Chapter 31 (Part A) – The Black Tiger

Bi Fan stayed in Xi Guan for two days and three nights, during the days he would go out and try to understand the conditions inside the devil’s territory, and after sunset, he would practice his martial arts, in an attempt to prepare himself better for the adventure ahead.

Bi Fan had already started practicing the teachings of the jade book to refine his body strength, and the effect was quite significant. Even though he had only been practicing the first method, he could already feel an increase in strength, which was a pleasant surprise.

In the three nights that he had been in Xi Guan, he had taken out time to practice this new method to the point where he felt that he was ready to start the second method that the book spoke off.

Even though the name of the method was unknown due to incomplete state of the book, Bi Fan had guessed that these methods were similar to those of ‘blood devil’, but slightly more advanced.

The only problem he faced was that the condition of the book made it very difficult to understand it clearly.

On the break of the third day, after having his breakfast, Bi Fan made his way to the registrations office to enlist his name.

The devil’s territory was divided into several levels based on strength, and martial artists would be transferred to the appropriate sector accordingly. The transfers were random, and ensured that two martial artists who were at the same level would be sent to the same level but different regions.

Bi Fan bought a jade tablet, breaking which would indicate that he wishes to be transferred out of the devil’s territory, cutting short his originally intended one month stay. This was a sort of a safety net.

Most people entered the devil’s territory to make money, hunting wild animals and creatures inside the region, and almost always took these Jade tablets with them. These Jade tablets were only available for a price and weren’t cheap either.

But surviving in the devil’s territory without any backup options was a very difficult task.

On top of that, it was extremely difficult to identify directions inside the region, which made it very difficult to find an exit when needed.

Bi Fan stepped onto the delivery chamber while the inside of the brains were revising everything he knew about the region. Then suddenly, he was transferred out into the devil’s territory.

He felt dizzy for a couple of seconds, but an instant later found himself in the middle of a dense forest.

He opened his eyes to inspect his surroundings, but the tall and towering trees that seemed to be everywhere, made it very difficult for him to look very far. The morning sun’s light was trickling through the canopy, but the light wasn’t enough, and visibility was low.

The devil’s territory was somewhat gloomy and damp, no wonder all kinds of toxins were able to flourish in such an environment.

For the sake of safety, Bi Fan ingested a Sunset Jade purifier Dan pellet, so he could roam around for the majority of the day’s length without worrying about being poisoned.

Bi Fan had bought so many purifiers for this purpose only, he was well aware that if his body was being supported by a purifier, than the probability of being poisoned would be greatly reduced.

Bi Fan knew that without such measures, a practitioner with his experience and skill would require a good amount of luck to make it out of here alive, so it was money well spent.

Bi Fan, along with Greedy started walking through the thickets of the forest, eyes and ears alerted in every direction, searching for wild creatures.

He hadn’t gone very far, when he spotted some Panacea and herbs growing in the bushes nearby, but these were rather common and not very valuable either, so he didn’t bothering picking them up.

He would only collect items that were of value.

Bi Fan knew that it was a novice mistake to collect everything in sight, and it would only slow him down.

Greedy was stationed atop Bi Fan’s shoulder, and kept his eyes shut for some reason, mostly. These ordinary herbs weren’t good enough to attract his attention either, he would probably not even consider eating them if he had been hungry for a decade.

As he had just entered the devil’s territory, Bi Fan was being extra cautious, and was going very slowly.

Some time had passed by now, and Bi Fan hadn’t spotted a single creature of any value to him, all he had come across was some small animals that were of little or no value at all.

Small animals were good for barbecuing and keeping oneself fed, but otherwise had no financial value.

It was vital to save one’s strength in the devil’s territory. Squandering energy on things that didn’t matter could prove out to be very costly if met with a fierce creature.

The devil’s territory had several goblins and other vicious creatures inside it, but the areas where they flourished where designated to ‘emerging from the womb’ martial artists. If such a creature bumped into someone in Bi Fan’s layer, it would probably kill the person.

As Bi Fan continued to walk along, sometime later, he heard the sound of a tiger’s hiss. Bi Fan slowly and cautiously started walking towards the direction of the sound.

Since the main idea behind Bi Fan trip to the devil’s territory was to gain experience, his natural instinct was to go and find out if the wild animal was challenge enough. Also, he was certain that there wouldn’t be too many other martial artists in the region that he would need to be careful about, so he could afford to take the risk of getting into a tiresome battle.

As he crept closer, Bi Fan was finally able to see the head of the beast. It was a black tiger, a strong and formidable opponent. From the looks of it, Bi Fan could identify that the tiger’s strength must be in the ‘inner organs’ layer, which meant that the tiger was almost as strong as Bi Fan.

“A black tiger!” Bi Fan exclaimed in an undertone.

An adult black tiger’s strength usually lingered around the ‘inner organs’ layer and apart from being strong, they were well known for the strong fighting capabilities.

Black tigers were fast, strong in both attack and in defense, which made them, very difficult opponents to deal with.

Bi Fan was about to enter in this first combat inside the devil’s region, and that too against such a powerful enemy, he knew he would have to be extremely careful. The long Diao, as smart as always, knew that his safety, was in staying as far away from the fight as possible.

With the light-ray sword in his hand, Bi Fan stood up, announcing his arrival to the tiger. He gathered his strength, but for some reason, felt vaguely different.

The tiger upon seeing Bi Fan, growled and then swooped himself off the ground.

There was very little light that lit the area, as the dense canopy obstructed the sun, and Bi Fan’s vision was dark.

‘Fufeng double-edged sword!’

Bi Fan cast out his attack and directed the blade of his sword towards the thick skinned belly of the tiger. The tiger, realizing Bi Fan intention, didn’t dare charge back at him and tried to dodge his attack.

The tiger, Bi Fan realized would be a much more difficult to deal with as compared to his initial estimate, as the tiger lunged, turned and twisted his body in mid-air and managed to sidestep Bi Fan’s attack, and smoothly landed on his side.

Bi Fan turned to face the tiger again, and with his light-ray sword in his hand, made another straight dash at the tiger.

The tiger again, somehow managed to dodge Bi Fan’s ferocious attack. A few hairs from tiger’s skin fell to the ground, as Bi Fan only managed to give the tiger a shave with his sword in this attack.

The sword passed so close to his body but still missed, there was almost no contact and the sword didn’t even change directions.

“Strong and powerful!” Bi Fan couldn’t help but admire his opponent.

Upon realizing that the tiger’s strength was equivalent to the ‘inner organs’ layer, same as him, and physical strength superior to his, Bi Fan decided that he needs to change his tactic.

Going with brute strength was going to make the cut here; if he wished to defeat this beast, Bi Fan would have to employ some of the more sophisticated techniques that he had mastered over time.