Misty Rain of the Old Times

Roar~!

The tiger's roar shook the heavens, its sound waves rippled and twisted the air, and a fierce wind arose, sending sand and stones flying. This roar was no less powerful than a master of innate martial arts performing the Lion's Roar of Buddhism. Fortunately, there were no weak creatures around, otherwise everyone within a hundred feet would have been killed by the shock.

With a roar, the Crimson Flame Tiger pounced on Chen Xuan, its massive body leaping dozens of feet in a single bound. Crimson flames surged from its entire body, distorting the void wherever it passed, making it resemble a tiger-shaped sun blazing across the sky.

The size difference between the two was too great. Chen Xuan's height was only slightly taller than its paws, making him look like a tiny flea in front of it.

'Not to mention the flames on its body, the force of its claws alone is terrifying.'

Facing the approaching Crimson Flame Tiger, Chen Xuan remained calm. As it pounced and got close, his figure darted away like a cloud. Anyone with a brain wouldn't try to take it head-on. It wasn't a matter of whether he could withstand it or not, but rather that it was unnecessary.

The next moment, the Crimson Tiger slammed its claw down where he had been standing. The earth trembled and roared, and terrifying cracks spread in all directions. Soil and rocks crumbled and flew everywhere, creating a terrifying crater that was ten or twenty feet wide. The spiderweb-like cracks spread out for hundreds of meters. At the same time, under the intense heat of the flames rising from its claws, the rocks and soil in the crater showed a tendency to melt into liquid.

Chen Xuan, who had dodged the attack, raised an eyebrow and thought to himself that he truly deserved the title of King of Beasts, a dominant force among beasts of the same level.

As a mythical beast, its body is its best weapon. Its enormous size requires an incredible density of body to support it. The sheer power of that single strike is terrifying. It's estimated that very few people at the Innate Realm could withstand it. Even those who cultivate extremely advanced external martial arts techniques would have an 80% chance of being killed instantly!

Of course, if a true master were to face this Crimson Flame Tiger, would they be foolish enough to engage in a head-on confrontation?

In terms of pure destructive power, this Crimson Flame Tiger is even more terrifying than the combined power of Guo Jinglong and Liu Zhenwei, top-tier innate experts from back then. If it were to appear in a human-inhabited city, given enough time, it would be enough to destroy a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

However, destructive power is not the same as combat power. It's hard to say who would survive if Liu Zhenwei and his companions faced this Crimson Flame Tiger individually.

In short, this Crimson Flame Tiger was so powerful that, while not invincible, few at the Innate Realm could rival it. Chen Xuan had a general idea of ​​its strength.

The Crimson Flame Tiger missed its first attack and instantly locked onto Chen Xuan, who had dodged. With a roar, its ferocious maw flashed with crimson light, and a fireball with a diameter of about ten feet burst forth, streaking across the sky like a meteor. It then pounced forward again.

Having grasped its general outline, Chen Xuan decided not to hide anymore. In his calm eyes, a faint glint of icy blue snowflakes flashed within his pupils. A chill instantly enveloped his body. With a calm wave of his hand, he slapped the massive fireball that was hurtling towards him like a meteor into the sky, where it exploded with a deafening roar, as if a small sun had burst forth in the sky.

With a wave of his hand, the temperature around Chen Xuan continued to drop at an alarming rate. Visible ice crystals and cold mist condensed in the air, and frost spread rapidly across the ground. His palms were turning icy blue.

Facing such a beast that is at the innate level of a hegemon, Chen Xuan is not serious yet, but he still has to be a little careful. If he is caught off guard, it is extremely threatening. It is like an adult standing still, but a child with a sword can take his life.

Given the size difference, Chen Xuan was no match for his opponent in terms of pure physical strength, so he had no choice but to use his Grandmaster True Essence to unleash his martial arts.

However, the icy blue snowflakes in his eyes vanished in an instant. Even his hand, which had turned icy blue, returned to normal in the blink of an eye. The surrounding temperature stopped dropping. Instead, he flipped his wrist, circulated his martial arts, and his true essence transformed into a fist-sized gray-brown cauldron in his palm.

