Pay-to-Win Cultivation: I Get 10,000x Returns

Chapter 217: The Big Tiger with Selective Deafness

Zhang Xian saw the ambush coming a mile away.

He didn’t panic. He didn’t even dodge. He simply raised his hand and delivered a casual, backhanded slap.

Smack!

The gray figure hurtling toward him was sent flying backward at twice the speed of its approach. With a deafening boom, it crashed into a broken stone pillar in the distance, pulverizing the rock and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

“Die, you evil creature!”

A roar erupted from the debris. The figure charged out of the dust cloud, bloodshot eyes locked on Zhang Xian, pouncing once more with reckless abandon.

Zhang Xian raised an eyebrow. He twirled his fingers, tracing a delicate sword flower in the air.

Instantly, the void rippled. Countless emerald-green vines of spiritual energy sprouted from nothingness, weaving together into an inescapable net that wrapped tight around the attacker, suspending him in mid-air.

Only now could the team see their assailant clearly.

It was a male half-demon, built like a mountain. His torso was a map of corded muscle covered in black and yellow stripes, and the character for “King” was etched naturally into the fur of his forehead.

A Tiger Demon. And one who had achieved the Nascent Soul stage.

However, his aura was dangerously unstable. His spiritual pressure flickered like a dying candle, betraying severe, long-standing internal injuries.

Zhang Xian kept his voice calm. “Brother Tiger, I mean no harm—”

“ROAR!”

The Tiger Demon didn’t listen to a word. He let out a heaven-shaking bellow, and waves of scorching heat exploded from his body. The sudden thermal shock snapped the binding vines inch by inch.

“You want me dead? Then we die together! Witness my Heaven and Earth Sharing the Same Lifespan!”

The ambient spiritual energy screamed. The Nascent Soul power inside the Tiger Demon began to reverse flow and compress with terrifying speed. He was going to self-destruct right then and there.

Zhang Xian’s eyes narrowed.

Whoosh.

He vanished.

In the fraction of a second before the detonation, Zhang Xian reappeared directly in front of the Tiger Demon’s face. He flicked his sleeve, unleashing a concentrated blast of Absolute Zero Qi right into the demon’s nose.

Crack… Snap.

A thick layer of glacial frost instantly encased the Tiger Demon. The violent energy building inside him was flash-frozen, forcibly interrupted by the terrifying cold.

The Tiger Demon stood there, a living statue. His face was still frozen in a rictus of suicidal rage, but his body was stiff as a board. Only his eyeballs could move, darting around in shock and disbelief.

Zhang Xian looked at him, sighing with helplessness. “I say, would you mind listening before you explode? Blowing yourself up at the drop of a hat is a bad habit.”

Crunch.

The Tiger Demon bit through the ice covering his mouth.

“Evil demon!” he spat, spraying ice shards that nearly hit Zhang Xian’s face. “Don’t think you can bewitch me! Kill me or torture me, I don’t care! I will never yield!”

Zhang Xian frowned. This guy was completely unreasonable. He raised his hand, preparing to increase the freezing output to cool this hothead down permanently.

Suddenly, Zhiyin stepped forward, blocking Zhang Xian’s path.

She looked at the frozen, angry tiger and offered a smile that could melt glaciers. Her voice was soft, gentle, and dripping with charm.

“Master Tiger, please quell your anger. We are the vanguard relief force from the Central Continent, not evil demons. My friend here acted a bit roughly out of self-defense. We are truly sorry. Please, forgive us.”

The reaction was instantaneous.

The Tiger Demon, who had been seconds away from a suicide bombing, froze for a different reason. He stared at Zhiyin’s peerless beauty, his ears twitching at her melodious voice.

The ferocious, crazed look vanished from his face. He quickly straightened his posture, reached up to smooth back his disheveled fur, and cleared his throat.

“Oh… so it’s friends from the Central Continent,” he said, his voice dropping an octave to sound deep and gentlemanly. “My apologies. I was mistaken.”

Zhang Xian: “???”

Excuse me?

Zhang Xian stared at the tiger. What is this situation? He changes faces faster than flipping a book! One second he wants to ‘Share the Lifespan’ with me, the next he sees a beauty and turns into a scholar?

