Proving Its Worth

The second soul ring on Zhu Zhuqing shimmered faintly.

The Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger confronting the Blue-Eyed Cang Python hurriedly backed away. It was not afraid-its master was calling it. Still, judging by the speed of its retreat, it was outrageously fast.

Stupid tiger, Zhu Zhuqing silently scoffed from a distance.

The two young women and the tiger continued searching the Soul Hunting Forest for new prey. As time slowly passed, night approached, and the forest grew darker and darker.

But to the Zhu sisters and the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger, that was no trouble at all. They were all felines to begin with and could see even more clearly at night.

One look at the Zhu sisters' pupils made that obvious. Their eyes gleamed in the darkness, looking distinctly eerie in the nighttime forest.

After nightfall, the forest floor had become dangerous. Many soul beasts were returning to their territories, so Zhu Zhuqing and her Third Sister had moved up into a large tree.

The two leaned against the trunk, eating little biscuits. The biscuits were very filling, and just a few left them satisfied. After taking a few sips of canned milk, they settled against the trunk to rest.

"Zhu Zhuqing, wasn't that Thousand-Year Bandit Tiger pretty good? Why didn't you want it?" Zhu Zhulin asked, puzzled.

Not long before, they had finally found a thousand-year Tiger-Type Soul Beast, a Thousand-Year Bandit Tiger. Its speed and explosive power were both top-notch. In particular, it possessed a special ability, Berserk, which sent its combat strength soaring when it went wild.

Recalling what had happened, Zhu Zhuqing drawled disdainfully, "Let's keep looking. That tiger looked so stupid, not fierce at all. I'm afraid absorbing its soul ring would make me just as stupid."

A bead of cold sweat slid down Zhu Zhulin's forehead. She was utterly speechless. Never had she heard of anyone becoming stupid after absorbing a soul ring.

"Roar!!!"

"Roar, roar, roar-"

Just then, two tiger roars came from beneath the enormous tree. One belonged to the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger. The other sounded vicious, as though it were trying to intimidate the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger.

Zhu Zhuqing looked down. A jet-black tiger had appeared below, its size far exceeding that of the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger.

A white marking shaped like the character 王 adorned its forehead. Over three meters long and roughly a meter and a half tall at the shoulder, its enormous body was remarkably agile. It kept darting forward to test the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger.

A piece of information surfaced in Zhu Zhuqing's mind as she recalled what she knew about this soul beast.

"Thousand-year Ghost Tiger: renowned for its terrifying speed and attack power, it ranks among the powerful soul beasts and is exceptionally ferocious. It will fight to the death against any opponent daring to invade its territory. Innate ability: Shadow Clone."

"It's a Ghost Tiger! Third Sister, I'm choosing this one!" Zhu Zhuqing cried excitedly. She wanted the Shadow Clone skill too. It would make washing clothes and cleaning so much faster.

Zhu Zhulin exclaimed, "No, it isn't a Ghost Tiger. It's an Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger!"

"This Tiger-Type Soul Beast is just as rare as the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger. Its explosive strength rivals that of dragon soul beasts. At the thousand-year level, it can hold its own against an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beast!"

New information surfaced in Zhu Zhuqing's mind, and she studied the soul beast carefully. Sure enough, this Tiger-Type Soul Beast was no Ghost Tiger at all, but an Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger. A thousand-year Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger had a black body, and the wang marking on its forehead was made of white flames.

The Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger possessed the innate ability Endless Black Flames. Their temperature was extremely high; ordinary people would die on contact, and even powerful fighters below Soul Saint dared not underestimate them.

"Oh no! It's about to attack that stupid tiger of yours! Hurry and summon it away!" Zhu Zhulin shouted.

Beneath the large tree, the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger had long since had enough of its fellow tiger. It had been roaring for ages, telling the other tiger to get lost, yet that idiot had simply kept chatting with it. Worse still, it could not understand a word of the gibberish.

"Roar-"

The Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger crouched on its hind legs and raised its forepaws, unleashing a tremendous roar. It had sensed danger, and that danger came from above, certainly not from the fellow tiger before it.

Several streaks of blue light hurtled down at it from the treetop. The Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger flew into a rage. Someone had actually ambushed it! Three jets of black flame burst from its mouth, striking the streaks of blue light head-on.

As the black flames struck the blue streaks, strange smoke appeared in the air.

Up in the treetop, Zhu Zhuqing frowned to herself. After drawing the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger's attention just now, her summoning had actually failed. The Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger had rejected her rescue summons.

"Roar-" The roar resounded through the woods. The Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger had begun its attack, charging swiftly at the hulking beast opposite it and swinging an enormous paw at its opponent.

It felt that it had just been insulted. They were both Tiger-Type Soul Beasts, yet the other had actually tried to intimidate it. What a bastard! Does it think I'm a sickly cat just because this tiger hasn't shown its might?

The two soul beasts immediately tore into each other. In both size and explosive power, the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger was no match for the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger, and wounds soon covered its body.

Zhu Zhuqing was getting angry. This stupid tiger was actually disobeying her commands. Its opponent was a thousand-year soul beast, and a top-tier one at that.

"Third Sister, I'll be right back." Zhu Zhuqing activated Martial Soul Possession, and a snowy-white Chaos White Tiger with lightning shimmering over its wings appeared behind her.

The martial soul's inherent soul skill: Thunderlight Wings!

In an instant, a dazzling streak of lightning shot down from the treetop. It was so brilliant that it startled the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger, which was in the middle of swatting the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger below. It quickly leaped backward.

But the wounded Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger refused to let up and threw itself into the fight again, as though determined to perish together with its opponent.

"Roar!" Enraged, the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger spat a mouthful of black flames straight at its opponent.

Caught in the melee, the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger could not dodge in time. The searing black flames struck its foreleg squarely. The burning pain made it want to curse, but it did not retreat. Instead, it lunged at its opponent again.

Today, the Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger would prove its worth. It was a fine tiger, and it would earn its master's recognition. It was not a stupid tiger.

The lightning drew ever closer, a dangerous aura plunging down with it. To its shock, the Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger discovered that the lightning carried a bloodline pressure that filled it with terror.

"Roar-"

The Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger grew frantic. It spat several mouthfuls of black flames in succession, then battered the bastard entangling it with all four paws, its enormous jaws snapping at its opponent.

The Spirit-Summoned Azure Sky Tiger refused to show weakness either. Though pinned down and beaten, it still opened its savage maw and bit at its opponent.

Boom-! The lightning struck both tigers.

Dust billowed, and shredded blue silver grass flew everywhere. An enormous crater appeared in the ground. As the dust blew away, the scene below came into view.

The Abyssal Scarlet Flame Tiger panted at the edge of the crater. It had lost a foreleg, and blood poured continuously from the wound. It bared its teeth and snarled at the figure before it.

Across the crater, Zhu Zhuqing faced it with a sharp dagger in each hand. Her expression was utterly calm, an icy glint flashing through her eyes. Her half-up hairstyle had long since come undone, and her long black hair streamed freely in the breeze.