Chapter 102: The Order of Blood Malice

"Hey! Big cat, put some effort into it, don't hold back."

He spoke with a hint of suspicion.

"Are you alright?"

The Mysterious Ice White Tiger wore an expression of shock. It clearly could not understand why its direct soul power as a Demon King realm beast had no effect on this kid.

"He's faking it, he must be faking it," it muttered to itself.

Gritting its teeth, it exerted all its strength to control its soul power, attempting to crush Xiao Yang's soul directly and leave him a mindless fool.

"Big cat, are you capable of anything? Put some muscle into it! I don't feel a thing."

Still, he felt nothing.

This sentence left the Mysterious Ice White Tiger dumbfounded. Only one thought echoed in its mind: *Impossible.*

Its soul power was having absolutely no effect. The tiger even began to suspect that this was all a dream and that it hadn't woken up yet. Otherwise, how could a powerhouse at the seventh level of the Demon King realm be unable to handle a mere Great Martial Master?

"Kneel for me!"

The Mysterious Ice White Tiger, having just started to rise, crashed back down to its knees with a loud thud. The pain in its joints made it realize that this, damn it, was no dream.

"How are you able to defend against my soul attack? Who on earth are you?" it asked, trembling with a touch of fear. Having lived for thousands of years, it had never encountered such a bizarre situation.

"Who am I... heh heh!" Xiao Yang gave a wicked grin. "Obviously, I'm your master!"

As he spoke, he looked the tiger up and down. Its fur was lustrous, its appearance majestic; it was simply the perfect choice for a mount. In short, he had hit the jackpot.

"Pah! A shameless wretch like you is hardly fit to be my master." The Mysterious Ice White Tiger spat, aiming for Xiao Yang, but he dodged it with ease.

"How bold, you actually dare to spit at me."

"Shameless human!" The tiger opened its mouth, intending to spit again.

"Shut up! Swallow it!" Xiao Yang barked.

The saliva that was about to be expelled was forced back down its throat. The Mysterious Ice White Tiger stared at him in disbelief.

"What are you looking at? Get down."

Boom!

Xiao Yang's words were like an imperial decree; the tiger was forced to obey. Its eyes turned blood-red with rage. If looks could kill, Xiao Yang would have died at least a hundred times—a hundred times over!

"Still glaring at me? Close your eyes."

The Mysterious Ice White Tiger reluctantly closed its eyes. At this moment, Xiao Yang felt absolutely exhilarated.

From then on, Xiao Yang added a new task to his list: training the aloof big cat.

"Down," "shake hands," "crawl forward." He put the tiger through every trick in the book. He was determined to get the Mysterious Ice White Tiger ready to take up its post as his personal mount as soon as possible.

***

At the headquarters of the Assassin Alliance, three elders sat in silence. A long time passed, and none of them spoke.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

The door was suddenly knocked upon.

"Enter!"

An assassin dressed in field gear walked in. After bowing slightly to the three of them, he spoke.

"Reporting to the three elders, we could not find the assassin Tianxiu. We only recovered his blood-stained clothing. We speculate that he has been killed."

Silence. The entire room fell into an eerie quiet. After a long time, one of the elders finally spoke.

"Very well, we understand. You may go."

The black-clad assassin bowed and retreated, his back already soaked in a cold sweat. He had clearly been terrified.

"Xiuer has most likely been murdered. Sigh!"

"If we do not avenge this, what face do we have left to live?"

Both elders wore expressions of pain; they had raised Guan Xiu from a young age. To say they lacked affection for him would be a lie. Ultimately, their hearts were not made of stone.

The elder in the center suddenly raised his head, an intensely cold killing intent erupting from his body.

"Issue the Blood Demon Order. I want that kid to pay the price."

Before he had even finished speaking, the other two elders showed surprise, but it quickly turned into hatred.

"I agree. I will not have peace of mind until that boy is dead."

"Avenge Xiuer."

The three reached a unanimous decision.

This was only the second time the Blood Demon Order had ever been issued. The last time was ten years ago, targeting a powerhouse at the third level of the Martial Marquis realm. Because that individual had repeatedly provoked the Assassin Alliance, the alliance had found him insufferable and issued the Blood Demon Order. Three days later, when the Martial Marquis was discovered, he had been reduced to a pile of dry bones, appearing as though he had been carved into that state one slice at a time. Since then, the Blood Demon Order had become legendary. However, it was exceptionally difficult to trigger such an order from the Assassin Alliance. In ten years, it had only happened once.

"He killed our Xiuer. Even if I have to exhaust the entire Assassin Alliance, I will kill that brat!" the elder in the center roared in a low, angry voice.

This time, it could be said that the Assassin Alliance was playing its final trump card. Anyone who had ever served as an assassin for the alliance was required to comply with the arrangements for this matter. In a way, Xiao Yang had, without realizing it, made an enemy of the entire Assassin Alliance.

Once the news spread, it instantly ignited the entire North Desert City. The Blood Demon Order, unseen for a decade, had reappeared. At first, people assumed it was meant for some great figure, but when they learned the target was a Great Martial Master named Xiao Yang, they were all baffled.

Soon, everyone concluded that the Assassin Alliance had gone insane. To use the Blood Demon Order for such a small fry? With the order issued, it meant the entire organization was mobilizing its full strength to kill a single Great Martial Master.

"The Assassin Alliance is truly falling. To make such a grand spectacle for a mere Great Martial Master..."

"Who's to say otherwise? Using the Blood Demon Order for a Great Martial Master—they'll have no business left after this."

For a time, the entire North Desert City was consumed by this news. Every street and alley was buzzing with discussion about the Blood Demon Order. However, their opinions were unanimous: the Assassin Alliance was making a mountain out of a molehill. Mobilizing the entire organization for a Great Martial Master? They must have lost their minds.

Just then, at the city gates of North Desert City, a young man in white robes walked in. Seeing groups of people gathered together, he was curious and ordered his attendant to go and find out what was happening.

"Little Li, why is the city in such an uproar?"

"Yes, Young Master!"

The attendant dared not delay and hurried toward a crowd. "Pardon me, I'd like to ask about something."

However, the four middle-aged women merely glanced at him and went back to their gossip.

"North Desert City is going to be restless again. To go through all this trouble for a tiny Great Martial Master, it's dragging us all into it."

"Sigh! Who's to say otherwise!"

Seeing their attitude, Little Li immediately took out a banknote. "Whoever tells me what's going on, this banknote is theirs."

As soon as he spoke, the four women shed their indifference, their faces lighting up with enthusiastic smiles. They looked as if they wanted to hug Little Li as they talked. After a good while, Little Li finally managed to escape and return.

"What's going on?"

"Reporting to Young Master..."

He recounted everything he had just heard. Upon hearing it, the young man in white couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha, interesting. Truly interesting."

"To think that with his own strength, he has driven the entire Assassin Alliance to madness. Interesting, truly very interesting."

"Crawl forward."