Meng Chuan stood calmly on the arena as two soldiers dragged the goat demon's corpse away, and others quickly wiped the stage clean.
According to the rules of the Demon-Slaying Festival, a disciple who wins may remain on the arena to face the next demon. If one possesses sufficient skill, Yu Yang Palace will arrange increasingly stronger opponents.
Another prison cart rolled forward.
"Hm?"
Meng Chuan's pupils contracted. Inside the cart was a lean, gaunt demon, but its skeleton was massive; even sitting cross-legged in the cage, it appeared huge. Its dark yellow eyes scanned the crowd, its fur mottled black and yellow, dry and coarse.
"A tiger demon?" Meng Chuan murmured in surprise.
"It's a tiger demon!"
"By a tiger demon!" The academy disciples gasped. Among the demons, pig and wolf demons were common and mostly ordinary, occasionally interspersed with stronger ones. But tiger demons… were rare. Even a weaker tiger demon counted as a great demon.
The magistrate's voice rang out clearly: "Everyone, this is the first great demon of this Demon-Slaying Festival, and a tiger demon at that! Though it has been starved for a long time and weakened, with its muscles and bones deteriorated to only thirty percent of its peak strength, it will still challenge Meng Chuan, as well as Zhusui Stage disciples from other academies. Be cautious. Even at reduced strength, it surpasses you."
Clang.
The cage door swung open. The one-armed man looked at the tiger demon, his tone cold. "Win ten rounds in a row, and you may return to your cell. You will also enjoy a month of food and drink."
"Ten rounds?"
The tiger demon slowly emerged, body slightly crouched, sweeping its gaze around.
It sensed the presence of formidable threats from over ten humans nearby: the Eight Great Academy directors, experts from the Five Great Families, magistrates, Mei Yuanzhi from Yu Yang Palace, and the one-armed man—eighteen in total. Even at full strength, all of them combined could slay it with a single glance. What it did not know… was that over half of Dongning Prefecture's influential powerhouses were present today.
Most terrifying of all was the one seated in the main seat.
The Yu Yang Palace Master sat there, radiating a presence like the sun itself. Even a slight exertion of power could crush the demon.
"My first opponent… is this little human?" The tiger demon's gaze fell on Meng Chuan. "Pathetic."
"Tiger demon!" Meng Chuan's senses sharpened to the utmost. His eyes glimmered with controlled light, but his killing intent surged violently.
Yet he remained in place, at the edge of the arena. Any charge from the tiger demon would require care—if it left the stage, it would surely die.
First, he would gauge the tiger demon's strength and then formulate a strategy.
Whoosh.
The tiger demon lunged, bringing a wave of foul wind, arriving before him in an instant.
Swoosh.
Meng Chuan instantly dodged, stepping back while slicing a blade forward—but the tiger's claw blocked it, shaking him back several paces.
"My greatest strength… speed. It rivals me," Meng Chuan thought, astonished. "Its strength is twice mine. And this is only thirty percent of its peak? Luckily, its combat skill, though refined, has not reached the 'Unified Stage.'"
"Use my strengths against its weaknesses."
"This is my chance to kill it!"
Meng Chuan made his decision instantly.
Ordinary disciples would be nervous at their first duel with a demon, only managing seventy percent of their true power. Meng Chuan was different. The fire he had suppressed since childhood now erupted; he felt exhilarated, mentally focused, his body and mind perfectly aligned, capable of superior performance. This was the state of combat—the supernormal surge.
"Hmph, it evaded me? Interesting." The tiger demon growled, lunging again.
Meng Chuan met it head-on, moving at speeds rivaling the tiger demon. Unlike its brute force charge, his movements were ethereal, like a drifting wind.
They crossed paths.
At that instant, Meng Chuan silently slashed with his blade—a move from the Falling Leaf Saber, the 'Deceptive Blade'—striking unexpectedly.
The blade cut across the tiger demon's abdomen, ripping through fur and flesh.
"Wounded me?" The tiger demon hissed, sensing the cut and becoming even more ferocious. Meng Chuan, however, merely locked eyes on it, whispering, "Die," and surged forward again.
Swoosh, swoosh.
Again they crossed paths. Meng Chuan avoided close combat, relying on his unpredictable movement to strike and separate in each encounter. He knew that a true melee would favor the tiger demon; its strength and resilience could easily counter him. A single claw could severely wound him, possibly even kill him. The tiger demon's injury from one slash was mild; his own risk was far greater.
