Chapter 204: Miao Ming’er, Going Home
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Meow~!
A soft mew tinged with some sorrow rang out from within the enormous tiger body.
Then, an all-new aura of life appeared and started to spread throughout the tiger. At the same time, it also caused its majestic aura to become increasingly powerful.
Where no one could see, in w.a.n.g Hu’s mind, the peculiar power that gave off an aura of Dao and constantly eroded his soul had already miraculously disappeared.
His soul, which had originally been badly injured, had also recovered to its peak condition. On top of that, there was even an increasingly thriving sense of vitality in it.
It was as though he was an old tree that possessed a young tree sapling’s ability to grow.
His barely-discernible breathing had also become strong and steady again.
Joy surfaced in the little cat’s eyes. With a thought, the remaining eight illusory little cats went back into her.
She swayed a little. Compared to just now, the aura around her had declined significantly.
The look in her eyes also became fatigued.
“Big Sister…”
The cyan-blue bird hurriedly flew down and gazed worriedly at the little cat.
“I’m fine. I’m just a little tired,” the little cat said gently with a comforting smile.
Qing Qing snorted in displeasure. How could she possibly be fine when she had lost one of her lives?
She wasn’t stupid.
She sounded miffed as she said, “This big tiger is so huge. He must be pretty strong. We must make him pay a huge price when he wakes up.
“And make him repay Big Sister’s kindness properly by doing all kinds of labor.”
The little cat merely smiled gently and quietly without giving the cyan-blue bird any reply. She glanced at the tiger that had already recovered, and a hint of reluctance to part flashed across her heart. Nevertheless, she said, “Let’s go, Qing Qing.”
“Go?” The angry Qing Qing stared blankly and asked confusedly, “Where are we going?”
“Going back,” replied the little cat gently.
“Are we going back now? Hasn’t that big tiger already recovered?” asked a puzzled Qing Qing.
It’s exactly because he’s recovered.
She replied softly in her mind. Then, the little cat smiled and said, “That’s why it’s time that we go back.”
Qing Qing, who was utterly confused, felt rather bewildered.
However, when she saw that Big Sister had already turned around and started to run in the direction of their home, she didn’t have the leisure to think too much about it anymore. She turned and glared furiously at the big tiger that was fast asleep. Then, she hastily went after the little cat.
“Big Sister, wait for me.”
Before long, the cat and the bird went far away into the distance.
On the way…
After running at high speed for a while and doing a rough estimate of the distance that they had traveled, the little cat became even more exhausted. Unable to press on any further, her speed started to drop.
Qing Qing thought for a moment. At this point, she also finally found an opportunity to speak.
She sounded somewhat surprised as she said, “Big Sister, that tiger’s so huge. Surely, he isn’t the number-one expert in the world, the Northern Tiger King, right?”
The little cat’s eyes s.h.i.+fted a little. Then, she shook her head and replied, “I don’t know either.”
She indeed wasn’t sure about it.
Even though she was already 90% sure, there was still a 10% chance that he wasn’t.
In any case, she wasn’t concerned about that anyway. All she needed to be sure about was that he was half of the pair of husband and wife from back then, and that would do.
“That must be him for sure. Otherwise, where else would there be such a huge tiger in this world? Moreover, he has such a fierce aura around him.” Qing Qing, however, had already become certain. Her voice was filled with confidence.
Then, she became utterly confused and asked perplexedly, “Big Sister, you saved his life. You should get him to repay your kindness, isn’t it?
“Since he’s so strong, he’ll definitely have a lot of awesome things. It’s just as well that Big Sister can use them to make up for the energy loss that you suffered to save him. In the future, if we let it be known that we saved his life, who would still dare to bully us?
“Why are we leaving?
“No matter how fierce he may be or how unreasonable he may be, surely he won’t renege on his debt to his life-saving benefactor?
“Besides, if we don’t tell him how exactly you saved him, even if he harbors ill intentions, it’ll be fine, won’t it?”
Qing Qing flew about here and there in the air at a low alt.i.tude and chattered noisily continuously without pause.
