Chapter 419 Kyu

I placed my palm on the pillar and surged forward as much of my Veridian Heart Flame and Poison Qi as I could.

The pillar looked as if it had taken on fire as it flamed on in a raging blaze.

Soon, a treasure appeared in front of me. It was a large piece of cloth.

"Good, that's all I needed," I smiled.

I tried to use the same method to get another treasure but there didn't seem to be any reaction from the pillar.

The rule of taking only one item per person was to make sure not one man can hoard everything here.

Not that I cared about such a rule because I realized the way to solve that issue.

When I partook a bit of my Qi and Veridian Heart Flame, the pillar absorbed it, took a Qi signature copy, and made sure that the same signature cannot trigger the reward. But, what if I'm able to manipulate the Qi signature the pillar took?

I then pulled my brush and began changing the inscription on the pillar that rewarded cultivators.

Soon after I was done. I pressed my hand on the pillar and once again injected it with my Qi.

Reward after reward began pouring in front of me, and with every one of them, the pillar seemed to crack and fracture.

At this rate, the moment the last treasure is out, this pillar will break down, and the whole dome will fall on my head.

I'm not a fan of being buried alive, and being too greedy is never good.

So, as soon as only a couple of meaningless treasures were left, I decided to loot everything and get out of the cave.

I took everything from the holding bags of the three dead disciples and headed up to the exit.

And once I was out I was met with two glowing golden eyes.

"It seems that you have impeccably completed your task," the tiger spoke.

"Well, it was basically, do or die, wasn't it," I replied.

"Indeed, now my request required you to kill off the intruders, but you stated that you have a method for me to regain my full power without needing to wait for several years to heal," the tiger said.

"Yes, if you wish, we can begin now," I replied.

"You speak of certainty and confidence, but I do not trust your bipedal kind. You are a man of poison, and though it would be nigh impossible, you could harbor ill will towards this great one, hiding poison as a cure," the tiger said.

"I don't really understand, I have no intention of harming you, nor do we have any enmity, I'm actually in need of you surviving if I were to have that promised tree, though I'm more than willing to take the same medicine as I'll give you, I doubt that you'll trust me enough with just that, so how about another condition," I said.

"Do speak, for this one's ears are open," it said.

"I'll teach you how to make the antidote, it's really not that difficult even a monkey can make it. It requires Spirit Grass, the stem of two wild turnips, and the horn of a Silver Horned Beetle, these ingredients all exist in this forest, and the method to make the antidote is to simply grind all ingredients together and consume them. There is no need to make a pill out of the materials," I said.

The tiger's whiskers shook and it said, "I lived in this forest for a thousand years, and I have come in contact with these ingredients in my long life. They are not rare, nor are they precious, and you say that they can cure a poison as powerful as that damnable scorpion,"

"The simple things hold the most mystery, I can also make a guarantee for you," I said.

"How come?" it asked.

"Do you still have one of those needles?" I asked.

"They are all over the place where we fought," the tiger said.

"Let's go there then, I'll follow you," I said.

The tiger turned and moved forward, slowly increasing its speed as I followed after.

Frankly, the tiger was clearly not going as fast as it could, but even with the use of Ancient Step, I was barely able to follow after him.

On the way, I found a small wild rabbit which I grabbed as the two of us continued moving. Just as we arrived at the location of the battle, the tiger stopped and nodded forward.

On the ground, and in the trees, hundreds upon hundreds of sharp needles were embedded all over the place.

For a moment the scorpion I had in my mind looked as if it had used its stinger as a minigun.

"Good," I said as I grabbed one of the stinger needles.

I pulled a mortar and pestle and threw in the stem of wild turnips which I had from the inventory of Shen Mo, along with spirit grass and the horn of a silver beetle, all of these ingredients were everywhere and the disciples of the Poison Sect will undoubtedly have them in abundance.

I then began grinding everything until it turned to mush. I rolled half of it into a small ball and pulled out the rabbit.

The rabbit was terrified as its eyes locked gaze with the tiger. And it immediately fainted.

"Oh... I forgot about how scared these things can be," I muttered.

"What do you plan on doing?" the tiger asked.

"Proof that I mean you no harm, this isn't a spiritual animal, so the poison in this needle will probably kill it in less than a minute."

