Black Tiger

Bi Fan rested in Xiguan Town for two days and three nights. During the day, he went out to learn about the Demon Realm, and at night, he cultivated, bringing himself to peak condition.

Bi Fan had already begun practicing the body-tempering technique in the Golden Silk Jade Book. Its effects were remarkable. After practicing only the first stage, his strength and power had noticeably increased, much to his delight.

After three nights, Bi Fan had already reached minor mastery of the first stage. From then on, he only needed to spend time practicing each day until he reached perfection before he could practice the second stage.

Though he didn't know the technique's name, Bi Fan already had a comparison in mind. This technique was far more profound than the Blood Demon Art.

The only regret was that the Golden Silk Jade Book had just three pages. Finding all of them would be extremely difficult.

Early on the third morning, Bi Fan ate breakfast and set off. He had already registered at the designated office.

The Demon Realm was divided into zones. People of different strengths would be sent to different areas, and the locations were chosen at random. Even people entering the same zone would not arrive in the same place.

With Bi Fan's strength, he could only enter the outermost reaches of the Demon Realm. After staying there for a month, he could crush his teleportation jade token and be sent out immediately.

Those entering for training received teleportation jade tokens for free. But anyone entering to hunt for treasure or kill Magic Beasts had to buy one, and they were quite expensive.

Without a teleportation jade token, they would have to fight their way out on their own, which was no easy task.

It was difficult to get one's bearings inside the Demon Realm, and finding the exit was harder still.

Bi Fan stepped into the teleportation passage, imagining what the Demon Realm might be like. In an instant, he was transported away.

He felt a wave of dizziness, and the next moment he appeared in a dense forest.

He looked around. Towering trees stood everywhere, blocking his view of anything in the distance. It was morning, and sunlight filtered down, giving him just enough light to see.

The Demon Realm felt cold and damp. No wonder all kinds of poisonous creatures thrived there.

To be safe, Bi Fan took a Bilo Pill. After taking one, he would be protected from poison for half a day.

He had bought so many Bilo Pills with a plan in mind: to keep their medicinal power circulating in his body at all times and reduce the chance of being poisoned as much as possible.

Few Registered Disciples could spend as freely as Bi Fan. If he hadn't been lucky enough to make a windfall off the dead, he couldn't have been so generous.

Keeping his eyes and ears open, Bi Fan began walking through the forest in search of Magic Beasts.

Before long, he spotted quite a few spirit herbs. They were all very common and not worth much, so he couldn't be bothered to pick them.

He only took the time to dig up herbs worth at least one crystal.

As a novice, Bi Fan was slow at gathering spirit herbs, so he didn't want to waste time.

Dragon Sable perched on Bi Fan's shoulder with its eyes closed, resting. Common spirit herbs couldn't catch its interest; the herbs it ate were at least ten years old.

Having just entered the Demon Realm, Bi Fan was extremely cautious and moved slowly.

He walked for quite a while without encountering a single Magic Beast. He saw only a few small wild animals and paid them no mind.

Small game made decent barbecue, but was of little value otherwise.

In the Demon Realm, one should conserve their strength whenever possible. Otherwise, running into a savage Magic Beast could spell trouble.

Demon Beasts didn't appear on the Demon Realm's outskirts. They were the equivalent of cultivators in the Mortal Transformation Realm, and if they showed up on the outskirts, the newcomers who entered for training would be doomed.

As Bi Fan walked, he suddenly heard a tiger's roar and hurried toward the sound.

Since he had come to train, he naturally had to seek out Magic Beasts to fight. If he ran far away whenever he heard one, what would be the point of training? Even if he became an Inner Disciple, his future achievements would still be limited.

Before long, Bi Fan finally saw his first Magic Beast: a black tiger. Its aura was powerful, and it seemed to be at the Viscera Realm, about on par with him.

"Black Tiger!" Bi Fan exclaimed in surprise.

An adult Black Tiger had the strength of a Viscera Realm cultivator, and it was among the best in that realm. Its combat prowess was formidable.

