Feeding Himself to the Tiger

"Yang, it's no use! Dad and Grandpa Jian are still losing their life force! What do we do?!"

On the tiger's back, Ning Rongrong looked at Gao Yang in despair.

To make room for all four of them, Xiao Tian had grown to several yards long.

Even at a full sprint, no one would be thrown from her back.

"Rongrong, don't stop using your Soul Skill!" Gao Yang's face was deathly pale. Ignoring his own discomfort, he patted Xiao Tian beneath him. "Old friend, give it everything you've got. Take us to the Star Dou Great Forest to find Xiao Lu."

He had just tried using his Second Martial Soul, the Golden Staff, to heal Ning Fengzhi and Jian Chen.

He had even poured out his Soul Power to unleash the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill the Sky Azure Bull Python had given him: How Could We Have No Clothes?

When Ning Rongrong had been gravely injured, he had used that skill to transfer her wounds onto himself.

Yet even a Soul Skill that powerful had done nothing for Ning Fengzhi and Jian Chen.

"Yangyang, don't waste your strength. The sect master and I were poisoned by the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor." Jian Chen patted Gao Yang's shoulder and smiled. "Once poisoned, you can only resist it with your life force until every last drop is spent and your lamp goes out."

As a Douluo, Jian Chen had seen more than most.

He knew perfectly well that, apart from his unhealed eyes, he had no injuries anywhere on his body.

But the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor's poison was not a wound. It was more like fate.

Once it entered the body, the countdown on one's life began.

Without a Martial Soul like the Nine Heart Begonia to briefly prolong that life, there was no chance of survival.

"That's right. Don't waste your Soul Power on us," Ning Fengzhi said calmly.

"It's all right, it's all right! My Soul Beast friend has five hundred thousand years of cultivation!" Gao Yang's nose stung, and his voice caught. "Among Soul Beasts, she's known as the strongest healer! Once we find her, the sect master and Third Grandpa can both be saved!"

"Yangyang, Third Grandpa has killed countless Soul Beasts in his lifetime. If I had to rely on one to save me in my old age, my lifelong good name would truly be swept into the dirt."

"At a time like this, what matters more, your pride or your life?!" Gao Yang roared. "Xiao Tian, faster! Please, old friend, go faster!"

"Roar!"

Xiao Tian roared and surged forward.

But before she had gone far, her footing gave way, and her whole body flew sideways.

"Watch out!"

It took everything Gao Yang had to protect the other three and bring them safely to the ground.

He was about to scold Xiao Tian when he saw her lying limp. In that brief moment, tiger blood so dark a red it was nearly black had streamed beneath her like a spring, gathering into a pool.

"Xiao Tian!"

Only then did Gao Yang realize how badly his old friend had been hurt by Demon Subduing Douluo!

A stream of light split from the Golden Staff and enveloped Xiao Tian.

Gao Yang did not have enough Soul Power to use How Could We Have No Clothes?, but he could still use his other enhancement skills.

Perhaps because of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's influence, his Golden Staff followed the path of battlefield enhancement rather than the Ye Family's path of life-saving healing.

So he had only one Soul Skill that could restore her.

"Rrr..."

Guilt crept into the way Xiao Tian looked at Gao Yang.

That look made his heart ache all the more.

"Wait for me. All of you, wait for me!" Gao Yang's expression hardened. "I still have a last resort that lets me drain life force. Human or Soul Beast, I can draw out their life force and give it to you!"

Ning Rongrong closed her eyes in anguish.

If her husband truly did that, he would be branded a Fallen Soul Master. Once exposed, Soul Masters across the entire continent would rise against him.

But Xiao Tian clearly could not run any farther.

That left only this one way...

"Gao Yang, come back!"

Ning Fengzhi's voice was quiet but full of authority.

That authority brought a measure of clarity back to Gao Yang's frenzied eyes.

"Sect master, don't worry. I promise no one will find out!"

"That's what every Fallen Soul Master says!"

"Sect master..."

"Enough. Come here. You and Rongrong, sit and talk with me."

"Sect master, this isn't the time to chat... All right..."

Seeing the plea in Ning Fengzhi's eyes, Gao Yang relented at last.

"I heard you two got married."

Ning Fengzhi smiled at Gao Yang and Ning Rongrong. Jian Chen also looked deeply relieved.

They had watched both children grow up.

It was a shame they had not seen the two of them bow at their wedding...

"Dad, Yang and I didn't expect to come back alive. So last night, we took it upon ourselves to hold the ceremony."

Tears streamed down Ning Rongrong's face as she held Ning Fengzhi's large hand between her own.

"You've had it so hard, both of you..." Ning Fengzhi's voice grew thick. Then he nudged Jian Chen with his elbow. "Uncle Jian, let me speak with Rongrong alone."

Jian Chen seemed to guess what he intended. Pain crossed his usually resolute face.

"All right... Fengzhi... Uncle Jian will go. I'll see you in a little while..."

"All right. Don't be long, Uncle Jian. Don't keep Uncle Gu and me waiting."

