King Tiger, Spare Me

In the blink of an eye, an Ice Spike appeared before the fair-skinned man. As mottled sunlight fell upon it, the Ice Spike refracted seven-colored radiance!

Lu Ye immediately sensed that things were going badly.

Just moments ago, he had gathered Spiritual Power into his eyes and clearly seen the Spiritual Light around the ambusher's body. He judged the other man to be a cultivator above Spirit Stream Layer Three but below Layer Four.

The other man's cultivation was higher than his, and judging from how Lu Ye had inexplicably been struck by his blade earlier, his combat experience also surpassed Lu Ye's.

Lu Ye had cultivated for only a short time. He had never undergone any harsh training, much less received guidance from an expert. With a longsword in hand, all he knew were the simplest chops, slashes, thrusts, and sweeps—there was no form or technique to speak of.

His cultivation was inferior, his skill was inferior, and the other man even knew spells... the situation was beyond simply dire.

The moment the Ice Spike took shape in the other man's hand, Lu Ye stomped on the ground and shot forward using the rebounding force.

Lu Ye's reaction startled the fair-skinned cultivator. He had thought his opponent would flee at once, yet this opponent advanced instead of retreating.

His body drifted backward again as he launched the Ice Spike, its speed incredibly fast.

The sharp Ice Spike struck Lu Ye, only to be blocked by the golden light around his body. Though it did not injure him, the force of the impact left his chest tight and stifled, slowing his charge considerably. The golden light over his body also dimmed by a few degrees.

After launching one Ice Spike, Spiritual Light gathered in the fair-skinned man's hand again. Clearly, he intended to form a second Ice Spike. Lu Ye's eyelids twitched at the sight. When low-level cultivators fought, the side that knew spells held an obvious advantage.

"How many more can you block?" the fair-skinned man mocked, keeping a safe distance from Lu Ye. One chased while the other retreated. In mere moments, Lu Ye had been struck by three Ice Spikes. The golden light on his body had dimmed to the point of nearly vanishing, yet he had not even touched the hem of his opponent's robe.

This kind of battle left him feeling stifled and aggrieved. He dearly wished he could take out a Fire Serpent Talisman and teach the other man how to behave.

Yet he suppressed the urge. He was not certain that one Fire Serpent Talisman could kill the other man. This was a cultivator, not one of the wolves he had killed when he first arrived at the battlefield. Nor did he have the favorable terrain he had used when fighting Big Tiger.

A vague plan had already formed in his mind, but whether he could carry it out successfully would depend on luck.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, when Lu Ye was struck by another Ice Spike, the golden light around his body finally disappeared. Buffeted by those Ice Spikes, he had already suffered internal injuries. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and beneath the shroud of chill, he could not help but shiver.

He glared bitterly at the fair-skinned man, his face full of unwillingness, and spoke for the first time since the fight began. "What grudge do we have?"

The fair-skinned man chuckled. "No grudge, no grievance."

Lu Ye said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

Sure enough, the fair-skinned man said, "But if you tell me where you found so much ore, I can spare your life!"

A fierce glint flashed through Lu Ye's eyes. He had confirmed the source of the problem. This clash had not been a chance encounter—the man had specifically come looking for him! The cause was the ore he had sold.

To be honest, Lu Ye had always been very cautious. On his three visits to the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild, he had dealt with different people each time. He had only brought a small portion of the ore to sell every time, never daring to sell too much, precisely because he feared attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives. Even on his way back, he would take several detours to make sure no one was following him.

But reality proved that if someone truly harbored crooked intentions, no amount of caution would help unless he stopped going to the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild to sell things.

Yet he needed Spiritual Pills to cultivate. If he did not go to the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild, where else could he go?

What he could be certain of now was that this was not orchestrated by the Merchant Alliance. A Merchant Alliance of such size, one that flew the banner of sincerity and fair dealing for all, had no reason to set its sights on a minor cultivator like him.

Thus, this was most likely some private scheme by certain people within the Merchant Alliance. Lu Ye recalled the three Merchant Alliance cultivators who had traded with him, but he truly could not figure out which one had targeted him.

All three transactions had been perfectly ordinary. If there was anything unusual, it was only the hint dropped by the woman named Liu Ruyin during the first transaction, but that proved nothing.

Judging from the fair-skinned man's words, he suspected that Lu Ye had discovered a vein containing all kinds of ore and wanted to pry the vein's location out of him.

He had no idea that Lu Ye had no ore vein at all. All his ore had been brought out from Evil Moon Valley.

Seeing Lu Ye remain silent, the fair-skinned man's expression darkened slightly. "You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" He decided to beat Lu Ye half to death before forcing him to reveal the ore vein's location.

With that, he gripped his blade and dashed toward Lu Ye.

He did not use the Ice Spike spell again, mainly because its consumption was rather high. Now that he had broken Lu Ye's Golden Body Talisman, he was confident he could knead Lu Ye however he pleased.

Yet Lu Ye, who had seemed so unyielding moments ago, suddenly turned and ran, moving with astonishing speed.

The fair-skinned man laughed in exasperation. Looking at Lu Ye's back, he said leisurely, "Do you think you can get away?"

He followed at an unhurried pace. At the same time, he took a Spirit Stone from his Storage Bag, held it in his palm, and slowly recovered.

He could tell that Lu Ye had been scared out of his wits. Running for his life like this would only accelerate the depletion of his Spiritual Power. Once a low-level cultivator ran out of Spiritual Power, he was little different from a mortal. Steward Yang, whom Lu Ye had killed through trickery, was the perfect example.

So long as he did not lose Lu Ye, that was enough.

One pursued and one fled. They passed through a Chaotic Stone Forest and crossed a small river. By the time they reached an open clearing, the fair-skinned man found Lu Ye standing there, gasping heavily, his face pale as paper and his body utterly still.

His Spiritual Power was depleted so quickly? The fair-skinned man sneered and slowly approached, twirling his long blade in a flourish. "Why did you stop running?"

He stopped ten zhang in front of Lu Ye, his face full of ridicule.

But he soon realized something was wrong, because Lu Ye's expression was one of utter terror. He was staring in one direction, and even the hand gripping his sword was trembling violently.

A foul wind swept over them, accompanied by a low growl. From behind a large tree, a massive Snowy White Tiger strolled out with leisurely steps.

Its amber-colored pupils turned toward the fair-skinned man, making his heart jolt. He suddenly recalled a rumor he had heard in the marketplace two days ago.

Could I really be this unlucky? he wailed inwardly.

Then the thing that drove him to despair happened. The Big Tiger opened its jaws and spoke in human language. "You dare disturb this king's beautiful dream? I see you no longer wish to live!"

Fine beads of sweat instantly covered the fair-skinned man's forehead. At last, he understood why Lu Ye was so terrified.

The source of that terror was not him, but this Big Tiger!

Just as he was at a complete loss, he heard Lu Ye say, "King Tiger, spare us! We didn't know this was your territory. We'll leave at once!"

Upon hearing that, the fair-skinned man nodded his head like a chicken pecking grain.

The Big Tiger roared furiously. "You come when you please and leave when you please. What do you take this place for?"