No sooner said than done, the psychological exchange between the man and the tiger happened in an instant.
Shortly after Nangong Lingyun spoke, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's eyes immediately revealed a very human-like expression of inner conflict.
For the first time since the fight started, it spoke human language:
"Is everything that damned snake said true? Is your Beast-Taming Martial Soul really that special?"
"Of course it's true. You've seen the strength and transformation of Ah Yin and Ah Zi with your own eyes. What else is there to doubt?"
A brilliant light instantly burst from Nangong Lingyun's eyes as he stared ahead intently.
He even held his breath, as if full of excitement and anticipation. His acting was flawless.
To show sincerity, he even deactivated the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body possession and returned to normal size.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger feigned hesitation for a while longer,
Then said helplessly:
"You still have some soul power left, and I've exhausted mine completely. In the end, I've lost this fight.
Becoming a beast-tamer's companion is better than being killed and turned into a soul ring. But if you dare lie to me, you're dead meat — you and that snake both."
It even bared its fangs a little on the last line, trying to appear ferocious.
Then, the aura it had been forcing out, along with the brutal red glow in its eyes, all disappeared suddenly,
As if it had dropped all its defenses.
The black tiger staggered and slowly walked out of the pit's center toward Nangong Lingyun.
Its swollen head, scorched body, limp tail, and a dragging leg—
Yep, the acting was pretty solid. Easily tens of thousands of times better than those pretty-boy actors.
In the distance, the Sky Blue Bull Python thought the two had finally reached an agreement.
The shock on its face dissipated greatly, and after letting out a long sigh of relief, it quickly moved its giant body toward them.
Watching this battle made it realize even more terrifying sides of Nangong Lingyun.
Add to that his connection with Xiao Wu, the scales in its heart were already tilting. Seeing the black tiger bow its head brought it joy.
However, it had only made it halfway
When suddenly, it saw Nangong Lingyun and the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, already close to each other, simultaneously erupt with terrifying auras that blasted straight at one another.
The entire snake froze mid-air, dumbfounded.
What the hell? You two were acting so sincerely just now—was that all for show?
Can this world even be trusted anymore?!
In the pit, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's exhausted appearance vanished, and its eyes turned from blood-red to a profoundly deep shade of blue.
The gray aura surrounding it disappeared, replaced by an extremely dark black—one that neither reflected nor transmitted light, even devouring the surrounding illumination.
The blue light in its eyes represented the power of Time, while the dark aura on its body was divine power from the Evil God.
Its time attribute wasn't pure and could only be triggered through divine power.
Almost simultaneously, the black tiger sprang up from where it stood and lunged toward Nangong Lingyun at a speed it had never shown before.
At the moment of the leap, the curved Evil God Hook on its back straightened, transforming into a horrifying Evil God Spike.
Then, a point of black light erupted from it, instantly appearing between it and Nangong Lingyun.
That black light was bizarre—within it surged an unimaginable terror,
Vast, majestic, yet eerie and evil.
Its aura greatly suppressed soul power circulation. Even thoughts began to freeze. Normal beings wouldn't be able to respond at all.
The black light rapidly expanded, forming a giant five-meter-wide black hole that enveloped Nangong Lingyun completely.
The moment it attacked, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger smirked sinisterly with a flash of pride.
Even after rampaging across the Star Dou Forest for thousands of years, fearing no one but a handful of beings, it couldn't resist the smugness.
Spatial attributes were just too annoying.
As a creature with spatial abilities itself, it knew the dangers well.
If anything went slightly wrong, this one-of-a-kind top-tier prey might escape.
To create this opportunity, it had endured ten straight minutes of brutal beatings.
However, before the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's grin even fully bloomed—
It froze, then transformed into sheer terror.
It never expected what happened next, and was utterly furious and horrified:
Nangong Lingyun had also acted—at the exact same moment.
His previously eager eyes suddenly turned a deep blue, even more profound than the tiger's. A thick layer of purple spread out from within the blue.
A beam of elegant blue-violet light flashed through the air.
The just-smug Dark Demon Evil God Tiger let out a bone-chilling, agonized scream. The black aura on its body shattered like glass.
The ultimate spirit and time from the Chaos Holy Spirit Martial Soul—
Even without a soul ring, it was enough to shatter the tiger's weakened divine aura and slightly tamper with the flow of time.
Everything around plunged into darkness.
Though he had prepared mentally, Nangong Lingyun still felt a chill when his power suddenly disappeared, his true qi weakened rapidly, and he lost connection to all skills.
If not for the system's simulated result showing a 100% success rate, this feeling was one he truly never wanted to experience again.
It felt like being stripped of all powers and knocked from the peak into the mundane world.
Then, with a flicker of thought, the surrounding space returned to brightness.
Nangong Lingyun curiously glanced around and found himself in a strange space.
Just like described in the original story, the ground looked like a massive arena. There were no clouds, sun, or stars above—only boundless darkness.
Opposite him, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger wore a complicated expression—shock, rage, fear, regret—all constantly shifting.
The anger was, of course, from being played.
If not for that blue-violet light, it would've reached a full 60,000-year form by now.
As for the shock and fear… what exactly had it seen at the end?
A third martial soul?
A time attribute more pure than its own?
How is that even possible?!
And the moment Nangong Lingyun saw the juvenile Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, his eyes lit up and he blurted:
"Brother Tiger, this look… kinda cute, no?"
Previously, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had an eight-meter body, rippling muscles, blood-red pupils, a thick Evil God Hook, and wings that seemed large enough to block out the sky—everything about it screamed danger.
But now, its body was only 1.5 meters long. Not only were its wings gone, even its tail had become an ordinary tiger tail. It looked more like a big black kitty.
Especially the way it was now frantically angry from being tricked—it was oddly amusing.
Just then,
A strange voice echoed from all directions, omnipresent and impossible to trace:
"Welcome to the Life-and-Death Arena.Only one side's death can end this duel and allow exit from this space.Countdown: Five, four, three, two, one…Begin!"
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger didn't hesitate and lunged fiercely toward Nangong Lingyun.
It knew this was truly a life-or-death battle now—one wrong move and it would really die.
However, the moment it moved,
Nangong Lingyun gently tapped the crystal pendant hanging from his neck. A strange weapon that looked like six steel tubes joined together instantly appeared in his hand.
As the tubes spun, a series of iron pellets rapidly launched at the ground, producing explosive blasts.
Normally, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger wouldn't even glance at such things.
But now, in its six-year-old form, just a few hits could be fatal. It froze on the spot, not daring to move.
Nangong Lingyun smiled brightly and said:
"Brother Tiger, now… can we form a contract?"
"Yes, yes, of course! With a martial soul like yours, why not? Absolutely!"
(End of Chapter)