Ye Qiu thought he must be seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and looked again; it really was the little white fox that had struck.
“Its cultivation is even lower than mine. How could it send a saint flying?”
The reason Ye Qiu hadn’t immediately sensed the fox’s power was that when it attacked, it released no overwhelming aura at all. It was just an ordinary-looking paw that had blasted Nangong Jingyun away.
It had to be hiding its cultivation!
That was the only explanation.
Otherwise, with the Cosmos Bag sealed, it couldn’t possibly have emerged on its own.
At that moment, the little white fox materialised out of thin air and leapt onto Ye Qiu’s shoulder.
“Nine-tailed celestial fox!”
In the sky, killing intent flashed across Li Chaohui’s eyes the instant he saw it.
Perched on Ye Qiu’s shoulder, the little white fox spoke in a boastful tone. “So, Ye Changsheng, pretty impressive, right?”
“Impressive.” Ye Qiu nodded dumbly. He still felt as though he were dreaming; none of this seemed real.
“That was nothing. You haven’t seen my true strength yet,” the little fox declared with the gravitas of an elder.
True Person Longbrow addressed the fox. “Why didn’t you act sooner? This poor daoist nearly died just now!”
“If I hadn’t intervened when I did, you’d already be dead,” the fox retorted. “I didn’t act earlier because Ye Changsheng didn’t believe in my power.”
“If I didn’t trust you, would I have put my life in your paws?” Ye Qiu snapped back to his senses and asked curiously, “Little fox, what exactly is your cultivation level?”
“I’m not a little fox. I’m a nine-tailed celestial fox!” The fox emphasised, blinking its enchanting eyes. “Guess my level.”
“You can’t be a saint, can you?” Ye Qiu said, then immediately shook his head. “No, impossible. A saint couldn’t have entered Undying Mountain.”
“Could you be at the peak of the Tongshen realm?”
Ye Qiu knew some heaven-defying geniuses could fight above their realm; he himself could do it. Perhaps the little fox was a demon-race prodigy.
“No, that’s wrong too. Anyone above the Cave-Heaven realm is barred from Undying Mountain, so peak Tongshen is impossible.”
Ye Qiu turned to stare at the fox. “Do you possess some secret art that suppresses your cultivation, allowing you to enter Undying Mountain?”
The little fox giggled. “I’m not telling.”
At that moment, Nangong Jingyun’s furious roar rang out.
“Ye Changsheng, you’re actually colluding with the demon race! Don’t you know that all demons deserve to be exterminated?!”
Ye Qiu glanced at her wretched appearance and smiled. “In my eyes, some humans deserve death far more than demons. You, for example.”
“Enough insolence! You think a single nine-tailed celestial fox can save you? I can still kill you.” Nangong Jingyun’s gaze locked onto the little fox, sharp as blades. She said icily, “Filthy fox demon, the demon fire earlier was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“Hmph. You ambushed me twice. I won’t let you off.”
“I’ll slaughter this wretched beast right now and vent my hatred!”
Boom!
Terrifying killing intent erupted from Nangong Jingyun like a tsunami, nearly shattering Ye Qiu’s and Longbrow’s primordial spirits.
At the critical moment—
Hum!
A gentle white glow radiated from the little fox, enveloping Ye Qiu and Longbrow. Instantly, all killing intent vanished.
“Thank you,” Ye Qiu said gratefully.
“No need for thanks. I told you; I don’t eat your snacks for free. I’ll protect you.” The fox sounded proud.
“Wretched beast, today no one can save you. You’ll be slaughtered immediately.” As Nangong Jingyun spoke, she shot forward like lightning, claws aimed straight at the fox.
“To dare call me ‘wretched beast’… you’re the first person in the world with such nerve.” Anger flashed in the little fox’s eyes.
The next instant, a blinding light shot skyward. One of its tails blazed with divine radiance, becoming a heaven-severing sword that slashed down at the incoming Nangong Jingyun.
“Aaah—”
Nangong Jingyun screamed as her body was cleaved in two, blood spraying everywhere.
Had her primordial spirit not fled her flesh in that split second, that single strike would have erased her completely.
“Holy shit, that’s insane!”
True Person Longbrow’s eyes nearly popped out. He stared at the little fox as though seeing a ghost.
If the earlier paw could be called a sneak attack, this strike had been a head-on clash with a saint.
Ye Qiu’s heart pounded wildly.
It had cleaved a saint’s body in half with a frontal attack. Unbelievable.
Nangong Jingyun pointed a trembling finger at the fox and shrieked, “You… just who are you?!”
“I’m the one who protects Ye Changsheng. You want to kill him; I’m very angry. And when I’m angry, the consequences are severe.” The little fox’s tail suddenly extended to ten thousand zhang, catching Nangong Jingyun’s primordial spirit off guard and wrapping around it.
“Aaah…”
Nangong Jingyun’s primordial spirit howled in agony, struggling desperately.
Ye Qiu was shocked once more.
Even without her physical body, this was still a saint’s primordial spirit, yet the little fox had bound it with a single tail. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, who would believe it?
Nangong Jingyun’s primordial spirit unleashed every killing move it had, trying frantically to break free.
Yet the tail was harder than heavenly meteoric iron; all struggles were futile.
The little fox leapt through the sky and appeared before Nangong Jingyun’s primordial spirit.
SMACK!
It slapped her across the face.
Instantly the primordial spirit swelled grotesquely, turning into a misshapen polygon; a horrifying sight.
“You old hag, weren’t you so arrogant earlier? Now look at you, beaten like a dog.”
The fox released its tail, then whipped it like an iron lash.
SMACK!
Nangong Jingyun’s primordial spirit was sent flying skyward. Just as it was about to crash, the fox swiped again, batting it away once more.
“Stop!” Li Chaohui roared, rushing forward to catch Nangong Jingyun’s primordial spirit.
The little fox glared at her and declared, “Granny here has disliked you from the start.”
“Prancing and preening in front of Ye Changsheng, old and ugly yet shameless.”
“You actually dare call yourself beautiful? Have you never seen a true beauty?”
“Fine, Granny will show you what peerless grace and national beauty really look like.”
“I hope the shock doesn’t drive you to suicide.”
With those words, the little fox stood upright in the void, its front paws forming seals before it. It shouted,
“Transform!”
