Within the dilapidated courtyard, on top of the collapsed roof.
A cat with white fur radiating under the faint moonlight, its golden pupils staring unblinkingly at the bright moon, giving off an otherworldly feeling.
"It works!"
While gazing at the moon, Duke was refining with half a mind, pouring the endless moonlight into the black cauldron. His heart was filled with mixed emotions.
He was naturally happy that he no longer needed to specially wait for the full moon to gather moonlight. But he was also sad that he had not thought of this sooner, it was a huge missed opportunity.
Endless moonlight poured into the black cauldron, refined by the flames, and pieces of Moonlight Pill flew out.
As his strength was continuously drained, Duke swallowed Blood Food Pills while concocting pills in the space of the black cauldron, and took them together with the Moonlight Pills. In his mind, he visualized the figure of a three-headed six-armed demon god.
Just as Duke was wholeheartedly gathering moonlight and concocting pills, a shadow leapt in from outside the courtyard, landing without a sound, moving as lightly as a bird.
The shadow lifted its head after landing, revealing a pair of jade green eyes.
The jade green eyes stared unblinkingly at the white cat gazing at the moon on the roof, while its limbs moved like a prowling fierce tiger, naturally exuding an indescribable aura.
The shadow passed through the messy weeds in the yard and came to the front of the house. It leapt up three meters high from the ground and climbed onto the roof.
The shadow on the dirty roof tiles, which had lost their original color, approached Duke silently.
At this time, Duke was still wholeheartedly gathering moonlight and refining it into pills.
The black cauldron required strength, so he would concoct pills while cultivating at the same time.
Concocting pills drained his strength, while cultivating replenished it.
The two complemented each other, thus the perpetual motion cat was born.
Of course, this was just a joke.
After all, while cultivating could replenish his strength, it had a limit. Going beyond that limit would require rest and adjustment, otherwise it would damage his foundations.
While Duke was concocting pills and cultivating at the same time, the shadow also crouched beside Duke, its jade green eyes quietly observing him.
Complex emotions were revealed in its eyes, containing anger, puzzlement, and affection.
Time passed silently. When the bright moon had moved west, Duke also shook himself out of his cultivating state.
While still paying attention to the space of his black cauldron, Duke looked at the shiny Moonlight Pills inside and couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
Although these Moonlight Pills were not refined from moonlight gathered during the full moon, they could still be further refined in the pond to become purer.
Just as Duke revealed his grin, the jade green eyes narrowed, and a paw slapped Duke on the forehead.
Having been hit for no reason, Duke finally came to his senses. He leapt three feet into the air and landed on the edge of the house, looking towards the one who had struck him earlier.
With just one look, Duke's eyelids twitched.
The one who hit him was a black cat, its whole body as black as ink, with jade green eyes and ebony pupils.
Under the moonlight, a faint golden line could be seen on its forehead, which upon closer look, passed through the cat's head, spine and extended all the way to the tip of its tail.
Seeing the black cat's full appearance, Duke's eyes widened. An ordinary person might just see it as a fairly handsome black cat, nothing unusual.
But Duke, who had seized and refined Little Black Fatty's Record of Rare Beasts into pills and swallowed them, would definitely not think that way.
Because this black cat was one of the Four Great Mysterious Cats recorded in the Record of Rare Beasts - the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger.
The Record of Rare Beasts contained a poem describing it:
Black dragon eyes with piercing golden thread,
Inky coat shrouding its body without stain.
Claws hiding sharpness that can break roof tiles,
Tail divided in seven sections that can stir the wind.
This was describing the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger.
The most notable characteristics of the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger were its black eyes, and the golden thread that only appeared under the light of the stars and moon.
However, a new question soon surfaced in Duke's mind.
Why had the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger, one of the Four Great Mysterious Cats, inexplicably come to him?
Moreover, it had slapped him for no reason.
As Duke frowned and sized up the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger, the black cat strode towards him.
With each step, it brought a gust of wind, exuding a domineering aura that did not belong to a mere cat.
"Roar!"
The Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger let out a roar. Duke's expression froze.
"What do you mean, asking me to go with you?"
Duke had just spoken when the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger's brows also furrowed.
Duke was stunned because he could actually understand the meaning contained in the roar of the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger. And the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger frowned because it saw Duke speaking human words.
"Roar!!"
"Why are you asking how I can speak?"
Duke clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Why can't I speak? How does that offend you?"
"Roar!!"
The Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger let out an angry roar. With a press of its paw, it crushed the roof tiles above.
With a crisp cracking sound as the tiles shattered, the dog below also opened its eyes.
Opening its eyes and looking up at the roof, there was confusion in the dog's eyes.
