Chapter 417: The Terrified Dark Devilgod Tiger
Star Dou Forest.
The dense primeval jungle continuously retreated behind him as Dai Yao advanced deeper into the Star Dou Forest like a ghost.
Before long, just after passing through the outer perimeter of the forest, Dai Yao came to a stop.
"This place is still very far from the core of the Star Dou Forest. Di Tian and the others shouldn't be able to sense me. And even if something unexpected happens, I can use teleportation and leave the Star Dou Forest immediately."
He swept his gaze across the increasingly dense forest that blocked out the sunlight, calculating silently in his mind.
Although Di Tian posed no threat to him, he had come this time specifically for the Dark Devilgod Tiger, and Dai Yao did not want any accidents.
Immediately afterward, Dai Yao leapt lightly and landed atop a towering tree. Soul power surged as the Sacred White Tiger martial soul possessed his body.
That sacred aura spread outward through the forest like ripples on water.
"Dark Devilgod Tiger, come. I'm waiting for you here!"
Dai Yao licked his lips, his eyes filled with anticipation.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger wanted to kill him and complete its evolution—wasn't he thinking the same?
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's soul ring was extremely compatible with his martial soul. In the original story, even after Tang San became a Titled Douluo, he still found the Dark Devilgod Tiger troublesome, and only barely managed to kill it during the rejuvenation battle.
Although Dai Yao was only level seventy, the Chaos Green Lotus martial soul gave him the confidence to hunt the Dark Devilgod Tiger.
Dai Yao sat cross-legged on the tree trunk, resting with eyes half-closed, regulating his breathing as he waited for the Dark Devilgod Tiger's arrival.
Golden ripples continued to spread outward.
In a distant cave, within the darkness, a massive creature seemed to sense something. It slowly raised its head, revealing tiger pupils brimming with sinister aura.
In the darkness, those lantern-like eyes that sent chills down one's spine revealed a distinctly human-like delight.
That human… had finally arrived…
The giant tiger slowly rose to its feet, licking its bloodstained mouth.
Beneath it lay the corpse of a thirty-thousand-year-old giant bear soul beast. Even in the Star Dou Forest, such a soul beast could dominate a region—yet it was merely this creature's food.
This cave had originally been the giant bear's home. Not only had it usurped the nest, it had slaughtered the bear and used it as nourishment.
In order to evade the sudden appearances of powerful soul beasts within the Star Dou Forest that relentlessly hunted it while remaining elusive, it had been forced to wander constantly.
It had waited far too long for that human. Ever since sensing that human's presence in the Star Dou Forest years ago, it had not felt it again—until now.
Its instincts told it that as long as it absorbed that human, it would gain enormous benefits.
At that time, it would no longer need to fear those soul beasts that hunted it, and it would even be able to defeat the two water serpents and that damned monkey in the Lake of Life.
More importantly, the Evil God would no longer be its final destination…
The black wings on its back suddenly flapped. Despite its massive size, the creature rose lightly into the air and shot toward the human's location.
Where the giant tiger passed, it left behind a pitch-black trail—trees withered, grass decayed.
...
Flocks of birds were startled into the air, releasing piercing cries.
The surrounding air gradually grew quiet. All soul beasts vanished. Dai Yao slowly opened his eyes, a smile of "just as expected" appearing on his face.
"It's finally here."
He scanned the surroundings, but to his surprise, he did not spot the Dark Devilgod Tiger.
Dai Yao's expression gradually sank, his gaze turning wary.
"As expected of the Dark Devilgod Tiger. Its intelligence is this high. It must be nearby. The reason it hasn't appeared is probably because it's confirming whether I have any helpers."
"This thing really can't be underestimated."
Soul power surged, ready to respond to an attack at any moment.
An hour later, Dai Yao's nerves had remained taut the entire time, and he couldn't help but admire the Dark Devilgod Tiger's caution.
Not only was the Dark Devilgod Tiger terrifyingly strong, it was also an excellent hunter. Lurking in the shadows, it revealed not the slightest flaw.
Dai Yao felt a bit helpless.
"It's been an hour. It should already be certain that I have no helpers. But waiting like this isn't a solution—I need to lure it out!"
Dai Yao deliberately let out a relaxed breath and gently closed his eyes, as if preparing to turn around.
At that instant, a sudden change occurred!
A pitch-black giant tiger burst out of the dense forest like lightning, its tiger claws slashing out with such speed that they were almost blurred.
Dozens of enormous black-red light blades instantly shot toward Dai Yao.
