It would use Dark Demon Evil Thunder to draw Bone Douluo's attention with a feint, then seize the chance to switch its target to Gu Yang and suck him into the Life and Death Arena. After devouring him, it would use the arena's spatial properties to return to the Douluo Continent somewhere else, shaking off Bone Douluo.
That was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's plan.
As the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's most unique ability, the Life and Death Arena was not merely a means of fighting enemies, but also a means of escape.
That was because the Life and Death Arena was a separate, independent space.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had used this method more than once to escape the joint attacks of the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape.
That was why the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape understood the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's Life and Death Arena so well, and had frantically warned Tang San when he faced it.
After being sucked into the black hole, everything around him plunged into darkness. Gu Yang only felt his body floating weightlessly, unable to find any purchase, while even his Soul Power and spiritual power came under some inexplicable suppression.
Only after quite a while did light return to his surroundings.
His feet landed firmly on the ground, and Gu Yang found himself in a peculiar space.
Although he had known about the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's Life and Death Arena beforehand, experiencing it himself still left him somewhat curious about its strangeness.
It was an enormous circular arena, with nothing else beyond it.
And as Gu Yang surveyed his surroundings, he also spotted the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's appearance had changed drastically. Its powerful, athletic body, originally eight meters long with a pair of wings on its back, had now become a black... big cat barely a meter and a half long?!
The wings on its back were gone.
The spike on its tail had also become less prominent.
Even the roar it let out at Gu Yang now had a rather adorably dopey quality.
Yet there was no panic whatsoever in the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's red eyes. Instead, they held the delight of a successful scheme.
A strange voice then rang out from every direction in the space.
"Welcome to the Life and Death Arena!"
"You may leave only when one side dies. Countdown: five, four, three, two, one, begin!"
As the voice faded and some restriction on its body lifted, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger became a black shadow and instantly pounced at Gu Yang.
A chilling gleam shone in its red eyes, as though Gu Yang were already a dead man in its sight.
Its outstretched claws went straight for Gu Yang's neck, eager to tear it apart and smash it to pieces.
But in the next instant, intense confusion and shock flashed across the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's large face, now less imposing and more adorably vacant. Its entire body had come to a halt in midair.
Looking down, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger saw in bewilderment that a long bone whip had somehow wrapped around its waist and ribs, preventing it from advancing.
Why?
Could this human have been this terrifyingly powerful at six years old?
The temporal properties of the Life and Death Arena's unique space could turn those who entered it young again, returning them to childhood.
And with their exceptional physical gifts, Soul Beasts naturally surpassed humans. This was why the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had been certain it would win.
Six years old?
No, why hasn't he changed?
Suspended in midair by the bone whip, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger quickly examined Gu Yang, only to discover that his appearance had not changed at all. He still looked exactly as he had before entering the Life and Death Arena.
How is that possible?
Over ten thousand years, this move of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's had never gone wrong. Why had it failed this time?
The crucial point was that even the tiger itself, the one who had cast the ability, had grown smaller, yet its enemy Gu Yang had not changed.
What was this supposed to be?
Had it delivered itself to its death?
"Shocked? Can't understand why you're going to lose?"
Easily holding the shrunken Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in check, Gu Yang chuckled. "You've lost because you know nothing about me, while I know your abilities like the palm of my hand."
As he spoke, four Soul Rings-purple, purple, black, and black-pulsed one after another beneath Gu Yang's feet. The third, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, was shining with a deep, dark light.
Third Soul Skill, Holy Dragon's Protection!
And this was why Gu Yang had not been affected by the Life and Death Arena's age regression.
It removed all negative effects and granted immunity to them!
Entering the Life and Death Arena's independent space did not count as a negative effect, but the arena's suppression that would turn Gu Yang young again, returning him to age six, did. Naturally, it fell within the scope of Holy Dragon's Protection.
This was suppression on the level of mechanics!
"Roar~"
Its scheme had failed, and the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger panicked. It was afraid.
It did not know why these human Soul Masters had suddenly targeted it, but clever and cunning as it was, it knew that its current situation was very dangerous.
Flailing its much shorter limbs, the panicking Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could do nothing but struggle in vain.
If it had been the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in its true form, Gu Yang would have found it rather troublesome to deal with. He might even have needed Bone Douluo standing by to keep the situation under control.
But dealing with a miniature Dark Demon Evil God Tiger with only a hundred years of cultivation could not have been easier for Gu Yang.
Hiss, hiss~
Shing, shing, shing~
Schlick, schlick...
As the bone whip continued to tighten, sharp bone spikes pierced the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's body one after another, draining away all its life.
After the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger died, everything around him began to distort again. The surrounding space shattered and crumpled once more, and boundless darkness swept over him anew.
When he saw light again, Gu Yang had returned to the Star Dou Great Forest, setting foot in the world of the Douluo Continent once more.
Not far in front of him, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's body had also returned to its enormous, eight-meter-long, winged form. What remained unchanged was that its life had already faded.
Soon, an equally deep black Soul Ring gradually formed above the enormous corpse.
"You little brat, are you all right? What did that beast just do to you? How little time has it been? And how did you kill this Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?"
Faced with Bone Douluo's string of questions, Gu Yang could only patiently answer them one by one.
When he heard that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had actually taken Gu Yang into another space and could even return someone to childhood, Bone Douluo was filled with wonder.
It was only because Gu Yang had been immune to this ability of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. Anyone else returned to the age of six might truly have been no match for it.
"As long as you're all right. As long as you're all right. Since you've killed the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, hurry and absorb its Soul Ring. I'll stand guard for you."
Yet under Bone Douluo's puzzled gaze, Gu Yang shook his head slightly. "Wait a little longer, Grandpa."
"Wait? Wait for what?" Bone Douluo asked in confusion.
This time, before Gu Yang could explain, a strange pearl floated out from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's enormous corpse alongside that deep, dark Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
The pearl was black all over, yet it radiated both cyan and blue light.
The moment the pearl appeared, the black hole that had yet to disappear suddenly unleashed a suction force, trying to draw the strange black pearl inside.
"Hmph, I've waited so long for you. You think I'd let you get away?"
In a flash, two bone whips swiftly extended from Gu Yang's body. Already prepared, they blocked the black hole, wrapped the strange black pearl in layer upon layer, and forcibly dragged it beyond the range of the black hole's suction.
After its suction persisted for a while without success, the black hole slammed shut, and the torn space returned to normal.