Star Gate

Wang Ming’s sports car stopped in front of a mansion before ten minutes passed. They were indeed very close to the Inspectorate and were approaching the southern outskirts of the city. But even so, owning a mansion close to the outskirts of White Moon City was an uncommon feat.

A young man at the front gate roared with laughter when he saw the car pull up. “You came fast enough, Ole Wang! You’re finally back from that Silver City backwater! I thought you were being exiled for servitude on the frontier!”

“Pfft, you’ll be exiled before I am!” Wang Ming chuckled. He jumped off the car and waved Li Hao over. “Let’s get to it, Zhou Qin, where’s the tiger? My bro wants to see a fierce one...”

The young man looked at Li Hao and asked curiously, “Do you... want to introduce your friend?”

“He’s my senior brother!” Wang Ming offered no further details. “C’mon, what’s with the questions?”

“Alright!” The young man glanced at Li Hao a few more times. The latter inclined his head. Zhou Qin wanted to crack a few jokes, but suddenly felt a bit awkward. This newcomer... made him a bit uncomfortable. It was hard to describe, but the newcomer gave him a similar feeling to the tiger that he’d caught two days ago.

He was reminded of the animal for some reason. It stayed unmoving in its cage, but exploded with a fury whenever anyone approached. It inflicted harm at the tiniest opening and was stubbornly unyielding. He’d trained it for a few days without seeing any results. The tiger refused to eat or drink and was proving impossible to tame.

Zhou Qin was going to give it another few days, then throw it away or cook it if he still got nowhere. He was an efficient sort who didn’t waste time, so when Wang Ming wanted to take a look, he led the way without hesitation. They walked past a man made mountain to where a massive cage was kept. Inside the metal cage, a multicolored tiger crouched unmoving on the ground.

“Don’t be fooled by its stillness,” said Zhou Qin. “It rears up as soon as you get close. I was almost injured a few times. It’s just a normal beast, but regular Starlight may not be able to handle it. I had people get hurt when we captured it.”

“No way!” Wang Ming said with surprise. “You guys are all Darkmoon, but it hurt you?”

“Yeah!” Zhou Qin answered. Li Hao was already approaching the tiger. He wouldn’t be in such a hurry normally speaking, but he was in a great hurry right now.

......

Inside the cage.

The tiger remained unmoving even as the young man crunched over gravel. Some dried blood could be spotted on its brightly colored pelt. It was noticeably injured.

Just as Zhou Qin wanted to issue a reminder when Li Hao drew close... a tiger roar split the air over the mansion!

A massive tiger claw shot at Li Hao; the young man looked into the animal’s eyes. It was filled with fury, despair, and reluctance! It would not accept a life like this! The claws were incomparably sharp as they slapped at Li Hao with incredible speed!

Bam!

The massive body slammed into the cage, leaving only a few millimeters between the claws and Li Hao. However, the young man remained just out of reach, causing the tiger to tear the ground with fury and shake the cage.

“ROAR!” echoed repeatedly until the tiger eventually gave up and crouched on the floor again.

Li Hao watched it silently, taking in the experience, feeling everything the tiger projected. He drew a little closer, resulting in another soundless swipe from the tiger. It was faster, keener, and more ferocious than last time!

There were no accompanying roars, just fury and bitterness!

A loud impact rang out as the cage shook from being rammed. Li Hao suddenly stepped forward and punched the tiger’s paw. Blood spurted out of its claws, but the tiger ignored the injury and swiped at the young man!

The loathsome human remained just out of reach!

The tiger went berserk and began biting and gnawing the cage. It struggled again and again, wanting to rush out of confinement. It was unable to do so no matter how it tried. The confrontation continued for a very long time!

Startled, Zhou Qin stared at Li Hao. “Um... what’s your friend doing?” he muttered to Wang Ming.

“I don’t know.” Wang Ming shook his head. He really didn’t know; it looked more like Li Hao wanted to torture the tiger since he’d punched it a few times.

......

Li Hao watched silently, sending the tiger reeling with another punch. The tiger flung itself forward, ripping at the cage and trying to claw the human. Again and again it tried, not knowing the meaning of fatigue or pain.

Despair deepened in its eyes. Just when Li Hao thought it’d given up...

The tiger bounded forward once more; a crunch accompanied its actions as its teeth bit down on a bar that it’d been wearing away for a while. Its tooth snapped, but it also created a massive opening in the metal bars.

The tiger rammed the cage, snapping a bar in half with its momentum. Zhou Qin jerked with alarm—not out of fear, but out of concern that Wang Ming’s friend would be hurt.

