A flash of black light, and Jiang Jue and the massive body of the Dark Devilgod Tiger simultaneously appeared out of thin air.
However, the Dark Devilgod Tiger now didn't resemble the pile of flesh and blood from the Life-and-Death Arena. It had a gaping hole on its huge tiger head, and the dark-red tiger eyes were devoid of color.
"Young Master!"
Seeing this, Lang Ya and Yu Tao hurried forward.
"Hmm?"
Jiang Jue waved his hand. Looking at the Dark Devilgod Tiger before him, he raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise in his eyes. The Dark Devilgod Tiger still had a faint heartbeat, and no soul ring had been produced.
Floating above the Dark Devilgod Tiger's massive body was a peculiar bead.
The bead looked black all over, yet it emitted two colors—cyan and blue—slowly injecting them into the tiger's body, as if maintaining its life, which was flickering like a dying candle.
"What's going on? This bead didn't run away?"
Doubt arose in Jiang Jue's mind. The rule of the Life-and-Death Arena was that only one person could survive. Since he was alive, the Dark Devilgod Tiger should be dead.
Jiang Jue stepped forward, his mental power spreading out to carefully scan the Dark Devilgod Tiger's entire body and the suspended bead.
A moment later, a flash of understanding passed through Jiang Jue's eyes.
"This bead is essentially the Dark Devilgod Tiger's inner core, the essence of its entire being. When Tang San killed the Dark Devilgod Tiger back then, its inner core ran away because there was still a remnant of the tiger's consciousness inside."
"But this Dark Devilgod Tiger's beast soul was instantly refined by me in the Life-and-Death Arena, so there is no residual consciousness. Therefore, this inner core is instinctively trying to sustain the tiger's life force."
"If that's the case, doesn't that mean..."
Jiang Jue's heart stirred, and a bold idea instantly arose.
A ninety-thousand-year Dark Devilgod Tiger could only give him one soul skill, and a soul bone was dependent on luck. But a hundred-thousand-year one was different!
At that point, it would be four harvests from one beast:
Soul Bone
Soul Ring
Inner Core
Corpse
"Come out!"
Jiang Jue no longer hesitated. With a gesture, the Soul Refining Banner appeared in his hand, and the Dark Devilgod Tiger's beast soul was summoned.
At this moment, a trace of ferocity remained in its dark-red eyes, looking at Jiang Jue with deep apprehension.
It had only been pulled into the Soul Refining Banner for a few seconds and still retained a sliver of independent instinct.
Jiang Jue didn't care about this at all. Anything pulled into his Soul Refining Banner belonged to him. Once the Soul Refining Banner's ideological imprint was formed, it would be completely molded to his will...
"Hu Zi, get in there!"
Jiang Jue roared softly, a death-gray Soul Power gathering in his hand. He grabbed the Dark Devilgod Tiger's beast soul and forcibly stuffed it back into its massive body.
A moment later, the Dark Devilgod Tiger's eyes gradually focused, filled with intense confusion and doubt.
"What is this human doing? Why did he stuff me back in?"
Before it could react, the Eye of Destiny in Jiang Jue's glabella suddenly opened, and a dense life force was transmitted, injecting directly into the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body.
As the life force was injected, the Dark Devilgod Tiger's injuries began to heal. Even the hole in its head started to connect with flesh and blood, and its vitality gradually recovered.
"Roar!"
"What are you doing, human?"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger finally couldn't hold back, its voice echoing in Jiang Jue's mind.
"Didn't you want to break through the hundred-thousand-year limit? It just so happens that I am kind-hearted, so I'll help you fulfill this wish."
Jiang Jue smiled faintly, speaking inexplicably.
"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a baby!"
With a thought, a surge of pure Skydream Iceworm origin power was mobilized by Jiang Jue and violently injected into the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body.
What he was doing now was the same as the last time he helped the Ice Empress break through the four-hundred-thousand-year limit.
At the same time, two black chains, like menacing dragon heads, pierced the air and entered the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body.
