Chapter 124: Not Convinced

Chapter 124: Not Giving In

What does it feel like to be a Giant Tiger Clan member?

So huge!

What does a Core Formation Giant Tiger feel like?

Freaking huge!

Shoved onto the fighting platform by a group of tiger cultivators, Shang Yunduo coughed as he felt like he had entered a safari park, standing alone on top of a sightseeing bus while being surrounded by a pack of tigers.

A tiger park!

This was a tiger park!

And next to him stood a giant—no, a giant tiger—whose every step made the wooden platform creak and wobble.

The giant tiger placed him in front of another massive giant tiger: "Who's next? Wait, kid, you fight him first."

The Spirit Refining Realm giant tiger, who was four heads taller than Shang Yunduo, nodded and said to Shang Yunduo, "Come on."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Shang Yunduo had always wondered why demons in the Transformation stage all preferred to take human form, while humans didn't like to take demon forms. Theoretically, at the Nascent Soul stage, one could undergo many transformations as long as they learned the corresponding techniques, but human cultivators rarely explored this direction.

Now that he was pretending to be a demon cultivator, and one who hadn't even reached the Transformation stage, he understood why.

It was simply inconvenient.

In his opinion, nothing was better for using tools than the human form.

The tiger cultivator's large paws were fine for fighting—big fists packed a heavy punch, and running took advantage of feline traits—but in daily life, it was far less convenient than being human.

Grabbing a small object could frustrate one to no end, and even picking up chopsticks or spoons was a struggle.

Fortunately, cultivators could use spiritual power to pick things up from a distance, avoiding a lot of trouble. Otherwise, he would have definitely wanted to transform into a monkey or some ape clan.

The demons themselves were aware of this obvious difference. Since the times when humans and demons lived together, most demons reaching the Transformation stage preferred to take human forms. Nowadays, even before reaching the Transformation stage, demon cultivators began to lean toward human appearance. For example, all the tiger cultivators present were walking upright.

Many demons disdained humans, but they didn’t disdain human artifacts, pills, or clothing. Some Spirit Refining Realm tiger cultivators in the competition wore clothes and equipment like armor.

But the Giant Tiger Clan marched to a different beat. The one he had injured was only wearing shorts and light armor, decorated with tokens of his battle achievements—nothing else. The same went for this Core Formation elder of the tiger clan: just a pair of shorts, his whole body covered in fur. Shang Yunduo thought it was just a personal style preference, but the Spirit Refining Realm giant tiger currently fighting on stage was also dressed the same!

He took it even further—wearing nothing at all, just his fur!

It was a gorgeous golden tabby pattern, but...

It looked like he was about to go tiger hunting!

Was he Wu Song?!

Shang Yunduo subconsciously glanced at Pei Jie, who was in the tiger crowd.

Surrounded by tigers, a lone deer without support...

Taking a deep breath, Shang Yunduo adopted a do-or-die attitude: "Bring it on!"

But determination alone wasn't enough.

This giant tiger was completely different from the one before. He fought like a real tiger, preferring to pounce and kill. Despite his enormous size, his aura was very light. If it weren't for the competition stage, tracking him with Spiritual Sense alone might have been difficult. Speed-wise, he was like a big cat. Once he knocked Shang Yunduo down, he went for the painful spots. Shang Yunduo, still injured from before, couldn't get up just by physical strength.

He was forced to use fire, which finally made the giant tiger let go. The tiger swung his palm, conjuring earthen and stone walls.

Even seated, the Giant Tiger Elder was taller than others standing, and he laughed heartily. He seemed extremely pleased with Shang Yunduo scrambling around the stage like a clown.

Hesitating, Shang Yunduo still didn't use the zither or the unstable flame arrow he had just practiced. While running, he quickly reviewed the techniques he could use, opting for long-range Fireball attacks.

The giant tiger's earthen and stone walls repeatedly tried to form a cage to trap him. Shang Yunduo's fire couldn't burn through them, and he had to use brute force to break them. Similarly, the walls couldn't match the speed of fire, forcing the tiger to dodge as well.

