Honestly.

  Xia Li really hadn't expected Heaven Alliance to dare make a move in the Savage Continent. Weren't they afraid he'd just join the demon tribe?

  Or did Heaven Alliance think his purpose in coming to the Savage Continent was to join the demon tribe anyway?

  Well, it didn't matter anymore.

  Xia Li just ran at full speed toward the depths of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. The bigger the commotion Heaven Alliance created, the easier it would be for the demon tribe to notice.

  Moreover, Xia Li still remembered the Third Elder's instructions. When facing Heaven Alliance's upcoming pursuit, he should prioritize evasion. Heaven Alliance was already suspecting he was a Great Fortune Bearer.

  Fortune Bearers and Great Fortune Bearers were different concepts in Heaven Alliance's eyes. The former could be left alone, but the latter had to be eliminated if they wouldn't submit.

  When that happened, it wouldn't be child's play anymore. Heaven Alliance would shamelessly send Void Refinement and Mahayana cultivators to hunt down a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.

  This was extremely frustrating.

  Heaven Alliance's existence directly blocked normal cultivators' advancement paths.

  Wind Crane City had originally been a small city dominated by Qi Refining cultivators, yet Heaven Alliance sent Golden Core cultivators to encircle it.

  According to Xia Li's original plan, after staying long enough in Wind Crane City, he would move to areas dominated by Foundation Establishment cultivators, then to areas dominated by Golden Core cultivators.

  Step by step, growing from the bottom up.

  This was also the choice of most cultivators—the world's former unspoken rules, advancing by stages and dividing activity areas by strength.

  But the damned Heaven Alliance was shameless, directly interfering with this natural competition process. Anyone who stood out would be hunted down.

  For the following journey...

  Xia Li maintained his Realm Fusion divine ability as much as possible, also activating his anti-detection field. He didn't dare kill a single demonic beast, didn't even gather spiritual herbs when passing by their growing grounds.

  Until...

  One day, while Xia Li was resting inside a tree hollow, a soul-shaking tiger roar nearly made him pass out.

  Xia Li quickly poked his head out to observe the direction of the roar. Countless trees had been sent flying and were now falling like rain.

  "What's going on?"

  Xia Li frowned, watching those broken logs falling from the sky. Many of them were even stained with fresh blood.

  After a moment's hesitation...

  Xia Li decided to go take a look. Everyone has curiosity—what if there was some good fortune to pick up?

  A few minutes later...

  Xia Li carefully and quietly approached a clearing where all the trees had been blown away. A gray tiger of modest size lay on the ground, unconscious and barely breathing.

  Centered around the gray tiger, there were many explosion points nearby that looked like the aftermath of flesh bursting apart.

  As if people had been forcefully shattered by vibrations. Many severed limbs remained nearby, along with quite a few storage rings.

  "Looks like my luck is decent. Score!"

  Xia Li immediately collected all the storage rings in the vicinity, then quickly approached the gray tiger.

  The gray tiger was only about two meters long—quite small for a demon tiger. Ordinary wild tigers could grow to two or three meters, let alone demon tigers.

  This could only mean the gray tiger before him hadn't even reached maturity—it might still be in its juvenile stage!

  Its fur was pale gray verging on white, and it emanated a terrifying killing intent that made Xia Li think of the royal demon bloodline—the White Tiger.

  "What should I do with this thing?"

  Xia Li looked at the dying gray tiger. He could end it with one strike right now, but killing one more demon wasn't particularly useful to him.

  On the contrary...

  Keeping it alive might let it help guide the way. Even if it didn't cooperate, healing it and having it attract Heaven Alliance's attention would be nice.

  Xia Li immediately took out his Cave Heaven Gourd and stored the gray tiger inside, then activated the healing treasure he'd left in the gourd to treat the tiger.

  Finally, Xia Li took out the Purification Bottle and fled, washing away any scent on his body as he ran, afraid of leaving even the slightest trace of blood or aura.

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  Over the following days...

  More people appeared in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, as expected. But they probably weren't after him—they were after that gray tiger.

  Its origins were probably not simple.

  Xia Li hadn't had extra time to clean up the battlefield back then. If the people who arrived later recognized the gray tiger's identity, there was nothing he could do.

  That gray tiger, even if not a White Tiger, definitely had White Tiger bloodline. Any demon with even a trace of divine beast bloodline became infinitely more valuable in human eyes—blood, fur, flesh, and bones were all precious treasures.

  On the fifth day after finding the gray tiger.

  Xia Li sensed movement from inside the Cave Heaven Gourd. After setting up a breath-concealing formation, he quickly dove inside.

  But where was any gray tiger inside the gourd? There was only a girl with short gray hair staring at him with wary eyes.

  The girl had no ears on the sides of her face. Instead, two fluffy tiger ears sat atop her head, and a tail swayed gently behind her.

  Xia Li found this amusing at first glance.

  Wasn't this a beast-ear girl? His favorite type of character back when he was a pure-hearted otaku. He never expected to see one in real life.

  "Recovered?"

  "Yes... thank you."

  The girl nodded in thanks, but her eyes still held deep wariness, like an anxious cat ready to puff up at any moment.

  "What's your situation? This area is close to human territory. Did you come here seeking death?"

  The part of the Hundred Thousand Mountains near human territory had demonic beasts but no demons.

  Demons and demonic beasts were two different concepts—similar yet different. The biggest distinction between them was sapience and intelligence.

  Only demonic beasts that had developed wisdom and transcended beast instincts could be called demons.

  "I came looking for something."

  "Did you find it?"

  "Not yet. By the way, are you one of our people?"

  The girl figured that if Xia Li saved her, he was probably a human who had joined the demon tribe—only such people could be trusted.

  "No."

  "Then you..."

  "Does that mean I can't save you? Don't view racial concepts too absolutely. Just assume I'm expecting future repayment."

  "Then what do you want?"

  The girl directly asked what Xia Li wanted from her. This directness left Xia Li momentarily speechless.

  He really didn't need anything...

  "What do you have?"

  So Xia Li could only ask what she had.

  "My storage device was destroyed in battle. I have nothing to repay you with right now. If you want my blood essence, I'm sorry but I'm too weak to give any at the moment."

  "But if you have a demon fetish, though I'd be quite annoyed, considering you saved my life, I'll do my best to satisfy you."

  When she said this, Xia Li immediately coughed twice and withdrew his gaze.

  As a former otaku, he did like beast-ear girls. He admitted his gaze just now had been somewhat inappropriate, making her misunderstand.

  But that was only because he'd truly never seen one before—he had just looked a few extra times out of curiosity.

  "I don't have a demon fetish. I simply appreciate your current appearance. I find the combination of human features with some demon characteristics quite beautiful."

  "Isn't that exactly a demon fetish? I've heard some humans have intense desires for fox tribe and rabbit tribe female demons. Their explanations sound just like yours."

  "Well..."

  Xia Li was rendered speechless. He hadn't expected that even in this traditional, conservative world, there were quite a few "comrades" who shared his aesthetic preferences.

  "Just so you know, I hope you won't mind during the process—I might bite and scratch you. We tiger folk can't control ourselves when we get excited."

  "Hiss..."

  Xia Li inhaled sharply at this. So wild? Yet somehow he felt inexplicably excited.

  Seeing his reaction, the girl's nose twitched a few times, as if catching a whiff of spring emanating from Xia Li.

  "You really do have a demon fetish!"

  "No... I really don't have a demon fetish! Don't make things up!"