Zhen Wu kept looking in confusion at his tiger rolling on the ground in pain. He tried to check but could find no physical injuries on it. A few seconds had passed but his tiger had still not got up.

  "You! What did you do to my tiger?"

  "Why don't you find out yourself? Feel pain."

  Ling Yun raised his hand and a black arrow materialised in air. It instantly shot towards Zhen Wu. After getting shocked by the condition of his tiger, Zhen Wu was keeping an eye on his movements the whole time. He knew his opponent wasn't simple, a single moment of carelessness could cost his life.

  He saw a black arrow flying through the air at incredible speed but with his experience as a former mercenary, he dodged it with some effort. Although his present condition seemed quite lowly, he was once a late stage Qi Refining cultivator with ambitions of breaking through to Foundation Establishment realm. Only due to his injuries, he fell to the fifth realm of Qi Refining with little hopes for improvement.

  Three more arrows shot at him which he nearly dodged again. He had stopped training after his injury so his physical condition wasn't the best. Any more and he would surely be hit by one.

  "How long are you going to lie on the ground? Get up!"

  Feel pain causes intense hallucinatory pain which only lasts three seconds after which it vanishes leaving only lingering aftershocks. The tiger was well trained so although it suffered heavily, it wasn't knocked out from pain from a single arrow. Zhen Wu's command roused him up.

  The tattoo on the tiger's back glowed and it jumped back on its feet and ran towards Zhen Wu. Zhen Wu hurriedly ducked, dodging another one before leaping in the air and landing on the back of the tiger, escaping three more arrows.

  Ling Yun looked at Zhen Wu riding the tiger and snorted coldly. Feel pain was his only offensive attack. The only other option was the Eternal Mourning Raven but that would also kill Zhen Wu. Also there was another reason why he was unable to use it.

  He started shooting at him again but using the speed of the tiger, Zhen Wu managed to avoid all of them. Here Ling Yun's inexperience was clearly on show. If it was an experienced archer, he would predict the tiger's movements and shoot there or try to restrict its movements using a volley, caging it in before finally shooting it down.

  But Ling Yun lacking any techniques or tactics could only try to accurately shoot at him hoping it would hit. Fortunately Zhen Wu had gotten too spooked by the arrows. Whenever he tried to close the distance to attack, Ling Yun would shoot a large number of them making him cautiously retreat.

  The fight had reached a stalemate. Ling Yun's arrows couldn't reach him whereas Zhen Wu was struggling to close the distance. They both knew the fate of the battle wll be decided in an instant. If a single arrow hit Zhen Wu or the tiger reached Ling Yun, it would result in instant defeat. Ling Yun paused his firing and tried a different approach.

  "Since you were so great before, why don't you get down and face me by yourself. Or have you fallen so low that you need help to deal with someone so young?"

  He tried provoking Zhen Wu hoping he would make a mistake but that only made Zhen Wu madder. Zhen Wu was a beast tamer and had heard countless iterations of 'only relying on demonic beasts' and 'fight one on one' many times in his life. But hearing such taunts from a little brat like Ling Yun stung his pride.

  "You brat! I will make sure you will die a painful death."

  The tiger got ready in a stance and rushed towards him. Ling Yun again shot a number of arrows to drive him away but this time he didn't retreat. "Run with the wind." Wisps of white smoke coiled around all of its four paws and the speed of the tiger quadrupled.

  Under the guidance of Zhen Wu, it easily weaved through the incoming arrows reaching Ling Yun in a second. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the huge paw coming towards him. The tiger swiped at him with all of its strength, wanting to slice him into pieces in a single blow.

  Ling Yun dropped to the ground and rolled sideways, dodging the incoming attack by a hair breadth. Only because of the combination of Third Eye, Serene Ocean sutra and some luck, he was still alive. He immediately got up in anticipation of another attack but the tiger remained at a distance. The white smoke around its paws had disappeared and Zhen Wu was looking down on him, smirking in arrogance.

  "Now do you finally understand the severity of your mistake, you brat. You should've never tried to meddle in my affairs. Still, I am the great Master Wu. Being many years your senior, I will show you some mercy. Here, catch this."

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Zhen Wu threw his sword at him. It spun in the air and finally landed on the ground infront of him.

  "First kneel on the ground and kowtow. Apologise to me for not showing the proper respect I deserve and then I'll allow you to commit suicide with this sword."

  He looked down at Ling Yun who kept staring back at him coldly without any change in his expression but Zhen Wu's smile only got wider.

  "Oh! Why are you glaring at me like that? Have your seen a person being mauled by a tiger? I can tell its quite painful. You should thank me for giving you a choice."

  Zhen Wu continued to mock Ling Yun but there was a hidden reason. He was also secretly trying to regulate his breath. He frequently used the "Run with the wind" technique to buff the speed of his beast troops. It was an excellent technique but the downside was one has to constantly invoke it. If you stop, the speed returns to normal. This wasn't a problem before, but now with his fallen cultivation base he can only use it for a small amount of time.

