Brian Carter was overjoyed and crawled out of the cave—this white tiger really could understand him. But after taking a closer look at the injured fawn, he was immediately disappointed again. This little deer was far too young, with almost no spiritual energy accumulated in its body. He kicked the fawn away and slipped back into the cave. Then, after racking his brains and spending a long time explaining to the white tiger—mimicking animal movements, then slapping the cave walls with his palm, making loud noises—he tried to indicate that he wanted a more formidable living creature.

The white tiger finally understood and left for most of the day. This time, it didn’t carry anything in its mouth, but instead drove a living creature over. The so-called living creature gave Brian Carter quite a scare. When he saw clearly what it was, Brian Carter was furious; his temper flared, and he almost rushed out with his long blade to fight the damned white tiger. Fortunately, reason held him back at the last moment, but he still stood at the cave entrance and cursed loudly: “Damn white tiger, you son of a—! Did my performance just now really make me look like a stupid bear?”

The white tiger ignored him, herding the black bear to run wildly around the cave entrance. The black bear was huge, at least one and a half times the height of a man when standing upright. Although it looked fierce, it still wasn’t a match for an innate white tiger.

Brian Carter carefully observed the big black bear and found that the true energy within its body was quite robust, though still not at the peak of the acquired stage—about the same as Brian Carter himself. With that, he forgot his annoyance at the white tiger and became excited. Never mind how much spiritual energy he could absorb from the black bear; since their strengths were similar, this was an excellent opportunity for combat practice. Seeing that the white tiger seemed to have no hostility toward him at the moment and was standing at a distance, he was tempted.

Unconsciously, he stepped forward with his blade, crossing the barrier. He shouted at the rampaging black bear to draw its attention. His true energy flowed through his meridians to the blade’s edge, slicing through the air in an arc, aiming straight for the black bear’s thick neck.

Chapter Five: Peaceful Coexistence

In terms of true energy, this black bear was not as strong as that ill-fated rabbit. However, black bears are naturally violent creatures, and to have grown to this level, it must have spent most of its life fighting. Its reactions were many times faster than the rabbit’s; its huge paw swung through the air to meet the long blade. When paw met blade, the powerful edge only managed to cut a bit of skin from the bear’s paw. Still, even a small wound enraged the black bear. With a roar, it swung both paws left and right in a furious attack.

“Good!” Brian Carter saw the black bear’s strength and felt his own passion surge. He landed from a nimble backflip and unleashed his unique, swift footwork, tangling with the black bear. These days, Brian Carter had been working behind closed doors, learning many things but with nowhere to apply them. To engage in a life-and-death struggle with such a worthy opponent was undoubtedly the fastest way to integrate all he had learned.

At first, because he was not as strong as the black bear, Brian Carter was at a disadvantage. But after a hundred moves or so, his footwork and blade techniques became more refined. The wounds on the black bear increased, though none were fatal, but the blood loss gradually sapped its strength. Brian Carter’s advantage lay in his systematic training methods and combat routines. Once he could use these proficiently, the black bear was doomed to lose.

After grappling for more than half an hour, Brian Carter finally seized the moment when the black bear stumbled. With a loud shout, he leaped into the air—seven or eight meters high. In midair, his body tensed. Gripping his blade with both hands, he used the momentum from above to strike down with overwhelming force. This strike contained all of Brian Carter’s energy, spirit, and will, full of fearless intent. The blade sliced through the air with a sharp, whistling sound.

Only then did a trace of fear flash in the black bear’s eyes. It flailed its paws upward in a desperate block. But Brian Carter suddenly withdrew the force of his strike, and in midair, traced a semicircle. The blade slipped past the bear’s arms and silently plunged into its heart.

“Rooaaar…” The black bear’s eyes bulged wide, and after a long, mournful howl, it crashed to the ground. It struggled for several more minutes before finally dying.

Brian Carter hurriedly used his unique technique to absorb the rapidly dissipating spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body. Although the prolonged fight had nearly exhausted his true energy, at this moment Brian Carter felt an indescribable pleasure, his heart pounding with excitement. Unable to restrain himself, he raised his blade and howled at the sky, his heroic spirit swelling.

The white tiger seemed to be affected by the surge of energy, or perhaps it was just unwilling to be outdone, and let out a thunderous roar that completely drowned out Brian Carter’s own. Hearing that tiger’s roar, Brian Carter suddenly remembered that the fearsome beast was still watching nearby, and broke out in a cold sweat. He turned to look at the white tiger and saw it still in its original spot, not having moved an inch. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the white tiger’s hostility toward him seemed greatly diminished, Brian Carter couldn’t help but feel a surge of interest. He pointed his long blade at the white tiger from afar, wanting to play with it. But the white tiger just turned its head away, lazily flopping down on the ground, its attitude full of disdain and arrogance. This made Brian Carter so angry that he cursed, “Damn you, you dead tiger! One day I’ll make you call me grandpa!”

But cursing aside, Brian Carter knew full well that he was no match for the white tiger right now. He could only obediently skin and butcher the black bear, relying on his barbecue skills to curry favor with the damned tiger—lest it get annoyed and eat him in one bite. As the saying goes, a true man can bend and stretch; if you want to leap through the Dragon Gate, sometimes you have to crawl through a dog hole.