Silver-Winged Giant Tiger

"Since we parted, I have recalled our meetings; how often in dreams has my soul been with you..."

Gently stroking the Green Snow Holding Fragrance Hairpin in her hand, Ling’er leaned against the carved railing and looked up at the moon. Moonlight streamed like white silk, the evening breeze brushed her face, and the tung trees softly sang of youth.

A month earlier, Mi Yan had fulfilled her promise to Mu Bai, personally escorting Ling’er to the headquarters of the Taiyuan Merchant Guild. She explained the situation to her master and begged him, Taiyuan Qing, to take Ling’er in.

Behind the Taiyuan Merchant Guild stood the Taiyuan Pavilion, a cultivator sect with a Xiu Zun presiding over it. The Taiyuan Merchant Guild was like the roots of a towering tree, ceaselessly supplying the Taiyuan Pavilion with enormous financial support.

"Withdraw for now. Allow your master to consider this further..."

Taiyuan Qing dressed like a scholar, looking nothing like a renowned merchant. He was a man of extraordinary natural gifts and great good fortune. Starting as a serving boy in the Taiyuan Merchant Guild, he had embarked on the path of alchemy after his Soul Awakening. By chance, he had won the favor of the Taiyuan Pavilion master's daughter and subsequently soared straight into the clouds. With the Taiyuan Pavilion's vast financial backing, Taiyuan Qing had now become a fourth-level Alchemist, earned the title of Taiyuan, and taken charge of the Taiyuan Merchant Guild.

Fourth-level Alchemists were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns within tens of thousands of miles, and his skill in business had driven the Taiyuan Merchant Guild's tremendous expansion. It was already showing signs of surpassing its rival, the Dharma Lotus Trading Company.

"Martial Uncle Taizhen, why did Master seem displeased?"

"Mi Yan, there are things you don't know. Did you think you had truly left no seam in heaven's robe? Several days ago, Du Xiang, the Clan Patriarch of the White Wolf Tribe, came to our doors demanding redress. The guildmaster paid a hefty price to settle the matter. Had you not always been so capable and enjoyed the guildmaster's favor, I fear even your life would be in danger now!"

Mi Yan was greatly alarmed by this, and Ling’er’s heart tightened as secret worries arose within her.

That night, Ling’er could not sleep. Remembering the tragedy that had befallen her tribe, she could not help being overcome with grief.

Gently wiping away her tears and stroking the hairpin, Ling’er thought of her Xiao Bai, whose whereabouts she did not know. She could not help worrying about herself as well, and the wretched circumstances she now faced.

In the secret room of Taiyuan Qing's Alchemy Chamber, Mi Yan undressed to attend him in bed.

Beneath the mandarin-duck quilt, two shared the night; a pear tree's blossoms pressed down upon a flowering crabapple.

Only then was Ling’er allowed to remain beneath the Taiyuan Merchant Guild's eaves, and Mi Yan allowed to continue serving as one of its stationed elders.

"It has been years since I left. Ling’er, are you well?"

The moon was the same moon. Beneath it were two equally lonely figures.

Mu Bai sat cross-legged in the crown of a giant tree, gazing absently at the bright moon in the night sky. In his daze, he saw Ling’er’s face in it.

"Only by growing stronger can I collect the blood debt owed to the tribe and protect those I cherish. Ling’er, wait for me..."

Casting aside his thoughts, Mu Bai flashed into motion and leaped down from the giant tree's crown like a nimble ape. The golden eagle shot skyward like a startled swan and caught him steadily. Man and bird flew north, toward the depths of the Silver Frost Forest.

Mu Bai's soul power had already broken through to the second level, and he could not resist venturing cautiously into the Silver Frost Forest to seek the treasures bestowed by this primeval world. Over the past few days, he had experienced scares but no real danger, and his gains had been plentiful.

"Little Eagle, keep watch from the air. Warn me if you notice any third-rank Fierce Beasts moving within a thousand zhang."

Over those days, the man had done the work while the bird kept watch, and the two had learned to cooperate smoothly.

The golden eagle nodded smugly, shifted its feet lightly, and flapped into the air without making the slightest sound, soaring straight up and vanishing into the night sky.

"A moonless, windy night is the time for murder and arson. I'll take advantage of the darkness to explore the Silver Frost Forest again."

The thought of his gains over the past few days filled Mu Bai with excitement. That Profound Yin Grass and Jade Vine were thousands of years old... Truly, wealth and honor were sought amid danger. The ancients had not deceived him.

But the ancients had also said: walk beside the river long enough, and how could your shoes stay dry? Good fortune was not so bored that it waited around every day just to watch over him.

This time, Mu Bai slipped silently through the dark forest and ventured a considerable distance into the depths of the Silver Frost Forest. As he skimmed over the grass, he suddenly looked up and saw a gigantic snow-white wolf standing on a mountain peak, gazing up at the full moon. It then let out a long, far-reaching howl, startling countless night birds into flight. The insects and beasts in the mountain forest immediately grew restless and scattered in every direction.

