Chapter 164: Chapter 162: Both Sides Suffer

Inside the Golden Giant Tiger’s cave, there was also a pile of Upper Grade Spirit Stones. The quantity wasn’t large, only about twenty or thirty, but Qin Li swept them away without hesitation.

A few medicinal herbs, clearly of no ordinary quality, were also growing inside the cave. The Spiritual Power fluctuations they emitted were incredibly rich. ’No wonder the Golden Giant Tiger likes to nap here,’ Qin Li thought. ’It can absorb Spiritual Qi non-stop, even while sleeping. Where else in the world could you find such a sweet deal?’

Although the peerless Spirit Grass Qin Li had stolen earlier released a vast amount of Spiritual Qi, that place wasn’t suitable to live in—not like this natural cave.

Marveling at the wonders of nature, Qin Li dug up all the Spirit Grass. He took one last look around to confirm there was nothing of value left before turning to leave.

You can get away with something once or twice, but there’s never a third time.

He believed that after these two incidents, the Golden Giant Tiger would be left with a deep-seated trauma it would never forget, not even in death.

The Mysterious Land where the Paradise Celestial Palace was located was mostly mountainous. Qin Li moved through the forest, controlling his aura perfectly. As he neared the Paradise Celestial Palace, from dozens of miles away, Qin Li could hear earth-shattering roars and feel waves of Primordial Power rolling in from the distance, a testament to the battle’s ferocity.

This time, the two sides were locked in a battle to the death. The Golden Giant Tiger was a Spirit Beast that had lived for a millennium. Its intelligence was no less than a human’s. As the strongest existence in this Mysterious Land, how could it tolerate being repeatedly trifled with by a group of humans far weaker than itself?

Reason with it? To hell with that!

The rampaging Golden Giant Tiger cared for nothing. The beastly wildness in its bones had completely erupted, and the scene was exceptionally brutal.

At this moment, the Sect Leader of Paradise Celestial Palace, Le Wuya, had no time to question Hai Tongtian about how things had gotten this bad. Facing the crazed Golden Giant Tiger, he could only give it one hundred and twenty percent of his focus, thinking only of surviving the current crisis first.

By the time Qin Li neared the scene, the situation for Paradise Celestial Palace was already precarious. The last time, when Paradise Celestial Palace was at its full strength, they were still overwhelmed by the Golden Giant Tiger. Now, the strength of their remaining members was only half of what it was before. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

In the end, all the Martial Artists from Paradise Celestial Palace who had surpassed the Celestial Shattering Realm were killed in battle!

Only three Elders remained: Hai Tongtian, Le Wuya, and Elder Wen.

The Golden Giant Tiger’s body was also covered in countless wounds, large and small. Blood stained its golden fur red, but it had suffered no fatal injuries!

Le Wuya’s eyes were bloodshot. He roared with grief and fury, "Tongtian, Elder Wen, let’s go!"

At this point, Hai Tongtian and Elder Wen had completely lost their will to fight. Hearing his words, they both nodded, and the three of them simultaneously bolted toward the exit.

The Golden Giant Tiger’s eyes flickered. It wanted to give chase, but sensing the wildly fluctuating Primordial Power from the three of them, it couldn’t help but stop. Its huge wings beat gently in the sky. It had fought to the point of exhaustion and still had to be wary of them self-destructing in a final, desperate act.

Even a being like it could not withstand that kind of destructive power.

After a moment of thought, it let out another roar of grief and indignation toward the heavens. This powerful Spirit Beast, which had lived for over a thousand years, was now somewhat at a loss. It couldn’t understand why any of this was happening.

No matter how high its intelligence, it had ultimately never dealt with humans before. How could its mind possibly compare to that of cunning humanity?

Watching the Golden Giant Tiger fly away, Qin Li remained hidden, making no move. He didn’t believe that Le Wuya and the other two would leave so easily.

The reason was simple: he, the one who had destroyed Paradise Celestial Palace, was still here. Those three would surely view this as the greatest humiliation of their lives. If they couldn’t kill him, it would likely leave a permanent shadow on their hearts, and they could forget about making any further progress in their cultivation.

Sure enough, several hours later, Le Wuya, Hai Tongtian, and Elder Wen came speeding back from the distance. All three of them bore injuries of varying degrees.

Le Wuya no longer had a trace of his former scholarly refinement. His face was a mask of fury, his eyes blazing with rage.

Looking at the ruins that had once been Paradise Celestial Palace and remembering its former glory, he couldn’t help but shed tears. He looked at Hai Tongtian and Elder Wen and said, choking back sobs, "Tongtian, Elder Wen, Paradise Celestial Palace... has been destroyed at our hands!"

Hai Tongtian also broke down, wailing, "Sect Leader, this is all my fault! I failed to teach my disciple properly, and now this time, it was me again..."

