She's Little Fox-What Are You?

"Xiaolun!"

Before the others' cries of alarm had even died down, Sun Wukong moved again, swift as lightning. The Golden Cudgel left a blur as it struck Liu Chuang squarely in the waist just as he raised the God Slaying Axe!

"Ugh!" An irresistible force hit Liu Chuang, making his insides feel as if they had shifted out of place. He groaned and was knocked flat, nearly dropping the God Slaying Axe.

"Fall back! Keep your distance! Don't attack recklessly!" Qiangwei forced down her shock as she directed everyone to retreat, then tried to reason with Sun Wukong. "Sun Wukong! We're the Xiong Bing Lian from the Super Seminary! We mean no harm! Please stop! We can talk!"

But Sun Wukong had come that night to "teach" these green recruits a lesson. Why would he stop just because they were retreating?

He ignored Qiangwei's shouts completely. Moving like the wind, he launched a series of swift attacks on the scattered members of the Xiong Bing Lian amid the whistle of his Golden Cudgel.

Zhao Xin tried to use his speed to keep Sun Wukong at bay, but was swept away with a single blow.

Cheng Yaowen raised a stone wall to block him, but it shattered like paper.

Rui Mengmeng didn't even last through one exchange before she was knocked down.

The Xiong Bing Lian immediately began to fall into disarray.

Watching her teammates go down one by one, Qi Lin grew frantic and furious. She shouted to Qiangwei over Dark Communication, "Qiangwei! Why are you still trying to talk to him? He's not listening! Are we just supposed to stand here and take a beating?"

The others were also angry and confused by Sun Wukong's overwhelming strength. But years of training had taught them to follow Qiangwei's orders as their tactical core, and his sudden attack had left them reeling. For a moment, they didn't know what to do.

Su Xiao Li had been hiding behind the others, staring wide-eyed at the one-sided "beating." She was thinking that the monkey really was as hot-tempered as the legends claimed. Following Si Yao's instructions, she had focused on observing and hadn't planned to get involved lightly.

But Sun Wukong seemed to be paying her special "attention."

After casually knocking away Zhao Xin when he tried to approach, Sun Wukong fixed his gaze on Su Xiao Li again and grinned. "Little Fox, let Old Sun see if you can take a hit!"

Before he'd even finished speaking, the Golden Cudgel came crashing down with a shriek that tore through the air!

Su Xiao Li paled with fright and let out an instinctive scream. The Nine Giant White Fox Tails sprang up behind her, crossing in front of her to shield her!

A faint golden glow bestowed by Jingang Realm Divine Power flowed across the tails' surface. They managed to block the blow, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone!

"Clang—!"

A thunderous clash of metal rang out. A shockwave spread from the point of impact, flattening the nearby plants!

Su Xiao Li grunted. The ground beneath her feet cracked apart, and the tremendous force sent her blood and qi churning. But in the end, she stood firm and took the blow! She had blocked an attack that even Ge Xiaolun hadn't managed to withstand head-on!

"Oh?" A flicker of surprise—and even greater interest—passed through Sun Wukong's eyes. "Not bad! Again!"

He flicked his wrist, and the Golden Cudgel became a storm of stick shadows, sweeping toward Su Xiao Li like a torrential downpour!

Su Xiao Li didn't dare take the blows head-on. She summoned all the power within her, her movements growing extraordinarily nimble as she darted through the dense shadows like a phantom in the woods. She was so fast that she seemed almost as quick as Zhao Xin, who was famed for his speed!

The members of the Xiong Bing Lian stared in amazement.

Su Xiao Li could not only withstand Sun Wukong's attacks—she was that fast, too?! Had she been holding back when she fought them earlier?

Still, Su Xiao Li was a "fast-tracked" soldier with virtually no combat experience.

The combat techniques and instincts that had been "implanted" in her mind were clumsy and stiff in the face of a God of War like Sun Wukong, who had fought countless battles.

After a few exchanges, Sun Wukong had completely figured out the rhythm of her dodges!

"Got you!" Sun Wukong chuckled. The Golden Cudgel darted out at an impossible angle, slipping through a gap in Su Xiao Li's defense and thrusting straight toward her chest!

Su Xiao Li's pupils shrank. She had no time to dodge!

Seeing Su Xiao Li in danger, Qi Lin, who had been tense all along with her gun trained on Sun Wukong, could no longer hold back!

"Bang!"

The God-Slaying No. 1 Armor-Piercing Bullet burst from the barrel with a piercing whistle, flying straight toward the back of Sun Wukong's head!

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Sun Wukong didn't even turn around. He swung the Golden Cudgel behind him!

"Clang!" With a crisp ring, the Armor-Piercing Bullet—powerful enough to pose a fatal threat to a Second Generation Super Soldier—was knocked aside with pinpoint accuracy.

"Qi Lin! Don't provoke him!" Qiangwei cried out when she saw what had happened.

"Provoke him?! We're about to get beaten to death! Who cares if we provoke him or not?!" Qi Lin completely lost her temper and roared into the communicator. "Does he look like he's willing to talk?! Are we supposed to just stand here and wait to die?!"

"What kind of Captain are you?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a cold glint flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes. The Golden Cudgel in his hand suddenly stretched out!

"Thump!"

As if struck by a giant pillar, Qi Lin felt a sharp pain in her chest. She didn't even see where the blow had come from before her vision went black and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Qi Lin!!"

