Chapter 1020: Substitute Lotus Seed

Both combatants were Great Demon Kings, with the Savage Tiger King being a veteran at the pinnacle of that realm. And while Big Cat had yet to reach the pinnacle, he was definitely among the strong within the Great Demon Kings. For beings of their level, unleashing their full power made it no easy task to change moves midway through. Once anyone tried to change their move, they would instantly fall into disadvantage.

In the Savage Tiger King's vocabulary, the word "fear" simply did not exist. His opponent suddenly risking it all was beyond his expectations, but at this moment, he didn't hesitate at all. His twin Demon King Swords burst with even stronger dark-golden light, still cleaving toward Big Cat. At the same time, his burly body twisted, and a bizarre scene unfolded. As Big Cat's slash came at him, his chest seemed to cave inward and then rebounded fiercely, accompanied by a burst of light. He was actually using his chest to forcibly take Big Cat's sweeping strike!

Not only that, but the shoes he was wearing scattered apart, releasing a dark-golden glow that became a barrier around his body. Clearly, they were some kind of single-use defensive item.

The twin Demon King Swords tore through Big Cat's protective Lion-Tiger Golden Force like rotted wood, directly striking his shoulder and head. Big Cat's head was chopped in half, and his shoulder was split open down to the middle of his chest.

Meanwhile, Big Cat's full-force sweeping God-Slaying Sword ruthlessly slashed upward, also breaking through the dark-golden glow rising from Hong Hong's feet and striking his rebounding chest.

The explosive power of the Lion-Tiger Golden Force showed itself perfectly in that instant. Amid the sharp sound of breaking bones, the Savage Tiger King's chest was cleaved open.

If not for the surging dark-golden light pouring forth like tides, he would have been chopped in two like a pig carcass. And even so, half of his chest was split open in what was clearly a lethal wound. Blood spurted wildly, broken bones and torn flesh flying in every direction.

The spectators held their breath. Even with the previous matches still fresh in their mind, no one had expected this lion-tiger clash to be so brutal.

It was only their second collision, yet both sides were grievously wounded.

The Savage Tiger King was not yet dead, however. His twin Demon King Swords hacked at the God-Slaying Sword, sending it and Big Cat's mangled body flying. He then took out a fruit from his storage ring and quickly stuffed it in his mouth.

Seeing the fruit, Tang San frowned. It was a Blue Gold Fruit!

Yes, what Hong Hong had eaten was a Blue Gold Fruit. It was far from the quality of those Tang San had just sold, but even so, it was definitely produced by a tenth-order Blue Gold Tree, and this made it a veritable panaceum.

At once, rich life energy flowed out from him like a waterfall. Blue-golden light sealed the gaping wound in his chest almost instantly, and the bleeding was stanched. The wound also began healing rapidly.

Driving the Demon King Swords into the stone tile of the platform, the Savage Tiger King used them as crutches to prop himself up. His eyes were filled with fierce determination.

Just then, over in the distance, Big Cat's brutally mangled body seemed to... thin out, as if it was slowly vanishing. Then, the phantom of an intact Big Cat appeared out of thin air right next to it. Slowly, the phantom became more and more solid, while the broken body turned illusory.

Though he was pale as a sheet of paper, a rather mild side effect of having successfully courted death, Big Cat was alive once more.

"The Substitute Lotus Seed..." the Savage Tiger King growled through clenched teeth.

Yes, what Big Cat had used at that moment was the Substitute Lotus Seed, a gift from Tang San.

When Tang San gave it to him, he said he'd bought it from the Blue Gold Tree clan and had Big Cat request money from the Golden Lion clan for it. This way, if Big Cat used it, he could claim he had bought it from the Blue Gold Tree clan.

The Substitute Lotus Seed wasn't omnipotent. For example, Tang San had not lied to Ning Chen'en at all: If it was used against Qiu Zixuan's World-Sundering Sword, it would likely fail, as that sword destroyed not just the body but the divine consciousness. The seed could restore one's body even if it was entirely obliterated, but that was on the premise that the divine consciousness was intact.

But this situation was ideal for it. Though Big Cat's head was shattered, he had already shifted his divine consciousness and activated the lotus seed at the instant of impact.

The Demon King Sword's suppression caused the target's emotions to be disturbed, but its effect ultimately targeted bloodline power; the divine consciousness was not particularly impacted. Moreover, the Savage Tiger King had immediately drawn back his swords to defend against the exploding Lion-Tiger Golden Force, allowing Big Cat's substitution to succeed perfectly.

Reaching out, Big Cat called the God-Slaying Sword back to his hand, eyes blazing as he faced the Savage Tiger King.

The nature-defying effect of the Substitute Lotus Seed wasn't without cost. Though the revival had been successful, Big Cat's state was far from stable; his life force was all over the place, and his power was halved. But compared to Hong Hong, he was in much better shape.

The Blue Gold Fruit that the Savage Tiger King had just consumed was, after all, just a tenth-order one. It could ultimately heal his injuries, yes, but "ultimately" was not "now." He was simply too strong for the fruit to instantly heal him.

Without question, in terms of trading injury for injury, Big Cat had the upper hand.

But though he'd succeeded, the domain effect of the twin Demon King Swords hadn't vanished. Its level was actually even beyond that of the Substitute Lotus Seed, so Big Cat remained cloaked in negative emotions, and his body highly unstable.

"You bastard, you had a Substitute Lotus Seed. You think this means you can beat me?"

The Savage Tiger King's body turned somewhat transparent, just like Big Cat's corpse. It was as if he'd become a ghost himself!

This was his unique bloodline ability: Netherworld Reflection!

His mutated bloodline gave him the ability to connect with the Netherworld.[1] His true body would be temporarily shifted there, leaving a phantom in its stead the real world. In this state, no physical, spiritual, or energy attacks could harm him. He could also use it to move rapidly, practically teleporting within a set range. This was a supreme survival ability.

It was this that let him repeatedly challenge strong foes and live to boast about it, and it was for this reason that the White Tiger Demon Emperor hadn't killed him. Even for a battle-hardened Emperor, it would have been quite difficult to kill Hong Hong while he was using this ability.

Right now, he wouldn't teleport away; that would mean losing the match. But with Netherworld Reflection, he could stay invulnerable for a time, while he let his body absorb the Blue Gold Fruit's energy and heal. He was certain that once he recovered seventy or eighty percent, defeating Big Cat would be no issue. Meanwhile, Big Cat would be unable to recover completely, considering that he was still impacted by the Demon King Domain.

Once Hong Hong used Netherworld Reflection, however, his domain faded. Big Cat forced his God-Killing Domain to rise, using his killing intent to counter the domain's suppression.

As he stared at the phantom before him, watching the Savage Tiger King's wound rapidly knit together, Big Cat suddenly smiled.

1. There has been no explanation as to what the Netherworld is in this universe; the concept only appears once in

Soul Land 2—The Unrivaled Tang Sect

and it's not really explained, other than it being a kind of adjacent mini-plane that feels kinda negative. ☜