Immortal Refiner

Under Old Sun’s astonished gaze, Li Qing effortlessly hoisted the massive tiger onto his shoulder.

Just as he was about to leave, his keen ears caught a faint rustling sound coming from the tiger’s den.

”Hmm?”

Li Qing turned around and looked toward the source of the noise. To his surprise, amidst the pile of tiger cubs crushed by the giant python, one seemed to still be alive.

Carrying the giant tiger, he walked over and saw that, indeed, one of the flattened cubs was still breathing, though its breaths were weak.

If left alone, the cub would surely not survive.

Li Qing furrowed his brows as he looked at the round-headed little tiger, unsure of what to do.

As he hesitated, the cub nudged its head and struggled to crawl toward Li Qing.

At that moment, Li Qing, who was carrying the tiger, was covered in the scent of the mother tiger, which made the newly opened-eyed cub feel a strong sense of familiarity.

He sighed and said, ”Sigh, your mother lost a hind leg in her fight with the python and was already doomed. I merely ended her suffering.”

”If I take you with me, I hope you won’t hold a grudge against me when you grow up.”

With that, Li Qing removed his iron armor and gently placed the cub inside the folds of his shirt, close to his chest.

”Meow!”

The cub poked its head out and let out a soft, kitten-like cry.

Carrying both the large and small tigers, Li Qing began his journey back.

From behind a tree, Old Sun exclaimed in admiration, ”Young man, you’re truly remarkable! To take down a tiger with your bare hands—what heroism!”

Li Qing simply shook his head, paying no mind to the flattery. ”Let’s just hurry back,” he said.

In the shattered tiger den, only the bodies of the cubs and the mangled remains of the python remained. Li Qing had little interest in these now, his thoughts focused solely on returning to start his brewing venture.

The journey back was slow, and by the time they reached Jade Mountain Village, it was already deep into the night.

As Li Qing, carrying the fierce tiger, approached the village entrance, the hunting dogs in the village began to bark wildly.

”Woof! Woof! Woof!”

”Woof! Woof!”

The reason was simple—the scent of the tiger, the king of the mountains, that Li Qing carried made the dogs restless.

Soon, oil lamps were lit, and the hunters in the village were roused from their sleep.

”Why is Er Chai barking like this? Did something come down from the mountains?”

”Grab your bows and let’s check it out. Come on, the dogs are acting strange!”

Many villagers, armed with torches and weapons, began to gather at the village entrance, eager to find out what was happening.

But before long, Old Sun’s voice rang out from the edge of the forest, ”Don’t be afraid! We’re back from hunting!”

”That’s Old Sun’s voice!”

”Wait, what did Old Sun hunt this time that has the village dogs so scared?”

As the villagers speculated, the next moment, they witnessed a scene they would never forget.

In the darkness, a majestic tiger emerged. Illuminated by the torchlight, the villagers saw that it was an ordinary-looking young man who was carrying the tiger as he strode into the village.

”Gasp!”

Everyone gasped, their hearts pounding wildly.

The hunting dogs, which had been barking incessantly, suddenly stopped and tucked their tails between their legs, trembling in fear.

This man had actually hunted down a Mountain Lord! And he had carried it back with him. Judging by its size, it must have weighed at least four to five hundred pounds—definitely a full-grown tiger! ”Hahaha, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Brother Li Qing is incredibly brave. A mere tiger is no match for him.” In a place as primal as Jade Mountain Village, strength always commanded respect.

Especially since most of the villagers were hunters, they understood better than anyone how terrifying a full-grown tiger in the mountains could be. Normally, they would avoid such a beast at all costs.

Thus, Li Qing, who had returned with a tiger he had slain, naturally earned their awe and reverence.

Some of the village’s eligible young women also began to look at Li Qing with intense interest.

From that day forward, Li Qing, the tiger hunter, became a legendary figure in the village!

That night, Li Qing stayed at Old Sun’s house.

After carrying a four to five hundred-pound tiger over such a long distance, even his formidable strength was nearly spent. Fortunately, nothing unexpected had happened along the way.

With the tiger’s aura clearing the path, the other beasts in the forest dared not approach, making the journey relatively smooth.

After finding a lactating hunting dog in the village to feed the tiger cub, Li Qing cradled the cub and rested for the entire night.

By dawn, Old Sun’s son had already skinned and dismembered the tiger Li Qing had brought back.

As agreed, Li Qing only took a few sections of the tiger bone he needed, leaving the rest for Old Sun’s family.

In addition, Li Qing gave Old Sun fifty taels of silver as payment for his assistance.

With this money, the Sun family could finally leave their life as hunters behind and send their child to study in Shengtian.

And so, after leaving behind a legend of tiger hunting in Jade Mountain Village, Li Qing boarded a carriage and returned to Shengtian.

Almost as soon as Li Qing left, deep within Small Jade Ridge, a figure flitted through the forest like a ghost.

Anyone who saw this scene would surely be struck with awe, mistaking the figure for an immortal!

This was because the figure was actually riding a flying sword, gliding through the air among the trees at a considerable speed.

The figure, resembling an immortal, landed beside a tiger’s den made of piled stones, and his expression suddenly darkened.

It was a young man with an ethereal aura, dressed in a white Daoist robe, exuding an air of otherworldly grace.

The man patted a small brown pouch at his waist, and in an instant, an even more ferocious and imposing tiger materialized out of thin air, its presence terrifying.

As soon as the tiger appeared, it saw the lifeless bodies of the tiger cubs lying in the den and let out a roar filled with grief and fury.

”Roar!”

The tiger’s roar shook the heavens, even causing tangible damage as leaves fell from the surrounding trees.

”Sigh, if it weren’t for the fact that tiger-type demon beasts are so hard to find, I wouldn’t have had to let you mate with an ordinary wild tiger.”

”After finally giving birth to a litter of cubs, before I could even check if any of them had demon beast bloodlines, they’ve all died.”

The young man sighed and gently patted the head of the giant tiger beside him, as if to soothe it.

”Huh?”

The man let out a sound of surprise and quickly walked to the back of the tiger’s den. There, he saw the mangled body of a giant serpent lying in the wilderness.

”So that’s what happened. It was attacked by a huge python. Although it’s just an ordinary python, it has lived for nearly a hundred years.”

”The snake’s gallbladder is quite a treasure. Taking it back can serve as an auxiliary ingredient for the Beast Nurturing Pill. This trip wasn’t a waste after all.”

As he spoke, the man summoned his flying sword. With a swift motion, he cleanly sliced open the snake’s belly, revealing a fist-sized, emerald-green gallbladder.

Pleased with the acquisition of a century-old python’s gallbladder, the man nodded in satisfaction. He then recalled the giant tiger demon beast and, mounting his flying sword, soared away from the area, his figure disappearing into the depths of the forest.

(End of the Chapter)

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