On the arena, the tiger demon chased Meng Chuan with a stench-laden frenzy, while Meng Chuan struck and dodged with precision.
Every three to five clashes left a wound on the tiger demon.
Clearly, Meng Chuan's saber technique was superior.
As the wounds accumulated, the tiger demon weakened.
"Puh!" Another slash, tracing the previous lower-abdomen wound upward, tripled its size. Blood sprayed, staggering the tiger demon. Its eyes turned red as it glared at the human youth. Meng Chuan's gaze remained icy and unwavering.
"The tiger demon… gravely injured."
"This Meng Chuan… he doesn't seem like a newly unified stage adept. His power surge is far more ferocious."
"He's calm, leaving the tiger no opportunity."
The Five Families' elders, academy directors, and magistrates exchanged impressed glances.
"Achuan." Liu Qiyue was tense, each exchange with the tiger demon making her anxious. It was a great demon!
"Is this Meng Chuan's pursuit?" Yun Qingping felt dazed. The previously slow, quiet boy she thought she knew had unleashed terrifying killing intent, slaying a goat demon with one strike and now trading blows with a tiger demon—his latent rage concealed yet more terrifying.
This was Meng Chuan—his true self revealed.
The tiger demon's abdominal wounds were deep, but it quickly closed the muscles to stem the blood. Its speed slowed by thirty percent, but its murderous gaze never wavered.
Meng Chuan ignored the killing aura, the epitome of a composed hunter, ready to take the demon's life at any moment.
Whoosh.
Meng Chuan lunged again.
"Roar~~~!" As they neared, the tiger demon roared, sending twisted black shockwaves in all directions. Its black-and-red fur gleamed, eyes flickering with gold, claws striking with amplified force.
"Hm? It has a Demon King bloodline?" The Yu Yang Palace Master's eyes widened. "After more than a year of confinement, this went unnoticed… cleverly hidden." His invisible aura enveloped the arena, ready to intervene. It was a miscalculation to assign such a demon.
The roar battered Meng Chuan's ears and mind, yet he remained clear-headed. Facing the amplified claws, he turned defense into offense with skill honed from years of blocking Liu Qiyue's arrows daily.
"Boom!"
The force struck Meng Chuan through his saber, hurling him backward. He landed on the arena edge and, in a single fluid motion, used it to leap further back.
The tiger demon lunged again—dangerously close, yet Meng Chuan evaded.
He rolled off the arena, staggering, barely supporting himself with a blade to avoid falling.
"Puh." Blood spilled from his mouth, face pale, ears bleeding from the roar.
"Escaped?"
The tiger demon stared, shocked. Forced to reveal its hidden Demon King bloodline, it had unleashed a deathly roar—normally enough to stun and kill—but Meng Chuan withstood it perfectly, even leveraging the stage to retreat faster. Its second lunge also failed.
"Chuan'er." Meng Dajiang rushed forward, Liu Qiyue close behind.
"This Meng Chuan…" The Yu Yang Palace Master's eyes shone. Many strong fighters, even at high stages, could barely utilize sixty to seventy percent of their power in life-or-death battles. Some exceeded limits. Combat performance depended on intelligence, will, and composure. Some could slay three or four equal opponents consecutively.
"His first encounter with a demon this year," the Palace Master mused. "Hopefully he truly becomes a Godfiend."
Meng Chuan's hearing gradually recovered. Meng Dajiang examined him with true energy. "Ears only temporarily injured, no serious harm. Will recover fully in days."
"Mm." Meng Chuan nodded.
"Retreating immediately was wise. This tiger demon indeed carries a Demon King bloodline. Now that it's exposed, even if it survives, it will be sent to the prefectural city." Meng Dajiang's tone was solemn.
"Next…"
Suddenly, a voice called out.
Meng Chuan looked over to see the magistrate holding the list, smiling. "Yu Yang Palace, Yan Jin!"
"Hmm?" Everyone was surprised.
Wasn't it supposed to be the next Zhusui Stage disciple from the academy?
After Meng Chuan, the stage would host an academy's Zhusui Stage disciple. Why was it someone from Yu Yang Palace?
"I have a junior I'd like to try," the Yu Yang Palace Master said, nodding slightly to the white-clad youth behind him.
The youth stood and approached the arena.
"What? Also Zhusui Stage?" The crowd of experts naturally discerned his aura. Clearly, he had not cultivated a Godfiend body—still Zhusui Stage.
"Zhusui Stage… facing a tiger demon?" Many were astonished.
Even Meng Chuan was slightly surprised, knowing the tiger demon's formidable strength.