Translator: AnubisTL
In a world dominated by darkness and cold, a magnificent, mottled tiger roamed freely across the boundless wilderness.
The tiger's massive frame radiated an intensely violent and malevolent aura, sending shivers down the spines of all who sensed it.
Its mottled stripes were not black, but a deep crimson, which, combined with its heterochromatic tiger eyes, gave it an eerily demonic appearance.
"Aowrr!"
Fan Tong roared skyward, his tiger's might spreading outward, causing all strange beasts within a hundred-mile radius to tremble in fear.
At that moment, he seemed like the king of all strange beasts.
Yet atop this fearsome tiger king rode a tall, upright young man.
"Are you sure you want to keep devouring the crimson crystals of Second-tier Strange Beasts? I'm starting to think you're reaching your limit!" Li Qing asked, his brow furrowed with concern as he sat on Fan Tong's back, deeply worried about the tiger's current state.
"Roar! Roar!"
Fan Tong responded with an affirmative roar, his voice filled with unwavering determination.
Sensing this resolve, Li Qing merely sighed and said nothing more.
It had been nearly eighteen days since they arrived in the World of Eternal Night. During that time, Fan Tong had independently hunted down and devoured the crimson crystals of three Second-tier Strange Beasts in the desolate wilderness.
Li Qing remained a silent observer, refraining from interfering in any of this.
Having devoured three second-tier crimson crystals, Fan Tong's strength had surged dramatically, leaping from the early second-tier to the mid-second-tier!
Furthermore, its bloodline had undergone another subtle mutation. The black stripes that once adorned Fan Tong's body had completely transformed into a dark crimson hue.
Most notably, the fangs protruding from Fan Tong's mouth had grown significantly longer.
Despite Li Qing having consulted numerous manuals of demonic beasts from the immortal cultivation world, he couldn't find any tiger-type demonic beast whose appearance matched Fan Tong's current form.
In essence, Fan Tong was now following a unique evolutionary path.
"Eighteen days to advance from the early second-tier to the mid-second-tier? If word of this got out, it would leave many beast tamers utterly stunned!"
Indeed, the progress of demonic beasts was typically slow, far from the rapid cultivation speeds of human cultivators.
This was because demonic beasts possessed extraordinarily long lifespans. They could even spend vast amounts of time guarding a single spirit herb until it matured, demonstrating the sheer longevity of their lives—several times greater than that of human cultivators at the same tier!
This explains why many spirit herbs growing in the Great Wilderness are guarded by demonic beasts.
For a beast tamer, witnessing their own demonic beast's rapid advancement in strength would undoubtedly bring immense joy.
Li Qing disagreed. Crimson crystals, despite their benefits, had side effects. Overreliance could impair spiritual intelligence.
He preferred Fan Tong to remain weaker rather than risk it descending into madness and chaos.
Boom!
The ground ahead suddenly trembled violently.
"Stop!" Li Qing shouted, his senses on high alert. He brought Fan Tong to a halt, his gaze fixed on a towering black silhouette looming in the distance.
The source of the tremors was that very shadow!
Once Fan Tong had stopped, Li Qing casually cast a Giant Fireball Technique, hurling the massive fireball directly at the silhouette.
The intense light from the fireball's explosion finally revealed the true nature of the shadow to Li Qing and Fan Tong.
It was a tree—a colossal, truly sky-piercing tree!
"How is this possible? Weren't all the trees supposed to have been replaced by mushrooms after the Dark Era?" Li Qing frowned deeply, his eyes wide with shock as he surveyed the scene before him.
It was a Willow Tree—an impossibly vast Willow Tree. Yet its branches weren't the traditional green; instead, they glowed with an eerie crimson hue.
From a distance, this colossal Willow Tree, shrouded in darkness, resembled a mountain rising from the vast plains.
Even Li Qing hadn't realized that the dark shadow obscuring half the sky wasn't a mountain, but a colossal plant!
The ground had trembled just now because a Woolly Mammoth had charged headfirst into the Willow Tree's trunk, killing itself instantly.
Crimson willow branches slowly drooped downward, piercing effortlessly into the dead Woolly Mammoth's body.
In that instant, the drooping branch seemed to deepen its crimson hue.
The Woolly Mammoth rapidly withered, its flesh and blood drained completely.
With a final twitch, the branch withdrew, now bearing a glistening, crimson crystal at its tip.
Li Qing watched as the Willow Tree embedded the crystal into its trunk, making it part of its own body.
When he finally counted the crimson crystals adorning the Willow Tree's trunk, Li Qing couldn't help but gasp.
"Hiss!"
There were hundreds of them, including several second-tier crimson crystals like the one extracted from the Woolly Mammoth.
This Willow Tree had used crimson crystals as bait to lure and kill hundreds of strange beasts!
"No wonder the strange beast population in this area has dwindled so drastically. They've all been slaughtered by this Demon Willow."
