Seeing the Stone-Wall Bat talking back, Liam Yang laughed, "Oh? You’re starting to talk back now?"
"I’m just telling the truth. And that’s only part of it—more importantly, there’s a Beast King down here." The Stone-Wall Bat replied.
"Beast King? What’s that supposed to mean?" Liam asked curiously.
"This is Tigerlock Cavern. Do you know why it’s called Tigerlock? Because a Beast King is imprisoned here. It’s sealed, and the only way to loosen the seal is by drinking human blood. Those little tigers you saw outside? They’re just its minions." The Stone-Wall Bat explained.
Hearing this, Liam—who feared nothing—laughed, "Those outside? I burned them the moment I saw them. I doubt this Beast King is much tougher."
"Let’s hope your skills are enough for everything," the Stone-Wall Bat muttered.
"Just wait. But look—he’s too scared to show himself, not even a shadow around." Liam looked closely at his surroundings, noticing the walls were covered in claw marks like something had shredded them, and the spot he stood in was slightly sunken.
"Is that so? Actually, it’s right under your feet—you just haven’t noticed." The Stone-Wall Bat suddenly said. Liam froze, and the sunken spot beneath him suddenly bulged upward. A loud crash and a tiger’s roar echoed from below.
Liam jumped up, and saw a shadow appear beneath him—a massive tiger, bound by six ropes, unable to break free.
But its fangs were terrifying, as if they could tear a person apart with ease.
"That roar is pretty scary, but who knows how strong it really is," Liam muttered. The tiger’s roar instantly reached the ears of Miles Shen and the others outside.
"What was that?" Miles Shen frowned.
"Looks like he ran into something dangerous in there. He’s probably doomed," Madam Blaze said. Miles Shen snorted, "I want to see him alive or dead. If he doesn’t come out by tomorrow, I’ll go in myself."
"What?" Madam Blaze was stunned when she heard Miles Shen planned to go in.
Inside, Liam was tangled up with the tiger, standing atop its head. He was glad the beast was sealed and its strength greatly reduced—otherwise, he’d have been blasted out of there already.
"Damn human, I’m going to eat you!" the tiger roared, lunging at Liam.
But Liam kept dodging around on its head, making it impossible for the tiger to catch him.
Frustrated, the tiger let out a furious roar and spat out a sharp sword. Liam hadn’t expected it to do that—his arm was nicked by the sword, so he quickly spun away to the side.
The sword returned to the tiger’s mouth. When it licked Liam’s blood, its aura twisted into wild frenzy. It even laughed crazily, "Your blood! Your blood! Give me a few more drops and I can break through!"
Liam had no idea his blood contained Sky-Nine Divine Fruit energy—he’d absorbed it years ago from Gavin White’s overconsumption. So he didn’t realize the tiger would go berserk after tasting his blood. Frowning, he said, "I’m not that stupid. You think I’d just hand over my blood for you to eat?"
"You won’t give it up? No problem, I’ll just take it myself." With that, the tiger opened its mouth and suddenly shot out several swords. Liam cursed, "Damn it!" Before he could react, the entire space was filled with swords—nowhere was safe. He ended up with several new wounds.
After swallowing Liam’s blood, the tiger finally changed. It let out a furious roar, and the ropes binding it snapped. The Stone-Wall Bat was shocked, "It’s over—he’s breaking free! This world-realm is in real danger now!"
"Nothing I can do—damn it," Liam cursed.
The tiger didn’t stick around to fight Liam—it just wanted to find a place to recover. It knew if it didn’t leave now, strong cultivators would show up and seal it again. So it bolted out of there.
Watching it leave, Liam muttered, "Just like that, it’s gone?"
"Probably hiding somewhere to cultivate—afraid someone will come after it," the Stone-Wall Bat muttered.
"Next time I see it, I’m peeling its hide—damn thing gave me so many cuts," Liam said angrily.
Faye Lin was so scared she froze. Only when Liam walked over did she snap out of it, "What just happened?"
"It’s fine. Just let a crazy tiger loose, that’s all," Liam said lightly. But to Faye, it was terrifying—she wasn’t stupid, and what she saw was truly frightening.
Seeing Faye still in shock, Liam grinned, "It’s over. Let’s head back."
"Go back? Aren't the Shen Family still outside?" Faye Lin frowned.
"That crazy tiger just rushed out—how many Shen Family members do you think are left?" Liam Yang laughed. Faye realized he was right; if the Shen Family were still blocking the way, they'd probably all be dead by now.
