When Tang San saw the shrunk version of the Evil Spirit Tiger, he found it quite amusing. But when he looked at his own body, it was no longer funny at all. By now, he had shrunk considerably—barely taller than a meter twenty, his entire frame reduced in proportion. Even his clothes had shrunk with him. No matter how he looked at it, he appeared to be six or seven years old.
What terrified Tang San most was that it wasn't just his body that had changed. His Sea God's Trident lay on the ground nearby, and his Soul Power had dropped to the level he'd had at age six or seven—before he'd even broken through the first stage. Neither the Clear Sky Hammer nor the Blue Silver Grass had awakened as Martial Souls. All he possessed was a shallow reserve of Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy.
Rejuvenation? Tang San swallowed hard. What kind of Soul Skill had the Evil Spirit Tiger used? How had both their bodies been reduced to this size? Could they be transformed back?
His body was immobile, seemingly locked in place by some strange energy. All his Soul Skills—including his Soul Bone abilities—were completely unusable. Right now, he was Tang San at age six, before his Martial Souls had awakened.
A strange voice echoed from all directions.
"Welcome to the Arena of Life and Death. Only when one side dies will this battle of life and death end, and you will depart this space. Countdown: five, four, three, two, one—begin."
During the voice's countdown, Tang San's mind raced. The only part of him that remained unchanged was his consciousness. He didn't know how the Evil Spirit Tiger had accomplished this, but the fact was undeniable—all his abilities had regressed to the level of his six-year-old self. And the Evil Spirit Tiger itself had also shrunk. This proved that the restrictions placed on him applied equally to the beast. Which meant this battle was not without hope.
From the voice's brief explanation, Tang San gathered that this was a battle to the death between himself and the Evil Spirit Tiger, both reduced to their childhood states. After the battle ended, they should return to their original location, and their bodies would be restored. But dying here meant dying in the real world as well.
The Evil Spirit Tiger had brought them both to this place presumably because a Soul Beast in its juvenile stage was far more powerful than a human Soul Master of the same age. This Soul Skill was truly peculiar. No wonder Da Ming and Er Ming had never been able to finish off this creature before. With a skill like this, it was incredibly difficult to deal with. Fortunately, Da Ming and Er Ming were also Soul Beasts, so returning to their juvenile state shouldn't put them at a disadvantage.
Before Tang San could think further, his body suddenly loosened—the restriction had vanished. The moment the immobilizing sensation ended, the Evil Spirit Tiger had already transformed into a black shadow, lunging toward Tang San in an instant. Its crimson eyes gleamed with a chilling light, as though it already regarded Tang San as a dead man.
To the adult Tang San, the Evil Spirit Tiger—shrunk to roughly a meter and a half—would have posed no threat whatsoever. But to his six-year-old body, even a single attack from the beast could prove fatal. At six, he was simply too fragile. Still, the Evil Spirit Tiger would not find it so easy to destroy him.
Any other Soul Master would probably have been unable to dodge even the Evil Spirit Tiger's first pounce. At six, before their Martial Souls awakened, they were nothing more than ordinary children. The Evil Spirit Tiger was simply unlucky—it had encountered Tang San. A Tang San who had lived two lives. At six, he was far from powerful, but at six, he had already been practicing the ultimate techniques of the Tang Sect for some time.
With Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail beneath his feet, Tang San's body flashed nimbly to the side, dodging the Evil Spirit Tiger's frontal charge. At the same time, his feet took another strange step, bringing him close to the beast's lower back. A light push of his shoulder sent the Evil Spirit Tiger's body tumbling sideways. Its balance broken, it rolled across the ground several times before stabilizing itself.
Tang San laughed—a broad, delighted laugh. Because he knew this battle no longer needed to continue.
The Evil Spirit Tiger's first attack having missed, it rebounded off the ground and lunged at Tang San again. True, its strength had also dropped to juvenile levels—it didn't even reach that of a ten-year Soul Beast. But it was born exceptional. Even without ten years of cultivation, its true power far exceeded that of a ten-year Soul Beast. In this state, dealing with a mere child like Tang San should have been effortless. But with that first attack, Tang San had shown it that even regressed to childhood, killing him would not be so simple.
