At that moment, a powerful roar came from the north side of Sky Cloud Forest. This roar could make any normal ear burst with pain, but after hearing the dragon talk, Long Huang was barely affected.
"What kind of beast is that? It sounds similar to a tiger's roar and a powerful one at that; I hope it's the Red Tiger," whispered Long Huang as he had not forgotten the reason he came to this place.
Long Huang quickly focused his eyes and saw that, 7 or 8 miles away, there was what seemed to be a muscular tiger seven meters long and four meters tall with white fur and light brown strips, but what stood out most were its glowing green furious eyes.
This wasn't just any tiger, but the Green Eyed Tiger King; it was bigger than any wild tiger by at least 2 times and gave off an aura of destruction and carnage. Its roar caused all the animals within a ten-kilometer radius to tremble with fear and run.
He also saw six youths running away in fear. The aura they exuded ranged from the mid-stages to the Peak stages of the Meridian Tempering Realm,
"Everyone! Run in different directions!"
The person who shouted seemed to be the leader of the group. He seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years of age with a scarred face. He held a long sword that he used to easily cut a tree in half to stall the tiger as the group ran.
Boom!!!...
The tiger waved its paws, and the tree shattered.
"Damn! Demon beasts are truly as dangerous as they say they are," Long Huang thought. Once a wild beast entered the ranks of a demon beast, only martial artists with the strength of the Bone Tempering Realm or higher could fight them with ease.
The strength of the Green Eyed Tiger King could even threaten Long Huang using the Ocean Wave Fist.
"Xin Fei! Watch out!" Some of the youths yelled.
The Green Eyed Tiger King was heading straight towards the scarred-face youth, who had the strongest strength.
"Their surname is Xin?"
"Are they disciples of the Xin family, one of the top families of the City?" Long Huang then saw the symbols on their clothes, which confirmed his guess.
Booo—— om!!...
Everywhere the Green Eyed Tiger King passed, destruction soon followed, as if nothing could withstand its might. A normal Meridian Tempering Realm cultivator would probably have died long ago.
This realization caused Long Huang to realize that this "Xin Fei" was extremely strong, with a strength that rivaled his own.
Woosh!
Xin Fei seemed to become a phantom. As the tiger's claws descended, capable of shearing through stone, he twisted his body in a seemingly impossible contortion, the wind of the blow tearing his robes. In the same motion, his free hand flickered.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Three throwing knives, shimmering with concentrated force, shot through the air with a sharp whistle, aiming for the beast's luminous green eyes. But just before impact, the Tiger King's eyelids snapped shut.
Clang!
The hardened steel knives struck with a sound of clinking metal and sparked harmlessly away, leaving not even a scratch.
ROOOOOAR!!!!
This enraged the beast. The sound was a physical wave of pressure that shook the leaves from the trees and stunned the senses. Its attack became a frenzied whirlwind of strikes, each one capable of shattering bone and iron.
Yet Xin Fei danced within the storm. His footwork was a level above Long Huang's. He was a leaf on the wind, evading, weaving, and redirecting.
His sword, meanwhile, was a bolt of lightning.
Each time he found a sliver of an opening, the blade would lash out, not to maim the beast's hide, but to score a precise, shallow cut on the Tiger King. Long Huang couldn't help but comment on this incredible youth.
"Xin Fei's sword can easily slice through one of these trees. From this strength alone, he is probably even stronger than most inner disciples of the sect."
"And yet..."
"He still can't leave a major wound on the Green Eyed Tiger King. Ridiculous!" said Long Huang in amazement.
"Quickly! Hurry, Save Xin Fei!" a disciple shouted.
Two other disciples of the Xin family took out their bows and attacked the Green-Eyed Tiger King. However, all their attacks did was stall and disperse the tiger's concentration. The tiger's defense was stronger than the Metal Pecking Eagle's by three to four times. So, to the tiger, all their attacks only felt like being attacked by a mosquito, harmless overall, but annoying.
'If I can kill this Green Eyed Tiger King, it will probably be worth around 800 gold notes, which is the worth of around 17 beasts.' Greed flashed in Long Huang's eyes as he thought out a dangerous plan.
Whoosh!!!! .....
He immediately used Wind Deer Steps and closed in towards the place of the incident. As Long Huang arrived, the six disciples of the Xin family were under great pressure.
"Wind Breaking Sword Art 3rd form!"
Xin Fei's eyes flashed as he used his long sword to slash towards the tiger.
"What an incredible strike!"
Long Huang saw the entire process of the sword; its power could instantly kill two normal cultivators of the Peak stage Meridian Tempering Realm two times over. Not even he would be able to fully block it.
