Chapter Fifty-Nine: Are All Men Lewd?

Yang Fan stared at Xie Sihua and the others, asking, “You all knew?”

“Yes, of course, we did,” they replied in unison.

“Where did you learn it?” Yang Fan asked, puzzled.

“Oh, come on, give me a break,” Zhou Yiyi said, pressing her hand to her forehead. “There’s a chapter about exotic beasts in the basic cultivator texts issued by the academy. It was singled out for a separate lesson during the freshman classes.”

Yang Fan fell silent, his face tinged with red. How embarrassing. He owned the basic reader himself, but since the day he’d collected it, it had been gathering dust in Dorm One. He hadn’t even opened the first page. As for classes? That was a distant memory. Aside from the first few days of term, he hadn’t set foot in the teaching building again, let alone paid attention to the curriculum!

Mu Qingshan, seeing Yang Fan quiet, was about to say something more. At that moment, Jiang Chao clapped a hand on Mu Qingshan’s shoulder, gripping it firmly. Mu Qingshan turned his head, baffled. Jiang Chao gave a slight shake of his head. Mu Qingshan instantly understood. Jiang Chao breathed a sigh of relief when Mu Qingshan closed his mouth. That was close—his reckless teammate nearly stuck his neck out again. A single jab at Yang Fan was fine, but if it continued, Jiang Chao could already picture the consequences. Though Yang Fan wouldn’t do anything to them here, what about outside? Considering the Demon King Yang’s many exploits, Jiang Chao thought he’d rather face a beast than deal with that guy.

While the group discussed, the two exotic beasts clashed once more. Crimson blood spattered across heaven and earth. The azure bird cried out; the white tiger roared in fury. Attack and defense shifted ceaselessly between them. Soon, both beasts were drenched in blood. The white tiger was now a hulking red monster, and most of the azure bird’s dark blue feathers had been stripped, leaving it resembling a giant plucked wild fowl.

At this moment, the azure bird hovered in midair, its grandeur from earlier gone. Suddenly, a surge of blood energy burst from its body, and its sharp talons shone with dazzling brilliance. The bird dove down, its speed far greater than before. The white tiger watched the bird charge, panic flickering in its eyes. It hadn’t expected the bird to risk its life so soon. Now, it was too late to dodge. In an instant, the bird sliced through the sky, appearing above the tiger. Its razor-sharp claws slashed downward.

“Roar...” The white tiger howled to the heavens as the bird’s talons pierced its back, intense pain and blood stimulating every nerve. The bird clamped tightly onto the tiger’s back. Its wings beat powerfully, attempting to lift the tiger off the ground. The white tiger understood the bird’s intent, clinging fiercely to the earth, gouging deep furrows as it resisted. The two were locked in a stalemate.

Suddenly, the tiger released its grip, its four limbs pushing with all their might as soon as they left the ground. Its massive body rose instantly. The tiger’s jaws gaped wide, turning its head to bite at the bird’s body. The bird’s claws were still lodged in the tiger’s back, unable to pull free. Facing the tiger’s maw, it raised its enormous beak and struck fiercely at the tiger’s head. The tiger, seeing the beak so close, twisted its head just in time.

Barely avoiding the blow, its jaws snapped down on the bird’s body. The azure bird let out a mournful cry, releasing its hold on the tiger. The white tiger landed, and the bird soared back into the sky. Now, the bird was stained crimson; the tiger’s jaws had bitten into its abdomen, leaving its flesh mangled. From Yang Fan’s vantage, he could see the bird’s internal organs.

The white tiger crashed heavily to the ground, its back wound deep enough to expose bone. It didn’t rise immediately, lying prone, its eyes burning with rage. Ever since it gained sentience, this forest had been its domain. No beast dared cross its path—until recently, when this azure bird appeared from nowhere, provoking it again and again. The more the tiger thought, the angrier it grew, struggling to its feet and letting out another earth-shaking roar.

The bird hovered above, hesitation in its eyes. Its injuries were no lighter than the tiger’s; its abdomen was torn, its organs damaged. After circling in the air, it beat its wings and climbed higher—it was planning to flee. The tiger saw this and understood instantly. Another furious roar. Damn it, you leave me in this state and now want to escape? Not a chance!

The unicorn horn atop the tiger's head began to emit a faint violet glow. As the bird flew higher and further, the glow intensified. The bird glanced back, saw the tiger gathering power, and flapped its wings ever faster. But its wings were already injured; its internal organs had just suffered trauma. Speed was not its ally now.

In that moment, a violet beam shot through heaven and earth, connecting the tiger and the bird. As it touched the bird, the bird gave a plaintive cry; its wings drooped, powerless. Its immense body plummeted from the clouds.

