Alex found himself inside the feral tiger''s inner world. It was an open field with a huge ck tigerying on his stomach. His eyes were closed, with silver stripes covering its fur.


    This was the first time Alex saw a feral tiger, but this was not what caught his interest. Alex could see a human lying on his back, using the tiger''s body as his pillow.


    "So I am correct. You did survive." Alex said out loud, rming the pair of man and tiger.


    The tiger opened his eyes, showing a crimson pupil.


    The man quickly stood up. His body was muscr and tall. His skin was dark, and he had no hair with a w scar running through his eyes.


    A jagged horn came out from his bald head, and his dark pupils were formed like those of a reptile.


    "To think someone dared to enter here directly."


    "I have thought about it; a spirit artifact puts some formation that protects the user so when they try to bond with the beast''s soul inside, they will not be murdered. But this artifact is different. Someone got killed.


    Then a thought came to my mind—who said a formation could only be used to protect the user? It could also be used as a trap."


    The man didn''t give many reactions. He looked at Alex calmly, calcting his odds of survival.


    After some time passed, the man gave a signal to the tiger to stay down. He then sat cross-legged.


    "What you say is right. At myst breath, I created a new formation inside the armor. I am the one who created it, so it''s easy for me to do this.


    What do you want? If you want to kill me, it should be easy for you. But since you talk, there should be something you wanted."


    Alex''s lips curled into a smile, "Good, I always like negotiating with smart people. It''s easier. I just need some information."


    He then sat on the ground to show he just wanted to talk. "My name is Alex. How about you?"


    "My n is massacred, and I also have died once. Just call me Pi. There is no need for a name."


    "I have heard some stories of cultivators dying when using this armor. You did this on purpose, right? What was your goal?"


    Pi felt it was useless to fight against Alex, so he decided to go withplete honesty, hoping he would somehow not kill him or give away for survival.


    "You should already know the answer. Outside, I will be called a demonic cultivator.


    I refine cultivator souls, turning them into nourishment for my soul. When my spirit is strong enough, I will then take over one of the artifact users and use their body."


    "That is what I thought, but it''s weird. Isn''t it better for you to just capture the first person''s body? But instead of doing that, you killed and hurt multiple cultivators, giving a bad reputation to the artifact. In the worst case, a strong cultivator rted to your enemy could decide to check it. This will only result in your demise."


    Pi hesitated at first, but after some time passed, he let out a sigh. "It''s because of Tora. She hates it when someone other than me wears her."


    The ck tiger behind Pi growled, then put her paw over Pi''s shoulder. Pi held it, then started petting her head.


    "So you failed to control Tora, letting her run wild. This ended up in one injury, and as for the one who died, you failed to take over his body since you exerted too much of your soul''s strength to hold Tora back."


    "Well, that is the gist of the story."


    "Is your enemy the Midnight n?"


    Pi''s eyes narrowed at the name. "Hah, this n is not capable of doing that. My enemy is the Zephyr n. They are one of the rare ns that are still racist. Only those with Dragari blood can join their n. As for humans, they will just be their ves."


    "But you are half Dragari. Tell me what happened," Alex instructed.


    Pi''s expression turned solemn. He didn''t know why Alex wanted to find out his story, but he didn''t mind.


    "I don''t know now, but in the past, the Midnight n was under the Zephyr n. As for me, we are called the ze n.


    Compared to Zephyr, which specializes inbat using the ice element, ze uses fire, focusing more on artifact creation. We supplied weapons to the frontline, giving our n good protection. But as you know, with wealthes people''s greed."


    "It''s not like your n is any better. I get you still supply the frontline with your weaponry, but you stopped fighting beside them."


    Hearing Alex''s remark, Pi turned silent. In the past, he thought what the n did was correct—why should they spill blood while the others just hid in the back? It''s not like their specialty isbat.


    In theory, as long as they supplied weapons and armor to the frontline, nothing would change. But theory is just theory. After moving to a peaceful location, the new generation never saw the cruelty and brutality of the frontline.


    They started focusing on their own n profit, selling some of the gear meant for the frontline.


    In the past, they fought together, only charging a small fee as long as they could get by. But now, it changed. The small fee started rising bit by bit, as they made up many reasons—from the logistics of sending the items,ck of material, or a bandit stealing their stockpile.


    This kept going on until finally the frontline stopped ordering any weapons from them, as they found a new supplier to stay with them at the frontline.


    No matter how high they raised the fee, selling gear to the frontline would never earn them as much profit as selling to the wealthy ns that hid in the back.