I Am the True Tiger

Sun Ninghu said nothing.

His breathing grew heavier and heavier, his chest heaving ever more violently. Two flames burned in his light brown eyes, filled with shock and fear.

His legs trembled faintly, as though he were using every ounce of strength to restrain the urge to turn and flee for his life.

"My lord, this servant is under Yunhe Commandery Princess's command..."

Qiu Chihu said nothing, his hand settling on the hilt of his saber.

The saber slowly slid from its sheath.

Its blade was exceptionally long, more than a foot longer than an ordinary goose-feather saber.

Its spine was extremely thick, yet the blade itself was thin—thin as a cicada's wing—and under the sunlight, it gleamed with a dim, chilling sheen.

Faint silver patterns flowed across the blade, stretching from hilt to tip like a silver serpent coiled upon it, spitting cold glints.

The instant the saber left its sheath, the air within several yards suddenly turned frigid.

Chen Lingxi understood at once.

"This saber... is no ordinary weapon!"

Seeing that pleading was useless, Sun Ninghu suddenly let out a low roar and lunged at Qiu Chihu.

Both his claws shot forth. Crimson qi flared and flickered around his ten fingers, tearing ten sharp howls through the air.

He had put all his strength into this pounce. His entire body was like that of a true ferocious tiger, unstoppable in its momentum.

"Overestimating yourself!"

The long saber in Qiu Chihu's hand turned lightly.

One slash!

Only one slash.

The saber light swept upward from below, carrying silver marrow qi and blood, carrying bone-piercing cold radiance, and struck squarely across Sun Ninghu's right arm!

That saber light was too fast. So fast that Chen Lingxi saw only an exceedingly thin silver line streak through the air before he heard the sound of bones shattering.

"Ah!"

With a scream!

Sun Ninghu's right arm was severed at the shoulder, the cut as smooth as a mirror. Blood gushed out, dyeing half his body crimson.

Screaming, he fell backward. His left hand clamped tightly over the stump as blood poured through his fingers and pooled on the ground.

Qiu Chihu stepped forward and planted a foot on Sun Ninghu's chest, lowering his head to look at him.

His face was bathed in the glow of the two True Lights above Sun Ninghu's head, flickering between brightness and shadow, making his smile all the more terrifying!

Sun Ninghu trembled all over. His lips moved several times, as though he wanted to say something.

But before he could speak, Qiu Chihu's saber moved.

The blade plunged into his throat.

Sun Ninghu's body convulsed violently a few times, then went still.

Qiu Chihu withdrew his saber, wiped the blood from its blade on Sun Ninghu's lapel, and sheathed it.

He stood there, looking down at Sun Ninghu's corpse.

"I am the true tiger." His voice was quiet, as though he were talking to himself, or speaking to the corpse. "You, a mere servant, think you deserve to share my name?"

As his words fell, Sun Ninghu's corpse began to dissolve.

Starting from his limbs, it turned inch by inch into fine motes of light, like a pile of sand scattered by the wind. It vanished soundlessly into the air, transforming into a stream of radiance.

That radiance, along with the two True Lights originally above his head, drifted toward Qiu Chihu.

Qiu Chihu did not even spare it a glance. One hand resting on his saber hilt, he strode toward the mountain path, the eighteen True Lights above his head following after him.

Chen Lingxi sat motionless amid the tree canopy.

Only after he watched Qiu Chihu's back vanish at the end of the mountain path through the gaps in the leaves did he slowly withdraw his gaze and close his eyes again.

The canopy was so quiet that only the wind and the rustling locust leaves remained.

After an unknown length of time, several muffled blasts erupted again from a distant mountain hollow.

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes.

Qiu Chihu stood on the mountain path not far away, looking around from side to side and muttering to himself, "There is still one servant left. Where is he hiding?"

He frowned in thought.

Chen Lingxi sensed something.

"Other than me, all the other fighting beasts are dead."

He rose to his full height!

The canopy rustled.

Qiu Chihu sensed it again and raised his head toward the canopy.

His gaze pierced through layer upon layer of locust leaves and collided with Chen Lingxi's.

Tilting his head, he bared his teeth in a grin.

"You servant, you hid well."

Chen Lingxi brushed several dead leaves from his robes, then leapt down, landing lightly in the clearing among the woods.

Without wasting a word, Qiu Chihu stepped forward and casually slashed at him.

The saber light rang out, silver marrow flooding the heavens!

Chen Lingxi's qi and blood surged as he threw a thunderous punch.

City-Crushing, Mountain-Crushing!

His fist force shattered the saber light!

Qiu Chihu's expression changed.

He saw the faint silver-white glow beneath Chen Lingxi's skin. He saw the uniquely piercing chill of silver marrow within his qi and blood.

"Silver bones." His brow lifted slightly, and surprise flashed through his eyes. "Not bad. Silver-bone fighting beasts are rather rare in Yuan River Prefecture."

As he spoke, he gave his saber a light shake.

Cold light suddenly flashed along the blade.

Silver marrow flowed across the saber, qi and blood pulsing and flickering, forcing the air within several feet to hiss.

