by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
"If there is a thunderstorm here, it won't be hard for me to split this place apart with the power of lightning. Unfortunately, it is not easy to borrow the power of natural lightning," lamented the Young Lightning King. He then continued, "We should send someone back and report this."
Chapter 129: Untimely Death
Xiang Shaoyun felt he was going to die for real this time. The thick vicious gold aura surrounded him and shredded his skin, as if he was swimming in a lake of blades. Numerous cuts were left on his newly grown flesh, which was as tough as steel, and his blood sprayed everywhere. The intense pain of being cut alive was unbearable.
"Ahhhh!"
Xiang Shaoyun wailed madly. The pain was even worse than being struck by lightning. During this critical moment, the purple dragon hidden in his lightning bone woke up. It charged out and formed a clump of innate purple lightning that shrouded Xiang Shaoyun's body and protected him.
"Roar! Roar!"
As the purple dragon roared, Xiang Shaoyun's presence of a king surged out. At the same time, the projection of a tiger appeared around him as well. Meanwhile, the Overlord Skyslaying Saber in his astral cosmos sea started emitting clumps of lightning energy that reinforced the tiger, strengthening the tiger to the point it was comparable to the purple dragon.
Presence of dragon and tiger!
The dragon and tiger surrounded Xiang Shaoyun like guardians. They roared repeatedly as they protected Xiang Shaoyun with all they could, preventing him from being sliced to death.
Alas, there was a limit to their strength. This was a place with concentrated vicious gold energy. Strains of destructive energy sliced the dragon and tiger, leaving wounds all over them. If this continued, Xiang Shaoyun would turn into mincemeat before long.
Xiang Shaoyun tried his best to save himself. He even fully activated his nine stars. But his struggles seemed pointless.
"I am not willing to accept this! I am not willing!" Xiang Shaoyun howled madly. Finally, when all his defenses were shredded apart, including his king armor, he finally sank into despair.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a roar sounded from below him. Then, the boundless vicious gold aura started splitting apart, forming a tunnel free of the vicious gold aura, allowing Xiang Shaoyun to fall straight down through the tunnel.
Bang!
Xiang Shaoyun's badly cut body crashed onto the ground, giving him a feeling like his bones had broken from the fall.
Is it Little White? Xiang Shaoyun wondered with the final bit of consciousness he had. He then fainted.
...
Meanwhile, the Battle of Towns had been put on hold because of the gold serpentine crocodile stampede. The disciples had no way of resisting the stampede and more than half of them had been killed. If it had continued, all the disciples would turn into beast fodder before the month ended.
Because of that, the academies were forced to withdraw their disciples from the competition. Naturally, some of them also had an inkling that the real reason for this was because the secret of Golden River Valley was about to show itself.
Regardless of the reason, the elders of the numerous academies withdrew their disciples to prevent even greater losses. Tan Guanghua and Jie Shi were only able to save a little over 20 of their disciples from the valley.
Only half survived? Tan Guanghua questioned inwardly, his heart in pain. He knew each Battle of Towns was incomparably cruel, but they had never suffered such disastrous losses. One ought to know that it hadn't even been 10 days since the start of the competition.
"Vice palace master, there are too many gold serpentine crocodiles. Even Demon Kings have appeared. We're lucky even half of us survived," said Mo Zhu with a grim expression. Following that, the other disciples started complaining.
"Everything was fine, but suddenly, the gold serpentine crocodiles went crazy. Wave after wave of them charged out. If we were a tad bit slow, we would have been stampeded to death as well."
"I think I heard the roar of a tiger. The roar is like a nightmare. It's so scary my legs went limp when I heard it. I suspect that roar scared all the gold serpentine crocodiles into a stampede."
"I heard that roar too. It sounded like a Demon King tiger. It's really, really scary, and the sound wave spread like a tsunami. That was when the gold serpentine crocodiles started going crazy."
"I don't know what happened, but I do know that I am never participating in another Battle of Towns. How is this different from suicide? A gold serpentine crocodile had ripped off one of my arms. If Senior Sister Gong had not rescued me...I...sob sob!"
