The 'Winged white tiger' was an extremely rare peak rank 5 magic beast that could reach the early rank 6 once it matured and reached adulthood.
It was a magic beast that was even stronger than an average 'Silver-winged panther king' like Little Silver which could normally only reach the peak of rank 5, or in some extremely rare cases the early rank 6.
After taking a look at the 'Winged white tiger', Shun Long immediately understood that this tiger had yet to fully mature, and most likely, this Qiu Yun in front of him had obtained it while it was still a newborn cub.
After all, it was much easier for beast tamers to tame magic beasts while they were still in their infancy state.
The bond of the beast tamer and the magic beast would also increase exponentially in that case.
Unfortunately, it was far too rare and difficult for even an early stage Dao King to obtain the cubs of a 'Winged white tiger', let alone someone like Qiu Yun who was still a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator.
Although the 'Winged white tiger' would be much weaker after it has given birth to its cubs and its strength would be inferior to normal early stage Dao Kings, Shun Long knew that a male 'Winged white tiger' would also be present to protect its partner.
The strength of a male 'Winged white tiger' vastly exceeded that of a female's, making even a group of a few early stage Dao Kings be unwilling to approach it.
Qiu Yun had yet to speak, but Shun Long could clearly see the look of pride in his eyes as he stared at his 'Winged white tiger' in front of him.
Unlike humans, a magic beast like the 'Winged white tiger' needed more than 500 years to reach maturity and evolve into an early rank 6 magic beast that was comparable to powerful early stage Dao Kings.
By then, Qiu Yun was confident that even if he couldn't reach the top 5 in the Martial Roll of Honor, he would definitely be ranked in the top 10 with an early rank 6 magic beast like the 'Winged white tiger'.
Although 500 years was a lot to someone like Qiu Yun who had yet to reach that age himself, he wasn't impatient in the slightest when he remembered how quickly 'Winged white tigers' matured compared to some other magic beasts.
The cubs of most 'Winged white tigers' were born as early rank 4 magic beasts, comparable to most early stage Spirit realm cultivators at birth. To those magic beasts, reaching the peak of rank 5 and even the early rank 6 was something that was bound to happen naturally, as long as they spend enough time growing.
This was after all, part of their natural strength.
Qiu Yun himself had also obtained this 'Winged white tiger' by a stroke of luck when it was still just a newborn cub, long before he joined the Holy sect.
When he was just a beginner beast tamer, he was adventuring in a massive forest, when he happened to find the corpses of 2 adult early rank 6 'Winged white tigers' along with the enormous corpse of a gigantic beast that looked like a purple centipede.
The corpses of the adult 'Winged white tigers' were filled with injuries, but they were still protecting their cave and their newborn cub.
Qiu Yun understood with a single glance that the 2 adult tigers had exchanged their lives to fight against the gigantic centipede that had attacked their territory.
Of course, although Qiu Yun considered himself extremely lucky to find the corpses of 3 early rank 6 magic beasts lying on the ground, he knew that his biggest gain was still the newborn cub inside the cave.
To any beast tamer, a future early rank 6 magic beast was much more valuable than the corpses of even middle rank 6 magic beasts, let alone early stage ones.
This was why, even though Qiu Yun was only ranked 568th in the Martial Roll of Honor, his true strength was actually nearing the top 500 instead.
This was also why many powerful outer court disciples were paying attention to him despite his low ranking.
By the time that his 'Winged white tiger' had reached maturity, even some of those geniuses in the top 10 who didn't have a star-rank weapon would feel threatened by the white tiger. Combined with Qiu Yun's identity as a beast tamer, many powerful families were interested in roping him in.
ROOAR!
The winged-white tiger let out a roar of anger as it looked at Shun Long, understanding that this was most likely his master's opponent.
Seeing this tiger that had appeared in front of him, Shun Long actually smiled a moment later, stunning the surrounding outer court disciples who saw this scene.
He was actually smiling?
Even some of the female outer disciples felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw that smile.
Shun Long had only shown his emotionless or his cruel side during his previous fights, especially when he fought against Dong Ai and mercilessly punched her.
Those disciples had never seen such a smile appear on his face before.
After all, only those close to Shun Long like Little Black, Liu Mei, and the others, would see him joke and smile with them.
As for others, they only regarded him as a complete mystery.
They knew nothing about him aside from the fact that he had comprehended 2 supreme Daos and had extreme combat power, while he was also rumored to have an immortal-grade bloodline.
Naturally, the reason why Shun Long had suddenly smiled, was because he could see how the 'Winged white tiger' was positioning itself between him and Qiu Yun.
This was precisely the reason why Shun Long had decided to challenge Qiu Yun in the first place! To take a look at how beast tamers like him normally fought.
The outer court Elder responsible for the platform raised his hand a moment later, before he said in a loud voice
''Begin!''
Before the echo of his words could even dissipate, the peak rank 5 'Winged white tiger' spread its wings, as it shot like a blur towards Shun Long.
Author's note: 1/5