Her voice was crisp, clear, and melodious; while her tone was sometimes puzzled, sometimes fierce, and sometimes cautious. She was just like a lively and bubbly little girl with an awfully cheeky, whimsical, and very interesting personality.
There wasn’t any impatience in the little cat’s eyes at all. After a moment’s thought, she said warmly, “Qing Qing, he saved me in the past.”
“Ah!” Qing Qing let out an exclamation right away. Her eyes were full of curiosity and astonishment. “Are you saying that that big tiger saved you before, Big Sister?”
“Yes.” The little cat nodded and said slowly, “The reason why I was able to break through to the Transformation Realm back then was precisely that he and his wife saved me.”
As she spoke, a hint of a slightly odd smile surfaced as well, and she secretly added another line in her mind.
It’s just that they nearly killed me again after that.
“It’s no wonder that Big Sister sensed it in advance, then. So, that’s the kind of relations.h.i.+p the two of you have.” Qing Qing said with a look of ‘so that’s how it is’ on her face.
“Therefore, saving him is something that Big Sister ought to do. Come to think of it, Big Sister owes them one life each,” said the little cat seriously.
Qing Qing, who had originally already let go of the issue, immediately became rather flabbergasted. She stared straight at her Big Sister.
“Big Sister, surely, you’re not spouting nonsense, right? Why would you owe them two lives when the two of them only saved your life once?”
“That’s because both husband and wife saved me,” replied the smiling little cat as though all was right and justified.
Resigned and speechless, Qing Qing raised her head and looked at the sky. “Ah, Miao Ming’er, oh, Miao Ming’er. My beloved sister, is there even anyone that calculates the accounts the way you do?”
The little cat, whom the bird addressed as Miao Ming’er, smiled and remained silent like an elder sister quietly watching her mischievous younger sister being cheeky.
Defeated, a speechless Qing Qing said, “Even if you’re doing this to repay their kindness, surely, we don’t need to leave in such a hurry right after saving him, right?
“It’s also good to let that big tiger know that you’ve already returned the favor and that we don’t owe him anything anymore.”
Miao Ming’er shook her head and said calmly and serenely, “It’s not necessary. He has his own life, while we have our own.
“Why bother disturbing his life and our own, too?
“It’s fine as long as we know this ourselves.”
Her words led Qing Qing around in circles for a moment. When she finally understood what Big Sister meant, she felt utterly resigned.
She grumbled, “Fine, you’re the elder sister. We’ll listen to what you say.”
Miao Ming’er smiled and said no more.
In no time, two entirely different—yet also unusually harmonious—figures disappeared into the far distance.
When they were almost 100 kilometers away, the enormous tiger that had smashed a huge hole into the ground moved.
His eyes opened, upon which a hint of bewilderment flashed across them. Then, he got up with a jump warily and looked around him cautiously. He subconsciously scanned his surroundings with his divine senses and realized that he was somewhere in the wilderness of Ji.
After a series of consecutive actions, w.a.n.g Hu realized something unusual.
I’ve recovered!
His brows drew together into a frown, and he checked his soul with his subconsciousness. This was wonderful. He was in peak condition. On top of that, it even seemed like something had changed a little.
He felt as though he was going to continue growing and developing. This was a positive change.
At once, he became awfully perplexed.
He remembered very clearly the consequences that the Dragon King’s final attack had caused.
Back then, apart from thoughts of going home, he had also been well aware of something else—it was likely that he was about to die.
How was it that he had completely recovered after some sleep?
Apart from his divine power, he was completely fine in every other aspect.
Even in the case of his divine power, it was just a normal case of full depletion and wouldn’t cause him any harm.
What exactly was going on?
Why had he suddenly recovered?
The Dragon King’s final attack definitely wasn’t a pretense.
With a frown, he pondered about it for a while. Then, he directed his attention to the Map of the Universe.
In matters pertaining to the soul, apart from this mysterious cheat, it didn’t seem like anyone else could save him.
As he thought about it, even though he couldn’t be entirely sure yet, grat.i.tude and gladness had already formed in him.
