“Your true body?”
Gu Li watched with great interest as Lei Hu returned to his true form. His transformation caught Ye Zichen’s attention as well.
Lei Hu’s fierce eyes slanted. There were white markings on his forehead and interlocking black and white stripes all over his body, with small black spots scattered across the undersides of his limbs and chest. Soon, his shoulders were covered in a thick, even layer of fur.
His limbs were muscular. Sharp claws jutted from his toes. His tail, long and thick and covered in black and white rings, waved about like a steel whip.
His red eyes were as large as cymbals. With each breath he took, hot white air shot out of his nostrils.
“Roar……”
His mighty roar shook the mountains. As it resonated through the sky, loud and clear, it formed a ball of air. The silvery ball rotated, stirring up a cyclone around it as it hurtled towards Gu Li.
“Hey….” As Gou Yuzhuan sent a line of zombies flying, the flying cyclone caught his attention. He froze, dumbfounded, and rubbed his eyes.
“Damn, a rasengan?”
Meanwhile, Gu Li smiled at the incoming cyclone.
He stretched out his right hand. It instantly transformed, growing large enough to capture the cyclone in his palm.
Boom!
It exploded in his hand.
The force of the explosion scattered the clouds. The exploding cycle writhed and twisted in Gu Li’s hands. A few drops of purple blood dripped from his enormous palms. As the winds died down, his hands returned to normal.
“That was somewhat interesting,” said Gu Li. He shrugged and smirked. White light emanated from his wounded hand. In the blink of an eye, it was as good as new.
“Tiger.”
The other three Sacred Best clan heads were stunned. If Lei Hu had reverted to his true form, he must have been pushed really far. As they watched, they saw his gaze was serious.
Even so, the character for “king” was written in the stripes on his forehead and he stood proudly as if looking down on the entire world.
The sacred beast, white tiger.
The true king of terrestrial beasts.
Its authority could not be defied.
“I never would have guessed I’d be so lucky as to see a white tiger’s true form. This is truly my great fortune!” laughed Gu Li. Now that his hand was fully healed, it hung by his side.
Lei Hu fixed his gaze on Gu Li, then took a step forward, growling deeply. “In a moment, you won’t feel so ‘fortunate.’”
Bang!
Before he’d even finished his sentence, the black and white stripes on his back lit up. Bolt after bolt of lightning crackled around him, twisting about and hissing like snakes.
A light flashed through his gleaming eyes.
His pupils suddenly transformed into cat-like slits and his whiskers grew even longer.
Whoosh.
Another cyclone formed, this time about ten-meters above his head.
It rotated rapidly, lightning crackling around its borders.
The lightning condensed.
Before long, the cyclone transformed into a glowing ball of electricity.
“Tiger Lei!” Tu Biyu watched in astonishment. They knew each other far too well; he naturally knew just what Lei Hu was up to.
The white tigers’ mystic art, Overwhelming Thunderforce.
White Tigers naturally excelled in battle, and Overwhelming Thunderforce was the strongest of their killing techniques.
However, this particular art came at a great cost to the user as well. If Lei Hu chose to use it at a time like this, it meant he hoped to settle this in one move.
“Have we really reached this stage?”
The other Sacred Beast clan heads all found themselves thinking the same thing; the battle had only just barely gotten started!
But after thinking it over, they couldn’t help but admire his decision.
If they didn’t go all-out now, they might not have even the slightest chance of victory.
Black Dragon and Gu Li were just too strong.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
The lightning ball above Lei Hu’s head expanded as it absorbed electricity, glowing like a second sun and illuminating the entire area in silvery light.
Everyone present could feel the glowing sphere bearing down on them.
But…..
Gu Li smiled.
He seemingly made no effort to defend himself. He simply put his hands behind his back and smiled.
His demeanor left Lei Hu inwardly stunned. Before long, though, he suppressed his surprise. Since the moment he reverted to his original form and started preparing this technique, he no longer had any way out, no matter what Gu Li was up to.
Rumble! Crack!
The sphere of light grew as it absorbed countless bolts of falling lightning. By now, it was fully a thousand feet across.
The lightning crackling around it no longer resembled snakes. Rather, they seemed more like massive pythons. They coiled around the sphere, their gazes fearsome.
“Ungh.” The white tiger standing proudly in the sky let out a low grunt.
He’d reached his limit.
The sphere of light above his head had already reached the limit of what he could control. If it grew any further, he might be swallowed up instead.
“Condense,” he roared inwardly. It was then, though, that he suddenly sensed a sinister presence behind him.
Whack!
He swung his whip-like tail, only to see Teng Yin, the head of the Flying Serpent Clan, attack from behind. Green gas billowed off Teng Yin’s hand as he reached out and grabbed Lei Hu by the tail, his face twisted into a hideous grin.
Lei Hu roared, “Teng Yin,” but by now, he no longer had the strength to fight back.
“Serves you right, Tiger Lei,” laughed Teng Yin. With a sinister smile, the gas in his spread multiplied.
Soon he heard Lei Hu roar, eyes brimming over with terrifying fury, “Teng Yin, you’re seeking death!”
“Hmph, that’s true enough. I haven’t wanted to live since the day you killed my son!” Teng Yin cocked his head to the side, unconcealed madness in his eyes. He lowered his hand.
The fur on Lei Hu’s whip-like tail had already corroded, exposing the flesh below. The gas didn’t stop; it kept eating away at his tail.
Lei Hu let out an infuriated roar, “then I’ll give you what you want!”
He swung his tail with all his might, only to cough up a mouthful of blood. The sphere above his head started showing signs of collapse as well.
“Lei Hu!” Tu Biyu was the first to rush on, but on his way over, Gu Li blocked his path.
“You can’t go there. Brother Teng Yin is resolving his personal grudge.”
Bang!
With a swing of his fist, a stone wall appeared right before Tu Biyu’s eyes.
The wall collapsed, sending him flying backward.
“Ol’ Lei!” Zhuge Hong, Xia Hua, and Ye Zichen hurried to his aid as well, but Black Dragon stubbornly blocked their path. They couldn’t get past him at all.
“Brother Teng Yin, you take care of Lei Hu. Leave the others to us.”
Black Dragon and Gu Li laughed calmly. Teng Yin nodded back at them. Then, gaze sinister, he turned and watched as Lei Hu struggled to stabilize his secret technique. As he fought for control, he coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood.
“I’ve been waiting for this day.”
With that, snake scales appeared all over Teng Yin’s body.
The next instant, a giant winged serpent, fully one-thousand meters long, took to the skies.
Hiss!
Teng Yin flicked his snake tongue in the air. Now in his true form, Teng Yin no longer hesitated. He hurtled towards Lei Hu and plunged his fangs right into his neck.
