NOVEL WEB Chapter 44 - Unexpected Fortune! The Tiger Soul Mark!
Chapter 44: Unexpected Fortune! The Tiger Soul Mark!
“A pendant, huh… This is a first,” Yang Yi murmured as he pried open the young man’s stiff fingers and removed the item from his grip. It turned out to be a beast fang—most likely the canine of a tiger, aged and weathered. The fang had been strung through a coarse hemp cord, giving it a primitive, ancient look.
“Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. Corpse loot successful.]
[Host has acquired a thirty-year-old tiger fang. Value currently under assessment.]
[Congratulations, Host. Ten-thousand-fold critical hit triggered.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: Tiger Soul Mark.]
As the system’s voice echoed in his mind, a faint and guttural tiger’s roar seemed to rise from somewhere deep within. Yang Yi suddenly felt an intense heat radiating from his left arm. A soft glow began to emit from beneath the skin. Almost immediately, a flood of new information surged into his mind. The Tiger Soul Mark—a nemesis to all things evil. Whenever Yang Yi encountered malevolent spirits, cursed beings, or undead creatures, the Tiger Soul Mark could manifest into physical form and fight them head-on.
Even more impressively, it had the ability to absorb the power of these unclean entities and use it to strengthen itself. “Haha!” Yang Yi burst out laughing, overcome with joy. “My luck is peaking again! This Tiger Soul Mark is as powerful as any divine incantation!” To receive such a formidable reward on top of the Mountain Shifting Art, and with his already immense strength and familiarity with mechanical traps, there was now no tomb under heaven that he dared not enter.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. You have gained one year of bitter cultivation time and ten years of life force.]
The system continued its announcements, though none were quite as significant after the Tiger Soul Mark. “Well then, let’s see what you’re made of. Come forth, Tiger Soul!” Closing his eyes, Yang Yi summoned the mark, focusing his will toward his glowing arm.
“Rooaaarrr!” A low, resonant roar thundered through the corridor as his arm burst into radiant golden light. The tiger-shaped pattern on his skin began to shimmer and pulse. And then, with a powerful leap, the tiger mark leapt from his arm—expanding midair into the form of a fully grown, adult tiger.
It stood over 1.2 meters at the shoulder and stretched nearly 2.5 meters in length. Though semi-transparent due to its spirit form, the beast glowed with a majestic golden hue, exuding a fierce and awe-inspiring presence. Even standing still, it radiated an oppressive, commanding aura.
“Rooaaar!”
The tiger spirit growled softly, its piercing eyes scanning the surroundings for evil presences. Upon finding none, it turned and trotted toward Yang Yi, affectionately rubbing its head against him. Unfortunately, being ethereal, its head passed right through Yang Yi’s palm, causing the tiger to let out a small, pitiful whimper.
“Haha! Alright, you can go back for now. I’ll call you out again the next time I run into something unclean.” Yang Yi tried to stroke the spirit’s head again, but his hand phased right through it. Laughing wryly, he waved his hand toward it with fondness. He couldn’t bear to keep the Tiger Soul out for too long in the mortal realm. The longer it lingered, the more damage it would take. At its current strength, it was still quite delicate.
Roar!
Letting out one final low growl, the tiger leapt into the air and dissolved into a glowing wisp, returning to Yang Yi’s arm as a dormant mark. “With this Tiger Soul Mark, I’ll no longer fear ghosts or spirits when descending into tombs,” Yang Yi whispered, steadying his emotions. He turned his attention back to the remaining bodies.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a broadsword.]
The notification brought a slight smile to his face—another weapon added to his growing arsenal. In fact, his system space had accumulated quite a few weapons by now. Most were crude, everyday weapons—nothing of exceptional value or craftsmanship. Certainly not enough to arm a professional squad.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one year of bitter cultivation time and twenty years of life force…]
The system repeated its usual lines as he moved from corpse to corpse. None of the remaining individuals brought any further surprises, but Yang Yi was already beyond satisfied. Eventually, he returned to the middle-aged man—the one who had given him the Mountain Shifting Art. He knelt beside the body and gazed at him with heartfelt admiration. “This time, let me bury you using your own Mountain Shifting Art,” Yang Yi said gently. He took several steps back, crouched down, and swiftly formed a sequence of hand seals. Pressing both palms against the ground, he summoned the power of his Overlord Bone and innate qi.
“Boom!”
In an instant, terrifying energy coursed from his arms into the earth. The two large stone slabs in front of him were instantly flung into the air with a thunderous crack. He moved them aside, then bit into his fingertip and drew a square on the compacted earth with his blood. “With blood as the offering, with the strange bone as the guide—Heaven and Earth, I borrow your might! Break!” He shouted the final command, hands weaving the last seal.
Rumble
His Overlord Bone vibrated. The entire corridor began to tremble and roar. Then, something extraordinary occurred. The blood-drawn square visibly caved in. The ground inside it dropped rapidly, forming a deep grave.
Clap!
Once it was deep enough, Yang Yi snapped his seal. The trembling stopped. “So this is the true power of the Mountain Shifting Art,” he muttered.
“To offer blood and activate one’s strange bone, to invoke the forces of heaven and earth, and reshape the very terrain…” It was now clear why the art required such unique physiology. Of course, like any martial cultivation path, the Mountain Movers ultimately trained to strengthen their own bodies. When their cultivation became powerful enough, they wouldn’t need to borrow nature’s power—they could move mountains with their might alone. This was the difference between Mountain Shifting Art and Mountain Shifting Technique. The Technique was the user’s own skill, like when Yang Yi had flipped the stone slabs using brute force. The Art, on the other hand, was a spiritual invocation—a true magic fueled by heaven and earth.
……………………………………………………………………………
“To think he died just from digging a few burial pits,” Yang Yi whispered as he looked once more at the middle-aged man. “Was it because he lacked a strange bone?” Judging by the shallow, imperfect graves the man had made, his mastery of the art was still very limited. Finally, Yang Yi carefully lifted the body and placed it into the newly made grave. “With blood as the offering, with the strange bone as the guide—Heaven and Earth, I borrow your might once more!” He pressed his palms down again, this time with a different set of hand seals.
Rumble
The ground shook once more. Then the dirt around the pit began to surge like a wave, flowing in to fill the hole. Soon, the pit became a burial mound, and the earth did not stop, continuing to pile upward until a full tomb mound had formed.
“Seal!” Yang Yi shouted and slammed his palm down onto the floor.
Boom!
A sudden surge of invisible force spread across the tomb, compressing it until it was solid and firm. “Rest well,” Yang Yi said softly. “Your Mountain Shifting Art and Technique will flourish in my hands. I promise you that.”
He bowed three times before the mound in solemn respect. “I suppose the Mountain Mover’s legacy will begin again—ironically, with me, a tomb raider,” he chuckled. Then, turning away, he walked to an empty stretch of ground nearby. “Open!” He quickly formed seals and activated the Mountain Shifting Technique. With a stomp of his foot, power surged downward.
Boom!
Three stone tiles shot upward and exploded in midair. “Again!” With another seal and a sweep of his hand, power condensed into his palm.
Boom!
As his hand slammed down, the ground erupted, forming a crater beneath his feet. “Unstoppable Mountain Shifting Technique—who dares stand in my way?!”