Little White

043 Little White

Chong Li and Ren Yuan rode hard without pause, finally making it back to Baishi Village before noon.

Little Zhao chased after them while stopping to rest from time to time. He had also gone a full day and night without sleep, and his condition was poor. The key point was that the horse beneath him was utterly exhausted.

The horses Chong Li and Ren Yuan had ridden were also running out of strength, so they had entrusted them to farmers reclaiming wasteland along the way. The two of them continued using their lightness skills for the final stretch.

Only Lü E remained in the courtyard. Ming Shu was lying on the bed inside with his eyes closed, resting, while Zhao Siqi was asleep sprawled over the quilt.

Chong Li carefully examined Ming Shu's body and determined that it had probably been controlled by a demonic technique. However, as time passed, the technique's power had already begun to weaken.

If Ming Shu's own strength had been one realm higher, he probably could have forcibly broken free by now.

The most crucial point was that the demonic technique had blocked Ming Shu's strongest trump card within his spiritual consciousness. Ming Shu had truly forgotten that he still had a Demonic Spirit he could draw power from.

Only after Chong Li finished analyzing the situation and mentioned the Demonic Spirit, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, did Ming Shu come to himself and wonder in a daze, Why had I kept overlooking it?

He could not make sense of it. It really was a bizarre demonic technique.

It truly was worthy of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.

But he still could not remember where he had put the Stone Pagoda, much less actively sense it. What was going on?

Zhao Siqi woke up at the commotion as well. She helped search Ming Shu's body for a while, took out the little Stone Pagoda, and placed it directly against his forehead.

Only then did Ming Shu begin sensing it again, working hard to establish a new connection. Slowly, the small green Stone Pagoda finally reacted. A faint Green Light appeared, and the Demonic Spirit was awakened.

The Demonic Spirit's power reentered Ming Shu's body.

It was not until nearly half an hour later that the demonic technique on Ming Shu's body began to fade. After an hour, he could finally move freely.

However, after lying down for so long, his hands and feet were somewhat stiff. He still needed support to sit up. He leaned against the quilt and sat there for a while, waiting for his qi and blood to activate again.

He had to recover his former condition.

He slowly opened his mouth and took small sips of water.

His voice was still somewhat hoarse, so he told everyone not to be too startled for now.

Old Zhao and Little Zhao had also returned. They waited for his explanation. He was now the backbone of the entire Lineage team.

Zhao Siqi helped place the little white creature in his hand.

He raised his hand for everyone to see. "This is that Demon Fox."

Everyone wore disbelieving expressions.

How could that Ghostly Apparition of a Demon Fox possibly be such a tiny little creature?

Ren Yuan in particular had used the power of his Demonic Spirit, yet he could not sense even the slightest trace of demonic spiritual power from the little creature.

Chong Li used a spell to investigate it and also found no great danger. It looked harmless enough.

"It wanted to control me, but I had already set up a ritual beneath my feet. When it controlled my body, it was sealed by me as well. It must have already suffered a heavy injury. Its strength has declined severely."

Ming Shu did not say that this creature was actually the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, which now looked like a little tailless kitten.

Once one layer of its seal was undone and it grew one tail, it would recover the strength of one realm. Nine tails, meanwhile, meant the strength of the ninth realm.

What was the ninth realm? In the Dao Sect, even the eighth realm made one a Grand True Person. The ninth realm was the realm of a True Lord. In the Academy, the ninth realm made one a Lesser Sage. As for Martial Artists of the ninth realm, they already dared claim to be invincible beneath heaven.

Now that its vital weakness was in their hands, the danger had been resolved. But they could not inform anyone else, so they would let the others continue hunting it, fighting with shadows.

No wonder the Demon Fox had passed through every place as though it were uninhabited, leaving the Demon Hunters unable to capture its traces.

Its top-tier strength was simply on an entirely different level. How could it possibly have been countered? If the Supervisor had not put on such a passionate performance from behind the scenes and made so many arrangements, it probably would not have been discovered at all.

Only the few people present were to know about this Demon Fox. They were not to spread it any further. Besides, after being sealed, it was no different from any other small animal.

It remained dormant while healing its injuries, and it would be difficult for it to awaken in the short term.

Old Zhao continued going to the valley to help with construction, while Zhao Dun and Zhao Chuan pulled back and no longer needed to go out and cause trouble.

There was nothing worth patrolling.

Little Zhao had already persuaded a pirate to defect. He was merely the weakest Still Water Frog demonic spirit, but he was familiar with the routes the pirates used to come ashore.

Making use of his ability, they marked signals in several places where pirates might appear. Regular patrols would be enough.

His name was Tie Ju. With the aid of his demonic spirit's ability, he could remain active in the water for a long time.

Little Zhao had already told him that Qunwa Island had been defeated by Evil Dragon Island, and it would probably be difficult for them to come back and receive him.

They could send him into the water to patrol without worrying that he would escape. With only a low-rank demonic spirit, how far could he swim in the open sea?

Besides, he was the weakest among all the pirates.

Ming Shu publicly claimed that something had gone wrong with his cultivation and that he needed to recuperate for a while. At the same time, he strengthened the vigilance and defenses of the village, taking the opportunity to recall everyone he had sent out.

He handed over the inner and outer spiritual fields to Zhao Siqi to manage. Old Lu's good friend Old Luo had also arrived, and with the two Spirit Planter Masters working together, there were no longer any problems.

Ming Shu himself began researching the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox with the aid of the Life Book.

Actually, it was not yet fully a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. For now, it could only be called a Nine-tailed Demon Fox. The shackles and realm within its bloodline had not been completely opened.

He entered through the mark of the contract and communicated simply with the Demon Fox.

He could only see fragments from the recent past, glimpsing what it had experienced before coming here.

One of the Supervisor's disciples had ventured deep into the mountains and negotiated cooperation with the old monster in the great demon's cavern. The Supervisor gave them the entrance to the secret realm of Jiuli City, and they had cheerfully sold this Nine-tailed Demon Fox off.

It was supposed to come and serve as the guardian spirit beast of Ming Shu's Lineage for a period of time. It did not know exactly when that period would end.

Before it set out, the old monster had sealed part of its power. Then it had made the creature jump into a trap laid by the humans.

It became the "auspicious omen" they offered to the new emperor. When they neared the Royal Capital, the Supervisor acted, sealing away part of its power again and injuring it as well.

After that, a large number of Demon Hunters pursued it all the way.

If the Supervisor had not restrained it and forbidden it from attacking humans, it would have long since been unable to resist eating people.

Yet they had actually bullied it all the way here, leaving it able to eat only chickens, ducks, and geese along the road.

There was not a trace of Spiritual Energy in them.

This life was too miserable. Back in the depths of the mountains, what kind of spiritual fruits and spirit birds had it not eaten? How tragic!

Now things were even worse. It had originally thought it only needed to hypnotize this human and guard behind him. Instead, it had gotten itself dragged into the mess and become someone else's contracted demon beast.

I am a dignified descendant of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox!

It was all the Supervisor, that old Silver Coin, and those old bastards in the demon cavern. They had sold it off just like that. Why had it been the one?

After reading everything, Ming Shu decisively gave it a new name. "I'll call you Little White."