It seemed like there was still some use to this cheat that was usually completely useless apart from giving him special abilities. It had directly saved his life during a critical juncture.
Not bad.
His face revealed a happy smile that was also mixed with gladness and lingering fears.
He had really nearly died this time.
The aura of death had been so close to him.
It was so close that w.a.n.g Hu really thought that he was going to die. There was only one thought in his mind at that time, and that was to return to Silly Girl, Big Treasure, and Little Treasure.
That feeling of extreme reluctance to part was really too horrible!
He exhaled lightly. Then, he took out a s.p.a.ce bag, took out some Spirit Stones from within, and started to replenish his divine power.
At the same time, he was also reflecting upon himself.
He had really nearly died this time. Now that he had luckily survived, he had gained a fair amount of comprehension during these short moments.
He couldn’t help but reflect on the battle.
He had ultimately still been a little too careless!
He had underestimated a Fourth Realm being with an extremely extraordinary ident.i.ty and status.
Had he not cultivated the White Tiger Battle Art’s second stage but cleanly defeated the opponent instead, the Dragon King likely wouldn’t have chosen such a measure that dealt great damage to the enemy—while also dealing significant damage to himself—and set a portion of his own divine spirit ablaze.
Of course, this was only one of the reasons. To be honest, he didn’t regret his decision. Neither was he afraid.
If he held that many reservations about that many things, then how was he going to fight and battle?
He was just doing some self-reflection about where he had been too careless. He shouldn’t have given the other party any chances at all.
He had even spoken so much to the dragon, which had thoroughly enraged the other and given him time to make preparations.
w.a.n.g Hu should have spared no costs and killed the Golden Dragon King instead—or at least, he should have at least exhausted all the dragon’s strength.
If not for the Golden Dragon King’s borrowed power that went beyond peak-level Third Realm, even if part of his divine spirit was inherently at the Fourth Realm, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything to w.a.n.g Hu.
Unfortunately, after burning that power that went beyond peak-level Third Realm and his own divine spirit, he had managed to use a soul-related special ability.
It involved the Fourth Realm and the power of Dao, which w.a.n.g Hu couldn’t withstand.
There was a disparity between the two in terms of their levels and cultivation realms.
Had the Extreme Defense Wall of Dao not withstood part of the force, he would probably have died on the spot.
By right, even though that kind of soul attack was extremely fast, it might not necessarily be able to hit him.
However, he hadn’t expected the Golden Dragon King to straight-up destroy two superior-grade Dharma treasures and use the seawater to hinder his movements a little.
These various circ.u.mstances had nearly cost him his life.
In the end, he discovered that there was only one thing that he had done wrong.
He shouldn’t have said that much to the Golden Dragon King. After mastering the White Tiger Battle Art’s second stage, he should have immediately broken through the Overturn Oceans Formation, attacked the Golden Dragon King, and killed him right away.
He heaved a light sigh. Never would he have ever expected that he would also form such a terrible habit one day.
The strong died because of excessive talking.
Of course, he also knew that he wasn’t actually to be blamed for this either.
One could only say that this was an outcome that had formed due to various factors.
What he had said formed only a very, very small part of the reason.
Nevertheless, it was ultimately still a small mistake. Thus, he needed to reflect upon himself for that.
However…
He thought of the feeling he got during that time. He had defeated a strong enemy with a highly extraordinary ident.i.ty and whose actual level of combat power was above his.
Moreover, he had even toyed with the other party. This resulting sense of accomplishment and pleasure…
It felt like he would feel very uncomfortable if he hadn’t stopped to say something at that time. It simply felt like it was missing a little something.
It really was very hard to blame him for that. When facing certain enemies, some experts always liked to say a few lines after they defeated the other.
That feeling of simply having to say something was simply too alluring. It was an intelligent lifeform’s instinct.
w.a.n.g Hu had always had that feeling. For example, he had felt a bit of the same thing when he was killing the Demon King of Nowhere.
He had also felt a bit of it when he was killing the experts from the Gyeongmyeong alternate world.