...
These surviving youths were all filled with fear. Both Tan Guanghua and Jie Shi both smiled bitterly. They were clear that the surviving disciples had all lost their courage. A cultivator without courage was as good as a cripple.
In this situation, the disciples capable of remaining fearless in face of death would forge ahead vigorously and boldly in their path of cultivation, and their future would thus be bright. Just as the ship was about to set sail, a voice rang out, "Vice palace master, first elder, can we wait longer? M-my boss is not back yet!"
The speaker was Xia Liuhui. He was in a miserable condition as well. His entire body was riddled with wounds, but fortunately, he still had all four limbs attached.
After he said that, Lu Xiaoqing also spoke anxiously. "Yes, yes, Shaoyun is not back yet. We have to wait for him!"
Tan Guanghua and Jie Shi exchanged glances before Jie Shi said, "It has been a day. All the ships have already left. The surviving disciples would all have appeared by now. I'm afraid..."
"No, no! I refuse to believe he would die! I am going back there! I need to look for him!" Lu Xiaoqing could not accept that Xiang Shaoyun had been killed. In her agitation, she tried jumping off the ship.
Beside her, Chen Xin quickly hugged her and said, "Calm down, junior sister. Going back is tantamount to suicide."
Xia Liuhui had the urge to head back in as well, but stopped when he heard Chen Xin's words. The current Golden River Valley was flooded with gold serpentine crocodiles. Not to mention looking for Xiang Shaoyun, he would probably die the moment he entered.
"Junior Sister Lu, calm down. Junior Brother Xiang went missing the moment we entered. Perhaps he has gotten lucky and stumbled upon some fortuitous encounter," Mo Zhu comforted Lu Xiaoqing.
"Alright. Let's leave," Tan Guanghua commanded with a resolute light in his eyes. He was regretful for the loss of Xiang Shaoyun, but he could not allow everyone to die here for Xiang Shaoyun. "If we stay any longer, the gold serpentine crocodiles will surround us. At that time, I won't be able to protect all of you."
"Shaoyun! You must stay alive! Sob, sob..." Lu Xiaoqing started crying bitterly. Her sorrow seemed to be contagious as the other disciples' eyes turned misty as well.
"Boss! You must return! You told me you would take care of me in the future!" Xia Liuhui clenched his fists and howled in the direction of the Golden River Valley.
In a corner of the ship, Gong Qinyin had a look of regret on her face as well. Inwardly, she sighed, Just like that, he had died an untimely death?
"Vice palace master, first elder, I need to report something. The Gateflag Academy people and Blackhill Sect people once joined hands against us. If the gold serpentine crocodile stampede hadn't erupted when it did, I'm afraid...," Mo Zhu reported.
"Gateflag Academy? We won't forget this!" Tan Guanghua said, a sinister glint in his eyes.
"After returning, I think we need to get Elder Zhen Peng to take a trip to the Gateflag Academy. Otherwise, they would think they can bully us anytime they want!" Jie Shi proposed. He paused before adding, "We can even blame them for Xiang Shaoyun's death."
"But..." Tan Guanghua hesitated, not knowing how he should go about doing this.
Chapter 130: White Tiger Demonic Soul
Within the cave.
This place was still filled with vicious gold aura that swirled about without stop. Each strain of this aura was
capable of slicing apart even the defense of a King Realm cultivator. Thus, nobody could enter the cave.
Beneath all the vicious gold aura was an empty space. It almost felt like someone had created this space using the vicious gold aura as its natural borders. Within the space, a massive skeleton lay on the ground. The skeleton was a few dozen meters long and more than 10 meters tall. It had the shape of a tiger, evidently the remains of a demonic tiger that had been dead for an unknown amount of time.
On the forehead of the skeleton was a bead as large as two adult human heads. The bead was currently emitting rays of golden radiance. This was a demonic core, an extremely large demonic core.
Generally, a regular Demon King's demonic core would be as large as half a fist. As for this demonic core here, it was more than 10 times larger than that. This alone served as proof of how fearsome this demonic tiger was when it was alive.
