NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1249: Nemesis
Tiger Immortal had achieved great success in cultivation. Over the past few years, in Ming Sect, he found companions to discuss the Dao, and had the guidance of senior experts like Long Eyebrow Immortal. Coupled with the existence of Enlightenment Hall and Martial Arts Hall...
Tiger Immortal's cultivation level, strength, and vision had all improved significantly compared to the original works.
Therefore, with his unusual insight, he understood that while he had flown for half an hour, the clouds and lightning above his head remained. It wasn't because the area covered by these clouds was vast, but rather because these clouds were following him.
With a solemn expression, Tiger Immortal raised his hand and a horse-cutting saber appeared in his hand.
This was an epic weapon revealed by Jiang Liu, perfectly suitable for someone with a Taiyi Middle Stage cultivation level, thus the horse-cutting saber appeared in Tiger Immortal's hand.
With the enhanced equipment, Tiger Immortal's overall strength naturally took another step forward.
"Hehehe, it seems I've been discovered..." As Tiger Immortal paused his movements, ready to confront, suddenly, an evil and ruthless laughter emerged from the clouds.
"Whoever you are, please show yourself!" Staring at the cloud-laden sky, Tiger Immortal spoke.
"Since that's the case, I'll let you die knowing..." Following Tiger Immortal's words, the sinister laughter continued from within the clouds.
Soon afterward, a fierce beast appeared from within the rolling clouds.
In appearance, this beast looked exactly like a tiger, except the patterns on its body were black, and it looked even more ferocious and terrifying.
Gazing at this emerging tiger-like beast, Tiger Immortal felt a slight tremor in his heart, sensing an instinctive fear.
"Is your true form a Leopard?" Looking at the tiger-shaped beast with the black markings on its body, Tiger Immortal's expression darkened, his face grew even more grim as he spoke.
"That's right, that's right, I love eating tigers the most in this life. Your cultivation level is impressive, devouring you would greatly benefit me, perhaps helping me break through to the Great Luo Realm!" Squinching its eyes, the beast regarded Tiger Immortal completely as if viewing prey.
"Leopard? That's almost a tiger's natural predator, right?" The nearby King of Tiansha Nation, knowing he was in one of the most dangerous and chaotic areas of North Julu State, had some understanding. Upon recognizing the beast's identity, he murmured to himself.
Typically, a female tiger gives birth to two offspring.
And Leopard is the third offspring, with three more strokes than the character for tiger, hence a figurative comparison.
Generally, Leopards are frail and weak during their youth and are driven away by their mother tiger due to their distinctive stripe patterns compared to regular tigers, leaving them to fend for themselves.
With added dangers of the wild, they are often subjected to humiliation, and most Leopards die quickly.
But precisely because of this, once a Leopard reaches adulthood, it becomes exceptionally vicious, harboring immense hatred akin to a blood feud with the Tiger Clan.
There's a saying that the character for Leopard not only signifies the third redundant tiger cub from the Tiger Clan as its origin but also represents the fighting capability of an adult Leopard, which rivals that of three full-grown fierce tigers, highlighting the Leopard's prowess.
Tigers are recognized as the revered among beasts, living off hunting other animals, while Leopards prey on tigers, demonstrating their ruthless fighting power and evident hatred towards the Tiger Clan!
"He's trying to break through to the Great Luo Realm by eating me, so his cultivation level must be at, or at least nearing Taiyi Peak?"
From the Leopard's words, Tiger Immortal could roughly infer the opponent's cultivation level, which drove Tiger Immortal's heart to sink.
Against opponents with equal cultivation levels, Tigers are naturally suppressed by Leopards. With the opponent's cultivation level higher than his own, he surely couldn't be a match.
"Great Immortal, what do we do next?" At this time, the King of Tiansha Nation understood the crisis he faced, and turned to Tiger Immortal for answers.
"Escape! Flee southward as far as possible! Hopefully, we'll encounter other companions!" Tiger Immortal's face grew solemn as he spoke.
Yes, even before engaging in combat, Tiger Immortal knew he wasn't a match, nurturing thoughts of fleeing in his heart.
After leaving such a remark, Tiger Immortal grabbed the King of Tiansha Nation and swiftly flew toward the distance, at full speed!
No need for combat, the innate counteraction was nearly a soul-deep tremor convincing Tiger Immortal of the impossibility of being a match.
Just like a regular Flood Dragon facing a Roc Bird, this was complete suppression due to innate bloodline.
