Before he had gone far, a vast cavern appeared before him, pitch-black, with wisps of even purer baleful energy surging out.
Whoosh! Li Dao gave it no further thought. With a single step, he entered the cavern.
The cavern was spacious. Droplets of pure baleful essence had condensed on its black, crystalline walls, dripping steadily into a little stream that flowed into a small pool at the cavern's center.
At the center of that pool, a stalk of treasure medicine just over a foot tall, shaped like a lotus and pitch-black as though carved from black jade, was absorbing the baleful essence.
Dark gleams flashed across its leaves, like pulsing meridians.
A keen glint flashed through Li Dao's eyes, but he soon shifted his gaze away from the Black Fiend Lotus.
Instead, he looked toward the churning baleful energy, where the thick, inky darkness outlined a figure that flickered in and out of sight.
"Come out."
Li Dao spoke coolly, without a trace of emotion.
He had originally intended to wait for the creature to attack, then slaughter it and take the Black Fiend Lotus.
But he had not expected Black Tiger to be so perceptive and refrain from attacking. He could not help thinking, There's some intelligence in this one.
Black Tiger seemed to understand Li Dao's words. Moving on pillar-like limbs, the tiger flicked that foxlike tail like an iron whip, scattering the surrounding baleful energy.
Those eyes were full of wariness, constantly scanning the surroundings as though searching for something.
As the baleful energy dispersed, Li Dao finally saw Black Tiger clearly.
Pitch-black from head to toe, without a trace of any other color, the tiger displayed all the imposing dominance of a king with every step.
What drew Li Dao's attention most, however, were those dark