The Tiger Demon had not used the Northwind Pearl right away, not because he underestimated the two girls, but because he wanted to find out whether they had any other tricks up their sleeves.
"Bang!"
Liu Zijin slashed at the wall of wind with her sword, but even with true qi behind it, her strike was still bounced back, leaving the web between her thumb and forefinger numb.
"It's useless. Even a Nether Gazing Realm cultivator's all-out strike would struggle to break the wind barrier formed by my Northwind Pearl. No one can save you."
The Tiger Demon gave Liu Zijin a contemptuous smile.
By now, he already regarded the two of them as food on his plate.
"I'm sorry, Junior Sister Buyu. I've dragged you into this."
Her face filled with guilt, Liu Zijin raised her longsword, seemingly ready to fight the Demon Tiger to the death.
A trace of panic also appeared on Lin Buyu's usually unruffled face.
Faced with life and death, no one could truly remain unmoved.
"Roar!"
At that moment, the Tiger Demon lost patience. With a roar, he lunged at the two of them.
"Canglang!"
"Boom!"
Within the cramped confines of the wind wall, neither girl had room to retreat. They could only meet him head-on, one raising her sword and the other striking with her palms as they attacked the Tiger Demon together.
"Bang!"
But against the Tiger Demon's all-out assault, they lasted only a few exchanges before both were swatted away.
The Tiger Demon held the advantage in both cultivation and physique. In a head-on fight, they had no chance of winning.
"Hiss!..."
The Tiger Demon raised his head and inhaled sharply. An immense suction sprang from his mouth, dragging Liu Zijin and Lin Buyu toward him from where they lay.
"Whoosh!..."
Though both struggled with all their might, they could not resist the suction. Their bodies were swept high into the air, about to be swallowed whole by the Tiger Demon.
"Boom!"
Just then, the sound of something tearing through the air suddenly exploded through the maple grove.
From the corners of their eyes, Liu Zijin and Lin Buyu saw only a lean, masked figure in ordinary leather armor descending from the sky amid a storm of swirling maple leaves, hurtling straight toward the Tiger Demon's head.
"Bang!"
Amid the tremendous crash, Lin Buyu watched in astonishment as a masked boy stood atop the Demon Tiger's head, hammering down with his fists.
"Bang, bang, bang!..."
The punches striking the Tiger Demon's head sounded like drums on a battlefield-dense, rapid, and powerful, as though they would never stop. They battered him so fiercely that he could not even lift his head.
"That looks like the Green Ox Fist's finishing move, Charging Ox Breaks the Formation!"
Having fallen back to the ground, Liu Zijin stared in shock at the boy straddling the tiger's back, pounding the Tiger Demon on the head with one heavy punch after another.
She recognized his fist technique, but that only made her all the more astonished.
As far as she knew, the Green Ox Fist was merely an ordinary martial art. It could never display such power in an ordinary person's hands.
"Is that really the Green Ox Fist?"
Feeling the ground around her tremble and seeing the phantom of a green ox formed from the true qi surrounding Xu Taiping, she could not help murmuring the question again.
"Bang!"
At that moment, after driving down another heavy punch, the boy did not immediately raise his already split fist as he had before.
This is bad. Charging Ox Breaks the Formation only has a hundred and eight punches!
Liu Zijin's heart jolted, and she shouted:
"Boy, the Tiger Demon's about to strike back!"
As she spoke, she forced her true qi into motion, preparing to rush forward and help.
"Roar!"
Almost at the same moment Liu Zijin cried out, the Tiger Demon roared and abruptly rolled over, flinging the boy high into the air.
"Bang!"
Just then, Lin Buyu appeared in front of the Tiger Demon. Thrusting both palms forward, she cried in her slightly youthful voice:
"Palms Like Rushing Thunder!"
More than a dozen palm shadows covered in crackling arcs of lightning shot out with her palms, slamming heavily into the Tiger Demon's chest.
"Bang!"
The force of Lin Buyu's palms drove the Tiger Demon back several steps and briefly numbed his body.
"Damn you!"
The enraged Tiger Demon bellowed, unleashing his demonic power. The resulting blast of air slammed into Lin Buyu and sent her flying backward.
"Thank you, miss!"
The boy's voice suddenly rang out.
Although Lin Buyu's palm strike had posed no real threat to the Tiger Demon, it had bought the boy enough time to switch moves.
"Clang!"
The boy landed on a branch and lightly tapped the short sword at his waist. A ringing sword cry abruptly burst forth.
"Whoosh!"
The short sword shot toward the Tiger Demon's skull like a streak of light.
The Tiger Demon's instincts were exceptionally keen. As he halted, he sharply tilted his head aside.
With a swish, the sword's streak of light grazed the Tiger Demon's shoulder blade, leaving a deep gash that spilled blood everywhere. Coupled with his blood-soaked head, it made him look utterly battered.
"Bang!"
Before the Tiger Demon could turn around, the boy leaped down from the tree again. Another Ox Horn Crashes the Mountain smashed heavily into the Tiger Demon's skull, driving him headfirst into the ground and leaving a deep crater.
"Roar!"
The furious Tiger Demon violently shook his body, throwing the boy off once more, then turned his head and spat a fierce Gang Wind cyclone at him.
If that cyclone struck, the boy would be gravely wounded, if not killed outright.
"Bang!"
Fortunately, the boy had anticipated the attack. He gathered all his crimson dawn true qi around his body and took the blow head-on.
At the same time, he tapped the short sword at his waist again, sending it stabbing toward the Tiger Demon's skull once more.
"Is this magical sword your strongest trick?"
Facing the flying sword as it streaked toward him again, the Tiger Demon sneered and spat out the Northwind Pearl.
"Boom!"
Amid an explosive blast of air, fierce winds swirled around the Northwind Pearl once more. Then, like a magnet, it caught the flying sword and held it immobile.
"I doubt you knew my Northwind Pearl could subdue magical swords as well!"
The Tiger Demon grinned viciously at the sight, then spat another Gang Wind cyclone at the boy.
The boy reacted swiftly, wrapping his feet in true qi and leaping up, narrowly avoiding the Tiger Demon's attack.
But the space inside the wind barrier was far too cramped. He had barely evaded that strike when the Tiger Demon pounced on him.
This time, he had no room left to dodge.
Lin Buyu and Liu Zijin, who had witnessed this from nearby, were already rushing toward him. But both had been seriously injured earlier. How could they possibly reach him in time?
"A blood meal delivered to my door! Today, I will break through to the Demon King Realm!"
The Tiger Demon bellowed, then lunged forward to bite the boy.
But just as he was about to swallow the boy whole, he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. Streams of bone-chilling cold suddenly spread from the boy's body, and the boy moved to exhale.
The demonic beast's instincts warned him that death was drawing near.
But by then, it was already too late to pull back and flee.
Before you continue