A Life-Saving Favor, No Way to Repay

Just then.

In the darkness, a pair of ghostly green eyes silently lit up.

A Rou's body suddenly stiffened.

She slowly raised her head and saw a black soul beast looking down at her from a branch high up in an ancient tree. Its entire body was covered in jet-black scales, its four sharp claws deeply embedded in the trunk, while a thick tail slowly swayed behind it.

The Dark Evil Tiger.

It had caught up.

"Heh..." A Rou gave a miserable laugh.

After fleeing for three days and three nights, she still hadn't escaped in the end.

The Dark Evil Tiger leaped down from the tree trunk and landed ten meters in front of A Rou.

The instant its massive body hit the ground, the earth trembled slightly. Cruelty and greed flickered in its ghostly green eyes as it let out a low growl, its foul stench rushing toward her.

"You want to eat me." A Rou stared into the Dark Evil Tiger's eyes, her tone strangely calm.

The Dark Evil Tiger did not answer, merely closing in slowly. It seemed to enjoy the feeling of watching its prey struggle at death's door. In its mind, this heavily injured Soft-Boned Rabbit had already lost all ability to resist.

Her hundred-thousand-year cultivation, pure soul power, and that soul bone would soon become nourishment for its evolution.

A Rou closed her eyes. She accepted her fate.

The poison within her had already spread through every limb and organ. Forget fighting—even standing up was beyond her.

Resistance would only bring more pain.

"Xiao Wu..." A bitter smile touched A Rou's lips. "Mother is sorry."

The Dark Evil Tiger opened its gaping, bloodstained jaws—

"Not necessarily."

A voice suddenly rang out beside A Rou.

It was not loud, and its tone was calm, as though it were merely commenting on some trivial matter.

Yet, at the instant those bloody jaws were about to descend, the voice exploded like thunder. The Dark Evil Tiger's movement abruptly froze.

A trace of alarm and suspicion flashed through its ghostly green eyes, as though it were judging the origin of this sudden voice. Then, in the next moment, it saw someone.

A young man in a green robe was standing beside A Rou, though no one knew when he had arrived.

He had appeared out of thin air without any warning, as if he had been there from the very beginning. Under the moonlight, his features were refined and handsome, his expression indifferent. His deep black eyes were as still as a dead pool, without the slightest ripple.

The Dark Evil Tiger instinctively retreated half a step.

The instincts of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast made it sense an unprecedented threat.

There was not the slightest trace of soul power emanating from this human, yet simply standing there, he gave the Dark Evil Tiger an overwhelmingly dangerous feeling. It was like an ancient ferocious beast looking down upon an ant.

A Rou opened her eyes as well, staring in shock at the young man who had suddenly appeared beside her. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, only to realize she barely had the strength to speak.

Tang Ling glanced down at her, his gaze lingering for a moment on the wound in her chest.

"Dark Evil Poison." His tone was calm, as though talking to himself. "The poison entered your body three days ago and has eroded your five viscera. Half an hour later, not even a Daluo Golden Immortal could save you."

He extended a hand, palm facing downward. A pale azure glow poured from his palm, enveloping A Rou's entire body.

The light was gentle as water, yet it contained an unimaginable surge of life force.

The light seeped into A Rou's wound. The black poison that had been continuously spreading dissipated like melting ice and snow the instant it came into contact with the glow.

The savage wound in A Rou's chest began healing at a visible rate.

In fewer than ten breaths.

The wound had healed, the poison had been completely purged, and even the soul power depleted within her body rapidly recovered under the nourishment of that azure light.

A Rou was too shocked to speak.

She looked down at her chest, then up at Tang Ling, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She knew the Dark Evil Tiger's poison better than anyone. It was a deadly toxin that even a hundred-thousand-year soul beast could not purge on its own. Yet this young human had merely waved his hand and cleansed it completely?

What... what kind of method was this?

"Roar—"

The Dark Evil Tiger let out a deep roar, interrupting A Rou's thoughts.

It stared at Tang Ling, murderous light flaring in its ghostly green eyes.