Li Hao remained unmoving and permitted the tiger to spring at him. When claws swiped at his head, the young man sent the animal flying with a hearty punch. He advanced on the tiger; it struggled despite suffering notable injuries.

“You know there is no path ahead of you, that there is only death,” Li Hao sighed. “You know that I am stronger, yet continue to attack. Are you not afraid of dying?”

The tiger didn’t respond, it simply continued struggling. It waved its paws around when Li Hao raised his hand. The young man caught one of them and conducted some sword energy into the animal. The tiger remained jerking and flailing against its captor.

Keeping a tight grip on its claws, Li Hao shoved it back into the cage. He turned to Zhou Qin and asked, “Friend, this tiger is too stubborn to be tamed. Can I ask you for a favor and release it back into the wild?”

Zhou Qin blinked.

Li Hao took out a piece of bone from his pockets. “This is five cubes of fire mysterious power...”

“Ah, don’t,” Zhou Qin quickly declined when he understood. “I actually already want to release it. Entertainment is what we go for in things like this, but this one’s not settling down. In that case, it’s just taking up space. Since you’re a friend of Ole Wang, you’re a friend of mine. This is no big deal, I’ll have someone take it back!”

“My thanks!” Li Hao accepted the proposal without further discussion. He smiled at Wang Ming. “I’m done here, let’s go back!”

“You’re done?” Wang Ming repeated with surprise. What did his colleague mean? Had they come to free the tiger?

“Let’s go, and remember to thank this brother for me!” Li Hao waved at Zhou Qin and left.

The fierce tiger behind them seemed to understand. It remained unmoving on the ground and watched the young man leave.

......

Li Hao smiled when he walked out of the mansion. Trapped within a cage, yet refusing to submit? Being fully aware of the dangers, but still wanting to break out of imprisonment just for a fight to the death?

His teacher had observed a king among tigers, the dominator of a forest! Today, he witnessed the struggles of a caged beast. It was two entirely different feelings and auras, but Li Hao felt that what he saw today was very suited to him.

His teacher had dominated the land as a ferocious tiger who’d come prowling down the mountain. He was trapped in White Moon City and beset by danger on all sides. I am the tiger in the cage! These are my struggles!

Li Hao sorted through his thoughts as he walked; Wang Ming’s expression gradually shifted as he followed behind. His colleague had seemed to become a tiger crouched silently, waiting for the opportunity to devour someone!

The handsome supernatural shook with dread. What was going on with Li Hao? Had he comprehended something? Wang Ming himself was also a practitioner of the Five Styles, but he’d never sensed anything like this.

......

Li Hao bore a ferocious tiger in his chest—a cub materialized in his aura and crouched down quietly, waiting for the right moment. So what if he was confined inside a cage? There would come a day when he broke out!

The tiger aura had taken form!

......

Inside the sports car.

Li Hao’s presence was as if a tiger poised to spring. He was sitting quietly in his seat, but Wang Ming felt that there was a tiger next to him in the passenger seat no matter how he looked at it. Cold sweat beaded his forehead. Li Hao really was a little different today! Had he grasped his dao?

Meanwhile, Li Hao’s eyes were closed in repose. Mind intent! This was his first instance of clearly sensing mind intent and the true meaning of martial dao. There’d been coincidence and luck involved when he previously comprehended the earth and sword aura. His ancestor’s eternal stroke had given rise to the sword aura. He’d understood the earth aura when Liu Long’s Nine Forged Force clashed with his teacher’s Five Styles. That’d been a case of spontaneous enlightenment.

Today’s instance of grasping the tiger aura didn’t quite count as spontaneous enlightenment. His emotions and martial dao had built to a critical mass that erupted on the spot. When he observed the caged tiger, he’d resonated with the animal and put himself in its place. That gave rise to the aura, and now his tiger aura was fully formed!

Within the Five Styles, the tiger aura corresponded to water and was thus assigned to the kidneys. Li Hao, however, ignored that correlation. Was it water?

No!

Hong Yitang once explained the nature of auras to him. They were not innately assigned to an attribute. Liu Long’s Nine Forged Force was of water, but his father’s was of fire. They were the same secret art and same method. In the same vein, his tiger aura was different from his teacher’s. It was up to him to see which attribute it mapped to.

A beast at bay putting up a desperate fight; a ferocious tiger confined within a cage. That was not water. Water was gentle. His tiger craved to kill, to explode with fury, to never have to suffer patiently again. It wanted to erupt like a geyser of flames and turn the land to ashes.

There was fire in the heart!

A fire aura!

Indeed, his tiger aura was neither water nor metal. It was a tiger burning with desire. A fire aura!