The fight may have been faster than most other fights Tian Longmeng has ever had, but it was no doubt the deadliest. Even though it felt like a forever, in reality, the fight took less than an incense stick of time to finish.
With how fast the two of them were moving, any misstep would have spelt the death for Tian Longmeng right there. Tian Longmeng would have been in the stomach of the Hou Tiger.
Luckily, Tian Longmeng had an impeccable reaction speed and reasoning to not attack the tiger directly but to take advantage of the Hou Tiger's weaknesses.
It is incredibly hard for someone to believe if you said that Tian Longmeng was only a 7-year-old because the things he had done so far seemed so out of character that one would just assume he was a fully-fledged adult.
Tian Longmeng meditated for 3 hours, revolving essence around his body to heal himself and adjust his body to optimal condition. This was all because he was ready to call the Ark Elder.
One thing, Tian Longmeng had learned the hard way was that it takes a massive amount to energy to call to the Ark Elder. By the time Tian Longmeng had reached the Ark Elder's consciousness, he was already drained dry of essence.
The Ark Elder emerged and analyzed the items laid on the ground. "Good stuff, really good stuff. A couple of these herbs could work. What's impressive is that you found a Heartshard Rosebush in such a remote area."
The ruby budded medicine was commonly known for only growing in areas with vast forestry and dense fogs. Finding an outlying rosebush on the hill was already miraculous.
What was even more miraculous was the dead Hou Tiger close by. The Ark Elder's eyes lit up upon seeing the corpse. "And what is really impressive is how you managed to kill a peak Desolate beast with only the cultivation of the Peak Flesh Hardening Stage."
Tian Longmeng looked at the Ark Elder in question, "Peak Desolate Beast?"
The Ark Elder casually commented, "Yeah, a desolate beast would normally take one at the Earthen Realm to kill."
Tian Longmeng went white and his jaw dropped upon hearing that. It would take five stages of breakthroughs to reach the earthen realm for any cultivation path. Then, only when you have reached that level would you be able to kill some of these? That is insane!
Tian Longmeng did not want to think of what could have been if the Hou Tiger had not been badly injured.
Tian Longmeng assorted the items and turned to the Ark Elder for instructions. The Ark Elder sighed, "I guess you do not yet have the ability to assimilate this into your body directly, huh. Well, nothing a great elder like me cannot fix."
The Ark Elder then got to work by levitating the Hou Tiger corpse and Rosebush before pulling all the Hou Tiger's blood out and mixing the medicine in it.
Immediately, the blood became shiny with a layer of misty essence around it. Tian Longmeng knew this was a miracle tonic that would benefit him significantly.
"Swallow it."
"Huh, what now?" Tian Longmeng turned his head to the Ark Elder in bafflement.
"Swallow it, I said." The Ark Elder repeated himself like it was no big deal. Tian Longmeng however, was petrified.
He was being told to drink raw blood all of a sudden. Even if Tian Longmeng was told to bathe in it, he would less hesitant; after all, it was just his skin. Drinking it was a totally different matter entirely.
The Ark Elder got tired of Tian Longmeng's hesitation and ordered him to meditate. Tian Longmeng obeyed, and as he sat down, he was surprised with the forceful shoving of the blood tonic down his throat.
"Mffhb." Tian Longmeng flailed around and even tried to induce vomit so that he could spit out the blood tonic being entered in his body. However, he was forcefully kept in place by a strong force until the tonic was completely swallowed.
The Ark Elder pouted, "You see, it was not so life-threatening after all. Now, what would be life-threatening though is if you do not control the energies from the tonic."
With that, the Ark Elder returned to the Ark.
Since Tian Longmeng was already forced into this predicament of "breakthrough or die", he decided that he might as well make the most of it.
Tian Longmeng felt the well of energies within himself swelling from his stomach and going into his system. He also felt the energies becoming extremely boisterous as if they wanted to explode within his body.
Thankfully, Tian Longmeng knew just want to do here. The first three stages of the Body Strengthening cultivation path required that one must temper a specific part of their body with essence.
The Flesh Hardening Stage required that the cultivator harden their flesh with essence; the Bone Forging Stage requires that they strengthen their skeletal body, and the Organ Mending Stage requires that they temper their visceral organs in order to combat anything.
Tian Longmeng gritted through the pain as he begun his breakthrough.