At this moment, Ling Xiao temporarily possessed the combat strength of the Ancient Ship King.
There was no other way; against a Celestial Realm expert, no matter how skilled his techniques or rich his combat experience, it was meaningless.
In the face of overwhelming power, techniques became insignificant.
Unless the gap in strength was minimal.
“Demon Fox, you’ve forced me to use a card, which really annoys me. But no matter, after you’re dead, I’ll make sure to seal you. You’re at least a First Heaven Realm expert now, so I’m not losing out!”
Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes and looked at the demon fox.
His current state was somewhat similar to being possessed by a black spirit, except that with the black spirit, it was the spirit controlling the body.
Now, Ling Xiao was in full control of his body and the black spirit’s abilities.
“The Book of Seals? How do you have such a thing!”
The demon fox had clearly heard of it. Seeing the drastic changes in Ling Xiao’s body and hearing his words, unless he was utterly foolish, he could guess what was happening.
“Hmm, just got lucky, I suppose! Honestly, without this, I might’ve been killed by you today. But now, the tables have turned!”
Ling Xiao gave a slight smile. In his temporary Celestial Realm state, he could feel the Primordial Hell Dragon Martial Soul growing even stronger.
The mere release of its aura made the demon fox tremble uncontrollably.
“Impossible! That’s not a Black Dragon Martial Soul. A Black Dragon Martial Soul isn’t that powerful!”
The demon fox took a step back, utterly terrified, without even a thought of fighting.
“Run!”
In that instant, the demon fox’s only thought was to escape!
He knew he had lost his best chance to kill Ling Xiao. Regardless of how Ling Xiao had obtained the Book of Seals, he was no longer a match for him.
The stronger the monster, the more acutely it could sense approaching danger.
He decided to let this go for now, waiting until he fully recovered his peak strength to return and seek revenge on Ling Xiao.
He hadn’t lost much, only the chance to seize Ling Xiao’s treasures.
“Run? You think you can escape?”
Ling Xiao sneered disdainfully. A black dragon shadow enveloped the entire Feather Space, blocking both outside visibility and the demon fox’s escape route.
Since he had used the Book of Seals, there was no way he’d let the nine-tailed demon fox get away.
Primordial Golden Dragon Form!
In an instant, Ling Xiao transformed into a Primordial Golden Dragon, larger than the demon fox. His claw slammed down on the fox’s head, leaving the massive creature dazed.
Then, he unleashed a barrage of Heavenly Dragon Divine Fingers, riddling the demon fox’s body with countless holes.
At the same realm, the demon fox was no match for Ling Xiao.
“So you’re the one who awakened the Primordial Golden Dragon! If this gets out, you’re done for!”
The demon fox’s vitality was tenacious. Despite being riddled with holes, it was only severely injured, showing no signs of dying.
“Having fun? Let me show you something even more entertaining!”
Ling Xiao sneered, and a shadow of the Mountain River World gradually appeared behind him, with the Primordial Hell Dragon soaring within it.
The terrifying will of the Mountain River pinned the demon fox in place, rendering it immobile and unable to release even a wisp of aura.
“The Mountain River Martial Soul! It’s actually the Mountain River Martial Soul!”
The demon fox was utterly shocked.
“I never imagined, never imagined that while so many fought and died horribly searching for the Mountain River Martial Soul, it would end up in your hands, a mere human’s hands. How infuriating!”
“Infuriating, is it? Then take that fury to your grave! Seal!”
Ling Xiao’s reason for not killing the demon fox was to seal it.
His Ancient Ship King card could only be used once. After use, it became blank, ready to seal something else.
Stowing the seal card and the Book of Seals, Ling Xiao reverted to his original form.
As for the Ancient Ship King, it could only be placed in the Mountain River World for further study.
Creatures placed in the Mountain River World, except for that little butterfly, could no longer appear in physical form.
Once they appeared, they could only manifest as martial souls.
The Ancient Ship King was no exception.
Though it was somewhat regrettable, the Ancient Ship King had fulfilled its purpose, helping Ling Xiao defeat the powerful nine-tailed demon fox.
You win some, you lose some—dwelling on it wasn’t Ling Xiao’s style.
With the Ancient Ship King, the Black Spirit High Priest previously stored in the Mountain River World could now be fed to the Primordial Golden Dragon.
After all, the Primordial Golden Dragon’s full awakening was still a long way off, with only one dragon scale lit up so far.
“Who won?”
As the smoke gradually cleared, the anxious crowd stared intently at the Deathmatch Tower.
Standing there was Ling Xiao!
“He won! Ling Xiao won!”
Wu Xiang leapt up in excitement. Moments ago, he couldn’t see or sense anything inside, not even auras, so he had been extremely worried.
Now, it seemed everything was over, and Ling Xiao had triumphed.
“Amazing, Master! Ling Xiao won!”
Dai Yuling and Lan Yuer embraced, tears streaming down their faces.
Leng Hao, Shangguan Lei, Zhao Zhi, and even the current Zhao Ci all showed excited expressions.
But on the other side, Demon Flame Heavenly Venerate looked as if he’d lost everything.
“How is this possible! It’s impossible! How could Ling Xiao win?”
He couldn’t believe it.
He knew how terrifying the demon fox was, capable of unleashing Celestial Realm strength. How could it have died at Ling Xiao’s hands?
“It must’ve been the Moonlight Heavenly Maiden helping behind the scenes. Just now, we couldn’t see or hear anything, and even the auras vanished in the end,” Chang Yueli said with certainty, recalling the day the Moonlight Heavenly Maiden had manifested.
“Damn it! I sacrificed a genius disciple, letting the demon fox control Ming Tian’s body, only for it to come to nothing!”
Demon Flame Heavenly Venerate was utterly stunned.
“It seems we’ll have to act outside the sect. With Wu Xiang, the Moon Maiden, and the Moonlight Heavenly Maiden’s protection here, we can’t touch him. Let’s make our move at the Four Factions Martial Assembly!”
Chang Yueli gritted her teeth. As an old hand, despite her disbelief, she managed to stay somewhat calm.
“Let’s go!”
Chang Yueli turned into a streak of light and left.
Chang Yueying, Elder Jin, Demon Flame Heavenly Venerate, Bai Feifei, Tantai Lingzi, and the others followed closely behind.
Ling Xiao had no intention of challenging Tantai Lingzi either.
After his battle with the demon fox, his vitality was severely drained. Though he appeared fine, he wasn’t confident in defeating Tantai Lingzi.
If he lost, it would be disastrous.
Tantai Lingzi, seeing Ling Xiao kill the demon fox while seemingly unscathed, was deeply wary and naturally wouldn’t initiate a fight.
Thus, the ranking battle for the top ten core disciples came to an end.
