Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The earth-shattering aura had just gathered in Bai Yin's lower abdomen and hadn't yet had a chance to break through his skin and flesh.

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound.

Su Xiaojiu slapped Bai Yin hard across the face.

The slap was delivered with full force, leaving her palm numb and causing Bai Yin's resolute face to tilt to one side.

Bai Yin was stunned.

The violent demonic power within him, poised to perish together with the enemy, was abruptly interrupted by this slap, momentarily halting its rhythm.

"Who gave you permission to die?"

Su Xiaojiu was panting heavily, her chest heaving violently.

She grabbed Bai Yin's tattered collar and forcibly pulled his enormous head in front of her.

"I told you, your life belongs to me."

Su Xiaojiu gritted her teeth, each word seemingly squeezed out from between them, "Without my permission, even the King of Hell wouldn't dare take you!"

Bai Yin opened his mouth, and a hoarse bellows sound came from his throat.

He wanted to say that if they didn't self-destruct, everyone would die, and that this was the only way to break the Demon-Locking Tower.

But Su Xiaojiu didn't give him a chance to speak.

A strange pink light shone from her fingertips; it was a soul-soothing spell unique to the fox clan.

Without any hesitation, she pointed her fingers like a knife and stabbed them hard into Bai Yin's forehead.

"seal up!"

The pink light pierced through his brow and forcefully rushed into Bai Yin's dantian, transforming into a large net that tightly bound the restless demon core.

Bai Yin froze, and the breath he had just managed to muster instantly vanished.

He looked at Su Xiaojiu in horror.

Without their demonic power to self-destruct, the Demon-Sealing Tower would crush them both into mincemeat if it came down on them.

Su Xiaojiu didn't look at him.

She was looking at the system panel that only she could see.

[System Warning: A lethal attack has been detected.]

Current situation: Desperate.

[Suggested solution: Immediately abandon the clone and allow consciousness to return to the main body.]

Su Xiaojiu skipped over all that nonsense and focused her gaze on the scarecrow in the corner of the warehouse.

[Substitute Straw Man (One-Time Consumable): Can withstand one fatal attack regardless of realm.]

This is the reward for breaking through Bai Yin's favorability level to 60.

It was originally a trump card I kept to save my own life.

Su Xiaojiu stared at the straw man for half a second.

With a flick of the wrist, a roughly woven scarecrow, about the size of a palm, appeared out of thin air.

The golden light overhead grew brighter and brighter, and the inscriptions on the base of the Demon-Sealing Tower became clearly visible. The crushing weight made their knees crack.

There's no time left.

Su Xiaojiu took a deep breath and cupped Bai Yin's face in her hands.

Rainwater streamed down her hair and dripped onto the tip of Bai Yin's nose.

"Little White, look at me."

Su Xiaojiu's voice was surprisingly calm, even with a hint of a smile, "Listen to me, foxes and tigers are not the same."

Bai Yin shook his head frantically.

He wanted to move, to pin Su Xiaojiu down, to use his body to resist the tower.

But that soul-soothing spell not only sealed his demonic power, but also locked up his limbs and bones.

"Foxes have nine lives."

Su Xiaojiu told a colossal lie without batting an eye, "It's okay for me to die once; I'll come back to life soon. But you only have one life, and you have to live."

Bai Yin shook his head again.

He didn't believe it.

There's no such thing as nine lives; those are just stories made up by ordinary people to fool children.

If they truly had nine lives, the Qingqiu fox clan wouldn't have been wiped out, leaving only a handful of large and small foxes.

"You don't believe me?"

Su Xiaojiu raised an eyebrow and suddenly leaned closer.

Soft lips pressed against Bai Yin's blood-stained forehead.

Instantly separate.

Bai Yin was stunned.

In that instant, Su Xiaojiu's hand swiftly reached into his arms, stuffed the substitute straw doll inside, and simultaneously channeled a wisp of spiritual energy to activate it.

"obedient."

Su Xiaojiu patted his stiff cheek. "Wait for me outside. If you dare to die, I'll never talk to you again."

After saying that, she exerted her strength suddenly.

The seemingly frail body unleashed astonishing power at this moment, pushing the immobile Bai Yin out of the Demon-Sealing Tower's range.

boom!