Li Qing racked his brains, but he couldn't fathom how such a bizarre willow tree could have arisen in this place.
"Let's go! This thing is too dangerous to provoke—we can't even get close!"
Although the willow tree currently appeared to be passively hunting, who knew if it could move on its own?
With such a colossal body, an active assault would be utterly terrifying.
Whether in the World of Eternal Night or the immortal cultivation realm, there was a universal truth about Demonic Creatures and strange beasts:
A small body doesn't necessarily mean weakness, but a large body invariably signifies strength!
Facing the Demonic Tree, its lush branches spreading like a mountain, Li Qing felt no urge to resist.
Fan Tong, though usually a bit dim-witted, understood perfectly well that he stood no chance against this colossal, bizarre willow tree.
At Li Qing's command, Fan Tong immediately began galloping away at top speed.
As they fled, Li Qing, perched on Fan Tong's back, wore a grave expression, his mind racing.
"This Strange Demon Willow actually uses crimson crystals as bait to hunt other strange beasts. That's terrifying."
"The strange beasts we've encountered so far have all been chaotic and mindless, lacking any spiritual intelligence despite their power."
"What's going on? Has another mutation occurred in this world?"
Li Qing lifted his head, his brow furrowed as he gazed at the sinister red moon hanging high in the sky.
After galloping around the area until the Strange Demon Willow was far behind, Li Qing finally felt a sliver of relief.
Ahead lay the border of the Black Wind Domain, and beyond that, the Autumn Mountain Domain!
Li Qing had gathered some information about this region during his previous visit to the World of Eternal Night.
The domain was ruled by the Blood Lotus Sect, an organization formed by former cultivators from the World of Eternal Night.
Initially, these cultivators had banded together for survival during the End of Dao Era. Later, some discovered the Red Moon Secret Power and abandoned their identities as immortals, choosing instead to cultivate this power in pursuit of eternal life.
Over time, the Blood Lotus Sect grew in strength, eventually becoming the sole overlord of the Autumn Mountain Domain.
Without hesitation, Li Qing rode Fan Tong straight toward the Autumn Mountain Domain.
Another five days passed. The man and tiger raced across the Autumn Mountain Domain at full speed, encountering numerous strange beasts along the way. Li Qing effortlessly slaughtered them, extracting their crimson crystals.
"Aowu..."
On a desolate peak in the Autumn Mountain Domain, Fan Tong let out a low, pained growl, as if enduring the agony of a thousand cuts.
Finally, a crimson aura flashed across its tiger body, and the pained roars ceased.
Just now, Fan Tong had devoured two more crimson crystals, but the improvement in its strength was no longer as pronounced, failing to propel it into the late second-tier.
Watching Fan Tong lying on the ground, barely breathing, Li Qing gently reassured it:
"Don't be so discouraged. Demon beasts naturally progress slowly. The fact that you've reached this stage with just a few crimson crystals is already extraordinary."
"Once we return to the Great Wilderness Domain, it shouldn't take long for you to advance to the late second-tier."
"If all else fails, we can hunt stronger strange beasts in the future. Don't forget, the One-Eyed Giant Deer we encountered last time was likely a quasi-Third-Tier creature. This world must have plenty of such beings."
Hearing these words, Fan Tong slowly closed its heterochromatic tiger eyes, gradually calming the pain from its failed metamorphosis.
Consuming crimson crystals for metamorphosis is a brutal process. Even Fan Tong's formidable demon beast body struggled to endure it, requiring ample rest to recover.
Its aura had noticeably weakened, clearly indicating it had reached its limit.
Forcing it to consume more crimson crystals now could cause fundamental damage, which was why Li Qing had stopped feeding it the crystals.
During this trip to the World of Eternal Night, Li Qing had acquired four second-tier crimson crystals and over twenty first-tier crystals.
This haul was more than enough to host several trade fairs at the black market.
Just as he was preparing to return to the Great Wilderness Domain with Fan Tong, several piercing sounds suddenly cut through the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Friend, you've got quite the stroke of luck! You actually managed to capture a strange beast like this alive!"
"This beast looks to be in decent condition. I'll offer you a high price to take it off your hands. What do you say?"
Several bat-like humanoids descended from the sky. If not for their heads, their bodies would have been almost unrecognizable as human.
They had leathery wings sprouting from their backs, their entire bodies covered in a layer of black fur, and their limbs were grotesquely deformed.
Li Qing stood beside the near-lifeless Fan Tong, his posture indeed resembling someone who had captured a strange beast alive. It was understandable that these creatures would mistake the situation.
Li Qing cast a nonchalant glance at the strange beings before asking, "Which city do you hail from?"
(End of the Chapter)
📖Read [IR] ahead on Pa.treon@AnubisTL upto c486. [+2].
🎁All [3] Novels can be accessed for just $6/mo.
🔥Translated [1.1k+] Chapters and [2.46M+] Words.