When the Evil Spirit Tiger turned and pounced again, it saw the scrawny little Tang San cradling a black box roughly a foot long.
The box was somewhat heavy, but to Tang San—who had already cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill to the peak of its first stage by age six—it was no burden. His delicate little hands moved rapidly over the box, and clanging metallic sounds rang out in succession.
Seeing the Evil Spirit Tiger close in for the second time, Tang San pivoted, Ghost Shadow Phantom Trail carrying him three feet sideways in a blur. He rolled across the ground once more, narrowly evading the pounce.
The Evil Spirit Tiger grew somewhat panicked. It couldn't understand why this human was so agile at such a young age, able to dodge its attacks with ease. A low growl rumbled from its throat as gray currents of energy began rising from its body, swirling into vortexes that slowly coalesced in front of it.
The juvenile Evil Spirit Tiger's energy reserves were minuscule. What was gradually taking shape before it was a single bolt of Dark Evil Thunder. Compared to its full-powered battle with Tang San earlier, the difference was enormous—back then, it had been able to unleash vast barrages of Dark Evil Thunder almost instantaneously, but now even gathering a single bolt was a tremendous effort.
Still, the Evil Spirit Tiger was convinced that this bolt of thunder, imbued with the power of evil, would be enough to end the battle—even if it didn't strike Tang San directly, a detonation near him should be sufficient to subdue him.
The very moment the Dark Evil Thunder took shape before the Evil Spirit Tiger, the clicking sounds from Tang San's weapon fell silent. The black box rose slowly, leveled at the beast.
Whoosh—the Dark Evil Thunder shot forward. But in that same instant, a thunderous metallic burst accompanied by a powerful hum erupted from the black box. Sixteen beams of black light, like phantoms, shot forth from the weapon in Tang San's steady little hands.
Boom—the first explosion came from the Dark Evil Thunder itself. Its destructive force was truly formidable; at least six of the black bolts were scattered by the blast. But the remaining twelve beams of black light struck the Evil Spirit Tiger's body in the same heartbeat.
Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft—a string of muffled impacts. The Evil Spirit Tiger's body froze. Billowing clouds of gray mist erupted from its body, each burst making it shudder. Its crimson eyes were filled with disbelief.
Tang San began working the mechanism of the black box for a second time. His gaze had turned calm as he regarded the Evil Spirit Tiger. "I'm sorry. I have to say—you are the most insidious and cunning of all the Soul Beasts I've ever encountered. Or perhaps I should say, the most intelligent. Not only do you possess formidable strength, but your combat calculations are extraordinarily precise. No wonder, as a member of the Evil Spirit Tiger species, you've managed to survive to this day. I imagine that among the entire dwindling population of Evil Spirit Tigers, you must be an absolute king. In terms of calculation and control, I admit—I lost. I underestimated your strength, and my confidence led me to overlook potential dangers. Unfortunately for you, luck was not on your side. Six-year-old me might not lose to you in a direct exchange, because I am a disciple of the Tang Sect. Moreover, while your skill's restrictive power is extraordinary, it ultimately failed to seal my Soul Guides. The Zhuge Divine Crossbow has once again become my winning weapon. The moment you and I were both returned to childhood and cast into this arena, your defeat was already certain. But I must acknowledge—you are a worthy opponent. A powerful one."
With that, Tang San gave a slight bow toward the Evil Spirit Tiger, expressing his respect. The beast seemed to understand his words, staring back with fierce, unwilling eyes, roaring in defiance, its crimson gaze as though it might spit fire.
Suddenly, a chill ran through Tang San's entire body. Reading the look in the Evil Spirit Tiger's eyes, he understood something, and his face drained of color. "It seems my luck really has been extraordinary. Goodbye, then."