Mu Bai's heart trembled. Such a gigantic wolf howling at the moon had to be the king of this part of the Silver Frost Forest. Only that could account for its formidable presence, which cowed all beasts into submission.

The giant wolf's howl scattered many of the Fierce Beasts and fierce birds in the mountain forest. With the beasts gone and their dens empty, it was the perfect opportunity for Mu Bai to help himself to the spoils. Just as delight rose in his heart, a deafening tiger's roar erupted nearby like an explosion of thunder, jolting him. He saw an enormous tiger beating its silver wings as it lunged straight at the snow-white wolf on the peak.

"Good heavens, so this is the real king!"

The Silver-Winged Giant Tiger left Mu Bai dumbstruck, and he could not help feeling sympathy for the wolf. What had possessed you to howl your head off at the moon in the middle of the night? Now look what you've done-you've called Death over.

With its wings spread wide, the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger swept across the full moon in a graceful arc. Then it lashed out with a forepaw, sending the white wolf flying far away. Before it could even howl, the wolf tumbled down into the mountain ravine like a head of cabbage.

"Roar..."

The Silver-Winged Giant Tiger paced atop the mountain peak and loosed a sky-shaking roar. Only now were the mountain forest's beasts truly cowed, and not a single beast or bird dared make the slightest sound.

While the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger displayed its majesty as king of beasts atop the peak, Mu Bai's eyes lit up. At the entrance to its cave, he spotted two Rice Butterfly Orchids shimmering with crystalline starlight.

They said that a tiger within the heart would gently sniff the roses. To think that this incomparably fierce and domineering Silver-Winged Giant Tiger deeply loved such delicate Rice Butterfly Orchids-what an eye-opening sight.

Mu Bai had no time to ponder the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger's refined tastes. He abruptly leaped over, plucked both Rice Butterfly Orchids, and ran. These were fine treasures for strengthening sinews and tempering bones. Besides, what a king of beasts that Silver-Winged Giant Tiger was! How could the Rice Butterfly Orchids it personally guarded be ordinary?

Without a second thought, Mu Bai acted, caring nothing for the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger's grand display on the peak or the fury he would have to face.

His feet skimmed the grass tips as he raced like lightning. Mu Bai suppressed the wild joy in his heart, more agile than the monkeys in the forest as he darted lightly past one giant tree after another. Suddenly, a bolt of silvery-white lightning cracked down, blasting countless great trees apart. The violent shock wave flung Mu Bai far away.

Ignoring the agonizing pain that made his whole body feel as though it were falling apart, Mu Bai scrambled up and kept running, even faster than before.

The Silver-Winged Giant Tiger had discovered him shortly after he made his move. Only now did Mu Bai remember that beast king's ferocious might. Even a gigantic snow-white wolf could not withstand a single blow from it, much less a mere second-level cultivator like himself. Unless he fled with every ounce of strength, there would probably not even be bone fragments left.

After the lightning exploded, the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger came winging through the air. Even with two extra legs, Mu Bai could never have escaped it. They said that beneath a waterfall there must be a deep pool. Right before him was a great cascade of white water plunging from the sky. Without hesitation, Mu Bai dove headfirst into the deep pool, using all four limbs to swim rapidly toward its deepest reaches.

With a boom, the water behind him exploded into towering columns. Taking advantage of the immense force of the impact, Mu Bai kicked hard and dove even deeper.

The Silver-Winged Giant Tiger roared like thunder and lashed the deep pool with its forepaws, almost overturning the whole pool beneath the falls. Yet the waterfall flowed without cease, its waters crashing down into the pool with a roar. The water level remained unchanged, neither rising nor falling. For all its unrivaled ferocity, the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger could do nothing about it.

The waterfall thundered, and the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger's fury mounted. It paced back and forth beside the pool, its low growls rumbling like muffled thunder. Even if it had to keep watch without budging, it would wait until this hateful human came out!

Submerged in the deep pool, Mu Bai felt the thunderous lightning strikes above him, yet his heart was carefree and content. After absorbing the essence of heaven and earth for some time, he had unknowingly gained the ability to hold his breath for long dives. Even in this deep pool, he felt no sense of suffocation.

Then let the Silver-Winged Giant Tiger rage and roar outside the pool.

The deep pool was pitch-black. Mu Bai extended his Divine Sense to examine his surroundings. Deepwater fish swam around him without fearing him at all, their appearances extraordinarily bizarre.

"It's pitch-black down here anyway, and nobody can see you. Looks don't matter, so you might as well grow however you please..."

Only moments earlier, disaster had been bearing down on him as he scurried away like a rat clutching its head. He had finally found shelter in the deep pool, and before he was even out of danger, he was already mocking its native inhabitants. Generally speaking, people like that were liable to suffer retribution and come to no good end.