This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Chapter 87 The Tiger Demon's Arrogance, Zhong Baizhi's Stubbornness

The Yang family's tea plantation is about twenty miles away from Jiuquan Town. Originally, Zhong Bai planned to go to the Yang family's tea plantation alone to kill the arrogant tiger demon and take its essence blood before returning.

but……

When Yang Chong, the head of the Yang family, learned that Zhong Bai had not brought anything with him, he became uneasy and decided to personally accompany Zhong Bai to the tea mountain with some servants. In Yang Chong's words, as the head of the Yang family, he should be at the forefront in such matters. If he, as the head of the Yang family, was too afraid to show his face, the tea farmers would probably become even more disloyal in the future.

Zhong Bai couldn't refuse this reason. Since the Yang family head was willing to go to the tea mountain, Zhong Bai was happy to do so. This Yang family head had limited understanding of his supernatural abilities. If he didn't witness Zhong Bai's terrifying thunder magic firsthand, he would probably still distrust him as much as he did now. Going to the tea mountain with him would be killing two birds with one stone.

......................................................

It's a twenty-mile journey; if Zhong Bai were to travel there by himself, it would probably take him less than half an hour.

But now that the head of the Yang family has also gone to the tea mountain, the time has been extended.

Zhong Bai had no objection to this. Didn't you see that he no longer needed to walk on his own two legs when he went out, but instead rode in a sedan chair?
He was well taken care of all the way to Yangjia Tea Mountain. When the sedan chair bearers in front of Zhong Bai stopped, Zhong Bai yawned, stretched, and jumped off the sedan chair.

And you know what? The bumpy ride really made me sleepy.

"Master Qianhe, what do you think, should we rest for a day or...?"

Yang Chong, the head of the Yang family, who had also alighted from his sedan chair, stood in front of Zhong Bai and asked him a question. Although he was now the head of the Yang family, he had no idea how to deal with the demons and monsters. He had to leave the professional matters to the professionals.

Zhong Bai nodded. It was noon, and even if the tiger demon was there, it wouldn't be able to come out at this time. He suggested they have some tea and wait until the sun was about to set before going up the mountain.

This is Zhong Bai's judgment of the tiger demon. Ordinary demons do not appear at noon, and who would want to come out under the scorching sun?

Such is their nature, and it cannot be changed simply by becoming a demon soldier and calling themselves a mountain lord.

Faced with Zhong Bai's behavior, the head of the Yang family showed great patience.

“In that case, I, Yang, will have someone send some fruits to Daoist Qianhe to help him cool off. As for the tiger demon, I’ll have to trouble you with that, Daoist.”

"Don't worry, Patriarch Yang. Even if I can't do anything about it, I still have Maoshan Mountain as my backing. Patriarch Yang doesn't need to worry."

"Yes, yes, yes, what the Taoist priest says is absolutely right."

Although he agreed verbally, Zhong Bai could roughly guess what Yang Chong was thinking. He simply thought Yang Chong was too young to be trusted. This was a common trait among the people of China: "A young man with no experience is unreliable." It has always been this way.

Zhong Bai was too lazy to explain; he figured the truth would come after he killed the tiger demon in the afternoon.

The scorching midday sun quickly disappeared without a trace. In the afternoon, Zhong Bai got up from the recliner. Seeing that the head of the Yang family was still asleep, he didn't disturb him. He smiled gently and headed towards the tea mountain.

The Yang Family Tea Mountain covers a vast area. After all, the reason why the Yang family has been able to maintain its prominence is because of this tea mountain, which contains many century-old tea trees.

Once inside the mountain, he took out the Demon-Seeking Compass from his Qiankun Ring and channeled his true essence into it. Soon, the pointer on the Demon-Seeking Compass began to spin rapidly until it pointed deep into the tea mountain.

"Tsk, this tiger is hiding quite well. Judging from its posture, it's probably more than ten miles away."

"But it's no use. This humble Taoist needs your essence blood for a purpose. If you, this beast, hadn't harmed anyone, I could have spared you and taken your essence blood without killing you. But now..."

Zhong Bai's smile was somewhat cold.

Following the direction indicated by the Demon-Seeking Compass, Zhong Bai's figure gradually disappeared into the tea mountains.

Not long after Zhong Bai left, the head of the Yang family woke up.

"Master Qianhe, it's almost time. Let's pack up and head up the mountain!"

Looking back at the spot where Zhong Bai had just lain down, Yang Chong realized that Zhong Bai was nowhere to be seen!

He quickly asked the servant beside him.

Where is Daoist Qianhe?

"Reporting to Master, Master Qianhe just woke up. Perhaps seeing that you were still asleep, he went up the mountain alone."

Upon hearing the servant's reply, Yang Chong frowned, feeling both surprised and, more importantly, worried and nervous.

"Oh no, oh no, why didn't you wake me up? If Daoist Qianhe comes back safely from his solo trip up the mountain, that's fine, but if something unexpected happens, how will Maoshan view the Yang family? Honestly, you have no brains at all!"

Yang Chong was somewhat angry, but he could only stand there and be angry. This was also an important reason why he came to the tea mountain to accompany them.

Now... Yang Chong can only look at the mountain and sigh.

Beyond the tea plantation lies a dense forest, where Zhong Bai's lightning escape technique moves at incredible speed.

On the treetop, Zhong Bai transformed into a blur, and in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he arrived at a flat area very close to the tiger demon.

"The demonic aura is already quite strong. It seems that the tiger demon is nearby!" With a bit of anticipation, Zhong Bai searched around and soon arrived at a pool of water.

From a distance of a hundred meters, Zhong Bai spotted a several-meter-tall, striped tiger lying in the pool with its eyes closed, resting. He was overjoyed to have finally found this tiger demon.