Their speed was so terrifying that the naked eye could not track them, yet strangely, these blades produced no sharp whistling sounds at all. Instead, there was only a faint sizzling noise, as if they were corroding the air itself.
These light blades of the Dark Devilgod Tiger were formed from the fusion of wind and evil attributes. Each blade possessed power no weaker than a human soul master's fifty-thousand-year soul skill.
Already prepared, Dai Yao instantly released his eight wings, rapidly gaining altitude and narrowly evading the barrage of attacks.
The light blades missed Dai Yao and slammed into the ground.
Amid a series of explosions, dust and smoke billowed. When it cleared, dozens of scar-like fissures appeared on the ground. Within those cracks, darkness writhed as if alive, corroding and devouring the surrounding life.
Glancing at the ground and seeing the power of the light blades, Dai Yao's pupils shrank slightly. Even though he had been prepared, dealing with such attacks still felt somewhat troublesome.
He shifted his gaze toward the Dark Devilgod Tiger—yet its massive form suddenly vanished. A tremendous pressure of wind slammed toward Dai Yao's position.
In that instant, alarm bells rang wildly in Dai Yao's mind!
Six soul rings were released at once. The third and fifth soul rings lit up simultaneously, and Dai Yao's entire aura abruptly changed, gaining a sense of returning to simplicity. Burst Step activated instinctively, propelling him far to the side.
The next moment, the Dark Devilgod Tiger appeared as if teleporting to where Dai Yao had just been.
This was the Dark Devilgod Tiger's dash skill—its speed rivaled teleportation. Although Dai Yao had avoided the charge, he did not feel well at all. The evil aura surrounding the Dark Devilgod Tiger continuously battered him.
Seeing that the human had evaded its charge, a trace of surprise appeared in the Dark Devilgod Tiger's icy eyes. Even its two mortal enemies in the Lake of Life would be struck if they were even slightly careless. How had this mere human managed it?
But its attacks were far from over. Once it gained the advantage, it would pursue relentlessly, giving the opponent no chance to counterattack. This was a hunting instinct engraved into its very bones!
A hooked tail formed from countless bone segments shot out like a venomous snake, sinisterly striking toward the human. Strangely, it produced no sound at all.
The tail hook moved at incredible speed, nearly impossible to capture with the naked eye. Yet Dai Yao could clearly sense the rapidly approaching, hair-raising threat.
"So fast! The Dark Devilgod Tiger's Evil God Hook is terrifyingly powerful. Even using a hundred-thousand-year soul skill like Void might not fully negate the damage. As a Soul Emperor, defeating the Dark Devilgod Tiger is indeed very difficult. Fine—time to use my trump card!"
Dai Yao's thoughts raced, yet he remained calm.
The next instant, Dai Yao's figure vanished completely, and the Dark Devilgod Tiger's confident strike missed.
Not only that, the sensation it had so intensely craved also disappeared, as if it had never existed. When Dai Yao switched to his other martial soul, his natural attraction to the Dark Devilgod Tiger vanished.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger searched the surroundings for the human's figure. A hint of doubt and gravity appeared in its cold tiger pupils. This human was not simple.
Whoosh—
A gentle breeze swept by, and Dai Yao's figure appeared not far from the Dark Devilgod Tiger.
He lightly inhaled, calming the surging soul power within him. Although only a few breaths had passed, the pressure from this brief exchange was even greater than that exerted by the Great Elder of the Star Luo Dai family.
"As expected of the Dark Devilgod Tiger—the soul beast that troubled Tang San even after he became a Titled Douluo in the original story. I made thorough preparations, yet I didn't expect this soul beast to be not only powerful, but also so cunning and cautious. Despite having overwhelming strength over me, it chose not to fight head-on, but to ambush instead."
"Such a powerful soul beast is destined to become my soul ring!"
A sharp gleam flashed in Dai Yao's eyes. Since his trump card was exposed, he needed to end this quickly—before attracting Di Tian and the others' attention.
A Green Lotus Spear slowly appeared in Dai Yao's hand.
In the sky, the Dark Devilgod Tiger also noticed Dai Yao's change. However, there was still a hint of mockery in its gaze. Dai Yao's aura was far too weak to threaten it at all. Since the ambush had failed, it would now hunt this human openly and head-on.
Although it did not understand why that alluring aura had disappeared, it was certain that it came from this person. As long as it captured this human, it would obtain what it desired.
Dense gray currents of energy burst forth from the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body, quickly filling more than half the space. This evil aura surged toward Dai Yao like an overwhelming tide.
Dai Yao could only shrink his soul power as much as possible to avoid being affected by the evil aura.
