Poison God's Heritage

I flew forward, heading in the direction where the skinny cultivator who tried to kill Shen Mo headed.

By now, Shen Mo would have died, after all, I only sealed his soul in his body, not cured his mortal wound. That wasn't something I could fix. The damage to his soul and body was too severe, and unless I had a heavenly treasure I couldn't help him. Not that I would have handed something that powerful to a person I didn't know even if I had the item.

So, the least I could do is grant him his wish, and at the same time, use him to my advantage.

Scanning the area for the skinny cultivator wasn't something feasible. Especially since I realized that using Divine Sense in this forest was actually a terrible idea.

Saint Class beasts were roaming the area, hiding among the trees and within the earth. Risking exposing oneself to them is the same as asking to have one's neck chopped.

I don't have the ability to fight the creatures that live in this forest. Although I have the ability to escape from or make them afraid of me, but not to fight and come out victorious. So, I'll be using them to my agenda.

I used a smidgen of my Divine Sense and made sure that it stuck close to my body, extending only a bit ahead of me for one reason.

To scan Blood Qi. From the skinny cultivator's blood escape. He ran away so fast that he probably didn't think twice about hiding his own Blood Qi. After all, he must be thinking that no one is foolish enough to use Divine Sense in this forest.

After picking up on the skinny cultivator's trace, I moved after him, rapidly crossing vast distances and making sure to hide my presence whenever I came in contact with any beasts.

And there were many.

My first release of Divine Sense was like a beacon to every creature in the area, fully signaling them to where I originally was. The weak hid away, but the strong must have considered my blatant release of Divine Sense as a challenge to their authority and a danger to their territory.

Some of the beasts had moved up to find the source of the nuisance. Thankfully my Divine Sense was released when I was high above the forest and they wouldn't be able to easily pin the original location, making Shen Mo's body slightly safer. Since I'll be needing it later.

The blood Qi traces became more and more apparent the more I followed after them. And soon, I heard the growl of a beast.

I jumped up to one of the trees in front of me. It was a pretty large tree and one of its branches was large enough and long enough for me to comfortably stand on top of and even keep myself hidden from sight. This gave me a vantage view of what was going on.

A pitch-black tiger with twin tails and two dark raven-like wings on its back was circling the skinny cultivator.

I've never seen a creature like this, the tiger in itself wasn't your usual sized one either, this thing on its legs was already six feet tall the size of a tall human.

The skinny cultivator was trembling as he was carrying a shaky sword to the tiger's face.

Seems like he had an extra sword and even this one is more trash than the one he gave up when facing me.

The skinny cultivator stupidly tried to wound the tiger in the eyes, which tended to be quite the anticlimactic end.

The sword seemed to break upon contact with the tiger's face, not even scratching or wounding the tiger even when the sword struck right against the tiger's eyes.

And with an annoyed expression, the tiger's front paw twitched and that was all I saw. As a matter of fact, even I had my heart suddenly dip as the upper torso of the skinny cultivator immediately disappeared.

I had thought that the tiger was some sort of exotic and strange creature. But I've never thought that it would be a King Class beast.

Shit.

I cursed inwardly as I laid low. I can't afford to be detected by that thing.

The tiger took a couple of sniffs at the corpse but didn't even deem it worthy of feasting on, so he just turned, with both tails playfully swaying, and entered the nearest bush, disappearing from sight.

I took a breath of relief. The tiger was thankfully too relaxed to keep looking for other prey.

"There you are little rat…"

The words spoken weren't human, they sounded closer to those of a demon than anything that can be spoken by a person's vocals.

And the worst part, I heard them right behind me.

My body was too terrified to even jump from my current place.

Slowly turning, I saw two golden irises with long pitch-black slits staring at me.

On top of the fucking tree. On the branch, I was standing on, and right next to me, was the very same tiger from before.

How the fuck did it sneak up on me without me even realizing it.

"You… can speak?" I asked, which was probably the least important question I could ever ask.

"Why do you suppose that only you, bipedal creature, are able of thought or speech?" he said.

"To be frank… I've seen my fair share of strange things, so I was just surprised, after all, you're intelligent enough to sneak up on me unnoticed, you showed disdain for that cultivator's actions and meager strength, and also managed to distract me to sneak up on me, speech is probably the last thing I should be concern about," I replied.

"You bipedal beings have a way with your tongue, but still, why do you show no fear?" it asked.

"Fear? Oh believe me I'm still too surprised to register fear, but I can at least say this," I spoke.

I needed a way out of this fucking mess. Thankfully, it's a feline creature, and all feline creatures have one nasty trait. They are curious.

"Say what, bipedal creature," it asked.

"My name is Shen Bao," I said, "And what I wanted to say is simple, I'm not that tasty," I said.

"You're a strange being, he who is named Shen Bao," it growled, "You think I'll soil my tongue with the blood of a lesser being? That itself is an insult to this great one, I can just kill you and let your rot in here, the same as I did to that one," it said.

I only took a glance at the corpse there and stared back at the tiger, "If you wanted to do so, nothing could have stopped you, although you probably guessed it, my body isn't normal," I said.

"Indeed, it is not. It is pungent and poisonous, once you die, your body will ruin the land and cause the poisons within you to spread far and wide. It will kill a portion of this forest, and this portion is mine," it said. "But I can still subdue you, and kill you elsewhere," it said.