Soon, the Dark Devilgod Tiger was shocked to find that its devouring attribute within its body was being mobilized, rapidly consuming the external origin power.
And its cultivation level was climbing at an extremely fast pace. Its original cultivation was already ninety-five thousand years, and now it was rushing towards the critical barrier of a hundred thousand years.
"Is it big enough? Is it enough..."
"Hmm? Speak!"
Feeling the changes in the Dark Devilgod Tiger, joy flashed in Jiang Jue's heart, along with a hint of excitement. This proved his hypothesis was correct.
"Wuwuwu!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger could feel itself getting stronger. With so much energy pouring in, it was so excited that it wanted to cry, yet the sense of unease in its heart grew stronger.
In its mind, an ideological imprint was gradually forming...
"Just a little more. Give it your all!"
Before long, the aura emanating from the Dark Devilgod Tiger reached a critical point, just one final push away.
"Break for me!"
"Roar!"
Two roars sounded simultaneously. An extreme aura of evil radiated from the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body. The bloody demonic patterns on its body constantly wriggled, and its blood-red eyes were full of excitement. Its entire body also continuously grew larger.
"I did it! I did it!"
"A hundred thousand years! A hundred thousand years!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger was ecstatic. It could feel the Devilgod bloodline, which ran through its veins, constantly reviving. A terrifying aura was brewing within its body.
After sensing the aura within the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body, Jiang Jue frowned, and the mark on his right hand burned.
"Is this a higher-level aura? A trace of divinity?"
Jiang Jue thought of the Devilgod phantom that had just appeared, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.
"Rumble! Rumble!"
At this moment, the originally clear sky suddenly produced patches of heavy black clouds. A terrifying aura constantly brewed within, and indistinctly, lightning transformed into lightning pythons, continuously twisting.
In just an instant, the entire sky turned dark, and the Sunset Forest fell silent.
"Has my Heavenly Tribulation arrived? Then let's fight!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's heart swelled with excitement. Its tiger eyes looked up at the black clouds in the sky. It felt its entire bloodline boiling, and the whole beast was thrilled.
"Pfft!"
A flash of bright silver streaked across, and blood splattered instantly.
"You... you..."
The Dark Devilgod Tiger looked at the long spear inserted into its throat, gazing at the human before it with complete confusion.
"You've reached a hundred thousand years, and you still want to survive the Heavenly Tribulation? You want to hog all the good things; you really are a greedy ghost."
Jiang Jue's eyes flickered. He pulled out [Luo Bai], drawing a bloody flower.
He didn't want to do this, but the aura within the Dark Devilgod Tiger's body was actually resisting the ideological imprint of his Soul Refining Banner.
The next moment, a strange, ancient rune formed in the Dark Devilgod Tiger's mind. It found that it suddenly developed incomparable respect and worship for the human before it.
"Master!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger said respectfully.
"Alright, time's up. Sacrifice yourself."
Jiang Jue looked up at the black clouds in the sky and said contentedly to the Dark Devilgod Tiger. It wasn't in vain that he had spent so much of the Skydream Iceworm's origin power. Now was finally the time for harvest.
"Yes!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger nodded without hesitation.
Immediately, it activated the pitch-black inner core, dropping it into Jiang Jue's hand. A cluster of light radiating a dense evil aura separated from its body and flew towards Jiang Jue.
"Thud!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's massive body crashed to the ground, and the blood-red eyes completely lost their luster.
The black clouds in the sky, which had been continuously gathering, abruptly stopped and even poked downwards, seemingly confirming something.
"Where's the beast undergoing the tribulation?"
"???"
"Rumble! Rumble!!"
A moment later, after confirming that there was no Soul Beast, the clouds reluctantly struck down two bolts of lightning to prove that they had been there.
Isn't this bullying an honest Heavenly Tribulation?
Then, the clouds dissipated, feeling dejected and wronged.
"Buzz!"
As a humming sound rang out, a circle of scarlet, alluring soul ring slowly rose from the Dark Devilgod Tiger's corpse.