"That is..."
A few miles away from She Wang Town, in a mountain forest, Jiang Che paused in his steps as he heard a familiar noise.
Turning around, indeed, not far from She Wang Town, there were several helicopters flying in the sky.
Jiang Che narrowed his tiger eyes slightly, his heart tightened.
Have humans called for reinforcements so quickly?
Could something have happened to the second brother?
"If the second brother gets killed, it would be a huge loss. Where else can I find such a talented target with memories of his past life?"
"Should I go back and rescue..."
Jiang Che hesitated for a moment.
After a moment of indecision, he decided not to go back.
"The second brother is the reincarnation of the Ancient Demon Monarch; he shouldn't be that easy to kill. Moreover, with his current strength, he's not yet ready to compete with humans; he's probably already fled far!"
Jiang Che thought to himself.
The anomaly in the big brother naturally also caught Nangong Luo's attention. Following his line of sight, she also noticed the helicopters.
"It seems humans have set their sights on the second brother!"
Nangong Luo thought of the peculiar bird from before and understood.
She had no intention of rescuing the second brother and instead had a delighted sparkle in her pale gold tiger eyes.
"Let's see you act so arrogant now! Being targeted by the human Qin Army, even if you don't die, you'll definitely suffer!"
Nangong Luo felt a sense of schadenfreude, her golden tiger tail swaying in the air.
"Roar!"
Nangong Luo urged Jiang Che to continue their journey.
This opportunity presented by the Bodhi Holy Tree, growing in Ning Province next to Jiang Province, would take about ten days of continuous travel to reach, even at full speed.
After all, they had to mostly travel through the wilderness, which would consume a lot of time.
Jiang Che turned his head, following Nangong Luo into the dense forest.
Time passed quickly, and two days went by.
Jiang Che and Nangong Luo were about to reach the border between the two provinces, soon entering Ning Province.
In a moment, the two tigers arrived in a mountain forest.
This place was full of thick walnut trees, their canopies covering the sky, with branches laden with golden walnuts, the scent of ripe fruit wafting through the air.
Seeing the orderly arrangement of the walnut trees, Jiang Che knew that this was likely an artificial walnut grove planted before the Spiritual Energy Revival, though it seemed abandoned now.
He sniffed at the golden walnuts scattered on the ground and paid them no further attention; they lacked a meaty aroma...
He looked up and continued to follow Nangong Luo ahead.
Before long, the two tigers spotted a massive figure moving beneath a tree not far away.
Upon closer inspection, it was a fierce-looking giant bear.
This bear was robust, with an incredibly broad shoulder and back, powerful limbs, and thick gray-brown fur. It looked like a small hill.
What was most striking was the purple markings around its neck.
At that moment, the giant bear was searching the ground for ripe walnuts, swallowing them one by one.
"Roar!"
The giant bear seemed very alert.
The moment Jiang Che and Nangong Luo approached, it noticed them.
The giant bear let out a deafening roar, its back arched, and the purple markings on its neck glowed as it charged with bared fangs and claws.
Jiang Che remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the purple markings around the bear's neck, intrigued.
Something's strange!
He noticed that the purple markings didn't seem to consist purely of hair; they weren't one with the bear's fur.
The purple markings flowed like water, circulating around the bear's neck, mysteriously...
"Roar!"
"It's only at the mid-first order, yet it's so arrogant? I, the Emperor, will beat you to a pulp today!"
Jiang Che remained still, but Nangong Luo's fighting spirit was ignited, and she looked down on the brown bear before her.
With a loud roar, her golden figure shot out.
Bang!
Moments later, the two giant beasts collided, with the golden tiger's claw clashing fiercely with the bear's massive paw, the booming sound echoing through the forest, as if the entire walnut grove was shaking.
Suddenly, a golden figure was sent flying, falling several meters away.
Nangong Luo quickly recovered, incredulous as she glanced at the giant bear, which had merely taken a few steps back.
How could it be? How can this mid-first-order bear withstand her?
"Impossible! Let me see what your true strength really is!"
Nangong Luo, with a determined look, refused to concede, releasing her power to its fullest extent.
Countless golden lights and streaks of thunder emerged from her tiger body, illuminating the dark forest with golden-purplish light, piercing through layers of branches, spreading throughout the woodland.
With the sound of sharp objects tearing through the air and thunder roaring, strands of golden light converged into a golden light blade over a meter long, hanging mid-air, shining brilliantly.
Then bursts of lightning danced, large amounts of purple lightning followed the golden light, rapidly gathering on the surface of the golden light blade.
Crackle!
The golden light blade was surrounded by a layer of purple thunder, the lightning jumping, with purple and gold lights reflecting off each other. It shook continuously in the air as if the blade contained immense power ready to burst free!
Bang!
With a flick of Nangong Luo's mind, the purple-gold light blade flashed, flying towards the giant bear, drawing a straight purple-gold beam in the air.
The purple-gold light blade was unstoppable, seemingly capable of cleaving everything apart!
"Roar!"
The giant bear let out a furious roar, the purple markings on its neck glowing brightly as its massive paws slapped the ground.
Rumble!
Five enormous stone walls burst from the ground, stacking up in front of it.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The purple-gold light blade struck the stone walls with tremendous force, piercing through them, dispersing after breaking through three layers.
"How can this be?"
Nangong Luo, panting heavily, with eyes wide open, couldn't comprehend how this mid-first-order giant bear could possess such power.
Bang!
Fortunately, Jiang Che stepped in, launching a Thunder Ball that shattered all the stone walls, and without giving the bear a chance to react, several more Thunder Balls followed in quick succession, striking it hard.
Roar!
The giant bear let out a miserable cry, its body covered with flashing lightning, collapsing uncontrollably to the ground, quivering as its limbs flailed aimlessly.
As Jiang Che prepared to finish off the giant bear with another series of Thunder Balls, the purple markings around the bear's neck suddenly lit up, transforming into a small purple beast.
It resembled a small purple kitten, with purple scales under its fur, pinkish horns on its head, and big watery eyes watching Jiang Che and Nangong Luo, looking very adorable.
Nangong Luo was stunned, then realization dawned on her, a trace of shock flashing in her eyes.
Could this be... the reincarnation of the Demon Emperor—a mythical beast?
The Demon Emperor, a mythical beast rumored to possess the bloodline of the ancient divine beast Qilin, a naturally auspicious creature with transformation abilities.
When it transforms into purple battle markings to merge with other beings, it greatly amplifies their power. It's exceptionally unique, regarded as the most formidable auxiliary beast in its past life.