He also noticed a faint green aura exuding from Xin Fei's body and was shocked. This aura signaled that Xin Fei had begun to form Inner Strength and was stepping into the Bone Tempering Realm.
Swish!!...squish! Thud!
Cough!
Xin Fei's attack was fast and precise, and he was able to cut half an inch into the skin on the Green Eyed Tiger King's head, but the force of the blow made Xin Fei vomit blood. That sword's strength came close to the damage dealt by a mid Bone Tempering Realm cultivator.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAR!
At that very moment, Xin Fei couldn't help but tremble. Xin Fei was finally able to hurt the Green Eyed Tiger King, but this only enraged the beast further. Furious that this puny thing it thought was mere prey, dared to wound it. The Green Eyed King rushed towards Xin Fei at an even greater speed and slashed out, its claw slicing through the air like an executioner's blade.
Swoosh!
"AHHHHHH!!"
Xin Fei had tried to use his movement art, but it was too late as he was sent crashing through a few trees.
Boom!! Boom! Boom!!
Covered in blood with splinters all over his body, Xin Fei groaned as he struggled to his feet, using his sword to pull himself up. Luckily, though badly injured, he survived.
Xin Fei gritted his teeth, gathering the remaining strength in his limp body, standing in a sword stance, ready to fight once more.
"Today is the day you die, beast!!!!" he shouted, his voice filled with rage and murderous intent. The Green Eyed Tiger King, feeling the murderous intent, turned only to see the prey it thought it had killed to be alive and still daring to attack. With a low growl, it lunged towards Xin Fei, ready to kill this annoying prey once and for all.
"Wind Breaking Sword 3rd form!"
Xin Fei used the same move, aiming for the bloody mark on the tiger's forehead again.
BOOOOM!
As soon as his attack landed, the tiger's paw also hit his body, and he was once again sent flying. The Green Eyed Tiger King staggered back before shaking its head and leaping towards Xin Fei. Its jaw wide open.
Xin Fei wanted to dogged, but his body was too exhausted and could not. Looking inside the beast's mouth, Xin Fei knew his end was here. He closed his eyes, waiting for death.
"Xin Fei!"
The other disciples screamed, but in that moment.
Swoo—— sh!!
Suddenly, a branch whipped through the air, hitting the tiger's open wound.
Roooooar!!!
The tiger mournfully howled. The Xin disciples looked on in a daze. Even though the tiger's defense was strong, an open wound meant weakness. As the tiger turned around to find the 'culprit'.
Xin Fei, who was waiting for death, opened his eyes and saw the scene, and without hesitation, quietly used this moment to escape.
"So close!"
Long Huang hid behind a towering, ancient tree, which was only one hundred meters away from the tiger. As the tiger was trying to find the culprit, Xin Fei tried to lead his fellow Xin family disciples to escape.
Snap!
In that moment, someone had stepped on a broken branch. The Green Eyed Tiger King, who was unable to find its target, heard this and saw that its prey were trying to escape. Now enraged even more, the Green Eyed Tiger King started to attack in a more frenzied manner.
"Ahhhahhhh..."
One of the Xin family disciples let out a gut-wrenching scream as he was ripped into shreds by the tiger's claws like paper in a paper shredder. This view made Long Huang, who wasn't far away, feel cold. Just as another of the Xin family disciples was in danger...
Swi———sh!
Another branch came flying through the air, piercing towards the tiger's eye.
Thwack!
Rooooar!
The tiger roared in annoyance and then closed its eyes; the branch was barely able to scratch its eyelids.
"Hughh... shit."
Long Huang sighed as he shook his head. It wasn't that his strength wasn't enough; it was that the tiger was on guard, making it hard for the same trick to succeed again.
Long Huang broke more branches and threw them. Every time he threw a branch, it would hit the injury on the tiger's forehead. Eventually, the injuries and poison severely weakened the tiger, slowing its attack rate.
Noticing this, the tiger turned and ran towards the deeper sections of Sky Cloud Forest.
"Good, a chance," said Long Huang.
"Follow!" said Xin Xin, his eyes filled with fury.
The Xin disciples, hearing this, gritted their teeth and followed, each vowing to kill that damn tiger. Meanwhile, Long Huang was closing in on the beast, jumping branch to branch, but the tiger only seemed to be getting further. With no other choice, he jumped down and started pursuing by land.
"Hahaha! .... Where are you running to, huh, big guy?"
Long Huang laughed as he used Wind Deer Steps to catch up to the tiger. In his eyes, the tiger represented an enormous wealth of 800 gold notes.