The Tiger Demon's gaze swept across the interior of the temple, taking in the panicked expressions of five human children. However, four of them had their eyes fixed on a little girl who looked exceptionally appetizing.
Ever since the Great Tribulation, the human race had prospered throughout the world. Every human born carried a trace of True Source, the amount simply depending on their innate talent.
However, for those humans who never embarked on the immortal path, their True Essence would become tainted and muddled by consuming mortal grains, eventually dissipating altogether.
Therefore, when it came to nourishment... naturally, the younger, the better.
Young boys and girls who had not yet lost their vital essence were the absolute best.
Normally, doing evil was forbidden, but since these meals had delivered themselves to its doorstep... it couldn't just let them go to waste, right?
A smile crept onto the Tiger Demon's face, and drool unconsciously trickled from its mouth. It leaned forward, feeling an indescribable thrill in its heart as it watched the human children's faces grow increasingly terrified.
Chen Baiqing glanced at the Foundation Establishment tiger monster before them, then cast a subtle look at Cui Hao.
Receiving the silent command, Cui Hao took a step forward. Looking directly at the Tiger Demon, he asked,
"Are you hungry? Do you want to eat us?"
The Tiger Demon looked at the little child who had mustered the courage to question it and grinned broadly.
"Your Lord Tiger protects the surrounding lands. You are only alive today because of Lord Tiger's protection! Now that Lord Tiger is hungry, it's not that Lord Tiger wants to eat you, but rather that you should willingly offer yourselves for Lord Tiger to devour!"
With that said, the Tiger Demon unleashed its Foundation Establishment pressure, forcing the five children to their knees, trembling on the ground without daring to make even a whimper. A murky blend of yellow and red swirled within its tiger eyes as it reached a claw toward the child who had spoken.
It disliked noisy prey; they were likely to soil the ground in fear at any moment.
Moreover, it needed to eat quickly. The other children probably wouldn't survive much more fright either.
"Wait!" Cui Hao interrupted.
Hearing this, the Tiger Demon halted its paw. It glared fiercely at him, curious to hear what this child would say at death's door.
Would he beg to be spared, or offer up the others to be eaten first?
Cui Hao rolled his wrists as if warming up, then smiled and asked,
"You make a fair point. But being hungry doesn't mean you have to eat us. I have something much tastier and far more filling. Care for a taste?"
The Tiger Demon sneered at his words. Without further hesitation, it lunged its claw toward Cui Hao and declared,
"You are the most appetizing one of all. Lord Tiger will just eat you."
"Lord Tiger has worked so hard, how could I not offer you something good?" Cui Hao smirked, raising a fist to directly meet the incoming claw.
The Tiger Demon scoffed at the sight of a mere toddler swinging a tiny fist its way.
It had watched its fair share of human plays; was this child trying to play the hero?
The thought flashed through the Tiger Demon's mind, and it decided to chew a few extra times, just to give this reckless brat a longer taste of despair.
The next moment.
A highly asymmetrical clash of fists unfolded.
The Tiger Demon's gaze instantly dissolved into pure terror. It watched with its own eyes as its arm snapped into several pieces the very moment it collided with that tiny hand.
It happened so fast that it did not even register the pain.
Is this a dream?
That was the first thought that surfaced in the Tiger Demon's mind.
The Tiger Demon stared at Cui Hao in shock and panic. As Cui Hao reached out with his small hand, the beast frantically scrambled backward.
Yet that tiny hand, which appeared to be moving incredibly slowly, seized the scruff of its neck in the blink of an eye.
An overwhelming force that it was utterly powerless to resist slammed the Tiger Demon straight into the dirt floor of the temple.
At that moment, an agonizing pain erupted in its chest and shuddered through its entire body. A metallic taste rose in its throat, and it spewed out a mouthful of tiger blood.
The Tiger Demon turned its trembling head to look at Cui Hao, only to see the boy's calm expression. It then heard Cui Hao speak.
"In such a hurry? The tasty meal is being served to you right now."
"No..."
