He controlled White Tiger to leap up and down again. White Tiger obeyed his commands like an extension of his own arm, and only then did Lu Li feel reassured.
Lu Li's eyes shifted, and a few ideas suddenly came to him.
White Tiger was powerful. If he could get her to follow him, wouldn't he be able to roam the deep mountains unchallenged?
Besides, White Tiger was surely more familiar with the terrain of the deep mountains than he was.
He looked at White Tiger and saw her lying on the ground, her head drooping.
Evidently, she was unhappy that he had controlled her just now and that she had once again fallen into someone else's hands.
"White Tiger, do you have a name?" Lu Li asked with a smile, looking quite amiable.
White Tiger nodded listlessly. "Yeah, I'm called Hu Niu."
"Hu Niu, how about we make a deal? Follow me for a year, and I'll set you free afterward."
"And during that time, as long as you listen to me, I absolutely won't use the Gu to control you."
"I won't come up the mountain often, either. You can move about freely in the meantime."
At his words, Hu Niu's tiger eyes instantly brightened, and the gloom vanished.
"Really?" Hu Niu asked, her bright eyes wide.
"Really," Lu Li confirmed.
Hu Niu cheered and leaped about, her two tails swishing from side to side.
She looked innocent and guileless, and she had no wariness toward Lu Li's words. She believed him outright.
She had long since had enough of being controlled.
For a fierce beast, having no say over its own life was no different from enduring torture.
Only then did Lu Li turn his attention to the man in black.
The man's gaze was filled with venomous hatred, as if he wished he could pierce Lu Li with his eyes.
The man in black finally understood why Lu Li had broken his legs.
Lu Li had never intended to grant him a quick death!
He couldn't run away, and both his hands were useless. All he could do was endure the pain and feel his life ebb away.
"Lu Li, even as a ghost, I won't let you off!"
Lu Li stepped forward and smashed the man in black's head with a punch.
Then he rummaged through the man's robes and found a black token.
There were no words on it, and both sides were identical.
"What is this?" Lu Li looked it over, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"It's a token for the Black Market," Hu Niu said.
The Black Market!
Lu Li had been wanting to visit the Black Market, but he had no way in. He hadn't expected that, just when he needed a pillow, someone would deliver one.
"You've been to the Black Market?"
Hu Niu nodded. "I have, but that bad man wouldn't let me in. He made me hide far away."
"I don't even know if it's called the Black Market. That's just what he called it."
Lu Li nodded and put the token away.
Once he broke through to the Tendon-Refining Realm, he could have Hu Niu take him there.
After that, Lu Li climbed onto Hu Niu and headed for the cave.
Hu Niu was incredibly fast, swift as the wind.
The thought of having a White Tiger for a mount was exhilarating!
Sitting on her back, Lu Li felt imposing.
They soon arrived at the tiger's den.
Inside was an herb garden, bursting with color and filled with a rich fragrance.
There were ten plants in all.
Lu Li examined them and compared them with the medicinal herbs in the shops. Their quality was excellent.
If he sold them all, he'd have enough to eat and drink for half his life!
"I planted all of these. Whenever the herbs ripened, that bad man would come and pick them. He wouldn't leave a single one for me," Hu Niu complained from beside him.
Lu Li patted Hu Niu on the head to comfort her.
At the same time, he felt that this world was growing ever more mysterious.
Some medicinal herbs were great tonics for demons and monsters, helping improve their constitutions and promote their growth.
That was why some intelligent demons and monsters transplanted medicinal herbs and cultivated them themselves.
He had thought it was all just the stuff of storybooks. Now that he was strong enough to encounter it for real, he discovered that it was all true.
Strength really was the most important thing. Only with strength could one learn more of the world's secrets.
But Hu Niu's words left Lu Li deep in thought again.
The man in black had surely been gathering herbs for the Rebel Army.
The Rebel Army likely knew that medicinal herbs were growing here, too.
At that thought, Lu Li turned to her. "Hu Niu, let's find another cave. Otherwise, those bad people will surely come and control you again."
At his words, Hu Niu's little face fell.
This cave was where she had lived for a long time.
It held memories of her parents, and she couldn't bear to leave it.
But the situation was bad now. Though she looked silly and adorably dopey, she still understood what mattered most.
She quickly pushed down her grief and nodded.
Lu Li gathered up the herbs, climbed onto Hu Niu, and went in search of a cave.
At last, a day later, they found a bear's den hidden behind a row of trees.
The surrounding shrubs concealed the cave, making it extremely hard to spot.
If the bear inside hadn't sensed danger passing by and let out a roar, Lu Li really might not have found it.
That showed just how well hidden it was.
Lu Li went straight in, killed the bear with a punch, and claimed the cave.
Afterward, he left everything else to Hu Niu, picked out a medicinal herb, and began cultivating.
The medicinal power entered his body. His blood boiled, and his flesh rippled.
Lu Li began practicing the Tiger-Subduing Fist, move by move.
Before he knew it, time had passed.
Night had fallen like a curtain.
Lu Li opened his eyes again and looked at the panel.
[Martial Arts: Tiger-Subduing Fist (Flesh-Refining Realm 70/400), one practice per day, 40 years to mastery. Beast-Taming Art: (cannot be upgraded)]
One medicinal herb had added 40 points of proficiency.
Lu Li was a little dissatisfied. He felt that the improvement was too small.
"It seems that as my realm rises, medicinal herbs have a diminishing effect on my body. I need something stronger and more potent!"
"The martial path really is a bottomless pit!"
Lu Li slowly finished his practice.
If he hadn't spent the past two days concentrating without a break, his body couldn't have taken any more, and his stomach hadn't started protesting, he would have kept training without pause.
His gaze swept across the herb garden. Hu Niu had already tended to it.
She had even planted the two herbs he'd picked as well.
Only then did Lu Li turn his attention to Hu Niu.
At some point, Hu Niu had started a fire. She had skewered a large chunk of bear meat on a wooden stick and was roasting it over the flames.
Lu Li's body tensed. He sprang up, his gaze sharp as lightning as he scanned the surroundings, but saw no one.
Only then did he look surprised and ask, "Did you do this?"
Hu Niu sat on the ground, holding a piece of bear meat in her forepaws. Lu Li's sudden movement had startled her.
She hurriedly nodded, then stuck out her tongue and licked the scraps of meat from the corner of her mouth.
"I only eat cooked food, not raw meat. That man in black made me eat raw meat. It was disgusting."
Lu Li was speechless. This was the first time he'd ever seen a tiger that ate cooked food.
He had to admit, Hu Niu was quite skilled at roasting meat. She had cooked it just right.
But without seasoning, it only had the natural flavor of the ingredients, so it was a little bland.
"Next time I come, I'll bring you something good that'll make the meat taste better."
Hu Niu's eyes lit up. She nodded excitedly again and again, letting out a delighted call.
She suddenly felt that Lu Li was a pretty good master.
Seeing how excited she was, Lu Li understood a little more about Hu Niu's temperament.
This girl was a foodie, too.
After resting for a night,
Lu Li took five of the more useful medicinal herbs and left the rest for Hu Niu. She was about to break through, too.
He looked at the herbs he had picked out.
He planned to give the Red Sun Fruit to the Huang Family in exchange for a new identity.
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