"Where did this tiger demon come from? Not only does it eat people, but it's also so powerful."
"Even injured, it still dares to eat people and attack Taohua Temple. Does it really think we're just weaklings?"
"It's a relief that Brother Zhu and Sister Li were here, otherwise, relying only on Lu Lang and myself, we absolutely couldn't have stopped it."
"But at least it's finally dead."
A massive tiger lay sprawled on the open ground outside the main hall of Taohua Temple, lifeless.
Lu Zheng had been holding back during the magical combat, refraining from using the Body-Freezing Curse, waiting for the decisive moment to seal the victory.
Because the tiger demon had profound cultivation, the Body-Freezing Curse wouldn't last long, and preserving his strength, at worst, he would only suffer minor injuries, and thereafter would be more cautious, making it difficult to hit again.
Either not use it at all, or use it to ensure effectiveness, so Lu Zheng kept enduring until the tiger demon was fully committed before casting the Body-Freezing Curse.
At that moment, the demon had no strength left, no defenses, and needed more time to recover, hence Shen Ying and the others' attacks directly hurt it severely.
New injuries triggered old ones, and Lu Zheng gave it no chance, the four of them went all out and killed the tiger demon.
Thus, this demon, with advanced Dao Practice capable of floating in the air, was killed by the combined efforts of the four, and its True Spirit was shattered by Lu Zheng's Golden Palace Heart Sword, leaving it no chance even to enter the Netherworld.
A hundred and eighty-two points of Light of Fortune were accounted for, evidence of the tiger's strength.
Lu Zheng examined the tiger, "Let's divide the tiger's carcass, give the tiger meat to Elder Li for a taste, and some of the tiger bones can be used as medicine, save some for Qingyan."
"It's a trivial matter." Shen Ying gestured towards the tiger, and a small bundle flew out from under the tiger corpse, "Upon reverting to its original form, it wrapped this package with its demon power, there might be some good stuff inside?"
"Oh?" Lu Zheng hadn't noticed this detail.
Shen Ying waved her hand, and the bundle landed in front of her, opened automatically, revealing five porcelain bottles and a stone token inside.
"What's this? Elixirs?"
Shen Ying reached for a porcelain bottle, pulled the stopper, and poured out a green elixir, from which a faint spiritual qi, mixed with medicinal fragrance, began to disperse in Taohua Temple.
"It really is an elixir?" Li Hanyu raised an eyebrow, "Does this demon have some origin?"
Using various spirit medicines to make elixirs can combine their effects, amplifying the results to greater than the sum of their parts, making the medicinal force easier to absorb, reducing cooldowns, and resistance, proffering many benefits.
However, making elixirs isn't a skill just anyone can have, it requires specific skills, perhaps even a professional alchemist.
If one knows nothing and recklessly attempts it, not only would the resulting elixir's potency be questionable, but its edibility could be uncertain.
Adding spirit medicine to spirit medicine might result in poison, that's not impossible.
If uncertain, it's sometimes more straightforward to directly consume spirit fruits and medicines, like the Biluo Fruit, or previously the Vermilion Fruit, which Lu Zheng and the others consumed raw.
Thus, finding elixirs in the tiger demon's bundle indicates this demon is no solitary wild creature.
If it were just one or even one bottle, it could be considered luck, but now there are five bottles, it can't be mere luck.
Li Hanyu reached for the remaining stone token in the bundle, "Could this token signify his origin?"
Turning the stone token, Lu Zheng couldn't help but exclaim "Huh".
"What? Brother Lu know it?" Li Hanyu turned to ask, "Which family is it?"
"I don't know." Lu Zheng shook his head, "But I've seen an identical token before."
"Hmm?" Shen Ying looked at Lu Zheng, she hadn't seen the stone token, yet didn't expect Lu Zheng had, her eyes flashed, she asked, "The demon encountered during the flood relief?"
"No." Lu Zheng shook his head, "It's from Leng Jian at Wild Wolf Mountain in Yaozhou."
The stone token was engraved with the image of a lone wolf howling at the moon on its front, crude but filled with spirit.
Most importantly, it was identical to the token Lu Zheng found in Leng Jian's Cave Mansion in Wild Wolf Mountain, Yaozhou.
"Leng Jian?" Shen Ying asked, "Impossible, Leng Jian has been established in Yaozhou for over a hundred years, never heard of any origins?"
"Indeed, that's true." Lu Zheng nodded, "Even local demon creatures in Yaozhou think Leng Jian is just a wild wolf."
"Then what's the deal with this stone token?" Shen Ying frowned and asked.
"I don't know!" Lu Zheng shrugged and blinked, a bit regretting not keeping the tiger demon's True Spirit for interrogation.
"Could it be that Leng Jian and the tiger demon belong to the same force?" Shen Ying speculated.
"Judging by the stone token, the leader should be a wolf demon, but the tiger demon's Dao Practice is far superior to Leng Jian's." Lu Zheng said.
"Leng Jian?" Li Hanyu asked, "The one who killed indiscriminately, tried to force marry the Liu family's daughter?"
Back then, when the group was relaxing at Peach Blossom Plain, Guangyue came to compete with Lu Zheng, Liu Qingquan talked about their enmity and mentioned the wolf demon Leng Jian, which Li Hanyu remembered.
"Yes." Lu Zheng nodded, "That wolf demon."
Then he recounted his pursuit of Leng Jian across a thousand miles and his looting of Leng Jian's cave mansion at Wild Wolf Mountain. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on nοvelfire.net
"I discovered this stone token in Leng Jian's cave mansion, but it showed no special characteristics. I thought Leng Jian merely used it as a personal identifier, so I kept it, now it's in my study desk drawer at home." Lu Zheng shook his head and said.
"It seems the token isn't something Leng Jian gave to a subordinate to represent him, but his own identity token." Shen Ying said.
"Could there be follow-up to this matter?" Li Hanyu frowned.
"But it's been so long, and this force hasn't shown itself?" Lu Zheng blinked, indicating he knew nothing.
"No matter what, we must find out which force it is." Shen Ying said resolutely, we can't know nothing about the enemy.
Lu Zheng nodded, replying, "Let's consult the Anomaly Suppression Bureau."
Consulting the Anomaly Suppression Bureau remains the choice when uncertain.
"The Great Jing Dynasty puts people first, whether it's the tyrannical Leng Jian or this man-eating tiger demon, they've committed death-worthy crimes." Li Hanyu said coldly, "Since we know, the Anomaly Suppression Bureau will naturally uproot them."
Lu Zheng nodded, expressing agreement.
He wasn't overly worried as White Cloud Temple had his back.
If this force had not been exposed, stealthily seeking revenge on him might catch him off guard.
But now that their existence is known…
"No time to lose, we'll depart overnight, and reach Yizhou Prefecture by morning." Zhu Yushan said.
"Alright." Lu Zheng nodded.