Before him was already a void— that Qi Refining stage tiger demon had already fled without a trace!

The mountain wind blew, chilling to the bone.

Residual demonic energy spread in all directions.

Samuel Brooks sheathed his sword, his gaze falling on the token lying in the dirt.

“Samuel Brooks, our silver has run away…”

Not far off, Little Bear hurriedly jumped down from the tree, rolled several times, got up, ignored the dust, and scampered over to Samuel Brooks.

If it hadn’t discovered the traces of the tiger in the forest and determined the direction of the tiger demon, Samuel Brooks wouldn’t have been able to set up an ambush here to intercept and slay the demon.

This time, Samuel Brooks considered it a meritorious deed, and added ten taels of silver to its merit ledger.

Now it was extremely anxious—if the tiger got away and Samuel Brooks didn’t make any money, in a fit of anger, its ten taels of silver might be forfeit. What should it do?

“Samuel Brooks!”

“Quiet!”

The young Daoist bent down, picked up the token, weighed it in his hand, and showed a complicated expression.

Little Bear quietly comforted him: “Samuel Brooks, we didn’t kill it this time, but let’s not get discouraged. A moment’s slip isn’t a big deal, we can find more big jobs like this… But most importantly, keep your spirits up—some things should go on as usual.”

Samuel Brooks suddenly chuckled and said, “Killing ten tigers wouldn’t be as valuable as this token—what an unexpected windfall.”

Little Bear leaned in and saw that the token was bronze-colored, with an ancient, intricate character carved on it.

Looking closely, Little Bear felt it looked vaguely familiar.

Then it suddenly remembered—Samuel Brooks seemed to have one as well.

——

“Damn it!”

George Parker was fleeing through the mountains.

Its body was huge, but its speed was astonishing, stirring up a fierce mountain wind and making a great commotion.

It thought of that token, and felt a pain beyond words.

It had obtained it before becoming a demon.

At that time, it was starving, and on the official road at the edge of the forest, it ate two travelers.

One of them had this token on his person, which it swallowed along with the flesh and blood.

Afterwards, it suffered for three days, then suddenly gained many insights—its mind cleared, intelligence awakened, and it became a spirit demon.

If it hadn’t lost that token, it was confident it could reach the Spirit Refining stage within ten years!

But it also knew, if it hadn’t abandoned the token just now, it would have been cut in two by that sword.

Thinking this, it suddenly felt a sharp pain.

Sword energy lingered on its body, entangling it and refusing to dissipate.

The sword energy clung like a festering sore, constantly corroding.

If not dealt with properly, it would surely threaten its life.

This was the power of the Spirit Refining stage!

“He was clearly a peak Qi Refining Daoist—how did he suddenly become a true Spirit Refining master?”

George Parker couldn’t imagine it. It paused slightly, pondered for a moment, and flicked its tail.

The sword energy was wrapped around its tiger tail!

With a snap!

The tiger’s tail was suddenly severed and fell to the ground!

It looked back, its eyes full of resentment.

It wasn’t just half a tiger tail that was lost, but also ten years of cultivation.

“Enough! I’ll go find Uncle James, borrow my tiger tail, and with this sword energy, I’ll surely be able to curse him to death!”

——

Baihong Temple.

Samuel Brooks sat cross-legged, looking at the two tokens in his hand.

“Samuel Brooks, what is this thing?” Little Bear asked in a whisper.

“Nine Palace Token,” Samuel Brooks said slowly. “Our sect has one, and the remaining eight are scattered across the world. According to my late master, if all nine are gathered, the secrets of heaven and earth can be known.”

“The secrets of heaven and earth?” Little Bear’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“That’s right.” Samuel Brooks suddenly smiled. “That tiger demon didn’t know what kind of luck it had, actually obtaining the Li token, one of the Nine Palace Tokens. But in the end, it still fell into my hands.”

“Then…” Little Bear said, “For the merit I earned this time, can I get another two taels of silver?”

“One at most.”

Samuel Brooks waved his hand generously, dismissing Little Bear.

Then he picked up the two tokens.

In his left hand was one of the sect’s few treasures, the Qian token, one of the Nine Palace Tokens.

In his right hand was the token the tiger demon George Parker used to save its life, also one of the Nine Palace Tokens—the Li token.

“I inherited part of the previous Samuel Brooks’s memories.”

“In those fragmented memories, the Nine Palace Tokens are remembered very clearly—they seem extremely important.”

“For half a year, I’ve tried many times, but gained nothing. I don’t know how to use the Qian token.”

“But this Li token doesn’t seem hard to use…”

Muttering to himself, Samuel Brooks held the Li token in his right hand.

In the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, Li corresponds to fire!

After slaying the demonic Daoist Qiufeng, the Chaos Pearl plundered all his knowledge. Not only did he gain half a year’s cultivation, but also mastery over fire and wind.

He pondered for a moment, then used a fire Daoist art.

With a boom!

Flames surged, bursting through the temple roof and sending broken tiles flying!

Little Bear was right beside him, so frightened it rolled on the ground, trembling, eyes wide with terror.

“The power of this flame rivals the Daoist arts of the Spirit Refining stage.”

Samuel Brooks’s face lit up with joy.