Ye Lan bent his legs and swept sideways. The Soul Power attached to his waist erupted in an instant! The sweeping kick was like an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves. Only a fan-shaped black blur remained in the air—and the massive tiger head lay within its range.

Thud!

A dull impact sounded as the Striped Tiger flew to the side as though it had lost all weight. However, its sheer mass was too great; before it could fly more than a few meters, it crashed sideways into the weeds.

Su Yuntao seized the opportunity, and his second Soul Ring lit up. He repeatedly slashed at the tiger's back with his claws. Yet the Striped Tiger's hide was extremely thick, so the strikes did not cause heavy bleeding, merely carving Blood Marks across its back.

Less than two seconds later, the Striped Tiger recovered from its daze. Feeling the burning pain in its back, it rolled over.

Its hind claws immediately lashed wildly at Su Yuntao, but Su Yuntao was highly vigilant. Taking advantage of the moment it rolled over, he had already leaped beyond the range of its rear claws.

The Striped Tiger's instinctive counterattack gave Ye Lan an opening at its back.

He dashed forward and delivered a straight kick, making the Striped Tiger howl loudly as it twisted around to strike back at Ye Lan.

As the Striped Tiger turned to counterattack, Ye Lan leaped into the air and lightly stepped onto the top of its head. The tiger's head was stomped heavily into the ground, while Ye Lan used it as a foothold to pull farther away.

Once the Striped Tiger recovered from its stiffness, it tried to pounce toward where Ye Lan would land.

At that moment, Su Yuntao tightly grabbed the Striped Tiger's huge tail and yanked hard backward. The Striped Tiger lost its balance and fell onto the ground, dragged continuously by Su Yuntao.

Deep furrows were left in the earth where the Striped Tiger's claws scraped through the soil.

Seeing the Striped Tiger completely off balance as Su Yuntao dragged it along, Ye Lan coated his legs in Soul Power and rapidly closed the distance.

Then Ye Lan flipped over and landed steadily on the Striped Tiger's back.

Ye Lan clamped his legs around the Striped Tiger's waist, coating both arms completely in Soul Power!

Soul Power attachment at one hundred percent!!!

ORA! ORA! ORA ORA! ORA! ORA ORA! ORA!! ORA ORA! ORA!! ORA ORA! ORA!! ORA ORA! ORA!! ORA ORA! ORA!! ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA!!!

In only a few seconds, Ye Lan bombarded the back of the Striped Tiger's head with dozens of punches.

Seizing the chance, Su Yuntao made his yellow Soul Ring flash once more. Lone Wolf's claws became longer and sharper. He delivered a charged claw strike to the Striped Tiger's neck, instantly slicing open its throat.

A massive amount of bright red blood sprayed from the Striped Tiger's neck!

Ye Lan did not stop. His fists continued to hammer relentlessly into the Striped Tiger's hard skull. Amid its mournful howls, blood splattered everywhere.

Gradually, the Striped Tiger's voice grew weaker.

While its neck bled out, the Striped Tiger was beaten to death by Ye Lan's fists.

"Xiao Lan, stop hitting it. The Striped Tiger is completely dead," Su Yuntao reminded him when he saw that Ye Lan was still throwing punches as if possessed.

Hearing Su Yuntao's voice, Ye Lan finally came back to his senses. The Striped Tiger beneath him had long since stopped moving, and his own body was covered in its bright red blood.

Suddenly, nausea surged from Ye Lan's stomach to his throat. "Blergh!"

His stomach convulsed as he vomited bile. Ye Lan felt terribly unwell. This was the first time in both his lives that he had killed such a huge creature.

Su Yuntao gently patted Ye Lan's back. "Xiao Lan, everyone is like this their first time. You'll get used to it. I did far worse than you back then. I never expected Xiao Lan to have such a crazed side—you beat that tiger to death with your bare hands."

Color gradually returned to Ye Lan's pale face. Although he had controlled the battle from start to finish, it had undoubtedly been the most dangerous fight he had ever experienced.

Throughout the battle, Ye Lan had mostly used kicks, precisely because they allowed him to maintain distance from the Striped Tiger.

Kicks had a longer attack range and allowed him to escape the Striped Tiger's claw range more quickly.

It might have looked as though Ye Lan had emerged unscathed, Su Yuntao had suffered only minor injuries, and the Striped Tiger had died. But if the Striped Tiger had been given even one opening, those twenty-centimeter-long claws could absolutely have disemboweled Ye Lan.

During the battle, Ye Lan's adrenaline had been surging constantly. Now that it was receding, combined with having killed such a beautiful large creature for the first time, his body felt extremely unwell.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Lan noticed that a yellow Soul Ring had emerged from the Striped Tiger's corpse.

This was the Striped Tiger's four-hundred-year Soul Ring. If Ye Lan did not absorb it within an hour, it would slowly dissipate.

"Xiao Lan, are you going to absorb this four-hundred-year Striped Tiger Soul Ring? I heard that even the geniuses of Spirit Hall mostly have first Soul Rings of just over three hundred years. Four-hundred-year ones are quite rare. This Soul Ring is top-tier, isn't it?" Su Yuntao asked excitedly.

"Uncle Tao, let me examine this Soul Ring before deciding. Although a four-hundred-year cultivation is very good, the Striped Tiger isn't that compatible with my Blue Silver Grass. I'll think it over." After explaining this to Su Yuntao, Ye Lan moved closer to inspect the Striped Tiger Soul Ring.

A circle of golden-yellow light surrounded it, while the diamond-shaped pattern within the ring slowly rotated.

Ye Lan stared at the yellow Soul Ring and silently invoked Skill Selection.

At that moment, a list appeared in Ye Lan's mind. Row upon row of orderly information on all kinds of Soul Skills appeared before him.

It was as though, as long as Ye Lan settled on one of them in his heart, once he absorbed this Soul Ring, his Soul Skill would become the one he had chosen.

Most of the Soul Skills here were derived from the combination of Blue Silver Grass and the Striped Tiger, some powerful and some weak.