Originally, he wanted to use an ice palm technique called Snow Frost Heaven, since ice and fire are mutually exclusive against fire-type beasts like the Crimson Flame Tiger. However, he changed his mind and gave up. With his Grandmaster cultivation, it would be too much to use an ice palm technique to restrain it. If he didn't hold back, he would probably kill it with one slap.

The other party hadn't provoked me at all; I was the one who followed them. They were just instinctively attacking the intruder who had broken into my home. Why should I kill them?

Therefore, Chen Xuan quickly used another fire-type palm technique, the Seven Revolutions Blazing Sun Palm. The Crimson Flame Tiger has a certain immunity to scorching heat, so he wouldn't accidentally kill it.

Whether it's Snow Frost Heaven or Seven Revolutions Blazing Sun Palm, both were among the many martial arts Old Liu gave Chen Xuan. They were all extremely superior martial arts. Which one was stronger or weaker depended on the individual. Chen Xuan's Ze Yuan Jue was moderate and balanced, making it difficult to unleash the full power of any martial art. However, with his martial arts talent, he still had no problem unleashing the corresponding power of each martial art.

The Seven Revolutions Blazing Sun Palm, Chen Xuan's current cultivation level only allows him to use the first four levels. Although it is a palm technique, a small gray-brown cauldron is formed when it is used. This is because after exchanging martial arts with Elder Rong in the palace, he absorbed the other's martial arts philosophy and pushed the Seven Revolutions Blazing Sun Palm to another level, surpassing the peak level. It can be said to be the strongest martial art besides the lightness skill Qingyun Piaoxu.

Of course, if he were to use the Star-Containing Sword Technique, that would be a different story.

The moment the gray-brown cauldron appeared in his palm, before the Crimson Flame Tiger could pounce a second time, Chen Xuan waved his hand and pushed it horizontally. The cauldron swelled in the wind and instantly transformed into a giant of twenty zhang, like a small mountain in the sky. Then, with a flick of his wrist, it was like the sky being turned upside down, pinning the Crimson Flame Tiger, which was about to pounce, to the ground.

Boom~!

A terrifying roar resounded in all directions, the earth trembled and shook, and a huge crater, thirty or forty feet in diameter, appeared around the mountain-sized cauldron. Huge cracks spread out like a spider web, and the destructive power was more than twice that of the previous attack by the Crimson Flame Tiger.

This was just a casual strike from Chen Xuan using this palm technique. If he were to take it seriously, like when he killed Wei Wuyai in the capital that night, the terrifying power of his palm would envelop an area of ​​dozens of miles!
The Crimson Flame Tiger, poised to pounce, crashed into the interior of the cauldron. The cauldron remained as stable as Mount Tai, but the tiger itself was thrown back by the force of the impact, bouncing inside before slamming to the ground. The cauldron was not empty, of course. Through a large hole, one could see a blue sea of ​​fire rising within, its flames melting the earth and rocks into molten lava.

Chen Xuan held back in his casual strike, only using the first turn of the Seven Revolutions Blazing Sun Palm, with its internal flames turning blue. However, even with just that, the earth and rocks were melted.

Its massive body was upside down inside the cauldron. The Crimson Flame Tiger struggled left and right but could not shake the cauldron to get out. Bathed in a blue sea of ​​fire, its whole body was engulfed in crimson flames and it began to let out painful howls. Its fur, which was originally immune to most flames, was now curling and burning.

It is indeed immune to many flames, but how could a casual strike from Grandmaster Chen Xuan be anything but ordinary?
Roar~!

Another deafening roar rang out, and the mother tiger, who was guarding the entrance of the cave to protect her cubs, rushed out. On her tiger face, Chen Xuan actually saw a hint of human despair and fear.

With a flick of its tail, it swept the cub deep into the cave. But when it rushed out, it didn't attack Chen Xuan. Instead, it pounced on the overturned cauldron on the ground, violently crashing into it. It couldn't budge the cauldron at all, but it still didn't care and kept attacking it, slapping and ramming it. It attacked more than ten times in a single breath, tearing flesh and splattering blood.

