Two black horns were visible on the head of the Golden Tiger, who seemed to be twice the height of Long Chen.
The giant tiger was sitting with his eyes closed as if he was sleeping peacefully, unaware of Long Chen's arrival.
Long Chen had used Heaven's Shroud to remove all his aura, making him difficult to be located by an unwary beast.
Long Chen gazed back and forth between the tiger and the golden flower that was behind it.
"A Bull-Horned Tiger Beast? Another unique sight," Xun commented as she appeared beside Long Chen.
"How come you're out in the open now?" Long Chen asked Xun, who had refused to come out in the open previously.
"That guy with the unique eyes is not here. I don't need to keep hidden now," Xun let out as she smiled.
"Du Liang? That's right. The guy can see you," Long Chen muttered as he nodded his head. "Anyway, you know this beast?"
"Yeah. It's a pretty unique beast with a special bloodline. These beasts are mostly seen in the Immortal World. It's surprising to see them here. If I were to take a guess, this would be one of the most difficult saint realm beasts you can face here," Xun informed Long Chen.
"Interesting. A unique beast, huh," Long Chen muttered as an idea popped up in his head.
"It would be fun to tame a Saint Realm Beast. I haven't done it since little Snakey. If I'm going to beat it anyway, I might as well establish a contract with it.*
Packing his fist, he started walking towards the beast that was sleeping peacefully. As Long Chen got near, the beast sensed his presence despite him using Heavens Shroud.
It slowly opened its eyes as it gazed at Long Chen.
"So much for thinking I can sneak attack on it," Long Chen thought as he smiled wryly.
The golden tiger slowly stood up as he gave a mighty roar as if warning Long Chen against coming closer to it.
It was surprising that the beast didn't outright attack him. Was the beast too lazy? Long Chen wondered.
"That's what they are. A lazy species that don't attack unless they have to," Xun told Long Chen as she smiled.
"Well, that's very kind of it. Unfortunately, I can't leave now," Long Chen thought as he shook his head.
He brought the Sword of Time out of his inventory to battle against the beast. He had decided against using the King's sword while he was here as that had the possibility of giving away his identity.
As the tiger watched Long Chen pull out his Sword of Time, it understood that the matter wasn't going to be solved quickly.
It let out another mighty roar as if giving Long Chen the last warning.
"Sorry, big guy. But that isn't going to work," Long Chen declared as he tapped his right foot on the ground before he started shooting out towards the Tiger.
The tiger also moved finally as it also flew towards Long Chen.
Long Chen raised his Sword of Time before he swung it towards the incoming tiger; however, the tiger disappeared right before his eyes.
The tiger turned into a shadow as the sword was about to land on it. Long Chen felt the tiger's presence behind his back which made him shocked. He was about to Teleport to save himself from the abrupt attack that he felt coming towards him, albeit he was too late.
The claw of the tiger landed on Long Chen's back. Long Chen was tossed ahead like a broken kite as he crashed on a tree.
The tree also broke apart from the impact. Long Chen continued flying ahead, breaking tree after tree before he ultimately landed on the ground.
A deep claw mark remained on his back that was bleeding extensively.
He tried standing up amidst the pain as he popped a healing pill to heal his wounds.
"Did you really think it's going to be easy? It's a Saint Realm beast, and even amongst them, the one you're facing is one of the strongest. The speed is incomparable," Xun told Long Chen. "It can move faster than you can think."
"Don't you think you should've told me before?" Long Chen asked Xun as he waited for his wounds to heal. The tiger again started flying towards him.
"Fine. It's time to cheat a little then," he mumbled as his eyes started shining.
His beautiful eyes that were golden like the rising sun, started changing color as they became misty black which seemed to be covered with mist.
An illusion of himself was created in the place where he was standing while he effectively disappeared from the eyes of the tiger.
Long Chen moved to the side as he waited for the tiger to attack the illusion. His plan rested on him, utilizing the small moment of opportunity to attack the tiger to immobilize him.
The tiger flew towards the illusion as it roared crazily. It wanted to kill Long Chen for not listening to its warning. Long Chen waited eagerly for the illusion to be attacked, albeit things were different.
As the tiger reached near the Illusion, it once again disappeared. Long Chen once again felt a sense of danger. This time he reacted more swiftly as he instantly Teleported away.
He appeared fifty meters away, barely dodging the attack this time.
"He could see me?" Long Chen asked Xun.
"Of course. Your Law of Illusion is good, but you're using it on a Saint Realm Beast. Your comprehension is still not enough to make such a big jump in its effectiveness," Xun told Long Chen as she shook her head.
Long Chen wanted to complain, but he knew that it wasn't all her fault. He should have known it. He would have thought twice before using Illusion against a Saint Realm Cultivator. Why did he believe the beast was any different?
"Fine. If I can't cheat, let me give it everything I have!"
The Sun was hanging high in the sky as it was afternoon. He couldn't use Shadow Transformation. The illusion was useless against this beast. The only thing he could use was brute strength.
He held his Sword of Time firmly as he brought the Spirit Sword out as well. Qian Yu had seen his Spirit Sword previously, so he didn't wish to bring it out here, but her absence gave him a little confidence.
The Spirit Sword shot out towards the Tiger, who again flew towards Long Chen. This time things were different, though. The tiger was not only using physical attacks but something else as well. The sky was covered in dark clouds, which became denser with each passing second.
Loud roars of thunder started echoing in the dark sky.
The Spirit Sword reached near the Saint Realm Tiger, and at the same time, a thunderbolt fell down from the sky, crashing on the sword. The sword, which was already damaged and half-broken, became even more damaged as he crashed on the ground before it could even hit the Saint Realm Tiger.
Purple thunder started falling everywhere like the sky was going crazy in an effort to punish everyone it could.
****
On the distant horizon, a lot of the youngsters were going through battles of their own when they heard the thunder in the distance. They looked in that direction to find it covered in dark clouds.
Meng Qian and the others also saw this phenomenon. They had just finished killing a Heaven Realm Beast when this happened.
"What's happening there? Is a special treasure taking birth? Or a Saint Realm Beast appeared there?" Meng Huling wondered.
"In any case, we need to get there. If it's a treasure, we must possess it before others get to it. And if it's a Saint Realm beast that's fighting someone, a three-leaves golden flower will be present there as well," Meng Qian commented as he started flying towards the dark clouds.
They were not the only ones who were flying in that direction, though. Most of the nineteen teams that had remained alive started moving in that direction. Even Qian Yu and Du Liang were amongst the people that were flying towards the dark clouds.
*****
"This freaking thunder! It's so flashing. This place will be crowded with people soon. I need to finish this fast and take the beast," Long Chen said as he thought of the consequences if he failed.
He would not only lose the chance to tame such a rare beast, but he was also going to lose the opportunity to take the Flower without revealing his identity.
"Alright. Since you already gathered the clouds, let me use them as well," he let out as he raised his hand towards the sky.
"Thunder Blade!" He commanded as he took control over a small part of the cloud to use his old yet useful skill, which was similar to the one this beast used. The only difference was that he could use a single thunder Blade at a time as opposed to the multiple ones that the beast was using.