Beside the campfire, Tang Feng took out a yellowed animal hide map from his pocket and spread it out in front of everyone.
The drawing depicts a tiger in fine charcoal, its body long and agile, its fur covered with unique purple cloud patterns. Most peculiar are its four paws, each toe Entanglement with a faint vortex of air.
" Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger." Tang Feng pointed to the blueprints, his gaze falling on Tang Jian. " Brother Jian, this is the target I've had my eye on for you a long time ago."
Tang Jian paused for a moment, then took the blueprints and examined them carefully.
Tang Feng continued, " The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger is a top-tier existence among Soul Beast that balance strength and speed. Its innate ability, ' Space Rending,' allows it to unleash near- Teleportation speed for a short period, while its strength is enough to shatter a Defense System Soul Beast of the same level with a single palm strike. What's even more remarkable is that its Soul Ring have a very high probability of granting pursuit-type skills. These aren't pure speed-based Soul Skill, but rather skills that allow the Clear Sky Hammer to gain a brief burst of speed while maintaining its offensive power."
He paused, looking at Tang Jian: "Your Clear Sky Hammer now weighs nearly seven thousand jin, which is powerful enough, but its attack rhythm is easily predicted and dodged by Agility Attack System opponents. With a 'pursuit' skill, your Clear Sky Hammer will be faster than their movement. This is the direction your Sixth Soul Ring should be."
After pondering for a moment, Tang Jian said, "Yes, you're right. I'll listen to you!"
Dugu Yan, standing to the side, raised an eyebrow and said, " The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger is not easy to find; its whereabouts are elusive..."
Tang Feng nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone, and said, "These types of Soul Beast are usually located deeper within the Star Dou Great Forest, near the edge of the boundary between the mixed zone and the core zone. From now on, we must be even more vigilant and patient!"
"Great!" The crowd was in high spirits.
It took a full seventeen days to find the Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger.
On the afternoon of the seventeenth day, while concealing her presence and conducting reconnaissance, Zhu Zhuqing finally spotted the purple figure deep within a rugged stone forest.
"Five miles to the northwest, in the core area of the Stone Forest, Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger, approximately 40,000 years old, has appeared and is resting."
She appeared in a flash and spoke at lightning speed.
Tang Feng stood up, Clear Sky Hammer silently fell into his palm.
He immediately instructed, "None of you are a match for him, and you can't keep up with his speed. This time, Zhu Zhuqing and I will work together. Brother Jian just needs to maintain his best condition and strike at the last moment to finish him off."
Tang Jian did not refuse, nor did he try to be stubborn.
He knew that a top-tier Soul Beast that was 40,000 years old was beyond his reach as a Quasi-Soul Emperor.
The group quickly and quietly arrived at the depths of the Central Stone Forest, a clearing surrounded by natural boulders in a semi-circle.
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger lay prone on a flat, green rock, its eyes half-closed, slowly licking the bloodstains remaining between its claws.
It is nearly six meters long, and its fur displays a beautiful pattern of deep purple and silver-white interwoven.
This territory is an absolute domain that it has drawn with its power.
The moment Tang Feng and his group stepped into the clearing of the stone forest, the Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger suddenly opened its eyes, sensing the danger posed by the newcomers.
Those eyes were not the vertical pupils of ordinary beasts, but rather a magnificent purplish-gold color, with the pupils spinning rapidly.
Tang Feng launched a preemptive attack, taking a step forward and simultaneously unleashing his Clear Sky Domain and Gravity Domain!
An invisible pressure, like a mountain collapsing, enveloped the entire stone forest!
The hard blue rock beneath the Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger's four paws suddenly cracked, and its long, agile body suddenly sank, as if Qian Jun burden had been placed on its back!
The giant tiger let out an angry growl, straining its limbs, and its purple stripes suddenly lit up!
It will break free from this suffocating oppression with the force of a tearing through the Space Rending!
However, Tang Feng's hammer had already arrived.
The Clear Sky Hammer, imbued with the power to Mountain Collapse, slashed horizontally from left to right!
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger had no choice but to abandon its leaping plan, crossing its claws and bracing itself against the dark golden giant hammer in mid-air!
"Clang!!"
A deafening roar, like metal clashing against metal, erupted!
The shockwave swept across the area like a raging torrent, instantly covering the surface of several massive rocks weighing tens of thousands of kilograms with spiderweb-like cracks!
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger was knocked back five or six meters by this hammer blow, its four claws carving four deep furrows in the rocky ground!
It looked down at the edge of its throbbing forepaw, where a tiny crack had appeared!
This hammer is too heavy. The strength of this human being far exceeds its expectations.
