Chapter 125: Growth

Late at night, the fifty Falcon Guards set up camp in Dead Wood Stone Forest.  Digging a pit and cooking their rice like usual.

"Sir!"

Wei Chou raised a sword as he jumped over from the distance and said, "I saw something at the side, do you want to have a look?"

"Un?"

Lin Mu Yu raised the Pear Flower Spear and followed after him.  He felt a terrible smell a.s.saulting his nose and he found a corpse lying there.  It was wearing a black armour and there was a double sword emblem on his arm.

"It's someone from the Swordsman Hall, that is the Swordsman Hall emblem."  Wei Chou knit his brows and said, "Why did he come to the depths of the Dragon Seeking Forest by himself, that was just seeking death.  Sir, can you see the cause of his death?"

Lin Mu Yu swept his eyes across the body and saw that the head just rotten mush.  There were also claw marks on his chest and his heart had been completely eaten.  It had been here for a few days and was now beginning to rot.  He knit his brows and said, "It was a Bloodthirsty Tiger."

"Bloodthirsty Tiger?"  Wei Chou was a little stunned.

"That's right, the Bloodthirsty Tiger is fond of using its claws to crush people's heads and also likes to swallow the heart of their prey.  Moreover, the body is covered in burns, so it is most likely a Bloodthirsty Tiger."

Saying this, Lin Mu Yu rubbed his nose and said, "Bury this body.  We'll rest properly tonight and then we'll go hunt this Bloodthirsty Tiger tomorrow.  It must still be around this area."

"Yes, sir."

After a night pa.s.sed, the sun rised once again and a new day came.

There were ten people left behind to watch the horses and the other forty were all led into the jungle by Lin Mu Yu.  Wei Chou walking by his side asked, "Sir, how are you tracking the Bloodthirsty Tiger?"

"I'm not tracking it, I'm just guiding it out of its hole."

"What guide?"  Wei Chou was stunned.

Lin Mu Yu gave a faint smile.  He pulled out the Demon Sound Blade from his waist and then gently touched it to his arm.  Blood began to flow out as he smiled and said, "The Bloodthirsty Tiger craves blood and loves living people's blood.  It has a sharp sense of smell and it will be able to smell a living person's blood within ten li of itself."

"Sir!"

Wei Chou narrowed his eyes, "If we needed someone's blood as bait, why didn't you use my blood?  Sir's blood is precious, how could it be used for something like this?"

"It's fine, I'm used to it."

Lin Mu Yu remembered the first time he and Chu Yao were used as bait, he had bled to the point where he had almost died.  Thinking about it now, he felt as if he had really changed as a person.

They heard an "ao" sound and the roar of the ferocious tiger resounded out from far way.

"Get into the formation and prepare to engage."

Lin Mu Yu gripped his sword and quickly dressed his wound with the Golden Sore Medicine, quickly stopping the bleeding.  He had only bled for twenty minutes and had already drawn out the Bloodthristy Tiger, it seemed like its dwelling was close by.

The surrounding temperature began to increase and the Bloodthirsty Tiger slowly came closer.  The Spiritual Pulse Technique had already investigated the energy fluctuations coming from the Bloodthirsty Tiger.  Lin Mu Yu turned around and said, "It's on that side.  No one make a move and let me engage it first.  If I need help, I will naturally call for help."

Everyone nodded and all the Imperial Guards had a tense look on their faces.  They had never even seen a Bloodthirsty Tiger before, so there was no need to mention one that was several thousand years old.  To them, this wild beast was as terrifying as a G.o.d of death.

With the "pi pi pa pa" sound of a dead branch cracking, a giant monster slowly appeared from the jungle.  When Lin Mu Yu saw it, he was surprised because this Bloodthirsty Tiger was completely different than the 4000 year old Bloodthirsty Tiger he had met in the Seven Stars Forest before.  Its fur was much more colourful and it had five golden lines and seven silver lines on its head symbolizing that this was a 5700 year old Bloodthirsty Tiger!

"G.o.d, what kind of luck is this……"

He secretly cursed in his heart.  Although he was already in the Heaven Realm first tier, it was still quite hard for him to fight a 5700 year old spirit beast by himself!