Currently, the skeleton seemed to have turned alive. The projection of a tiger was hovering above it as if it was the dead tiger’s soul. The projection seemed to have appeared from within the demonic core. In truth, this was the soul of the demonic core. Humans had human souls while demonic beasts had demonic souls, and the demonic core was where a demonic soul resided.
The soul was in the form of a massive white tiger. On its forehead was a golden "king" character (). The "king" character was so very dazzling, the tiger eyes seemed capable of penetrating a person's very soul, and the tiger fangs were sinister and dreadful. This was a true white tiger. Apart from the gold "king" character on its forehead, its entire body was purely snow white.
Presently, Little White was roaring against this white tiger soul. His blood seemed to be boiling as he roared with all his might, trying to restrain the instinctive fear he was feeling. Unfortunately, he did not have a pure bloodline. Before a true white tiger, he was so very tiny, no different than a cub. Before long, the pressure from the white tiger soul caused him to sprawl on the ground, unable to budge.
Before this white tiger soul, Little White was akin to a helpless baby. This white tiger soul only needed to lightly touch him and he would be dead. Fortunately, this white tiger had been dead for many years. The only reason the demonic soul remained here was because the power within the demonic core had not fully dissipated. It had been lying in wait for someone carrying the white tiger bloodline to appear so as to pass on its inheritance.
"Ahh, screw it, I suppose. Little fellow, you only have half of my clan's bloodline, but there is an indication that your bloodline is slowly returning to its roots. Fine, I will give you everything I have left. I can only hope that you won't bring shame to the white tigers. The white tigers are the king of beasts, with the dragons being our sole opponent. The other races are nothing before us," said the white tiger soul with a sigh.
After saying that, the white tiger's remaining power returned to the demonic core. Then, the demonic core hovered toward Little White. So long as Little White swallowed the demonic core, he would be able to obtain the inheritance of the white tigers.
"Thank you, ancestor," Little White thanked respectfully before opening his mouth and swallowing the demonic core. Right this moment, a strain of gold radiance shot out of the demonic core toward a young man not far from them.
"Since fate seems to have brought you and this human together, I will give him a helping hand as well. Let's see if he can survive the white tiger's ire," said the white tiger soul.
After swallowing the demonic core, a boundless energy started coursing all over Little White's body. His body swelled while a clump of vicious gold energy formed a golden cocoon around him. The cocoon was formed of pure power, one that nobody could hope to approach.
On the other hand, Xiang Shaoyun seemed to be in a rather bad state. He was badly injured and was lucky to still be alive. Just like that, the strain of energy from the white tiger soul drilled into his forehead.
"Roar! Roar!"
The white tiger soul was an outsider in Xiang Shaoyun's body. Within him, the white tiger soul roared, jolting the consciousness of his soul awake.
"W-what's going on? You're not Little White!" Xiang Shaoyun's soul cried out in alarm when he saw this white tiger soul.
"I am a white tiger, the king of beasts! Lowly human, bow before me!" the white tiger soul commanded.
"Oh...are you really a white tiger? The species occupying the second place of the beast ranking?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in astonishment. He was certain this white tiger before him was the real deal. After all, the pressure he was feeling from this white tiger was far superior to Little White's.
"Of course...wait, what? What do you mean by second place? We, the white tigers, are the king of all beasts!" the white tiger soul replied resentfully.
"But I thought dragons occupied first place? Don't you even dream of scamming me! I'm a well-read person!" Xiang Shaoyun retorted.
"Bullshit! Us white tigers are the masters of the heavens. We are capable of tearing the dragons apart, swallowing the vermilion birds, and stomping the black tortoises into mincemeat! We are feared by all beings under heaven!" the white tiger soul roared furiously.
The roar caused Xiang Shaoyun's vision to blur and for a humming sound to linger in his ears. He had a sensation his soul was going to disperse from the might of the sound wave.
