"It is indeed a soul beast, and an extremely powerful one at that!"
Before Xiao Yan could finish his sentence, the light around them suddenly dimmed. The sky was clearly clear and the sun was shining, yet inside the forest, it was dark and gloomy.
At that moment, Xiao Yan could no longer afford to keep his strength hidden. He figured Master Yu must have learned quite a bit from Tang Hao, otherwise, with his meager strength, he wouldn't have dared to enter a place crawling with such fearsome soul beasts.
A wave of blue energy surged from Xiao Yan's body and spread outwards. He had activated the Blue Silver Domain, fending off the encroaching darkness.
This soul beast's aura was absurdly powerful. Xiao Yan wasn't even sure if a sneak attack could take it down. And in a rush, he wasn't confident he could even escape.
Roar~
A deep growl echoed in sync with the emergence of the Blue Silver Domain. Xiao Yan instantly saw it — from within the nearby trees, a massive soul beast was charging toward them, its eyes locked on him with a menacing glare.
It was a giant black tiger, its entire body pitch black without a single streak of color. Its blood-red eyes radiated eerie malice. The beast was over eight meters long, its muscles bulging ominously. Its weight likely exceeded dozens of tons.
On its forehead was the character for "king" — also black — but unlike the fur, this blackness was murky and fog-like.
Most unusual was its tail, much longer than that of ordinary tiger-type soul beasts. It arched upwards, composed of countless bone joints, ending in a massive barbed hook that glinted with a sinister glow.
As the beast revealed itself, Yu Xiaogang immediately recognized what it was — a rare and nearly extinct species of soul beast.
He had only read about it in an ancient tome from the Spirit Hall.
Due to its rarity and peculiarity, even the vast records of the Spirit Hall had little information about it.
"Xiao Yan, this is a top-tier soul beast called the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. Judging by its size, it's at least at the ten-thousand-year level. Given its uniqueness, it might even be capable of challenging hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. It's way beyond our league!"
As Yu Xiaogang explained, his eyes darted around in all directions.
"Your Majesty Haotian, please show yourself already!"
Not needing Yu Xiaogang to spell it out, Xiao Yan instantly took action when the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger came within five hundred meters. He launched ten inner-energy-infused Blue Silver Emperor leaves. At the same time, he flicked both of his middle fingers, unleashing two Zhong Chong Sword strikes.
Although not as overwhelmingly powerful as the Shao Shang Sword, the Zhong Chong Sword was still a bold, wide-open style full of imposing momentum.
It was a perfect follow-up to a projectile weapon attack.
Xiao Yan aimed straight for the soul beast's eyes.
Unlike the formless and shapeless strikes of the Six Meridians Divine Sword, these Blue Silver Emperor leaves followed a Batwing Reincarnation technique. They appeared to fly in a straight line but spread in an arc to attack from multiple directions.
No matter how powerful and imposing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger looked, its eyes were certainly a weak point.
"Run!"
After releasing the attack, Xiao Yan willed a Blue Silver Vine to lash out and wrap around Yu Xiaogang, yanking him along.
What unnerved Xiao Yan the most was the soul beast's terrifyingly sharp perception. It seemed to sense the incoming attack. The massive hook on its back lifted slowly, swinging lightly through the air, creating bizarre, distorted ripples.
Just this slight motion disrupted the trajectory of Xiao Yan's ten leaves, blowing them to either side of its body and neutralizing the attack.
This soul beast was absurdly strong!
As the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger eyed its prey hungrily, it suddenly sensed danger.
This acute sense had saved its life many times since its birth.
Without hesitation, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger snapped its eyes shut!
Xiao Yan's two Six Meridians Divine Sword strikes hit right as the tiger closed its eyes, landing hard on its eyelids with a dull thud.
But that sound was quickly drowned by the beast's anguished howl.
"Awoooo~~"
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger felt a sharp pain as though its eyes had been jabbed. If the attack had been a bit stronger, or if its defense wasn't so formidable, its eyes might have been pierced.
Since its birth, only two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest had ever given it this much trouble.
Watching from the shadows, Tang Hao grinned knowingly. He had once suffered from such unpredictable attacks and understood just how much pain the tiger's eyeballs must be in.
With a mighty roar, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger leapt at Xiao Yan, charging blindly with jaws wide open, ready to bite.
It would use this human's blood to cleanse its humiliation.
Hearing the enraged roar behind him, Xiao Yan clutched the Master, now wrapped in vines, and sprinted for his life.
This soul beast was downright terrifying!
Even though he hadn't used the most powerful of the Six Meridians Divine Sword, it should've been enough to wound a sixty-thousand-year soul beast.
Yet striking the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's eyelid didn't even draw blood.
That alone proved the beast's body was monstrously tough.
Its power was simply unfathomable!
After its bite missed, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger shook its head and blinked as the pain faded. Spotting the empty forest around it, rage flared in its eyes. It sniffed the air and, like a gust of black wind, took off in pursuit.
Though Xiao Yan had fled first, the tiger's speed was terrifyingly fast.
In less than three to five minutes, it had caught sight of the man in black robes.
But this man was incredibly agile, leaping between trees as if flying.
Eventually, they reached a clearing. With no trees to aid his movement, the black-robed man slowed significantly.
The Evil God Hook on the tiger's back swayed slightly, boosting its speed. In a blink, it was right behind the black-robed figure, jaws wide to strike again.
In that instant, the black-robed man burst into blue light, his body fading at a visible rate until only his robe remained fluttering in midair.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger clamped down on the robe with such force that it shook its own jaw with the recoil.
Clawing at the robe, it realized—there was nothing inside.
Though the tiger didn't understand exactly what had just happened, one thing was clear...
It had been tricked again!!!!
(End of Chapter)