In the quiet room, Lin Ce looked at the young man who seemed to be on the verge of death, and listened to the tiger's roar coming from outside. Finally, he sighed.
"What kind of help?"
Seeing that the other party was about to die, and for the sake of the Tiger Soul Blade in his hand, Lin Ce, who usually didn't like to meddle in other people's business, still came to the young man's side.
"I'm dying, please help me return this 'Tiger Soul Blade' to my martial uncle."
The young man laboriously pulled something out from somewhere. "As a reward, you can ask my martial uncle to teach you a martial art at the innate level. Here, this is the advance payment."
As the young man pulled out this object, the numerous black tigers outside let out terrified roars and retreated further away.
Lin Ce looked over and saw that it was a rhombus-shaped object with a large hole in it, emitting a faint glow.
"Innate Soul Crystal?"
Recalling everything that had happened before, he asked in confusion.
"Tch... Don't compare it with those low-class things. This is the inner core of that tiger demon from back then."
"The inner core of a powerful demon?"
Lin Ce was shocked and looked at the rhombus-shaped object with disbelief.
This is the inner core left behind by an existence that transcends the innate level.
What level would that have reached?
"It can't be considered a complete inner core of a great demon. Back then, my master had a very difficult time killing that great demon, and this inner core had already fallen to a lower level. My uncle tried to infuse some true energy into it, which obviously still had a certain deterrent effect on the remaining power of that great demon."
The young man placed the object in Lin Ce's hand and said:
"Here, take this."
Looking at the incomplete inner core in his hand, Lin Ce's heart stirred.
No wonder I had a vague feeling that the black tigers were intentionally or unintentionally avoiding this place; there was definitely a reason for it.
"Since this inner core can suppress the remaining power of that great demon, wouldn't we be able to make our way down the mountain with it?"
"...The theory is correct, but it is clear that this inner core only works on the residual power of that great demon. Whether it can deter other demons is hard to say."
The young man sighed, "Once you think about going down the mountain, they might come to intercept you without hesitation. The little bit of true power in this inner core is ultimately not capable of killing enemies."
"Then what use is this thing to me? I can't even get down the mountain, how am I supposed to help you return the knife?"
Lin Ce frowned as he looked at the young man. "And are you really about to die? You seem quite energetic to me."
"Just a final burst of energy before death."
The young man coughed. "I should have listened to my uncle. This martial world is too dangerous. I never thought that I would be buried here silently before I even made a name for myself."
"Don't worry, since I've asked you to do this, I certainly have a way to get you down the mountain safely."
After sighing, he looked at Lin Ce and said:
"Wait for me a while. After I use the true power in this pill to annihilate my own soul, you can burn my body to ashes and then absorb the true power in this pill to give your flawless body some innate characteristics. Then you can try to kill your way down the mountain. By then, the people on the other side may have made progress and they won't have time to pay attention to you."
Why?
Lin Ce looked at the young man in front of him, somewhat puzzled.
The young man smiled.
“These mountain demons are used to using spirits as their accomplices. I don’t want to become one of those shameful things after I die.”
Nodding, Lin Ce asked again:
"Who's that on the other side? Do you know them too?"
This time, however, the young man did not give a direct response.
He shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"They're just a bunch of guys with crazy ideas in their heads. Even if they succeed this time, they'll eventually be doomed if they keep going like this... Tsk, what right do I have to judge them?"
Lin Ce eventually returned the demon's inner core to the young man.
The young man didn't tell him how to absorb the true energy from the pill, so there was no use for him holding it.
Then, he called over Yu Jiu, handed her the "Tiger Soul Blade," and instructed her to keep an eye on the young man.
Yu Jiu hesitated for a moment, but in the end he mustered up the courage to accept the "Tiger Soul Blade".
The moment the hilt of the knife touched her, she was struck dumb, her body trembled, and her fingers loosened.
The "Tiger Soul Blade" clattered to the ground.
The young man's gaze, sharp as lightning, fell upon Yu Jiu, and he shouted:
"This is a demon too, quickly kill her—"
Lin Ce remained unmoved, merely glancing at Yu Jiu before saying:
"Take it."
Yu Jiu finally picked up the "Tiger Soul Blade" and held it in his hands again.
The young man looked at Yu Jiu, then at Lin Ce, with a puzzled expression.
After a moment, he sighed and shook his head.
"Forget it, I'm going to die anyway, why bother caring so much?"
Lin Ce then walked outside.
The young man, who hadn't planned to care so much, was taken aback.
What are you doing?
"It's okay, you go ahead with your work. I need to verify some things."
Before he finished speaking, Lin Ce had already leaped and landed outside the quiet room.
Without the "Tiger Soul Blade" in his hand, he assumed a fighting stance, adopting the starting position of the "Mountain Breaking Fist".
This is exactly what he had planned to do.
The idea is to temporarily abandon the use of the "Tiger Soul Blade" and instead use the "Mountain-Breaking Fist" to see if, under the current immense pressure, the "Mountain-Breaking Fist" can break through its limits and reach the seventh level.
The "Tiger Soul Blade" is good, but it's definitely not as good as improving one's own strength.
"Aww~"
Now outside the quiet room, without the intimidating aura of the great demon's inner core, the black tigers were no longer afraid and launched another fierce attack on him.
"Clap clap clap clap clap~"
At this moment, Lin Ce stretched out his arms, and his bones cracked and popped.
He threw punch after punch in all directions.
Using the "Mountain-Breaking Fist," which he had practiced for the longest time, his fluid and skillful movements naturally far surpassed those of the "Tiger Soul Saber," which lacked the support of sword techniques and martial arts.
In a short time, even when eight black tigers attacked together, he managed to defend against them quite well.
From this perspective alone, he has an advantage over him who uses a knife, as he uses his fists.
However, without using the "Tiger Soul Blade," its offensive power was far inferior.
Black Tiger, who could previously cleave in two with a single strike, only experienced a slight slowdown in his attack after taking a punch from him.
A moment later, it pounced again.
After a long while, he still hadn't managed to kill a single black tiger.
Lin Ce wasn't in a hurry.
In fact, for Black Tiger, who seems to be able to regenerate endlessly from the Black Wind, whether or not he can be killed doesn't seem to matter that much.
Even though he hadn't managed to kill any of the black tigers, he was still only facing eight black tigers.
If that's all there is to it, then it's nothing at all.
But soon, Lin Ce felt his fist become numb.
With his fist making direct contact with Black Tiger, a large amount of true energy needles penetrated through his fist and directly invaded his body.
The speed at which the internal energy needles accumulate far surpasses that when using the "Tiger Soul Blade" against an enemy.
If this continues, he probably won't be able to hold on much longer.
However, he certainly didn't intend to force himself to endure it at this moment.
With a leap, he returned to the quiet room.
The true energy from the demon's inner core permeated the air, once again keeping the numerous black tigers outside.
Lin Ce breathed a sigh of relief.
He could feel that his skill in "Breaking the Mountain Fist" had improved.
Real combat is indeed the best shortcut to improving martial arts skills.
Inside the quiet room, Yu Jiu stood with his knife in hand. Only when he saw Lin Ce enter did he slightly lower his guard.
Lin Ce glanced at the young man, who was holding the demon's inner core in his hands and sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. He wondered if it was true, as he had said before, that he was annihilating his own soul.
However, this is not important to him at the moment.
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity to rest, he practiced the "Great Ginseng Technique" to nourish his body and try to eliminate the effects of the accumulated true qi needles in his body.
Finally, feeling that he had recovered enough, he stood up again and leaped out.
The roar of a tiger echoed again outside the quiet room.
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