Black Tigers were fast, with powerful attacks and defenses. They were extremely difficult to deal with.

For his first battle in the Demon Realm, Bi Fan had run into such a powerful Magic Beast. He was very cautious. Dragon Sable was even more shrewd and had already hidden far away.

With the Flowing Light Sword in hand, Bi Fan's whole presence coalesced, and he felt like a different person.

Seeing Bi Fan, the Black Tiger roared and pounced, leaping into the air.

Bi Fan felt the sky turn black above him. Even the last sliver of light disappeared.

Qingyang Gentle Wind Sword Art!

Bi Fan used the sword technique he knew best, pointing the tip straight at the Black Tiger's belly. If it dared to pounce down, its stomach would be ripped open.

The Black Tiger seemed to know how dangerous Bi Fan was. It twisted in midair and flew past him instead.

Bi Fan spun around, his Flowing Light Sword dancing with blossoms of sword light as he charged after it.

The Black Tiger swept its tail at him, meeting the Flowing Light Sword head-on. Only a little fur fell away.

The tremendous force knocked the Flowing Light Sword off course and nearly sent it flying from Bi Fan's hand.

"What incredible strength!" Bi Fan thought, impressed.

They were both at the Viscera Realm, but the Black Tiger's strength and body were far more formidable than Bi Fan's. There was no getting around it.

Since he couldn't compete in strength, Bi Fan had to rely on exquisite martial skills to win.

Bi Fan unleashed every martial skill he had learned and launched a fierce attack, treating the Black Tiger as a sparring partner.

Back in Xiguan Town, Jiang Sheng had begun making his move. With portraits of Bi Fan in hand, he was searching everywhere for people willing to kill him.

Since Bi Fan had cleaned them out, they had no crystals to pay the bounty. They could only get people from North Xu Palace to kill Bi Fan for them.

Jiang Sheng promised to pay the bounty as soon as they returned to North Xu Palace. It amounted to two thousand crystals.

He even exaggerated the value of Bi Fan's treasures, telling the North Xu Palace disciples preparing to enter the outskirts of the Demon Realm for training. He knew the story would tempt them.

Bi Fan had no idea that sparing Jiang Sheng and the others would bring him endless trouble. Otherwise, he really would have made sure to destroy the bodies.

"Roar!" The Black Tiger was covered in wounds. Its hide was ruined.

Using his marvelous basic footwork, Bi Fan launched a swift assault. The Black Tiger was helpless against him and couldn't even escape.

Badly wounded, the Black Tiger's ferocity flared. It went all out, biting, sweeping, and clawing, using every means of attack at its disposal.

"Black Tiger, thanks for helping me practice my moves. It's time to send you on your way." Bi Fan smiled.

Floating Rain Flying Flowers Sword!

Bi Fan poured all his inner breath into the attack. Countless sword blossoms fell upon the Black Tiger like a sudden shower.

"Awooo!" The Black Tiger let out a heart-rending scream. It fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and died.

There were more than ten massive wounds on the Black Tiger, all caused by Bi Fan's final sword strike.

Its hide was ruined, but its meat and bones were worth quite a bit. If it had had a tiger penis, that would have fetched a good price too.

Bi Fan put the Black Tiger's body straight into his Heavenly Origin Ring, then quickly left.

Over the past few days in Xiguan Town, he had learned that fierce battles and the smell of blood would attract more Magic Beasts.

By now, Bi Fan had used up more than half his inner breath and needed to rest. He couldn't keep fighting without a break.

The Demon Realm was full of danger. He had to stay in peak condition at all times; getting injured would be trouble.

Sure enough, not long after Bi Fan left, beast roars sounded one after another. A number of powerful Magic Beasts had arrived.

"Good thing I learned a bit about the place before coming in. If I'd stayed to skin that tiger, I'd have been in for a world of trouble." Bi Fan felt fortunate.

Bi Fan found a large tree, climbed up, and sat on a branch to recover his inner breath.

