Soul-Claiming Melodies, The Fox Demon's Trump Card

"Too much nonsense. Come die!"

Lu Yang raised his hand and struck out with several successive moves of the "Tablet Shattering Style," breaking through layer after layer of Black Qi and driving into that mass of bewildering miasma.

Within the dense shadows, not the slightest ripple stirred.

Only the unknown yao creature's coquettish laughter still echoed all around.

"Giggle!"

"Captain Lu truly doesn't understand romance."

Before the words had even fallen, dozens of shadows bored out of the black fog, transforming into all kinds of weapons as they attacked Lu Yang in layer upon layer.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

Lu Yang, however, stood as steady as Mount Tai, unmoving at the center, using the techniques of the Tablet Smashing Hand to dissolve those weapons one by one.

A huge white tail suddenly reached out from the mist and lashed over.

Lu Yang still met a thousand changes with one constant, mobilizing the "Mighty Bull Strength" in both arms and answering with his palm techniques.

As man and yao exchanged blows, the Enchanting Melody drifted out from within the black fog from time to time, constantly disturbing Lu Yang's mind and spirit.

The force of that huge tail had astonishingly exceeded sixty thousand jin. With every collision, Lu Yang had to fully mobilize his "Mighty Bull Strength" and could barely neutralize it.

As time dragged on, even with the physique he had gained from comprehending two forms of the Mighty Bull Mountain Splitting Diagram, he gradually found it hard to hold on. Both arms went numb, and faint pain throbbed between his fingers.

Lu Yang made a rough judgment: that yao creature's cultivation was at least Third-tier, Seventh-level—perhaps even higher!

Though the Sixth-level and Seventh-level were only one level apart, it was the difference between the Middle Xiantian Stage and the Late Xiantian Stage!

Such strength was far above Lu Jue and Qian Yikang.

Lu Yang had just fought two battles in a row, and both his stamina and Xiantian True Qi had already not been at their best. Now, facing the yao monster in the black fog and entangling with it for dozens of exchanges, his strength was already somewhat failing.

"Giggle!"

"Captain Lu, you are already an arrow at the end of its flight. No matter how you struggle, it is futile."

"I will give you one last chance. If you are willing to lower your head and cooperate with my Black Stone Mountain, the promise from before will still stand."

Within the black fog, that charming voice was like the sweet, winding cry of an oriole, carrying a strange allure that bewitched the heart.

Even Lu Yang, hearing that voice, now felt his heartbeat quicken, and a dizzy heaviness of blood and qi rushing to his head.

It seemed there was an impulse in him to obey no matter what that voice said.

Lu Yang shuddered and bit the tip of his tongue. The needle-prick pain and the faint, sweet tang of blood in his mouth stimulated him into regaining a little clarity.

At this moment, the system still tirelessly reminded him.

"Ding! Detected that the host's Experience Points meet the conditions for cultivation advancement. Consume 1,334 Experience Points to improve cultivation?"

"Improve!"

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Rich, warm red light spread through Lu Yang's body. His dried-up meridians were instantly filled, and his depleted dantian once again gained several strands of Xiantian True Qi!

Lu Yang, who had originally been almost exhausted, was full of vigor once more in an instant!

The Xiantian True Qi in his body grew to twenty strands, and the "Mighty Bull Strength" in both arms also climbed to forty-five thousand jin!

"Tablet Shattering Style!"

"Earth Splitting Style!"

Bang, bang, bang!

Boom, boom, boom!

Powerful Xiantian True Qi and dense, unmelting yao qi collided repeatedly in midair, stirring up ripple after ripple.

The bluestone slabs on the street were constantly overturned; sand and gravel flew wildly, and dust billowed.

Palm edges and huge tail collided again and again, gradually sinking into a deadlock.

Whoosh, whoosh!

In the darkness, a second huge white tail suddenly lashed down. Dense yao qi turned into a cage, coming down over his head along with that huge tail.

"Thunderclap Style!"

Lu Yang brought his hands together, all his Xiantian True Qi gathering in his palms, and unleashed his strongest strike.

