Though furious at the Skywater Qilin for standing idly by, the Tiger Demon knew deep down that while the Cloud-Dream Palace had always protected its own... it had never maintained its supremacy over the vast Cloud-Dream Realm through the protection of elders or indulgence without limits.
For beings like them, honored with the title of prodigy, accepting the immense resources and gifts poured into them by the Cloud-Dream Palace meant they had to prove their worth in battles of life and death.
It had already come off worse against those Dao Sect disciples... if it could not even deal with a human cultivator in the Third-Move Chessmaster Realm now...
The Cloud-Dream Palace would avenge it afterward, but would never again regard it as a prodigy. Instead, the palace would mercilessly knock it into the dust, reducing it to a discarded pawn.
At that thought, demonic energy boiled violently throughout the Tiger Demon's body.
It abruptly turned its head and unleashed a sky-shaking roar at the black bird demon, which was about to summon its purple-mist claws again.
"You stay out of this too!"
The black bird demon paused slightly at those words.
It looked back helplessly.
The Cloud-Dream Palace did indeed have rules like these to test the true mettle of its prodigies, but surely this was no time for that.
The Immortal-God Cave Abode was about to open. The Dao Painting mattered above all else.
As far as the bird demon was concerned, they could simply join forces to deal with the woman before them and uncover the Dao Painting's whereabouts as soon as possible. Any disciplinary measures could naturally be discussed afterward.
But when it saw the Skywater Qilin's expression, with not the slightest intention of intervening...
It could only sigh softly.
The Skywater Qilin held an exalted