Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

But then I thought, if it doesn't work out, the fox will just grow old and die, so it doesn't matter anymore.

"Let's just keep going like this. I don't know how far we'll go."

Chen Ruoan scattered flower seeds, releasing the reserved life force into the tomb chamber.

Unfortunately, the life force that the world inside its belly can accept is really limited, otherwise the fox wouldn't have needed to go to the trouble of setting up any strange formations.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Having prepared everything, Chen Ruoan slapped his face, composed himself, and walked out of the tomb chamber along the carved steps.

Given the current chaotic situation, if the tomb built for Shufen were too luxurious, it would inevitably attract the attention of grave robbers. Therefore, Chen Ruoan reserved a small, unassuming grave, which stood alone in the mountains.

After descending the mountain, Luo Shuning ran around carrying the pottery jar. Upon seeing Chen Ruoan, she asked, "Brother An, why aren't you using the insects you wanted?"

"I've succeeded."

"Huh? What about my sister?"

“He has been buried.” Chen Ruoan took out a book from his pocket and handed it to Luo Shuning. “This is a record I made when I was refining the Golden Shadow Gu. You can take it and leave it in Qinghe Miao Village as a legacy.”

"Yes." Luo Shuning hugged the book tightly.

"Have the people who infiltrated Qinghe been caught?"

"We've caught one. We don't have many schools of thought that use poison, and the only ones the other side can think of besides the Tang Clan and the Five Immortals Sect are the Gu poisons of the Gu Masters."

"Then I should get going." Chen Ruoan dragged her tired body outside.

"Brother An, you look very tired!"

"No, the thought of killing them gives me a real thrill." The fox turned his head and revealed a sinister smile.

The current ninja are remnants who remained at Mount Hiei, and are now under the leadership of the second ninja leader, Wakasa Shohei. The new ninja leader differs from Ono Noriyoshi's radical ideology and prefers a peaceful transition, taking root in China through gentle means to welcome a new life.

This decision was completely unacceptable to the radical faction among the remnants, and the second-generation Higanbana Shinobu uncontrollably embarked on a path of revenge.

Luo Shuning stepped forward to dissuade him, saying, "Brother An, the Tang Clan has been here. The Tang Clan leader said that during the last Mianshan disaster, the disciples of the sect failed to complete the mission of assassinating the ninja leader, so they are willing to share the burden for Qinghe. I don't know what they agreed to with Bihe Ninja."

Before entering Qinghe territory, the war between Bihe Ren and Tangmen had already taken place.

Chen Ruoan thought for a moment and concluded that, according to Wakasa Shōbei's philosophy, the new ninja leader would not want to see a large number of ninja killed. Rather than letting the fighting continue, it would be more appropriate to bring the event to a close with a contest that has existed since ancient times.

Of course, the agreed-upon competition was merely a show of force; in reality, both sides secretly wished for the other's annihilation.

"A gaping hole, this is the last wave."

As Chen Ruoan and Luo Shuning were talking, a strong smell of alcohol wafted in on the wind. A figure flashed past among the bamboo houses with incredible speed and agility, but was quickly caught by a fox.

He was a man in a long gown, somewhat unruly, with a stubble beard, and drunken—Liu Wei, known as "the one who can roam the city in an instant," the manager of a small inn in the Jianghu.

"Hiccup~" Liu Wei hiccuped, his body swaying. "Your Majesty, I have long admired your name. Meeting you today, you are even more bloodthirsty than I imagined."

"The more blood it gets, the easier it is to marinate and absorb the flavor."

"Hey, please pass this on to the Tang Clan for me, Your Majesty. It was originally Qinghe's territory, but the Tang Clan intercepted it midway. Boss Tang is elusive; we've chased after him several times but always just missed him."

Liu Wei handed over several envelopes containing special Qi for sealing, and the contents were all the intelligence on the remnants of the Bihe Ren party.

Biheshan also has enemies in his own region. The two sides have been fighting each other for generations and know each other's information very well.

The information that Jianghu Xiaozhan obtained was provided by the Ishikawa family of "Buddha Sword".

"The other party said they were extremely grateful, thanking the Emperor for destroying the demon sword and killing Hirumaru in the previous border forest. This information is a gift of thanks from the Ishikawa lineage for being freed from their historical destiny."

