Xu Zhengyang stared fixedly at the White-Eyed Devil Tiger from the shadows, his eyes filled with wariness.
In terms of age, this White-Eyed Devil Tiger had already surpassed a thousand years. He estimated it to be between eleven hundred and twelve hundred years old, beyond the limit for Xu Zhengyang's second Soul Ring.
There was another point: the White-Eyed Devil Tiger ranked among the finest tiger-type Soul Beasts, a true apex predator. Among all the tiger Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent, it stood near the very top, second only to the Golden Tiger King and the Dark Devilgod Tiger. Of course, this excluded the legendary divine beast, the White Tiger.
Moreover, as far as Xu Zhengyang knew, there should normally have been a group of White-Eyed Devil Tigers in Sunset Forest, one of the forest's overlords. The White-Eyed Devil Tiger had not been his main target on this trip to Sunset Forest.
He had not expected his luck to be rather good: he had actually encountered a lone White-Eyed Devil Tiger, and its age happened to be around eleven hundred years.
At this moment, Xu Zhengyang gazed at the White-Eyed Devil Tiger before him, his eyes filled with reluctance to let it go, but also with wariness. If he failed to kill it and drew a whole group of White-Eyed Devil Tigers over, he probably would not even be able to escape.
After all, that group of White-Eyed Devil Tigers in Sunset Forest included several ten-thousand-year beasts, and one might even have surpassed fifty thousand years. They were simply beyond his ability to provoke.
Xu Zhengyang looked at the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, his eyes blazing with fervor, before his gaze hardened.
"I'll risk it. Isn't it just a Soul Ring a few hundred years beyond the limit? At worst, I'll stake my life on one attempt. I refuse to believe that after these two years of tempering in ice and snow, my physique still can't withstand a thousand-year Soul Ring."
Xu Zhengyang did not attack the White-Eyed Devil Tiger immediately. Instead, he secretly followed it from nearly five hundred meters away, neither daring to draw close nor allowing himself to fall too far behind.
After following it for five full days, he found that this White-Eyed Devil Tiger was indeed formidable. It acted like a tyrant in the outskirts of Sunset Forest, feeding on Soul Beasts, and none of the surrounding Soul Beasts dared provoke it.
In particular, over those five days, Xu Zhengyang discovered that this White-Eyed Devil Tiger was indeed alone, with no tiger pack accompanying it.
But Xu Zhengyang also understood that this thousand-year White-Eyed Devil Tiger possessed extraordinary combat prowess. Its strength, speed, reflexes, and even defense ranked among the best of Soul Beasts. Even an ordinary five-thousand-year Soul Beast might not be its match. If he could not kill it with a single strike, it would probably escape, and might even turn the tables and kill him.
Based on his recent observations, Xu Zhengyang set an enormous trap nearly a thousand meters beyond the White-Eyed Devil Tiger's roaming grounds. It measured over twenty meters long and more than ten meters deep, and was filled with all kinds of sharp iron caltrops. He even laid down a layer of ore used for forging. Setting up this trap alone took Xu Zhengyang an entire day.
Once everything was ready, in the latter half of that night, just before the sky began to brighten, Xu Zhengyang quietly approached the White-Eyed Devil Tiger's den. He suddenly sprang into action, gripping the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear with both hands and thrusting straight at its eyes.
According to Xu Zhengyang's observations, the latter half of the night was when the White-Eyed Devil Tiger's vigilance dropped to its lowest and its drowsiness was at its strongest.
Just as the spear was about to pierce the White-Eyed Devil Tiger's eye, its vigilance as a top-tier Soul Beast came into play, and it actually opened its eyes.
Seeing danger right before it, the White-Eyed Devil Tiger unleashed a terrifying force from its slit pupils. It slammed into Xu Zhengyang's Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, which seemed to suffer a heavy blow and was forcibly knocked off target.
Even so, the thrust struck the White-Eyed Devil Tiger squarely in the head, tearing open a hideous wound. Blood instantly dyed the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear red.
But the White-Eyed Devil Tiger reacted with extraordinary speed. In that very instant, one enormous paw slammed into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, knocking Xu Zhengyang and his spear several meters back.
Xu Zhengyang had been prepared, however. He flipped over like a sparrowhawk, and the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear surged like a fierce tiger released from its cage. A terrifying surge of Soul Power gathered at its tip as he thrust straight at the White-Eyed Devil Tiger again.
By now, the White-Eyed Devil Tiger was awake and prepared. It let out a terrifying roar that shook the ground for several meters around it, even blasting all the dust and leaves into the air.
Immediately afterward, rather than retreating, the White-Eyed Devil Tiger advanced, opening its terrifying, enormous jaws and biting straight at the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
As both sides struck with all their strength, the White-Eyed Devil Tiger clamped its jaws firmly around the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear. Xu Zhengyang felt as though the entire spear had been seized, leaving it completely immobile.
Then the White-Eyed Devil Tiger swiped a massive claw at Xu Zhengyang. He felt a terrifying force travel through the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, as though both his hands were about to be shattered.
But at that moment, Xu Zhengyang's own ferocity was fully roused, and he looked utterly untamed and savage.
Gripping the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear with both hands, he twisted with all his strength. The entire spear instantly spun at high speed, like a rapidly rotating drill, grinding open the White-Eyed Devil Tiger's enormous jaws. Blood gushed from its mouth.
After suffering repeated, concentrated attacks, all to its head at that, the White-Eyed Devil Tiger seemed extremely enraged and let out another chilling roar.
Immediately afterward, the strength throughout the White-Eyed Devil Tiger's body soared, and its fur stood like steel needles. It leaped straight at Xu Zhengyang, its two enormous claws lunging for his face, clearly intending to tear the human who had ambushed it to pieces.
Xu Zhengyang reacted just as swiftly. He held the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear crosswise and swept it with all his strength, striking straight at the White-Eyed Devil Tiger with a sweep that could rout a thousand troops.
But the White-Eyed Devil Tiger now seemed incomparably savage. Its strength and defense had doubled compared to before, and even its eyes had turned white.
Xu Zhengyang felt as though his all-out strike had hit a massive mountain. Not only did the White-Eyed Devil Tiger remain utterly unmoved, but a terrifying force surged from its claws, sending him flying several meters back, beyond his control.
This White-Eyed Devil Tiger King possessed not only tremendous strength but also reflexes even greater than Xu Zhengyang had imagined. Judging especially by its current appearance, it had probably used some innate Soul Skill that greatly increased its strength and considerably enhanced its defense as well.
Seeing the enraged White-Eyed Devil Tiger, Xu Zhengyang did not hesitate in the slightest. He turned and fled.
But the White-Eyed Devil Tiger King was utterly furious. It sprang forward on all fours, pursuing Xu Zhengyang at lightning speed.
One man and one tiger raced through the mountain forest, one ahead and one behind. Xu Zhengyang ran for his life, while the White-Eyed Devil Tiger pursued relentlessly.
Just as their chase took them past a patch of grass, Xu Zhengyang lightly tapped the ground with his foot and sailed straight over the loosely covered patch.
No matter how vigilant the White-Eyed Devil Tiger was, or how rich its combat experience, it failed to notice this detail.
The White-Eyed Devil Tiger's paw found empty air, and its enormous body plunged straight into the trap. In particular, the downward force as it lost its footing drove its body hard onto the iron caltrops covering the bottom.
At that same instant, Xu Zhengyang turned and swiftly leaped back, swinging his hand forcefully. A huge net over ten meters in diameter firmly trapped the White-Eyed Devil Tiger inside the pit. This was precisely the Thunder Flame Enemy-Binding Net his father had given him back then.