Chapter Sixteen: Farewell to Black Panther (Part Two)

Old Lion Father looked gloomily at Wang Luo, who handed him a drop of fresh blood, muttering to himself: Strange, why is this boy so obedient today? I was all prepared—if he'd just asked "why," I could have thrown him into the pool for talking back.

Lion Father told Wang Luo to hold onto his own drop of blood, then grabbed the ever-struggling Little White in his hand, instructing Wang Luo to stand still. Suddenly, he appeared beside Lion Mother, who had been quietly watching everything unfold. He inhaled her scent with relish, his eyes turning dreamy once more. Not until the little white lion in his hand bit him hard did he snap back to reality, whereupon he started muttering with the little lion, the two of them exchanging sounds only they seemed to understand.

After Lion Father disappeared, Wang Luo found himself face-to-face with the nearly two-meter-tall black panther. Wang Luo looked at the panther in confusion, having no idea why Lion Father had told him to stand still. Surely he wasn’t supposed to feed his drop of blood to the panther? Wang Luo was about to ask what to do next when he noticed the panther, after staring at him for a moment, began to move.

The panther slashed its own brow with a sharp claw, then started to whimper softly. Wang Luo watched, utterly puzzled, not knowing what the panther was doing. Suddenly, the drop of blood in Wang Luo’s hand began to float eerily, suspending itself between him and the panther; at the same time, a drop of blood from the panther’s brow also floated into the air.

The two drops of blood hovered silently, and as the panther continued to whimper, intricate black lines suddenly appeared on the ground, quickly forming a complex circular pattern. The design’s tangled lines flickered with a strange black light; as the array manifested, the two drops of blood in the air drew closer and merged without resistance.

Wang Luo watched all this with curiosity. Though he didn’t know what Lion Father wanted the panther to do, it did seem the panther was none too willing—he suspected this was of no benefit to it. The merged blood in the air writhed ceaselessly, and the complex circle on the ground suddenly blazed with a dazzling, sinister black light.

Wang Luo’s vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, the pattern on the ground had vanished, and in place of the blood in the air, two strange black runes now hovered. The runes flickered, then appeared in front of both Wang Luo and the panther, merging into their bodies. Wang Luo immediately sensed a mysterious new bond with the panther—subtle, yet profound.

Little White leapt into Wang Luo’s arms, grumbling in discontent. Though Wang Luo couldn’t understand its words, its unhappiness was obvious. Presumably, it was still upset about being squeezed by Lion Father. Wang Luo comforted the little lion and turned to ask Lion Mother what had just happened, only to find that Lion Father and Lion Mother had vanished without a trace.

He searched the area but couldn’t find them anywhere. So, with Little White in his arms, Wang Luo turned to look at the black panther. The panther was lying on the ground, feigning sleep, the wounds on its body faintly glowing with a dusky black light, as if healing itself.

Noticing Wang Luo and Little White’s gaze, the panther opened its eyes and glanced at them with disdain, snorted derisively, and closed its eyes to resume its pretense of sleep. Seeing that look, Wang Luo hadn’t said anything yet, but Little White was already voicing his displeasure, barking at the panther and waving his paws furiously.

Wang Luo couldn’t understand, but judging by Little White’s gestures, he could guess the gist: “Hmph! Just because you’re all black doesn’t make you special—I’m all white! If you’ve got guts, come fight me. I’ll show you what I’m made of!”

The panther didn’t even twitch an eyelid at Little White’s challenge, merely snorted again in contempt.

With an indignant roar, Little White swiped his adorable paws at the panther. To be fair, his attack did carry some presence, though the effect was more cute than intimidating.

Sensing the attack, the panther’s eyes snapped open, gleaming with a chilling light. But Little White, undaunted, pressed on. In an instant, the panther rose, raising a paw almost as big as Little White himself and swung at him.

With a thud, their paws collided. Little White yelped and was sent flying back, only to be caught by Wang Luo. The panther’s eyes locked onto Wang Luo’s, and it let out a roar brimming with fighting spirit.

Gazing at the battle-ready panther, Wang Luo’s blood surged with excitement; it had been so long since he’d had a good fight. He tossed Little White aside and lunged at the panther, not even bothering with his bone sword.

Little White, tossed to the ground, let out a disgruntled growl, then immediately turned into a blur of white and raced past Wang Luo, overtaking him as they both charged the panther.

With a crash, the white blur collided with the black blur, and soon after, a yelp rang out as Little White was sent flying again. It was inevitable—his small body was no match for the panther’s strength.

Ignoring the once more airborne Little White, Wang Luo gathered spirit energy into his fist. To his surprise, a faint green light enveloped his hand as he struck at the black shadow of the panther’s claws.

Another heavy thud echoed. Wang Luo slid back three or four meters before regaining his footing, while the black shadow also retreated half a step, revealing the slightly astonished panther. It hadn’t expected the green light on Wang Luo’s fist to be so formidable, actually knocking it back. But there was no time for contemplation, as Little White, undeterred by two previous defeats, charged in once more.

This time, Little White was clever, not meeting the panther’s strength head-on. Instead, using his speed and nimble body, he darted around the panther. Unfortunately, before he could complete a circle, the panther’s tail flicked him away.

Wang Luo, who had been knocked three or four meters away, glanced at the faint green light on his fist in puzzlement, then quickly rushed in again. He didn’t know why, since building his foundation, his fists would manifest wood-element spirit energy, but now was not the time for questions.

Right after Little White was swatted away, Wang Luo’s fist, shrouded in that green glow, struck again at the panther. The panther didn’t dodge or evade, but met the attack head-on, swinging its sharp claws at Wang Luo.

In the midst of this battle, neither the young man nor the two beasts realized that, not far away atop a large tree, Lion Father and Lion Mother stood watching—Lion Father looking disgruntled, Lion Mother blushing faintly.

Another World Azure Dragon 16 – Chapter 16: Reunion with the Black Panther (Part Two) – End of update!