Chapter 118: The Wind Brings Forth The Winged Beasts

From the woods below, a rustling sound emerged. Wu Bingji whispered, "Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger. It might be a Winged Tiger. Be careful."

As he spoke, suddenly, a figure burst out of the woods with a swoosh. The muscular figure flapped its wings furiously, charging directly toward the hillside where they were.

With Tang San's Discerning Eye and Celestial Fox Vision, combined with the Purple Demon Eyes, there was no one around who could see better. With just one glance, he saw the appearance of the newcomer.

It was a majestic tiger covered in dark yellow fur with brown stripes. Its back sported a pair of solid and broad wings, with longer fur than its body. From below its lips, two sharp, dagger-like fangs protruded. Its torso was robust and powerful, measuring over two and a half meters in length.

Its manner of advancing was unique. It leaped off the ground with its limbs, and then, in mid-air, it powerfully flapped its wings for a second burst of speed. It was incredibly fast, and as it moved through the trees, it exuded a fierce aura.

It was indeed a Winged Tiger! They hadn't even entered the Winged Tigers' territory yet, and now they unexpectedly encountered one at the border!

Tang San saw it; the next moment, Wu Bingji and Gu Li also saw it. However, there was no panic on their faces. Instead, they showed expressions of joy. The reason was simple: this wasn't an adult Winged Tiger, but a young one.

An adult Winged Tiger was at least four meters long, much larger, and had a distinct aura. This Winged Tiger, judging by its size, clearly hadn't reached adulthood. Such a Winged Tiger would be below the seventh order, likely around the fifth or sixth. It was entirely within the capabilities of their current team.

Wu Bingji rubbed his hands together, and a streak of blue formed in his palms, deepening quickly as he manipulated it with his hands. It was an icicle.

Through trial and error over the past few days, Wu Bingji found that by rubbing his hands and channeling the ice elemental energy between them, he could quickly compress the icicle, enhancing its power.

Gu Li let out a low shout, stepping forward. A flash of pale yellow light in his eyes, and the Winged Tiger, about to pounce onto the hillside, paused momentarily in midair.

The most terrifying aspect of the Time Freeze ability wasn't actually the momentary delay, but the disruption it caused to the momentum built up by the opponent.

The fiercely charging Winged Tiger was frozen in place, and the moment it started to move again, it naturally lost its balance.

Gu Li spun in midair. His large tail swung up, and he executed the first strike of the Disorder Wind Splitting Hammer technique, sending the tail hammer fiercely toward the tiger's head.

The coordination of the Chrono Croc Transformation and the Disorder Wind Splitting Hammer technique was perfectly executed, and Gu Li was incredibly excited.

A loud bang echoed as the Winged Tiger's head was struck square. The impact sent it whirling down toward the ground.

At the same time, Wu Bingji launched the icicle in his hand. It was only a third of the size of a normal one, but its deep blue color betrayed a much greater density. It vanished in a flash thanks to the Flicking Dart, shooting straight towards the eye of the Winged Tiger.

Tang San was not idle either. In his hands, eighteen wind blades blossomed in the style of the Hundred Birds Homing Strike. On closer inspection, one would notice that the wind blades he released were a few shades deeper in color than when they had first left the academy to enter the Kali mountain range, a clear sign of increased attack power.

The Winged Tiger knocked down by Gu Li stood up and finally regained its footing. It let out a loud roar as it prepared to counterattack. At the same time, a burst of green-yellow light exploded from it, blooming outward like an explosion.

"Freeze!" Gu Li's second activation of the Time Freeze arrived almost instantly. The blooming green-yellow light paused momentarily.

It was at this moment that the icicle arrived.

After numerous battles, the team's level of coordination had improved immensely compared to when they first entered the mountain range.

With a puff, the icicle first pierced the green-yellow light, about to stab into the Winged Tiger's eye.

But at that moment, the Winged Tiger burst forth with another layer of green light, slightly more solid.

With a crisp sound, the green light blocked the icicle. This almost tangible light seemed to be very strong defensively. However, the icicle was now far more compressed than Wu Bingji's normal ones. Though it was powered by the same sixth-order cultivation, the energy it carried was much greater than before.

Though slowed down, the tip still pierced into the green light.

Wu Bingji was stunned at the power of his own attack. Just as Tang San had said, if he could refine the icicle to the level of an ice needle, what defense could there be against it?

The Winged Tiger let out a heaven-shaking scream. Although the green light had blocked most of the attack from the icicle, it still blinded one of its eyes.

With its scream, the green-yellow light on the Winged Tiger's body instantly erupted to the extreme, forming a light sphere over three meters in diameter centered around it and completely enveloping it.

Tang San's infallible Hundred Birds Homing Strike drove the wind blades down one after another. However, most of the green light dissipated when they hit the green-yellow barrier, with only a tiny part of the impact force affecting it. All eighteen wind blades hit the same spot, as always, yet they only caused the light of the green-yellow shield to dim slightly.

"Wind Astral!" Wu Bingji exclaimed almost instinctively.

Indeed, it was Wind Astral, formed by condensed wind element energy. This Wind Astral had a solid immunity to wind attribute attacks. Its defensive power was extraordinary, and it could also be used offensively to great effect.

Not only was the Winged Tiger a wind-attribute demonic beast, but it was a peak existence among them beasts. Tang San's wind blades had little effect on it.

Even so, the intense pain in its eye almost instantly sent this young Winged Tiger into a frenzied state. The slightly dimmed blue-yellow shield exploded in an instant. Countless wind blades and wind arrows burst forth indiscriminately, like an arrow volley flying at the team.

Is this a fifth order?

This thought flashed through Gu Li's mind.

Could a fifth-order demonic beast be this strong?

Sixth order!

This was Tang San's judgment. At that moment, the Winged Tiger's body had turned entirely green-yellow, with a somewhat translucent texture.

A wind elemental physique!

Extremely strong!

This demonic beast was at the sixth order, had exceptional innate talent, a powerful body, and a wind elemental physique that granted it incredible control over the wind element. Its strength was likely above Wu Bingji's.

Though these thoughts flashed through his mind, Tang San's movements did not cease.

Gu Li had already shouted his third "Freeze!" However, his Time Freeze could not stop everything everywhere—that would have been an absurd level of power. With his cultivation level, his ability could impact an area with a diameter of about five meters.

At this moment, he, Tang San, and Wu Bingji were scattered, and more importantly, there was the large tree where Du Bai was located. Thus, when Gu Li activated his ability, his main goal was to protect himself and Du Bai, as well as Cheng Zicheng, who was also flying around the large tree. Moreover, this time, the Time Freeze was not used to immobilize the Winged Tiger, which meant the beast could still move.

In other words, Tang San and Wu Bingji had to rely on themselves in this dangerous situation.

Their previous initiative had suddenly turned into a passive defense. Gu Li's continuous use of Chrono Croc Transformation three times had also exhausted him significantly. He couldn't even deploy the second strike of his Disorder Wind Splitting Hammer.

At such a time, Tang San's strength was showcased.

His hands moved rhythmically, sending out wind blades like flashes of lightning. It was not just eighteen this time; in an instant, more than twenty-five wind blades flew out from his hands, precisely intercepting most of the wind blades and wind arrows attacking him and Wu Bingji. And that was not the end of it. Tang San radiated a brilliant green light, and he absorbed the surrounding wind elemental energy, causing the attacks released by the Winged Tiger to dim visibly.