For the entire day, Zi Linling had been on the run and had no time to recover her spiritual power or physical strength.
Now, the man-eating boar had held back Xiong Tai, Li Luo, Xie Shenghua, and Fu Liuyun, so she decided to rest here for a while.
As time ticked by, the spiritual power consumed within Zi Linling not only became saturated but also showed a slight improvement.
Furthermore, as her spiritual power recovered, her already diminished soul power also returned.
However, the recovery of physical strength was a bit troublesome and required sustenance.
Zi Linling took out a knife, sliced off a large piece of meat from the ferocious beast, the Nine Spirit Ring's long serpent, then divided this large piece into smaller portions. She then roasted them with fire spiritual power and sprinkled them with salt and seasonings.
Soon, a fragrant aroma of roasted meat wafted out. Zi Linling, who was ravenous, eagerly grabbed a piece and began to devour it.
After a few bites, she suddenly remembered Xue Ying and Long Er. Therefore, she divided the remaining serpent meat into two portions, one for Xue Ying at the Divine Maiden Palace and the other for Long Er in the contract space.
Afterward, she continued to eat. For someone who had gone hungry for a whole day, any food would be delicious.
Moreover, in her previous life, Zi Linling's cooking skills were exceptional, so the dishes she made were incredibly tasty.
Just as Zi Linling was savoring the serpent meat, a faint, pungent odor wafted towards her.
At the same time, a powerful aura entered Zi Linling's perception.
Zi Linling immediately became alert. This aura was significantly stronger than that of the man-eating boar, and it was coming from the front. Therefore, she was certain it was a demonic beast.
What kind of demonic beast could it be?
Zi Linling vigilantly watched ahead, extending her divine sense from her mind palace towards the front. However, she couldn't detect any trace of the beast.
How could this be? Did I misperceive it?
Zi Linling frowned and shook her head.
Impossible! From her past life to the present, her perception had never been wrong!
This meant there must be something she had overlooked.
Zi Linling's divine sense began to search inch by inch from her surroundings outwards. She refused to believe she couldn't find the beast's whereabouts.
Suddenly, she sensed a peculiar fluctuation about fifty meters ahead of her.
This is it!
A fireball, already formed in Zi Linling's hand, was immediately thrown.
"Bang!"
The fireball exploded, scattering sparks, but it didn't hit anything.
Zi Linling was greatly alarmed. She would never believe there was nothing there.
She was certain that not only was something there, but it was also a very powerful and extremely fast demonic beast.
In just this short moment, Zi Linling's inner alarm bells were ringing, and she could feel a gust of wind hitting her face.
She instinctively raised the hand holding the serpent meat to block.
A sharp claw landed on Zi Linling's hand, or more accurately, on the serpent meat in her hand.
Zi Linling felt her hand go empty; the piece of serpent meat had vanished.
At the same moment, a magnificent tiger appeared five meters in front of her. Strangely, this tiger had a pair of blood-red wings on its flanks.
The large tiger swallowed the piece of serpent meat, closed its eyes, and began to chew slowly, a look of enjoyment on its face.
"Old Du, what kind of demonic beast is this?"
Zi Linling didn't recognize the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger and could only seek help from Old Du, who was like a walking library within the Nine Spirit Ring.
Old Du extended his soul power out of the Nine Spirit Ring, his eyes filled with astonishment.
"Huh! It's actually a mutated phantom tiger! To be precise, it should be called a Wind Wing Phantom Tiger."
"Wind Wing Phantom Tiger?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Zi Linling's eyes.
Old Du stroked his goatee and said, "Indeed. It is extremely skilled in speed, and it also possesses a trace of White Tiger bloodline within it."
"No wonder! No wonder I couldn't track its movements!"
Old Du said with a solemn expression, "How did it end up here?"
Just as Zi Linling was about to answer, the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger opened its eyes, looking greedily at the remaining pieces of serpent meat beside Zi Linling, saliva dripping from its jaws.
Zi Linling followed its gaze, which fell upon the serpent meat.
She was surprised. She picked up a piece of serpent meat and asked the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger, "Do you want this?"
The Wind Wing Phantom Tiger paused for a moment, then nodded its fluffy tiger head.
Zi Linling exclaimed in astonishment, "You can understand me?"
The Wind Wing Phantom Tiger nodded again.
Zi Linling found it quite interesting.
This was her first time encountering a demonic beast. Although Old Du had told her before that demonic beasts possessed intelligence, seeing it with her own eyes still made her gasp in surprise.
She tossed the serpent meat in her hand and said, "You won't attack me, will you?"
The Wind Wing Phantom Tiger bit down on the piece of serpent meat, shook its head, and closed its eyes again to enjoy it.
Soon, the meat was gone, and it shook its head at Zi Linling, then its gaze fell back onto the last piece of serpent meat.
Its meaning seemed to be, if you give me meat, I won't attack you.
Zi Linling found it amusing. This Wind Wing Phantom Tiger was too human-like!
She picked up the last piece of serpent meat, dangled it, and said, "Take me out of this demon beast territory, and I'll make you much more of this meat, enough to make you full. Can we do that?"
The Wind Wing Phantom Tiger shook its head, then nodded.
Zi Linling couldn't understand its meaning this time and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
The Wind Wing Phantom Tiger suddenly disappeared for a moment. When it reappeared in the same spot, it had another piece of meat in its mouth, and a hint of pride appeared on its face.
Zi Linling was stunned. Suddenly, she felt her hand empty and realized the meat was gone.
When she came to her senses, she saw that the serpent meat was already in the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger's mouth.
She looked incredulously at the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger leisurely eating the meat and shook her head helplessly.
Then, she began to prepare for a hasty retreat.
Without the serpent meat, who knew if this Wind Wing Phantom Tiger would attack her?
Even though she couldn't outrun the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger, she wouldn't just wait for death.
"Roar!"
As expected, after the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger swallowed the serpent meat, it let out a roar at Zi Linling.
A pungent odor wafted towards her, making Zi Linling dizzy.
Not good!
Just as Zi Linling was about to use her Dragon Swimming Steps to escape, she realized the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger had turned around and was facing her with its tail.
Zi Linling was taken aback and asked cautiously, "What are you doing?"
The Wind Wing Phantom Tiger turned its head, gave her a disdainful look, then flicked its head and walked forward.
Zi Linling stood rooted to the spot, frowning, trying to guess the Wind Wing Phantom Tiger's intentions.