"You hid from me for so long, wasting no small amount of my time and making me lose face before the Crown Prince." The smile on his face faded somewhat. His tone remained even, but the mockery in his eyes had vanished, replaced by naked killing intent.

Chen Lingxi did not answer.

He suddenly felt that Qiu Chihu's gaze was no different from Lu Baizhong's as he pinned down ants in Willow Street Alley.

In fact, he was even worse than Lu Baizhong...

This man still saw him as a beast for their amusement.

The disgust in Chen Lingxi's heart nearly ignited into open flame.

And so...

He launched another fierce punch!

With that punch came the third form of the Seven Forms of Ceasing War—[City-Crushing Form]!

Qi and blood churned violently within him. The crimson of copper-fire qi and blood entwined and clashed with the chill of silver marrow in his meridians, like ice and fire within the same furnace. Yin and yang converged, transforming into an immense, surging force beyond resistance that erupted through the force-channeling method of Mountain-Crushing Force.

As his fist swept forward, the air compressed into a visible white ring that spread outward in layer after layer. Broken stones flew everywhere, and dead leaves whirled through the air.

The might of this punch surpassed that of an ordinary beginner-level silver-bone cultivator by who knew how many times!

This was the wonder of the third level of qi circulation, where one tempered the bones!

A gleam flashed in Qiu Chihu's eyes. Without dodging or evading, he slashed out as well.

This slash was too fast.

Chen Lingxi saw only an extremely thin silver line light up before him. It stretched across the sky, unstoppable!

The instant fist and saber met, Mountain-Crushing Force collided with the saber light in a dull boom like thunder!

A blast wave swept in every direction, tossing up all the dead leaves, broken stones, and withered grass within several yards, exposing the bare yellow earth beneath.

Chen Lingxi felt an incomparably fierce force travel through the saber, numbing his fist.

Even more terrifying, that force did not dissipate there. It spread upward through his finger bones, palm bones, and wrist bones. Every bone it passed through buzzed as though someone had struck it viciously through flesh with an iron hammer.

He retreated three steps before steadying himself.

"Bone-Penetrating Force." Chen Lingxi flexed his numb wrist, his gaze darkening.

[Bone-Penetrating Force], the mark of silver-bone great completion.

This Bone-Penetrating Force was tyrannical in the extreme.

Though he had blocked that slash head-on with Mountain-Crushing Force, the Bone-Penetrating Force clung like rot to the bone, piercing the qi-and-blood barrier over his fist and directly shaking his bones.

Silver-bone great completion truly was extraordinary.

Having gained the advantage with one slash, Qiu Chihu pressed his attack without mercy.

He stepped forward, and the silver patterns on his treasured saber suddenly lit up.

The moment they did, the saber's momentum abruptly changed.

That earlier slash had followed a path of sinister cold; its saber light had been as thin as a silver thread, piercingly frigid.

Now, however, the silver patterns on the blade seemed to ignite, bursting with dazzling golden light.

[Radiant Gold Saber Method]!

This was the saber art passed down through generations of the Qiu Family, embodying the intent of "the great sun shines upon gold, leaving nowhere to hide."

Once its saber momentum unfolded, it was like a blazing sun hanging overhead, its radiance reaching ten thousand spans.

In an instant!

Qiu Chihu slashed seven times in succession.

Each of the first six slashes was stronger than the last, faster than the last.

Chen Lingxi's qi and blood roared. He repeatedly unleashed Mountain-Crushing Force and the City-Crushing Form, meeting Qiu Chihu's long saber head-on!

Then the seventh slash descended.

This was the killing move of the Radiant Gold Saber Method. Its momentum cut diagonally from upper right to lower left, the golden light on its blade blazing to its utmost brilliance at that moment, like a true sun falling from the ninth heavens!

Unable to evade, Chen Lingxi could only drive Mountain-Crushing Force to its limit and blast out with his right fist, meeting that saber light head-on.

This time, a thread of azure light appeared upon his fist!

[Azure Edge Method]!

That azure light was extremely thin and faint, mixed among the crimson qi glow and silver-white radiance. Without close inspection, it would have been almost impossible to notice.

But at the instant saber and fist collided, that thread of azure light suddenly flared, like a famous sword long hidden in its sheath finally being drawn.

Fist and saber collided.

Clang!

It was like two divine weapons crashing head-on!

The sound wave spread outward in ripples, making the surrounding leaves tremble and rustle. Several crows perched on distant branches shrieked and took flight, circling a few times in the air before fleeing in panic.

The two men retreated the instant they struck.

Qiu Chihu lowered his head and looked at the treasured saber in his hand.

The saber was still trembling.

Qiu Chihu raised his head and looked at Chen Lingxi's right hand.

Chen Lingxi held his index and middle fingers together like a sword. A dim azure edge slowly pulsed from his fingertips.

For the first time, true astonishment appeared in Qiu Chihu's eyes.

"What method is this? I have never heard of it." Narrowing his eyes, he asked.

Chen Lingxi did not answer.

Azure light pulsed from the fingertips of his right hand, echoing the Mountain-Crushing Force over the fist of his left.

Crimson qi glow, silver-white radiance, and azure edge interwove and flowed endlessly around him.

He was like a sword immortal wielding a spirit sword.