Chapter 80 - 80: Demon Core Power
The White Tiger leaped ferociously, the wild wind blew directly in Fang Lin’s face, causing his clothes to flutter loudly. However, there was no hint of panic on Fang Lin’s face, instead, there was an unexpectedly calm demeanor.
When the tiger’s claw was about to touch Fang Lin’s chest, Fang Lin moved even faster, dodging at a nearly ghost-like speed. At the same time, a cloud of black smoke filled the spot where Fang Lin had just stood.
The White Tiger naturally inhaled the black smoke into its body, but there was no reaction. It turned its body around, once again sweeping its huge paw, larger than a face, in front of Fang Lin.
Fang Lin took a series of quick steps, increasing the distance between him and the White Tiger. The moment the black smoke appeared, he had held his breath.
Fang Lin was helpless against this White Tiger. Apart from having the advantage of the Nine Heavens Step Skill, which allowed him to dodge the attacks of the White Tiger, he had no other solutions.
Attack? The White Tiger was much faster than Fang Lin. If he tried to hurt the White Tiger with his dagger, he himself would be ripped open by the tiger’s claw first.
However, Fang Lin had his own advantages, and that was poison!
Before entering the Medicine-Seeking Peak, he had prepared quite a substantial amount of poison, toxic pills as well as toxic powder.
He prepared these poisons specifically to deal with the powerful Demon Beasts that he might encounter inside the Medicine-Seeking Peak.
When he previously faced the Black Crocodile, Fang Lin also relied on poison. Now, facing the even stronger White Tiger, Fang Lin had no choice but to resort to using poison yet again.
The black smoke was released by Fang Lin the moment the White Tiger launched its attack.
The White Tiger naturally didn’t understand how potent the black smoke was. After inhaling it, it didn’t feel any different and continued to relentlessly pursue Fang Lin.
At this moment _ what Fang I .in needed to do was to the Nine Heavens Sten
Skill to stall for time, until the poison inside the White Tiger took effect.
However, the White Tiger was in a state of rage, its strength had almost reached the frightening level of the Ninth Layer of One Transformation. Even though Fang Lin possessed the Nine Heavens Step Skill, it was quite challenging to deal with.
Although the Nine Heavens Step Skill is ingenious, due to Fang Lin’s low level, he can’t yet fully utilize the skill. Secondly, this skill also greatly drains his inner strength.
If it takes too long, Fang Lin’s inner strength will be depleted and he won’t be able to move at all.
Luckily, Fang Lin’s Inner Strength was stronger than most Eighth Layer Martial Artists. After all, not only did Fang Lin unblock all his 36 meridians, he also fortuitously unblocked an additional meridian from the 72 meridians, giving him an extra one compared to others.
With this additional meridian, Fang Lin’s inner strength was stronger than others. This was another advantage that set Fang Lin apart from average martial artists.
That being said, this advantage seemed insignificant when facing off a Demon
Beast.
Demon Beasts possessed Demon Cores, making them considerably stronger than martial artists. To engage in a battle of attrition with Demon Beasts would be foolish and unwise.
At the moment, what Fang Lin was betting on was whether the poison would take effect on the White Tiger first, or if his inner strength and physical stamina would be exhausted first.
However, Fang Lin remained calm. He believed the poisonous smoke he prepared would work before his inner strength ran out.
Time gradually passed. Fighting against a Demon Beast in the darkness of the night was very inconvenient. The Demon Beast had better vision than a martial artist. For the White Tiger, the night was as clear as day.
Being superior in vision, Fang Lin was still somewhat affected.
As the fight dragged on, Fang Lin faltered in his steps. His Nine Heavens Step Skill momentarily faltered, causing a slight delay in his movements.
“This is bad!” Fang Lin’s heart sank. The White Tiger did not miss this opportunity. Its paw directly raked across Fang Lin’s chest.
