**Chapter 19: Deep in the Tooth Mountain**
**Tooth Mountain.**
Layers of dusk-green foliage. Mist veiled the peaks.
The mountain rose over a thousand feet. Its summit was split into two petals, just like the broken fangs of a beast.
From a distance, it looked like a wild beast lying in a sea of clouds.
The mountain forests of the surrounding villages depended on Tooth Mountain. Though some villagers had cleared patches of forest, they still occupied only a small portion of it.
Deep in Tooth Mountain, most of the territory belonged to all kinds of wild beasts—and they ran in packs.
Even first-rate warriors couldn't guarantee they could cross the entire mountain range.
Because, it was rumored, there was a demon that had awakened its spirit.
At this moment, a figure in dark blue moved like an ape through the dense mountain forest, his body extremely agile.
Every time he changed position, flocks of birds would take flight.
This person was Xu Mingwei. He carried two bows—one black iron bow, the other a loose-colored longbow.
The black iron bow was a specially made strong bow.
Just drawing it required a thousand pounds of force. To pull it to a full moon required over three thousand pounds.
A first-rate warrior could pull it to a full moon with raw strength alone.
Only those at the peak of the acquired realm could use it with ease.
An arrow shot from this bow chased clouds and flashed like lightning, with a thousand-pound killing force.
It could seriously injure even a first-rate warrior.
As for Xu Mingwei—[Inborn Divine Strength] now gave him four thousand two hundred pounds of force in a single arm. Coupled with his [Eagle Eyes] talent, he could lock onto his target.
If he hit someone, it wasn't just a serious injury.
It was certain death.
The other loose-colored longbow was much more ordinary, but it was more than enough to hunt ordinary tigers and wolves.
Only against strange beasts would Xu Mingwei use the black iron strongbow.
He had now passed the outermost mountain forests cultivated by the villagers.
The village hunters never ventured this deep.
"I was almost here last time."
Xu Mingwei moved in several directions again and finally found traces of his own dagger on the trunk of a large tree.
It was the character "yes".
Carved three points into the wood, the strokes moved like a dragon and snake—quite heroic.
Xu Chuan had required all the Xu children to practice calligraphy every day until they turned fifteen.
Ten years of hard work.
The character was also a form of cultivation.
Xu Mingwei had only recently discovered this truth. He was deeply impressed by Xu Chuan's foresight.
So he often practiced to keep his mind sharp.
"The little animal Snow wants—I'll look for it on the way back."
He looked around and continued deeper.
Compared to running on the ground, jumping through the trees was much safer.
**Suddenly.**
He heard a *whoosh* from the side. A fist-sized object was flying straight at his head.
Xu Mingwei twisted his waist, his body turning slightly, dodging the sudden attack.
But because he was mid-jump when ambushed, his movement was interrupted. He could only drop to the ground.
Looking up—on a thick trunk dozens of meters away, a red-faced, white-haired monkey with a large, cracked mouth was grinning at him, dancing and jumping.
"What a fine monkey!"
This was the first time he had seen such a monkey species.
"That arm must have a thousand pounds of strength."
If it had been an ordinary hunter, his face would have been smashed—head split and bleeding.
The white-haired monkey seemed a little annoyed. It picked another round, hard object from somewhere and threw it at him again.
Xu Mingwei dodged again easily.
He even felt curious. He stepped aside, picked up the object, and looked at it.
"A fruit?"
"Strange. It's so hard."
He held it—it felt like pinching a stone. This surprised him greatly.
"I'll bring it back and let Father take a look."
He glanced at the monkey, picked up a stone, and threw it back at the white-haired monkey.
Though the white-haired ape was also very fast, the stone Xu Mingwei threw was far faster than the monkey could react.
It dodged—but not completely.
Its waist was still grazed. Blood splattered.
"Skree—!"
The white-haired ape cried out in pain, covering the wound with its hand.
Fear flickered in its eyes. It screeched twice more and quickly fled, a trace of resentment in its gaze.
"It knows when to run."
If Xu Mingwei had shot again, he would have killed it.
He found another black fruit, put it in his backpack, and continued on.
Venturing deep into Tooth Mountain, Xu Mingwei wasn't simply hunting wild animals.
That would be too easy.
He could find a few in almost no time.
He mainly wanted to find some strange beasts—to test himself.
For example, tigers. Giant bears.
Among them, the best ones had raw strength even more astonishing than some first-rate warriors.
But beasts were beasts after all. Unless they overwhelmed you with numbers, they were no match for a true warrior.
Even a third-rate warrior, using weapons, footwork, and strategy, could kill these beasts.
He wanted to find them. To fight them.
**Suddenly.**
The view ahead opened up.
A small blue lake, sparkling, came into his eyes.
The lake was surrounded by green grass.
"It's beautiful here."
Xu Mingwei murmured in his heart. He looked around and saw—on the other side of the lake—a tiger. It was over half a person's height at the shoulder. Its fur was brownish-yellow with black stripes.
It had strong limbs, a long tail, black rings on its body, and a black-tipped tail.
Its overall lines were smooth and full of power.
Xu Mingwei's pupils narrowed slightly. He could clearly see the character "king" on its forehead when it turned its head.
At that moment, the tiger was biting a fisher and dragging it into the forest.
"A fine tiger. Stronger than any I've met before."
He immediately followed.
He tracked it all the way, not far, to the foot of a low mountain.
The mountain was almost vertical, as if split by a giant sword.
On its walls grew mostly iron-wire lotuses, blooming with large, demonic flowers.
There was a cave at the foot of the mountain. It was clearly the tiger's den.
The tiger was approaching quickly.
Its ears twitched slightly, as if it sensed something. It loosened its mouth and turned to look.
A pair of large, bright tiger eyes—amber-colored, gleaming with sharp light—stared at Xu Mingwei.
He set down his longbow and quiver, then smiled and jumped forward, his fist clenched, and suddenly punched.
The tiger dodged, then leaped up, swinging its front paw and slapping down hard.
*Thud!*
Fist met paw.
Man and tiger—one of them flew backward.
"Very strong!" Xu Mingwei grinned, baring his teeth.
An ordinary tiger had a striking force of just over two thousand pounds, maybe three thousand at most. But Xu Mingwei could unleash over four thousand pounds of force.
Even an ordinary bear would be sent flying by one of his punches.
"Come again!" His fighting spirit flared. His blood surged.
*Roar—!*
The tiger felt its majesty challenged. It roared in rage, and its eyes turned completely predatory.
It exploded off the ground like an arrow.
But the tiger didn't charge straight at him. Instead, it jumped to the side.
Xu Mingwei's movement stalled for a moment.
The tiger's thick, black-ringed tail lashed out like a long whip.
*Crack—*
The sound reached his ears.
He blocked with both arms. The force sent him sliding several meters.
At that moment, the tiger bared its fangs, opened its blood-red maw, and lunged to bite him.
Xu Mingwei's lips curled slightly. He braced with one hand, and his right foot shot out like a spear, kicking the tiger and sending it flying more than ten meters.
The tiger tumbled two or three times. Its tiger eyes fixed on Xu Mingwei.
Just then—
Another tiger's roar came from the cave. A tiger with slightly lighter fur, somewhat smaller, slowly stepped out.
"A tigress?"
"There's a pair here."
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