"Bzzzt—!"
The Golden Cudgel suddenly tightened, and golden radiance surged.
The Azure-Eyed Snow Fox instantly stiffened. Its four limbs trembled violently as it let out a pained growl.
However, it still refused to submit. A crazed light flickered in its eyes.
"Wretched beast, you still dare resist?"
Chu Ning gritted his teeth, recited the incantation again, and rapidly changed his hand seals.
"Golden Cudgel Spell, bind!"
"Boom!"
The Golden Cudgel's radiance erupted completely.
The Azure-Eyed Snow Fox struggled without pause as the power of the Golden Cudgel Spell gradually eroded its soul.
The Azure-Eyed Snow Fox threw back its head and howled, its body trembling violently.
In the next instant, its body suddenly began to shrink!
It had intended to resist, but discovered that every time it struggled with all its might, cold sweat also seeped from Chu Ning's forehead.
The pain is shared?
A flicker of hesitation passed through the Snow Fox's scarlet eyes.
Chu Ning took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand. In a low voice, he said, "Stop struggling, or we'll both get hurt."
The Snow Fox shuddered from head to toe. Hatred, fear, and confusion intertwined in its eyes, but in the end, it still collapsed helplessly onto the ground and slowly closed its eyes.
At that moment, Chu Ning finally sensed that the power of the Golden Cudgel Spell had begun to truly bind this proud Spiritual Beast.
"Whoosh!"
A streak of white light flashed. The previously ferocious Snow Fox had actually transformed into a fluffy Little White Fox, its body only the size of a palm.
Its eyes were filled with terror, and it curled up on the ground, unable even to stand steadily.
Chu Ning reached out and picked it up, but the Little White Fox did not struggle at all. Instead, it obediently rolled around in his palm.
Then it gently licked Chu Ning's palm, narrowed its eyes, and revealed an expression of extreme enjoyment.
"Huh?"
Chu Ning froze.
The Little White Fox then jumped onto his shoulder, wound itself once around his neck, and gently rubbed its head against his cheek.
All its previous ferocity had vanished. It even seemed to carry a trace of dependence.
The corner of Chu Ning's mouth twitched slightly.
"This... the Golden Cudgel Spell's effect seems a little too strong?"
The Crimson Flame Tiger watched coldly from the side. Seeing Chu Ning tame a proud Spiritual Fox so effortlessly, an odd look flashed through its Golden Eyes.
It let out a low growl, seemingly wary of the Golden Cudgel Spell in Chu Ning's hands.
"How about it?"
Chu Ning smiled at the Crimson Flame Tiger. "Want to give it a try too?"
The Crimson Flame Tiger let out an "awoo," then turned and walked straight toward the cave, as if expressing its disdain.
Chu Ning burst out laughing and reached out to stroke the Little White Fox's soft fur.
"Not bad. This trade was a complete windfall."
Chu Ning laughed heartily again and turned to stride away.
The bloody stench of Blazing Flame Valley gradually dissipated. Firelight illuminated the rocks, while the lingering aftertaste of scorched earth and slaughter still filled the air.
Chu Ning stepped through the devastation covering the ground and slowly walked toward Wang Li's corpse.
Wang Li's head had long since rolled off to one side. The terror and unwillingness from before his death still lingered on his face, while his body lay on its back, blood staining his shattered hunting armor red.
Chu Ning frowned and swept his gaze over Wang Li's corpse. Suddenly, his eyes stopped on Wang Li's chest.
The front of his robe bulged slightly, as if concealing something.
"Hm?"
Chu Ning's gaze sharpened slightly. He slowly crouched down and reached toward Wang Li's chest.
When his palm touched the robe, he felt a thick book beneath it.
His heart stirred. He tugged hard and pulled it from Wang Li's chest.
The book's cover was dark and dull, faintly gleaming with an ancient luster. Several vigorous characters were engraved across it.
"Sky-Rending Shadow Flight Technique"!
A mid-grade Profound Rank flight technique!
Chu Ning's heart leaped, and delight appeared on his face.
"It's actually a flight technique?"
He could not help drawing in a sharp breath, heat rising in his eyes.
How precious were flight techniques?
Even the lowest-grade flight arts were inheritances highly valued by every major sect and aristocratic clan. Ordinary people found them nearly impossible to access.
