The white tiger was covered in wounds now, her white fur marked with black stripes stained crimson with blood, sprawled on the ground as the lion opposite her tore into her with its teeth.
Having once shared a bond, however brief, Bai Xiaonian couldn’t simply watch this tiger be torn apart before his eyes. He clawed frantically at the bars of his cage, desperate to break out and save her, but the next instant, remembering his current strength and size, he could only slump in defeated resignation.
“Meow, meow, meow…” The kitten clung to the bars, crying out toward the tiger now barely clinging to life, trying to rally her spirits.
Bai Xiaonian was simply trying anything, with little hope it would work, but to his surprise, the moment the white tiger heard his voice, her eyes brightened faintly, and she lifted her neck to look toward the kitten, seeming to draw some renewed strength from it.
The instant she laid eyes on the kitten, the white tiger surged back to her feet with startling vigor.
Just then, the lion across from her lunged forward again, jaws snapping shut, but by then, the kitten had already been carried away by the demon soldiers.
Snapping back to herself, the white tiger suddenly felt fighting spirit surge through her entire body. Facing the lion once more, she charged forward with reckless abandon, biting and tearing viciously. Startled by the tiger’s sudden, ferocious burst of energy, the lion actually flinched back a step in fear.
…
Bai Xiaonian was tossed into a large holding cage, where several battered, listless spirit beasts lay sprawled about. At the commotion by the entrance, they merely flicked an ear, not even bothering to lift their eyes.
The kitten pricked up his ears, listening carefully to the guards’ conversation, and gathered that the spirit beasts here were those who had won their matches in the arena. Once gathered together, they would be sent to Chong Yin’s cultivation chamber to serve as fuel for his cultivation.
Bai Xiaonian still had no idea exactly what method of cultivation Chong Yin practiced. If it involved consuming the spiritual energy of living spirit beasts, wasn’t that a form of demonic cultivation, in the truest sense of the word?
He’d never known Chong Yin to cultivate by devouring the life force of spirit beasts before, he had no idea what had happened over these past two hundred years.
Bai Xiaonian didn’t dare stand in the center of the cage. The spirit beasts here had just come from a bloody, brutal battle in the arena, and their combative instincts hadn’t yet settled, the slightest carelessness could provoke an attack on whoever happened to be nearby.
The kitten hobbled on tiptoe to a corner of the cage and curled up small. Given his diminutive size, none of the spirit beasts paid him any mind.
But one sharp-beaked bird did take notice of the kitten.
The kitten’s size was tiny, and this sharp-beaked bird happened to be famished. At the sight of him, its eyes lit up with a hungry green gleam. It flew over to perch upside-down on one of the cage’s bars, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the kitten.
The kitten felt an inexplicable chill crawl over him, but when he turned to look around, he saw nothing watching him.
Worried about the white tiger’s safety, Bai Xiaonian craned his neck, gripping the bars as he pulled himself upright, blinking his round black eyes as he stared down the path outside.
He hoped the next one to enter would be the white tiger, not that vicious lion.
He had no idea how Chong Yin dealt with the spirit beasts who lost their matches.
While Bai Xiaonian’s attention was distracted, the sharp-beaked bird seized its chance. Flapping its wings, it dove down suddenly, pecking viciously at the kitten’s head.
This was merely a provocation from the sharp-beaked bird, it hadn’t gone for a killing blow yet. Had it truly meant to kill, it could have torn the flesh clean off the kitten’s skull.
The sharp-beaked bird was every bit as devious and cunning as this, otherwise, a creature of its modest build would never have managed to win in the arena.
Bai Xiaonian felt a sudden, sharp pain explode across his head, sharp enough to make him cry out. He raised a paw to rub at the spot and discovered a lump had already swollen up, it hurt like hell.
Tears welling in his eyes, the kitten glared furiously up at the bird that had attacked him, his sharp claws sliding out with a hiss.
He was Bai Xiaonian, after all. He had once been the Demon Lord himself. There was no way he’d let some worthless bird push him around.
The kitten bared his teeth and let out a stream of warning meows at the bird, his tail standing straight up, the universal sign that the kitten had entered full battle-ready alert.
But the kitten was, after all, nothing more than a few-month-old baby cat. No matter how fierce he tried to look, to the cunning, battle-hardened sharp-beaked bird, he was no more significant than an ant. The bird paid him no mind whatsoever.
It let out a few shrill cries that sounded almost mocking, then, with a fierce glint in its eyes, dove down again, this time aimed squarely at the kitten’s head. Judging by its posture, this strike meant business.
Bai Xiaonian’s pupils constricted. He knew his current strength couldn’t protect him at all, so he tried to summon the Heart-Guard Bell hanging from his neck.
But the bell only flickered with a faint, weak glow, and a voice sounded in Bai Xiaonian’s mind.
“Master, you cannot command the Heart-Guard Bell.”
Bai Xiaonian’s heart clenched. “Why not?”
The bell replied, “Master, as I explained before, you’ve taken on a new body, and the contract was stolen from you. At present, you hold only half the rights to the Heart-Guard Bell’s contract. To fully claim the bell once more, you’ll need to reclaim the blood pact and forge the contract anew…”
Bai Xiaonian’s cat face fell. “…Enough. I understand.”
The bell fell silent.
The kitten let out a heavy sigh. Before his rebirth, his cultivation had already reached the Tribulation stage, with almost no one across the entire continent able to match him. He’d long since stopped grasping the true importance of cultivation in this world where strength reigned supreme, because to him, cultivation had ceased to be the most important thing, which was exactly why, after being reborn, he’d wanted to live this life without striving or competing for anything.
Who would have thought this world simply wouldn’t allow anyone to live peacefully without a fight.
In the end, he would be forced onto the path of cultivation once more, or his own tiny life would be in danger.
Just as this thought flickered through his mind, the sharp-beaked bird was already closing in. The kitten squeezed his eyes shut tight, bracing himself to simply endure the blow, worst case, he’d go complain to Chong Yin afterward and let the man exact revenge on his behalf.
But the pain he’d braced for never came. After a long moment, the kitten hesitantly cracked his eyes open, and the next instant, he froze in shock.
Before him stood the white tiger, her entire body drenched in blood, her jaws clamped tight around the sharp-beaked bird’s head. The bird flapped its wings desperately, trying to break free, but in the next instant, the tiger’s teeth crunched down, and with a series of sickening cracks, she chewed the bird to pieces and swallowed it whole.
Bai Xiaonian stared, dumbstruck, unable to look away from the scene.
Having finished off the bird, the white tiger licked her blood-soaked jaws clean, then leaned in again, gazing at the kitten with eyes full of tender affection, clearly intending to lick his fur clean for him.
At the sight of the tiger’s massive tongue extending toward him, reeking of blood, the kitten’s fur bristled in horror, every hair standing on end, and he bolted away in a flash.
Absurd, if that bloody tongue actually touched him, Bai Xiaonian, that would be the end of it.
Even if Chong Yin somehow didn’t mind, Bai Xiaonian himself would want to shed his own skin afterward.
Seeing the kitten flee, the white tiger felt a pang of disappointment, but she patiently followed after him regardless. Seeing the kitten’s evident reluctance, however, she didn’t dare press any further.