Training! Dragon Tiger Beast!

Three months later.

On the outskirts of the Cloud Dream Mountain Range.

A Three-Headed Lion was covered in blood, one of its left heads blown apart. Its eyes were crimson as it let out an enraged roar, staring fearfully at the figure opposite it.

It was a boy of six or seven. His gray robe was stained with dust, and his face still held a trace of childishness. His eyes shone like brilliant stars, while his tousled black hair was streaked with red and faintly glimmered with rosy light—it was the Three-Headed Lion's blood.

The boy walked toward the Three-Headed Lion step by step, his expression incomparably relaxed, as though the beast before him were no more than a kitten.

For every step the boy took forward, the Three-Headed Lion retreated one step. It backed away until there was nowhere left to go, yet the boy continued closing in. Driven mad, the Three-Headed Lion roared, opened its bloody maw, and pounced at him of its own accord.

The boy raised his hands and seized the Three-Headed Lion's two front paws. He stood as immovable as a divine mountain a thousand zhang high. No matter how the beast exerted itself, even kicking pits into the ground with its hind legs, it could not budge him in the slightest.

"Out of tricks? Then it's my turn."

The boy muttered, then exerted force with both arms. He swung the Three-Headed Lion up and smashed it heavily into the ground, leaving it dizzy and disoriented, seeing stars as blood spilled from its nose and mouth.

"Behold my Fist the size of a sandbag."

The boy swung his fist and punched the Three-Headed Lion in the neck. With a crisp crack, its neck snapped clean through. The light faded from the Three-Headed Lion's eyes, and it stopped breathing.

Taishu Jing glanced at the dead Three-Headed Lion. Roasting it whole would be too much trouble, and he did not think of himself as much of a glutton. He placed one hand on the corpse.

"Swallow Moon!"

A gray vortex emerged from his palm and enveloped the Three-Headed Lion's corpse. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the body rapidly shriveled, and before long, only dry skin and bones remained, as though it had aged away.

He raised his hand, and a fist-sized bead of flesh-and-blood essence blooming with red radiance appeared in his palm, streaks of golden light mingling within it.

This was the essence of the Three-Headed Lion's entire body, drawn out by Taishu Jing using the Sky Swallowing Howl's Innate Divine Technique and condensed into a fist-sized bead. It was extremely convenient. Taishu Jing called such beads Blood Beads.

These Blood Beads contained no impurities. Taishu Jing could directly absorb them as Precious Blood.

Storing the Blood Bead in his Dantian, Taishu Jing gazed toward the depths of the Cloud Dream Mountain Range. He had spent two months on its outskirts already, yet not a single ferocious beast could last three moves against him. He was bored to death.

He pondered whether he should venture a little deeper. As long as he did not enter the central region, there should be no problem. Forget it. I'll ask my brother what he thinks tonight.

Taishu Yun had likewise been on the outskirts of the Cloud Dream Mountain Range for two months. The two had agreed to train separately during the day and only meet at their appointed place at night.

Roar!

A ferocious beast's howl sounded in the distance. Taishu Jing tapped off the ground and vanished into the forest after several leaps.

A strange-looking ferocious beast raced through the woods. It had a dragon's head and a tiger's body, with powerful limbs and claws like sharp blades. Wherever it passed, it left torn marks behind.

This was a Dragon Tiger Beast. It possessed True Dragon Bloodline, and its bloodline was dense and pure. Its body was like gold and iron, difficult to wound with swords or blades; even Spirit Weapons could scarcely leave a mark on it. Moreover, it could command the power of wind and clouds. Even someone at the peak of the Spirit Vein Realm would not dare confront it.

Once a Dragon Tiger Beast fixed its gaze upon prey, that prey found it almost impossible to escape.

At this moment, the Dragon Tiger Beast continuously let out enraged roars, its blood-red eyes fixed tightly on a figure leaping ahead of it. A violent aura spread outward, frightening several low-level ferocious beasts into scattering in all directions.

"Young Miss, go on ahead. I'll buy you time!"

A middle-aged man dressed as a guard turned around, carrying a long spear. Without looking back, he shouted as he watched the rapidly approaching Dragon Tiger Beast. His face held the resolve to face death, prepared to fight to the bitter end and buy time for the young miss he spoke of.

"No, Uncle Li! We can't leave you behind!"

A girl of twelve or thirteen stopped in her tracks and resolutely turned back. She came to the middle-aged man's side, drew the longsword at her waist, and stared intently at the charging Dragon Tiger Beast.

The other two guards also turned back, holding a golden saber and a long halberd as they guarded the girl on either side. "Zhong Li, don't even think about playing the hero alone. If we die, us brothers die together."

"That's right. Uncle Hu and Uncle Shan are right. If we die, we die together. I, Zhong Yu, am not afraid of death," the girl said forcefully, her lovely face filled with determination.

