Chapter 104: Revenge

In front of the narrow mountain path of the Twin Peaks Mountain Range.

"Aoo—!"

A mountaintop sound, a roar of the king of beasts—the tiger's howl—rang out; the many horses in the whole troop immediately fell into panic, their legs going weak.

Even Zhang Jian's mount beneath him, the tall blue-roan horse, could not help but collapse to the ground.

"How strong the demonic aura?"

As Zhang Jian's gaze swept over, his expression turned slightly solemn; he saw that the sky and earth were filled with a terrifying, overbearing black wind demonic aura.

This was still his first encounter with such a vast demonic aura.

The many soldiers behind him also panicked at this moment, but a few veteran troops kept their composure, simultaneously shouting at the numerous new recruits; thanks to these veterans holding the line, the new recruits did not immediately lose their courage and scatter in flight.

"Gather behind the young master, maintain formation, protect the two ladies!"

Hu Shan shouted angrily from the side.

The black wind flowing across the mountain path ahead grew ever thicker, and numerous black mists spewed out, as if shrouding everyone's vision.

Seeing this, Zhang Jian let out a cold snort, and the spiritual power in his hand condensed into a talisman.

Wind Moving Technique swept out, like a blue-colored tornado, blowing away the numerous black mists.

Boom—

At this moment, Zhang Jian's keen divine sense instantly locked onto a point within the black wind; a flicker of chill crossed his eyes, and the spiritual power in his hand condensed into a bolt of scarlet lightning, which shot forth instantly.

Boom!

Scarlet lightning surged forward.

Accompanied by a pained howl, a towering black tiger several zhang tall burst forth, rolling in dense black wind as it charged at Zhang Jian.

The demonic aura swirling around its body was as substantial as matter.

"Thunder Method?"

"Human, you really killed my son; give me your life in exchange!"

"I killed your son?"

Zhang Jian's expression shifted slightly.

Wind follows the tiger, cloud follows the dragon; Zhang Jian's mind stirred, and without time to think, the Wind Moving Technique unfurled naturally—he turned into a gust of wind to dodge beneath the tiger's claws, while his Dragon Chant Sword simultaneously left its sheath, like a scarlet sun cleaving with a single slash; the fierce, razor-sharp sword light flowed behind him, forming a Spirit Opportunity Vortex that forced the black tiger's lashing tail to retract, lest it become a tailless tiger.

Zhang Jian seized the moment to widen the distance, and twelve scarlet, invisible sigils appeared around him instantly.

Wind Thunder Talisman.

At this moment, his eyes were solemn, deep within them flashing with intense killing intent.

Merely sensing it slightly, Zhang Jian instantly knew that the demonic aura flowing on this black tiger surpassed his own.

This was a mighty demon that had condensed a demon pill.

Having condensed a demon pill to at least this degree already equaled a successful Foundation Establishment of a Measuring Fate cultivator, a proper immortal practitioner.

To be honest, this was still his first encounter with such a tough opponent; though his killing intent swelled, facing the giant black tiger glaring from ten-odd zhang away, Zhang Jian asked in a deep voice.

"What is the origin of this black tiger? I have merely crossed paths with you; how can you say I killed your son?"

Though he said so, Zhang Jian secretly harbored a suspicion.

If there were any grudge with the tiger demon, he had indeed slain a black tiger demon before.

The black tiger demon of Little Jun Mountain.

Initially, three demonic beasts attacked the Iron Immortal Temple; when he came to the rescue, he finally beheaded a black tiger.

That black tiger demon did have some background; before dying it even tried to threaten him, but it didn't finish its words before he sliced it apart with a single sword strike.

He originally thought that black tiger demon was just bluffing, with no further movement afterward; now it appears the other side has elders, and they have finally come to his door.

That black tiger's eyes were gloomy, its deep voice issuing from within: "Human, you need not quibble; it was you who killed my son, someone personally saw you use the Thunder Method to kill my son, and now the evidence is solid—you cannot deny it!"

"Today, you will give me your life for my son!"

Its tiger head slowly lifted, and deep within the prince's mark on its forehead a faint, heavy black light swirled, captivating the heart and soul.

It bared its teeth, and together with the fierce stench wind surrounding its body, it was horrifying.

"Someone personally witnessed it; it seems someone wants to strike at me!", Zhang Jian thought darkly.

Facing the enormous black tiger glaring before him, Zhang Jian gave a faint smile and frankly admitted: "Tiger demon, not bad; I must admit I did slay a tiger demon, but that black tiger demon committed countless evils, devouring the living and slaughtering hundreds up and down the Iron Immortal Temple, its hands stained with blood—it truly deserves death ten thousand times!"

I see you are not a muddled, oblivious wretch; if you truly understood propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, you ought to feel remorse and seek to absolve its guilt, rather than come for revenge!

The black tiger, hearing this, nearly exploded with rage, snorting coldly.

"Human, my offspring cannot be compared to a mere hundred or so two-legged sheep; you shall die!"

A flicker of cruelty and impatience rose in the black tiger's eyes; its form turned into a black gale, like a tornado, sweeping toward Zhang Jian.