  "Hahaha! You know when I think about it, this isn't your fault. Do you know who is responsible for your tragic fate? It's your stupid parents. When you meet them in the Yellow Springs, blame them for not teaching you how to show proper respect to your superiors."

  "Respect? Hehe." Ling Yun looked at him with a smile filled with ridicule. "Tell me what kind of respect a person who cowardly ran away from the cultivation world to hide among mortals deserves! A person who tricks simple villagers to shamelessly pose as a hero deserves!"

  Zhen Wu's face had turned ugly to the extreme. The veins on his forehead were bulging and he was gnashing his teeth so hard that they might crumble to dust but he couldn't find the words to refute him. Because he knew his previous self would have the same opinion.

  Ling Yun had unearthed the ugly truth, his naked shame from which he had been averting his eyes and slapped it on his face.

  "What, cat got your tongue? Since you are too afraid to look, let me show you the mirror. You are just a loser who ran away from reality desperately holding together your shattered pieces of vanity. Lost in your delusions you have fallen so low that forget about respect, you aren't worth even spitting on!"

  Ling Yun spat on the ground, his blue eyes shone under the moonlight with unwavering will and defiance. He raised his arm and countless arrows materialised beside him.

  "You brat! This insolent breath will be your last!"

  His killing intent reached its peak and Zhen Wu kicked the tiger, commanding it for the final showdown. He was sure that in his entire life, he had never hated anyone more than Ling Yun. Not even the person who took his arm. Everything was going fine when that brat arrived and ruined everything.

  He will kill this brat and go back to his paradise, back to village where he is loved, revered and given the respect he deserves!

  The tiger rushed towards Ling Yun with countless black arrows coming to intercept him. He barely gave them a glance and "Run with the wind"; The white smoke appeared again and like before, with its increased speed it avoided them effortlessly.

  At such high speed, his surroundings blurred but Zhen Wu's eyes were locked on Ling Yun. Not even a second had passed and now Zhen Wu was just a metre away from Ling Yun.

  His left arm tightly gripped his sword which he has picked back up, wanting to finish him with his own hands. He swung his sword with all his might, combined with the momentum of dashing tiger ready to decapitate Ling Yun but suddenly he felt a pain in his chest and spat out a glob of blood.

  The tiger also bucked its paws dislodging him and Zhen Wu flew in the air wondering what went wrong. He fell on his back with a loud crash but before he could get his bearings,

  "Feel pain".

  "Aaaaaaaaaahhh!"

  Hit by the arrow, Zhen Wu let out a blood curdling scream, the pain nearly knocking him out unconscious. He was so out of it that he didn't even register his tiger also screaming on agony beside him.

  But one thing was sure, he had lost.

  ***

  Ling Yun had noticed that the technique "Run with the wind" Zhen Wu uses requires constant invocation and circulation of Qi. He had deducted it from the fact that Zhen Wu used it only once and was sweating after.

  The "Feel pain" arrows were a decoy used to distract Zhen Wu, with the invisible "Soul Dissonance Needle" hiding among them. It hit Zhen Wu, who was still busy invoking his technique, causing a backlash that affected both him and tiger. Then using the opening, Ling Yun hit them both, bringing this battle to end.

  "Soul connecting thread"

  His mammoth soul exerted immense pressure on the souls of the tiger and its master, immobilizing both of them. Zhen Wu stared at the night sky in agonizing pain. He felt as if a mountain was pressing down on his chest.

  He tried to get up but when he met Ling Yun's piercing blue eyes looking right into his soul, all his struggles ceased immediately. He could see the barely contained killing intent flickering in the them.

  "Please don't kill me! I promise I will never do it again!"

  He would've banged his head on the ground if he could. Forget about pride and respect, the palpitating fear of death gripped his soul, squeezing tightly.

  Ling Yun picked up his sword and raised it in the air, his arms ready to finish it in a single strike. In his heart, he knew that scum like this deserved to die. Without any words, he stabbed it towards his neck.

  Zhen Wu seeing his own sword falling on him began to fervently beg for his life. Tears started falling from his eyes as he began to plead for his life.

  "PLEASE FORGIVE ME THIS ONE TIME! I PROMISE I WILL NEVER SHOW MY FACE IN THIS VILLAGE AGAIN! I'M SORRY!"

  The sword stabbed downwards piercing through the air but before it can break the skin, the tip stopped just barely touching his neck. Ling Yun looked down at Zhen Wu. His face was covered in sweat, snot and tears. His eyes were tightly shut in the fear of his approaching death.

  Ling Yun sighed and then kicked Zhen Wu hard on his side, making him open his eyes. Zhen Wu grunted in pain but quickly shut his mouth seeing Ling Yun's cold gaze on him, not daring to make a peep.

  "You were having too much fun playing the hero, now it's time for you to face the consequences of your actions. I will take you back to the village and they will decide your punishment. Let them see the true face of their saviour Master Wu."