"Third senior brother!"
Liu Zijin turned without hesitation and leaped down toward Lu Chen, raising her sword to thrust at the Demon Tiger.
Still unaware of Lu Chen's true colors, she naturally would not abandon her senior brother.
Whoosh!
Under Liu Zijin's full-strength sword strike, the Demon Tiger had no choice but to withdraw the claw swinging toward Lu Chen.
"Senior brother, let's go back to the sect together and find-"
"Junior sister, hold this Demon Tiger off for a while. I'll go find help!"
Liu Zijin had been about to pull Lu Chen away with her so they could seek help from the sect, but before she could finish speaking, Lu Chen shoved her hard behind him.
"Senior brother Lu?!"
Knocked to the ground, Liu Zijin stared in disbelief as Lu Chen activated his spirit sword and flew away after pushing her down.
Boom!
Before Liu Zijin could rise, the Tiger Demon caught up and slammed a claw down at her.
Whoosh!
In that moment of peril, Liu Zijin threw out a Golden Bell Talisman she carried and activated it with her magical power.
Clang!
Just as the tiger's claw was about to tear through Liu Zijin's body, a bell-shaped barrier of light suddenly sprang from within her, enclosing her completely. With a clang, it took the Tiger Demon's heavy blow.
"Escape!"
Liu Zijin hurriedly recited her Movement Art Mantra, then raced toward the Mountain Forest's exit with steps as swift as the wind.
"You think a mere Golden Bell Talisman can stop me?"
The Tiger Demon laughed wildly, then drew a breath and blasted it toward Liu Zijin with a roar.
Bang, bang, bang!
Blade-sharp vortices of fierce wind battered the Golden Bell Shield, forcing Liu Zijin to stop and brace against the impacts of the wind blades.
Yet in the blink of an eye, she saw cracks appearing in the barrier conjured by the Golden Bell Talisman.
For a moment, Liu Zijin could neither advance nor retreat.
Rumble!
Just then, rolling thunder suddenly erupted through the Mountain Forest.
Liu Zijin looked up and saw a talisman shining with purple-gold radiance above the Mountain Forest canopy over the Tiger Demon's head. She had no idea when it had appeared, but the thunder was coming from within it.
"A Five Thunder Talisman?"
The Tiger Demon also noticed the talisman gathering the power of lightning. After a brief start, he leaped abruptly, trying to dodge the thunderbolt about to fall.
Boom!
But his reaction was still a beat too slow. His already grievously wounded tail was burned to black charcoal by a lightning bolt descending from the sky, and his body went numb, leaving him unable to move.
Even when he mustered all the demonic power in his body, he could not make himself move.
"Roar!"
Wracked with pain and fury, the Demon Tiger raised his head and roared wildly at a figure standing on a branch ahead.
"Neither of you will escape! Today, you'll both become food for this lord!"
He had already spotted the person who had thrown the Five Thunder Talisman at him.
Indeed, it was Lin Buyu, who had remained up in the tree all this time.
"Go."
Lin Buyu leaped from the branch, pulled Liu Zijin up from the ground, and broke into a sprint.
"Thank you, junior sister."
Having narrowly escaped death, Liu Zijin thanked Lin Buyu as she kept pace with her.
Boom!
But the two had still underestimated the Demon Tiger's strength. Before they could escape the maple grove, he had already cut off their path.
"Let's see where you two can run now!"
The Tiger Demon watched them with a sinister grin.
"Monster, you dare harm disciples of the Azure Profound Sect? Aren't you afraid our sect will hunt you down?"
Liu Zijin raised her sword and shielded Lin Buyu behind her.
"At this point, do you think I still have a way out? Rather than wait to be hunted down, I might as well eat you two first and increase my strength!"
At that, the Demon Tiger suddenly chuckled.
"To tell you the truth, this demon lord is only one step away from breaking through to the Demon King Realm and becoming a genuine King-Tier Demon Beast!"
Hearing this, Liu Zijin knitted her brows even tighter.
A King-Tier Demonic Beast's cultivation and magical power were very close to those of a Nether Gazing Realm cultivator. Coupled with its demonic physique and the abilities unique to a King-Level Demonic Beast, even a cultivator at Minor Completion in the Nether Gazing Realm might not be able to deal with it.
"Mmm, you two smell quite delightful, especially the little girl behind you."
The Demon Tiger suddenly sniffed deeply, then gazed greedily at Lin Buyu, who stood behind Liu Zijin.
"A disciple carrying a Five Thunder Talisman must be among those most valued by her sect, with the finest root bone. You might even possess that exceedingly rare golden spirit bone. If I eat you, not only can I become a king directly, I might even awaken a layer of bloodline power."
As he spoke, he paced slowly before them, a low rumbling growl rising from his throat, as though he might pounce at any moment.
"Junior sister Buyu, I'll hold him off. Don't worry about me. Find a way to escape."
Liu Zijin secretly circulated the true qi in her dantian while transmitting her voice to Lin Buyu beside her.
The sect would certainly have given disciples with a golden spirit bone like Lin Buyu a means of escaping danger. That was why Liu Zijin had said this.
Lin Buyu remained silent.
She neither agreed nor objected.
Boom!
Just then, the Demon Tiger drew another breath, then blasted it toward Liu Zijin and Lin Buyu.
Shing!
Almost simultaneously, Liu Zijin drew her sword. Streams of Sword Qi gathered around her arm, and she slashed toward the Tiger Demon with Sword Qi surging like a rushing river.
Bang!
With a tremendous crash, Liu Zijin's sword split apart the Gang Wind the Tiger Demon had spewed.
Boom!
But what Liu Zijin had not anticipated was that, just as she cleaved through the wind, the Tiger Demon's partially severed tail swept toward her from the side without a whisper of warning.
Just as despair began to seize her, a slender figure appeared beside her, holding a golden talisman.
Who else could it be but Lin Buyu?
Clang!
With a metallic tremor, the talisman in Lin Buyu's hand suddenly transformed into a golden Flying Sword and slashed toward the tiger's tail.
Whoosh!
Amid the sound of cleaving air, the tiger's tail fell, severed, and the golden Flying Sword shot straight toward the Tiger Demon's head.
Boom!
But at that moment, a beautiful crystal pearl appeared before the Tiger Demon, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile of triumphant cunning.
Bang!
With a tremendous crash, the golden Flying Sword formed from the talisman was shattered by the violent wind surging from the crystal pearl.
Boom!
Immediately afterward, before Liu Zijin and Lin Buyu could react, a circular barrier of raging wind enveloped them along with the Demon Tiger.
Seen from above, the three looked as though they had been enclosed within a circle made of wind.
"You didn't expect that, did you? I could still activate my Northwind Pearl one more time."
The Tiger Demon swallowed the crystal pearl, then walked toward the two with a smug expression.
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