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Wen Qiao said, "I know, I'll wake it up by hitting it."

Min Jishu: "...It's not affected by the flower's scent."

Wen Qiao ignored him and continued to punch the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger's head.

Each of her punches was skillfully executed, with the force controlled within a certain range, ensuring she didn't splatter the tiger's brains but caused enough pain to override whatever was driving it mad.

Wen Qiao clung to the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger's back, delivering punch after punch.

The underlings watching from outside felt a chill down their spines, especially those who had been beaten by Wen Qiao before. They felt their bones ache in sympathy and couldn't help but feel grateful for their later good sense.

Finally, the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger's body swayed and collapsed to the ground with a resounding thud.

Blood seeped from its seven orifices, and it let out painful whimpers, but the red in its eyes had faded, returning to its original jade color.

It looked at Wen Qiao with a weak and anxious gaze, softly whimpering.

Wen Qiao jumped to the ground, fed it several Spirit Restoring Pills, and then took out a piece of Immortal Honey to feed it.

The Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger sniffed the scent of the Immortal Honey, its eyes widening as it leaned in to sniff again. It licked the honey with its large tongue but hesitated to eat it, whimpering at Wen Qiao.

Wen Qiao said, "Go ahead and eat it, I have more." To prove she wasn't lying, with a flick of her hand, she produced a few more pieces.

Only then did the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger open its mouth and eat the honey.

Min Jishu stood by and watched for a while. Seeing that the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger had regained its senses and seemed capable of communication without going berserk again, he finally asked, "Miss Wen, what happened to it?"

Wen Qiao said, "How would I know?"

Min Jishu rubbed his nose. Watching Wen Qiao calm it down, he had really thought she knew how to communicate with untransformed young beasts.

After eating the Immortal Honey, the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger shakily stood up and let out a low growl at Wen Qiao.

Wen Qiao flipped onto its back, and the Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger took off at a gallop into the distance. Wen Qiao's voice carried on the wind, "You all stay here and help put out the fire. I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going? I'm coming too!"

Min Jishu said, quickly following her, riding on his sword toward where the duo of human and tiger had disappeared.

The underlings and the cultivators from the Min clan who were left behind exchanged glances and reluctantly began to put out the fire.

The flames of a ninth-tier young beast couldn't be extinguished with ordinary water, so they had to use special techniques, which were quite laborious.

But since Wen Qiao had given the order, they couldn't just leave it be.

Fortunately, the purple flames had scorched the area, and the Carnivorous Demon Plant's tendrils had all retreated, so there was no need to worry about it ambushing them.

——

The Purple-Flame Jade-Eyed Tiger carried Wen Qiao, galloping deeper into the island.

Along the way, they could see many unharvested Mirage Sea God Flowers and fleeting dark shadows slithering through the underbrush like snakes. Wen Qiao's keen eyes spotted that they were clearly the tendrils of the Carnivorous Demon Plant, realizing they had ventured into the plant's domain.

Sure enough, they soon came across a giant flower dozens of feet tall.

The giant flower was grotesquely ugly, devoid of any beauty typically associated with a "flower." Its bud resembled fleshy lips, opening and closing to reveal sharp teeth and bluish-purple, corrosive slime. Its stem was covered in tendrils of varying lengths, resembling fleshy sprouts, most of which grew along the ground, concealed within the dense forest, making their full length impossible to determine.

This was unmistakably a mutated demon plant.

Though the flower was ugly, its fragrance was utterly captivating.

Because they were so close, the air was thick with the flower's intoxicating scent. Min Jishu's eyes grew dazed, but he managed to snap out of it in time, clinging to his willpower to resist its mind-numbing effect.

Noticing the duo and the beast entering its territory, the Carnivorous Demon Plant started to move restlessly.

A deep, rumbling roar echoed as the PurpleFlame JadeEyed Tiger spat a flame toward it.

In an instant, the Carnivorous Demon Plant's bud snapped shut, and the floral scent in the air faded noticeably. Moreover, many of the writhing tendrils were turned to ashes by the purple flames.

Realizing that this young beast was not to be trifled with, the Carnivorous Demon Plant tightly closed its bud, bent its stem, and buried its head into the soil, feigning death.

Seeing this, Min Jishu's mouth twitched slightly, as if to say, "Even plants are playing dead now?"

In this world, even demonic plants have mastered the art of playing dead. Impressive, really.

Plants fear fire, and the PurpleFlame JadeEyed Tiger's flames are its natural enemy. No wonder it dared to cross the Carnivorous Demon Plant's territory.

After trudging on for a while longer, they finally arrived at their destination.

The PurpleFlame JadeEyed Tiger came to a halt before the dark mouth of a cave.

Min Jishu sensed the aura inside the cave, his expression shifting slightly. There was another ninth-tier young beast lurking within. Seeing Wen Qiao stride in without hesitation, Min Jishu gritted his teeth. What choice did he have but to follow?

The cave was dimly lit, the air parched, and the metallic tang of blood assaulted their senses.

At the far end lay a PurpleFlame JadeEyed Tiger, visibly weakened, its body marred by deep, bone-exposing wounds, a pool of fresh blood beneath it. Its belly was heavily swollen, a clear sign it was a pregnant tigress.

Without opening her eyes, the tigress sensed their presence and let out a low, threatening growl.

The male tiger licked the tigress soothingly, then turned to Wen Qiao, whimpering plaintively.

Wen Qiao eyed the tigress's swollen belly and asked Min Jishu, "Do you know how to deliver a baby? If it doesn't come out soon, both mother and cub will die."

Min Jishu stared blankly, "I... I have no idea..."

He was a man—how would he know about delivering babies?

Wen Qiao said, "I don't know either..." She was a young maiden, not even knowing how babies were made, let alone delivering them.

The two looked at each other, and the PurpleFlame JadeEyed Tiger that had brought them, seeing no action, urged them again.

Wen Qiao had no choice but to pull out some Spirit Restoring Pills. She fed one to stabilize the pregnancy, another to heal the tigress's wounds, and then offered several pieces of fairy spirit honey to help the tigress muster the strength to give birth.