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Chapter 162: Tiger Hunt
Chapter 162: Tiger Hunt
Chapter 162: Tiger Hunt
The wind howled! The sword whistled!
Whoosh!
As the distance between man and beast narrowed to less than ten meters, Li Pin's qi and blood erupted fully.
The earth beneath him shattered with a deafening roar, as if it had been pulverized by a cannonball.
Fuelled by the explosive force, he sliced through the air like a blazing comet of blood.
Before he even made contact with the beast, his sword intent had already pierced through the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's menacing aura. It precisely discerned every movement of the beast's force circulation and also identified the weakness exposed in its crippled hind leg as it charged forward.
Agility! Weakness!
Li Pin's spiritual perception quickly assessed the opportunities these flaws presented in the heat of battle. Then, he made his move without any hesitation.
Spirit Force! Great Sun Golden Crow!
The Great Sun Golden Crow, driven by his mental spirit at its peak, rose into the air with blazing intensity and collided with the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's terrifying and menacing aura.
Bang!
At that moment, the air shattered, creating white shockwaves and hurricanes that exploded outward with tremendous force. The epicenter of the clash between the man and the beast was like a battlefield bombarded by a heavy cannon. Countless leaf fragments and soil were swept up and violently scattered in all directions.
Weighing close to a ton, the impact from the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's full-speed charge was immense.
Naturally, weighing barely eighty kilograms, Li Pin stood no chance against such a formidable beast. Even a car or a heavy truck would have been no match for the tiger's raw power and would have been blasted away.
Li Pin had longed for a raw, unadulterated battle with such a powerful creature. He yearned to push his mental spirit and physical body to their absolute limits—to transcend his current state, break through his limit, and achieve the impossible.
Nevertheless, he was acutely aware of the insurmountable gap between a martial artist's physical capabilities and those of the ferocious beast like the Crimson-Tooth Tiger. That was a creature whose qi and blood exceeded 110, clearly meeting the standard of an official Astral Cultivator.
Thus, in the fleeting moment before their collision, the Great Sun Golden Crow, with its blazing intensity, struck the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's weak point. Yet, despite the boost from Li Pin's concentrated mental spirit, the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's monstrous momentum crushed the Great Sun Golden Crow to pieces.
Humans—it did not matter how much their boundless mental spirit could push their limited physical body to surpass their limits. They could never truly hope to match the raw power of a mid-tier ferocious beast, which was on par with an official Astral Cultivator!
The violent impact battered Li Pin's arms and sent continuous tremors through his body, seemingly about to hurl him backward from his forward-leaning stance.
However, Li Pin had been well aware that, even with Spirit Force, he could never truly withstand a mid-tier ferocious beast. That's why, by the time his sword made contact, he had already intended to redirect the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's overwhelming force by shifting his body.
The force of the blow surged through his arms and into his internal organs. He felt as if he was being forced backward, with every muscle and bone in his body creaking in unison under the immense strain.
What initially appeared to be a head-on collision subtly shifted as his blade intercepted the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's downward-slashing claw.
Metal clashed; sparks flew.
He was violently hurled backward, slamming heavily onto his back. The impact sent violent tremors through his entire body!
Li Pin felt as though his body was falling apart. Nevertheless, this intense impact didn't derail his plan of attack in the slightest. He still carried the enormous momentum from his previous charge, and as he fell backward, he abruptly slipped beneath the Crimson-Tooth Tiger!
As they passed each other, Li Pin below and the tiger above, his sword, swift as lightning, pierced into the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's abdomen.
He tightly gripped the sword handle with both hands. With the combined momentum of his sliding movement and the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's violent charge, he ripped through the beast's underbelly. The sword quivered in his hands as he sliced through half of the tiger's abdomen in a single, decisive strike.
Sizzle!
Blood splattered, filling the air with a crimson mist.
Still holding his sword, Li Pin slid out from beneath the Crimson-Tooth Tiger through a cloud of kicked-up dirt and rotting leaves. He instantly planted his left hand on the ground, quickly assuming a low, archer's stance. Rapidly, his right leg straightened forcefully, digging into the soil and halting the sliding momentum.
"Roar!"
With its abdomen torn open and its entrails spilling out, the Crimson-Tooth Tiger let out a tragic, agonized cry, tinged with a note of fear.
At that moment, Li Pin shook his Lingfeng Sword, and the muscles in his left leg surged with renewed power. In an instant, he charged forward, catching up to the Crimson-Tooth Tiger, which was still propelled by its own momentum.
With powerful strides and a burst of qi and blood, he leaped into the air, cutting through the beast's crippled hind leg and swiftly reaching its back. Then, he raised his sword high, aimed his strike at the head of the terrified and pain-stricken Crimson-Tooth Tiger, and drove the blade down brutally!
At that precise moment, the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's barbed tail shot through the air with speed fast as lightning. As the tiger's tail cut through the air, it generated a white ripple akin to an Aura Force blast.