He had also felt it a bit when he was dealing with the Dragon Clan.
In any case, he had more or less felt a bit of it whenever he was dealing with strong enemies. It was just that he had met with a mishap this time—that was all.
The next time…
w.a.n.g Hu frowned somewhat. He wasn’t sure whether he could change his personality or not either.
After all, there were some things that one couldn’t change even if they knew full well that it wasn’t good.
Take copulation for example. After doing it, one would always feel as if it was nothing more than that and that it was awfully boring. On top of that, it was even detrimental to one’s body. Thus, they would always think that they wouldn’t do it anymore; or at least, they would think that they ought to keep it in control.
Yet, how many people would be able to change after some time?
He frowned and mused for a while before he temporarily suppressed the thoughts. Regardless, he should still pay more attention to it in the future.
He definitely didn’t wish to experience anything like this again.
Different thoughts mixed and intertwined with one another as he mused. It was only after a long while that he gradually calmed down and started to concentrate on recovering his divine power.
He activated the Eight Tigers Spiritual Energy-Devouring Body-Nurturing Art to its limit. Six tigers roared silently around him as they helped him to absorb spiritual energy.
These six tigers also signified that his mastery of this particular cultivation technique had already reached a certain level. When he managed to manifest eight tigers, his cultivation of the technique would have also reached a perfected level of mastery.
Before long, he managed to recover a portion of his divine power. Every other aspect of his body had also recovered by slightly over half.
Suddenly, his nose twitched lightly. He had detected a very, very subtle but different scent in the air.
It was right at this point that a look of joy came over him. He transformed from his tiger form into his Dao form, got up, and looked in the direction of the Tiger King’s Cave.
An even more familiar scent was currently approaching at high speed.
It was Silly Girl—and Big Treasure and Little Treasure!
At once, he put away all his other thoughts. Joy filled his heart.
Those that hadn’t experienced the feeling of having a close brush with death would never understand.
When he was about to die, there had only been one thought on his mind—going home.
Now that he had survived, his greatest desire at the moment was still to go home.
He wanted to go home and see Silly Girl, Big Treasure, and Little Treasure.
With a flash of golden light, he went toward them.
In the blink of an eye, two streaks of light—one gold and one white—met with each other in the air and transformed into their bodies.
“Baijun!”
Despite trying his best to keep it under control, w.a.n.g Hu nevertheless called her name with some pleasant surprise and agitation in his voice. He went forward and hugged Silly Girl and the two little fellows in her arms…
Very forcefully.
Di Baijun heaved a huge sigh of relief. Her eyes—which had been filled with anxiety—calmed down significantly, and she stopped panicking.
It was only when she took a close look at the rascal and determined that he was alright that she finally fully relaxed.
Then, she became furious.
Honestly. It’s all this rascal’s fault. I was so anxious.
With a pout, she reached out and mercilessly pinched his waist.
w.a.n.g Hu felt it, but he didn’t mind at all. Instead, he continued to hug them tightly.
“Daddy, it’s so cramped!”
Big Treasure and Little Treasure’s childish cries finally made him loosen his hold a little.
Then, he took the two little fellows from Silly Girl with one arm and hugged them, while he hugged Silly Girl even more tightly with his other.
He had never felt this peaceful and at ease before.
Similarly, Di Baijun also felt settled and at ease. However, very soon, when faced with the two little fellows’ curious and innocent gazes, she couldn’t quite stand it anymore.
She pushed him away lightly and whispered bashfully, “C’mon, let go.”
w.a.n.g Hu didn’t insist. With a smile, he loosened his hold. Then, he kissed Silly Girl on her cheek at a lightning-fast speed.
When a miffed look appeared on her face, he also gave Big Treasure and Little Treasure big kisses.
He gave them a big kiss each on their little faces.
“Mwah! Mwah!”
He deliberately made loud kissing sounds, causing the two little fellows—who had been watching them curiously just now—to forcefully push their father away with their little hands.
Both of them had the same look of resistance on their little faces.
“Don’t!” Big Treasure shouted.