"Alas, why must you do this?" Zhong Li sighed, then his expression turned solemn as he prepared to fight to the death.

Roar!

The Dragon Tiger Beast had already charged before the four of them. It suddenly pounced, its claws flashing with cold light, as if it would tear all four of them to pieces in the next instant.

The four widened their eyes as they watched the Dragon Tiger Beast pounce. They gripped their weapons tightly, about to strike.

Boom!

"What's this little kitty making such a fuss about?"

A flippant voice rang out. A figure descended from the sky and stomped the Dragon Tiger Beast down from midair, driving it directly into the ground and cracking the earth apart.

The astonishing turn of events left all four of them dumbfounded. They stared at the boy standing atop the Dragon Tiger Beast, forgetting to speak for a moment.

Roar!

The Dragon Tiger Beast had not suffered much injury. It used all its strength in an attempt to rise, but its back felt as though a great mountain were pressing down upon it. No matter what it did, it could not get up. Its eyes widened as it gathered the power of wind and clouds, yet it still could not move.

Even so, the Dragon Tiger Beast did not give up. It stared at the four people ahead, killing intent blazing in its eyes as though it would not rest until one side was dead.

"What did you do to make it this angry?" Taishu Jing asked, squatting atop the Dragon Tiger Beast.

A trace of awkwardness flashed across Zhong Li's face as he replied, "It was because of a Dragon Bone Grass."

Understanding flashed through Taishu Jing's eyes as he looked at the Dragon Tiger Beast beneath him. No wonder it was so furious. The Dragon Bone Grass it had been guarding had been taken.

Dragon Bone Grass was a spiritual herb nurtured from the bones of a ferocious beast with True Dragon Bloodline after its death. When a ferocious beast possessing True Dragon Bloodline consumed Dragon Bone Grass, the True Dragon Bloodline within its body would become even purer. It might even undergo a transformation and evolve in the direction of a True Dragon.

This Dragon Tiger Beast had presumably intended to consume the Dragon Bone Grass and transform its bloodline. Yet the herb had been taken from it, which was no different from cutting off its hope.

In the cultivation world, destroying another's opportunity was no different from killing their parents. The same held true for this Dragon Tiger Beast.

"I suggest you return it. Otherwise, you won't be able to leave," Taishu Jing said.

"This..."

Zhong Li hesitated. He knew the significance of the Dragon Bone Grass to this Dragon Tiger Beast, but to cultivators in the Blood Bone Realm, it was also an extremely precious medicinal treasure.

With this Dragon Bone Grass, the young miss could break through to sixty thousand jin of strength in the Blood Bone Realm. If they simply returned it, who knew when she would be able to break through to sixty thousand jin?

Thinking of this, Zhong Li was still unwilling to return the Dragon Bone Grass.

"I can return the Dragon Bone Grass," Zhong Yu said, taking out a herb brimming with spiritual energy and speaking to Taishu Jing.

"Young Miss, no! With this Dragon Bone Grass, you can break through to sixty thousand jin of strength," Uncle Shan and Uncle Hu spoke up at once to stop her.

Zhong Yu shook her head and smiled. "If we die here, then we'll have nothing."

At least there was someone who understood. Taishu Jing looked at her in surprise.

Taishu Jing jumped off the Dragon Tiger Beast and looked at the girl before him. "You're much smarter than they are," he said approvingly.

Zhong Yu smiled and was just about to speak when her expression abruptly changed. "Watch out!"

Behind Taishu Jing, the Dragon Tiger Beast had somehow gotten back on its feet. Its bloody maw opened as it bit toward Taishu Jing, ready to separate his head from his body in the next instant.

Zhong Yu and the other three could not help closing their eyes. They had not expected this boy to perish here in such a manner.

Boom!

The ground trembled again. When Zhong Yu and the others opened their eyes, however, they saw an entirely different scene.

Taishu Jing stood with his back to them, one hand gripping the Dragon Tiger Beast's fang as he pinned it to the ground. Then he lifted it and slammed it into the earth several times, until the ground itself had shattered.

"You little punk, you dared sneak-attack this young master? You've got some nerve!"

Smack!

Taishu Jing looked at the Dragon Tiger Beast and slapped it across the face, leaving it dazed and disoriented. He followed with several more slaps, keeping it stunned for a long while.

Watching Taishu Jing beat the Dragon Tiger Beast as though he were playing with it, Zhong Li and the other two were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped. Only Zhong Yu looked at Taishu Jing with an expression full of admiration.

Taishu Jing looked only seven or eight years old, yet he could easily subdue a Dragon Tiger Beast. It was clear just how tremendous the strength contained within his small body was.

"I wonder what realm he's at," Zhong Yu murmured.