“Argh! You little thief, prepare to die!”
This tiger was incredibly fierce, its two cleaving axes as large as city gates.
It wielded them effortlessly, swinging them around like a whirlwind.
It hacked and slashed at Jiang Wen, each blow carrying the weight of a thousand jun.
The wind and thunder roared as the axe tore through the air. The crimson aura accompanied the axe's descent, like a comet streaking across the sky.
“Boom—!!”
A collision echoed as Jiang Wen blocked the tiger's attack with his wooden staff. The impact sent shockwaves in all directions, creating a fierce gust of wind that swept through the surrounding vegetation.
Jiang Wen's feet sank half an inch into the bluestone pavement, yet his posture remained upright. He felt a slight tremor in his tiger's mouth, inwardly marveling at the tiger's strength. He knew his own strength was considerable, but the tiger seemed even stronger.
Before he could ponder further, the tiger landed on the ground. Yelling, it swung its cleaving axes and attacked again.
Its twelve-zhang-tall body resembled a giant, its two cleaving axes spinning like wheels.
Each strike carried the force of ten thousand tons, and the wind blades alone from the axe's movements carved up the surrounding earth. Grass clippings flew everywhere, stirring up the surroundings. Jiang Wen continuously blocked the tiger's attacks with his wooden staff, using the tiger's force to adjust his position.
Skillfully leaping into the air, Jiang Wen spotted a flaw in the tiger's attack and struck its back with his wooden staff, causing the tiger to let out a deafening wail.
“This hurts me greatly!”
The tiger roared and turned to slash at Jiang Wen. The force was like the creation of heaven and earth, and he couldn't block it head-on. With quick eyes and hands, he jabbed the wooden staff against the axe's surface. Using the tiger's own force, he employed a technique of deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces, causing the cleaving axe to swing back.
The tiger, seeing its own axe heading towards itself, was so frightened that it almost lost its soul. It used the other axe to block, retreating repeatedly to stabilize itself.
It glared at Jiang Wen with its tiger face and coldly said, “You crafty thief! You dare to scheme against me! Come again! I'll let you know my power!”
“Hehe! You big oaf! All you know is brute force! You definitely can't beat the big guy.” The ginseng spirit ridiculed from Jiang Wen's shoulder, clutching its belly and laughing.
The tiger was infuriated by these words and charged forward with strange cries.
“Eat my three moves!”
“Wind Split!”
“Mountain Cleave!”
“Earth Crack!”
The tiger's three moves were swift and fierce, the axe tips emitting a sharp wind. They cleaved the floating island's earth, splitting the distant canyon.
Jiang Wen naturally wasn't afraid of such brute force. He used his wooden staff to smash open two wind barriers. At the moment the tiger finished its third move, his figure ghosted towards the tiger's head. He swung his wooden staff down, and the sound of bone colliding with wood echoed.
The tiger staggered from the blow, collapsing onto the ground.
Jiang Wen naturally pressed his advantage, storing the wooden staff in his storage bag. Before the tiger could get up, he stepped forward.
He unleashed a fierce punch at the tiger, the force of the punch like the unstoppable water of a rushing river.
“Overlapping Waves.”
The fist was like the boundless ocean's tide, one wave overlapping another. Each punch landed on the tiger's body, causing it to howl in pain.
As the fist's force converged, Jiang Wen felt everything in the world fall into silence. The tiger's movements slowed, every action visible to him. He slowly raised his fist, hearing the thunderous roar of his bones, like a tsunami swallowing the earth.
If this punch landed, even the most resilient tiger would lose its life. Even his own heart, transformed from the flesh mountain, had been injured by this punch.
“End.” Just as Jiang Wen was about to strike, he heard the tiger's plea for mercy.
“I surrender, I surrender!” the tiger cried repeatedly. “Please, Immortal, spare me! Spare this tiger's life. I am willing to serve you as a cow or a horse to repay you.”
Jiang Wen looked at the tiger without speaking, then swung his fist towards it. The punch landed beside its ear, the wind from the punch roaring like a tide, sweeping through the land behind it.
“I am not a dog, I am a white tiger born of heaven and earth!” the tiger retorted somewhat angrily. “What dog looks like me?!”
“If I say you have a dog's life, then you have a dog's life.” Jiang Wen glanced at the tiger, and it immediately became docile. It put down its axes, still muttering softly about the dog issue.
“I'm not a dog, how can you call me a dog...”
“Big guy is so awesome! You can even beat this big oaf!” The ginseng spirit Yin Yin cheered happily, making the tiger both angry and annoyed, but helpless.
After all, it had to admit that it was not as skilled as the other party and could not beat him. The tiger could bend and stretch, so it suppressed its grievances in its heart.
“I ask you, who are you? Why are you here? And who is the Immortal Master you speak of?” Jiang Wen walked up to the tiger and asked, looking at it.
The tiger was stunned and scratched its head, feeling a little aggrieved. “Immortal, please speak slower, old man.”
“Okay, I'll ask you first. Who are you?” Jiang Wen asked calmly.
“I am called Kui Dou, a celestial spirit beast, the White Tiger,” the tiger replied.
“White Tiger? You don't look like one.” Jiang Wen suspiciously sized up the tiger, feeling that it had nothing to do with the White Tiger. Other White Tigers have white patterns, but it was covered in crimson red. What kind of White Tiger was that?
“I really am a White Tiger! There's a reason why I look like this!” the tiger cried.
“When I first became a spirit, I accidentally broke into the Immortal Master's cave, and then swallowed the pure yang true fire that the Immortal Master had placed in the alchemy furnace, which is why I became like this.”
“I see, then why are you here?”
“Because I ate the Immortal Master's pure yang true fire, I was caught by the Immortal Master. Then, in order to punish me, the Immortal Master told me to guard his cave here. He said that anyone who broke in had to be stopped here, but their lives could not be harmed.”
“Then who is the Immortal Master you speak of?” Jiang Wen asked again.
“Immortal Master? The Immortal Master is called Immortal Master!” The tiger scratched its head, then suddenly seemed to remember something. He hurriedly said to Jiang Wen. “That's right, the Immortal Master calls himself Pure Yang Zhenren, saying that he travels around.”
“Pure Yang Zhenren?” Hearing this name, Jiang Wen knew that this Immortal Master must be related to the Pure Yang Palace. But as for what the relationship was, this stupid tiger probably didn't know.
Thinking this way, Jiang Wen looked at the distant, continuous palaces again.
“What are you guarding here?”
“I don't know what I'm guarding. I'm just listening to the Immortal Master's words, guarding this canyon entrance and not letting people pass. You are the first living person I have ever seen.”
“So you have been guarding here all this time, and you have only encountered me, a living person?” Jiang Wen had a slight idea in his mind and understood the tiger's words.
“Yes, I don't know how long I've been here, and I've only seen you, a living person. I was too excited just now, so I used too much force. The things that usually come are strange things that can't withstand a few blows from me.” The tiger honestly replied.
“Since you have answered my questions, I will keep my promise and let you go.” Jiang Wen said and walked towards the palaces behind the canyon.
Not long after, he heard a call, and the tiger ran up in a few steps.
“You let me go, and I think you are a good person. Anyway, I'm bored staying here, so why don't I go with you?” the tiger asked expectantly.
“Okay, but if you have any ulterior motives, don't blame me for being merciless.”
“Don't worry! I definitely won't! I swear to the Immortal Master!” The tiger raised its paw and swore.
“Let's go.” Jiang Wen didn't look at its antics and soared towards the palaces with the wind beneath his feet.