He raised the Stone Skin Pills that he prepared and swallowed it.  Then he swallowed a bottle of level five Divine Strength Pills and felt the strength in his arms increase by 10%.  The effects of this kind of low level drug was not very obvious and it was just icing on the cake, that was why Lei Hong, Qu Chu, and other Saint Realm Experts did not use any pills.  The stronger a person was, the worse the effects of the pills were.  This was because the pills tapped into one's potentials, but the strong have also tapped into their potentials to increase their strength, so it falls under the same principle.

"Sir be careful, it's a 5700 year old Bloodthirsty Tiger!"  Wei Chou shouted from afar.  He was already feeling like he was suffocating.

Lin Mu Yu nodded, "You aren't allowed to make a move before I say so.  Don't come close to the Bloodthirsty Tiger and only use arrows to attack it."

"Yes!"

"Ao!"

This proud Bloodthirsty Tiger gave a long roar.  It could be imagined that it had been uncontested here for many years now, otherwise it wouldn't have this kind of King like aura.  It leaped forward and a tiger claw forcefully fell down aimed right at Lin Mu Yu's head.  He really wanted to "headshot" him.

It was a pity that the current Lin Mu Yu could not be compared with his past self, he was much faster and stronger than before.  His body suddenly fell down to avoid the Bloodthirsty Tiger's strike and at the same time, he smoothly rolled forward meanwhile the prairie sword released an angry glow as it slashed across the Bloodthirsty Tiger's stomach

"Hua ca……."

What surprised everyone was that the Bloodthirsty Tiger was wrapped in fire qi and it had actually blocked this one attack from the prairie sword.

Ao!"

The ferocious tiger turned around and its tail turned into iron as it whipped out.  Lin Mu Yu could not evade it this time because it was too fast.  He raised his hand and the Black Turtle Sh.e.l.l and Dragon Scale Wall protected his body.  A "peng" sound echoed out and the Bloodthirsty Tiger's tail seemed like it had slammed against a steel s.h.i.+eld.  The Black Turtle Sh.e.l.l cracked a bit, but it wasn't life threatening.

Lin Mu Yu took advantage of this to step off the floor and slip to the other side of the Bloodthirsty Tiger.  His right palm opened to use the powers of the fire imperial sword, but his left palm was bent back as it filled with a demonic might.  Then the palm slammed into the side of the Bloodthirsty Tiger.

Second Luminary, Demonic Dance!

"Peng!"

The flames splashed out.  The Bloodthirsty Tiger was just a beast, how could it withstand the might of the Seven Luminary Mystic Arts?  It roared as it stepped back and the fire qi surrounding its body began to dissipate.  Lin Mu Yu raised his right palm and launched a fire dragon spiral right at it.  The long sword shot out and with a "pu" sound, it pierced through the Bloodthirsty Tiger's abdomen.  Immediately, its blood soaked its fur and its internal organs spilled out onto the ground.

"Ha, ha……Sir truly is strong!"  Wei Chou and the others laughed.

Lin Mu Yu's Spiritual Pulse Technique could tell that the Bloodthirsty Tiger's spiritual strength was not decreasing and was being raised to its peak.  He quickly shouted out, "Be careful, everyone on the ground!"

Everyone kissed the ground at the same time.

The Bloodthirsty Tiger gave an angry roar and flames exploded out in every direction from the spirit core in its head!

"Weng!"

The gourd wall continued to hold even though it was continuously attacked by the flames.  Lin Mu Yu walked step by step towards the Bloodthirsty Tiger and the vital energy in his body swelled up.  This 5700 year old spirit beast was shockingly strong, it wouldn't die even like this!

As soon as he came close, the Bloodthirsty Tiger gave an angry road and his claws slapped down on the gourd wall!

The Black Turtle Sh.e.l.l shattered with a "peng" and three deep marks also appeared on the Dragon Scale Wall.  Lin Mu Yu's body shook and was forced back several steps, some blood even flowed out of the corner of his mouth.  He had finally been injured.  It was impossible to fight a 5700 year old Bloodthirsty Tiger without suffering any injuries.