The Tiger Demon immediately tried to speak, but another punch from Cui Hao forced its mouth shut.
It lost count of how many punches it endured, how high it was launched into the air, or how deep it was cratered into the ground.
It only knew that every single bone in its tiger body had been thoroughly shattered, and the pool of blood covering the ground was entirely its own.
Then, it was hoisted into the air by a tyrannical surge of spiritual energy.
The Tiger Demon hurriedly pleaded for mercy.
"Spare... spare my life."
It struggled to open its blood-crusted eyes. Only then did it finally get a clear look at the true appearances of the five individuals inside the temple.
These were no children. They were all high-level cultivators clad in luxurious armor, possessing cultivation bases so profound that a mere glance was enough to make it tremble in fear!
Cui Hao stood before the Tiger Demon with a playful smirk.
"Did you enjoy eating that beating?"
"...Yes... it was quite enjoyable."
"Are you full?"
"Yes... I'm full."
"Don't be polite with me. You still have to protect my safety, remember? How can you protect me if you aren't full?"
"I am truly full."
The Tiger Demon's voice sounded as if it were on the verge of tears.
Hearing this answer, Cui Hao nodded slightly, his voice turning icy cold.
"Now that your grandpa has fed you a good beating, it's my turn to be hungry. What do you have to feed your grandpa? Your paws, or your head?"
The Tiger Demon felt as if it had been struck by lightning. It hurriedly begged,
"Lord... please don't..."
Cui Hao stared directly into the Tiger Demon's eyes with a chilling gaze. He said coldly,
"I truly wonder just how many evil spirits and vicious beasts like you the Yunmeng Marsh harbors. Opening your maw to devour humans... Who knows how many innocent lives have fallen into that mouth of yours."
Hearing this, the Tiger Demon did not dare to say another word, its expression filled with sheer panic.
"Look at you, so terrified of death." Cui Hao reached out and patted the Tiger Demon's trembling body. "Although you are riddled with sins, if you are willing to turn over a new leaf and embrace righteousness, I might just be willing to spare your life."
The Tiger Demon glanced at him sideways, still not daring to utter a sound.
Cui Hao cut straight to the chase.
"How much do you know about the situation inside the Yunmeng Marsh?"
The Tiger Demon replied in a timid tone,
"Lord, I am merely a rogue demon scraping by in this outer temple. How could I possibly know anything about the inner workings of the Yunmeng Marsh?"
"Looking at you, I can tell you truly aren't very smart." Cui Hao's tone softened slightly. "You must understand that useless things often die the fastest. I will only remind you this once."
The Tiger Demon nodded frantically upon hearing this.
"Lord, although I am not familiar with the inner regions, I have heard plenty of rumors. Whatever you wish to know, please, just ask."
Seeing this, Lu Lingyi cupped his hands toward Chen Baiqing.
"Leader, you can leave the rest of the dirty work to me."
Chen Baiqing nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Interrogate it thoroughly."
Lu Lingyi cupped his hands again. With a casual tap, he sealed the Tiger Demon's mouth shut, then used a surge of spiritual energy to drag the beast out of the temple.
Interrogations inevitably required certain methods. To verify the truth and ensure no lies were being told, the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect naturally possessed specific spells. However, these techniques were rather unsightly, and certainly wouldn't leave one feeling physically or mentally pleasant.
Lu Lingyi knew the rules well enough to take this outside.
Watching them leave, Chen Baiqing turned slightly. She raised a hand and, with a single punch, blasted the Tiger Demon's idol inside the temple to dust.
Did such a creature deserve the offerings of incense?
A wisp of murky yellow power of faith dissipated into the air.
Cui Hao stared at the fading power of faith and spoke coldly,
"Even this lowly Foundation Establishment demon clearly knows how to harvest and store the power of faith."
Chen Baiqing's expression remained perfectly calm.
"Once we enter the Yunmeng Marsh, everything will become clear. For now, just focus on doing what we can."
Hearing this, Cui Hao could only nod in subdued silence.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
