Tiger!

"Improving my Physical Quality is a good thing. It means I can unleash speed and strength far beyond others at the same level in every stage... As for speed, I belong to the Time Faction, which excels in this area. My ability to escape for my life definitely won't be weak in the future."

Jiang Zhe touched the Dark Purple Thunder Seal on his chest, deeply satisfied. "I should give it a name. Hmm... how about Thunder Prison Realm? Anna, what do you think?"

"It suits it perfectly. It should be a Special Ability that has never appeared before. Naturally, it should be named by you, Master!"

Oriana's judgment had its basis. The level of this Special Ability should correspond to the Realm Lord Level, close to the level of the Original Core. It should not have been something a Planetary Level lifeform could awaken.

"As for Thunder Element Treasures..." Jiang Zhe turned to Oriana. "Are there any Thunder Attribute treasures on Earth?"

After searching through the internet, Oriana tentatively suggested, "The Thunder Dragon Emperor's dragon horns, dragon scales, dragon bones, dragon tendons, dragon heart, and Dragon Blood?"

"???"

Jiang Zhe's mouth twitched. "Why not suggest I refine the Thunder God into medicine while you're at it?"

"Does Barabata have any good stock? My teacher's World Ring should be with him. I refuse to believe there's nothing good inside."

Oriana shook her head. "What you need is an A-grade Thunder Element Treasure. Your teacher wasn't so poor that he needed to pick through junk, was he?"

Thinking of something, Oriana reminded him, "Master, that Mechanical Race Immortal comprehended the Thunder Element Law. They like stockpiling all kinds of materials. This World Bracelet may contain something you need."

Jiang Zhe accepted the bracelet Oriana handed him, turning it over in his hand twice before asking, "Will using Psychic Power to scour away the Life Imprint inside have any effect on me?"

"No. I tried scouring it with genetic energy earlier. There was no backlash, but it was extremely difficult to wear away even the slightest trace."

"Even though the original owner is dead, the Life Imprint inside is like Water Without a Source and is very fragile. But energy at the Immortal Level is not something we Planetary Levels can shake. The Hanxia idiom 'Foolish Old Man Removing the Mountains' is perfect for describing your process of scouring away the Life Imprint."

"Foolish Old Man Removing the Mountains?" Jiang Zhe raised a brow. "So... it can succeed, but it'll take a lot of effort?"

Then he slipped the Purple Gold Bracelet covered in secret patterns onto his wrist, making his stance clear.

The World Bracelet had to be opened as soon as possible!

Several pots were already heated and waiting for rice to go in!

After taking a rinse in the bathroom, Jiang Zhe lay on the bed and began recalling the various cultivation essentials of the Coiled Dragon Technique.

"Sleep with your head to the east, lie on your side, coiled like a dragon, curled like a dog. Bend one arm beneath your head, secretly pressing against the Sea of Consciousness; straighten one arm to stroke the navel, linking the Dantian; stretch one leg; curl the other. Before putting the heart to sleep, first put the eyes to sleep. Attain the utmost emptiness and maintain profound stillness..."

Assuming the proper posture, he visualized the painting of the sleeping Azure Dragon from the Coiled Dragon Technique. The mysterious essence of "Zhuang Zhou Dreams of Being a Butterfly" arrived as expected.

Jiang Zhe only felt an immense comfort, as though he had returned to the time when he was still being nurtured. A serene smile appeared on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

The consciousness in his mind soared into the vast unknown.

It was the height of summer. Cicadas chirped endlessly in the ancient forest, making it impossible for living creatures to sleep peacefully.

Inside a dark, damp cave.

Upon a foul-smelling deer hide, a frail Golden British Shorthair slowly opened its eyes. They carried a unique spirituality as its tiny body trembled, wanting to explore this world.

Tiger Mother seemed to sense something. She turned her head and licked it twice with her barbed tongue, the humanlike concern in her eyes impossible to dispel.

There were four tiger cubs in this litter. The youngest was the frailest and the last to open its eyes.

The other Tiger Brothers had already begun stumbling around the cave on the third day, opened their eyes on the fifth day, and started eating raw meat on the tenth day...