I then placed the small mushy ball inside the rabbit's mouth then slightly poked it with the needle.

Black veins surged from the location of the poke to the point that the rabbit began squealing in pain.

You could visibly see the area where I poked it turn hairless as the flesh in it began festering.

Yet soon, the damage stopped and the flesh that was going bad began healing visibly.

"Proof enough?" I said.

The tiger looked at the mortar and pestle and grabbed the remaining ball of mush. It then swallowed it and sat down.

Soon, a spurt of blood seemed to exert itself from the wound on its hind leg. The black blood fell on the ground and sizzled as it came in contact with the grass.

"What a quick-acting antidote... and I don't even think I'll need human hands to make something like this in case I need it later, tell me, Shen Bao, is this an antidote to all poison?" it asked.

I shook my head, "This is an antidote that only works on venoms that are weak to fire Qi. The silver horn has a substance that can stop Yin-based Qi poison, and the wild turnips have fire Qi in them that is very strong against scorpion poison, as for the spirit grass it acts as a catalyst that will make sure that both the silver horn and the turnip Qi do not clash against each other and work in harmony to exile the harmful substances."

"Hmm, today I have learned," spoke the tiger.

'Well, I guess it's something to brag about, teaching a tiger how to make antidotes...'

"You may leave, the promised region you had asked for is yours, and yours alone. I wish not to see other humans in it, you may stay in it for as long as you wish and you may come back whenever you wish, now, leave," it said. Just as it was about to leave it turned and said.

"You have an egg in your possession, I could feel it yearning to leave its shell," the tiger said.

"Oh... I don't think I can hatch it here, it's too risky, it might die," I said.

"Do not worry, for what you believe is inside the egg is no longer the same, let it leave, and let it live, if it comes to be I can aid it in hunting and growing. I do not wish to see one of my ancestors imprisoned," it said.

This came as a shock...

"You mean you're a descendant of a Dark Beast?"

"Indeed a very, very distant descendant, but we share some blood. Though we Heavenly Dark Tigers evolved to live under the sun, we do not have the same ferocity," it said.

"You seem ferocious enough," I said.

"That is because I am the king of my race, as for the Dark Beasts even a cub can release fury and murderous intent enough to cover the skies. Let it out," the tiger said.

"Shouldn't I wait until it's darker, I can see some bits of light here," I said.

"I have told you, it is not what you think it is, it is different," the tiger said.

I sighed, there was no escaping this.

Once I pulled the egg out, I was stuck watching it there, unmoving.

"Give it your blood," the tiger said.

I cut my finger and a few drops of blood poured on the egg.

The tiger then released its breath, calling upon a pure surge of Qi that enveloped the egg and was sucked inside.

And there and then, I heard a heartbeat, as if the two of us, me and the egg were suddenly connected.

The egg's crust cracked and shattered, turning to dust and revealing a... fur ball?

White as snow, and fuzzy as a furball. And literally looked like a fur ball with wide eyes, a small mouth, and a long swaying tail. It jumped into my palm immediately and snuggled into it seeking warmth.

"Euh..."

My confusion did not match the look on the Heavenly Dark Tiger.

"As I have guessed, it has evolved into something new... something fearsome."

I looked at the small furball and back at the tiger, "Fearsome? This?"

The small fur ball jumped up and landed on my head finding it comfortable and probably because it has feline ancestry it liked highest.

"Indeed, do not be deceived by its looks, not even I would dare look down upon it when I fully grow. For now, name it, and leave it with me. I can promise you that I will take good care of it, as my ancestor, I owe it respect," the tiger said.

"Then how about Kyu," I said.

"Kyuu?!" the white Dark Beast -as confusing as that sounds- replied then soon shuddered saying "Kyu! Kyu!"

"It seems to like the name... though I have no idea what it means," the tiger said.

"Well if it likes it, then Kyu it is, now, I'll need to work on something a bit, you said you wanted to take It with you," I said.

"Not now, it needs to fully imprint on you, once it fully recognizes you as a family I shall come and take it to hunt and train, for now, go do what you wish, and wait for my arrival, I have a score to settle with that damnable scorpion."

The tiger then turned its tail and moved into the bushes.