Chapter 124: Escaping By The Skin Of Their Teeth
The blinding Wind Astral burst forth, and Wu Bingji, frozen onto the tiger, was also blasted away by the shockwave. In the face of the exploding Wind Astral, the Ice Nymph Transformation couldn't fully protect him, resulting in his blood spraying wildly.
The tigress frantically flapped its wings, the surrounding vegetation sliced into various shapes by the rampant wind element.
The tigress clutched its head with its paws in agony, seemingly trying to dispel the pain from its head, but at this moment, it was bleeding from all orifices. Copious amounts of blood gushed out amidst its frantic struggle.
The body of a seventh-order demonic beast was truly formidable. However, tough as its hide was and strong though its bones and muscles, its internal organs were just like any other internal organs—vulnerable. And a full-power wind blade exploding inside its throat did exactly what a wind blade exploding inside someone's throat was bound to do: it shredded everything in its path into pieces.
Moreover, it wasn't just Tang San's power but also the tigress's own.
When Tang San was blasted into the sky by its Wind Astral, the immense bloodline power that surged into his body nearly caused it to burst.
But Tang San did not panic, as this was a situation he had anticipated.
With the massive surge of bloodline power into his body, the first thing that happened to him was that he almost instantly broke through the bottleneck of the sixth order of the Mysterious Heaven Technique.
This was one of Tang San's key objectives in approaching the tigress. Breaking through the sixth layer of the Mysterious Heaven Technique required an immense amount of energy. Though the bloodline energy of demonic beasts was rather impure compared to that of demons, the energy from a seventh-order Winged Tiger was so abundant that even after filtration, it was far more than enough to meet his needs.
At that moment, the energy of the Mysterious Heaven Technique was circulating at breakneck speed within Tang San, forcibly protecting his meridians from being overwhelmed by the furious bloodline energy.
The blood spouted by Tang San was also a result of the same issue. Rather than being caused by an injury, it was caused by his own energy expelling the impurities in the fresh bloodline energy in order to avoid injury.
By the time he descended from the sky, he had already regained control of his body.
He was now grateful for having daringly integrated the Celestial Fox Transformation earlier. His precise control over his own body in a moment like this was only due to the influence of his liquefied spiritual power. The difficulty of such a feat was something that Tang San understood all too well.
Additionally, his ability to maintain control over the rampant energy within him in such extreme conditions was also thanks to his experience from three lifetimes of manipulating various levels of spiritual power.
Due to the lack of time, he couldn't absorb that massive energy. Instead, he opted to direct it outward, causing an explosion when he entered the tigress's mouth.
He had actually been planning to go for the tigress's eyes, which were practically the most vulnerable. Having just advanced to the sixth order of cultivation, combined with the bloodline energy absorbed from the tigress, breaking through its defenses was feasible.
But unexpectedly, Wu Bingji and Gu Li had joined forces to fight the tigress, which not only slowed it down but also presented Tang San with a unique opportunity to attack.
The ferocious energy he could not contain was unleashed through his Mysterious Jade Hands and almost instantly vented into the softest part of the tigress's mouth. Even Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hands, which toughened his palms to an incredible degree, struggled to withstand that violent energy. A mist of blood burst from the surface of his skin. As for the completely unprotected throat of the demonic beast...
When Tang San left the mouth, he looked badly injured, and he really was, but it was clear that the tigress was by far worse off. It fell to the ground, vomiting blood profusely, and its eyes rapidly dimmed.
Even the toughest defense can be easily breached from within, and Tang San had fully demonstrated this.
He landed on the ground, barely able to maintain his stance. Meanwhile, Gu Li, who had exhausted all his strength and overdrawn himself in the distance, along with Wu Bingji, who was blasted away and lay on the ground, had both fallen into unconsciousness.
In that brief battle, all three had fought with all their might. They would have undoubtedly perished under the Winged Tiger's claws if there had been even the slightest mistake.