What was the cat doing?
"What do you mean, mystical cats have their own mystical path, not to be tainted by associating with others?"
Duke's frown deepened. What did the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger mean?
Could it be that the Four Great Mysterious Cats had their own secret cultivation methods unknown to the world?
"Roar!!"
The Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger let out another furious roar. At the same time, it lashed its tail, and with a gust of wind, all the surrounding roof tiles were smashed to smithereens.
"What do you mean by that?"
Duke blinked. "What do you mean I've been led astray out here?"
"But who are you? What gives you the right to dictate what I do?"
"While we are both of the Four Great Mysterious Cats, we've never met before today. Meeting you today is fortunate, but you hit me for no reason, and now you're criticizing my cultivation path. That's overstepping your bounds!"
"Roar!!"
Hearing Duke say this, the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger became even more furious. Not only did it let out an angry roar, its aura also changed.
Duke's pupils shrunk to a thin line.
That roar had given him an indescribable sense of danger.
Moreover, its aura had also changed, becoming truly like a fierce tiger in the mountains.
Additionally, the Record of Rare Beasts recorded that the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger was born with the appearance of a tiger, able to detect evil and dispel disasters, suppress demons and devour ghosts.
In other words, the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger was the natural nemesis of evil spirits and ghosts.
It could even force evil spirits and ghosts to take on whatever pose it wanted.
Just like Duke's Harmonizing with Light, the Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger's innate abilities were also extraordinary and extremely overbearing.
But even if it was gifted in dealing with evil spirits and ghosts, how could a cat who practiced martial arts be inferior to it?
"You wanna fight?"
Duke lowered his body, baring his claws and fangs.
"Don't believe I'll rip all your fur out!"
"Roar!"
The Moon Shadow Black Eyes Golden Tiger roared, its roar as thunderous as a tiger's. But to Duke, it had no effect at all.
Wearing the Water and Fire Immortal Garment, even heavy crossbow bolts shot from five stones away could not pierce Duke's fur.
With his front limbs exerting force, the tiles under Duke's feet shattered as he shot towards the black cat like an arrow.
Faced with Duke's pounce, clear disdain flashed in the black cat's eyes.
Right before Duke reached it, the black cat simply jumped up from where it stood. With a lash of its long tail, the air exploded with a loud bang.
With a crisp crack, the long tail whipped Duke's body.
Unfazed by the thrashing, Duke bared his teeth. It didn't hurt one bit.
His charge unsuccessful, Duke's front limbs had just touched the shattered roof tile fragments when he immediately twisted his body. Exerting strength from his hind legs the moment they touched the tile fragments, crushing the roof and leaving cracks behind, he pounced towards the black cat again.
The black cat's eyes widened in surprise at Duke's swift response, clearly not having expected him to be capable of this.
But in that split second, Duke had already pounced and knocked it down from the roof.
During the fall, Du ke opened his mouth and bit the other's fur, while his claws slapped the other's cheeks continuously. After finishing a set, still not satisfied, his legs kicked out again, just like a rabbit kicking an eagle, Du ke heavily kicked the black cat flying out.
The black cat suffered a heavy blow, flew out sideways from midair. Du ke fell down from the air, and his body relaxed itself as soon as he landed, and he looked at the black cat.
"Little guy, dare you tangle with me again?"
As soon as Du ke said this, the black cat that he had kicked out and fell to the ground also got up and stood up.
The moon shadow black eyes golden tiger who stood up shook his somewhat dizzy head, then looked up at Du ke.
Du ke stood up directly, with his front and hind paws forward and backward, and his legs were also staggered front and back, posing a ambiguous fighting stance.
"Wing Chun, Meow Wen, please teach me!"
Finally, Du ke hehe laughed: "Let your two legs, now don't say I bullied you!"
Seeing his gesture, the anger flashed in the black cat's eyes, and he lifted his lips to reveal his sharp fangs.
At the same time, the black cat's fur stood up, and the pitch-black ink pupils in its eyes quickly expanded, and the ink color drifted out of the eyes, along the eye sockets, dissipating into the air.
Seeing this scene, Du ke, who was standing upright, was also taken aback. Something was wrong with this black cat!
The next second, the moon shadow black eyes golden tiger roared, and black and gold fumes began to rise from its paws.
As the fumes rose, they condensed into a smoky beast with pitch-black body like ink on its head, with only one golden line penetrating from head to tail, and pitch-black eyes.
"Damn!"
Du ke unconsciously put down his paws and stared blankly at the moon shadow black eyes golden tiger, and the smoky beast hovering over the black cat's head.
"We're just comparing notes, why did you turn on sound and light effects?!"
"Do you think you are a cat ninja?!"