Le Wuya shook his head. "It’s not your fault. I believe this was all caused by that Qin Li! Besides, our Paradise Celestial Palace has been secluded here for thousands of years. Although we send disciples into the Mortal Realm each year to find Tripod Furnaces, we’ve fundamentally been cut off from the world for too long! Without a sense of crisis, even the strongest will have their will eroded over time! Look at us three—any one of us could easily swat that Qin Li dead, but to this moment, we don’t even know if he’s hiding in the shadows listening to us. What good is this kind of strength? We might as well not have it!"

When Qin Li heard this, he almost jumped up and ran. ’Don’t tell me he’s discovered me?’ he thought. But after a moment of consideration, he didn’t move. For one thing, not even that Golden Giant Tiger had been able to find him. How could these people possibly have that kind of ability?

Sure enough, after saying this, Le Wuya released his Divine Sense, meticulously scanning a radius of several miles, but he didn’t detect any abnormalities.

With a soft sigh, his refined face now filled with sorrow, he said, "Forget it. Let’s leave this place."

"Ah? Sect Leader, leave... Where else can we go?" Hai Tongtian had grown up in Paradise Celestial Palace. The few times he had been to the Mortal Realm were specifically to abduct young virgins. If one were to speak of his worldly experience, it was probably limited to identifying women... What other experience did he have? So when he heard that the Sect Leader truly intended to leave, he instantly grew flustered.

"Sigh. If we don’t leave, that tiger won’t let us go!" Elder Wen’s already wrinkled old face scrunched up even more. A sharp glint flashed intermittently in his turbid old eyes as he said in a low voice, "Regardless of the real reason, that golden tiger will never trust us again. It didn’t pursue us just now because it was afraid we would self-destruct and cause it even greater harm. So, if we stay here, it will definitely wait for a chance to retaliate! With its strength, forget you two—even I would have a hard time escaping unscathed if it ambushed me!"

Le Wuya nodded and said, "There’s a saying: ’One can be a thief for a thousand days, but one cannot guard against a thief for a thousand days.’ This place, as good as it is, is of no use to us anymore! Immediately gather the surviving disciples. We will leave and go far away. Even if we can never find another place like this, we’ll become a reclusive Sect in the Mortal Realm and focus on developing in secret!"

At this point, Hai Tongtian had no choice but to accept reality. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot contain two tigers. They had once coexisted without conflict, but now that they were mortal enemies, it was impossible to return to how things were.

As he thought, he asked, "Then... what about that group of Tripod Furnaces...?"

Elder Wen said coolly, "Pathetic. There are countless women in the Mortal Realm. Why bother with them? Just let them fend for themselves. Besides, I don’t think leaving is a bad thing. In fact, it might be a good thing! With our strength, we could easily destroy the royal family of any country we go to. When that time comes, the Sect Leader can become the Emperor. What kind of Tripod Furnaces couldn’t we have then? Not only would no one dare to oppose us, but the entire country would have to help us find them!"

A flash of longing flickered in Le Wuya’s eyes. Clearly, this transcendent master was not entirely unmoved by the idea of living like a mortal Emperor.

"Elder Wen has a point, but we still need to proceed with caution. Our Paradise Celestial Palace is already despised by those self-righteous types. Although the current mortal dynasties are pathetically weak, most of them have backing from the Mysterious Land. So, let’s first get far away from here and find a place to settle down before we do anything else."

Hai Tongtian thought of Qin Li and said hatefully, "Sect Leader, what about our great vengeance... are we just giving up on it? According to that little bastard Bu Jingfeng, this Qin Li also has a few women around him!"

Hiding in the shadows, Qin Li felt boundless killing intent surge within him when he heard this. ’Hai Tongtian,’ he thought, ’I will definitely kill you!’

Le Wuya shook his head and said, "In the Mortal Realm, we still need to lie low for a while first. We can’t stay in the Cyan Dragon Kingdom. We can leave, but who can guarantee that the Golden Giant Tiger won’t? As for those people related to Qin Li... they’re all just a bunch of weak, ordinary mortals. As long as we find that Qin Li, we can grab those people anytime we want!"

Elder Wen’s eyes glinted as he said sinisterly, "What if we capture those women first and force Qin Li to show himself?"

"Do you really think Qin Li would be coerced by us for a few women?" Le Wuya gave a faint, cold sneer. "Women are the most worthless things in this world!"

Hai Tongtian and Elder Wen thought about it and felt that the Sect Leader made a good point. In their minds, women had only one purpose, and that was to be—Tripod Furnaces!

Therefore, they naturally assumed that no one else would take women seriously either.

Little did they know that Qin Li, hiding in the dark, was already burning with rage. ’If I don’t eliminate this group of shameless scum,’ he thought, ’there’s no telling how many more people will suffer because of them!’

Just then, they heard Le Wuya say, "Tongtian, Elder Wen, you two go and gather the scattered disciples first. Remember, be extremely careful! That Qin Li is definitely a master of concealment and possesses a great treasure that hides his aura. He could be hiding in the shadows, ready to attack us at any moment. We... can’t afford any more losses!"

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