"Human kid! Take the wrath of the white tigers! White tiger's ire!" the white tiger soul stopped talking and started emitting a boundless vicious gold aura that rushed forth toward Xiang Shaoyun.
The white tiger's ire was a product of the combination between vicious gold energy and tiger's presence. The two joined and transformed into a storm that proceeded to sweep forth toward Xiang Shaoyun. Even a single strain of the white tiger's ire was sufficient to slice Xiang Shaoyun's soul apart, which would only result in his death.
At this critical moment, a dragon and a tiger charged out of the Overlord Skyslaying Saber in his astral cosmos sea and started guarding Xiang Shaoyun's soul. The Overlord Skyslaying Saber was a spiritual weapon. That was why it could automatically protect its owner.
Unfortunately, it had been too badly damaged. Otherwise, its presence of dragon and tiger would not have been so weak. Even so, it managed to buy Xiang Shaoyun some respite. Given time to think, he immediately realized that he was currently in the space within his head. This was his turf. Here, he had the home advantage. And if his soul was destroyed, he would most certainly die.
"I need to strike back!" Xiang Shaoyun clenched his teeth. He did not want to die. Not at all. He had to think of a way to deal with this white tiger soul if he wanted to stay alive.
"Roar! Roar!"
The dragon and tiger guardians were finally torn apart by the white tiger's ire, causing the Overlord Skyslaying Saber to lose some of its luster. It had already done its best.
"Without your guardians, what can you do now? Lowly human, die!" said the white tiger soul coldly before the white tiger's ire swept forth once more.
"You want to kill me? Dream on! Gift of instincts! Gift of visualization! Activate!" Xiang Shaoyun was left with no choice but to unleash everything he had.
Instantly, the space within his head turned into a pitch black space. The darkness covered everything, including the white tiger soul. The white tiger soul roared as it started struggling. The darkness must be pushed back.
Chapter 131: Ninth-Stage Demon King
The dark space within his head was akin to a trap capable of freezing everything within it. It had appeared as a result of the combination between the gift of instincts and gift of visualization.
But to be precise, both the gift of instincts and gift of visualization had in fact originated from this dark space. This was a type of incorporeal power, one that seemed to be innate to Xiang Shaoyun. In fact, he himself had no idea how he came to possess this power. He only knew that he had experienced something similar before when he had accidentally activated this dark space and had eventually survived whatever danger he was facing at the time.
The white tiger soul roared fearfully but was completely helpless. Just like that, he was completely covered by the dark space. The white tiger soul had been knowledgeable when alive. When he saw the darkness, he roared in shock, "This is the Imperial Nether Clan's Nether Soul Domain! Damn it!"
Only a small part of the white tiger soul was sent into Xiang Shaoyun's body. This small part struggled relentlessly in the dark space yet was unable to break free. Instead, his vicious gold aura was completely submerged and suppressed by an indescribable power.
"Roar! Roar!"
The white tiger soul was indignant. If he had sent a larger portion of his power here, this Nether Soul Domain would not be able to trap him. Eventually, the white tiger soul stopped struggling and transformed into a mild clump of vicious gold energy that looked like a docile tiger cub. He no longer tried to harm Xiang Shaoyun.
"Imperial Nether Clan? Nether Soul Domain? What are those? Why have I never heard of them?" Xiang Shaoyun sank into deep thought. His instincts told him a great secret was hidden behind this dark space. Unfortunately, he was completely clueless as to what the secret was.
"Forget it. It's pointless to think too much. I should first focus on absorbing this power," Xiang Shaoyun stopped thinking and started circulating his cultivation technique and drew the white tiger soul's power into his nine stars. He wondered if he should split this clump of energy among his nine stars, but he eventually decided against it.
"I already have a lightning star. I might as well create a golden star as well," Xiang Shaoyun muttered as he reached a decision to store the entirety of the white tiger soul's power in his second star.
The moment he deposited the white tiger soul's power, the second star started flickering as it tried assimilating this new source of energy. But this new source of energy contained the white tiger's ire, an innate power of the white tigers. It was terrifyingly destructive, pushing the second star to the brink of destruction.