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

The wind in the valley has stopped.

Instead, there was a nauseating stench and limbs flying everywhere.

Chen Xuan stood in the center of the pile of corpses, the broken sword in his hand still dripping black blood.

Beside him, the "Fourth Senior Brother," once an elite member of the inner sect, had his head ripped off and rolled into a mud pit. His eyes, with only the whites showing, stared fixedly at the sky, seemingly unable to understand even in death how he hadn't been able to withstand a single move.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

In the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all the hundreds of corpse puppets lay down.

There was no fierce fighting, no evenly matched stalemate.

This was a one-sided massacre.

Luo Qingxue's hand holding the sword was trembling.

She looked at the boy standing amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, her throat dry.

Is this the top disciple of the outer sect?

That sword strike was so fast that even the afterimage was not visible.

As the sword energy swept across, dozens of corpse puppets fell like wheat being harvested.

"So...so strong..." Zhao Tiezhu slumped to the ground, his mouth agape, big enough to fit an egg.

Chen Xuan ignored the awe-inspiring gazes around him.

He sheathed his sword with fluid, graceful movements.

The first thing he did was look down at the cloak in his arms.

"Did I disturb you?"

The voice was incredibly soft, completely different from the murderous god from before.

Su Chang'an peeked out from under the cloak, his two paws still clutching the red remnant soul bead. Very.

"Tsk, you finished so quickly?" Su Chang'an transmitted his voice, his tone carrying a hint of expected disdain. "I thought I could watch the show a little longer. You're so short-lived."

Chen Xuan's hand froze, and he lightly patted her buttocks through her clothes.

"That's true." Su Chang'an shifted to a more comfortable position, using the bead as a pillow under his chin. "But that move just now was alright, it had a bit of my style back in the day. You won't be ashamed to mention my name when you go out in the future."

Chen Xuan's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

This fox has such a unique way of praising people.

He raised his head and glanced around at his fellow disciples who were standing there dumbfounded.

"You can go now."

The four cold words instantly brought everyone back to their senses.

"Let's go! We're going right now!" Zhao Tiezhu scrambled to his feet, ignoring the mud covering his body, and bowed deeply to Chen Xuan at a ninety-degree angle. "Thank you so much, Senior Brother Chen, for saving my life! From now on, if Senior Brother Chen points east, I will never go west!"

The others also realized what was happening and surrounded him with enthusiastic eyes, showering him with compliments.

Those who cultivate themselves respect the strong.

Luo Qingxue stood outside the crowd, her expression complex.

She wanted to go up and thank him, but then she felt that his words of "drawing a clear line" were still ringing in her ears, and it would be too shameless to go up to him now.

Just when everyone thought they had survived a disaster and were preparing to follow this newly emerged big shot deeper into the secret realm—

"Boom—"

The earth trembled without warning.

It wasn't a slight shaking, but rather like some enormous creature turning over underground.

The mountain walls on both sides of the valley began to collapse, and huge rocks crashed into the swamp, splashing mud several meters high.

"What happened? Was it an earthquake?"

"Watch your step!"

Someone screamed in terror.

Suddenly, a huge crack appeared in the ground beneath their feet.

The crack, like a greedy maw, expanded instantly, revealing a bottomless, pitch-black abyss from which a chilling suction force surged forth.

"Ah—Help!"

The disciples closest to the crack didn't even have time to react before they fell in.

Chen Xuan reacted extremely quickly. The instant the ground cracked open, he lightly touched the ground with his toes and retreated rapidly, attempting to leap onto the nearby high ground.

But this suction force is very strange; it doesn't suck up stones or trees, it only targets living people.

Especially Chen Xuan, the suction force seemed to have targeted him, suddenly increasing several times, directly forming a black vortex under his feet.

"Chen Xuan!" Su Chang'an called out from his arms.

Chen Xuan froze.

He had nowhere to grab onto in mid-air, and was pulled down by that enormous force.

In the instant of his fall, he didn't frantically grab the surrounding rock walls, nor did he try to swing his sword in retaliation. Instead, he immediately pulled his hands back to his chest, tightly protecting the white ball of fur in his arms.

Hold me tight.

He uttered a low shout amidst the howling wind.

Darkness instantly engulfed everything.

……

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

Chen Xuan crashed heavily to the ground.

The ground beneath him was a hard stone slab, and the fall was solid, making his internal organs tremble.

But he didn't even frown. He immediately released his hands from his chest and looked down at his chest.

"Are you alright?"

Su Chang'an was completely protected by him, not a single hair on her head was disheveled. She crawled out of Chen Xuan's arms, shook her dizzy head, and her ears twitched.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy." Su Chang'an stood up unsteadily, stepping on Chen Xuan's chest. "Are you alright?"

