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Chapter 123 - The Tiger’s Mission
🕑 Added 2025-06-05 04:02:30 +0000 UTCWhile Rihai and Aotian continued cultivating in the same room of their cave, far from there, in the great cavern of the Beast Pavilion, another scene was unfolding.
"Hey, Tiger, something arrived for you."
Coyote walked up to the Red Tiger, who immediately stopped his fight with Bear upon hearing the call.
After a month of nonstop sparring, both the Tiger and Elder Bear had improved significantly in battle flow and combat awareness against different species.
Though still not great, the Tiger was satisfied to feel himself growing stronger.
He removed his red eyes from Bear and stared at Coyote.
"Something arrived for me?" he asked, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
"Yup. This."
Coyote nodded and raised his hand, where a small jade slip hovered.
"This... would be..."
The Tiger's eyes locked intensely on the slip.
"... what, exactly?"
He finished, looking at Coyote with a silly and confused expression, almost making Aotian fall to the ground with his response.
"You don't know what this is?"
Coyote asked, surprised.
The Tiger shook his head, confused.
"I've seen that in cultivators' hands before, but I don't know what it does. Never explored it."
The tiger admitted, his tone casual.
"Ugh… well, it's a jade slip. It's used to…"
Coyote, helpless, began to clearly explain what jade slips were for, how they were used, and the caution needed when using ones of unknown origin, lest your mind explode from an overload of information.
"... Got it?"
He finished the explanation and looked at the Tiger, extending the jade slip toward him.
The Tiger pondered for a bit, recalled what he said, and finally nodded, understanding.
Then he raised his massive paw and, with care and focus in his gaze, extended the sharp claws of his thumb and forefinger. Carefully, he brought them closer to the jade slip in Coyote's hand.
The claws drew nearer and nearer under the Tiger's concentrated gaze. His breathing quickened, and if he could sweat, he would be dripping. He knew it had to be something good, which is why he was being extremely cautious—determined to grasp it without causing any damage.
Closer still, until the jade slip was right between them, just inches away from being grasped.
'Got it!' he thought, a glint in his eyes. But just as the claws were about to touch it—
Coyote suddenly pulled his hand back, making the Tiger freeze, eyes crossing as he stared at the spot where the jade slip had been.
"..."
"..."
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
A furious roar echoed.
Then, a rather amusing scene unfolded in the Beast Pavilion, as a group of cranes watched curiously, along with the other three elders.
A massive, furious red tiger chased after a cultivator fleeing for his life.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down!"
Coyote shouted with a nervous look, but the Tiger paid no heed and charged furiously after him.
After running a bit more, helpless, Coyote turned and placed one palm horizontally over the other, which stood vertically.
"Time out!" he shouted, forming a T with his hands, even if such a gesture probably meant nothing in that world.
Of course, the Tiger wasn't going to stop just because he asked. But then, Coyote's powerful Golden Core spiritual energy surged like a massive wave, quickly spreading and freezing the Tiger in place.
The Tiger stared in shock at Coyote, stunned by the sudden turn.
"Damn it, I knew you weren't just a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
He grumbled, helpless.
He, a beast at the peak of the Second-Level, was already getting beaten by Outer Elder Bear. So an Inner Elder like Coyote was naturally even more terrifying.
Coyote scratched his head, wearing an embarrassed smile.
"Well, I never hid it. Just never had a reason to reveal it. Anyway, your claws are too strong and would've damaged the slip. Why didn't you guide your spiritual energy to move the jade slip to your forehead and activate it?"
He asked, puzzled.
The giant feline was suddenly bewildered by the question.
"What are you talking about? I don't know how to do that."
The Tiger looked at him strangely.
"What do you mean you don't know? That's a basic application of spiritual energy."
This time, it was Coyote—or more precisely, Aotian—who looked confused.
The massive feline scratched his head with a paw, dazed.
"But I don't know..." he said, tilting his head.
"How can you not? You know how to transmit your voice and intent to communicate with me. When you fight, you coat your claws with spiritual energy and sometimes reinforce your body. From there, the leap to manipulating objects with energy is easy. Just do the same as the other techniques, but with a different purpose."