It seemed that the Wang family's ancestor had indeed paid a heavy price to obtain the Azure-Eyed Snow Fox.
"After searching high and low, I found it without any effort at all!"
Chu Ning tightened his grip on the technique, his heart surging with excitement.
If he could master this art, he would possess an incomparable advantage in battle.
Whether chasing enemies, fleeing, or crossing perilous terrain, everything would become effortless.
Chu Ning could no longer hold back. He immediately sank his consciousness and communicated with the Chaos Divine Order.
Chaos Divine Order, advance the "Sky-Rending Shadow Flight Technique"!
However, the Order's response left him instantly stunned.
The price for the Golden Cudgel Spell had not yet been repaid, so a new technique could not be advanced.
"What?!"
Chu Ning abruptly froze, his mind exploding with a thunderous roar.
He immediately remembered that he had just advanced the "Golden Cudgel Spell," and the price for repayment was...
One hundred taels of gold! One year of lifespan!
"Damn it!"
The smile on his face instantly stiffened, replaced by a wave of despair.
He had thought he would immediately master a flight art and take his strength a step further.
But now...
The Chaos Divine Order had actually jammed him up!
"One hundred taels of gold... That's no small sum! And a year of lifespan is unimaginably costly!"
Chu Ning's heart sank, his expression shifting unpredictably.
To an ordinary commoner, this was wealth enough to make one rich beyond measure.
But to him, it was a heavy shackle.
He frowned and lowered his head toward the corpse on the ground, his eyes flickering.
"A person like Wang Li should have some savings on him, right?"
At that thought, he immediately began to search the body.
He started with Wang Li's belt and soon found a heavy money pouch.
When he opened it, he saw several taels of gold and several dozen taels of silver notes.
Chu Ning frowned slightly, disappointment showing on his face.
"That's all?"
Unwilling to give up, he continued rummaging through Wang Li's belongings.
Unfortunately, apart from several low-grade protective artifacts and a few bottles of pills, there was nothing else of value.
"Looks like this fellow isn't as wealthy as he appears."
Chu Ning shook his head, rose, and turned his gaze toward the corpses around him.
Apart from Wang Li, the other martial artists of the Wang family's hunting party had also fallen in pools of blood.
Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Ning searched them one by one.
However, half an hour later, his expression had grown increasingly ugly.
After turning over everyone's money pouches, he found that all the gold and silver combined amounted to less than twenty taels of gold!
The rest consisted mostly of two hundred taels of broken silver and some low-grade cultivation resources.
Chu Ning looked at these meager savings, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.
"These people swaggered around and spent lavishly every day. Who would have thought that once they were truly dead, they'd have so little of value on them?"
He sighed inwardly, but his gaze gradually turned cold.
"Very well. Since the Wang family won't leave me any gold, I'll find another way through the rest of the Wang family."
He raised his head and looked outside Black Wind Forest, a trace of coldness surfacing in his eyes.
He put away his spoils and turned to leave.
The firelight of Blazing Flame Valley illuminated his figure. Behind him lay a landscape of devastation, a mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
At the same time, inside the Wang family ancestral hall.
The dim yellow everlasting lamps swayed, illuminating the spirit tablets offered throughout the hall.
Suddenly, one of the Soul Lamps placed in the center went out with a whoosh.
"Bang!"
The name Wang Li dimmed, symbolizing his death.
Inside the great hall, the many Wang family elders' expressions changed drastically. Above them, a withered figure slowly opened his eyes.
"Wang Li is dead?"
His voice was low, filled with chilling coldness.
"Ancestor..." an elder said in a low voice. "It was Wang Li."
Wang Lin's gaze suddenly sharpened, and killing intent erupted around him.
"Someone dared to kill my direct descendant. I want to see who has such colossal nerve."
He slowly rose and formed hand seals. A sinister Blood Mist surfaced from his palms.
"The Blood Puppet Guards of the Blood Refining Hall have slept for far too long. It's time to awaken them."
As his voice fell, an ancient bronze coffin slowly opened in the depths of the great hall.
"Roar—"
A pair of scarlet eyes opened in the darkness.
"Whoever you are, you killed a member of my Wang family's bloodline. I'll make you—wish you were dead!"
Wang Lin's gaze was icy. With a sweep of his sleeve, several figures shot into the sky and sped toward Blazing Flame Valley!
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