Chen Xuan lay on the ground, watching the fox stomping on his chest, and his tense nerves relaxed.

Fortunately.

The fox is still here.

He propped himself up and sat up, looking around.

This is a huge underground cave.

Above us was a dark rock wall, and we couldn't see the crack where we had just fallen.

Several thick stone pillars stood around, covered with incomprehensible runes, emitting a faint blue light.

There was no putrid smell in the air; instead, there was a faint scent of sandalwood.

It's very quiet.

I didn't see any of the outer disciples who fell down just now.

Luo Qingxue was not there either.

It seems there's a spatial folding formation here that separates people.

"What a lousy place!" Su Chang'an jumped to the ground, disdainfully patting the dust off the ground with his paw. "It's gloomy and there's not a soul in sight."

As she spoke, she habitually reached for the remnant soul bead in her arms.

This was her lifeline; she had held on tightly and wouldn't let go when it fell.

However, when the claw touched it...

empty.

Su Chang'an was stunned for a moment, then looked down.

The red bead hovered half a foot in front of her, emitting an eerie red light that flickered as if it were breathing.

"Huh?" Su Chang'an stretched out his claws to grab it.

The moment her claws touched the bead, it suddenly buzzed and flew backward.

It was moving extremely fast, as if something was pulling it from behind.

"My precious!" Su Chang'an panicked. This was the key item for her to regain her human form. If she lost it, she would have to use it as a ball!

Without a second thought, she took off chasing after him.

"Come back!" Chen Xuan's expression changed, and he grabbed the broken sword from the ground and chased after him.

This place is eerie; who knows what traps lie ahead? Is this foolish fox willing to risk its life for a little food?

The bead flew at a moderate speed, always maintaining a distance of three zhang from Su Chang'an.

It's like... guiding the way.

Su Chang'an chased after him, panting heavily, his bushy tail swishing behind him.

"Stop right there! You heartless bastard! I was just wiping your drool, and you just ran off like that?" Su Chang'an cursed as he ran, "Believe me or not, I'll grind you into powder and make tea with you!"

Chen Xuan caught up with her in a few steps, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and lifted her up.

"Let me go! My beads!" Su Chang'an kicked his limbs wildly and screamed in desperation.

"Look ahead." Chen Xuan pulled her back into his arms, his voice deepening.

Su Chang'an followed his gaze.

A palace appeared in the darkness ahead.

It wasn't a magnificent palace, but a massive building entirely constructed of bones.

The walls are leg bones, the pillars are spines, and the gate is two enormous beast skulls.

The red bead floated in front of the white bone door, its bright red light illuminating the three ancient seal characters on the lintel.

Although Su Chang'an didn't recognize the ancient script of this world, the aura emanating from those three characters made the hairs on her body stand on end.

That aura was all too familiar to her.

That was the scent of one of their own.

Moreover, they are... extremely powerful members of the same kind.

"Nine-tailed..." Su Chang'an murmured to himself, his heart suddenly skipping a beat.

Could this place be the burial ground of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan?

The bead paused for a moment in front of the gate, then slowly passed through the gap between the two beast skulls and disappeared into the depths of the palace.

"We're inside." Su Chang'an gripped Chen Xuan's collar, his voice trembling slightly, whether from excitement or fear, it was hard to tell. "Chen Xuan, something inside... is calling to me."

It's not a sound you hear with your ears.

It is a call that resonates directly in the depths of one's soul.

The feeling was like a wanderer who had been away from home for many years suddenly smelling the aroma of his mother's cooking.

Chen Xuan gripped the broken sword in his hand tightly.

He could sense that great terror lurked within this palace of bones.

The oppressive feeling was hundreds of times stronger than that of the hundreds of corpse puppets combined.

But he did not back down.

He glanced down at the fox in his arms. Her narrow eyes were filled with longing, and a hint of confusion.

That was her chance.

That was also her destiny.

"Are you scared?" Chen Xuan asked.

Su Chang'an swallowed hard, his claws digging into Chen Xuan's flesh.

"What's there to be afraid of?" she gritted her teeth, forcing a fearless stance. "Fortune favors the bold. Besides, I still have to protect you, my unfilial son."

Chen Xuan's lips curled slightly.

Stubborn.

His whole body was shaking.

"Then let's go."

He took a step and stepped onto the stairs covered with bones.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty underground space, each step feeling like a heartbeat.

As they approached, the tightly closed white bone door slowly opened to both sides with a teeth-grinding scraping sound.

An ancient, desolate, yet endlessly alluring aura wafted out from the crack in the door.

In the depths of darkness, a pair of eyes seemed to slowly open.