The Formidable Golden Lion-Tiger, Repeated Defeats in Simulations

A single day wasn't long.

Nangong Lingyun didn't hesitate at all—he accessed the system interface the moment he entered.

Four massive icons lined up in the center: Missions, Functions, Cultivation, Special.

With a thought, he opened the Virtual Combat Space under the Cultivation category.

He was only twelve years old, with a soul power of level 44.

At this power level, the corresponding soul beast range would be around four thousand to six thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years for beasts of similar quality.

In contrast, facing a soul beast on par with eighty thousand years meant dealing with a veteran Soul Douluo or even an early-stage Title Douluo.

The only reason he was able to fight the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger to a draw and outsmart her at the last moment wasn't just thanks to his many cheats—it was largely due to this kind of simulation training.

After hundreds of simulated battles, he knew everything about that beast—its abilities, how it used them, and how it would react in different stages and situations.

Only then could he minimize damage while dodging the strongest attacks, daring to engage in a war of attrition with a 60,000-year mythical beast.

At the beginning, Nangong Lingyun had zero chance against the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger—

Until he discovered that a surprise attack on the tiger's rear would enrage it, making it go berserk and spam abilities recklessly. That was when the tide started turning.

The Golden Lion-Tiger had to have its own weakness too.

Nangong Lingyun felt a slight pang of regret.

He really should've simulated a battle against the Golden Lion-Tiger earlier.

He thought locating it would take a long time. He hadn't expected the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger to know its exact location.

Then, in a burst of excitement, he charged right in.

That was reckless.

The next moment, the scene before him changed drastically. Nangong Lingyun's consciousness had already entered the Virtual Space.

In a vast valley stood a towering Golden Lion-Tiger, its shoulder height reaching ten meters, and its body stretching nearly thirty meters long—not counting the tail. The sheer weight had shattered the stone beneath its feet.

Its eyes narrowed slightly—and an overwhelmingly terrifying aura surged into the sky.

Nangong Lingyun didn't dare delay.

Desolate Ancient Saint Body, Heaven and Earth as One, Heaven-Earth Symbiosis, Spatial Domain, Dark Demon Evil God Axe, Solar Immolation Saint Physique Vision—he activated everything at once.

And then… there was no "then."

A flash of gold appeared under the lion-tiger's feet, and a massive dark-golden paw as large as a mountain fell from the sky, slamming straight down onto the golden giant's head.

It was an unstoppable blow infused with innate divine power. His divine form shattered instantly.

Nangong Lingyun's true body turned into a cannonball, crashing into a cliff several kilometers away, leaving behind a pitch-black crater.

"Cough cough cough~~"

The little golden figure coughed, his glow flickering and far dimmer than before.

The Absolute Defense had technically worked—but at the cost of draining nearly all of his soul power.

Two seconds later, a pair of golden arms dug through the rubble. His dazed eyes flickered with a hint of shock.

Even though he hadn't dodged on purpose—just to gauge the Golden Lion-Tiger's attack power—

The sheer might still exceeded his expectations.

From a single move, you could see the full picture.

Just that one strike revealed how absurdly high-end this lion's build was.

Ultimate strength, ultimate durability, ultimate vitality, ultimate defense—and not just that. Compared to the Desolate Ancient Saint Body, it was only missing life attribute.

On top of that, it had a rare trait: anti-magic.

Anti-magic referred to a comprehensive ability to ignore defenses, nullify buffs, suppress power, and resist elemental traits.

When Absolute Defense met anti-defense, it became a pure contest of raw power and soul force.

But how could level 44 possibly go toe-to-toe in attrition with an eighty-thousand-year beast?

With a thought, Nangong Lingyun reversed the flow of time—the battlefield reset to the pre-fight state.

This time, he didn't activate Heaven and Earth Form.

Instead, he chose to rely on Heaven-Earth Symbiosis for rapid recovery, use his Beast Taming Martial Soul's spatial abilities, and leverage the third soul skill of the Desolate Ancient Saint Body—Golden Ground Flash to engage in a hit-and-run.

Golden Ground Flash:

One of the Thirty-Six Laws of Heaven. At its peak, it could let the user transform between matter and energy and move at the speed of light.

A seventy-thousand-year soul ring clearly wasn't enough to fully carry such a law, but even the partial effects already gave terrifying boosts to speed, reaction time, and reflexes.

Nangong Lingyun erupted with golden light, drawing jagged zigzags across the sky like a brushstroke on a chaotic canvas.

The Golden Lion-Tiger didn't fall behind either.

Though its speed boost was inferior to Golden Ground Flash, its base attributes far outstripped the not-yet-fully-unleashed Desolate Ancient Saint Body.

Man and beast danced like twin comets in a deadly chase—he simply couldn't shake it off.

After 30 seconds, the golden streaks Nangong Lingyun left in the air turned into scattered flashes—he began teleporting.

Yet even then, the Golden Lion-Tiger's speed surged again. Every time he thought he escaped, it caught up moments later.

After two minutes, when Nangong Lingyun tried to execute a broader-range teleport, the momentary delay before activation left him vulnerable—and he got smashed into pieces by a paw strike.

In the Martial Soul World, the spirited young man's face twitched with indignation.

"Is there even any justice left in the world?! How can something that damn big move that damn fast?!"

"I don't buy it. Again!"

Plan Three—this time, Nangong Lingyun's strategy centered on his three main Beast Soul Pets.

Blue Silver Empress would control and support, Thunder Hell Vine would entangle and restrain, and Dark Demon Evil God Tiger would go on the offensive.

After all the effort he put into forming the contract with that black menace, it was time for her to earn her keep.

Plus, if you're using a Beast Taming Martial Soul, you gotta act like a proper Beast Tamer.

"A'Yin, A'Zi, Blackie—get over here."

With a single call, three figures darted toward him.

Time was short. He decided to include them in the simulated battle, to build synergy through trial and error.

"Boss, what's up?"

Seeing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's eager expression,

Nangong Lingyun chuckled.

"Blackie, I've got a glorious and difficult mission just for you. We'll all support you with everything we've got—you go beat the hell out of that overcooked lion."

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger froze, shrank back, and wore an expression of existential dread—

She couldn't believe her usually warm-hearted master had just said something so utterly cold-blooded.

"Me? Fight the Golden Lion-Tiger? Beat it up?!"

She backed away while shaking her head hard.

"I… I-I… Boss, you're gonna lose your Tiger! She's so cute—won't you reconsider?"

"Relax. I'm just joking. We're not actually fighting it for real."

"I have a magic item that lets us simulate battles. Even if you die in there, it won't affect your real body at all. We're just running tests to see if we stand a chance."

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger let out a long sigh, her eyes glistening with mild grievance.

Was that kind of joke really necessary?

Scared the fur off her, damn it.

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(End of Chapter)