Its target... was Li Pin's head!
With the beast's formidable physique and qi and blood of 110 points, if that tail landed a solid hit, the force could shatter his skull completely.
At that critical moment, Li Pin's perception reached its peak. His neural signals surged as if operating in overdrive. In a split second, he released his descending sword and sent it hurtling towards the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's head.
With his hands now free, he crossed his arms, positioning them to meet the tiger's tail with a precise block. Simultaneously, while still airborne, his right foot shifted sideways and stomped, landing squarely on the hilt of the sword he had thrown!
The Crimson-Tooth Tiger had an exceptionally thick and dense skull. Li Pin's hastily adjusted thrust likely wouldn't have penetrated it.
But just as his foot stomped down with tremendous force....
Sizzle!
The entire sword sank in! It pierced through the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's skull!
Almost at the same time, the beast's tail came crashing down with the force of a thunderbolt, smashing into Li Pin's crossed arms as he braced for impact.
Bang!
Shockwaves exploded outward!
Li Pin felt as if his arms had been struck by a massive hammer.
The violent force caused him to be thrown off balance and sent him flying backward from his position on the tiger's head where his sword had been lodged.
Nevertheless, Li Pin's sword was already embedded deep within the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's skull.
The moment the blade pierced through, the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's nervous system was compromised. Although its tail strike, driven by momentum, was as swift as lightning, the damage it dealt was within Li Pin's limits to withstand.
Li Pin was flung over ten meters and slammed into the trunk of a large tree before collapsing to the ground, dazed and reeling. A shower of leaves rained down around him. But Li Pin couldn't care less about that.
He looked up, his gaze locking on the enormous beast more than ten meters away.
Earlier, Li Pin had slashed open half of its abdomen with a slide attack, an injury that was fatal even for a mid-tier beast known for its resilience. Afterward, he thrust his sword through its skull, rendering its chances of survival null. It was dead beyond a shred of doubt.
It barely emitted any more growls or struggles. After the momentum of its strike dissipated, its massive body lay motionless on the ground, blood flowing from its wounds. Its life force was rapidly fading. Before long, it was completely lifeless.
"It's dead."
Li Pin quietly sensed his current mental state.
Martial Will? What is Martial Will?
At its core, it's an unshakable conviction in the martial arts way!
As long as this belief was in place, a cultivator could instantly tap into and sustain their peak mental state, using their mind to influence their body and unleash their strongest combat power.
It was similar to how when people were deeply immersed in their passions, they would become filled with energy and unwavering commitment, as if they'd been given a shot of adrenaline.
However, once that passion faded, the sincerity and enthusiasm would also follow. At that point, both their work drive and efficiency would drop significantly.
In simpler terms, the essence of Martial Will was to enable a martial artist to stay in that highly energized state at all times.
This was different from the adrenaline that stimulated physical performance. It's a mental state and was far more profound.
Just like Li Pin...
Earlier, although he defeated a mid-tier ferocious beast with a qi and blood level of 110, he still hadn't touched that special realm where the mind remained stable.
"Martial Will," Li Pin muttered to himself.
This step was incredibly difficult. It was no wonder even great grandmasters struggled, unable to advance for a long time.
Ferocious beasts aren't martial artists. If only I could face a Martial Saint directly and experience their Martial Will and Spirit Force firsthand.
However, he'd have to wait for the top ten round-robin matches of the World's Top Martial Competition to challenge a Martial Saint.
And to even enter the top ten... he first needed to accumulate enough points.
Li Pin glanced at his wristwatch.
Its quality was impressive. It had blocked a strike from the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's tail, and yet there wasn't even a crack.
The display still clearly showed: Points +110.
Although he had earned a significant amount of points, the number of ferocious beasts he'd hunted during this time wasn't that high, leaving him with just 215 total points so far.
Li Pin estimated that he was still quite far from breaking into the top ten.
Li Pin remained patient. "No rush; it's only the second day."
After catching his breath, he stood up, dusted off the dirt and grass from his clothes, then walked over to the Crimson-Tooth Tiger. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he pulled it out.
"Mid-tier ferocious beast meat has some nutritional value. With the fusion of Astral Energy and flesh, their meat contains rich nutrients, comparable to standard nutritional meals."
Unfortunately, since he was still in the middle of the World's Top Martial Competition, he couldn't have anyone transport the beast's corpse back for proper processing. The only thing he could do was pick out some of its essence to take with him, using it to replenish his physical strength over the coming days.
After inspecting the beast for a while and not finding an Astral Crystal, he reluctantly began to dissect the Crimson-Tooth Tiger.
Despite the lack of an Astral Crystal, the Crimson-Tooth Tiger still had plenty of valuable materials. Among them, its two fangs were key components for crafting a genuine astral equipment Tiger Fang Necklace.