Chapter 392: Assassin! Warrior? The Fierce Orange Cat! The Lion Spirit of Mount Hong!

The orange cat gave a disdainful snort, clearly too proud to answer him. “Leave this mountain at once, or I’ll...”

Bang

!

Li Yanchu struck first. His fist blasted forward, and even from over ten meters away, the wind pressure hit like a hammer.

The orange cat was caught off guard; her head snapped sideways from the impact.

Li Yanchu frowned.

She’s this tough?

“You foolish mortal, do you have a death wish?!” the cat roared furiously.

With a thunderous “

Roar!”

, she pounced, claws outstretched. A violent gust surged forward, her killing intent rolled in like a tidal wave.

Li Yanchu’s breath hitched as qi shield flared around his body.

With a single step, he leapt forward, and man and beast collided head-on!

Boom

!!!

The mountain trembled. A violent shockwave burst out from the point of impact, sending dust billowing and rocks flying.

When the smoke cleared, a tall, steady figure stood; it was Li Yanchu.

“You’re not dead?” the orange cat blurted in surprise. Then, a rainstorm of punches crashed down on her!

Her twin claws turned into afterimages, thudding again and again as echoes of the fight rolled through the mountain. The ground beneath Li Yanchu’s feet cracked open, stone shattering under the force.

Even he was astonished, as the cat’s flurry of paw punches came fast and heavy, each blow sharp and precise.

It reminded him absurdly of those

cat-fight videos

he’d once seen, where felines swung their paws so fast that their limbs blurred. He didn’t think that he’d be able to witness it in real life.

He realized, to his shock, that with pure physical strength and martial power alone, he was being overpowered by this orange cat.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Li Yanchu’s mind focused, and the Daoist talismanic armor on his body ignited with a blaze of light. Blood and qi roared skyward, his aura climbing sharply.

Boom

!

Divine Astral Hands!

Cannon Hammer!

The cat’s relentless barrage stopped, not because she wanted to, but because he broke through her assault by force!

Li Yanchu seized the chance, grabbing both of her forepaws and slowly straightening up.

The orange cat’s expression shifted; she struggled with all her might, but it was futile. The young Daoist suddenly erupted with power many times stronger than before, his strength now completely overwhelming hers.

“Is Wangba Boxing[1] all you’ve got?” Li Yanchu sneered.

He drove a fist forward. Behind him, a massive phantom figure appeared, mirroring his movement.

Martial Dao Manifestation!

The orange cat’s enormous six-meter body was blasted backward. As she flew, Li Yanchu leapt after her, his body spinning midair. Then, his descending strike smashed down like a falling star.

But he had still underestimated her.

In midair, the cat twisted, spine bending like a bow. She spun a full 720 degrees and managed to meet his martial projection head-on, blocking it cleanly!

The next instant, she landed, bolting into the forest with incredible speed.

Li Yanchu’s eyes narrowed, and he darted after her without hesitation.

Boom!

Boom!

Whole stretches of forest were blasted apart, with trees snapping and collapsing in waves. The orange cat wasn’t just running; every so often she’d suddenly double back and sucker-punch Li Yanchu.

If not for his protective talismanic armor, he’d already be seriously injured. The sheer power behind her claws was terrifying, utterly beyond reason. It proved one thing beyond doubt: stacking armor was worth it.

The orange cat fought like an assassin: fast, lethal, unpredictable. No... even worse, she also had insane defense.

Fortunately, Li Yanchu himself was a similar kind of cultivator; otherwise, he wouldn’t have stood a chance against her.

He didn’t want to kill the creature, only to find out the truth, so weapons like the

Five-Lightning Talisman

or

Jiaoslayer

were off the table.

Rumble

!

Their battle raged across the mountains, shaking the ground with every clash. Luckily, this was a barren peak; if it had been near a village, the people below would have been terrified to death.

“If you run again, I’ll tear down that shabby temple of yours!” Li Yanchu shouted, an idea flashing in his mind.

The effect was immediate; the orange cat froze mid-leap, then spun around with a furious glare. She wasn’t running anymore, she was going to fight.

Boom

!

They collided again, their figures separating in an instant as another massive shockwave rippled outward.

Now genuinely enraged, the orange cat’s cold eyes gleamed crimson as she bared her fangs.