"AOOOOOOOOO!!!!" A piercing roar resounded in the distance. A massive burst of greenlight shot up into the sky, shattering the vast swathes of red light.
A terrifying aura burst forth wildly, and Tang San's face changed; he knew exactly what was happening. The Winged Tiger King sensed that its mate was dying and it had gone into a frenzy, becoming too much for the mayor to handle.
The fury of losing a child, the hatred of losing a wife. One could only imagine the terrifying attacks that a ninth-order Winged Tiger King would unleash in this state.
Tang San struggled to turn around. His condition was dire. His meridians were strained, his energy in disarray, his aura chaotic. He was simply unable to continue the fight.
The massive silhouette of the Winged Tiger King appeared in the distant sky, but just then... Tang San saw a brilliant red light streaking across the heavens.
The red light was incredibly bright; as soon as it appeared, the entire sky was red, like a spectacular sunset.
This red light suddenly suppressed the intense green light emanating from the Winged Tiger King. As the red light passed, the Winged Tiger King let out a pitiful scream, its massive body unable to maintain flight. The green Wind Astral around it shattered, and the tiger was flung into the distance.
What a powerful strike! Tang San froze for a moment. Was the mayor that powerful?
Heavily injured, the Winged Tiger King fled, not even attempting to find its mate. At this moment, the last glimmer of light in the eyes of the tigress finally extinguished, signaling her complete demise.
This peak seventh-order Winged Tiger, which was maybe just weeks or months away from reaching the eighth order, thus fell under the combined efforts of Tang San and his allies.
The red figure in the distance swiftly approached like a streak of flowing light.
When Zhang Haoxuan saw Tang San rapidly descending, his eyes widened instantly.
His first thought was, It's over, it's all over.
Cheng Zicheng and Du Bai were nowhere to be seen, Wu Bingji and Gu Li lay on the ground, their fate unknown, and only Tang San was still barely supporting himself.
Tang San noticed the longsword in Zhang Haoxuan's hand. It was a somewhat transparent-looking dark red sword that seemed neither metal nor jade, emitting a fierce red glow. Without a doubt, the stunning red light from before was unleashed by this sword.
"Master...." Tang San coughed out a mouthful of blood and then collapsed on the ground, finally unable to hold on any longer.
"They..." Zhang Haoxuan's voice trembled. These were some of the best students in this session; how could he explain something to the organization if something happened to them?
Tang San shook his head, saying, "They're fine. Cheng Zicheng and Du Bai left ahead. We three covered the rear and we somehow managed to take down the tigress. Please check on the two senior brothers."
Upon hearing that Cheng Zicheng and Du Bai had evacuated, Zhang Haoxuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Du Bai's Celestial Fox Transformation was just too important, and Cheng Zicheng's Golden Roc Transformation also held incredible potential. Fortunately, these two were alive and had not perished under the tiger's claws.
Without saying anything else, Zhang Haoxuan quickly went to Wu Bingji and Gu Li's side to check their condition.
Wu Bingji's injuries were quite severe, and he had at least four or five broken ribs. Thankfully, his breathing was steady, which indicated that there was no immediate threat to his life.
Gu Li had passed out due to mental exhaustion rather than physical injury, although he had also been struck by the tigress. His physical status seemed normal, but his mental fluctuations were noticeably unstable.
But at least these two are still alive!
"Alive, that's good, that's good..." Zhang Haoxuan muttered to himself, and only then could he relax, opening his mouth to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Wiping the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth, he picked up Wu Bingji and Gu Li and brought them near Tang San. The flaming longsword in his hand slowly merged into his right arm and disappeared.
"Teacher, that strike of yours was really powerful!" Tang San exclaimed.
Zhang Haoxuan frowned. "It's just a last-resort attack, what's so great about that? It was an attack that required charging up. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been delayed for so long. Cheng Zicheng and Du Bai..."[1]
1. The original idiom here is "sacrificing eight hundred soldiers to kill a thousand enemies," basically an action that deals substantial damage to both parties. ☜
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