Silver Star Rune Tiger

Whoosh!

A handsome youth rushed through a forest grasping a palm sized golden mushroom in his hands. Behind him, a beast with an eagle's head, a reptilian body, and a bat's wings, cawed in anger while it chased the youth.

The young man made a sudden turn, making a hand seal and slapping a talisman with the "earth" character on his chest. A golden brown light enveloped him as he dove into the ground, disappearing completely from view.

The weird looking beast circled the sky for a few minutes, before ultimately flying away in frustration.

After a while, the young man that was Bai Hu emerged from the ground.

"Thank goodness I had an Earth Escape Talisman or I wouldn't have been able to throw off a high level second stage Black Chimera"

He lifted his hand to reveal the golden mushroom. This was a thousand year old Soul Sublimating Fungus with the ability to enhance and strengthen the soul. This will be quite useful in the cultivation of the Thousand Soulspirit Art.

There were only 15 days left before the sealed space becomes sealed again. Bai Hu had already explored over half of the underground area and gotten dozens upon dozens of super rare materials that won't be found above.

Since there was so little time and he'd already gathered an impressive haul never seen before, Bai Hu planned to go back to the outer area in 5 days where he'll be teleported once the remaining time runs out.

He smiled mischievously at what he had planned for his elders and concealed himself before going to an unexplored area in the underground beast glade.

…

"Roar!"

A pair of snow white tigers with silver runic inscriptions in place of a tiger's usual stripes took shelter in a dark cave. The larger tiger stood nearest to the entrance, occasionally roaring and swiping at vultures that tried to get into the cave.

The other tiger stayed farther in the cave, with its body swaying closely to the ground. A slight bulge could be seen at its abdominal area and it growled lightly.

"Caw!"

A large swarm of purple feathered vultures numbering over a hundred circled outside in a terrifying hurricane of purple feathers, sharp talons, and beaks. Although they couldn't get near the cave due to the limited space, they were adamant on staying and waiting for the tigers to leave.

"Wuu!"

The male white tiger turned to see its companion whimper. They looked with worry at their child that was soon to be born and out at the swarm outside.

The intelligent tigers communicated with low roars and growls and soon a resolute look appeared in both their eyes.

Suddenly, their auras spiked and a red hue appeared over their bodies. The runic inscriptions then started to glow and starlight seemed to revolve around the 2 beast's figures.

Boom!

…

Whoosh!

"What is that?!"

Bai Hu stopped in his tracks as he witnessed a jaw-dropping sight. From a distance, a huge purple hurricane was brewing. Bai Hu injected qi into his eyes and was shocked at the sight of over a hundred Purple Corpse Vultures circling the air.

He slapped an Image Blurring Talisman on himself and went closer. Purple Corpse Vultures are Earth Tier beasts known to have bad eye sights. The only thing that makes them hard to deal with even for those at higher levels is that the Purple Corpse Vultures often travel in groups of up to a thousand.

Rustle!

Crouching atop a tall tree, Bai Hu saw that at the eye of the storm, a cave could be seen. Suddenly, a terrifying aura burst out of the cave, followed by 2 white streaks that dashed out of the cave.

"Roar!"

""Caw!""

The Purple Corpse Vultures swarmed the 2 white streaks, completely drowning out the white light and replacing it with countless purple feathers.

Bai Hu lost interest after seeing that. It is likely that the Purple Corpse Vultures had cornered some prey and forced them to make a suicidal charge. Just as he was about to turn however, a blinding starlight burst through the feathery pile.

Boom!

Bloody bits of dozens of Purple Corpse Vultures flew out, painting that area red. Bai Hu looked closer and finally saw what beasts the Purple Corpse Vultures had trapped.

His eyes widened, "Silver Star Rune Tigers at... the Core Formation stage!?"

His eyes then narrowed as he noticed the bulge on the female's stomach.

