Chapter 27

Yang Junshan placed the little tiger cub on the ground and watched it stumble towards the mountain tiger, burrowing into its jaw and snuggling into its embrace like a spoiled child.

At this moment, the mountain tiger was barely maintaining its life, with no strength left in its body. The young tiger cub, unaware that its mother's life was about to extinguish, continued to playfully burrow and roll in the fur under her jaw.

Despite having no strength left, the mountain tiger could sense the joy of the little tiger cub by its side. Her already scattered gaze now showed a mix of affection and reluctance.

Yang Junshan sighed inwardly, about to speak, when he noticed a faint black glow seeping from the corner of the mountain tiger's mouth.

Yang Junshan was taken aback. He was very familiar with this glow, which was the essence of demonic qi that demonic beasts condensed during their initial cultivation. Unlike the natural condensation of immortal spirits, this essence was the result of the demonic beast's own cultivation.

The black demonic qi essence flowed down and immediately spread like a mist, enveloping the little tiger cub's head.

The mischievous little tiger cub thought it was a new game and tried to shake off the misty substance, but the mountain tiger suddenly lowered its massive head, pinning the little tiger cub under its jaw, refusing to move no matter how much the cub cried out.

Is this a demonic qi灌topping?

Although surprised, Yang Junshan was not as shocked as before. He was surprised that the mountain tiger knew such a secret technique, but not shocked because most demonic beasts who knew this technique would perform it for their offspring before their demise.

Although called "topping," the demonic qi that could remain in the recipient's body was minimal, and it could not be used to enhance cultivation. It could only solidify the foundation, essentially a process of strengthening the roots. It played a supportive role in cultivation improvement.

The mountain tiger, at most, was a high-level human realm cultivator. The demonic qi essence it had condensed was limited. In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the black essence surrounding the little tiger cub's head seeped into its body, and the rest gradually dissipated.

The little tiger cub, still confused, shook its head. The mountain tiger, who had been lifeless, suddenly perked up and managed to move its front paws to push the little tiger cub away.

The little tiger cub, not understanding, tried to burrow back into its mother's embrace but was pushed away again, this time with more force, causing it to tumble to Yang Junshan's feet.

Yang Junshan knew this was the mountain tiger entrusting her cub to him, as well as his final test. He bent down to pick up the little tiger cub, bit his left index finger, and touched the cub's forehead, drawing a simple symbol and saying, "United in heart, sworn as brothers!"

What Yang Junshan did was a common oath of brotherhood among demonic beasts. Although these rituals did not have much binding power, they were taken very seriously, and the oaths were usually kept, much like human cultivators who would swear blood oaths and burn yellow paper.

However, whether human or demonic, at a certain level of cultivation, one must consider their true heart. Moreover, every step in cultivation was a formidable obstacle, and a pure heart and clear mind were often the foundation for further advancement. Without this foundation, it was often unattainable.

The mountain tiger indeed recognized this demonic pact. Her large, bell-like eyes lit up, and Yang Junshan had clearly gained her approval. The next step was for the mountain tiger to actively condense the immortal spirit within her body. After her death, Yang Junshan could search for the high-quality tiger bone immortal spirit within her.

Then, a yellowish-brown spiritual light appeared from the back of the mountain tiger's neck, following the spine to the point where it had been broken by the earth bear. This time, it was Yang Junshan's turn to widen his eyes.

Condensing bone into spirit, could this actually be condensing bone into spirit?

Wasn't this a phenomenon only seen in the rarest of high-quality immortal spirits? Could the tiger bone immortal spirit within the mountain tiger have reached the highest quality?

This truly shocked Yang Junshan!

A high-quality immortal spirit was something he had never even dared to dream of. Even with his past experiences, he had only dared to aim for high-quality immortal spirits, and even then, at the risk of death.

But if it were truly a high-quality immortal spirit, all the immortal spirits he had obtained before would pale in comparison. Despite his hundred years of experience, he had never seen any high-quality immortal spirits.

As Yang Junshan was still in shock, the yellowish-brown spiritual light began to retract from the mountain tiger's back spine and disappeared into her body.

Just as Yang Junshan was puzzled, the spiritual light suddenly appeared in the mountain tiger's mouth, becoming more condensed. Gradually, a thread of light began to seep into one of her long fangs.

Yang Junshan's heart, which had been racing, finally calmed down, and his face lit up with surprise. It was indeed the rare phenomenon of condensing bone into spirit. Could he have such incredible luck?

When the spiritual light had completely seeped into the fang, the originally white bone surface gained a jade-like luster, transforming the fang into a translucent crystal. The three-inch-long fang then fell from the mountain tiger's mouth.

Yang Junshan, with an excited expression, picked up the fang and gently wiped off the dust with his sleeve, afraid of any damage. In reality, true immortal spirits were not so easily broken, especially a fang that resembled a high-quality immortal spirit. It was just his own inner turmoil.

However, the moment he held the immortal spirit, Yang Junshan was suddenly stunned. The joy on his face froze. This was not right!

Yang Junshan quickly examined the fang closely. The spiritual light on the surface was indeed more intense than the high-quality bear gallbladder he had already obtained, but it did not reach the level of a high-quality immortal spirit. The fang was still a high-quality immortal spirit, albeit of a higher quality.

The strange part was the condensing bone into spirit phenomenon, which only occurred with high-quality immortal spirits. How could it end up as a high-quality immortal spirit?

Yang Junshan, unable to understand, slapped his head in frustration. Initially, he had only aimed for a high-quality immortal spirit. If the mountain tiger had left him a high-quality immortal spirit from the start, he would have been content.

But the key was the sign of a high-quality immortal spirit. Just as Yang Junshan was overjoyed and his expectations were raised, he suddenly found that the high-quality immortal spirit had turned into a high-quality one.

The significant psychological gap made it hard for Yang Junshan to accept. His face showed reluctance and anger as he repeatedly examined the high-quality tiger fang, muttering, "This is not right, it was clearly a high-quality immortal spirit, how did it become a high-quality one?"

After much thought, Yang Junshan guessed that the broken spine might have prevented the condensing bone into spirit process from completing.

It was also possible that the mountain tiger had used too much of her remaining life force to wait for her cub, leading to the failure of condensing a high-quality immortal spirit.

Despite his reluctance, the quality of the immortal spirit was a high-quality one, and this could not be changed. Yang Junshan had to console himself that at least he had not come away empty-handed. A high-quality immortal spirit was enough to complete his plans.

Moreover, his gains were not limited to this. Thinking about what he had seen in the mountain tiger's den, he could not help but feel excited, and the regret over missing a high-quality immortal spirit diminished.

At this moment, Yang Junshan felt his trouser leg being tugged. Looking down, he saw the little tiger cub, who had been trying to wake its mother, now tugging at his trouser leg, its eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment, not understanding why its mother no longer paid attention to it, and seeking help from the person her mother had entrusted to be its sworn brother.

Yang Junshan sighed, bent down to pick up the little tiger cub again, and bowed slightly to the mountain tiger's massive corpse. He then stroked the little tiger cub's furry head and said, "Little one, from now on, we are brothers. You will follow me."

The little tiger cub seemed to understand Yang Junshan's words, looked up at him, then at its mother's corpse, and turned back to Yang Junshan, calling softly, as if asking what had happened to its mother.

Yang Junshan was about to explain when a human voice came from outside the mountain pass, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. It was Zhang Yueming and the others, who had caught up again.