"Roar!"
A tiger's roar echoed through the mountain forest. The terrifying shockwave caused the surrounding trees to tremble violently, sending leaves fluttering down.
Some of the more timid animals shivered in fear, hiding in their burrows and refusing to come out.
Immediately after, panicked voices drifted from the distance. "Brothers, you young ones, run! We old-timers will stay behind and hold it off!"
*Crack!* The sound of limbs snapping followed.
"Brother!"
"Run!"
"Ah!"
A cacophony of miserable and grief-stricken screams filled the air.
Even though Zhang Chu and his group couldn't see what was happening, they could imagine the brutal scene.
A hunting team had encountered a ferocious tiger they could not hope to fight and had no choice but to sacrifice half their number to save the other half.
It was a painful and helpless decision, but sometimes, it was a necessary one.
"Sir, should we lend a hand?" Tong Qingshan asked, his tone urgent.
Beside him, Tong Qingyu's thin face was also etched with worry. After all, he had some family ties to Shenshuitan Village.
Zhang Chu glanced at Tong Qingshan and saw that his eyes were filled with excitement. He gripped his longspear, eager to charge into the fray.
Zhang Chu knew that with his recent surge in strength, Tong Qingshan was desperate to test his own mettle.
But Zhang Chu remained cautious. "We'll take a look from a distance. If the tiger is too strong, we'll retreat immediately. If it's weaker than us, we can save them."
Since the two villages were on good terms, it was right to help if they could.
Of course, that was only if they could guarantee their own safety.
"Alright!" The others agreed, immediately leaping into the treetops to peer into the distance.
What they saw was a scene of utter carnage. A colossal Silver Whisker Tiger opened its maw, generating a terrifying gravitational pull.
Countless leaves and loose stones were sucked toward the tiger's mouth.
Three of the older hunters were uncontrollably pulled toward the beast.
Then, the Silver Whisker Tiger opened its great jaws and snapped the three hunters' spines.
With a flick of its head, the three men, torn in two, were casually tossed to the ground.
The Silver Whisker Tiger then pounced on the other hunters.
Its massive paws were wider than a man's torso. With a single swipe, two more hunters had their backs crushed, their lives ending beneath its claws.
In the blink of an eye, five members of the rear guard were dead.
They knew they wouldn't survive; they were just trying to buy more time for the younger hunters who had escaped.
However, before the old hunters could get far, the Silver Whisker Tiger opened its mouth again. The terrifying suction force erupted once more, and the dozen or so men were frozen in place.
The next second, a pair of wings unfurled from the tiger's back. With a gentle flap, it shot forward.
A few swipes of its claws, and the hunters, with no ability to resist, were all annihilated.
Yaoxu was the domain of Great Demons. In the face of such a fearsome beast, ordinary hunters were far too fragile, unable to withstand a single blow.
Zhang Chu watched, his heart pounding. Though he had been in this world for three years, it was the first time he had ever seen a flying tiger.
At that moment, the young hunters had not yet gotten far.
The Silver Whisker Tiger spread its great wings and charged directly toward the remaining young hunting team.
"This... this is terrifying!" Tong Qingyu exclaimed, his hands and feet turning cold.
Even with their enhanced strength, they all felt a sense of powerlessness.
"If we don't act now, Shenshuitan Village will be finished," Tong Qingshan said. He wasn't afraid; in fact, he was a little excited.
Just then, Zhang Chu asked him, "Qing Shan, what's the call?"
Tong Qingshan tightened his grip on his longspear, his gaze as sharp as lightning, his aura like a drawn sword. "It's no match for me. I can feel it!"
Zhang Chu nodded at once. "Go, then. Kill that Silver Whisker Tiger!"
A flower raised in a greenhouse will never grow strong. A genius like Tong Qingshan needed to be tempered by sufficient trials.
With Zhang Chu's permission, Tong Qingshan immediately charged out, spear in hand.
...
Tan Ying was the youngest hunter in the Shenshuitan Hunting Team. At only sixteen, he was the great hope of his village.
But right now, he was scared out of his wits, running for his life back toward his village.
Fear was all that filled Tan Ying's heart; he could already smell the stench of death.
"Roar!" The Silver Whisker Tiger's roar exploded in his ears.
Though Tan Ying didn't look back, he could feel a massive paw swiping at his back.
A sense of powerlessness washed over him. He could only close his eyes and await the coming of death.
*It's over...* Tan Ying thought in despair.
Once the young hunters were also killed by the Silver Whisker Tiger, the fate of the old, the weak, and the women back in Shenshuitan Village would be utterly tragic. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
If they were lucky, they might be taken in by another village, to live as slaves and servants.
If they were unlucky, the entire village would be wiped out—starving to death or dying in the tiger's maw.
There was no other way. This was Yaoxu, where the strong devoured the weak.
Just then, a thunderous shout came from afar. "Beast, stop!"
A longspear, like a meteor chasing the moon, flew through the air, aimed straight for the Silver Whisker Tiger's face.
"Roar!" The Silver Whisker Tiger sensed the power of the spear and didn't dare to meet it head-on. With a light flap of its wings, it shot upward into the sky, dodging the attack.
The next second, Tan Ying saw the divinely handsome and martial Tong Qingshan appear before them, radiating vigor like a god of war.
"Brothers of Shenshuitan, get behind me!" Tong Qingshan shouted.
"We're saved!" the hunters who had narrowly escaped death cried out in joyous surprise.
"Tong Qingshan! You're Tong Qingshan from Zaoye Village!" Though they didn't see each other often, the two villages had some contact, and someone recognized him.
Tong Qingshan said nothing. He strode past the Shenshuitan hunters, shielding them with his body, and tilted his head up to stare at the Silver Whisker Tiger circling in the sky.
The tiger did not attack immediately. It seemed to sense that Tong Qingshan was no ordinary opponent.
Zhang Chu and the other two had also arrived.
Tong Qingyu called out, "Cousin Tan Ying!"
Tong Qingyu's mother was Tan Ying's aunt. Although they didn't visit often, they were still related.
Tan Ying, his face pale, yelled, "Run! This Silver Whisker Tiger has become a demon!"
However, Zhang Chu and his group made no move to flee. Instead, they stood their ground, looking as if they were preparing to hunt the tiger.
At that moment, Zhang Chu reminded Tong Qingshan:
"Qing Shan, the most dangerous parts of a Silver Whisker Tiger aren't its mouth, tail, or claws, but its whiskers. It's said that only after forming a Demon Core can it grow silver whiskers and awaken its Divine Patterns."
"One silver whisker represents one Life Well."
Tong Qingshan stared at the Silver Whisker Tiger and counted carefully before speaking. "Nine silver whiskers... so, nine Life Wells?"
Although Tong Qingshan only had six Life Wells, he was completely unafraid, for he cultivated the 36 Heavenly Transformations.
This Silver Whisker Tiger, on the other hand, likely cultivated the 72 Earthly Transformations.
With a slight gesture, the spear that had flown past the tiger shot back into Tong Qingshan's hand.
The next second, he pointed the spear toward the sky. "Either come down and fight, or get lost!"
At that instant, six brilliant stars faintly materialized behind Tong Qingshan, and his aura surged explosively.
The Silver Whisker Tiger was instantly enraged. With a furious roar, it dove straight for Tong Qingshan.
Proofreader: Peter Pan