Ye Ling was about to speak, but the Miasma Demon Frog was already eagerly waving its claws to write on the ground.
“That's right! As soon as this granddaddy broke through, I awakened it! Kid, tell me, is this granddaddy amazing or what?”
Seeing it act so smug and boastful in front of an outsider, Ye Ling remained silent.
Ye Chen did not mind its arrogant attitude at all. Instead, he cupped his hands in delight. “Brother Frog, your strength is truly remarkable. We will have to rely heavily on you for this operation.”
The Miasma Demon Frog shook its head smugly, then suddenly realized something and hurriedly wrote with its claws again.
“Rely on me? What on earth are you two trying to do?”
Ye Ling and Ye Chen exchanged a glance, then fully explained their goal, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger guarding the cave, and their plan to seize the Spirit-Converging Green Grass.
Upon hearing the name “Tyrant Spirit Tiger,” the demon frog's body stiffened slightly, instinctively feeling a hint of fear.
But on second thought, it had once accompanied Ye Ling to snatch a spirit grass from the Demon Claw Wolf, a peak Xiantian Realm demon beast.
Although the Tyrant Spirit Tiger was even more powerful, they now had Ye Chen as a helper. Anyone who could travel with Ye Ling was definitely no ordinary cultivator.
After considering it, it nodded in agreement.
The division of labor was finally finalized. Ye Ling and Ye Chen would team up to fight the Tyrant Spirit Tiger head-on, while the Miasma Demon Frog would use Void Evasion to sneak into the cave and seize the grass.
With the arrangements made, the two humans and the frog looked at each other, all of them filled with confidence for this operation.
In midair, Ye Ling and Ye Chen flew on their swords, sweeping straight toward the depths of the valley.
Ye Chen turned to look at Ye Ling and asked in a deep voice, “When the fight starts, who will take the lead to draw the Tyrant Spirit Tiger's attention?”
He had originally planned to take the lead himself. After all, he was the one who had initiated this operation, so he should bear more of the pressure.
But before he could speak, Ye Ling beat him to it. “I will take the lead. I cultivate an extremely high-grade body-tempering cultivation method, so it is most suitable for me to handle the frontal clash.”
In her eyes, this opportunity had been discovered by Ye Chen first, and she was only sharing the Spirit-Converging Green Grass because of his information.
Since she was getting a huge bargain, she ought to take on the most dangerous frontal combat.
Ye Chen thought for a moment and nodded.
Traveling together, he had already sensed that Ye Ling's cultivation was at the mid-stage Xiantian Realm, though he wasn't particularly surprised.
Because she was Ye Ling.
“Very well. You are stronger and have the support of a body-tempering cultivation method, so I'll leave the vanguard role to you.”
“I will assist you from the side.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the two rushed into the heart of the valley.
The surrounding environment changed abruptly. The beast roars, insect chirps, and bird calls from the outer forest vanished entirely.
The entire area became deathly still. Even the sound of the wind blowing through the valley seemed to freeze, and a suffocating beastly pressure tightly enveloped the surroundings.
The two had originally planned to search for traces of the Tyrant Spirit Tiger, completely unaware that the master of this territory had already sensed the arrival of the intruders.
Inside the massive, pitch-black cave below, a huge, tiger-shaped dark shadow suddenly raised its head and let out a wild roar that shook the entire valley.
“Roar—!”
The sound waves kicked up by just a single roar forced Ye Ling and Ye Chen to immediately circulate their spiritual energy to construct protective barriers.
The two exchanged a glance, their hearts tightening. To possess such power from a mere roar, this Tyrant Spirit Tiger indeed lived up to its reputation.
After roaring, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger saw that the two human cultivators still hovered in midair without any intention of retreating, and instantly understood that trouble had found its way to its doorstep.
It had guarded these two stalks of Spirit-Converging Green Grass for a full century, only for Ye Chen to break in and discover them not long ago.
At that time, it had pursued him in a rage, but Ye Chen's movement technique was too agile, and he ultimately managed to escape.
Since then, it had remained highly vigilant.
Although the Spirit-Converging Green Grass could not be directly consumed and refined by demon beasts, cultivating next to it would significantly boost the spiritual energy density and the natural rhythm of heaven and earth.
The fact that it had been able to break through to the peak Xiantian Realm so quickly over the years was largely due to its bitter cultivation while constantly guarding the spirit grass.
Furthermore, in another ten years, it was confident it could use the Spirit-Converging Green Grass to step into the Tongxuan Realm in one fell swoop.
These two stalks of spirit grass were the key to its advancement, and it would never hand them over under any circumstances.
