Chapter 385: Pressure
Elder Xiu had a shocked expression as his eyes stared at the tiger in Jian Chen’s hands. A look of utter disbelief could be seen.
“Father, what’s wrong?” Xiu Mi was speechless at the sudden change in the elder’s expression. This was the very first time he had ever seen his father in such a state.
Elder Xiu continued to ignore Xiu Mi as his eyes became more and more frosty. Carefully analyzing the tiger cub in Jian Chen’s hands even more, his eyes seemed as if they could clearly see every single detail on the tiger.
“Mrr…” With the elder’s stare being a tad bit frightening and the cub still quite young, it had begun to feel intimidated by the elder. The cub’s petite body tried to burrow deeper into Jian Chen’s arms as if trying to hide from the elder like it was scared.
“Elder Xiu, what are you doing?” Jian Chen was beginning to grow nervous. He didn’t know just what to think from the elder’s actions. Had he really seen through the tiger’s identity? The Ape King had told him before that a human shouldn’t know of the true identity of a Heavenly Tiger God.
Elder Xiu let out a long breath of air as the cold glint in his eyes began to recede. In a flash he had reverted back to his original expression with just a small complicated look as he turned to Jian Chen, “Jian Chen, talk to me honestly. This magical beast you found, was it really found in the forest?”
“Elder Xiu, could it be you know of this tiger’s background?” Jian Chen stared at the elder with an astonished look.
The elder sighed once more before looking to Little Fatty, “Little Fatty, go and plow the fields.”
“Yes, grandfather!” Fatty replied before giving both Jian Chen and the white tiger a curious look. But in the end, he went out to the fields to do as his grandfather asked.
After Little Fatty had left, elder Xiu looked at Jian Chen and Xiu Mi, “You two follow me!” Turning about, the elder walked into one of the rooms of the house.
Xiu Mi could feel that the situation had grown serious and cast a deep glance toward the tiger cub before following his father into one of the rooms nervously.
Jian Chen stroked the head of the cub gently before following after the elder.
This was the personal room of elder Xiu. It was only ten square meters, and the furniture was arranged in a simplistic manner. There was only a bed and wardrobe in the room and a small pile of objects in a corner. Aside from this, there was nothing else.
The moment Jian Chen entered the room, a faint but transparent barrier enshrouded the entire room.
Upon seeing the sudden activation of the barrier, Xiu Mi had a startled look. “Father, what is the meaning of this? What has made you so cautious to create a barrier?”
Jian Chen’s face grew deathly serious as well as he stepped forward. No matter if he could believe it or not, one thing was certain—elder Xiu had definitely figured out the matter behind the Heavenly Tiger God.
Elder Xiu ignored Xiu Mi once more and stared deeply at Jian Chen, “Jian Chen, speak the truth. Where did you come across this cub?”
“Elder Xiu, do you know of the tiger cub’s identity?” Jian Chen listened carefully for confirmation.
Elder Xiu’s eyes latched onto the tiger cub and spoke, “If my guess is not wrong, then this cub is the Heavenly Tiger God that has appeared several times in the ancient past.”
Jian Chen was startled at the elder’s confirmation. Although he had guessed that the elder knew, hearing the elder personally confirm it still caused his heart to start beating irregularly.
“Jian Chen, it seems that you are aware of what a Heavenly Tiger God is.” The elder looked at Jian Chen with a solemn gaze.
“That is correct, I know of the Heavenly Tiger God.” It was only now that Jian Chen decided not to hide it. He then, began to regale his tale of Rum Guinness and what he was entrusted with.
After listening to Jian Chen’s story, the elder had descended into a quiet calm that was filled with thought.
Jian Chen didn’t make a sound in fear of breaking the elder’s train of thought. Xiu Mi continued to stand some distance away in complete shock at Jian Chen and the tiger cub he was carrying. He couldn’t believe that the cub would unexpectedly have a mysterious background that was far beyond what he could even imagine.
After a while, the elder finally sighed, “The appearance of a Heavenly Tiger God is something that should come as a blessing to the magical beast clans. If they are able to exploit this blessing, then they would be able to lay claim to a Heavenly Tiger God of the past. In that case, the magical beast clans would have a monstrous amount of power against the human world. Jian Chen, this Heavenly Tiger God you have may very well bring catastrophe to our human world.”
Hearing this, Jian Chen turned pale with fright from what the elder said, could he possibly want to eliminate the tiger cub here and now in order to avoid any future trouble?