His palm slowly opened and lightning appeared.  The prairie sword which was pierced into a rock began to tremble and it was pulled out with the powers of the thunder imperial sword technique.  It turned around and pierced through the Bloodthirsty Tiger's body, this time completely eliminating the last of its spiritual energy.  With the Spiritual Pulse Technique, he could tell that the Bloodthirsty Tiger had died.

"Pa da……"

He gently sat down on a rock behind him and said, "Alright, cut the Bloodthirsty Tiger's throat.  Be careful not to damage its head, it would be too much of a pity to ruin this precious flame attributed spirit stone!

"Yes, sir!"

Wei Chou rushed forward wielding his sword and cut the tiger in half with a single slash.  With another two slashes, the Bloodthristy Tiger's head and tail was cut off.

This kind of 5700 year old spiritual beast was not easy to kill, but it was a pity that it met someone like Lin Mu Yu with the Seven Luminary Mystic Arts.  The Second Luminary was already enough to cause the Bloodthirsty Tiger to fall into a stupor, the later techniques could clearly easily kill it.

After a few minutes, Wei Chou was holding a b.l.o.o.d.y spirit stone still covered in lingering flames as he walked over.  He joyfully smiled and said, "Sir, we've succeeded in obtaining the first spirit stone.  This 5700 year old Bloodthirsty Tiger spirit stone has already far surpa.s.sed the requirement the Ze Tian Palace has set on us.  We have gone beyond our mission!"

"Then that's good.  Wash it first, we can't deliver it back dirty like this."

"Alright!"

The fire attributed spirit stone was given to an imperial guard to wash.  Wei Chou turned around to look at the Bloodthirsty Tiger's corpse and realized that this tiger's beast spirit had not dissipated yet.  He bit his lips and revealed a look of antic.i.p.ation as he said, "Sir, this beast spirit……"

Lin Mu Yu laughed as he looked at it.  Then he said, "I have already entered the Heaven Realm, so I can't raise my strength by absorbing beast spirits anymore.  It would be a waste for me to use it, so you can have it, but be careful.  You're still weak so you cannot be greedy.  You can only absorb around one third of this 5700 year old beast spirit, otherwise you might get burned."

"Many thanks sir!"

Wei Chou almost couldn't hold in his joy any longer.  He turned around and summoned his martial spirit.  This was a fourth grade beast martial spirit – the Fire Ape.  The Fire Ape was an ancient beast that had control over flames.  Wei Chou's innate martial spirit was very good, it was something that could be molded.  It was rare for common folk to have a fourth grade martial spirit and it was one of the main reasons why Wei Chou could join the Imperial Guard.

The fierce looking Fire Ape standing on Wei Chou's shoulder began to wildly swallow and refine this Bloodthirsty Tiger's beast spirit.  This process lasted for a long time.

Perhaps it was because he didn't have enough strength, but after around two hours, Wei Chou had only refined around 20% of the Bloodthirsty Tiger's beast spirit.  His face was covered in sweat and he was running out of strength.

Lin Mu Yu had already stabilized his injuries and slowly walked over.  He gently raised his palm and the energy of the alchemy cauldron was released.  It gathered the most important parts of the beast spirit's energy and in less than three minutes, it was feeding the pure energy to the Fire Ape martial spirit.  Immediately Wei Chou revealed an astonished look, "Sir?"

"Focus on refining."

"Yes!"  Wei Chou's face filled with grat.i.tude.

After several minutes, Wei Chou gave a long sigh and streaks of flames came from his breath.  The Fire Ape suddenly gave a screech and its body was covered in streaks of fire qi.

"Sir!"

Wei Chou went wild with joy, "This subordinate…….This subordinate has refined the Bloodthirsty Tiger's skill and gained this fire qi!"

Lin Mu Yu pretended not to know and patted his shoulder.  He smiled and said, "Not bad, your luck is pretty good!"

"Un, many thanks sir!"

Although Wei Chou did not know what happened, he did know that Lin Mu Yu must have helped him.  Otherwise, it wouldn't have been that easy for him to refine the Bloodthirsty Tiger's beast soul.