However, this was also intentional—he was deliberately showing weakness. He only had one chance to kill the Dark Devilgod Tiger. His Godslaying Spear could pierce anything, and combined with teleportation, it was virtually invincible. But all of that depended on the enemy knowing nothing about his abilities.
If the enemy became aware of the Godslaying Spear's terror, it would be on guard. At that point, if he failed to kill it in a single strike, he would be dragged into a grueling battle.
In the sky, man and tiger stood locked in confrontation, constantly searching for each other's flaws.
Dai Yao deliberately exposed another opening, but the Dark Devilgod Tiger hesitated for a brief moment and did not charge forward as it had the first time.
"This beast is really cautious. After falling for it once, it won't fall for it a second time! Right now it wants to use this evil aura to drain my soul power and crush me with raw strength. Damn it—this is the first time I've seen such a cowardly soul beast!"
Dai Yao frowned inwardly.
"In that case, I can only face it head-on!"
Dai Yao felt somewhat helpless. But just then, the Dark Devilgod Tiger's gaze shifted slightly, no longer fully focused on him. Dai Yao instantly realized this was an opportunity. Whether the Dark Devilgod Tiger was deliberately luring him or truly distracted, it was a golden chance!
Dai Yao's figure vanished once more, and in the next moment, he appeared directly above the Dark Devilgod Tiger's head.
A thick mockery appeared in the Dark Devilgod Tiger's icy eyes. As a top-tier soul beast, how could it lose focus in battle? It had done this deliberately to lure the human into recklessness—and sure enough, its plan succeeded.
It could easily kill its prey, but what it enjoyed even more was watching prey fall step by step into its trap under temptation. It loved the pleasure of crushing its opponent intellectually.
Gray currents of energy suddenly enveloped the Dark Devilgod Tiger, forming a protective barrier around its body.
Evil God's Protection!
This was the Dark Devilgod Tiger's exclusive skill. By using the Evil God's aura to protect itself, its power rivaled Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body. This was the confidence behind its deliberate bait—it believed no human could easily break its defense.
But in the very next moment, the mockery on its face froze solid.
That green spear, like a drop of water falling into the sea, encountered no resistance at all and pierced straight into the Evil God's Protection, shooting toward its body.
No—that wasn't a drop of water entering the sea. The portion of Evil God's Protection touched by the spear was completely annihilated!
It instantly realized that there was something wrong with this spear! But there was no time to think—the spear was a harbinger of death, and it had to evade immediately! If Evil God's Protection was broken so easily, could its own body really be tougher than that defense?
The wings on its back beat violently, unleashing a burst of speed!
The massive Dark Devilgod Tiger vanished and reappeared several kilometers away. But before it could relax, that spear appeared above its head once again, clinging like a bone-piercing parasite!
The Dark Devilgod Tiger was horrified. At last, panic appeared in its tiger pupils.
Yet it still had a final trump card. Dark Devil Evil Thunder was an offensive soul skill, but there was no time to use it. The only hope of survival was…
A look of resolve flashed through the Dark Devilgod Tiger's eyes. In an instant, its pupils shifted from blood-red to deep blue. The surrounding gray currents were stained black. Just as the spear in Dai Yao's hand was about to pierce its body, the Evil God Hook at the end of its tail suddenly stabbed out, a black dot appearing at the tip.
The black dot rapidly expanded, forming a black hole with a diameter of three meters. At the instant it appeared, the Dark Devilgod Tiger vanished. The immense suction from the black hole swallowed Dai Yao as well.
...
The Life-and-Death Arena.
Strange voices echoed from all directions.
"Welcome to the Life-and-Death Arena. Only when one side dies can this life-and-death battle end and you may leave this space. Countdown: five, four, three, two, one—begin."
As the countdown ended, the Dark Devilgod Tiger looked at its shrunken body, a trace of satisfaction appearing on its face. Although it was now only about one and a half meters tall—far from the colossal beast it had been outside, where spreading its wings seemed to blot out the sky—it believed that once the human had shrunk as well, he would absolutely not be its opponent.
A frail human, and one who had not even awakened a martial soul—how could he possibly match a genius soul beast like itself?!
But when it raised its head and saw the human, the expression on its face instantly froze.
That human was exactly the same as outside—unchanged in the slightest! He was even more than a head taller than it when standing upright! The spear still emitted its frightening cold light! And that human was looking at it with a half-smile…
The young Dark Devilgod Tiger could not believe what it was seeing. It retreated in terror, fear filling its eyes.
Why hadn't this human shrunk? How was it supposed to win like this?!
I want to report this—he's cheating! (End of Chapter)
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