Spiritual energy clashed, fire and earth flying across the stage as the two circled each other, exchanging spells.

The opponent's cultivation, size, and strength were far superior. Going head-on wasn't the best strategy. Shang Yunduo patiently jumped and evaded among the increasing number of earthen walls, waiting for his opponent to fall into the intended position. When the giant tiger became entangled in the walls he had created, Shang Yunduo accelerated, leaped, grabbed the tiger's head in a headlock, stepped off a stone wall mid-air for leverage, and executed a perfect shoulder throw.

The tiger cultivators below let out a "Wow!"

The elders' section: "Oh?"

"Interesting."

"He seems to be injured too."

"He fought that little giant tiger earlier."

"Doesn't look like it. It seems like an injury on his back."

Shang Yunduo threw his opponent down and tumbled across the stage himself, hitting his back on the stones and reopening a wound that hadn't healed, causing him to freeze from the pain.

Seeing the giant tiger about to get up from the partially wrecked fighting platform, Shang Yunduo hurriedly jumped up first, looking for another chance to land a heavy blow.

"Heh." The Giant Tiger Elder laughed from the elders' section.

Other elders shook their heads: "He can't win like this. Why isn't he using his beast form to fight?"

"What if Hua Guan also used his beast form?"

"Hmm..."

"Haha! You really think he can win?"

Of course he couldn't win.

Shang Yunduo had never felt so powerless in a fight.

Their cultivation levels were a full realm apart. The tiger cultivator he was fighting was probably around Late Foundation Establishment in human terms. But unlike when he was chased and nearly killed in the mine, this time he had the power to fight back. Yet he couldn't use it.

Despite the opponent's huge size, his fighting style was deceptively cunning. Aside from the successful throw he managed, Shang Yunduo could never fully close the distance. He had no height advantage, and he couldn't even match the tiger's speed! The opponent was mind-bogglingly agile, more like a cat than a tiger.

No—tigers were assassins lurking in the jungle.

He couldn't win.

He couldn't even bring out eighty percent of his strength. Struggling with all his might, Shang Yunduo managed to fling his opponent once more, but before he could press the advantage, he was slammed hard to the ground and pinned. This time, he couldn't get up.

His bones were about to break...!

"Ah... ah!!" Shang Yunduo pushed against the ground, struggling to rise. Veins bulged on his hands and forehead. The bone bracelet on his wrist shattered, and flames erupted from his body.

The Giant Tiger pressing him down was momentarily surprised, but when he tried to push him further, he couldn’t. It wasn’t until Shang Yunduo cracked the stone slab beneath him that the two of them plummeted into the pit together, ending the contest of rising and pressing.

"Alright! That’s enough, let him go!" Elder Juhu walked onto the stage and stood in front of Shang Yunduo, squatting down like a small mountain. "Kid, do you accept defeat?"

Shang Yunduo was still gasping for breath in the pit. "I don’t accept! His cultivation is higher than mine!"

"Hahaha! Once you enter the Spirit Rhino Valley, no one cares who has higher cultivation. If you’re fighting for your life out there, no one cares about that either!" He grabbed Shang Yunduo and lifted him out of the pit, causing him to wince in pain. "Hey, get a physician to look at him."

Pei Jie: "I am his physician."

"Oh?" Elder Juhu stared at him for a moment, then asked Shang Yunduo, "Did you bring him in?"

Shang Yunduo struggled to jump down from his grasp. "He’s my man! If anyone wants to touch him, they’ll have to kill me first!"

Elder Juhu released him. "You can’t die yet. Heal up quickly; go with Aguan to capture two more Spirit Rhinos! Come on, that deer, take him to get his injuries treated."

Pei Jie came forward, and Lie Qi and Fenger followed, helping Shang Yunduo off the stage in a flurry.