Chen Ruoan took the envelope and replied, "I understand."

The Ishikawa family, you say?

The Fish and Dragon Society, which will manage Japanese supernatural beings in the future, was established under the leadership of the Ishikawa family.

Chen Ruoan opened the letter and glanced at it, discovering that there were almost no skilled individuals among the remnants of the Ghost Clan who were worth being wary of.

"The terrain of the Toutian Cave is complex. I'll use you guys to test the Qimen Dunjia formation that I just learned."

Chapter 206 Are you playing with snakes?

According to the intelligence relayed by Liu Wei, all the ninjas capable of threatening the Chinese mainland are concentrated in the Jilin area.

The new ninja leader, "Erli Jushi," made an agreement with the Tang Clan to hold a nine-on-nine competition in a deep cave in the mountains. The faction to which the person who emerged last would be the ultimate winner.

If the Tang Clan wins, Bihe Ren guarantees he will never set foot on Chinese soil again; if Bihe Ren wins, the Tang Clan will need to send out a sufficiently influential elder to quell the anger of the ghosts.

"Since they couldn't find the person who assassinated Ono Noriyoshi, they simply ended their revenge in this way?" Chen Ruoan could tell that the content of the negotiations between the new ninja leader and Tang Bingwen of the Tang Clan must not have been transmitted back to the Ghost Clan.

However, if both sides want each other dead, then things become much simpler.

Without time to rest, Chen Ruoan rushed to the mountains and fields of Jilin.

When they arrived at the small village outside the mountains, Tang Miaoxing of the Tang Clan had been waiting for them for a long time.

Chen Ruoan met up with the rest of the Tang Clan here. Because of the death of Nikaido Eita in the border forest and the loss of the Demon Sword, Lü Ci did not appear in the group. The Lü family was still searching for Lü Ren's whereabouts and only sent a few letters.

"What's the situation now?" Chen Ruoan asked.

Tang Miaoxing replied, "Bihe Ren has been setting up in the mountains for a long time. There are Japanese soldiers everywhere. It would be difficult for our people to enter the mountains without being detected. We cannot find out anything about the situation in the mountains and the Toutian Cave."

"This is a message from the Ghost Clan." Chen Ruoan handed the envelope from Jianghu Xiaozhan to Tang Bingwen, the leader of the Tang Clan.

"Mr. Chen is incredibly resourceful; he can even find something like this." Tang Bingwen glanced at the contents and nodded with a smile.

"It was Manager Liu from Jianghu Xiaozhan who did the work."

"Mr. Chen, I'd really appreciate it if you could give the Tang Clan a chance to prove ourselves. Otherwise, we would feel ashamed to accept Boss Zhao's ten gold bars," Tang Bingwen said to Chen Ruoan. The old man had a fierce appearance and an unfathomable aura.

"No problem, this time I'll only help from the shadows."

The Tang Clan, known for never making a mistake, has lost its first business deal since its founding, and it's all because of Wei Shufen. I wonder what the old man thinks about that.

As the two were talking, a bearded man with a pipe walked out of the thatched hut. He was puffing out smoke, and a strong and robust young woman from Northeast China was beside him.

"Master, you've arrived!" Liao Huzi, a shaman, greeted Chen Ruoan.

"Uncle An, it's been a while." Tiger Girl Guan Shihua waved and opened the paper bag containing mung bean cakes. "Want some?"

“I don’t have much of an appetite right now.” Chen Ruoan looked at Hu Niu. He had met this girl several times when he was fighting in the Northeast. He didn’t expect that after a year, this girl had grown even stronger and more robust. She truly lived up to the name “Tiger”.

"You should lose weight."

"Uncle An's words are really unpleasant. I'm clearly strong, I was born with a large frame," Guan Shihua muttered.

The fox knew that the problem wasn't with her skeletal structure when she thought about how she would shrink in the future. But whatever, the greedy creature would just deny it anyway. As long as she's healthy, that's all that matters.

Tang Bingwen glanced at the time; it was almost time to get up and leave.

"I won't go over there; I'll stay with you secretly." The situation would change drastically if Chen Ruoan showed up. The fox was currently extremely weak, making it difficult to surround and kill the ghosts hiding in the mountains. So, they had no choice but to trust the Tang Clan's experts.