"Though petty, I can easily kill myself inside your territory," I replied.

"You dare threaten me!" it growled this time it was really pissed.

"Not threaten, I'm just stating a fact, we humans are really petty and hard-headed, you saw it earlier, that guy actually tried and fight you back knowing he will die. Even a cornered rat can bite back, and since you didn't kill me or even knocked me out when you had the jump on me, I can probably guess that you need something of me," I replied.

"You talk a big game, he who is named Shen Bao, you speak as if you know what I have in mind, those are big wors," it said.

"I can make a cultured guess," I said.

"Then speak it, and if you are wrong, do know that my claws will rip through your chest faster than you can blink," it said.

I actually didn't need to think hard or long about my answer, it was simple.

"The four idiots that came to your territory, caused a lot of mess, and are probably the reason why a lot of the creatures are restless, and you can't afford to deal with those idiots since you're in a territorial war right now… with a… hedgehog? No, probably a scorpion," I said.

The tiger's limb twitched and for a fraction of a second, I thought I was a goner, why? I'm sure I guessed it right, from everything I've seen from the current state of the tiger and the reason why all of the creatures were avoiding this place. Did I guess wrong about the type of monster it was fighting?

Many ideas crossed my mind but then, I didn't feel like I had died.

Looking to my right, the tiger's paw, no, the claws were extended and right next to my face.

"How did you know?" it asked. "And it is indeed a scorpion."

Curiosity, nice!

"When you were moving away from the cultivator you just ended earlier, I saw that you had a minor limp on your left side hind leg. I couldn't scan it using divine sense then, but now that you're next to me, I can smell the wound," I said.

"But how did you judge that the wound was caused by a Scorpion, or how did you assume it was even a hedgehog, I fail to see the relationship between the two," it said.

"At first I thought it was a type of sharp and thin weapon, the idea of it being a Serpentinian fang crossed my mind first, but the wound is too small, nor do I believe that a snake that's capable of wounding you will only leave you with a small invisible wound. Then I thought it could be a hedgehog's needle since it's sharp and small enough, if it's a creature that's able to cause damage to you but not significant enough for you to care, then it could only be a creature that relied on defending itself. Yet, when you came closer I was more certain it was a scorpion's tail," I said

"Your reasoning is all over the place, but how did you conclude it to be a scorpion the wound is too small for you to see from such a distance, nor can you see it now since my body is covering it, do you dare say that you used Divine Sense when even I didn't sense you using it?" the tiger said.

"No, I'm not that stupid to use Divine Sense to scan you right now, but about my thinking it's simple, since we humans don't think in a straightforward way I managed to think up many reasons why you were wounded and deduced that a scorpion would be the closest to the mark. Since it hosts defensive abilities thanks to its exoskeleton, it's also able to deal a thin sharp wound thanks to its tail. Though I doubt that it was able to win, it fought you to a stalemate," I said.

"So, you're saying that I am weak?" the tiger said.

Man, why is this dude so hard to talk to?

I shook my head, "No, not at all, it is that the scorpion was cowardly, it hides behind its defenses and strikes using its tail. We humans since we're weak use the same tactics, a spear, and a shield," I said.

That was total bullshit, but this guy will probably not understand.

"I've seen humans use spears, and I've seen humans use shields, and I've also seen humans use both. Indeed, you are right, you humans are as cowardly as that scorpion," the tiger gloated.

I don't care if I were to call out the entire human race if it means I survive right now so screw it.

"But it is still too far-fetched to guess that it was a scorpion," the tiger said.

"Not until I smelled it, the poison that is still coursing through you," I said.

"It isn't that big of a deal, nothing short of a few years rest can't fix," it said.

"True, but with the four people moving about in your forest and in your region, it will be annoying to find some shut eyes," I said.

"Indeed, so, what do you suggest, he who is named Shen Bao," it said.

The way he is calling me is frustrating.

"Just call me Shen Bao, anyway, I can help you with all three of your issues," I said.

"You? Help me?" the tiger laughed, yes, it fucking laughed and it sounded like saws cutting through steel plates.

"You said so yourself we humans are cowardly, but cowards are resourceful, that's why they survive. I have a way to remove the poison from your body, which will make it so that you wouldn't need to rest, also I have a way to neutralize the poison that you're inflicted with, so if you fight the scorpion again you won't need to even care about his stinger, and finally, I'm also planning on taking care of all four of those humans which will make your nuisances disappear," I said.

"Tempting offer, but, I suppose if you're capable of doing all this, you want something? Other than your life of course," it said.

"Yes," I said.

"What is it human, what do you wish for me to give?" it asked.

"A tree," I said.

"A tree?" the tiger frowned.

"Yes, a tree, from your forest, I want one tree, this one actually, I want it to be mine," I said.

"Peculiar human, inside this forest, exist many treasures, treasures in the belongings of the people that have died here, yet all you want is a tree?" it asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Then you must have had one parent who is a beast," the creature said.

"How come?"

The tiger backed away, fully mixing itself with the darkness of the forest, and only when his eyes were the only thing visible from him it spoke, "Because only beasts ask for territory, disregarding everything else. Fine, a tree it is, I shall grant you your request only when you fulfill your end of the barging, so get working, Shen Bao!"