"Brother?!" Before they could leave the stage, a clear voice with a hint of childishness shouted from the crowd.

Fenger: "Ah Qi! Perfect timing, Brother Baiyun, come rest at our Wasp-waist Clan for a while!"

Shang Yunduo had no objections—he was in too much pain.

After that beating, his old injuries had worsened.

The group hurried away in chaos, and the matches on stage resumed.

While the competition platform was being tidied up, Elder Juhu patted his grandson’s shoulder. "How was it? Barely managed to hold him down, didn’t you?"

Hua Guan, who had been subtly shaking his hand, remained silent.

"Let me see." Elder Juhu grabbed his hand and looked—it was scorched black, the fur around his wrist was singed. He burst into laughter. "See? Didn’t I tell you? When you’re up against those skilled in spells, you’ve got to watch out for their dirty tricks."

Hua Guan: "..."

He withdrew his fist, thinking that the kid hadn’t used any dirty tricks; he’d fought fairly and squarely, almost like his silly little brother.

Hua Guan: "Do you want him to enter the Spirit Rhino Valley?"

Elder Juhu: "Mm."

Hua Guan: "Then what about A Jing?"

Elder Juhu waved it off indifferently. "Oh, don’t worry about him. That kid already laid him up in bed."

Hua Guan was shocked. "What?!"

On the other side, Shang Yunduo was helped into the temporary dwelling of the Wasp-waist Tiger Clan and laid on Fengliu’s low bed.

Shang Yunduo had already checked himself. "It feels like my bone is broken."

Pei Jie hummed in acknowledgment and examined him again. The tear wounds on his back were severe, and two of his ribs were cracked, but not badly misaligned. He fixed it in place for Shang Yunduo, gave him two pills, and applied some medicinal herbs. "Don’t move too much; you’ll be fine in a few days."

"Mm." Shang Yunduo responded weakly and clingily, wanting to use the chance to act spoiled, but with so many strange tigers around, it wasn’t convenient. He had to hold back and start circulating his spiritual energy to recover.

A young tiger cultivator named Fengliu stared with bright, curious eyes. "Can you take a look at me too?"

Fenger: "Are you also injured?"

Fengliu: "My arm's broken!"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Why say it in such a happy tone? How could he use his injury to act spoiled with Pei Jie now!

Fenger’s temper flared up instantly. "Who hit you?"

Fengliu: "Hua Jing from the Giant Tiger Clan! He's the brother of the one who was just fighting in the ring with this big brother. Those two brothers from the Giant Tiger Clan who came this time are both insanely strong, but I heard Hua Jing got beaten up and is now lying in the physician’s place. I don’t know who could be so tough!"

Everyone: "..."

Lie Qi couldn’t help laughing. "Pfft." Fenger pointed at Shang Yunduo and told his confused brother. "It was Brother Baiyun who did it!"

Fengliu: "Huh?!"

It dawned on him belatedly that the rumor spreading on the competition platform about the one who beat up Hua Jing seemed to match a redhead who brought a deer clan cultivator.

He took another look at Shang Yunduo lying there.

"..."

The few young tiger cultivators who had been watching excitedly outside also fell silent.

Whoa!

Pei Jie: "Didn’t you want me to look at your injury?"

"Oh, oh, oh!" Fengliu came closer.

Pei Jie quickly felt the broken arm. "It’s not broken—just cracked. Take a Baleful Blood Pill."

"Can you look at me too?" Another tiger cultivator from the Wasp-waist Clan squeezed in. "I fell off the stage, and it’s been hurting here."

He pointed to his side for Pei Jie.

Pei Jie also quickly examined him. "Take a Baleful Blood Pill."

Before long, Doctor Pei had given out half a bottle of Baleful Blood Pills.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Um, does his senior actually know how to treat beasts?

Author’s note:

Yunduo: If he treats them like this, won’t there be a medical dispute?

Pei Jie: What are you doubting?

Yunduo: My pills! Of course, I’m doubting my pills!