Before Yang Ruoxue had fully reacted, Su Wuchen was already walking toward the great tree.
Beneath the tree were two Golden-Horned Black-Silk Tigers, one large and one small.
The larger tiger was at Third Rank, Fifth Heaven — its strength roughly equivalent to a human martial cultivator at the Sixth Heaven of the Mortal Martial Realm.
The smaller tiger was at Second Rank, First Heaven — roughly equivalent to a human cultivator at the Second Heaven of the Blood-Consolidation Realm.
"These two Golden-Horned Black-Silk Tigers… seem to be mother and cub," Su Wuchen murmured.
"Ao!"
At the sight of Su Wuchen, the two tigers bristled and snarled, baring teeth and glaring fiercely. They were on high alert, clearly warning him not to approach the tree.
Su Wuchen saw it too.
They were guarding the Scarlet Blood Thorn Flowers beneath the tree — apparently claiming those plants as their own.
But Su Wuchen did not stop.
A Third-Rank Fifth-Heaven and a Second-Rank First-Heaven tiger posed no real threat to him.
"Ao!"
When Su Wuchen showed no sign of retreat, the larger tiger roared and charged at him, intent on tearing him to pieces.
At that moment, Su Wuchen also rushed forward.
The tiger swung its right paw, claws cutting through the air with a terrifying force. If a human cultivator of the Fifth Heaven in the Mortal Martial Realm were struck by that blow, they would surely be split in two.
Just as the tiger thought it had landed the hit, the swipe passed through "Su Wuchen" — only a shadowy afterimage.
The real Su Wuchen had already circled to the tiger's rear. He leapt up and stomped the tiger's head into the ground with a single kick.
Bang!
The tiger seemed to suffer a concussion; it flipped onto its back, badly wounded and unable to move.
Su Wuchen walked over, drew his sharp sword, and prepared to finish the beast — when the smaller tiger suddenly ran up, prostrated itself before him, and emitted a string of low, pleading growls.
It looked as if it were begging Su Wuchen to spare its mother.
Seeing this, Su Wuchen's expression softened slightly.
He hesitated, then sheathed his sword.
If the task couldn't be completed, so be it. He decided not to kill the two tigers.
After casting one last glance at the larger tiger, he stepped forward to the tree, plucked two Scarlet Blood Thorn Flowers, and left.
A short while later he stood before Yang Ruoxue and handed the two flowers to her. "Here."
"Thank you!"
Yang Ruoxue's face lit up with joy as she accepted them.
She was deeply grateful to Su Wuchen. Without him she never would have reached this place — she likely would have been killed in the woods.
She sincerely thanked him.
Su Wuchen replied lightly, "You're welcome."
Yang Ruoxue glanced back at the two tigers, then looked at Su Wuchen. "Wasn't your mission to kill a Third-Rank, Third-Heaven Golden-Horned Black-Silk Tiger and return with it? Why didn't you kill them?"
Su Wuchen said nothing.
"Could it be… you couldn't bear to?"
Seeing his silence, Yang Ruoxue smiled charmingly. "I didn't expect Su Gongzi to have such a kind side."
Su Wuchen paused.
It was the first time he'd seen Yang Ruoxue smile so naturally. She looked extraordinarily beautiful — graceful and lovely.
Catching his gaze, Yang Ruoxue's cheeks flushed; her smile faded.
Realizing his lapse, Su Wuchen turned his head away and said, "Miss Yang, we have the Scarlet Blood Thorn Flowers. Shall we leave?"
"All right."
Yang Ruoxue grew serious. Her father was waiting on those flowers to cure his illness, so she had to return immediately.
They set off.
Though they encountered a few beasts on the way back, Yang Ruoxue suffered no harm under Su Wuchen's protection. When they neared the clearing they had come from earlier, however, they saw dozens of figures not far off.
"Not good! Those are people from the Zhang family!"
Yang Ruoxue recognized them at once.
"Are you sure they're Zhang family members?" Su Wuchen asked.
