Chapter 46: Ten-Bull Strength Pill

Before the trio could even register what was happening, the torrential downpour carried with it the sharp cracks of collapsing trees, as though something was tearing through the rain at breakneck speed, hurtling toward them.

Boom!

The massive creature in the storm did not slow down in the slightest, smashing directly through one of the Mountain God Temple's walls, leaving the entire structure on the verge of total collapse!

A striped tiger, only a fraction smaller than the tiger demon they were fighting, now stood blocking the three of them; though lesser in size, it exuded a far more vicious aura!

Within this mountain dwelled a mated pair—two tigers!

This was a development that absolutely no one could have anticipated.

Intelligence regarding the demonic beasts of Pine Mountain was terribly sparse; prior to this, they were not even certain if any demons were hiding here at all, let alone a pair of them.

"Wife, let us take them on together," the male tiger demon said; the female tiger demon's strength was only slightly inferior to his own, possessing a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, and the two of them felt victory was firmly within their grasp against three humans.

"Useless trash," the female tiger demon muttered under her breath, leaving her mate thoroughly ashamed.

As the two beasts attacked in tandem, the trio instantly felt the pressure skyrocket.

"Attack the one with the sword, he is the most troublesome to deal with," the male tiger roared.

Meng Jingzhou was instantly displeased, thrusting himself to the very front to assert his presence: "What do you mean by that? Are you implying I am inferior to him?"

"I thought you monster had a bit of judgment, but it turns out you are not only henpecked, you cannot even discern the strength of your enemies. You are an absolute disgrace to demonkind! With this level of competence, you actually dare to claim a mountain as king? Look at this golden body of mine, rock-hard and invincible in defense among peers. Do you honestly think you can breach my guard..."

The male tiger fell silent for a moment: "Attack the one glowing with golden light, he is the most talkative."

Exerting their strength together, the two tigers batted Meng Jingzhou directly into the wall, pinning him flat into the shape of a star.

The two tiger demons knitted their brows, feeling that the impact of their strike just now had felt somewhat unusual.

At Meng Jingzhou's chest, a shattered flatbread was exposed; if one were to piece it back into its complete shape, it seemed to be missing a quarter—the portion Meng Jingzhou had already eaten.

Truth be told, it tasted quite good.

Just as Meng Jingzhou was about to counterattack, a graceful silhouette in green rushed into the temple, gripping the old hunter by the throat as her lips rapidly chanted the Rebirth Mantra, obliterating the old hunter who had claimed countless lives.

It was precisely the young girl in green who had wished to enter and seek shelter from the rain earlier.

The girl in green looked at the two sides locked in a standoff, and then at Meng Jingzhou embedded in the wall, appearing slightly startled.

She had heard the commotion of battle over here and rushed toward it to investigate, only to run straight into the old hunter who had revealed his true form.

Without a second thought, she had seized the old hunter and sprinted over here, never imagining it would be so lively.

Acting as a ghost pawn for the tiger.

Seeing the tiger demons and the ghost pawn, she easily deduced what had transpired.

"Lu Yang of the Grand Dao Sect," Lu Yang swiftly declared his identity.

"Lan Ting of the Laurel Celestial Palace," the young girl in green exchanged a glance with Lu Yang, calling out her name before rapidly adjusting her mindset to plunge into the fray.

As fellow members of the Five Great Celestial Sects, it was only natural to aid one another.

Lan Ting formed a hand seal, and a spirited white silk ribbon wrapped around her arm, fluttering behind her; her movements were ethereal and light, like a lunar fairy dancing within the moon, a sight of breathtaking beauty.

"Flamboyant and impractical!" The female tiger demon sneered at Lan Ting's technique, lunging forward with the intent to tear this hypocritical human to pieces.

Lan Ting offered no words; her toes lightly tapped the ground as she pressed two fingers together, pointing toward the female tiger demon, the white silk ribbon tensing into a rigid blade that pierced straight toward the space between the beast's brows.

The female tiger demon suffered a significant setback right at the start, yet she remained fearless, mocking: "Nothing more than an early-stage Foundation Establishment."

Despite her words, the female tiger demon dared not be careless; fighting a human cultivator from such a grand sect meant that the slightest oversight could result in death.