Time slipped by. Suddenly, Dragon Sable began chattering urgently, warning him of danger.

Bi Fan had recovered only ninety percent of his strength. At Dragon Sable's warning, he quickly stopped cultivating.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Dragon Sable facing off against dozens of venomous snakes. Dragon Sable looked excited; poisonous creatures were its favorite food.

But there were dozens of snakes, making it hard for Dragon Sable to get a bite, and it also had to protect Bi Fan.

When Dragon Sable saw Bi Fan stand, it was thrilled. It shot forward and then returned to a spot some distance away, a venomous snake dangling from its little mouth.

The snakes grew frightened and began swaying their heads restlessly.

Bi Fan only kept watch in case the snakes tried to ambush them. He had no intention of attacking.

Dragon Sable quickly ate the snake's head and gallbladder, then tossed the body aside.

It shot out again like lightning and returned with another snake in its mouth.

Dragon Sable was the natural enemy of poisonous creatures, and it was astonishingly fast. These ordinary snakes had no way to fight back.

At last, the snakes couldn't bear the fear any longer and began to retreat. Leaves rustled as some of them even dropped straight to the ground.

Dragon Sable panicked, dropped the snake in its mouth, and shot off after the others.

Seeing how much Dragon Sable liked eating snakes, Bi Fan hurried to help.

With each Carefree Immortal Finger, he killed a snake.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty snake carcasses lay on the ground. Bi Fan and Dragon Sable had each killed several, while the rest had fled.

"Gluttonous Sable, I'll put your food away first. Then we need to get out of here quickly." Bi Fan was a little spooked.

"Chitter!" Dragon Sable carried off one of the snakes and paid no attention to him.

It didn't eat the whole snake, mainly consuming its venom and gallbladder.

Bi Fan moved quickly, putting all the snakes into his Cosmic Bag. Then he took Dragon Sable and hurried away.

He had only recovered ninety percent of his strength, and after that fight, he was down to eighty percent.

Bi Fan found another large tree. This time he inspected it carefully, made sure there were no poisonous creatures, and then began cultivating.

Soon, Bi Fan finished cultivating and set off to search for Magic Beasts, heading deeper into the Demon Realm.

Along the way, Bi Fan gathered quite a few spirit herbs, but didn't find a single rare mineral. Crystal deposits and rare-metal veins were probably only found deep in the Demon Realm, far beyond Bi Fan's reach for now.

Perhaps Bi Fan was fated not to cross paths with Magic Beasts. He walked a long way without encountering a second one.

"Wasn't the Demon Realm supposed to be crawling with Magic Beasts? Why haven't I run into any?" Bi Fan was thoroughly frustrated.

Suddenly, a wolf's howl rang out, startling Bi Fan.

"Damn it! Nothing, nothing, and then a whole pack at once. What am I supposed to do with this?" Bi Fan gave a bitter smile.

Even if they were wild beasts and not strong enough to be Magic Beasts, a pack of wolves was still hard to deal with.

Who knew if they were demon wolves—wolves that had cultivated inner breath.

Bi Fan was already planning to retreat, but then he heard the sounds of fighting and quickly stopped.

In any case, if there wasn't much danger, Bi Fan didn't mind helping someone else out.

Bi Fan quietly crept closer, intending to assess the situation before deciding whether to step in.

There were more than a hundred wolves in the pack, including twelve demon wolves. The two strongest were at the Viscera Realm.

Five people were fighting the pack, all of them at the Viscera Realm.

Although the humans were individually powerful, the wolves outnumbered them. Every one of the five was already injured.

The five used martial skills Bi Fan found completely unfamiliar. He had never seen them before and didn't know which sect they belonged to.

Bi Fan didn't rush to help. He hid in a tree and began memorizing their techniques.

The five weren't in immediate danger, and Bi Fan wasn't sure they were worth saving, so he wasn't in a hurry to act.

At the very least, he would wait until they were nearly spent before helping. Otherwise, if they turned on him, he'd be in trouble.