The Ninth Princess wasn't participating in the Wangshan hunt for the first time, so she was very familiar with the general activity areas of the beasts.
"Up ahead is Tiger Roar Slope. Earlier, I passed by and heard the roar of a Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger. However, it's a first-tier mid-level beast, even more formidable than the Ironhide Savage Bull. With my current strength, I couldn't possibly take it down, so I didn't provoke it," the Ninth Princess explained.
Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess dismounted their antelope, cautiously entering Tiger Roar Slope, searching for traces of the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger.
On the ground, Zhang Ruochen noticed signs of a battle.
A tree trunk, as thick as a bowl, had been snapped in half. Leaves were charred to ashes, and there were bloodstains near a large boulder.
"Could someone have beaten us to it? Was the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger already hunted?" the Ninth Princess wondered.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "That's not the tiger's blood; it's human blood. Be careful; the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger should still be nearby."
"Whoosh!"
As Zhang Ruochen finished speaking, a giant crimson tiger leapt down from the steep slope above, its sharp claws swiping toward Zhang Ruochen's neck.
In his previous life, Zhang Ruochen had reached the Great Perfection of the Heaven Extremity Realm. Even after reincarnation, his soul and mental acuity remained at that level, giving him an extraordinary sense of danger.
Just as the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger lunged, Zhang Ruochen sidestepped to the right, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Not only that, but he also quickly drew a Thunder Arrow from his quiver, infused true energy into its head, and stabbed it into the tiger's abdomen with a reverse grip.
Then, he kicked off the ground, leaping backward.
The entire sequence happened in a flash. Before the Ninth Princess could react, Zhang Ruochen had already embedded the Thunder Arrow into the tiger's abdomen.
"Boom!"
The arrowhead exploded, blowing a palm-sized wound in the tiger's belly, and blood poured out from the injury.
However, since Zhang Ruochen had manually thrust the Thunder Arrow into the tiger, its impact was not as powerful as if it had been shot from a bow. The arrow only pierced about three inches into the tiger's skin, failing to inflict a fatal wound.
"Roar!"
The Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger was three times larger than an ordinary tiger, with two rows of half-foot-long sharp teeth and claws like blades.
The tiger's offensive power was comparable to a warrior at the Great Extremity of the Yellow Extremity Realm, and its speed matched that of such a warrior as well. For most warriors, encountering a Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger meant certain death.
Standing ten meters away, the Ninth Princess turned pale.
This beast was as powerful as a Great Extremity warrior. At such a close range, even the Thunder Arrow would not have its full effect.
Bows were better suited for long-range attacks.
She steeled herself and immediately drew a Thunder Arrow, nocking it onto her bowstring. She pulled her iron-string bow into a full crescent.
"Swish!"
The Thunder Arrow shot out like a streak of lightning.
The tiger leapt, dodging the arrow with remarkable speed.
In an instant, it covered the ten-meter distance, arriving in front of the Ninth Princess. It swatted the iron-string bow out of her hand with a paw and opened its gaping jaws to bite her.
The Ninth Princess flipped backward, pressing a finger to the ground to spring herself seven or eight meters away, barely avoiding the attack.
However, the tiger was faster than her by a fraction. In a split second, it caught up, raising its massive claw to strike at her head.
Despite her cultivation at the middle stage of the Yellow Extremity Realm, the Ninth Princess was still no match for the tiger in either strength or speed.
At a distance, she could have used the Thunder Arrows to pose a threat to the tiger. But in close combat, a middle-stage warrior without a true martial weapon was no match for it.
As the tiger's claw descended, the force of the wind whipped against her face, making it sting.
Just when the Ninth Princess thought she was doomed, she saw a figure rush toward the tiger with her peripheral vision, colliding directly with its massive body.
"Rampaging Elephant!"
Zhang Ruochen struck the tiger's back with a palm, channeling the strength of sixteen oxen. The impact sent the tiger flying.
"Crash!"