It was now the fifteenth day. The youngest still lay limp in the animal hide, unable to drink much milk... But at least it had opened its eyes and could see this world.

Without an accident, it would most likely struggle to survive the coming winter.

After drinking its fill of milk, Hu Yao smacked its lips and fell asleep contentedly. Its snores gradually rose.

Grrr—snore—

Gradually, the adorable, innocent snoring unexpectedly turned into dull Thunder Tone.

Its small body, only as long as an adult's arm, trembled with the thunderous sound. The violent magnitude of the shaking made one worry that it might suddenly fall apart the next moment.

Logically, this should have been painful, yet Hu Yao's furry round face was filled with enjoyment.

It merely followed its instincts and did what benefited itself the most.

Tiger Mother was slightly stunned as she watched quietly.

One tiger cub found it too noisy and tried to push it awake, only for Tiger Mother to slap it so hard that it rolled across the ground several times.

The cicadas mixed with the thunderous sounds in the cave, making the summer even more deafening.

The three cubs restlessly paced around the cave.

Tiger Mother was somewhat knowledgeable. Having seen through the vibration pattern of the Tiger-Leopard Thunderclap, she lay on the ground and began imitating it.

At first, the two were distinctly separate. Gradually, she matched Hu Yao's rhythm, causing the two Thunder Tones to resonate at the same frequency.

The air inside the cave seemed to vibrate along with them, radiating a perfectly harmonious essence.

It was probably like... how the pitter-patter of rain could help one sleep, or how seeing someone eat with appetite made you want to take a few more bites yourself.

The three little ones, exhausted from their fussing, fell asleep where they were. Their snores mixed with the Thunder Tone, and their bodies began displaying strange vibrations.

Eating, sleeping, snoring.

After opening its eyes, these were the only three things Hu Yao did. On average, it woke every hour and a half to eat.

This led to an insufficient supply of milk, forcing it to eat raw meat the next day.

Fishy, nutritious, but not tasty.

That was Hu Yao's first thought upon eating.

With resistance in its lively eyes, it finished an entire wild pheasant.

For some reason, its intelligence was frighteningly high. It would not let personal likes or dislikes stop it from doing what benefited itself.

Perhaps... the obsession to Become Stronger, ingrained in its bloodline and consciousness as the king of the forest, explained it?

That was the only explanation.

It continued.

Eating, sleeping, snoring.

Five days, ten days, one month...

Hu Yao was like vegetables in a greenhouse, growing savagely at a rate that horrified tigers.

From the length of an arm, to over a meter long, to nearly a meter at the shoulder and roughly two meters in body length, with its tail another two-thirds of its body length.

It grew from the frailest cub in the litter into one with a body equal to two Tiger Brothers.

Forty-seven days after opening its eyes.

While Tiger Mother was out hunting, Lone Wolf slipped into the tiger den. The giant wolf stood two meters at the shoulder. Even though it was old, lame, and riddled with ailments, it was still a life-or-death threat to the four Tiger Brothers.

In the end, Hu Yao relied on its slightly smaller body and greater agility in the narrow cave, joining forces with its three elder brothers to kill the old wolf.

The price was that Tiger Three's abdomen was torn open by wolf fangs, his organs spilling across the ground as he lost his breath on the spot.

Staring blankly at its third brother's corpse, Hu Yao mechanically tore open the wolf's throat and swallowed its scorching blood. Strange thoughts such as "cruelty," "survival of the fittest," "The Weak Are Prey to the Strong," and "adaptation and survival" kept surfacing in its mind.

After Tiger Mother returned, she silently carried away the cub's corpse and buried it beneath a century-old tree.

On the forty-eighth day, Tiger Mother led the three brothers to learn how to hunt.

Hu Yao was as clever as ever. It mastered the basics as soon as it learned them, left the group to act alone, caught a tender Sika Deer, and dragged it into a stream valley to drink its fill of deer blood.

A moment later, thunderous snores rang out from the valley.

After more than seventy sunrises and sunsets, winter arrived as expected, with wind and snow drifting through the land.

Hunting grew ever more difficult.

The old forest was filled with snow-covered gullies deep enough to swallow Hu Yao whole, even though it now stood nearly two meters at the shoulder.