Then the Golden Cudgel swept sideways with irresistible force, sending Qiangwei—who had been about to say something else—flying more than a hundred meters. She crashed into a cliff face as rocks scattered everywhere!

"Qiangwei! Qiangwei, are you okay?!"

Ge Xiaolun shouted anxiously as he climbed out of the crater.

"You bastard... What the hell is wrong with you..."

Qiangwei struggled to her feet among the rubble and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Her gaze was cold as iron, without a hint of hesitation left. She quickly assessed the battlefield and issued sharp orders over Dark Communication:

"Xiaolun, hold him off from the front! Liu Chuang, look for a chance to break through his defense! Zhao Xin, disrupt his vision! Yaowen, restrict his movement! Rui Mengmeng, protect Qi Lin and get her out of here! Execute the orders!"

This time, her commands were clear and decisive, filled with an unyielding fighting spirit.

The remaining members of the Xiong Bing Lian sprang into action at Qiangwei's direction and began a coordinated counterattack against Sun Wukong.

Their attacks were still clumsy in Sun Wukong's eyes, but at least they had some semblance of order compared to the one-sided beating from before.

Ge Xiaolun bore the blows of the Golden Cudgel and charged forward again and again. Liu Chuang's God Slaying Axe sliced through the air with a fierce whistle, making Sun Wukong take each strike somewhat seriously. Zhao Xin's speed and Cheng Yaowen's control of the terrain also caused him some trouble.

Facing their sudden, coordinated counterattack, Sun Wukong still had the upper hand, but a note of satisfaction flashed in his eyes. This was exactly what he wanted—to bring out the fighting spirit and teamwork of these green recruits.

The Golden Cudgel danced like a dragon in his hands. He jabbed, swept, and smashed, deflecting the Xiong Bing Lian's attacks one by one. When he occasionally counterattacked, he limited himself to knocking them back or inflicting minor injuries. Clearly, he wasn't trying to kill them.

The battle reached a stalemate.

Super Seminary, top-floor Meeting Room.

The atmosphere in the Meeting Room was a far cry from the fierce battle in Liangshan. It was relatively calm, even touched by a hint of awkwardness.

Angel Yan sat on one side of the conference table, with Angel Chase and Angel Mo Yi standing on either side of her.

Lena, representing Earth's Super Seminary, sat at the head of the table. She tried to look serious as she held preliminary discussions with Angel Yan about the "Justice Order" and "Earth Future."

But the conversation wasn't going smoothly. The two sides clearly disagreed over who should lead Earth's future, the threat posed by the demons, and how they might cooperate.

In a corner of the Meeting Room by the window, Si Yao sat quietly like a transparent shadow, a cup of tea on the table before him as wisps of steam rose slowly.

In his mind, he was "watching" the fierce battle in Liangshan in real time through his connection with Su Xiao Li via the Seed of Delusion.

He watched Sun Wukong easily break through the Xiong Bing Lian's resistance, Su Xiao Li dodge awkwardly and attempt to counterattack, and Qiangwei's indecisive commands eventually lead to the collapse of their entire line. He also watched the Xiong Bing Lian go from confusion to launching an organized counterattack.

Qiangwei's character flaws were laid bare. She instinctively sought the Optimal Solution and wanted a peaceful resolution, which made her hesitant when faced with the need to make a hard choice. Only when reality cornered her and her companions were hurt did she finally make up her mind.

In the brutal reality of war, that kind of temperament could easily cost her a critical opportunity.

At some point, Angel Yan had also turned part of her attention to Liangshan, watching the battle through the surveillance system she had hacked into at the Super Seminary. She crossed her legs and turned her gaze toward Si Yao in the corner, the corners of her lips curving upward.

"Well, your adorable Little Fox seems to be getting quite the beating from that monkey. Doesn't it hurt to watch?"

Si Yao didn't even raise his eyes. He continued to sip his tea at his leisure, as if he hadn't heard her.

Of course, he wasn't worried.

Su Xiao Li needed hands-on combat experience. She needed to face the real trials of life and death.

The combat instincts and experience he had forced into her through "implantation" had ultimately been rigid, data-based things.

They might have worked against green recruits like the Xiong Bing Lian, but against a God of War like Sun Wukong, who had been born to fight, they were nowhere near enough. Her weaknesses were glaring.

He had invested vast resources and True Points in Su Xiao Li. He hadn't done it to raise a pretty ornament that could only be admired but not fight.

Pain and setbacks were catalysts for growth.

Angel Yan didn't mind when Si Yao ignored her. Her discussion with Lena about whether the angels should be stationed on Earth had reached an impasse anyway. Her eyes shifted, and she suddenly grew even more curious about Si Yao.

According to what she had observed earlier, Su Xiao Li's fox tails were clearly the manifestation of some kind of Beast Gene.

She leaned forward slightly and looked at Si Yao with interest. Her voice carried a hint of seduction and curiosity.

"By the way, Si Yao... Your Little Fox is a pretty little fox. What about you? The Divine Power Encoding of your Pangu Civilization is so remarkable that it can grant warriors a Beast Form... Do you have some kind of special... Beast Form yourself?"

She paused, imagining what it might be, then guessed teasingly, "Let me guess... A mighty tiger? Or... something even more unusual?"