Chapter 347: Self‑Awareness

Cough cough!

A crisp cough echoed in the quiet mountain forest, sounding extremely harsh; Wang Ping'an stepped back, widening his distance from Yu Die again, hiding in an inconspicuous thicket, watching the explosion's epicenter, his face full of surprise, he thought to himself:

'She didn't even die; is she that hard to kill? Could she be a cockroach reincarnation?'

He thought that, but deep down he was relieved that Yu Die was still alive.

Hu Hui's second explosion was many times stronger than the first; even though he was on the outskirts, far from the epicenter, the terrifying energy still severely affected him.

Yu Die, being at the explosion's center, suffered unimaginably horrific damage; he couldn't even imagine it.

By his estimate, in this terrifying blast, bluntly speaking, even cultivators at the Golden Core Stage or the Nascent Soul Stage would meet their end in the Yellow Springs.

Wang Ping'an couldn't help but want to step forward to check Yu Die's condition, but after a moment he recalled that he had just fought Yu Die to the death; if he appeared before her now, he didn't know whether it would frighten her to death, but without a doubt Yu Die would muster her last strength to fight him.

He decided not to appear before Yu Die, lest he scare her.

Bang!

Yu Die, covered in blood and with tattered clothes, slowly rose from a giant pit ten to twenty meters deep; as soon as she hit the ground, a dark silhouette swooped out, and the next moment Yu Die was thrown backward.

Pfft!

Yu Die, suspended in midair, spat a mouthful of fresh blood, crashed heavily to the ground, struggled to rise, looked up at the suddenly appearing dark silhouette, opened her mouth to speak, and another mouthful of blood erupted, her face full of unmistakable astonishment.

Y‑You—You—you're not dead?

Yu Die trembled, her voice barely able to speak.

The dark silhouette that had just attacked her was no one else but Hu Hui, who had just self‑detonated again; if it weren't for the high‑quality spiritual artifact she wore—the Dragon Scale Golden Garment—under Hu Hui's recent assault...

No.

Precisely speaking, she should have lost her life when Hu Hui self‑detonated again.

Both consecutive self‑detonations and this attack were only survivable thanks to that artifact on her body.

Otherwise.

She would have already reported to the Yama King.

"Death—how could a monster like me, who clings to life and fears death, die so easily?"

Hu Hui let out a cold laugh, his face full of smugness.

He was just an ordinary tiger who stumbled upon a strange encounter, luckily walked the path of demonic cultivation, and his most proficient skills were puppet manipulation and self‑detonation.

For centuries he forged one Tiger Demon Puppet after another, most of which were broken in countless battles, leaving only the two Tiger Demon Puppets he currently possessed.

Surrounded by remote mountains, he couldn't cultivate a demon; for centuries he has been laboriously refining the Mountain God authority he seized.

He had no time to leave Shizi Ling to hunt Tiger Demons and refine them into puppets. There was a fierce tiger he prized, intending to cultivate into a Tiger Demon, but before he could act, humans killed it.

That made him very angry.

During that period, every human who entered Shizi Ling was vented his anger upon and became his prey.

Yet he never lost his mind to wreak havoc on the villages surrounding Shizi Ling!

It's not that he has a sliver of conscience; he simply knows his own strength and fully understands the might of the human court.

If he only caused minor trouble, the human court wouldn't take him seriously, but if he hunted humans en masse, treating them as snacks, the court would surely dispatch cultivators to deal with him.

His current top priority is refining the Mountain God authority of Shizi Ling to become its new Mountain God, so he dares not cause trouble that would attract the human court's attention.

He can only focus his thoughts on these two Tiger Demon Puppets, refining them like magical artifacts; since he excels at self‑detonation, he refines them for that purpose.

He treats the two Tiger Demon Puppets as if they were explosives!

He never imagined that after centuries of effort, the two Tiger Demon Puppets were nearly perfected, yet the two self‑detonations, though they injured Yu Die, did not take her life.

Considering that under his years of cultivation, the explosive power of those two Tiger Demon Puppets would, even for a Golden Core Stage cultivator—let alone a Nascent Soul Stage—cause severe injury if not death, and Yu Die is only a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could she have survived unscathed?

Hu Hui's gaze instantly fixed on the tattered garment Yu Die wore, his face brimming with greed.

Without a second thought, it was that treasure she wore that saved her life in the two consecutive explosions!

"Life‑loving, death‑fearing?"

This novel you...

Yu Die seemed to recall something, nodded, and said, "You really have self‑awareness!"

Mid‑sentence, Yu Die's thoughts shifted; she was about to summon the Flying Swords lying on the ground, but before they could appear, "Pfft!"—a mouthful of blood spurted out.

The high‑quality spiritual artifact she wore—the Dragon Scale Golden Garment—indeed saved her life during the two self‑detonations, yet the blasts were so terrifying that they still inflicted severe injuries on her.

How could she still have the strength to control Flying Swords against an opponent?

"For a plain monster like me, if I weren't clinging to life and fearing death, I wouldn't even know how I died!"

Hu Hui let out a cold laugh, completely ignoring Yu Die's sarcasm, instead teasingly gazing at her, his eyes openly burning with desire, and said:

"Little whore, I must say, you're quite good looking. After all these years of ascetic life, it's the first time I've seen a woman as beautiful as you; let me cherish you!"

Yu Die listened to Hu Hui's filthy words without panic or outburst; she simply stared at him calmly, her thoughts shifting, and a Sword Apparatus materialized in her palm.

She would not whine like a defeated dog, but she would not resign herself to death; as a Sword Cultivator, even if she dies, she will die on the offensive.

"Little whore, you're really affluent!"

Hu Hui's eyes fell on the Sword Apparatus that appeared in Yu Die's hand, brimming with spiritual energy, clearly a top‑grade treasure; his greedy expression deepened as he recalled the precious garment Yu Die wore and the countless Sword Apparatuses, and said:

"If you're clever, I could take you as a concubine, spare your life, constantly cherish you, letting you always feel a man's care..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hu Hui saw Yu Die brandish her sword and leap forward; a flash of smugness flickered in his eyes.

His words were not only sincere but also meant to provoke Yu Die; her combat prowess earlier had, to some extent, startled him.

Even though Yu Die is gravely injured now, he still dares not be careless.

(End of chapter)