“That should be unlikely, elder Xiu. This tiger cub is very obedient. And with the current circumstances, I’m afraid that it’ll remain within the human world for now. With time the cub will become partial to the human world and wouldn’t be used against us. Furthermore, the cub’s father was killed by the king of the Gilligan clan while the mother was seriously injured. When the cub matures, it will want to take revenge on the clan and not against humans.” Jian Chen tried to explain in a hurry. If the elder wanted to kill the cub, then Jian Chen would have no chance of protecting it.
The elder nodded his head with a thoughtful look, “En, your words have merit to them. Even if the Heavenly Tiger God will not prove to be a danger to humanity, it would still be a disaster if it were to travel by your side.”
Elder Xiu didn’t let Jian Chen speak another word and continued to speak, “This situation isn’t as simple as you may think. The king of the Gilligan clan wouldn’t try to kill the Heavenly Tiger God for no reason. That is because a Heavenly Tiger God is no small amount of power, with one, their fighting strength would soar to an unbelievable degree.”
Elder Xiu’s words left Jian Chen at a loss on what to do.
Sighing, the elder spoke, “Jian Chen, the Heavenly Tiger God’s life could be in danger at any moment. You must rear it as quickly as possible; it is only when its strength reaches a sufficient degree that danger might be mitigated.”
“Elder Xiu, could there be some other secret in this matter?” Jian Chen asked.
The elder didn’t respond to Jian Chen’s question and merely replied, “Jian Chen, you should go. Remember, raise the Heavenly Tiger God as soon as possible.” Finally, there was a single crack in the normally impassive tone.
Jian Chen looked at the elder with a curious eye for some time. Finally sighing, Jian Chen took the cub and left the room with doubt still in his eyes.
“For elder Xiu to want me to raise the tiger cub as fast as possible, it seems that there is still something I don’t know. Did Rum Guinness not tell me, or is this something even she doesn’t know about?”
After Jian Chen left, elder Xiu took out a blood red token and handed it to Xiu Mi, “Xiu Mi, take this Spirit token and go straight to the Bloodsword Sect. Tell the entire intelligence organization to mobilize everyone. Watch closely for anything that happens, and if there is any extremely strong experts that appear within the Tian Yuan Continent, report to me straight away.”
“Father, didn’t you say that you would never use the Bloodsword Sect? Why are you…” Xiu Mi asked with a startled look.
“The situation has become far too grave. Don’t ask any questions and take my token to the Bloodsword Sect straight away.” Elder Xiu interjected solemnly. His expression was dark and no longer looked like a simple farmer. Right now, he looked more like the valiant hero giving command to his entire army.
“Yes, your child will go now.” Xiu Mi didn’t speak anymore and flew away with the token.
After Xiu Mi had left, the elder sighed before walking to his bed. “They are growing far too bold if they would dare to kill even a Heavenly Tiger God. When the time comes and the Heavenly Tiger Cub fully matures, their judgement will come. But they will try and infiltrate the human world in order to assassinate it soon enough. Forget it, it has nothing to do with me, if they truly come, then some other family will come to protect it.”
……
After leaving the elder’s room, Jian Chen took the cub to his own room to rest. Then placing the cub on his bed, he began to caress the cub’s ears and head.
“Mr…rrrr….” Closing its eyes in comfortable bliss, the tiger cub was fully content with being treated to Jian Chen’s care. Right now in its heart, it was very partial to Jian Chen.
Looking at the obedient tiger cub, Jian Chen took out several of the thousand year Ginseng from within his Space Ring. “Little white tiger, take this and eat it, this way, you’ll grow up faster.”
The little tiger sniffed at the item offered to him curiously. Upon sniffing the sweet fragrance, its eyes widened before purring happily and taking the items into its mouth, relishing the meal.
After eating several stalks of the thousand year Ginseng, the tiger cub had finally finished eating. Closing its eyes once more, it began to sleep on top of the bed.
Jian Chen knew that the cub was currently in the process of absorbing the spiritual Qi in from its meal. Not wanting to bother the tiger, Jian Chen climbed onto the bed himself and began to drink the Hundred Grass Wine given to him by the Ape King.
The thousand year old Hundred Grass Wine had a great effect in helping a person’s mind. After Jian Chen had finished off some of it, he closed his eyes in pure bliss as his soul enjoyed the pleasurable feeling.
Feeling an azure light soar up from his dantian into his mind, Jian Chen felt his mind suddenly explode with excitement. Even the Sword Spirits were feeling the benefits.
With Jian Chen’s mind soaring in strength, his omnipresence ability was also increasing by leaps and bounds. Right now with his soul undergoing improvement, Jian Chen felt as if he was being baptized and transcending to becoming an Immortal.