This action was clearly intended to rescue the male tiger inside.

The cauldron was as solid as a physical object, a testament to the power of a grandmaster. By using true essence to power martial arts, and as long as the true essence remained, it could continue indefinitely. This was only because Chen Xuan hadn't combined his spiritual will with the martial arts; otherwise, if his spiritual will remained in the world, even if he left, any sentient being with keen senses who came here and sensed that martial arts intent would be subjected to the same spiritual attack. Without someone of equal level to deal with it, it would persist for a long time, only weakening over time, essentially creating a man-made dead end!

Two Crimson Flame Tigers, comparable to the top level of the Innate Realm, attacked the cauldron from both inside and outside. The difference in strength was too great, and they could not shake it at all. The male tiger inside roared in pain in the blue sea of ​​fire. In a few breaths, its originally soft, fiery red fur, which was immune to many flames, was completely burned and its skin and flesh were charred black.

Perhaps realizing it couldn't break the cauldron, the tigress outside, her skin torn and flesh ripped open, actually crawled on the ground towards Chen Xuan, her head touching the ground as she let out a pleading wail.

Even beasts, devoid of human nature, possess feelings; Chen Xuan was slightly moved.

He never intended to kill the Crimson Tiger. Regardless of whether the tigress could understand him, he said, "Don't worry, she'll be fine. I didn't intend to do anything to you."

Chen Xuan, who had no intention of killing, actually planned to stop when he realized that the male tiger inside the cauldron could not withstand the high temperature of the blue flames. The reason he did not do so was because he discovered that the male tiger inside was in a blue sea of ​​fire, and with each breath it was actually absorbing the blue flames into its body, so that its rapidly burning and curly fur occasionally flashed a blue luster.

Seeing this, Chen Xuan did not stop, realizing that this was probably still an opportunity for the Crimson Flame Tiger, and that such an environment could further awaken its bloodline talent.

Someone led him to an entire copper mine, and given this, by sheer coincidence, Chen Xuan didn't mind giving the other party a stroke of good fortune.

But the truth is that the gap between him and the Crimson Flame Tiger was too great. The difference of a major realm was like heaven and earth. Even if it was just a casual strike from him, how could the Crimson Flame Tiger withstand it? In just ten or so breaths, the Crimson Flame Tiger's painful roar was tinged with a desperate wail. It could not hold on any longer.

'This is its limit; it ultimately lacks the luck. But this way, it should have a greater chance of awakening its bloodline and advancing further in the future.'

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Xuan raised his hand and waved it from a distance. The cauldron, as steady as Mount Tai, soared into the sky, freeing the charred Crimson Flame Tiger inside. The cauldron rapidly shrank and disappeared back into his palm.

This is formed from his true essence; he can release it and also control it. He doesn't know if other grandmasters can do it, but he can.

The tigress, lying on the ground and whimpering, let out a low growl at Chen Xuan, as if in gratitude. She then quickly went to the male tiger's side and nuzzled him with her head, whispering as if asking for his attention.

They looked pitiful, but Chen Xuan stopped in time, so they were actually not seriously injured.

Since they've already gone this far, Chen Xuan naturally had no interest in bullying them anymore. He said, "Whether you understand or not, I meant no harm. I originally wanted to bestow a great fortune upon them, but they didn't have that opportunity. From now on, they should live peacefully here. If they go out and cause harm, resulting in widespread death and destruction, I won't hold back if I encounter them."

After saying this, Chen Xuan turned to leave and continued his search for the White Cloud Wood. He remembered the Fire Copper Mine and would come to retrieve it whenever he needed to. With two Crimson Flame Tigers around, no one could make a move unless a Grandmaster-level expert arrived.

Just then, the tigress seemed to realize that the male tiger was alright. After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly stood in front of Chen Xuan's departing figure with fear, crawled on the ground, wagged her tail, and made a low growl in her throat.

Seeing this, Chen Xuan asked in surprise, "You mean, to thank me for showing mercy, you're planning to see me off?"

Whether it understood or not, it pressed its head to the ground and moved closer to Chen Xuan, as if to say, "Come up here."

...(End of chapter)