Clang clang clang... hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss...
Sixteen more bursts of gray blood-mist erupted from the Evil Spirit Tiger's body. No matter how resilient its flesh, every last trace of its life force was utterly shattered by those iron-tempered bolts. This grueling battle had finally ended.
Everything around him began to distort. The space shattered instantaneously, and endless darkness swept in once more. Tang San relaxed his body, quietly stowing the Zhuge Divine Crossbow back into his Treasure Purse. His heart was pounding wildly.
Brilliant light burst forth. Lightness returned to his entire body. When his feet touched solid ground again, Tang San had returned to the Star Dou Great Forest. The sense of power rushed back into him—all of his strength had returned. The Sea God's Trident lay quietly at his feet. Not far ahead, floating above the Evil Spirit Tiger's massive corpse, was a peculiar orb. The orb appeared pitch-black throughout, yet emitted both green and blue radiance.
What was this? Before Tang San could react, the black hole that had released his body suddenly sucked inward, and the strange orb shot into it with a whoosh. Tang San activated Crane Control Dragon Catch just in time, and he managed to seize the orb at the very instant of contact—but the black hole clamped shut with a thunderous crash. The torn space healed, and the mysterious orb that had appeared above the Evil Spirit Tiger's corpse vanished just like that.
Tang San froze, frowning deeply. He slapped his own face hard. He knew that under normal circumstances, his reaction speed would have been more than sufficient to grab that orb. But it was precisely because his emotions had been affected that he'd failed. This was clearly not a good sign.
Gazing at the Evil Spirit Tiger's corpse before him, Tang San couldn't help but marvel inwardly. This powerful Soul Beast had given him far too many surprises. A battle he had initially thought would be simple had nearly cost him his life. In the end, he had won only by luck. This Soul Beast was truly too powerful. Fortunately, no one could possess the Evil Spirit Tiger as their Martial Soul. He hoped its Soul Ring would bring him even greater benefits.
Thinking of this, Tang San felt a lingering chill. The look in the Evil Spirit Tiger's eyes before its death told him that the skill it had unleashed at the end was not so simple. The skill's true effect should have been to regress Tang San himself to childhood while leaving the Evil Spirit Tiger unaffected after being drawn in. It was only because Tang San had fired his Purple Extreme Divine Light at the last moment, breaking through the beast's protective defense, that the Evil Spirit Tiger had failed to exempt itself from the skill's effects—entering childhood state just like him, and dying beneath the Zhuge Divine Crossbow. Imagine if he hadn't fired the Purple Extreme Divine Light, or if it hadn't taken effect—a six-year-old Tang San facing a sixty-thousand-year Evil Spirit Tiger. The outcome would have been unimaginable. That would have been a battle with no semblance of balance. This fight had truly been razor-close. Confidence was not a bad thing, but excessive confidence bred arrogance.
Since leaving Sea God Island, he had fought several major battles and come out on top almost every time. He had obtained Da Ming and Er Ming's Soul Rings and Soul Bones, pushing his strength to new heights. His confidence had swelled into arrogance. Today's battle was a powerful wake-up call. Fortunately, he had survived.
As he reflected, Tang San slowly sat cross-legged on the ground, gathering his spirit to a single point. The Blue Silver Domain spread outward. He drove the Sea God's Trident into the earth beside him and used the domain to layer overlapping defensive and obfuscating barriers. At the same time, he activated the Blue Silver Domain's ultimate ability—Sea Gathering All Rivers. He would never again allow pride and carelessness to place him in danger. Before absorbing the Evil Spirit Tiger's Soul Ring, he needed to fully recover the Soul Power he had spent.
Faint points of blue light appeared within the Blue Silver Domain. The Star Dou Great Forest was vast beyond measure. Though Tang San was drawing energy from the Blue Silver Grass through his domain, he took only the tiniest amount from each plant—never enough to cause them harm. But the sheer countless multitude of Blue Silver Grass provided him with ample energy, helping him rapidly restore his Soul Power.