At Ning Fengzhi's words, Ning Rongrong cried even harder.

Had Dad forgotten that Grandpa Gu was already...

"Yangyang, come take a walk with Third Grandpa."

Sword Douluo rose to his feet. His injuries had healed.

Apart from his empty eye sockets and tattered clothes, he looked no different from usual.

But he alone knew how wildly his life force was draining away. Every second aged him another year.

"Third Grandpa..."

Gao Yang still wanted to argue, but Jian Chen had already walked off.

Helpless, he followed.

Once the two were gone, only Ning Rongrong's sobs and Xiao Tian's ragged breathing remained.

"Rongrong, I'm sorry. You've gotten married, and Dad didn't even prepare a proper gift."

"Dad, what do I have to do to save you?!"

Despair filled Ning Rongrong's heart.

She and Gao Yang had gone to Yellow Dragon Mountain expecting to die. She had never imagined

that they would actually manage to rescue Ning Fengzhi and Jian Chen.

But the greater her joy had been, the deeper her despair became when she learned the two of them would still die.

"Rongrong, don't cry. Dad doesn't have much time left. Listen to me carefully, all right?"

"Wah... Mm... Rongrong's listening... Go on, Dad..."

"I've watched Gao Yang grow up since he was little. I'm glad you two found your way to each other."

Ning Fengzhi stroked Ning Rongrong's hand, his face full of love.

"This is Dad's fault. For more than ten years, I never saw through Qian Renxue's disguise."

"Everything that's happened is because I was blind."

"Rongrong, Dad has sinned against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but you haven't. You're still the sect's pride! I believe in you. One day, you'll make the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect great again! I know you'll make up for my mistakes!"

"Dad, it's too hard. It's far too hard!" Ning Rongrong wept. "Spirit Hall is too powerful..."

The thought of Qian Renxue's Level 99 grandfather and her mother, who was above Level 95,

left Ning Rongrong powerless and despairing over the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's future.

"No matter how hard it is, I believe you can do it!" Ning Fengzhi said gently. "The 'Rong' in my Rongrong's name means glory!"

"Dad..."

Ning Rongrong tried to speak, but Ning Fengzhi cut her off.

"Rongrong, custom says a mother should dress her daughter's hair when she marries." Ning Fengzhi smiled. "Your mother isn't here anymore, so let Dad comb your hair one more time, all right?"

"Dad..." Ning Rongrong choked for a long while, unable to find the words. At last, she silently took a wooden comb from her Soul Tool and placed it in Ning Fengzhi's hand.

Then she turned her back to him.

"When did your hair get so long? How did my little girl grow up so much? How did she get married in the blink of an eye..."

As she listened to Ning Fengzhi, Ning Rongrong's tears would not stop.

Suddenly, her neck went numb, and she fell flat onto the ground.

"When a daughter marries, how can her father not give her a dowry?"

"What a pity. A hundred years of the sect's accumulated wealth, countless gold coins and treasures, have fallen into Spirit Hall's hands."

"But it doesn't matter. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's priceless treasure is still with me!"

"Luckily, Xue Qinghe wanted to use Uncle Jian and me, broken as we are, to lure you and Gao Yang out. Otherwise, this Torso Soul Bone of mine would have fallen into his hands too."

"It's a shame this Soul Bone is only ninety thousand years old. If it were a hundred thousand, it would be perfect."

"Rongrong, this is all Dad can give you. I hope you won't be disappointed."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's revival rests with you and Gao Yang."

Hearing this, Ning Rongrong seemed to realize what he meant.

She desperately tried to summon her Soul Power, but still could not get up.

She could not even speak a single word.

"Mmph, mmph..." With her cheek pressed against the ground, Ning Rongrong tried to say something through her muffled sobs.

"Rongrong, Dad's leaving. Take good care of yourself from now on."

With that, Ning Fengzhi looked at Xiao Tian nearby.

"Xiao Tian, my flesh and cultivation should be quite nourishing for you, shouldn't they?"

"Awooo..."

Xiao Tian looked at Ning Fengzhi with conflicted eyes.

"I've known for a long time that you can devour Soul Masters to increase your cultivation. It can't have been easy, holding back your instincts all these years and quietly staying beside Gao Yang in the sect."

"Awooo..."

"Little one, make it quick." Ning Fengzhi stepped up to Xiao Tian.

His eyes were empty, and his clothes hung in tatters.

Yet he still carried the noble bearing of the greatest support Soul Master under heaven!

"Mmph, mmph..." Ning Rongrong shook her head frantically.

But all she could do was watch Xiao Tian rise and press her enormous tiger head against Ning Fengzhi.

"Little one, once you've eaten me, take good care of my daughter and son-in-law."

"Oh, and don't swallow my Torso Soul Bone. That's my daughter's dowry!"

"It seems that even facing death, I still can't be honest with myself."

"Rongrong, don't blame Xiao Tian. This is Dad's choice."

"If only I could see you one more time, my daughter..."