Grabbing the Flower

Lin Ke looks at the Tiger who had just swiped an eagle's head off with one paw, and he notices that Lily was correct. The tiger's aura was getting weaker and the arcs of lightning had disappeared. The tiger staggered away from the dead eagle, and collapsed on the edge of the small lake. Slowly, the third eye on his forehead closes.

"Go! Now's your chance!" Lily shouts and immediately disappears. She was now inside of Lin Ke's head. Immediately, Lin Ke rushes out of his hiding spot by the woods, and runs straight for the middle of the small lake.

"Lily? How am I supposed to get past this small lake? There's no way I can swim there in time!" Lin Ke yells as he runs.

The moment Lin Ke rushed out of the woods, the tiger dragged his head towards Lin Ke's direction, and gave out a small roar. The Tiger had a hateful and furious look on his face, and even though Lin Ke was sure the tiger couldn't move, he couldn't help but shudder, thinking about the fate that would greet him if the tiger could move.

Lily calmly replied. "Don't worry, trust me and keep running!" Lily sounded extremely confident, making even Lin Ke more reassured.

Lin Ke thought, 'Even though Lily is sometimes really unhelpful, in critical situations, doesn't she always contribute a lot? Maybe I should trust her.' Gritting his teeth, Lin Ke runs straight towards the lake, with no hint of stopping. As the pool of water came closer, Lin Ke felt the energy in his body move. Some of the True Energy in his body had moved toward his feet, causing it to feel extremely light.

Finally, Lin Ke's feet touched the water, and at that moment, Lin Ke almost tripped in surprise. He was still running full speed! Over the water! The energy in his feet was constantly pulsing, allowing him to walk on water. Behind him, his steps left small ripples in the water, and Lin Ke rapidly approached the middle of the small lake.

Lin Ke reached out his hand, ready to grab the flower immediately and run, but instead, he felt his hand bump into a very solid barrier. In fact, he was running so fast that Lin Ke was sure his fingers were broken with how fast he bumped into the barrier.

"Lily? What is this?" Lin Ke asked while rubbing his hand.

"Hmmm… It's a World Energy Barrier…" Lily replied. "Of course, because this is a flower being nurtured by the world, it would receive protection from the world too."

Lin Ke glances back at the white tiger nervously, and seeing that it was still lying down unmoving, Lin Ke turns back. "Well, how do we break this?"

Lily nonchalantly says. "Hmm. Normally we would need something stronger than the power of this world, or constantly siphon the power of the barrier gradually so that it breaks down, but for this one, I can take care of it in a second." With that said, Lily materializes in her physical form, and with a small tap on the invisible barrier, Lin Ke felt an explosion of power blast him right in the face. The world energy caused massive waves to stir up, and caused the white tiger to roar in anger.

"Quickly! You probably have at most another minute or two before the tiger can move again! Hurry up! Grab the flower and run."" Lily yells.

Lin Ke panics, and grabbing the flower roughly by the stem, he pulls it out, root and all. With it in hand, he turned around and ran back the direction he came. He quickly ran across the lake and leapt into the woods, rushing back towards the cave.

The tiger, furious at the events that had occurred right in front of its eyes, tried to stand up and stop the human. However, he could only struggle to stand, and fail, watching as the accursed human ran away with the fruits of his labor. As it was wallowing in misery, the tiger suddenly felt its strength surge back into its body.

With a furious roar, it stood up and raced in the direction the human had run off in.

Lin Ke heard that last roar, and he felt the pressure that had followed with it. He hadn't gone too far from the clearing in the woods yet, and he could only curse his bad luck. 'Crap! It's only been a minute at most! How unlucky he recovered already. What do I do?' Lin Ke thought to himself.

"There's no time to think about these things!" Lily shouts at Lin Ke. "Don't look behind you! Run!"

Of course, Lin Ke looks behind himself, and the scene he sees almost scared him to death. A white furred tiger was racing towards him, its eyes were deep blood red. Random arcs of electricity danced around its body, scorching the nearby trees while his large frame knocked many more to the side. His paws left craters on the ground, and on his forehead, a third eye was open. It looked extremely domineering coming after Lin Ke.

"What!!!!" Lin Ke regretted looking back. He began to run even harder. "How is that balanced! WHERE'S THE COOLDOWN? How can he use that ability again! It's been 5 minutes at MOST!"

"This isn't some game! Plus, the tiger sacrificed a lot to get that flower, only to get it stolen. Anyone would be mad in that sort of situation right? Plus, there has to be an even larger backlash for him forcefully using it again." Lily says. "Don't worry! Give me about 30 seconds! I'll set up a teleportation array!"

"Wait, you can do that when we are running?" Lin Ke yells. He glances back to see that the tiger was slowly closing in on him. Even though Lin Ke had a Eye Tempering Subrealm Cultivation level, and had enhanced physical abilities, there was no way he could outrun a pissed off tiger.

"Of course I can!" Lily yells. "This one is way easier to set up, as I don't need to send you far, and I only need to send you. WATCH OUT!"

Lin Ke looks behind him to see a tree branch closing in on his head. Quickly, Lin Ke ducks to dodge it. Knowing he was bound to get caught, Lin Ke stops and turns around to face the tiger bounding towards him at full speed.