The giant tiger abandoned its underestimation of its opponent, its purple-gold tiger eyes fixed on Tang Feng, a deep, intimidating growl rumbling in its throat.
It was looking for an opportunity, searching for that fleeting opening in the gap between the human swing of the hammer.
However, what it encountered was not Tang Feng's weakness, but Zhu Zhuqing.
A ghostly black shadow silently darted out from its left rear blind spot!
Without any fluctuation of Soul Power, Zhu Zhuqing suppressed her aura to the extreme, and only suddenly unleashed it the moment the Nether Dreadclaw was about to touch the tiger skin!
"Hiss!!"
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger possesses incredibly keen senses!
Almost at the same moment Zhu Zhuqing made her move, its massive tiger body twisted at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding the vital area on the back of its neck!
But it couldn't avoid it all; Zhu Zhuqing's sharp claws precisely tore open the thinnest part of its left hind leg tendon, and blood splattered everywhere!
The giant tiger roared in pain, its tail whipping back like a steel whip in retaliation!
Zhu Zhuqing, however, had already used the momentum to flip backward and landed lightly on the top of a giant rock. Her cat-like eyes were slightly narrowed, and the tiger blood dripping from her fingertips spread a small purplish-red stain on the rock.
Having succeeded in their attack, they immediately fled.
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger is enraged!
Its purple patterns suddenly blazed brightly, and its air currents surged wildly. In the next second, it was about to launch Space Rending leap to pounce on that hateful black figure.
However, just as it leaped into the air, another heavy hammer slammed down from the side!
Tang Feng seemed to have anticipated its choice. The timing of this hammer strike was precisely the moment when the giant tiger was paralyzed in mid-air, its old strength exhausted and its new strength yet to be generated!
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger had no choice but to hastily gather its energy to protect its skull and take the blow head-on!
"Boom!!"
The giant tiger's massive body was slammed into the ground from mid-air by this hammer blow, creating a spiderweb-like crater three zhang in diameter in the hard blue rock ground centered on it!
Tiger blood seeped from the crack on its forehead, staining the purple cloud-like markings red.
It struggled to stand up, but its limbs trembled slightly under the continued pressure of Gravity Domain.
The roar of the Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger gradually changed, from anger to anxiety, and then to a faint fear.
It attempted to create distance and regroup for an offensive.
However, whenever it tries to retreat, the ghostly black shadow will dart out from some tricky angle, leaving a deep, bone-revealing scratch on its hind legs, side belly, and tail base.
When it pursued, the dark shadow vanished like smoke; when it gave up the pursuit, the dark shadow clung to it like a maggot.
It attempted a frontal breakthrough, charging towards Tang Feng.
It was always met with that dark gold hammer. Each strike was as heavy as a mountain, causing its blood to surge and its limbs to ache and go numb.
It attempted to launch Space Rending leap, using near- Teleportation speed to escape its predicament.
But every time the purple patterns around it lit up, Tang Feng's Clear Sky Hammer would precisely strike the spot where it was about to land, as if it could foresee the future!
Zhu Zhuqing would then seize the moment when the creature was at its most vulnerable, unleashing its full power and inflicting another wound on its side!
One incense stick, two incense sticks,...
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger's speed was decreasing, its jump distances were getting shorter, and its staggering landings were becoming more and more obvious.
The deepest claw mark on its left hind leg prevented it from unleashing its full power; the gash on its forehead, caused by Tang Feng's blow, was still bleeding, blurring the vision in one eye; the crisscrossing claw wounds between its ribs made every breath a tearing, excruciating pain.
It finally realized that this human wielding the heavy hammer had never intended to end the battle quickly from the beginning.
He's consuming it.
With overwhelming force and precise interception, and with that ever-present shadow assassin, their fighting spirit was gradually extinguished.
Finally, the Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger let out a mournful howl, and its body slowly lowered.
The anger in those purple-gold tiger eyes gradually faded, leaving only the resolute determination and resignation of a trapped beast.
" Brother Jian!" Tang Feng called out immediately.
Tang Jian was already waiting at the edge of the battle.
He gripped the Clear Sky Hammer tightly with both hands, concentrating all his power into this single strike.
The Clear Sky Nine Absolutes! The Pierce Formula!
The Purple-Patterned Space-Rending Tiger sensed the deadly edge. With its last ounce of strength, it raised its head, attempting one last struggle.
However, the deepest scratch on its left hind leg caused it to stagger and kneel down again as soon as it stood up.
Tang Jian's Clear Sky Hammer pierced its heart, and its massive body slowly tilted to the side.
A deep black, Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring slowly rose from its corpse.