The tiger slammed into a nearby tree trunk, snapping it in half, and then crashed heavily to the ground.
Zhang Ruochen sprinted over, transforming his palm into a knife as he channeled all his true energy.
"Thwack!"
His hand struck the tiger's neck, and the force shattered its windpipe.
The tiger convulsed, managed to get up, and staggered through the woods for a moment before collapsing, dead.
The Ninth Princess stared at Zhang Ruochen in disbelief. She couldn't help but be shocked—Zhang Ruochen had killed the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger barehanded.
"Ninth Brother, are you really at the Small Extremity Realm? Did you truly open your Divine Martial Imprint only three months ago?" the Ninth Princess asked.
Zhang Ruochen calmly replied, "I said, whether it's a beast or a warrior, they all have weaknesses. Once you find their weak point, it's not hard to kill them. The weak point of the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger is its windpipe."
"But I clearly saw you knock it away with a single palm. That kind of strength must be at least ten oxen," she added. "I've reached the middle stage of the Yellow Extremity Realm, and even I can't unleash the strength of ten oxen. How did you manage it at the Small Extremity Realm?"
Zhang Ruochen replied, "As long as the martial body is strong enough, it's not unusual for a Small Extremity warrior to display the strength of ten oxen."
The Ninth Princess stopped asking questions, but Zhang Ruochen's overwhelming power had already left a deep impression on her. This half-brother, just a day younger than her, was becoming increasingly difficult to read.
Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess found the dead Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger in the nearby woods.
Its abdomen still had a Thunder Arrow embedded— the same one Zhang Ruochen had thrust into it earlier.
"Damn it, if I had my Bluewater Sword, I could have fought it off and maybe even killed it," the Ninth Princess said, feeling a bit frustrated.
As one of the "Twin Beauties of the Capital," known for both her beauty and talent, she had been repeatedly forced into precarious situations by two beasts, needing Zhang Ruochen to save her each time.
Her pride as a favored child of destiny had taken a serious hit. She silently vowed that the next time they encountered a beast, she would kill it cleanly and decisively.
"Let's go, Ninth Brother. We'll hunt other beasts—"
Zhang Ruochen extended his hand, placing it on her shoulder with a serious expression. "Don't move!"
The Ninth Princess was confused and was about to ask why, but then she saw a stag covered in blue flames slowly approaching them from a distance.
When she saw the Bluefire Stag, her body trembled, and she stopped breathing.
"Squeak!"
The Bluefire Stag's eyes gleamed like blood-red gems. It stood over two meters tall, with antlers resembling jade coral, and its entire body was ablaze with blue flames.
The ground turned black wherever it stepped.
A first-tier upper-rank beast—the Bluefire Stag—its offensive power rivaled that of a Great Extremity Realm warrior, and its speed was comparable to a warrior who had achieved the Great Perfection of the Yellow Extremity Realm.
The Bluefire Stag's only weakness was its relatively low defense, even weaker than the Saber-toothed Crimson Tiger's.
However, given its terrifying speed, who could even land a hit on it?
It could kill you before you even had the chance to attack.
"What should we do?" The Ninth Princess felt a chill running up her spine.
With their current strength, encountering a first-tier upper-rank beast meant certain death.
In past Wangshan hunts, warriors had been killed by beasts.
Naturally, the Ninth Princess did not want to die here. She desperately tried to think of a way out, but the Bluefire Stag's terrifying speed made escape seem impossible.
Zhang Ruochen, on the other hand, remained calm, his eyes filled with a hint of battle intent.
He handed his quiver to the Ninth Princess. "I have two Thunder Arrows left, and you have one. Together, that makes three. With your archery skills, even if you can't hit the Bluefire Stag, you should be able to at least pose a threat, right?"
"What are you planning?"
The Ninth Princess stared at Zhang Ruochen, her eyes wide with confusion. Was he really intending to hunt the Bluefire Stag?
That was a first-tier upper-rank beast!