Henry Clark's eyes had almost closed, but upon hearing the sound, he immediately opened them.

“It's done!”

He quickly drained the water from the vat and took out the mold inside. The black pellets, each the size of an eyeball—thirty-one of them—had succeeded, but they had leaked air. The rest, which hadn't leaked, had all failed.

“Thirty-one, that's enough...” Henry Clark looked at the black pill molds before him. Next, he just needed to find a long-eared tiger.

“No wonder it's so hard to master internal martial arts. Even with the Guiyuan Pill as a method, just this batch of medicine alone cost over a thousand taels of silver. The cost per batch is only a little over a hundred taels, but the success rate is just too low... If I couldn't precisely recall my body's memory and perfectly replicate a successful decoction, anyone else would probably need dozens more batches of herbs to succeed.”

Henry Clark sighed inwardly, and this was only a semi-finished product. It still needed to be taken with the hot blood of a long-eared tiger before it could be consumed.

“It really is true that scholars are poor and warriors are rich... Studying is a business with a thousandfold return. As long as you study well and pass the exams, you can soar to the top in one step. Compared to martial arts, it's much more cost-effective...”

“Next, it's time to look for the long-eared tiger...” Henry Clark had a feeling that when he truly cultivated internal energy and became an internal martial artist, his special ability might bring him a huge surprise.

……

The gray sky was filled with vast layers of cloud, the sun hidden behind them, with only a faint white light shining through.

It was noon.

Amidst the undulating black-green mountains, on a winding gray road, two men dressed in white and green stood with their backs against the mountain wall, seemingly waiting quietly for something.

Soon, in the distant sky, a small black bird flapped its wings and flew over, gently landing on the hand of one of the men.

He quickly removed the paper scroll tied to the bird's leg and unrolled it for a look.

“How is it?” the other man asked in a low voice.

“Mr. Foster has already set out.” Putting away the note, the man released the bird and let out a long breath.

“The Hong Song Sect is just putting on a show. That so-called senior brother is nothing but a paper tiger. The strongest fighter in the sect is that woman.”

“But she's still an internal martial arts expert.”

“That's why one enforcer isn't enough. Two against one—there's absolutely no way we can fail! Besides, that woman's swordsmanship is a notch below the lord's.”

“It's best to wait until James Clark has no choice but to let his guard down before making a move.”

“Of course.”

……

The long-eared tiger, measuring between four and six meters in length and built like an ox—if you thought its size made it slow and clumsy, you'd be wrong.

The long-eared tiger might not be as fast as many agile animals, but compared to humans, it's still much quicker.

In the dense forest, by a rocky stream, Henry Clark and Yvonne Harris hid in the grass, their hands and faces smeared with a green herbal mud that gave off the scent of fresh grass.

The two crouched side by side, dressed in black and gray, with long sleeves and pants tightly bound, making them inconspicuous. They peered through a gap between two large rocks toward the stream.

In the early morning, a faint mist still lingered in the woods, and some wild animals had already come to the stream's edge to drink.

Around the stream, gray-white rocks were piled up, with tall, crooked trees and climbing vines growing wildly over the stones and trunks. There were also many unknown flowers and plants, all kinds of vegetation providing excellent cover for the two.

Through the gap, Henry Clark saw wild boars and deer drinking from the left side of the stream, while a large area on the right was occupied by a huge golden-striped cat.

Standing upright, this big cat was as tall as a person, at least five meters long—like a supersized version of the tigers Henry Clark had seen before.

What stood out most were its extremely long ears, like two yellow horns sticking up from its head.

This was the long-eared tiger, the overlord of the forests near Hong Song Mountain.

Henry Clark and Yvonne Harris had been in the woods for three days. With Yvonne Harris, an old hand at hunting wild game in the mountains, leading the way, it had taken them three days to finally find a long-eared tiger.

Long-eared tigers were already rare, and Hong Song Mountain was one of the few places where they were rumored to appear. Henry Clark suspected that the Hong Song Sect had chosen this location for their base precisely because of the presence of long-eared tigers.

But finding a long-eared tiger was one thing; taking it down was another.

This animal was extremely alert. Its ears, though long, weren't especially keen, but its sense of smell was truly formidable. That's why Henry Clark and Yvonne Harris had to smear themselves with herbal mud.

“What do we do now?” Yvonne Harris whispered, his eyes fierce, itching to make a move.

“Don't rush... Don't rush... Could you take it head-on?” Henry Clark asked quietly, eyes never leaving the long-eared tiger.

“Probably not... I ran into one before—it's incredibly strong and explosive!” Yvonne Harris licked his lips. “But we can use medicine!”

“Don't rush...” Henry Clark kept his cool. Since the long-eared tiger was here drinking, there was still a chance. The key was figuring out how to take down this beast in one go.