12: Chapter 12 Guardian Beast, Tiger Dad.

On the Tiger Fruit Tree, the green fruits were growing, enlarging, and turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A faint red wave of air emanated; standing beneath the tree, Tiger Dad felt an unprecedented sense of comfort in his body.

It was warm and full of power!

Tiger Dad lowered his head; the juice sprayed when Lu Hu ate the tiger fruit had dampened the ground, and the energy contained within that juice made Tiger Dad feel a sense of longing.

Instinct told him that licking the liquid off the ground would be beneficial!

His body lowered his head uncontrollably, wanting to have a taste.

Thump, thump!

His shoulder was patted twice. Tiger Dad looked up and saw his son had brought out a giant red fruit from somewhere.

“Roar~~”

Tiger Dad's tiger eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the red fruit in front of him. A special fragrance wafted over, and Tiger Dad's gaze gradually grew greedy, letting out a threatening low growl.

In the next moment, Tiger Dad felt a pain in his head, and the red fruit fell to the ground. Tiger Dad was momentarily dazed.

He didn't understand how his usually gluttonous son would proactively share food with him.

“Roar!” (Eat it, eat it!)

Lu Hu returned to the base of the Tiger Fruit Tree, putting some distance between them so Tiger Dad wouldn't be too wary to eat.

The dazed Tiger Dad was pulled back to reality by the scent of the tiger fruit. Without further thought, he held the tiger fruit and began eating impatiently.

“Roar!”

With one bite, Tiger Dad let out an excited roar. What was this taste?

It was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted in his life!

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

Tiger Dad buried his head and swallowed in large gulps.

Under the Tiger Fruit Tree, Lu Hu flicked his tail playfully as he watched Tiger Dad eat the tiger fruit.

He hadn't expected Tiger Dad to actually come back!

Going out in heat to find a tigress was just a lie he told himself, just like a year and a half ago when Mother Tiger sent him to Tiger Dad so he could have a better life.

Lu Hu knew very well that Tiger Dad had truly intended to leave.

Tiger Dad's return was a good thing, but it also surprised Lu Hu.

It seemed that over the past year and a half, he had inadvertently influenced Tiger Dad, allowing Tiger Dad to possess deeper emotions.

Intelligence can be developed further; by staying with smarter, high-intelligence creatures, one's own intelligence will gradually develop. Of course, it's also possible for a high-intelligence creature's IQ to be influenced by a low-intelligence one.

According to what Lu Hu knew, in his past life, he had heard of children raised by wolves whose every move and habit were identical to those of wolves.

Human intelligence isn't naturally that high; it's gradually improved through what one sees, hears, and learns.

Just like a child raised by wolves, everything they see and hear from childhood is learned from the pack. Naturally, their innate human intelligence regresses, and they become like uncivilized beasts.

This is a case of ignorant humans living in other animal groups and being influenced by them.

But conversely, if an animal lives in human territory, it will also be influenced by humans, gradually increasing its intelligence and surpassing its normal peers.

Like the experiments with specially raised gorillas, where they are raised as humans from a young age. Although they can't be turned into actual humans, education can allow a gorilla's intelligence to break through, giving birth to more complex emotions.

Tiger Dad was like this; during the year and a half he spent depending on Lu Hu for survival, he had been influenced by Lu Hu.

Although Lu Hu was a tiger, he possessed the complete memories of a human's past life. His habits inadvertently showed behaviors different from normal tigers; Tiger Dad subconsciously discarded the flaws and learned to imitate the beneficial traits.

Invisibly, Tiger Dad's intelligence increased and his emotions were enriched, making it impossible for him to heartlessly abandon his son, Lu Hu.

Lu Hu guessed that Tiger Dad must have been worried his son couldn't survive independently, which was why he came back to check.

“I have to make Tiger Dad stay.”

Lu Hu thought to himself that if Tiger Dad saw he could survive on his own, he might very well leave with a sense of relief.

A fierce tiger walks alone; this is the nature of tigers, and as the human saying goes, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.

With a cultivation technique, he could survive without needing much food, and Lu Hu actually quite liked an independent life.

But the treasures at home needed someone to guard them.

The Tiger Fruit Tree and spirit ginseng needed constant guarding, and more spirit medicines would be planted in the future.

Lu Hu didn't want to be tied down here; if Tiger Dad stayed and the two tigers took turns guarding, these problems would vanish.

When the spirit medicines matured, Lu Hu could share some with Tiger Dad to make him stronger, which would be better than wandering outside.

“I wonder if tiger fruits can develop Tiger Dad's spirituality.”

The energy contained in a tiger fruit was immense; even for a cultivating tiger like him, eating one resulted in a noticeable increase in cultivation, let alone for an ordinary tiger like Tiger Dad.

For Tiger Dad, one tiger fruit was equivalent to a simple cleansing of the marrow and tempering of the bones, which could improve his physical quality by at least fifty percent!