It raised its eyes to size up the two in midair—one at the early-stage Xiantian Realm, and the other at the mid-stage Xiantian Realm.
No matter how high their talent, the gap in cultivation was difficult to bridge. They could not possibly be its match.
Last time, it had let Ye Chen escape due to a momentary oversight. This time, it was determined to completely slaughter both intruders.
Immediately, it channeled its demonic power to lay down an isolating restriction at the cave entrance. Ordinary escape techniques could not penetrate it, eliminating any possibility of someone taking the opportunity to steal the spirit grass.
Only after doing this did it carry a violent, demonic wind and pounce straight toward the two in midair.
Ye Ling and Ye Chen locked eyes for a split second and instantly divided their tasks.
Ye Chen's figure suddenly shot upward as he rapidly retreated to the high sky, beginning to gather power and brew a major technique that required a long accumulation of spiritual energy.
Meanwhile, Ye Ling gripped the Qinglan Sword with both hands. Her Sword Force erupted around her, and countless sharp edges attached themselves entirely to the blade as she actively charged toward the Tyrant Spirit Tiger.
Watching this from above as he gathered power, Ye Chen thought to himself, She really has already comprehended One Layer of Sword Force.
But I am also just one step away from condensing my own grand force. I will catch up to you soon, Ye Ling.
The Tyrant Spirit Tiger originally wanted to pursue Ye Chen as he retreated to the high sky, but seeing Ye Ling charging with her sword, it temporarily abandoned that plan, intending to kill the young girl first before turning around to deal with Ye Chen.
Waving its thick, sharp tiger claws, it swiped fiercely at Ye Ling, carrying a gale that tore through the air. A deafening metallic clang erupted.
Ye Ling was instantly sent flying backward dozens of meters by the colossal force, the webbing between her thumb and forefinger turning numb, while the Tyrant Spirit Tiger stood firmly in place without moving an inch.
In that split-second exchange, both sides were secretly shocked by the other's physical strength, but they had no time to ponder as they clashed once more.
The human and the beast fought from the high sky all the way down to the ground.
Upon landing, the destructive power of the Tyrant Spirit Tiger's attacks became even more terrifying. With every swipe of its claws and stamp of its paws, the surrounding rocks and soil were ground into dust, and the earth continuously cracked and collapsed.
During another deadlock where claws and sword clashed head-on, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger suddenly whipped its thick, long tail. The entire tail, like a steel whip infused with demonic power, lashed out at a tricky angle toward Ye Ling's lower back.
Having suffered from such a surprise tail swipe when fighting the Demon Claw Wolf previously, Ye Ling had long since become exceptionally vigilant against such moves.
The moment the tiger tail whipped out, she anticipated its trajectory and shifted her body, dodging it with agility.
Seeing its lethal strike miss, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger kicked off the ground with its hind legs, pursuing her through the howling wind.
Ye Ling immediately channeled her spiritual energy into her legs and spine, bending low to slide along the ground. Using this extremely low position, she slipped past the Tyrant Spirit Tiger's underbelly.
The Qinglan Sword in her hand swept upward, carrying One Layer of Sword Force as it slashed viciously across its soft belly.
However, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger possessed ancient White Tiger blood, and its physical defense far surpassed that of ordinary peak Xiantian Realm demon beasts.
This slash only broke through its outer fur and skin, leaving a shallow wound. Hot beast blood instantly splashed onto Ye Ling.
Suddenly in pain, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger flew into a rage. It swept its claws through the air, throwing out more than a dozen condensed and sharp demonic energy slashes.
The slashes flew straight toward Ye Ling, covering an extremely wide area and cutting off all her routes of evasion.
Ye Ling had just used her momentum to stand up, and her posture was unstable. Seeing that she could not dodge, she had no choice but to force her body to twist, raising her sword at the tightest angle to block.
With a muffled thud, most of the demonic energy slashes were deflected and neutralized by the Qinglan Sword, but a sharp residual force still slashed her right arm.
It instantly tore open a deep, long gash, and blood immediately soaked through her sleeve.
Having succeeded with its strike, the Tyrant Spirit Tiger's arrogance flared even higher. Tensing its hind legs, it pounced toward Ye Ling once more.
At this moment, its entire focus was locked onto the young girl, completely ignoring Ye Chen, who was gathering power high in the sky.
High above, the gold light, interwoven with red and white, had condensed to its absolute limit, and the heavy pressure of the sword technique bore down.
Ye Chen roared furiously, “Crimson Radiance Sword Slash!”
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