But the clever Hu Yao knew how to avoid danger and how to find prey. It never returned empty-handed from a hunt. In fact, after the entire winter had passed, its body had grown another great deal.

In spring, as the snow melted, Hu Yao's family prepared to migrate.

Well... migrate separately.

Hu Yao was driven out of the small family. Though clever enough to feel saddened, it had long expected this day would come.

It secretly escorted Tiger Mother and its two elder brothers for over a hundred li. Hearing forceful tiger roars in the distance, Hu Yao prostrated itself and kowtowed on the ground. Only after a long while did it rise, turn around, and return the way it came.

Returning to the cave of its birth, it claimed the area within several hundred li as its hunting ground and revealed its cruel nature.

It first hunted down every wolf pack.

In the eleventh month after its birth, Hu Yao slaughtered or drove away all large animals within several hundred li of its hunting ground, turning the region into a barren land.

It was very satisfied. It liked killing and liked displaying its fierce might.

By then, Hu Yao had already surpassed Tiger Mother in size. It stood nearly four meters at the shoulder, and its tracks could not be concealed as it walked through the forest.

It began advancing deeper into the primeval forest.

In the twelfth month, it encountered a life-or-death crisis: a crowned Dark Red Venomous Python.

Clever as Hu Yao was, it had already been extremely cautious. It avoided being bitten and injected with venom, and avoided being coiled up by the snake's body...

But after calculating everything, who could have known it could spray venom over twenty meters?

The venom vaporized into a mist that enveloped its face. It immediately felt a burning corrosive sensation, and the poison entered its nose, its effects beginning to spread through its entire body.

Fortunately, Hu Yao shut its eyes in time and avoided the tragic fate of becoming a blind tiger.

Its ears twitched as it heard something slicing through the air toward it. Hu Yao staggered around and fled.

It did not know how many trees it smashed through or how many vines it tore apart. As the poison took hold, its vision blurred, and it plunged headfirst into a rushing river.

Fortunately, heaven did not leave a tiger without a path.

In the calm downstream waters, Hu Yao emerged from its "hangover" with a six-meter crocodile in its jaws and swam ashore.

It had endured the snake venom, and after waking, there was even a big fish delivered right to its mouth to replenish its losses. It truly was heaven's most favored cub.

They said eels had good abalone, while crocodiles had evil leopards.

Today, your Leopard Brother wasn't here, but entertaining his cousin—your Tiger Brother, me—was just the same.

At one year and four months, it challenged a Moa. Those powerful bird legs left a deep impression on Hu Yao... They were strong and delicious.

At one year and six months, a brown bear nearly twenty meters tall sent Hu Yao fleeing at the sight of it.

At two years and three months, Hu Yao saw humans for the first time. They stood six meters tall, had reddish-brown skin, and wore animal hides. An instinct drove it to stay far away from them.

Do not approach them. They will bring you misfortune!

At four years and seven months, Hu Yao vented within its territory. It felt it had grown tall enough and wanted to break through the "ceiling" above its head that restrained it.

It slowly retraced its path, searching for a stirring in its heart.

At five years and two months, it returned to its birthplace. The cave had already been occupied by a black panther.

The panther trembled in fear after Hu Yao blocked it inside.

By now, Hu Yao no longer possessed the savage brutality it had when it first emerged into the world. It still liked killing, but only against powerful opponents that could bring it pleasure.

It did nothing to the black panther. After staying for half an hour, it turned and left, continuing its search for Tiger Mother and its two brothers.

At five years and nine months, after searching aimlessly for nearly seven months, it always felt a lingering attachment in its heart that prevented it from feeling whole.

The clever Hu Yao sometimes found it amusing.

It was clearly a beast of the mountains. How could it possess emotions and thoughts as delicate as those of humans?

It continued searching for completeness of the heart.

At six years and three months, it encountered a sick tiger.

It was a male tiger.

Yet it was even smaller than the Tiger Mother in Hu Yao's memories. It was blind in one eye, gaunt, missing half its tail, and covered in scars.

To be honest, this tiger probably lived even worse than the Lone Wolf Hu Yao had killed for the first time.

Yet Hu Yao froze, its tiger eyes bloodshot.