Accompanied by Tang Bingwen, the Tang Clan set off, while the fox used its Shadow Technique to secretly follow from the shadows.

Before the mountain with its gaping hole, a group of demons led by "Erli Jushi" had been waiting for a long time. In addition to the nine people who were participating in the life-or-death competition, there were also several elders of the Hira Ninja standing nearby.

Nirikoji wore a scratched Noh mask, obscuring his true face. According to the information from the small shop, he was a learned man, fluent in several languages, and had been a confidant of the old ninja, Ono Noriyoshi, for the past few years.

He was highly respected among the demons; even his rivals, the Ishikawa family, had never seen his true face, let alone knew of his abilities.

“The rules are all clear, so we have nothing more to say. Let’s sign the contract and then let both sides enter,” said Erli Jushi in fluent Chinese.

Tang Bingwen raised his hand to signal, and the nine people stepped forward to press their handprints and enter one by one.

Inside the gaping hole, Chen Ruoan went ahead. The fox's vision was extremely dark, with only a few cracks above its head letting in sunlight. Rocks stood all around, some like giant bamboo shoots breaking through the soil, others like sharp teeth hanging upside down, their surfaces glistening with water.

The tunnels are interconnected, wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through, and narrow enough to allow only a sideways turn, with deep passages leading into the unknown darkness.

"Both sides are skilled in assassination, making this a perfect place to test their skills."

Chen Ruoan wandered around inside the cave. From time to time, rustling sounds came from the crevices of the rocks. Several small green jade snakes flicked their tongues as they passed by, watching the movements inside the cave.

Liu Huajiao, who was skilled in healing and saving lives, was invited by a shaman.

"Since I'm part of the creatures of the mountains and forests anyway, why not use my fox form too?" Using the Shadow Transformation Technique also consumes Qi, so Chen Ruoan transformed back into his original form and traversed the ant-like tunnel.

The fox's paws were light and soft, making no sound when stepped on. The black fox's color perfectly matched the dark environment. In addition, the fox's ears were sharp and its night vision was outstanding. This hole was simply a natural hunting ground prepared for Chen Ruoan.

Hey!

The fox stomped heavily on its four limbs, and the Qimen formation was set up, covering the entire dark hole.

"The Wuhou Qimen cannot be customized to predict good or bad fortune, and I cannot guide the movement of several people. However, when Biheren steps on an inauspicious position, I can still properly increase the odds for them."

Shuttle!

Another group of snakes crawled by, this time all of them had black scales.

"It feels different."

Chen Ruoan raised his paw and pressed it against the black snake's seven-inch spot. The snake turned its head to bite, but the fox's paw pressed its head down again.

sizzle!

The black snake struggled violently, hissing and protesting, but felt an increasing pain at its seven-inch mark, as if it wanted to tear its entire body apart.

Stab it!

Who is it!?

"The Tang Clan guys haven't arrived yet, so who's killing my Black Dragon Clan members!" A man in black robes emerged from the shadows, looking around and seeing a broken snake corpse not far away, along with a beast whose species he couldn't identify.

"It turns out it's a local variety."

"I thought something had sneaked in."

"I don't know if I can refine the local creatures. Let's give it a try before the battle begins." Kimura, who comes from the Snake Mound, has similar methods to a Beast Master, but this is the first time he has tried to control a creature other than a snake.

A pair of sticky, gurgling hands reached out to stroke Chen Ruoan's smooth, soft fur.

The fox shivered and looked back.

The hand looked like that of a seven or eight-year-old child, covered in sticky snot.

"Don't come any closer!" The scene was disgusting and horrifying enough that Chen Ruoan didn't have time to react before a ball of blue flame was spat out of her mouth.

The tunnel was illuminated by a ghostly green light. Kimura rolled on the ground, his robes quickly burning away, revealing his body that had been covering him.

This guy was actually a naked monkey covered in black snakes. To ensure the snakes' agility, he even coated his entire body with a lubricating slime.

Burned by the blue flames, the "Black Dragon Clan" scattered and fled. Kimura rolled on the ground, unable to extinguish the blue flames that clung to him no matter how much he tried to cut off the air.