They were right. The Shen Family, who had been waiting, suddenly sensed a strange aura. When they saw the massive tiger, they were stunned. Miles Shen, afraid Liam would escape, shouted, "Attack him! Don’t let him get away."
The tiger was eager to leave, but seeing so many people blocking its path, it thought they were sent to stop it. It opened its mouth and shot out several swords, slaughtering them. After the tiger passed, only five or six survived. Miles Shen lost an arm and glared angrily at the scene—over a hundred dead. "Damn it!"
Madam Blaze struggled to her feet. "Miles Shen, I didn’t see them—did you?"
"I didn’t see them either," Miles Shen replied. Madam Blaze frowned, "Could they still be inside?"
"Probably. Even if there are only a few left, I’ll stop them this time—damn it!" Miles Shen said angrily.
This was a huge loss. When Liam and Faye appeared and saw the corpses, Liam laughed, "Heaven helps me today."
Irrelevant webnovel pagination reminder. Omitted from translation.
When Miles Shen saw Liam and Faye emerge, he shouted angrily, "You! You released it, didn’t you?"
"What did I release?" Liam laughed.
"The Demon Tiger!" Miles Shen shouted angrily.
"The Demon Tiger? You mean that one just now? It escaped on its own—what does that have to do with me?" Liam laughed.
"Don’t try to talk your way out—neither of you are leaving today!" Miles Shen said angrily, then rallied the remaining men to block Liam and Faye.
Suddenly, an unknown creature slammed into Miles Shen, sending him flying. Liam laughed, "That’s your punishment."
Liam approached the fallen Miles Shen and punched him, crippling him. Miles screamed in agony. Madam Blaze, hearing this, was shocked and quickly fled.
Seeing Madam Blaze trying to escape, Liam snorted, "No way you’re getting away!"
He chased after her at ghostly speed—the footwork was taught by Evan Yang, so whatever Evan knew, Liam nearly mastered.
He flashed ahead of Madam Blaze, stretched out his hand, and sent a ball of fire flying into her face, disfiguring her. She screamed in pain; Madam Blaze was in bad shape.
The remaining men had lost their will to fight and tried to escape, but Liam forced them over a cliff. Finally, Liam approached the devastated Miles Shen and laughed, "I’m in a good mood, so I’ll just cripple you—not kill you. And as for that poisonous woman, I’ll let you go for now."
Liam laughed cheerfully and left with Faye Lin, feeling great.
Madam Blaze and Miles Shen were left writhing in pain on the ground. Miles Shen roared, "Just you wait—I won’t let you off!"
About a quarter-hour after Liam and Faye left, three people appeared in the cavern. Each carried a big sword on their back and wore matching uniforms with the character 'Heaven' on the front.
The three scanned the area. One asked, "What happened here? Where’s the Demon Tiger?"
Seeing their uniforms, Miles Shen immediately recognized them—these were experts from Heaven’s Guardian Hall, famous for subduing demonic beasts. Years ago, they sealed the Demon Tiger here. They were probably here to investigate.
Miles Shen saw a chance. He struggled to say, "Three seniors, we chased a madman here. He ignored our warnings and released the Demon Tiger, causing all my people to die under its claws."
Hearing this, the three frowned. The one who’d spoken before looked at Miles Shen and the barely breathing Madam Blaze and said, "You two, come with us to Heaven’s Guardian Hall."
The three took them away. Liam had no idea any of this was happening. As he and Faye neared the Lin clan’s mountain, Faye suddenly stopped him and said, "Don’t go in."
"Why?" Liam saw Faye blocking his way and frowned, thinking she disliked him.
"Do you know why I went back to the Shen estate to find you?" Faye asked.
Liam shook his head. "No idea."
"It was the Lin clan—my father and the elders locked me up. They wanted you to help them get back the Lin clan’s treasure. Only after you left did they let me out. I went to the Shen estate to find you, hoping to stop you, but I was too late." Faye explained everything.
After hearing this, Liam thought for a moment and said, "I went willingly—they didn’t trick me."
"What?" Faye hadn’t expected Liam to say that.
"They told me the Lin clan was destroyed by the Shen Family and their treasure was in the Shen estate. I went on my own—they didn’t lie to me." Liam explained.
Faye glared at him. "You…"
"Enough, it’s not their business anymore. Let’s go back—they’re still waiting." Liam said.
"No need. I have nothing more to say to them. I want to leave that filthy family—if you want to go, go alone." Faye said angrily, then turned and stormed off.