The two clashed. Lu Yang barely forced the second huge tail back, but the first huge tail once again lashed over with the force of ten thousand jun.

Ding, ding, ding!

Along with the layer upon layer of blades and swords formed from yao qi, as well as the Enchanting Melody within the black fog, Lu Yang once again fell into a deadlock.

"Ding! Detected that the host's Experience Points meet the conditions for cultivation advancement. Consume 3,000 Experience Points to improve cultivation?"

"Improve!"

The red light dispersed, and Lu Yang's cultivation soared once more, reaching the third level of the Xiantian Realm!

Thirty strands of Xiantian True Qi, combined with "Mighty Bull Strength" exceeding fifty-five thousand jin in a single arm—when Lu Yang faced the pincer attack of the twin tails, he was finally no longer in such a sorry state.

At once, he seized the opening to take out an Elemental Fusion Pill and swallow it. In an instant, ten more streams of Xiantian True Qi surged into his body, temporarily raising his cultivation to the fourth tier of the Xiantian Realm!

The Xiantian True Qi around Lu Yang suddenly blazed, forcefully driving back the billowing demonic aura that filled the surroundings.

"Tablet Shattering Style!"

"Earth Splitting Style!"

Boom, boom!

Two tablet phantoms charged straight through everything in their path, scattering the boundless demonic aura completely.

Within the shadows at the street corner, a two-tailed white fox, fully two meters tall and four or five meters long, immediately revealed its true form.

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Lu Yang's lips. "So it was a slutty fox."

Before his words had even landed, he struck again and again, sending out streaks of True Qi like long white bolts, forcing the white fox to let out a strange cry and dodge repeatedly.

The twin tails that had carried such tremendous force earlier no longer dared to lash out at Lu Yang at will.

There was no other reason. After Lu Yang's successive improvements, the Mighty Bull Strength in both his arms had already climbed to just over sixty thousand jin. In terms of strength, the Fox Demon no longer held much of an advantage.

"Giggle!"

"Little Brother Lu Yang, this servant is liking you more and more!"

"If I eat you, this servant will definitely be able to break through to Xiantian Peak!" While the Fox Demon relied on her agile form to dodge constantly, she still had the mind to tease Lu Yang.

Lu Yang smiled disdainfully. "You should think about whether you can live through today first!"

Bang, bang, bang!

Lu Yang used Tablet Smashing Hand in succession, constantly closing in on the white fox in the midst of their exchange.

Under the heavy pressure, the white fox finally let one flaw slip through a hundred precautions and was struck by a tablet phantom, sent crashing heavily away.

"Go Berserk. Otherwise, you won't have any chance of winning!" Lu Yang said coldly.

"Giggle, giggle, giggle! Little Brother, you're celebrating too soon." The Fox Demon spoke in human words, and the Enchanting Melody rang out across the wilderness.

Lu Yang's pupils abruptly shrank as he suddenly noticed the abnormality on the ground.

Dense black mud was like rolling magma, bubbling with viscous blisters and giving off a nauseating stench as it traced an enormous, intricate formation across the ground.

Black beams of light slowly rose from the earth and turned into chains, which in the blink of an eye wrapped around Lu Yang's limbs and chest.

Streams of demonic aura slowly rose and constantly condensed, transforming into hideously ugly insects that clung to Lu Yang's body, trying to burrow beneath his skin.

The Fox Demon's whispers seemed to possess some mysterious magic, continuously eroding Lu Yang's mind.

In that instant, Lu Yang only felt as if something inside his body had slipped beyond his control, and under the guidance of that Enchanting Melody, it was about to break out of its shell.

"Giggle, giggle, giggle!"

The Fox Demon strolled easily over the ground filled with Black Qi, her charming laughter like a life-reaping blade that made Lu Yang shudder despite himself.

"Now do you understand? Those who cultivate the Returning Origin Art have no power to resist before me! Forget that you're only at the third tier of the Xiantian Realm—even if it were Du Guiyuan at Eighth-tier Xiantian, what could he do?"