Bai Yin fell heavily into the muddy water some distance away.

The straw doll emitted a soft yellow light, protecting him firmly within it, while also acting like a cage, fixing him in place.

Su Xiaojiu turned around.

She didn't look at Bai Yin again.

She looked up at the old Taoist priest high above her in mid-air.

The rain is getting heavier.

Su Xiaojiu wiped the water off her face, and her originally hunched back gradually straightened.

"Buzz—"

Nine enormous phantom fox tails suddenly bloomed behind her.

Although it was just an illusion, and had no offensive power whatsoever, at this moment, the aloof aura belonging to the Qingqiu Empress forcefully pushed aside the curtain of rain.

"You old bastard!"

Su Xiaojiu pointed at Xuanjizi in the sky, her clear voice piercing through the thunder, "Is your tower made of paper? It's making my back itch!"

Xuanjizi's face darkened as he stood in mid-air.

He lived to be eight hundred years old and was a prominent figure in the Central Continent, always treated as an honored guest wherever he went.

Today, I was actually called an old bastard by a little demon.

"Sharp-tongued and quick-witted."

Xuanjizi snorted coldly and pointed his finger downwards.

The speed at which the Demon-Sealing Tower fell suddenly increased, and the air was compressed, causing it to explode.

Su Xiaojiu didn't dodge.

Instead, she took a step forward, tilted her head back, and her face was full of mockery.

"An elder of the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect, a half-step Great Sage Realm expert, has to resort to such despicable means to deal with two minor demons."

Su Xiaojiu laughed so hard she almost fell over. "Aren't you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out? Or are you saying that your cultivation level was obtained through 'sexual cultivation' and that you're just a pretty face with no substance?"

This statement hit Xuanjizi where it hurt.

He had been stuck at the half-step Great Saint realm for a full hundred years, unable to break through. With his lifespan nearing its end, he finally had a wicked idea and began searching everywhere for rare and precious materials and top-grade furnaces.

Xuanjizi lost face when exposed in public by a little demon.

"court death!"

Xuanjizi, enraged, laughed coldly, "Since you're in such a hurry to be reincarnated, I'll grant your wish!"

With a wave of his sleeve, he put away the Demon-Sealing Tower.

This nine-tailed fox is a top-grade furnace, it would be a pity to crush its physical body with the tower.

He wants to use a sword.

With the most exquisite swordsmanship, sever her limbs, cripple her cultivation, and turn her into the most obedient human pig. "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin!"

Xuanjizi brought his two fingers together and slashed them sharply into the air.

The twelve flying swords suspended in mid-air instantly disintegrated, turning into countless tiny streams of light that converged behind him.

Immediately afterwards, only a piercing sword cry remained in the world.

It was a silver waterfall formed by sword energy, carrying a world-destroying power, tearing through the rain curtain and pouring down on Su Xiaojiu's head.

Bai Yin has gone mad.

He rammed his head against the yellow light shield, his forehead was smashed until it was bloody and his fingernails dug into the soil. Despite the pain, he felt nothing.

Move!

Move!

The restraining effect of the scapegoat was so domineering and unreasonable that he was like an insect encased in amber, unable to lift even a finger except for his eyes.

He could only watch helplessly as the destructive sword light drew ever closer to Su Xiaojiu.

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

One zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

Just as the sword energy was about to strike.

Su Xiaojiu turned her head away.

The overwhelming killing intent behind her became merely a backdrop.

There was no fear on her face; her fox-like eyes curved into crescents, even carrying a hint of mischievous slyness, as if this were just a game about to end.

Raindrops dampened her eyelashes and slid down her cheeks.

She silently mouthed the words to the man struggling desperately in the mud.

See clearly.

Those are four words.

"Remember to look for me."

boom--!!!

The sword light engulfed everything.

Su Xiaojiu's slender figure shattered instantly, along with her nine illusory fox tails, dissolving into the white sword energy, leaving not even a scrap of clothing behind.

The entire Yunmeng Marsh seemed to have been cleaved in two by this sword strike, along with Bai Yin and Su Xiaojiu.

The earth cracked open, and rocks flew through the air.

The world is quiet.