As the humans slowly approached, the Golden Saber Tiger's gaze gradually grew calm, as if it had fully accepted its fate. In truth, it had already prepared to self-destruct, intending to drag the humans down with it in death. It was not a bad bargain.
The soul power inside its body began to boil violently, like a powder keg on the verge of explosion. Just then, the human suddenly stopped ten meters away.
Lin Yang halted. In the transparent world, he could clearly "see" the Golden Saber Tiger's soul power gathering. Its intention was obvious. Even he would have found it difficult to stop a 60,000-year-old Golden Saber Tiger from self-destructing. Unless he could land a guaranteed fatal blow, he would lose a suitable spirit ring.
Lin Yang pondered briefly, sheathed his sword, and stared at the beast. "Do you want to live?"
The Golden Saber Tiger stared back in silence, as though looking at a fool. Setting aside its own desperate struggle to survive, did it really think a human was foolish enough to trust? The enmity between spirit beasts and humans had burned for ages. Spirit beasts older than ten thousand years had already developed intelligence, and the older they grew, the closer that intelligence approached a human adult's. A 100,000-year spirit beast's mind was no different from an adult human's.
So when the human asked "Do you want to live?", its first thought was: Is this person insane?
Lin Yang ignored the look. He knew his words sounded absurd, yet he believed he could create a situation beneficial to both sides.
"I possess the ability to let you serve as my spirit ring even after death, while preserving your soul's autonomy and allowing you to continue cultivating," he said quietly. "However, this method has never been tested. I am only thirty percent confident it will succeed. If you take the gamble and win, you will not only survive but also gain a chance to avenge yourself on the Dark Devilgod Tiger. If you lose, that is your fate. In exchange, I will take your spirit ring. If you refuse, feel free to self-destruct. At worst, I will simply find another opponent."
Lin Yang stepped back and waited in silence.
A flicker of hesitation appeared in the Golden Saber Tiger's eyes. It could not tell whether the human was lying or truly possessed such power.
"Roar…" it growled low, wanting to know why this human was so confident.
Lin Yang understood and turned to the skeleton clone. The bony figure stepped forward, lifted its black robe, and revealed a face of pure white bone. The smooth surface glowed with a warm luster, yet the jade-like eyes bore the blood-red character "bone." A black spirit ring rose from beneath its feet and floated quietly behind it.
"This is my clone," Lin Yang explained. "A portion of my soul resides within it. If successful, you will continue living much as before—except your soul will now inhabit this clone."
That was correct. Lin Yang had devised this method himself. Based on the fourth soul skill of the Demon God Body — Soul Ring: Soul Split — it created a self-aware clone similar to the spirits of the second Douluo Continent era, yet with potential for independent growth. Since he had never attempted it, success remained uncertain.
"Roar—!" A shadow of struggle crossed the Golden Saber Tiger's eyes. Survival was instinct. No living being wished to die if it could live. But could it truly trust a human?
Lin Yang simply stood aside, watching without pressure. Whether the tiger agreed or not made little difference to him. In the worst case, he would obtain a new spirit ring. For the tiger, however, this was its only chance to survive.
Finally, it let out a low growl and slowly lowered its head to the ground. It did not want to die. It also wanted revenge.
Lin Yang wasted no more words. He stepped forward. His fourth spirit ring suddenly blazed. His eyes flashed as a large amount of blood flowed from his fingertips and splattered across the tiger's wounds. The beast instinctively tried to resist the sensation of something eroding its body, but Lin Yang's voice reached it:
"If you do not wish to die, do not move. My blood can heal your wounds and establish a connection between us."
The Golden Saber Tiger trembled slightly, then chose to remain still.
"Now that you have decided, trust me completely. Harbor no doubts."
Lin Yang's blood carried overwhelming corrosive power. It rapidly permeated every cell, mercilessly severing the parts already corrupted by evil power. As the injured body gradually healed, a sharp light appeared in Lin Yang's eyes. He raised his hand and personally took its life.
A pitch-black spirit ring appeared. Without a word, he began refining it. Outwardly, it looked no different from previous refinements. In reality, when he had given his blood, he had severed a fragment of his own soul and fused it into the tiger's body. This tiny fragment would not affect the Golden Saber Tiger itself, but it would label the soul, forcibly marking it as a soul separated from Lin Yang — like goods in a supermarket stamped with a barcode.
If neglected, the tiger's soul would rapidly dissipate upon death. Now its body was stained with demon-god blood and its soul bore the demon-god's mark. Who could claim this was not his clone?
Time passed slowly. Suddenly the black spirit ring contracted violently into Lin Yang's body, then reappeared. At the same time his other spirit rings manifested, and seven rings neatly surrounded him.
"Roar~" A faint tiger's roar echoed in his ears.
Lin Yang focused. The fourth spirit ring of the Demon God Body shone brightly. Immediately afterward, the newly acquired fifth spirit ring separated from his body and drifted toward the Golden Saber Tiger's corpse, floating above it before slowly merging into the body.
The tiger, which had stopped breathing, suddenly began to beat its heart again. Its massive frame trembled. It slowly rose from the ground. Its sharp tiger eyes gleamed with excitement.
"ROAR—!" A powerful roar shook the mountains and forests, as if announcing its rebirth to the entire Tiger Roar Mountain Range.
After the roar, the Golden Saber Tiger walked heavily toward Lin Yang and rubbed its head against him. Lin Yang smiled and vigorously stroked the large head.
"You're lucky. I honestly didn't expect you to succeed."
The Golden Saber Tiger was now essentially a special clone. Its soul remained intact, so it could continue cultivating. However, its cultivation only benefited itself and provided no feedback to Lin Yang. To maximize the experiment's success, Lin Yang had not over-consumed spirit ring power. His own level had only reached the first stage, and even the Demon God Body's fifth spirit ring could not generate enough energy. The Golden Saber Tiger's cultivation had inevitably dropped, but it had only just barely surpassed the 60,000-year threshold.
"As long as I can return to my original state, it doesn't matter. Perhaps in another 100,000 years it will break through. Then my original 10,000-year fifth spirit ring will become a 100,000-year one. Doesn't that sound delicious?"