"Absolutely!" Yang Ruoxue replied confidently. "See—the one wearing black brocade with one eye missing is the Zhang family head, Zhang Batian! Like my father, he's a Mortal Martial Realm cultivator at the Tenth Heaven."
"Mortal Martial Realm, Tenth Heaven!"
Su Wuchen was stunned. If Zhang Batian truly was a Tenth-Heaven master, that was trouble. With Su Wuchen's current cultivation, he was no match.
They needed to avoid confrontation for now.
Moreover, the dozens of men surrounding Zhang Batian were all well-cultivated. Two of them were at the Seventh Heaven of the Mortal Martial Realm; most of the others ranged from the Fifth to Sixth Heaven. He also noticed the white-robed man with the severed arm among them.
"They're definitely Zhang family men."
With such numbers and strength, Su Wuchen and Yang Ruoxue could not hope to fight them head on. A direct clash now would be suicide.
He turned to Yang Ruoxue. "Miss Yang, we'll take a detour."
"All right." Yang Ruoxue agreed.
If they were discovered and surrounded by these people, the two of them would be trapped with no escape.
"Crack!"
But as they quietly pivoted to leave, Yang Ruoxue suddenly stepped on a dry branch. It snapped with a crisp sound.
The crack immediately alerted Zhang Batian, a Tenth-Heaven master. He focused on the sound and fixed the direction toward Su Wuchen and Yang Ruoxue, then rushed off in that direction.
"Miss Yang, hide and don't come out!" Su Wuchen warned sharply, then sprang from the trees and stood between Zhang Batian and Yang Ruoxue.
"You brat, who are you?" Zhang Batian glared at Su Wuchen and asked coldly.
"Master! He… he's Su Wuchen! He's the one who killed the eldest young master! It was him! It was—"
At that moment, the white-robed man and a group of Zhang family men ran up. The white-robed man stared at Su Wuchen with hatred, then turned to Zhang Batian and continued, "Master! This brat killed the eldest young master and all his men. Look at the corpses — he killed them all by himself. And… this severed arm of mine was caused by him!"
"What?"
Zhang Batian was astonished. "I thought this brat was only a Fifth-Heaven cultivator in the Mortal Martial Realm. You're an Eighth-Heaven cultivator — you had an arm cut off by him? Do you really expect me to believe that?"
Clearly, Zhang Batian did not trust the white-robed man's words.
How could a mere Fifth-Heaven youth possibly leap three heavens and sever the arm of an Eighth-Heaven cultivator? It sounded impossible.
Seeing Zhang Batian's disbelief, the white-robed man pleaded earnestly, "Master, it really was this brat! I'm not lying — I'm not making this up! If you don't believe me, you can test this brat's abilities yourself!"
Hearing that, Zhang Batian nodded in agreement. "Fine. Let me test this brat's true strength and see whether he really did slaughter my son and the others alone."
Then he turned to Su Wuchen. "Kid, let me test your true power and see if the rumors are true."
Boom!
A terrifying aura erupted from Zhang Batian's body.
Mortal Martial Realm, Tenth Heaven!
Su Wuchen's eyes widened. Yang Ruoxue had not been wrong — Zhang Batian's cultivation was indeed immense. He had not expected the Zhang family patriarch to be so formidable.
"Kid, prepare to die!" Zhang Batian charged at Su Wuchen, exuding a fearsome momentum that chilled the blood.
In an instant he was in front of Su Wuchen and threw a punch.
Su Wuchen did not dare stand his ground. As Zhang Batian's fist was about to land, he suddenly retreated, sprinting a short distance away.
He did this to lure the group away. With Yang Ruoxue nearby, if he and Zhang Batian fought in place her position could easily be exposed — that would be dangerous.
As he had expected, once he ran out, the Zhang family members gave chase.
Zhang Batian snorted coldly, "Trying to run? Hmph. You killed my son — how could I possibly let you escape? Not a chance!"
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