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Chapter 1 - 1

When I transmigrated into this world, the story was nearing its climax. 

Silas Brooks stood poised to slay the vicious tiger—his final trial before ascension. 

Unfortunately, I was that tiger. 

*A magnificent striped beast with a white blaze upon its brow.*

 

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Silas leveled his sword at me while I still struggled to command four unfamiliar limbs. 

Each paw rebelled against its fellows, tangling in chaotic discord until my legs knotted like a grisly pretzel. 

 

The Taoist watched my worm-like writhing, his expression caught between suspicion and disbelief. 

"Save your tricks, beast," he warned, though his voice faltered as my limbs abruptly splayed into an impossible split— 

*Had I just... achieved full contortionist pose?* 

 

A searing cramp tore through my overextended muscles. 

"Rooooaaargh!" My pained roar shook the pine needles overhead. 

 

Silas averted his gaze, sheathing his blade with unsettling finality. 

"Does this mean I live?" I rasped, panting through the agony. 

He shook his head, moonlight catching the frost in his eyes. "To kill something this dense with a blade would be an insult to fine steel." 

 

As my ears drooped, his attention drifted to my downy underbelly. "...Perhaps," he conceded after a weighted pause, "you might serve as a mount?" 

I bobbed my massive head with desperate vigor. "Deal!" 

*Survival first. In the original tale, this practitioner of the Ruthless Dao had flayed demons alive for lesser offenses.* 

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