His strength would definitely increase significantly, but whether it could improve his spirituality, Lu Hu didn't know.

Lu Hu hoped Tiger Dad's intelligence would increase enough to allow for more complex communication.

“Roar!”

Soon, Tiger Dad finished eating the tiger fruit. He licked his paws, groomed himself, and then, overcome by sleepiness, flopped onto the ground and fell into a deep slumber.

The energy of the tiger fruit began to take effect. Under Lu Hu's watchful eyes, Tiger Dad's body was currently emitting steam, and the surrounding air grew hot.

The manifestation of a tiger's Pure Yang nature was revealed at this moment.

In his sleep, Tiger Dad tossed and turned. The medicinal effects of the tiger fruit had fully kicked in, and he was currently undergoing a simple cleansing of the marrow and tempering of the bones.

The fruits on the Tiger Fruit Tree were also gradually ripening, and the strange fragrance began to spread once more.

However, Lu Hu's slaughter of the wild boar herd the day before had already intimidated the mountain animals, so none were foolish enough to approach Lu Hu's den.

“Roar~”

Tiger Dad's cleansing lasted for half a day before the energy in his body gradually calmed down. He should have woken up, but influenced by the scent of the ripening fruits on the Tiger Fruit Tree, he rolled over, hugged one of his legs, gave it a few licks, and fell into an even deeper sleep.

The nine fruits gradually turned deep red, their fragrance reaching its peak. While the mountain's reptiles were scared witless, the birds in the sky grew bold and flew toward Lu Hu.

A few sparrowhawks and peregrine falcons circled in the sky or perched on branches.

Lu Hu narrowed his eyes; with those things flying in the sky, he really had no way to deal with them if the distance was too great.

After all, they were the 'air force'.

How should he deal with birds?

Lu Hu pondered. Against the 'air force', he could sneak attack when they landed; with his explosive power, he could hit them accurately within a hundred meters.

But if they were in flight, he really didn't have any good methods.

However, influenced by his human memories from his past life, Lu Hu knew that a common method ordinary people used to deal with birds in flight was throwing stones.

And with proper preparation, one could use more efficient tools like slingshots, bows and arrows, or firearms to deal with birds.

Lu Hu looked at his tiger paws. With spiritual energy in his body, he was more flexible, and his paws could perform more complex movements. With a bit of practice, could he perhaps throw stones at birds too?

He'd practice that later; for now, he needed to drive these birds away.

Lu Hu locked his target on a peregrine falcon perched on a branch about thirty meters away.

While other raptors circled in the sky, this little one was acting bold, standing ostentatiously on a tree.

“ROAR!!!!!”

An earth-shattering tiger roar rang out. In that instant, the ears of every living creature in the mountain buzzed, and their bodies went numb, unable to move.

The birds in the sky also stiffened one by one, losing their momentum and falling from the heavens.

The sleeping Tiger Dad's fur bristled as he suddenly lunged upward, jumping nearly ten meters high from a standstill. He instantly switched to combat mode mid-air. After landing steadily, he didn't even have time to wonder about his newfound jumping ability before immediately locking onto the source of the sound.

As for Lu Hu's target, that peregrine falcon was also scared witless, losing its balance and falling vertically toward the ground. As soon as the roar ended, Lu Hu launched his attack, leaping up as if he were flying. With a 'thud', he accurately swatted the falling falcon.

A peregrine falcon weighing less than two pounds being hit by a tiger—the corpse didn't explode, but it was turned into a pile of mush.

After landing steadily, Lu Hu stared blankly as birds fell from the sky, their bodies all stiff.

Lu Hu had been worried his roar wouldn't be intimidating enough, so he had intentionally used his internal spiritual energy. As it turned out, the power of a roar infused with spiritual energy far exceeded his imagination.

It could actually shock animals like falcons and eagles to death.

With this one roar, basically all small animals within a one-kilometer radius were dead.

Lu Hu had underestimated his own strength.

“What a sin!”

With this sonic attack, why bother practicing stone-throwing?

“Roar~~~”

While Lu Hu was still surprised by his own power, Tiger Dad was already dumbfounded.

He had witnessed his son's outburst just now; that swift and fierce attack would have defeated even him in a single round.

And that tiger roar—he was still feeling the lingering fear.

He had never heard such a loud and piercing roar. His son was actually this terrifying!

Hmm... what's that smell?

While marveling at his son's strength, Tiger Dad was suddenly attracted by a scent. He turned around and looked up; nine alluringly red fruits hung on the tree, emitting a tempting fragrance.

This was the same fruit he had eaten this morning!

Tiger Dad recognized it and turned his head to look at his son in confusion.

He had seen with his own eyes how happily his son ate grass, so he knew that during the time he was away, his son had been a vegetarian.

Tiger Dad thought of those giant animals; they were herbivores, yet their bodies were so massive.

Could it be that being a vegetarian really makes one stronger?

Was that why his son was so strong?