"Trying to escape? Let's see how far you can run..." The Leopard extended its crimson tongue, lined with barbs, gently licking the corner of its mouth, with a hint of a cruel, playful smile.
Immediately, it leapt forward, pursuing the direction Tiger Immortal fled.
With a higher cultivation level, innate bloodline suppression, and not having to carry a hindering burden, the Leopard's speed surpassed Tiger Immortal by a notch.
In the blink of an eye, over mere hundreds of miles, it caught up to Tiger Immortal.
With a sharp claw raised, it struck fiercely down on Tiger Immortal's back, forceful and mighty.
The chase continued; Leopard harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Tiger Clan, thus he seemed in no rush to kill Tiger Immortal, instead enjoying the cat-and-mouse game.
Relentless attacks along the way worsened Tiger Immortal's injuries, until he was left covered in blood and visibly spent.
"Hehehe, even at this stage, you're still protecting this Human Clan member? Well then, let me taste the flesh of this Human Clan! For us demons, Human Clan flesh is a real tonic!"
Tiger Immortal, clearly exhausted, was still desperately protecting the King of Tiansha Nation, causing Leopard to squint his eyes and reveal a cruel smile.
"Damn it, if you're going to target someone, target me!" Tiger Immortal shouted angrily as Leopard aimed at the King of Tiansha Nation.
The more Tiger Immortal adopted this attitude, the more Leopard was determined to target the King of Tiansha Nation, directly lunging towards him.
Raising his sword, he slashed at Leopard, who easily dodged it.
Then, opening his mouth wide, Leopard lunged directly at the King of Tiansha Nation.
"Get away from him!" At the critical moment for the King of Tiansha Nation, Tiger Immortal slammed fiercely into Leopard.
With a loud bang, the opponent retreated a few steps, but Tiger Immortal was sent flying several yards away.
"Run quickly, escape, I'll hold him off!" Tiger Immortal, blown away, shouted towards the King of Tiansha Nation.
Facing the current situation, the King of Tiansha Nation knew staying would be unhelpful and only hold things back, so he gritted his teeth, got up, and ran off into the distance.
"Hehehe..." However, the bloodthirsty cruel smile never left Leopard's lips as he extended his claws, pursuing the King of Tiansha Nation.
At this point, Tiger Immortal was fighting desperately, lunging at Leopard, entangling him to give the King of Tiansha Nation a chance to escape.
But with the suppression of strength and bloodline, even though Tiger Immortal gave it his all to stop him, he simply couldn't hold back Leopard.
If Leopard hadn't decided to kill the King of Tiansha Nation right in front of him, Tiger Immortal might have already fallen dead.
Yet, even though Leopard wasn't hell-bent on killing him, after just a few dozen breaths in battle, Tiger Immortal was gravely injured and fell, struggling even to stand.
Seeing Tiger Immortal seriously injured and fallen, even his leg bones broken by Leopard, Leopard was reassured, leaping in pursuit of the fleeing King of Tiansha Nation.
"Damn it, come back, have the guts to come back…" Falling to the ground, Tiger Immortal wanted to pursue but was helpless with broken legs, unable to catch up.
Leopard returned shortly after leaving, his tall form carrying a limp figure in his jaws, the now dead King of Tiansha Nation.
That figure hung its head motionless, clearly already dead.
Leopard lay before Tiger Immortal, eating the flesh in his mouth bit by bit right in front of him.
The sound of sharp teeth biting through bone grated loudly in Tiger Immortal's ears.
"It's over, this escort mission has utterly failed, it's all over…" Seeing the King of Tiansha Nation eaten like this, Tiger Immortal's face turned utterly grim.
This expression only pleased Leopard more, squinting his eyes with satisfaction.
The Human Clan body was eaten slowly, carefully, taking nearly half an hour for Leopard to finish it.
After licking his lips clean of blood, he stood up.
Leopard extended his paw, pressing it on Tiger Immortal's head, looking down at him and said, "Now it's your turn! After eating a Human Clan member, eating you too might just propel me to the Great Luo Golden Immortal level!"
With those words, Leopard raised his claw to strike down.
This mighty claw, if it landed directly, would likely smash Tiger Immortal's head.
"Wretch!" However, at this moment, a loud shout suddenly rang out.
Following this, a dazzling golden light appeared, shooting towards Leopard.
A deafening scream erupted, tiger blood spilled out, and Leopard's raised paw was directly severed, the broken half falling to the ground.
Immediately after, a figure appeared, shining brilliantly with golden light, blocking Tiger Immortal, awe-inspiring with the Great Luo Golden Immortal level aura pressing down on Leopard…