Storm Fierce Tiger

As Lin Yiqing ventured deeper into the Tianyan Mountain Range, the towering trees around him grew ever taller, and the already gloomy sky seemed to darken further. The number of monsters also increased.

Faintly, the roars of beasts rang without end, and Lin Yiqing grew more and more solemn.

He constantly used his mental power to probe the surroundings, not daring to let his guard down for even a moment. After all, the depths of the Tianyan Mountain Range already belonged to monsters of the Creation Three Realms.

The slightest carelessness could bring a fatal attack.

Before long, Lin Yiqing reached the outskirts of the mountain hollow shown on the map. He stopped there, wary of unknown dangers.

Finding a tall, concealed tree trunk, Lin Yiqing sat cross-legged atop it. Once he had confirmed the area was safe, the mental power in his Mud Pill Palace surged and spread stealthily through the surroundings.

Before he could investigate closely, an intensely savage, murderous aura suddenly rose from within the hollow. Lin Yiqing's heart tightened, and he hurriedly suppressed his own aura to the barest minimum.

The aura was exceptionally fierce; he could almost smell blood in it. It had to belong to a vicious, high-ranking monster.

"A Form-Shaping Realm monster!"

Lin Yiqing's heart jolted. In the gloomy hollow, a massive blue-black tiger, more than a dozen zhang long, suddenly soared into the air. Its terrifying presence swept across the land, sending every living creature in the forest fleeing in panic.

The Monster Tiger's pair of fangs protruded past its lips, gleaming with a chilling menace. Its entire body seemed forged from fine steel. One could only imagine how earth-shattering its strength would be once it sprang into action!

Strangest of all, a pair of black wings grew from its back. With every breath it took, blades of wind formed around it.

By the looks of it, it undoubtedly possessed an ancient bloodline and inheritance.

"Hiss, it's actually a Storm Fierce Tiger. I can't believe there's one here."

Lin Yiqing drew a sharp breath. Though the Storm Fierce Tiger wasn't among the tiger race's top bloodlines, it was still one of the monsters famed for its ferocity.

A fully grown Storm Fierce Tiger could even match a powerhouse at the peak of the Qi-Shaping Realm!

However, judging by its physique, this one seemed just short of adulthood, and its cultivation hadn't yet reached its peak.

"Looks like this hollow really is no ordinary place! I just wonder what's inside."

Watching the Storm Fierce Tiger fly away with his own eyes, Lin Yiqing couldn't help but look grave as he pondered.

However, he didn't recklessly sneak into the hollow. Instead, he carefully began surveying the surrounding terrain.

"If I blunder in and run into a fully grown Storm Fierce Tiger, I'll be in for a world of trouble."

For the next two days, he roamed the area around the hollow, observing the Storm Fierce Tiger's morning and evening hunting patterns and studying escape routes in every direction.

At last, while the tiger was away hunting again, Lin Yiqing made up his mind to investigate the hollow.

Tigers had the keenest sense of smell, so Lin Yiqing smeared some herbs over himself to mask his scent.

Then he released the mental power from his Mud Pill Palace, taking in the surroundings for several hundred meters. He covered his feet with origin power to keep them from making a sound, then finally crept into the hollow.

With the Storm Fierce Tiger's dominance, its territory generally held no large monsters besides the prey it had caught.

So Lin Yiqing made his way to the edge of the hollow with little trouble. Corpses littered the way, and the bones of various large monsters grew more numerous until they gradually formed a sea of bones.

Yet Lin Yiqing's confusion only deepened. No matter how he looked at it, this place didn't seem to contain any cave dwelling or ruins.

"This distance should be about right."

As the Storm Fierce Tiger's lair began to come into view, he darted behind a boulder. With a thought, he used Origin Qi Vision to examine the distribution of origin power several hundred zhang around him.

"Hiss! There really is another Monster Tiger!" Lin Yiqing secretly rejoiced.

Thankfully, he hadn't barged in recklessly. Otherwise, he'd have ended up as the pair's next meal.

Through Origin Qi Vision, he saw that vast amounts of the world's origin power had gathered inside the lair. Their concentrated shape was unmistakably that of a Storm Fierce Tiger.

"One mountain can't hold two tigers—unless they're a male and a female, right?" Lin Yiqing grumbled to himself.

Just then, he spotted an extra-bright mass of wood-attributed origin qi gathered behind the Storm Fierce Tiger's silhouette. It was brighter than anything he had ever seen.

"I see!"

Lin Yiqing's gaze sharpened. He then slowly withdrew from the hollow. There was no ancient cultivator's cave here. Someone had clearly set their sights on the spiritual herb guarded by the two Storm Fierce Tigers!

Unless one possessed the strength of the Creation Three Realms, eliminating these two Form-Shaping Realm monsters would be no easier than ascending to heaven.

After all, monsters at this level had long since learned to understand human intentions, and their intelligence far surpassed that of ordinary monsters.

So the person coveting this spiritual herb had made the beast-skin scroll Lin Yiqing held, hoping to use someone else to hold off the Storm Fierce Tigers and play the praying mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole waiting behind.

"What a sinister scheme."

Lin Yiqing had initially thought Little Fatty was behind it, but on second thought, he realized that didn't add up. That kid was clearly the one who'd been duped.

The aging technique used on the beast-skin scroll was so skillful that even Lin Yiqing had nearly been fooled, let alone someone with ordinary means of appraisal.

If he hadn't met Lin Yiqing, and all those later events hadn't happened, Little Fatty would probably have already found someone else to go treasure hunting in the mountains with him.

With Small Perfection of the Origin Pellet Realm strength, an exceptional talent, and even a spiritual treasure for protection, the other boy had been brimming with confidence. Given his temperament, he really would have gone and become someone else's pawn.

"How interesting. There's another force lurking in the shadows!"

At the thought, a faint smile appeared on Lin Yiqing's face. A spiritual herb of such a high grade was too good to pass up. Since the other party wanted to wait in ambush, Lin Yiqing would muddy the waters and fish for his own gain.

"Crack."

Just then, an extremely faint sound came from the woods. Lin Yiqing darted behind a tree trunk, then released his mental power to stealthily investigate where the sound had come from.

"It's him!"

A strange look crossed Lin Yiqing's face. He hadn't expected Little Fatty to have made his way here alone.

"Bastard, scoundrel, son of a bitch! You sucker-punched me and stole my spiritual treasure!"

Hearing the other boy's hushed curses, Lin Yiqing nearly burst out laughing. He took a quick look and realized the other boy had probably come straight here after climbing out of the dry well.

His clothes were still covered in dirt, and his aura was somewhat unsteady.

"After getting the beast-skin scroll, this kid probably hasn't been here before. He doesn't know there are two Storm Fierce Tigers here, or he wouldn't be acting so recklessly."

Keeping his distance behind Little Fatty and observing his actions, Lin Yiqing reached a conclusion.

However, he had no intention of showing himself. There was no telling whether someone with ulterior motives was following Little Fatty.

"Roar!"

Just then, a beast's roar that shook the mountains and forests rang out in the distance. The deafening roar came from the Storm Fierce Tiger returning from its hunt!

Lin Yiqing's pupils shrank. He stopped watching and withdrew through the forest nearby.

The longer he stayed, the more likely something unexpected would happen. If Little Fatty made a commotion, it would be hard to clean up afterward. Better to withdraw first and make plans slowly.

Besides, the spiritual herb wasn't going anywhere. Now it came down to whose methods were better.