Just as Zhong Bai was about to step forward and ambush the tiger demon, the tiger demon, whose eyes had been tightly closed, suddenly opened its eyes. When it stood up, the muscle stripes on its body were particularly terrifying, and it let out a tiger roar in the direction of Zhong Bai!
Zhong Bai realized he had been discovered, so he decided not to hide himself and swaggered toward the tiger demon.

"Human cultivators... Ha!"

The tiger demon spoke, uttering these words clearly, causing Zhong Bai to frown slightly.

"Judging from your tone, it seems you look down on me."

Zhong Bai remained calm, but his gaze toward the tiger demon was filled with murderous intent!
"I am the Mountain Lord, what are you? I naturally look down on a mere human cultivator like you. I can probably guess your purpose. Isn't it just because I ate a few useless ordinary people that I attracted the attention of you human cultivators?"
"Let me tell you straight, they're just a few ordinary people. I've eaten them, and I'll continue to eat them. Who told you that the essence of your ordinary human flesh and blood is beneficial to me?"

Hearing this, Zhong Bai felt there was no need to continue the conversation.

"So you think you're not wrong?"
Hehe, very good. By the way, I've come here today not just to speak out for ordinary people, but also to borrow something from you..."

"Hahaha, human cultivator, what do you want to borrow? As long as it's not excessive and you promise not to interfere with my future devouring of humans, then there's no problem!"

Zhong Bai smiled and said, "This humble Taoist would like to borrow the tiger head on your neck!"

The moment he finished speaking, Zhong Bai leaped towards the tiger demon.

The body's vital energy surged forth, transforming into protective qi, while the Golden Light Divine Mantra also condensed into golden light.

As the true energy within his body surged forth from his palm, it instantly transformed into streaks of lightning.

The terrifying aura rushed towards them, and the tiger demon's previously confident face suddenly changed. It really didn't expect the human cultivator in front of it to be so powerful, even though he looked to be only about twenty years old.

But time no longer allowed it to understand everything. Facing Zhong Bai's thunderous attack, the tiger demon roared and showed no weakness. With a powerful kick of its hind legs, it pounced on Zhong Bai with its front paws.

In the void, the two collided instantly. The powerful impact stunned the tiger demon, who was surprised that its strength was no match for a human cultivator.
As its body rapidly retreated, it withstood a bolt of lightning strike to its chest. Its fur was charred black, and the dripping blood instantly filled the tiger demon's eyes with bloodlust and rage.

"Human cultivator, you're courting death!"

Zhong Bai didn't waste any words. Although the tiger demon in front of him was already at the late stage of the Demon Soldier realm and had refined the horizontal bone, Zhong Bai was no pushover. This was not the first time he had killed a late-stage Demon Soldier beast, and this tiger would be no exception!

"Well done!"

Zhong Bai let out a soft chuckle. Seeing the tiger demon rushing towards him, a cruel smile crept onto his lips. Just as the tiger demon was about to get close, he clenched his right hand and unleashed the Thunder Escape Technique, instantly appearing in the air to confront the tiger demon.

With a thunderous punch, Zhong Bai pierced through the tiger demon's chest in an instant. After piercing through the chest, Zhong Bai even formed claws with his five fingers and immediately found and squeezed the tiger demon's heart!
Bang!
With its heart shattered, the tiger demon's crimson eyes dimmed. Even in its dying moments, it couldn't understand why it had lost so quickly…

It was so fast that even a second ago it thought it could tear Zhong Bai to pieces.

With a loud crash, the tiger demon landed, its body convulsing. Seeing the blood flowing from its chest, Zhong Bai felt a pang of heartache and regret.

He quickly took out the bottles and jars he had prepared from his Qiankun Ring and began to collect tiger blood.

This tiger blood isn't quite considered essence blood yet; it needs further refinement. However, Zhong Bai doesn't have the time for that right now. Anyway, as long as he drinks more tiger blood, the effects won't be too different.

After the blood had mostly drained away, Zhong Bai carried the tiger demon's body on his back and prepared to descend the mountain.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to dismember it now, but since he still needed to show the Yang family head his skills, Zhong Bai simply carried the whole thing on his back. It wasn't heavy; the tiger demon was about four or five meters tall, six or seven meters long, and weighed about three or four thousand kilograms. Well, Zhong Bai could lift it up with one hand anyway.

Because he was carrying a tiger demon on his back, Zhong Bai's speed slowed down significantly on the way down the mountain.

It was nearing dusk, and the sun was setting behind the western mountains. Standing at the foot of the tea mountain, Yang Chong, the head of the Yang family, seemed somewhat anxious.

"Have we still not found any trace of Daoist Qianhe?"

Seeing the servant rush over, Yang Chong quickly inquired about the situation. Ever since Zhong Bai went up the mountain, Yang Chong had been worried that Zhong Bai might encounter danger, so he sent all the servants he had brought up the mountain to search for Zhong Bai.

However, until now, there has been no news about Zhong Bai.

"Master, please don't worry. No matter what, Master Qianhe is a disciple of Maoshan. He is very capable. When Master Qianhe moved our family's graves, he showed off his skills. He can wield thunder. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he is a god."

It seems that Master Qianhe felt that we ordinary mortals would be in the way if we went along to slay the tiger demon, which is why he went alone.

Perhaps it won't be long before Daoist Qianhe returns with the tiger demon's corpse?

Yang Chong sighed heavily at the servant's words of comfort. What could he do?
I can't find it at all!

"Well, I hope everything is really as you say!"

Two chapters at noon, two chapters in the afternoon, and then gradually transitioning to updates at 6 PM. I'll also simplify the process of adding chapters in the future, otherwise I'll be accused of padding the word count, sob sob.
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(End of this chapter)