Several hours have passed. The tigers stared at each other, visibly exhausted to continue fighting with each other. Although they were exhausted, that didn't mean their killing intent towards the other diminished - in fact, it was even stronger than before.
The blue tiger pressed its paw against the ground, causing the blue claws with red blood over them to come out and then retract while scratching the ground. It seemed the blue tiger was provoking the red one with that action which proved partially true - the killing intent increased in red-striped tiger's eyes.
The red tiger stared deep into the blue tiger's blue eyes and suddenly its mouth curled into a smile.
It shocked Asura Ryuu and Asura Tenka in the bush: "Could beasts smile? What is this???"
The red tiger's blood-red eyes suddenly glowed and the skin underneath its fur shone with brilliant light. The two in the bush were even more shocked because they recognized what that meant.
"It has Spirit Skill?! Shouldn't the Spirit Energy here be too little for the Spirit Core to form??", the two thought.
That was indeed the case, in the 'Lifeless Area' it was nearly impossible to cultivate Spirit Energy because it was so thin that if all of it gathered in one place, it'd be barely enough to fill a one-litre container with gas. Monstrous amount of gas-type Spirit Energy was needed to transform into one droplet of liquid state, not to mention how much was needed to form the Spirit Core.
Asura Ryuu sent a message through Divine Sense to Asura Tenka: "The only possibility why it has Spirit Skill is either it came from the outside world into this valley or there is a source of Spirit Energy hidden somewhere in the forest. If it's the second possibility, then we've struck gold!"
Asura Tenka nodded and replied: "Let's see first how the showdown will turn out in the end. If the red tiger wins then we can follow it and see if it's the second case, but if the blue one wins... What do we do then?"
Asura Ryuu made a troubled expression because this was what he thought of as well. The only thing they could do now was to watch the battle with impatience and await the result.
The red tiger's aura doubled and its red fur sparkled even more under the starlight, as if the very stars were hidden within it. It was unknown what its Spirit Skill did, but from the aura it seemed that it raised its overall combat capability because the look in the tiger's eyes turned from exhausted to a very dangerous one, radiating killing intent outwards in all directions. Even the two in the bush could feel it, causing them to slightly shudder because of the intangible coldness.
The red tiger already had its preparations done and neared the blue tiger lying in defeat on the ground. When it came in front of the blue tiger, it stopped for a moment and then swept its bloody claw, opening up a big wound on the blue-striped tiger's neck. It watched the blue tiger as it struggled for its life, and when the struggles died down, it turned around and departed without a care in the world.
The red tiger appeared magnificent as it walked away from the throes of victory, but at a second glance it was obvious that it suffered some harsh wounds. It couldn't walk stably and its previous fierce aura diminished even lower than before activating the Spirit Skill. This time, it was thoroughly exhausted.
The two came out of the bush and crouched next to the dead blue tiger.
Asura Ryuu carefully scanned its entire body and took it inside his Spirit World. Since this tiger could contend with the red tiger, it should be very powerful for this area. There were surely lots of beneficial things on its body, so why would he let go of the opportunity?
The two cleared out the blood on the ground to avoid unnecessary troubles if other beasts felt it and chased after the red tiger, maintaining a certain distance so as not to be discovered by it.
After a dozen hours of chasing, the tiger finally came to the strange area in the forest. There was absolutely no difference in Spirit Energy in this area compared to the other part of the valley, but there was a strange manifestation in front of the tiger and the two - the air was visibly distorted as if the heat was rising, causing the light refracted through that area to appear distorted.
The tiger went inside that area and as soon as it passed through the distorted air, it vanished as if swallowed by the space without a trace. The two's eyes reflected insurmountable shock because they felt nothing even with their Divine Senses. The biggest shock-inducing thing was the twisted space before them - when their Divine Sense scanned through it, they felt nothing out of the ordinary. If it was the heat rising, they would feel it. Even though they aren't cultivating yet, they could feel the initial signs of the distortion of the space with their Divine Sense, but they felt nothing at all in this case.
Asura Ryuu's face suddenly became grim because he knew this irregularity either hid a very dangerous secret or a very magical place - maybe even both. He glanced at the Asura Tenka who was thinking the same and their eyes filled with unease met. They felt how big of a problem this could present for the entire area in several thousands of kilometers if something so dangerous was hiding here.
Asura Ryuu's Divine Sense surged, and his thoughts transmitted to Asura Tenka. Whenever the two were alone they would always use Divine Sense to converse and would only talk if there were others around them, because they were used to doing it and it was the safest and quickest way of communication with the power of their minds.
Asura Ryuu: "We go in or not?"
Asura Tenka: "If it was dangerous we'd already be dead for intruding this area, and the tiger also went inside which means it didn't die after entering the first time if we consider that it never changed direction while coming there. That means it knew of this place and went straight there, so there shouldn't be any danger if we just check it out, right?"
Asura Ryuu smiled: "If little master says so, then we go."
Asura Tenka froze for a second when she heard how Asura Ryuu called her and her eyes glared at him. She noticed that his eyes, too, were still filled with unease, so it was obvious he called her like that to ease the tense situation. Even though she appeared angry because of the way she was being called - in reality, she actually liked it a bit.
She snorted and dragged him by the hand towards the mysterious area. As soon as they stepped past the threshold - the distorted air, they also disappeared in the same manner like the tiger.
What greeted them on the other side was a scene so beautiful they were left speechless and dazed the moment they appeared there.