This was its Tiger Second Brother!

How had he become so miserable? He had already reached the point where his life was nearly exhausted!

Unfortunately, Tiger Second Brother's intelligence was limited. He could not recognize Hu Yao at all and was somewhat senile as well.

But upon hearing that Hu Yao would avenge him and recover his honor, he led Hu Yao to a tribe inhabited by nearly a thousand people.

Looking at the tribe crouching on the plains like a giant beast, Tiger Second Brother released a hoarse, grief-stricken howl.

Hu Yao understood him—Tiger Mother and Tiger Eldest Brother had both died at the hands of those humans below, and their corpses had been carried into the city.

Night fell, dark clouds covered the moon, and Hu Yao attacked the city.

The walls built from century-old logs could not withstand even a single charge from it. Once it burst into the residential area, it rolled across the ground and transformed into a Flesh Grinder...

Amid blood and fire, it slaughtered an entire large tribe.

Following their scent, Hu Yao found two incomplete tiger pelts. They were the only remains of Tiger Mother and Tiger Eldest Brother.

Overwhelming grief filled its heart. The violent fluctuations of its consciousness finally allowed it to shatter that "ceiling."

But if it had a choice, Hu Yao would rather not have done so.

Tiger Second Brother staggered over and collapsed atop the two tiger pelts. There was not a single piece of good flesh left on his body, and he had nearly bled dry.

At death's door, his clouded eyes seemed to regain their clarity. He let out a contented whimper, knowing the family was together again.

Hu Yao howled in grief, carrying Tiger Second Brother and the two tiger pelts as it flew away. It returned to the cave where they had once been born.

It began here, and it ended here.

At nine years and three months, Hu Yao set out again after three years of silence. It headed for the Core Zone of this primeval forest and established the glorious reputation of the Tiger King.

At nineteen years and ten months, Hu Yao became one of the supreme Peak Beast Emperors on this planet.

At twenty-three years and seven months, an enormous warship descended from the sky. Hu Yao looked at the colossal object and felt inexplicable dread in its heart.

Its innate Special Ability frantically warned it—it had to flee as quickly as possible, far from this unfortunate Indigenous Planet that was about to be engulfed by catastrophe.

Flee?

Where could I possibly flee to?

This was the land that had raised me. Tiger Mother and my three elder brothers were all buried here.

At twenty-three years and eight months, Hu Yao once watched from afar. The humans were the first to suffer. Batch after batch were bound up, linked together by iron chains, and driven into the belly of that colossal object.

At twenty-three years and eleven months, the calamity spread from humans to other species.

As one of the planet's renowned Peak Beast Emperors, Hu Yao was captured without the slightest ability to resist. It was fitted with an Enslavement Collar, stripped of self-awareness, and plunged into a muddled state.

When its consciousness became clear again, it had already been sent into a circular building and forced to participate in an activity known as beast fighting.

Hu Yao cherished every moment when its consciousness was clear.

It survived one deadly battle after another, building up a streak of consecutive victories and becoming the Beast Fighting Arena's star attraction.

It secretly accumulated strength and never gave up its pursuit of freedom.

Unfortunately, heaven did not grant the tiger's wish. Its winning streak ultimately stopped at 797 matches.

In order to make a large profit, the Beast Fighting Arena's management decided to sacrifice it.

Before taking the stage, Hu Yao was injected with a slow-acting poison. Dragging its half-paralyzed body, it unleashed one final brilliant burst, instantly killing its opponent with Thunder Domain before the poison took effect and claimed its life.

"I am... Hu Yao?"

"No, Jiang Zhe! I am Jiang Zhe!"

At the final moment of his life, the confusion of the womb faded away. Hu Yao... no, Jiang Zhe, regained complete clarity.

But it was already too late. Looking back on the past, he could not help but shake his head with a bitter smile.

A Beast Emperor, a Planetary Level Peak—even with a domain, what did it amount to in the universe?

From now on, the protagonist's state of mind would be improved through the Coiled Dragon Technique.

This was his first time cultivating it, so it had been written in such detail. In the future, those parts would be skipped directly.

It was Mid-Autumn Festival. Two updates were planned, totaling 6,000 words.