The Tiger Demon warily scanned the rest of the group. When his gaze landed on Little Liuli and her clear, innocent eyes, he finally relaxed his guard completely.

He coughed lightly, glanced sideways at Zhang Xian, and decided to salvage his dignity.

“To have such strength at the Golden Core stage is truly rare,” the Tiger Demon declared haughtily. “I didn’t expect that even with 30% of my power, you managed to block me. Not bad, kid.”

Xia Chengyan, standing to the side, nearly choked. He rolled his eyes so hard it hurt.

30%? You were literally about to blow up your own soul! That was 120% desperation! The thickness of this guy’s face is definitely Nascent Soul-tier.

Once the Tiger Demon stood down, two small Zhiyin puppets flew over. They applied healing ointment to his wounds and bathed him in a soft, restorative green light.

Xia Chengyan couldn’t hold back his curiosity. “Brother Tiger, what exactly happened here? Why are you—”

The Tiger Demon took a deep breath, staring wistfully at the horizon. He didn’t respond. He didn’t even acknowledge that Xia Chengyan had spoken. His gaze remained glued to Zhiyin.

“Master Tiger?” Zhiyin asked softly. “Can you tell us what happened to this place?”

The Tiger Demon’s face immediately crumpled into a mask of tragic sorrow. “Alas… beautiful lady, as you can see… our Animal Crossing Association has been destroyed.”

Xia Chengyan felt like ten thousand divine beasts were trampling across his heart.

Holy shit. Selective deafness? You literally can’t hear men speaking, can you?

Ignoring the sputtering Xia Chengyan, the Tiger Demon began his tale.

His name was Wang Meng, a Third-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator and the Deputy Sect Leader of the Animal Crossing Association.

Three years ago, the Western Region was peaceful. Then, the madness began.

At first, it was isolated incidents—cultivators going berserk and killing randomly. Everyone dismissed it as Qi Deviation or evil arts.

But it escalated. First, mortal kingdoms descended into a hell of fratricide. Then, small and medium sects began to implode, dissolved by internal slaughter. Even a thousand-year-old titan like the Animal Crossing Association couldn’t escape.

Disciples drew swords over petty arguments. Brothers killed brothers over a wrong look.

“By the time we realized something was wrong, it was too late,” Wang Meng said heavily. “The [Hatred] had fully erupted. And the killing… the killing only feeds it.”

As a top-tier faction, the Association received distress signals like falling snowflakes. But there was no one left to answer them. Even the Sect Leader succumbed to the madness. The great sect collapsed from within in a matter of days.

“At the critical moment, our Supreme Elder, Elder Lu, stepped forward,” Wang Meng recounted. “He specializes in Divination and the Path of the Mind. He fought off the madmen and gathered the few of us who remained sane.”

Elder Lu had utilized a Mustard Seed Sumeru Formation at the bottom of the lake—a technique that hides a vast space within a speck of dust—to conceal the survivors, including Wang Meng.

“Elder Lu then went out to find a way to break the [Hatred],” Wang Meng continued, his voice trembling. “Over three years, he returned three times. Each time, his injuries were worse. It has been over a year since he last left… and he hasn’t returned.”

The Mustard Seed space was a temporary pocket dimension. Without Elder Lu to maintain it, the space was shrinking, and resources were exhausted.

“I had no choice,” Wang Meng sighed. “I came out to scavenge for supplies. But the moment I stepped out, I was ambushed by two berserk Nascent Soul cultivators. I barely escaped with my life. I’ve been recovering for half a year, but… well, you saw me.”

Zhiyin listened intently, her expression filled with concern.

“Master Wang Meng,” she said gently. “If you trust us, could you take us to see the survivors?”

She gestured to the group.

“This is Fellow Daoist Lin Xiaozhu from the Heavenly Abyss Alliance in the Central Continent. She is an expert in Formations and Deduction; she might be able to stabilize your shelter.”

She pointed to Long Zhi. “This is Fellow Daoist Long Zhi from the Southern Region. Her lightning arts naturally suppress evil spirits.”

Finally, she gestured to the girl. “And this is Little Liuli, a survivor we rescued on the way.”