(Thanks to Meng Rabbit the Rascal, Symbol+Endurance, and several other readers for your tips! And to everyone who voted for the monthly ticket, a thousand thanks from Xiao Xiao!)
At this moment, the mysterious gas in Evan Chu's dantian visibly dimmed a bit more. His fist radiated a dazzling red glow as he swung it out with a roar: "Sick cat, let Grandpa show you the Lion Spirit Fist!"
A world-shattering aura erupted instantly as Evan Chu's fist crashed directly into the Skyfiend Tiger's punch.
The moment Evan unleashed the Lion Spirit Fist, the Skyfiend Tiger instinctively sensed a deadly threat. But thinking his opponent was just a lowly human—no matter how strong, not worth fearing—he didn't bother dodging.
The two fists collided, unleashing an unprecedented energy shockwave right before their eyes. Evan's fist force was like a sharp blade, slicing straight through the Skyfiend Tiger's defenses and driving right into its chest.
With unstoppable might, Evan blasted a massive hole through the Skyfiend Tiger's chest, pulverizing its internal organs. The beast was sent flying dozens of meters away—instantly killed in a single move, its body hitting the ground and losing all signs of life.
The Lion Spirit Fist was a secret technique passed to Evan Chu by the ancient Spirit Beast, Bloodshadow Berserker Lion. Its power was immense—even before Evan broke through to the Fourth Layer of the Earth Martial Realm, he killed the Horned Demon Flood-Dragon with a single punch.
Now, having broken through to the Fourth Layer, his body's endurance was even greater. Plus, the Skyfiend Tiger was already badly wounded. Although the Skyfiend Tiger was stronger than the Horned Demon Flood-Dragon, it still couldn't withstand this overwhelmingly powerful strike.
At the same time, Evan was also blasted dozens of meters away by the force of the Skyfiend Tiger's punch. His entire chest was a bloody mess, countless bones broken, blood soaking his whole body. Only his tenacious will kept him from passing out.
After spitting out a mouthful of blood, Evan tried to get up, but the waves of pain from his body made it impossible. He could only sit on the ground, gasping for breath.
By now, the Skyfiend Tiger had reverted to its true beast form. Evan Chu could clearly see that his punch had actually erased nearly half of the mountain-sized body.
Blood pooled everywhere on the ground, filling the air with a sickening stench. Evan couldn’t help but curse, "Damn it! I really went overboard this time. If a low-rank spirit beast shows up now, I could lose my life for real."
Suddenly, the voice of Shadow, the Bloodshadow Berserker Lion cub, echoed in Evan's mind: "Master, I want to come out. That little tiger's body looks good—I want to eat him."
Evan was startled, but quickly understood. With a thought, Shadow instantly appeared before him.
After nodding to Evan, Shadow darted toward the Skyfiend Tiger's corpse and began to feast.
A mountain-sized Skyfiend Tiger being devoured by a beast no bigger than a puppy—what a ridiculous sight. If anyone were here to see the speed of this dog-sized spirit beast eating, they'd be utterly shocked.
In less than a quarter hour, Shadow had already eaten most of the Skyfiend Tiger's corpse, leaving only the head behind. Evan's scalp tingled—Shadow's appetite was monstrous.
For Shadow to be able to eat such a huge beast, this ancient spirit beast was truly extraordinary. But then Evan remembered how Shadow once drew him into its own body to detoxify the Hellwing Centipede’s poison—so maybe this wasn’t so strange after all.
"This guy is definitely going to advance several ranks after eating the Skyfiend Tiger. Master’s a freak, and even his spirit pet is a freak!" Luna the sword spirit’s voice finally echoed in Evan’s mind.
Evan gave a bitter smile. "Luna, you’re still teasing me at a time like this? I can’t even stand up right now. If a spirit beast shows up, things’ll get ugly."
"Your injuries are pretty serious this time. It'll take a while to fully recover, but with me here, you won't be in any real danger," Luna said reassuringly.
Evan kept brooding over one thing: when he broke through to the Second Layer of the Starforge Body, his meridians and bones were also badly damaged but healed quickly. Now, though, his recovery was much slower.
Just then, Shadow trotted back, his mouth dripping with tiger blood. He came up to Evan, burped contentedly, and looked utterly satisfied.
"Boss, that little tiger tasted pretty good. If only there was another one—I’m still not full!" Shadow said.
"What the hell! Are you a bottomless pit? The Skyfiend Tiger was huge, and you still aren’t full? Didn’t you just burp right in front of me?" Evan exclaimed in disbelief.
"I’ve got a huge appetite, but I’m not a rice bucket. That little tiger actually had an inner core. Once I finish digesting the energy inside, I won’t need to eat so much in the future," Shadow said, looking a bit innocent.
"Inner core? Isn’t it supposed to be a magic crystal? What’s going on?" Evan asked urgently.
"I’m not sure why, but I can tell at a glance this is an inner core, not like the magic crystal inside the giant serpent," Shadow replied immediately.
"Evan, there really is a difference between inner cores and magic crystals in spirit beasts. Only beasts that can take human form condense inner cores—their energy is pure essence, far superior to magic crystals," Luna explained.
"Master, I’m going to sleep now. When I come out, you’ll be shocked!" Shadow said, then vanished in an instant. Evan knew he’d returned to the tattoo on his arm.
Evan slowly circulated Chaos Qi inside his body to heal his wounds. Before long, Goldwing the Golden Vulture returned, transformed into human form, and walked up to Evan. Seeing Evan covered in blood and his chest badly injured, Goldwing immediately asked:
"Boss, are your injuries okay? What happened to the Skyfiend Tiger?"
"I’m not dead yet. After a night’s rest, I’ll be able to walk. As for that sick cat, I killed him," Evan replied simply, glancing at Goldwing.
Goldwing was also covered in blood, with wounds so deep that bone showed in places—clearly seriously injured. Yet he’d rushed back to check on Evan, showing true loyalty. Even as a spirit beast, Evan felt Goldwing was worth befriending.
Adversity reveals true feelings—maybe this was the truest proof. Hearing Evan say he’d killed the Skyfiend Tiger, Goldwing trembled all over, clearly overwhelmed.
He stared at Evan in disbelief for a long time before finally saying, "Boss, you’re not joking, right? That tiger was a ninth-rank spirit beast—even wounded, he still had eighth-rank strength. How could you possibly...?"
Evan gave a bitter smile. "Why not? Didn’t you see I paid a price to kill him? Don’t forget, I killed the Horned Demon Flood-Dragon too!"
Goldwing was speechless for a long time. Just then, a powerful force suddenly surged chaotically inside Evan’s body, making him cry out, "Not good..."