Chapter 567 — Fleecing the Four Holy Families

"Still no one has overcome that guardian White Tiger. The best result is 0.9 of the guardian White Tiger's power, achieved by your elder brother—roughly equivalent to nine-tenths of the guardian White Tiger's strength?" the top-tier White Tiger god surmised. "Your strength is several times your brother's. Defeating the guardian White Tiger should be no trouble at all!"

"Good!" The White King nodded and looked toward the White Tiger Ranking. "Uncle, any other instructions? If not, I'll go attempt the challenge."

"There are! Remember to—remember to leave all the valuables on your person outside." The top-tier White Tiger god's expression turned strange. "The other three guardian holy beasts are manageable, but this one is peculiar. Its attacks, at the lightest, knock the treasures a challenger carries clean off; at the worst, they deal heavy blows to a challenger's precious organs. Many challengers come out missing teeth, claws, or whiskers. Utterly savage."

The White King fell into thought, then nodded gravely.

Before coming here, the thing he had heard most about was the guardian holy beasts' high mastery of faith power. He was not especially worried about that—even without faith power, he was still first-tier below the divine realm, an outstanding one at that.

Though the Power of Punishment could only reach its full effect with the support of faith power, it was not unusable without it; even at half effect, it would suffice.

Having placed twentieth in the best results of the God-Sealing War, he had earned the right to such arrogance.

Although the rules of these ruins did not permit human contractors to assist him, he alone was enough. He had full confidence in saying that among White Tiger evolvers below the divine realm, he was the strongest.

At this moment, the White King's only worry was that the guardian holy beast was a dead thing, a program, one that would not have its malice stirred by the Power of Punishment—for that would be the real headache.

"I wonder if the White King can clear it." As the White King arrived, the many White Tiger evolvers parted to make way, and he did not even have to queue. Everyone wanted to see whether the strongest White Tiger evolver at the quasi-god stage could truly pass the White Tiger Ranking ruins.

Moments later, the White King entered the challenge stage.

Inside the White Tiger ruins, the Short-Legged Cat, clad in armor, watched the White King before it with burning eyes.

"Challenger, state your name."

"The White Tiger family's strongest quasi-god, the White King." The White King directly condensed a golden axe, struck a combat stance, and looked toward the short-legged white tiger before him.

A faith technique: the White Tiger War Soldier!

A weapon forged from the power of faith, one that could be tempered by faith itself.

"Meow-roar!!!" In an instant both sides struck as one. White King leaped high into the air. Hearing its opponent's cry, it sank into thought.

Why did that sound so cat-like?

Still.

Just as White King had heard, the guardian White Tiger's command of faith power was indeed formidable. It itself had only a thread of faith power to draw on, and even if it used the faith power stored within its body, most of it would be stripped away by the other.

Fortunately, this faith weapon condensed into a war soldier could not be seized from it.

Boom!!!

The golden axe brimmed with purple, wreathed in the Law of Punishment, becoming a violet-gold war axe; one chop landed on the tiger paw sweeping down from the low-legged cat.

What elated White King then was that the power of Punishment could even draw out the guardian sacred beast's malice. This strike dealt critical damage outright, blasting the low-legged cat away in an instant!!

Bang!!!

The armor of intense faith power that clothed the low-legged cat's whole body split with huge fissures, a single step from shattering. Itself was hurled a hundred meters by the blow and smashed against the wall.

"It can be done." White King loosed a roar of victory and charged again.

Even that worthless elder brother of its had 0.9 guardian White Tiger power; its own strength was several times the other's, so having a few times the guardian White Tiger's power was only reasonable.

Yet just as White King believed victory was in hand and that it could swiftly suppress the guardian White Tiger, the overlord-grade fluctuation on the guardian White Tiger suddenly loosened, and its growth rank rose to quasi-deity level, its power surging in an instant.

"Possession." At the same moment, a voice only the low-legged cat could hear resounded through its mind. To the low-legged cat's secret delight, Shi Ying's spirit and soul, employing an advanced application of the fusion talent, took the form of the ruins' spirit and possessed the low-legged cat's mind, entering into a psychic resonance with it.

Boom!!!

In that moment the low-legged cat, its rank suppression lifted, climbed another step in power; combined with a mastery of faith power surpassing the challenger's, it made White King, charging in again, change color abruptly.

Meow—why could this guardian White Tiger level up at all?

As it stood baffled, the low-legged white tiger flew up from the rubble, its White Tiger Armor restored in an instant, and its roar scattered astonishing killing intent: White Tiger Balefulness—each foe defeated lent it a temporary boost in power. The low-legged cat, fighting continuously for two days and two nights, had beaten more opponents than could be counted; having held its White Tiger Balefulness in check all this while, it now fully unleashed it.

Boom!!

Blue baleful aura became a blaze of light and cloud, wrapping the low-legged cat.

Joined with a shrill, killing wind, White King felt in an instant as though plunged into an ice cave, a cold blade laid at its throat, unable to breathe. By the time it reacted, the tiger paw clad in battle armor was already sweeping in again; this time the faith war soldier was smashed outright, and beneath that immeasurably vast force, the killing intent devoured even the power of Punishment, then struck its chest. With a "boom," White King felt every bone come apart and was sent flying in a flash.

"Good." In the outside world, Shi Ying's true body showed delight. The opponent's faith technique was in hand!

In this round, the low-legged cat might well be the biggest winner.

At the same time, Shi Cen had roughly learned what level a Sealing God Battle around 20 represented. True, the other side had no faith power to use now, and no contractor to assist with buffs, but a rough estimate posed no problem.

"Roar!!!" Before long, White King, blasted out of the ruins and covered in wounds, appeared in the outside world, startling everyone.

At once they looked to the White Tiger Ranking: White King's name had shot straight to the top, at 6.6 guardian White Tiger power.

This was the first time across the four rankings that a number not below 1 had appeared. Yet seeing White King's bedraggled state, no matter how one looked, it hardly seemed like the joyful bearing of a victor.

"White King, what happened? Did you win?" The top White Tiger God of the White Tiger clan flew to its side at once and asked.

"I lost," White King said.

"This... this—then what is this ranking about?" The top White Tiger God was dumbstruck. 6.6 guardian White Tiger power, and still a loss?

"1 guardian White Tiger power should mean the guardian White Tiger's strength unit while it stays at overlord level. After I defeated it, the very next moment, it broke through," White King said. "Once the guardian sacred beast broke through, I was no match at all."

"What??" What in the world—the guardian sacred beast could break through too?

In an instant, many evolvers challenging the Ruins of the Four Holy Beasts were struck dumb.

"Then did you get any reward? Did anything trigger?" the top White Tiger God asked at once.