Hulu Lu—
The plan was set.
After Tiger Immortal tossed the leopard's corpse out of his cave, he began meditating.
As he breathed in and out, he spat out fifteen Chang Ghosts of various sizes, their bodies almost transparent.
They were all people Tiger Immortal had eaten in the past.
These fifteen Chang Ghosts in particular had been specially refined by Tiger Immortal.
As long as he gave them some killing intent, they could leave his side, travel a hundred miles through the night, and search for people and things.
"Great King!"
Once they appeared, they didn't leave. Instead, they stayed beside Tiger Immortal and kept watch.
Hiss...
Amid a rustling sound, they absorbed the killing intent Tiger Immortal exhaled.
By dusk on the fourth day, the dozen or so Chang Ghosts had stabilized their forms and no longer looked transparent.
"Go!"
Tiger Immortal sent them out to search for Chen Guan.
At the same time, he left his cave and headed for the place where his concubine had died.
The fifteen Chang Ghosts and Tiger Immortal spread out, sifting through the area like sand through a sieve.
The next day.
Night.
Five hundred miles away, at the Dilapidated Temple.
Muffled footsteps sounded as someone's feet hit the ground in the back courtyard.
Chen Guan struggled to move his enormous body, stepping through a strange sequence of movements.
It was the Lightness Skill recorded in the manual.
Lately, aside from hunting, Chen Guan had done nothing but practice.
Training also increased the proficiency of his talent.
And while hunting, Chen Guan gradually worked the moves and techniques he learned into his bear's instinct for killing.
He didn't want them to be empty flourishes. He wanted to put them to practical use and commit them to memory.
Chen Guan had been making excellent progress.
His proficiency had now reached [Primary Bear Strength: 492/1000].
He was almost halfway there.
Now that he had finished practicing for the day, Chen Guan looked at his enormous paws.
"Although it's getting harder and harder to improve, these body-tempering martial arts and techniques make the progress decent enough.
"I can gain around seven or eight points a day."
Chen Guan was very satisfied with that pace. He turned his gaze toward the Dilapidated Temple.
Pfft, pfft—
His little sister, Xiao Qing, was like an "auto-loot baby," using a sharp blade to cut up hide after hide.
Whenever Chen Guan brought back prey and tossed it to her, she always took something from it to keep.
Thump, thump...
Chen Guan moved his huge body forward, one step at a time.
He now had to duck a little to enter the Dilapidated Temple.
"Roar."
Chen Guan went inside and greeted his sister, then grabbed a large chunk of meat off the ground and began gobbling it down.
"Brother, you're done practicing!"
Xiao Qing was delighted that her brother had come to keep her company, and immediately began telling him all sorts of things.
"Brother, this hide is so hard to cut apart...
"Brother, I think Xiao Qing's gotten a little stronger?
"Brother, I think I've grown a tiny bit taller. Did you notice?
"Brother...
"Brother? Brother? Are you listening?"
"Roar." Chen Guan let her know he was listening, signaling for her to keep talking.
He couldn't speak, but that made him a perfectly good listener.
"Brother, you're the best!"
Xiao Qing happily circled around Chen Guan twice, then looked toward the little stone platform behind the statue.
A few thick needles lay there, threaded with strands pulled from strips of cloth.
Xiao Qing was making Chen Guan a big fur garment.
"Brother, winter will be here in a few months. If you wear clothes, you won't feel cold."
As she chattered away, she began sewing his garment.
But to Chen Guan, his sister's handiwork was hard to describe.
Still, he now understood why she had been tirelessly collecting hides.
She had wanted to make him a garment.
"Roar, roar."
Chen Guan thanked his sister and gently stroked her head with his paw.
He couldn't feel her skin exactly; instead, she felt slightly cold and gloomy.
But Chen Guan couldn't speak, and his sister couldn't read. He didn't know how to express his gratitude and affection for her.
"Brother!" Xiao Qing felt her brother's touch, but to her it carried the warmth of blazing yang energy.
Chen Guan had a powerful constitution and vigorous blood and qi.
His physical body alone could drive away wandering ghosts without cultivation.
But Xiao Qing didn't mention the stinging heat. Instead, like a spoiled child, she pressed her little head further into Chen Guan's palm.
"What a clingy little thing." Chen Guan found it pretty exasperating, but he was happy, too.
One bear and one ghost relied on each other for survival in this man-made temple of the gods.
Rumble—
It rained again in the middle of the night.
"Catch the water, catch the water."
Chen Guan had been asleep, but the moment he heard the rain, he dashed out of the side room and braved the downpour to get beneath the locust tree.
"Brother!"
At the back door of the Dilapidated Temple, Xiao Qing was already using a ladle to pour the liquid from the Yin-Yang Eyes into a bucket nearby.
Even though she was a ghost and naturally feared thunder and lightning, she was even more afraid that her brother would run out of medicinal liquid and lose the ability to see her.
"Roar! Roar!"
Chen Guan snatched the ladle from the air and waved his paw, signaling his sister to go back inside.
Xiao Qing was reluctant and didn't want to leave her brother to work alone, but she was also afraid he would get angry. She turned back every few steps as she returned to the temple.
Her little face kept looking his way.
After watching for a while, she remembered something important and began sewing her Hundred Beast Garment again.
"Whew, it really is getting cold."
Still in the courtyard, Chen Guan collected water while watching the rain pour down amid the rumbling thunder and flashes of lightning.
Perhaps summer was ending.
After standing in the rain for a while, he could feel the first hint of autumn's chill.
The next morning.
At the crevice between the mountain rocks.
Thud...
Tiger Immortal's enormous, five-meter-long body came to a stop beside two boulders.
"My concubine really is dead."
He sniffed, and from a dried bloodstain, he could clearly smell the scent of brain matter.
"That bear smashed her head open. No chance of surviving that. No chance."
It was hard to tell what expression crossed Tiger Immortal's face.
At that moment, he seemed to be thinking, or perhaps mourning his concubine.
But drool ran down the corner of his mouth, as if he were hungry.
"That bear killed my concubine. Its heart must be mighty chewy..."
He smacked his lips and looked at the fifteen Chang Ghosts who had followed him there.
"Search within thirty miles in every direction."
"Yes, Great King!"
"Rest assured, Tiger Grandpa!"
"We'll drag out the enemy who killed Little Madam!"
"Great King, this humble one will take his leave and begin searching..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the fifteen Chang Ghosts split up and began searching in different directions.
Tiger Immortal looked this way and that. Bored, he swung a paw, stirring up waves of killing intent that smashed the two boulders to pieces.
Then, with difficulty, he controlled the killing intent and slowly arranged the fragments into a stone platform that vaguely resembled a throne.
Whoosh—
He leaped onto the platform and waited for news from his Chang Ghosts.
Before you continue