What met it were twelve bolts of scarlet thunderclap, yet this time it did not dodge, instead trying to crash straight through the thunder's blockade to rush before Zhang Jian and engage in flesh-and-blood combat.

It noticed that Zhang Jian seemed adept at such long-range casting, supposing his melee ability was not strong!

Yet the black tiger soon suffered, as bolt after bolt of thunder struck its body like scarlet vines, splitting its flesh and bursting its skin.

That was a layer of extremely high-temperature thunder; the blazing lightning through the wounds directly poured into its five viscera and six bowels.

Layers of yin wind rose around the black tiger, turning to frost, striving to freeze those wounds; its gaze, however, showed a hint of alarm.

Such violent divine thunder, it had never encountered before.

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered with a sneer; this black tiger relied on its thick hide, thinking it could artificially resist lightning—this was self-destruction.

At this moment, he was cultivating via the Paulownia Mountain Pure Treasure Record, his power more refined and pure; the ordinary Wind Thunder Technique, in his hands, had reached a state of miraculous proficiency.

In the moment the black tiger's body went numb, his Dragon Chant Sword turned into a scarlet-red blade of light, instantly enveloping its head.

Accompanied by a low, mournful howl.

Under the sword light, blood dripped drop by drop.

Yet it was seen that the black tiger's forepaw had nearly been severed clean off by the Dragon Chant Sword.

Yet it was the black tiger's forepaw that, at the last moment, blocked the skull, stopping this fatal blow—but it also left the Black Mountain Lord severely wounded.

How could it be this formidable?

The Black Mountain Lord showed a hint of shock and dismay; as an old demon who had roamed the Twin Peaks Mountain Range for hundreds of years, with abundant combat experience, it had never been in such a sorry state.

Various thoughts flashed through its mind, chief among them doubt.

It suspected that the person who leaked the information harbored ill intent and had set a trap for it.

Because, according to the other party, this Zhang-surnamed Daoist is still young, so his magical power ought not to be strong!

It was naturally suspicious; at this moment, doubt arose in its heart, and the fury filling it was somewhat suppressed.

But he did not panic; at the moment of injury, he channeled his full demon core qi, transforming a primary innate technique into a surging, roaring torrent.

Roar!

The earth-shaking tiger's roar exploded in the air, charging straight toward Zhang Jian and the many soldiers.

Amid the tiger's roar, demonic aura swept across; on the mountain path, a group of soldiers staggered as if drunk, many swaying, faces deathly pale, and collapsed outright.

Even Zhang Jian, who was only a hair's breadth away, felt as if an invisible sound-wave bomb had detonated beside his ear.

His divine sense hummed.

And in that instant, the huge black tiger turned into a black gale, its claws sweeping horizontally toward Zhang Jian.

At this moment, his divine sense was affected by several sound waves, making this strike unavoidable for Zhang Jian, yet he remained calm; a series of golden talismans in his hand were instantly activated.

Golden light intertwined, accompanied by glazed radiance, and before him appeared one after another crystalline shield of condensed golden magical power blocking Zhang Jian.

Diamond Talisman!

But under the tiger's claws, the Diamond Talisman blocked only a few moments before being pierced by the fierce demonic aura, shattering into countless fragments that slammed hard into Zhang Jian.

By then Zhang Jian had prepared; his Dragon Roar Sword transformed into a crimson sword blade as thick as a water barrel, fiercely thrusting upward at the black tiger's belly, forcing the tiger to withdraw and retreat to avoid the vicious blade.

That blazing sword blade still made the black tiger's skin feel a deep scorch, as if it were near a molten iron plate.

Zhang Jian's gaze remained calm; the deep-red sword light left his hand instantly, and his flying-sword technique unfolded, forming vortexes of deep-red sword light that in a moment completely engulfed the black tiger.

Miserable tiger roars burst forth from within.

Only a few moments later, the Dragon Roar Sword flew out of the vortex and fell back into Zhang Jian's hand, while the black tiger before him had its flesh and blood flying apart, its form collapsing, leaving only a breath still clinging to life.

The black tiger demon looked at Zhang Jian, a trace of shock still in its eyes.

Zhang Jian deliberately left it a breath; he glanced at the many fallen soldiers behind him, many of whom had their courage shattered by the evil tiger's roar, and there was also a young veteran.

A trace of intense chill surfaced in his eyes.

At this moment he gazed at the black tiger, his eyes holding a deep, obscure hue, and he said calmly.

"Black Tiger, you've been tricked; the person who provoked you before you was merely using your hand to test my strength, letting you die for nothing!"

The Black Mountain Lord, already suspicious, upon hearing this had no further doubts.

"Yu family, you dare to scheme against this Mountain Lord!"

It let out a fierce howl.

But its howl was immediately overwhelmed by a mighty thunderclap.

As the final bolt of scarlet lightning struck, the shock in his eyes turned entirely to fear.

Amid the thunder, its body twitched slightly, and then it fell silent.

Having successfully slain this Foundation Establishment-stage black tiger demon, Zhang Jian's face remained grim.

"Yu You?"

Zhang Jian also sensed a hint of something amiss in his heart.

At the same time he glanced deep into the prefectural city, worried that changes might arise there, and immediately decided to hurry back to the city as quickly as possible.