Though its instincts told it this human was not to be provoked, how could it accept having the prize already in its jaws snatched away like this?

How could the dignity of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast allow a human to provoke it?

The Dark Evil Tiger arched its body as black light burst forth around it. A powerful wave of soul power swept outward like a storm. The ground beneath its feet cracked inch by inch, while the ancient trees around it swayed violently under the blast.

The pressure of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast was unleashed without reservation, enough to make even a Soul Douluo turn pale.

A Rou's expression changed as well.

Just as she was about to warn Tang Ling to be careful, she saw that Tang Ling did not even lift an eyelid.

"Too noisy."

Tang Ling raised a hand and gave a light, casual slap.

That palm strike looked incredibly slow—so slow that A Rou could clearly see every detail of his wrist turning. Yet the instant that seemingly weightless palm came down, an incomprehensibly vast force erupted from Tang Ling's hand.

There were no soul power fluctuations. No dazzling special effects. There was not even the sound of wind.

But the Dark Evil Tiger's body was as though it had been struck head-on by an invisible colossal hammer.

"BOOM!!!"

A heaven-shaking explosion rang out.

The Dark Evil Tiger's enormous body was sent flying by that single palm strike like a black cannonball. It smashed through seven or eight ancient trees thick enough for several people to wrap their arms around, before crashing viciously into a mountainside a hundred meters away.

Rocks shattered and dust billowed as an enormous crater several meters deep was blasted into the entire cliff face.

The Dark Evil Tiger was embedded at the bottom of the crater, its limbs twitching as mouthful after mouthful of blood poured from its jaws. Its dark green eyes were filled with terror.

One strike. Just one strike.

It had not even seen how its opponent attacked before it was already grievously wounded and on the verge of death.

A Rou stared dumbfoundedly at the scene, her entire body seeming as though she had been frozen in place.

She had lived for a hundred thousand years and seen countless powerful beings. But she had never seen, nor even heard of, a young human like this—someone who could casually severely injure a hundred-thousand-year soul beast with a single palm strike.

A Titled Douluo? No. Even a Titled Douluo could not possibly crush a hundred-thousand-year soul beast so effortlessly.

"You..." A Rou spoke, her voice dry. "Who are you?"

Tang Ling withdrew his hand, his tone as calm as if he had merely swatted away a fly. "A hundred-thousand-year soul beast. Nothing impressive."

He had always wanted to know the true strength of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. Having tested it himself today, the answer was already obvious.

In terms of pure brute force, the Dark Evil Tiger was only at the Nascent Soul stage. He, meanwhile, had already reached the great perfection of the Nascent Soul stage. The fact that this beast was still alive after one palm strike meant he had already shown mercy.

A Rou struggled to her feet and gave Tang Ling a deep bow. "Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life. May I ask your honored name?"

"Tang Ling."

"Benefactor." A Rou's eyes reddened slightly. "A Rou has no way to repay this debt of gratitude. Should you ever have need of me in the future, I will not hesitate even if it costs me my life."

Tang Ling shook his head. "No need. I was merely passing by and acted on a whim."

He paused, his gaze settling on A Rou.

He knew that this woman was Xiao Wu's mother, a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit who had taken human form.

"You are seriously wounded and need to recuperate," Tang Ling said. "Your territory is not far ahead. I'll take you back."

Just as A Rou was about to thank him, the Dark Evil Tiger struggled out from the rubble at the distant mountainside.

It swayed as it rose to its feet, then summoned all its strength to let out a hoarse roar at Tang Ling. There was no longer the slightest trace of provocation in that roar—only fear and unwillingness.

Tang Ling turned back and glanced at it.

Just one glance.

The Dark Evil Tiger shuddered all over, let out a miserable cry, tucked its tail, and fled. Its enormous body tumbled and scrambled into the depths of the forest without daring to look back.

A Rou: "..."

She no longer knew what to say. A hundred-thousand-year Dark Evil Tiger had actually been frightened away by a single look from this young man.

Just who was this person?