Tiger Form Fist Mastery

Under the pressure of standing on the brink of life and death, Li Yuan's understanding of Tiger Form Fist improved by leaps and bounds.

Its attack had been blocked, and it had taken several more heavy blows. The tiger grew increasingly frenzied, its attacks growing ever more savage.

But Li Yuan grew more composed as the fight went on. His movements became more coordinated, and his punches more practiced.

The man and tiger battled fiercely in the clearing among the mountains for nearly an hour.

It was only when Li Yuan felt his qi and blood draining and his strength beginning to wane that he stopped.

He had to conserve his strength. If he wore himself out, he could be ambushed on the way back. Better to be cautious.

Only then did Li Yuan feint, forcing the tiger back before darting away.

The tiger chased him for a while, but when it saw how fast Li Yuan was and watched him quickly disappear into the dense woods, it roared several times in frustration. Then it returned to continue devouring its prey.

On the way back.

Li Yuan chewed on jerky as he looked at his panel.

[Skill: Five Animals Tiger Form Fist (Minor Mastery)]

[Progress: 830/1000 points]

[Effect: Strengthened sinews and bones, doubled strength]

"I gained 30 points in nearly an hour of fighting. That's much better than the 20 points I get from a whole day of hard practice."

Li Yuan couldn't spend all day practicing Tiger Form Fist. He still had two other martial arts to train, and he had to set aside time each day to refine his stance work and read.

He'd even had less time to hunt in the mountains. There simply weren't enough hours in the day.

No wonder his senior brothers had spent years in the Stone Skin Realm.

He was quite pleased with the progress on his panel. At this rate, it shouldn't take more than a few days to reach mastery.

Then he could find beasts corresponding to the other two animal forms and spar with them. That would speed up his advancement to Iron Skin.

Just then, he heard the sound of wheels rolling behind him.

A carriage rolled past him at an unhurried pace, with a coachman at the reins.

As it passed Li Yuan, an agitated voice came from inside:

"Once we're back in the city, send people at once to search the entire city and every village nearby. Anyone named Li Yuan—bring them all back, without exception!

"Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one get away!

"I'll question them myself. I will find the killer who took my son!"

Li Yuan stopped and frowned.

"Why are they looking for me?"

Another voice inside the carriage tried to reassure him. "Rest assured, master. I will see this done. It may take some time, though..."

The carriage gradually rolled farther away, the voices fading with it.

"Could that be Zhou Wu's father?" Li Yuan wondered after a moment.

His heart sank. I killed his son, and now he knows who I am.

What should I do?

After pondering for a moment, he sighed.

"I had no choice. I was only acting to protect myself."

Li Yuan shook his head, quickened his pace, and caught up with the slowly moving carriage.

Using his qi and blood to sense the coachman, he found that the man was just an ordinary person.

But besides the man who had just spoken, there was another person inside the carriage whose presence was steadier. That one was probably a guard.

"One person in the Stone Skin Realm. I can handle him."

Li Yuan made his decision at once. He pulled a piece of cloth from his clothes and casually covered his face, then moved closer to the carriage.

When he was just short of reaching it, he flicked his right hand, flinging a handful of lime powder into the coachman's face.

"Who's there?" the coachman shouted, instinctively raising a hand to shield himself.

Li Yuan used his palm like a blade and struck at the coachman's neck.

"What's going on?"

At the commotion, the carriage curtain flew open and the guard leaned out.

Li Yuan was ready. He flung another handful of lime powder into the guard's face, while tossing a hidden packet of poisonous powder into the carriage with his left hand.

"Careful! Lime!" The guard hurriedly backed away, but had already inhaled a good deal of the poison.

He tried to draw his saber, only to find his arm limp and his vision beginning to blur.

A cough came from inside the carriage. Zhou Deshun stammered, "Who... who are you? Do you know who I am..."

Before he could finish, Li Yuan leaped into the carriage and slammed two punches into the guard's chest.

The guard barely managed to raise his arms to block, but the poison had sapped his strength. The two punches sent him flying backward.

Before long, both men were foaming at the mouth and had fallen silent.

"Alas, I was only acting to protect myself," Li Yuan sighed.

Daring not to linger, he quickly searched the two men.

He found a heavy purse and a jade pendant, along with some loose silver.

After stuffing the spoils into his clothes, Li Yuan jumped down from the carriage and darted into the woods beside the road, disappearing in no time.

The mountain road fell quiet once more, just as before—except now there were several corpses.

After returning to the city, Li Yuan first delivered the herbs he had gathered to Hundred Herb Hall.

Su Wan saw how quickly Li Yuan had brought back the herbs, and noticed the marks of a fight on him.

She was curious, but tactfully didn't ask any questions.

Instead, she thanked him sincerely. "Thank you, Young Master Li. You've been a great help."

"It was my duty." Li Yuan waved a hand, then took his leave.

For the next few days, whenever he had free time during the day, Li Yuan went to find that Little Flower.

That's right—Li Yuan had given it a nickname: Little Flower.

After gathering the herbs Su Wan needed each day, he went to spar with Little Flower.

Every time the tiger saw the human who kept bothering it, it flew into a rage and pounced on him.

After fighting for an hour each time, Li Yuan would turn and leave.

His progress during this time was remarkable.

At first, he had to focus completely. Later, he could predict Little Flower's attacks with relative ease.

After several days, Li Yuan could clearly feel his qi and blood growing more condensed. His understanding of Tiger Form Fist had reached a turning point, as if he were only one last step away from breaking through to a new realm.

[Skill: Five Animals Tiger Form Fist (Minor Mastery)]

[Progress: 958/1000 points]

[Effect: Strengthened sinews and bones, doubled strength]

"Almost there. Tiger Form Fist will reach mastery in the next few days!"

Feeling his fist intent surge within him, Li Yuan looked at Little Flower, which seemed somewhat listless in the distance.

Using the king of beasts to hone his martial arts was indeed far more effective than practicing alone.

A few more days passed.

Li Yuan looked at the progress on his panel, so close to a breakthrough, took a deep breath, and charged at Little Flower once more.

This time, his Tiger Form Fist flowed especially smoothly.

Every punch came with a whistling rush of wind, as if it truly possessed a tiger's might.

Little Flower seemed to sense the danger and attacked even more fiercely.

At that very moment, inspiration struck Li Yuan. As he threw a punch, his qi and blood surged within him, and the force of his strike abruptly grew.

"Bang!"

The punch landed squarely on Little Flower, sending it tumbling across the ground several times.

[Skill: Five Animals Tiger Form Fist (Greater Mastery)]

[Progress: 50/2000 points]

[Effect: Surging qi and blood, tiger might beginning to emerge]

Before Li Yuan could celebrate, he realized Little Flower was lying still on the ground.

He went over to check. The tiger that had sparred with him for many days had stopped breathing.

"This..." Li Yuan scratched his head. "I finally found a sparring partner, and now I've beaten it to death."

They had fought for so long that he'd grown attached to it.

Looking at Little Flower's corpse, he pondered for a moment.

Then he recalled his senior brother saying that tiger bones could be soaked in wine. They were supposedly great for boosting virility.

Li Yuan hoisted the several-hundred-pound tiger onto his shoulders and decided to head back first.