“The people here stopped offering incense to you long ago!” Li Yanchu scolded, his voice sharp as a blade. “Yet you still linger here, it proves you’re bound to this place, still watching over them. If you truly care about protecting the people, why lend your power to those fiends and stain your hands with blood!?”

“Silence!” the orange cat roared, lunging forward with her jaws wide open!

Li Yanchu swiftly summoned his Five-Dragon Wheel. With a flick of his wrist, five blazing dragons surged forth, roaring with fiery might.

The orange cat swiped her claws.

Swish, swish, swish!

And every dragon was shredded into sparks.

But as she finished, her eyes widened, as Li Yanchu had vanished.

Boom

!

He dropped from the sky, both fists hammering down. The blow smashed squarely onto her skull, sending her crashing into the ground and carving out a deep crater.

“Freeze!”

With a flick of his fingers, Li Yanchu cast the Immobilization Spell. The orange cat’s body went rigid, and then

BANG

! another heavy punch landed!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A relentless flurry of strikes followed. Each blow thundered down, shaking the mountain, until the once-proud orange cat lay battered and broken. She was bleeding from her seven orifices, body twitching in pain.

Cats were never built to endure injuries, and now, on the verge of death, perhaps from unbearable pain, or from the despair of knowing her end had come, two clear tears slid from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into the thick fur on her cheeks.

“Go ahead and kill me,” the orange cat said weakly. “Take my demon core, it’s yours.”

Did I just... beat her until she cried?

Li Yanchu frowned. “What demon core?”

The orange cat froze, staring at the young Daoist in confusion.

“I asked you why you lent your power to those fox spirits,” Li Yanchu said calmly. “When did I ever mention a demon core?”

The cat blinked, stunned.

“Wasn’t that just... an excuse?” she muttered after a moment. “Besides, I’m badly injured now. If you kill me and take my core, won’t that help your cultivation? Isn’t that what righteous cultivators usually do?”

Li Yanchu’s brow furrowed. “Who told you that?”

“My mother,” the orange cat said faintly.

“...”

Well... she’s not entirely wrong,

Li Yanchu thought wryly.

***

Eventually, he coaxed the full truth out of her.

The orange cat wasn’t truly the mountain god of Mount Xiaofeng at all, that title had once belonged to her mother. Before her death, the original mountain god, her mother, had used a secret technique to pass on all her power, sealing it within her daughter’s body.

Since then, the young cat had stayed quietly atop the mountain, never once going down. But as Buddhism and Daoism flourished, the people gradually stopped worshipping local spirits.

The mountain temple enshrined a deity with the body of a human and the head of a cat. Later generations considered it less trustworthy than the orthodox faiths.

Before her death, her mother had given strict instructions: the daughter must never inherit the title of mountain god, nor intervene in mortal affairs. Once a shrine lost its miracles, its abandonment was only a matter of time.

Of course, there might have been deeper reasons. Perhaps it was tied to the struggle over incense and faith between deities. Or perhaps her mother had suffered some tragedy and wanted her daughter to live quietly, cultivating in obscurity.

Then, not long ago, a powerful demon appeared before her and invited her to join the White Marsh Demon Kingdom.

She refused without hesitation, and they fought. Wounded and unable to use her innate magic, she barely survived, and that was why, when facing Li Yanchu today, she had been so weak. By this point, her voice had softened, and her eyes held a hint of sorrow.

As for the strand of fur Li Yanchu had found, it had been taken by that demon, infused with a trace of her power, and refined into a talisman. Now, her body was weakening further by the moment.

Li Yanchu watched her silently for a while, and she didn’t seem to be lying. He thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you know where that demon is now?”

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The orange cat’s gaze turned cold.

“Of course I do,” she hissed. “He’s a lion spirit from Mount Hong, a man-eating fiend with a strange and terrible divine power.”

1. Wangba Boxing refers to a fighting method that arises from natural bodily instincts. Its attacking pattern is characterized mainly by large, swinging punches, combined with tactical elements such as high speed, great force, and a fearless mindset. Its features include wide, forceful movements, ease of learning, and strong intimidation value, but it also has many technical flaws, making it easy for skilled fighters to counter in real combat.

There are several theories about its origin: one claims it comes from the flailing, eyes-closed punching described among children in Wang Shuo’s novel Looks Beautiful From Here; another associates it with the Wangba Boxing moves performed in Chen Peisi’s 1992 comedy sketch, which became widely known through film and television. Some martial arts instructional videos have also demonstrated methods for countering Wangba Boxing. ☜