"No wonder they were cornered. The female is about to give birth and both their strength will drop drastically for some time. Had they been at their peak, perhaps no amount of Purple Corpse Vultures might be able to trap them"

Silver Star Rune Tigers are Peak Demon Tier beasts that outrank almost every other beast at the same level. It is likely that they will advance to the legendary Heaven Tier or give birth to a Heaven Tier.

"Roar!"

A dome of sparkly white light burst out of the Silver Star Rune Tigers, disintegrating many more Purple Corpse Vultures. Now there were only around 50 birds left in the skies, who are now far more cautious and apprehensive than before.

They took the safe route and launched long ranged attacks.

Hundreds of sharp feathers rained down like arrows. While the dome slowed down most of the feathers, a few dozen still slipped through and made some shallow cuts.

In retaliation, the tigers manifested dozens of prisms that hovered in the air. With a roar, the prisms shot out with a flash and homed in on the remaining Purple Corpse Vultures.

Shrieks and cries filled the sky as the vultures were shot down with unerring accuracy. Even with the huge difference in numbers, the difference in bloodline and cultivation still triumphed.

Especially when the 2 were going all out to fight.

Suddenly, the pair of tigers snapped their heads and looked right at Bai Hu. He felt a chill go down his spine but before he could do anything, the Silver Star Rune Tigers disappeared from their spot.

Bai Hu felt a soft wind brush past him and immediately, the tigers surrounded him.

"Ugh!"

The male spat out a silvery rune with sparkly particles which hit Bai Hu directly on his forehead. He then felt something soft get pushed into his arms as he was pushed away by a strong wind.

Everything happened so fast that Bai Hu couldn't process anything going on. The last thing he saw was a huge purple figure appearing in the skies and the Silver Star Rune Tigers looking at him, or more precisely what was in his arms, with a bit of sadness.

And then he blacked out.

…

..

.

After an unknown amount of time, Bai Hu cracked his eyes open. The wind fluttered his robes as he was carried by a gentle yet solid force.

A soft furry object in his arms moved and he looked down. What he saw made his eyes dilate.

A Silver Star Rune Tiger cub lay in his arms sleeping as if unaware of anything happening around it.

Some odd features caught his eye.

Instead of the usual silver runic inscriptions found all over the body of a Silver Star Rune Tiger, a single golden rune adorned its forehead and a few strands of red fur could be seen on its ears. Furthermore, it had 3 tails, each ending in a leaf shaped tuft of fur.

"This can't be..."

his eyes lit up, "Heaven Tier Mutated Silver Star Rune Tiger!"

Mutated beasts were much more powerful than the norm, and from the aura that the cub emitted, it was a bona fide Heaven Tier beast!

From the ancient books which Zhong Xian made him read, a normal Silver Star Rune Tiger had silver runes and only 2 tails.

Suddenly, Bai Hu remembered that the male Silver Star Rune Tiger did something to him as well as the huge purple shadow that appeared right before he'd blacked out.

He shook his body and lightly tapped his foot. With a graceful movement, he'd jump off the cloud of force that was carrying him.

With a quick look of his surroundings, Bai Hu found that he'd been brought to the outer area of the underground forest near the tunnel where he'd come from.

Rumble!

"Woah!"

The ground shook with great force and several loose stones dropped from the ceiling. The entire underground trembled and the many beasts that ran amok now were panicking and running around.

Checking the sleeping cub in his arms, Bai Hu flew towards the tunnel.

In another area, a Purple Corpse Vulture more than triple the size of a normal Purple Corpse Vulture stood over the bloodied corpses of the Silver Star Rune Tigers. The female's stomach was cut open and a flash of anger crossed its eyes.

"Caw!"

Hundreds of Purple Corpse Vultures rose into the sky and spread out across the forest in search of something. The commotion made the underground area break down even faster, though, with the beast's limited intelligence, didn't faze them much.

…

Clack Clack Clack!

Bai Hu ran at full speed through the dark tunnel with a Extreme Light Stone in one hand and the other cradling the little tiger cub.

Fwoosh!

As soon as he made it back to the previous cavern, Bai Hu put up a waterproof barrier around himself and the cub and dove into the water without hesitation.