Though Lan Ting could not defeat the female tiger demon, she could temporarily keep it entangled.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the situation once again shifted to the Grand Dao Sect trio facing off against the male tiger demon.

Lu Yang's swordplay was exceedingly tricky, catching the tiger demon off guard time and again.

Mangu pulled the perfectly handy Meng Jingzhou off the wall, striking with such force that the tiger demon was driven back repeatedly.

Meng Jingzhou... acting as a weapon, he had very few thoughts on the matter.

Seeing this, the character for 'King' upon the tiger demon's forehead glowed with increasing brilliance, and the blood of the mythical beast Qiongqi hidden within his body awakened; his fangs and claws grew longer, and his aura became progressively more ferocious.

"What kind of luck is this, to actually possess the lineage of a Qiongqi," Lu Yang was somewhat speechless; did this demon really have so many trump cards up its sleeve?

Was it their poor luck, or were all demons simply this capable?

Lu Yang could not help but recall the great era his eldest senior sister had spoken of.

When the great era arrived, all manner of fiends, demons, ghosts, and monsters would manifest, carving up and devouring the Central Continent.

Although the tiger demon's capabilities were far from enough to participate in the struggles of the great era, its appearance was a microscopic manifestation of its dawn.

Upon stimulating the Qiongqi bloodline, the tiger demon completely lost its sanity, fighting purely on instinct; its feline eyes grew bloodshot as it went into a frenzied madness, yet its combat skills improved drastically.

The barbarian blood within Mangu's body seemed to be stimulated as well, likewise beginning to awaken, and the force with which he swung Meng Jingzhou grew greater and greater.

"We cannot drag this out any longer," Lu Yang thought to himself; there was no guaranteeing what other trump cards this tiger demon might pull out, so it was better to resolve everything swiftly.

With that thought, Lu Yang flipped his palm, producing a golden medicinal pill.

It was precisely the pill he had exchanged for at the Mission Hall after completing the Painted Skin Ghost mission—the Ten Oxen Strength Pill.

Consuming this pill would grant one the strength of ten oxen!

Though the crowd at the Cauldron Peak brewed poisons just as often as they refined pills, making them quite unreliable, they never cut corners when it came to the actual efficacy of their medicine.

This pill absolutely held a premier position among explosive-type elixirs!

With his attainment in the way of the sword combined with the strength of ten oxen, let alone a tiger demon with a mere trace of Qiongqi bloodline, he would dare to do battle even with a pure-blooded Qiongqi!

Taking advantage of the opportunity while Mangu and Meng Jingzhou joined forces to hold back the male tiger demon, Lu Yang hesitated no longer and swallowed the pill in one gulp.

So hot, so searing!

Swallowing the pill felt like swallowing a ball of flame; his stomach burned intensely.

Lu Yang closed his eyes, sensing his dantian grow scorching hot as an endless stream of power gushed from his body, forming lines that manifested upon the surface of his skin.

Mangu noticed the strange mutation in Lu Yang; at this moment, Lu Yang's body was outlined with red lines, looking exactly like the barbarian warriors Mangu had read about in books, who dared to wrestle with heaven and battle the earth.

"So strong!" Even a blunt individual like Mangu could feel the immense power surging out of Lu Yang's body.

This force was absolutely an invincible existence within the Foundation Establishment stage.

The male tiger demon sought to interrupt Lu Yang's transformation, but was blocked by the concerted efforts of Mangu and Meng Jingzhou.

Lu Yang opened his eyes, a trace of confusion flashing through them; power had indeed surged forth, but it seemed to have entirely flooded outside his body, leaving very little within him.

The red lines snaked down Lu Yang's body and onto the ground, forming a bizarre circular pattern.

A thick plume of smoke rose from the ground, obscuring everyone's vision.

The dense smoke came quickly and vanished just as fast; as it cleared, ten water oxen materialized before the crowd.

These ten water oxen shockingly possessed cultivations at the Foundation Establishment stage!

Lu Yang: "?"

The male tiger demon: "?"

Everyone present was momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events, completely failing to comprehend what had just happened.

"To hell with your Ten Oxen Strength Pill!"

This was not a pill to enhance one's own power at all, but rather one embedded with a summoning array!

These ten buffaloes seemed to know exactly why Lu Yang had summoned them; they scraped their hooves against the ground, let out a crimson-eyed bellow, and charged headlong toward the tiger demon!