The white tiger, as it released the violet beam, collapsed to the ground, clearly paying a price for its attack. Its breath was unstable, and the aura of a king among beasts diminished by half.

A heavy thud echoed as the bird’s body crashed to the earth, a ruin of flesh and blood. Just then, a broad-bladed machete sliced through the air, heading straight for the weakened white tiger. The tiger had relaxed, thinking the battle over, but the blade shattered that illusion.

Trailing behind the machete was Yang Fan’s figure. He had begun moving as soon as the tiger started gathering the violet glow, stealthily closing in through the forest. Seizing the moment, his long blade swung for the tiger’s skull.

The tiger instinctively raised a paw to block. With a sickening crack, the machete sank deep into flesh. Yang Fan harnessed his blood energy, wrenching the blade free, then turned and swung again. All his blood energy concentrated in his eyes and arms. The slow-motion effect in his eyes let him pinpoint his attack route; his arms, filled with energy, empowered his technique—“Ninefold Berserk War,” “Ninefold Slash.”

“Strength like stone, sinew and bone like blades, the blade as autumn frost, severing gold and jade, fierce as a tiger, one strike to pierce ninefold heaven!”

Following the trajectory, Yang Fan struck again at the tiger’s paw, overlapping the previous wound.

Crackling friction between blade and bone rang out.

The white tiger roared in fury, its colossal voice making Yang Fan feel deafened. Blood began to seep from his ears, and his mouth bled as well. Yet he endured it all.

He pulled the blade free and swung once more.

“Wind as sound, breath as still water, every breath transforms creation, wind rushes like a dragon, ninefold slash upon ninefold slash!”

A wilder blow struck the tiger’s paw, this time severing it completely. The paw fell to the ground. The tiger’s eyes blazed red, roaring without pause.

Yang Fan was shaken to the point that blood poured from every orifice. The tiger raised its remaining forepaw, swiping at Yang Fan. He retreated swiftly, then blocked with a blade and spear held before him.

Jiang Xiaoyi and Jiang Chao were knocked flying by the force, but the tiger’s strength was waning. Its attacks could only send second-rank martial artists flying, nothing more.

Mu Qingshan, sword in hand, had circled behind the tiger. His sword darted like a snake, stabbing the tiger’s rear. As the blade pierced, the tiger’s face turned green. Even when Yang Fan severed its paw, it had only been angry, but now it felt humiliated. Had it just been violated?

With a sickening crack, as the tiger turned, Mu Qingshan’s sword snapped, the blade left inside the tiger’s body, only the hilt remaining in his hand. Mu Qingshan stared up at the tiger’s massive head looming above him, cold sweat pouring down like rain.

The tiger roared at Mu Qingshan, the sound wave smashing him to the ground, blood streaming from his ears and nose like Yang Fan. The tiger was about to move when its expression changed again—it felt something else invading its body.

At that moment, Xie Sihua stood behind the tiger, wielding a broken staff, half of which he had shoved up the tiger’s waste outlet, twisting it back and forth. As he twisted, the tiger’s balance faltered further; missing a forepaw, wounded in many places, it was tottering.

Zhou Yiyi, sword in hand, arrived at the battle, watching Xie Sihua’s lewd technique and expression with a silent curse. What sort of moves were these? Were all men so shameless?

But there was no time to dwell. Zhou Yiyi performed a winding sword technique, slashing at the tiger’s massive body, her blade leaving wounds wherever it passed.

Finally, the tiger could no longer stand, collapsing with a thunderous crash. Its jaws emitted a series of resentful roars.

Yang Fan stepped forward again, rotating his machete, leaping high, and bringing it down on the tiger’s head.

“Jade as bone, unmoving as a mountain, body as adamantine, power shakes heaven and earth, like a mighty ape, shattering ninefold heaven!”

Third form of the Ninefold Slash.

Yang Fan’s blood energy exploded, pouring all his strength into his arms. He brought the blade down as if cleaving a mountain.

The tiger, seeing the descending blade, glared fiercely. If you want me dead, you won’t get away either.

It roared again, ignoring Xie Sihua and Zhou Yiyi, forcing itself upright, the unicorn horn atop its head gathering violet light once more.

Yang Fan, suspended in midair, saw the tiger gathering its horn’s power again and felt a thousand horses stampeding within him—did this beast still have strength left?

Zhou Yiyi and the others saw the tiger gathering power again and went wild. If struck, any of them would likely die, and Yang Fan, suspended above with nowhere to dodge, had even less chance.

So Zhou Yiyi and her companions unleashed their strongest techniques, blood energy surging from every pore.

The white tiger stood stubbornly, ignoring the damage from Zhou Yiyi and the others. Now, its eyes focused only on the knife-wielding human who had severed its paw.

Just as Yang Fan’s blade was about to fall, the violet light atop the tiger’s head shot straight for him.