Slaying the Tiger Demon-This Was the Final Punch

Seven days.

Xu Taiping had pursued the Demon Tiger for seven whole days and nights.

During those seven days, he had not drunk a mouthful of water or eaten a single grain of rice. He had fought the dying Demon Tiger several times along the way before finally driving it into this valley with no way out.

By now, most of his leather armor was torn, and his boots were gone. The skin on his bare feet had split open, and both fists were mangled and bloody.

Beyond those surface wounds, his internal organs had also suffered from the impacts during his battles with the Demon Tiger. The blood and qi within him were surging uncontrollably through his meridians.

Yet even so, even covered in wounds, his eyes remained fixed on the Tiger Demon ahead, blazing with a sharp light that betrayed not a trace of exhaustion or fear.

"Boy... do you truly intend to fight This Lord... until one of us dies?"

The Tiger Demon leaned against a large rock, its fist-sized eyes likewise fixed on Xu Taiping.

"As long as I live, you won't stop. As long as you live, I won't stop. We both know that."

As Xu Taiping spoke, he wrapped a strip of cloth torn from his clothes around his hand, his eyes never leaving the Tiger Demon.

He knew perfectly well that this was his one and only chance to kill the Tiger Demon. Once it recovered and replenished its blood and qi, he would be the one to die.

"I've seen cultivators with exceptional talent, but I haven't met someone with a will as unshakable as bedrock in who knows how many years. Dying at your hands wouldn't be an indignity."

The Tiger Demon moved away from the rock and planted its feet firmly.

"If you're the one who dies, This Lord won't make things difficult for you, either. I'll merely eat you, then refine you into a Tiger Wraith to serve as my slave for all eternity."

As it spoke, it lowered its body into a pouncing stance.

Xu Taiping answered with a mighty leap and, with a thunderous boom, an Ox Horn Crashes the Mountain delivered at full strength.

"Bam!"

Facing Xu Taiping's punch, the Tiger Demon did not dodge. Instead, it turned sideways to take the blow, then swiped a claw at his waist, intending to trade wound for wound.

"Smack!"

But to the Tiger Demon's surprise, just as Xu Taiping's fist was about to strike its shoulder, his hand abruptly opened into a claw. He seized its fur and used that purchase to flip onto its back.

That move made the Tiger Demon's swipe miss completely.

Over these seven days, Xu Taiping had not pursued the Tiger Demon blindly. He had etched every success and failure from their clashes clearly into his mind, which was why he had seen through its intentions at a glance.

After the Demon Tiger's swipe missed, Xu Taiping, seated on its back, brought his fist crashing down.

"Bam!"

The sound shook the mountain forest.

Then, gripping the tiger's hide with one hand, Xu Taiping raised his other fist and hammered down punch after punch. The impacts-bam, bam, bam-echoed incessantly through the valley.

Seen from afar, Xu Taiping, wreathed in crimson dawn true qi, truly resembled a charging ox, relentlessly trampling and battering the fierce tiger beneath him.

"Bam!"

With an impact like the strike of a timpani, Xu Taiping delivered the final punch of Herd of Oxen Charges the Formation, pounding the Demon Tiger's body deep into the ground.

But at that very moment, the Demon Tiger, which had seemed on the verge of death, suddenly whipped its head around and snapped at Xu Taiping behind it.

Just as Xu Taiping had anticipated the Tiger Demon's intentions, the Tiger Demon had seen through the weakness of the Green Ox Fist. It had endured all one hundred and eight punches before launching its sudden attack.

"Hmph!"

Facing the Demon Tiger's sudden attack, Xu Taiping showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, he grinned, then recklessly slammed his own head hard into the Demon Tiger's skull.

"This was the final punch."

"Bam!"

The Demon Tiger's already gravely injured head suffered another abrupt impact. The wounds around its neck all split open, and its head slumped to one side.

"Clang!"

Xu Taiping had no intention of giving the Demon Tiger a moment to catch its breath. He abruptly drew the Fine Steel Saber at his waist, poured every last bit of true essence from his dantian into it, then slashed down at the Demon Tiger's head.

"Swish!"

A blade gleam carrying a chilling cold swept past, and the Tiger Demon's enormous head fell to the ground with a thud.

"Clatter, clatter...!"

After the tiger's head was severed, a heap of gold, silver, jewels, and assorted blades and swords spilled from its mouth. They were plainly things the Tiger Demon had taken from the people it had killed.

For now, however, Xu Taiping had no desire to concern himself with those treasures.

His dantian was empty, his blood and qi depleted, and every muscle, bone, and sinew in his body was exhausted to the limit.

"Whew..."

Xu Taiping lowered the arm holding his saber and let out a long breath. He slid off the tiger's back and lay half-propped against the Demon Tiger's headless body, while struggling to circulate the Setting Sun Glow Art.

Just as Xu Taiping had recovered a little true qi, a White-Headed Eagle landed on a branch in front of him.

"You... actually... actually killed this Demon Tiger!"

The White-Headed Eagle cried out, its voice filled with shock.

It was nearly evening now. Reddish sunset light filtered through gaps in the leaves and fell upon Xu Taiping, lending the slender, bloodstained boy an air of sacred majesty.

Especially against the enormous Demon Tiger's body, the sight was intensely striking, so it was hardly surprising that Bai Yu had lost its composure.

"You're here."

Xu Taiping looked up at Bai Yu, a weary smile appearing on his face.

Bai Yu's arrival came as no surprise to Xu Taiping, because they had arranged this beforehand.

"The tiger's head and everything from its mouth are mine. The entire body is yours. Then you take me back to the Green Bamboo Abode."

Xu Taiping pointed at the tiger's head, then at the body behind him.

He still looked terribly weak, but Bai Yu no longer dared regard him with the slightest contempt or neglect. It was as though it were facing someone as powerful as its own father.

Despite possessing the bloodline of a spirit bird, it could not help feeling afraid.

"Mm."

After a long moment of deliberation, Bai Yu nodded solemnly.

No wonder Father told me to get closer to him.

As Bai Yu flew into the clouds with Xu Taiping on its back, it finally understood why, before leaving, its father had told it to befriend a boy with mere white bones.

One night, several days later.

"Sister Lingyue, look! I killed that Tiger Demon!"

"You have no idea how dangerous it was, Sister! I had no time to think. I leaped straight out from over a hundred zhang in the air and used the force of my fall to catch that Tiger Demon off guard with a punch!"

As soon as Fairy Lingyue awoke, Xu Taiping led her to the woodshed in the back courtyard. He lifted the sackcloth covering the Tiger Demon's head and, with a touch of youthful exuberance, began recounting what had happened that day.