Coyote insisted, finding the situation odd.
"Huh? But those are bloodline skills. I was born knowing how to do them. It's instinct. I don't think about how to use them, I just do."
The tiger, as he spoke, began to trail off, his gaze growing increasingly complex.
At that moment, he began to realize he knew very little about how to actually control his own energy.
Aotian finally understood too.
'Ugh… seems like beasts do everything by instinct. Even their energy operations are based on inherited memory from their bloodline. That being the case, we can't just hand him the body refinement technique and expect him to practice it. I'll have to teach the Tiger how to control his spiritual energy precisely and efficiently. After all, the synthesized techniques are anything but crude or simple.'
He pondered, a helpless look in his eyes.
Controlling Coyote, he couldn't help but glance to the side, where hundreds of Misty Plume Cranes were lined up, watching with curiosity and a bit of fear toward the Red Tiger.
'Haah… training these cranes I bought from the sect is going to be even worse. They might be intelligent, but they're still a bit simple—not nearly as clever as the Red Tiger… uhmm, speaking of the Red Tiger…'
While thinking, a wild idea began to form in Aotian's mind.
A smile crept across Coyote's face.
"Very well, Tiger. You still don't know what's in the jade slip, right? Let me tell you. It's a method to activate your bloodline more quickly. But to receive it, you'll need to make contributions… the sect will give you an advance, but in return, you'll have a job."
He spoke with an excited smile.
A big question mark appeared in the tiger's mind, but his eyes warmed as he looked at the jade slip. He had already expected it to be something good, but he hadn't imagined it would be so valuable.
"What job?"
The tiger forced his eyes away from the slip and looked at Coyote, puzzled.
"It's simple. I'm going to teach you how to use spiritual energy in a way that allows you to train in the technique inside the jade slip. And in exchange for this and the technique, you're going to teach and train those cranes over there to do the same, including how to use the technique, once you've learned it yourself."
Aotian, through the mouth of Elder Coyote, revealed his grand plan to dump work onto others.
"Hey! Wait a minute! I have to contribute to get the technique, and they get it without doing anything?"
The tiger looked at him suspiciously, feeling like he was being made a fool.
"Of course not!"
Coyote quickly shook his head.
"They, in order to pay for the technique, will have to serve as mounts for the disciples, who in turn pay the sect for the services they receive. It's a cycle. Everyone has to contribute in their own way. But you're right, it might be unfair for you to serve as a teacher…"
Coyote placed a hand on his chin, wearing a pondering expression.
The tiger found what he said reasonable, but upon hearing that it might be unfair to him, a shrewd glint appeared in his eyes. Seeing an opportunity for even greater gain, he nodded eagerly in agreement.
"Then… you don't need to be a teacher. Just carry the disciples and serve as a mount to pay for the technique."
Coyote nodded, sounding quite reasonable.
But his words completely froze the tiger.
"Cough! Cough! Wait! It's not unfair to teach, it's not unfair! I'll do the job!"
The tiger quickly shouted in a panic, heart pounding.
"Are you sure? It doesn't sound fair to you…"
Coyote looked at him with a doubtful expression.
"Sure! Yes, sure!"
The tiger nodded frantically.
"Uhm…"
Coyote scratched his chin, staring at the tiger intensely. The big feline blinked innocently at him, eyes full of hope and pleading.
"... Very well."
He nodded in agreement.
"Haah…"
The tiger sighed, almost collapsing to the ground in relief.
Internally, Aotian was having a great time teasing the silly tiger and watching his reactions.
Also, earlier, he had intentionally waited until the last second to pull the jade slip away from the tiger’s claws just to mess with him and have a bit of fun—but apparently, when he changed the subject, the silly tiger completely forgot about the whole thing.
"Hey, why did you wait until the last second to pull the jade slip away earlier, instead of doing it right away?"
The tiger, after sighing in relief, suddenly remembered and asked, irritation in his voice.
…Or not.
Comments
Thiago Diorio
Sorry, which part are you referring to?
Ellye28
I too want to know why he waited so long, or more accurately his response.