Although Fang Lin tried hard to withdraw his body in the blink of an eye, he was still brushed by the Tiger, causing a wound to open up on his chest and blood started pouring out.
Seeing Fang Lin injured, the crowd in the distance were all tense, their faces filled with worry.
Fang Lin commanded his Nine Heavens Step Skill underfoot, regained control of the rhythm, and avoided the White Tiger’s subsequent attacks. He did not have the time to check his wound and hastily scattered some white medicinal powder on it.
The White Tiger, smelling the bloody scent, became even more brutal and let out a series of earsplitting roars.
Accompanied by the roars, the wild wind swirled rampantly. Fang Lin’s movements in the gusty wind became increasingly difficult, throwing off his Nine Heavens Step Skill yet again.
“Did the Pill Sect intentionally put this White Tiger here to deal with me? Just how is it so powerful?” Fang Lin cursed inwardly. He quickly reached into his Nine Palace Bag and a green jade talisman appeared in his hand.
As the White Tiger pounced towards him, Fang Lin crushed the jade talisman without any hesitation. The moment the jade talisman shattered, a dazzling Sword Qi emerged, rushing straight towards the White Tiger.
The Sword Qi was extremely fast, and the White Tiger was already charging forwards. Even though it saw the Sword Qi, it had no time to react and could only brace itself to receive the hit from the Sword Qi.
With a ‘schick’ sound, the Sword Qi left a wound the length of an arm on the White Tiger’s body, instantly staining half of the White Tiger’s body with blood.
However, after injuring the White Tiger, the Sword Qi vanished instantly—it only had the strength for one hit.
The injury, though only superficial, enraged the White Tiger even more. It didn’t care about the bleeding wound on its body and lunged at Fang Lin’s head, its mouth wide open to its limits.
Fang Lin gasped, reaching for another jade talisman and once again unleashed a Sword Qi.
Boom!
However, this time, the Sword Qi was blocked by a round bead and did not inflict any damage to the White Tiger.
As Fang Lin continuously retreated, he noticed a milky white Demon Core floating in front of the White Tiger. It was this Demon Core that had blocked his Sword Qi.
“It even used the power of the Demon Core. Is it preparing to fight to the death with me?” Fang Lin scoffed coldly, but felt a trace of panic in his heart.
The effects of the black smoke had not kicked in, which was beyond Fang Lin’s expectation. He initially thought it should have worked by now.
But looking at the White Tiger, it seemed to only have grown fiercer, showing no signs of abnormality.
Fang Lin already started to feel that his steps were becoming heavier. This was a sign of heavy depletion of his inner strength and his physical stamina couldn’t keep up.
Yet the White Tiger was still full of vitality. It had even brought out the Demon Core. This made it even harder for Fang Lin to withstand.
Without wasting any moment, Fang Lin took out three jade talismans from the Nine Palace Bag and shattered them all at once.
Swift Swift swift!
The three fierce Sword Qi in the nighttime were sharply conspicuous, aiming collectively at the White Tiger.
The jade talismans Fang Lin obtained from the disciple of the Martial Sect were limited in quantity and were precious items he had traded from others with his pills.
Each one used was one less left. Even when Fang Lin was dealing with the Black Crocodile he did not have the heart to use it. Now, he had almost depleted all his stock.
Seeing the fierce Sword Qi, the White Tiger immediately felt fear. It saw the Sword Qi swiftly approaching, and the Demon Core illuminating a faint red halo which covered the White Tiger.
The Sword Qi violently collided with the red halo, pushing the Demon Core backward slightly and the White Tiger, as if heavily struck, exhibited a state of decline.
Noticing the powerful strength of the Demon Core, which was even able to resist the Sword Qi, Fang Lin felt increasingly frustrated.
“How could I run into a Demon Beast that can utilize the power of a Demon Core? Isn’t a Demon Beast capable of doing so supposed to be one in ten at most?” Fang Lin sighed helplessly..