The Demise of Six-Tail

Although Lu Xueqi didn't understand, she put away the Tianya Sword out of trust in Li Xiaoyu.

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox was also startled when they stopped fighting, her vigilance intensifying.

"What trick are you playing now?"

She asked coldly.

Li Xiaoyu sheathed the Autumn Water Sword and cupped his fists towards her.

"Esteemed lady, perhaps we can talk."

"We have no intention of being your enemy; we merely wish to understand why you are here, absorbing the vital essence of living beings."

"If you have any difficulties, perhaps we can help."

Li Xiaoyu's words were filled with sincerity.

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox's eyes flickered with hesitation upon hearing his words, but then turned to wariness.

"Help me? You hypocrites from the righteous sects only know how to shout and kill; how could you genuinely help a demon like me?"

Her voice was full of distrust.

"We are different."

Li Xiaoyu looked into her eyes and said earnestly.

"We only ask about right and wrong, not origin."

"If you are truly an evil demon, we will show no mercy."

"But if you have difficulties, we will not stand idly by."

Lu Xueqi stood beside him. Although she didn't speak, her firm gaze clearly indicated her stance.

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox looked at these two unusual Green Cloud disciples in front of her and fell silent.

She could feel that they lacked the hypocrisy and arrogance of other righteous cultivators.

Their gazes were clear and sincere.

Perhaps, they could really be trusted?

Just as she was hesitating, a weak yet loving voice came from another cave behind her.

"Xiao San, let them in."

"They are not bad people."

Hearing this voice, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's body trembled violently.

The vigilance and wariness on her face instantly vanished, replaced by boundless tenderness and heartache.

"You're awake?"

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox turned around and quickly walked towards the cave, her voice trembling.

Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi exchanged glances, seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

There was someone else in the cave? Or rather, another demon?

With their doubts, the two followed the Three-Tailed Demon Fox into the cave.

This cave was much smaller than the stone chamber outside, but it was arranged very warmly.

In the center of the cave, a bed was laid with soft dry grass.

On the bed lay another fox demon.

This fox demon was slightly larger than the Three-Tailed Demon Fox, with silver-white fur that emitted a soft glow in the dim cave.

Behind the fox demon, there were indeed six enormous tails.

The Six-Tailed Demon Fox!

Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi's hearts were thrown into turmoil.

They never expected to encounter the Six-Tailed Demon Fox here, the legendary figure who stirred up the world three hundred years ago!

However, this legendary powerful demon appeared incredibly weak at this moment.

His fur was dull and lusterless, his aura so faint it was almost imperceptible.

On the Six-Tailed Demon Fox's chest was a gaping wound the size of a bowl. The flesh around the wound had turned black, covered by an unmelting layer of pale frost, emanating an aura of deathly stillness.

A poison of extreme yin and coldness was entrenched within the wound, constantly eroding his life force.

"How are you? Does the wound hurt again?"

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox knelt by the bed, extending a trembling hand to gently stroke the Six-Tailed Demon Fox's face, her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm fine, Xiao San, don't cry."

The Six-Tailed Demon Fox smiled weakly. He extended a claw, wanting to wipe away her tears, but he didn't even have the strength to lift it.

His gaze, passing over the Three-Tailed Demon Fox, fell upon Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi.

"You two, you are disciples of the Green Cloud Sect, aren't you?"

Although his voice was weak, it was filled with wisdom and gentleness.

Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi nodded toward him, their hearts filled with shock.

They could sense that although the Six-Tailed Demon Fox before them was severely wounded, the strength of his soul far surpassed any living creature they had ever encountered.

"I am Six-Tailed."

The Six-Tailed Demon Fox introduced himself.

"Please forgive my earlier offense; I hope you two will be understanding."

"She only resorted to such desperate measures to save me."

The words of the Six-Tailed Demon Fox confirmed Li Xiaoyu's previous suspicions.

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox had been draining the essence and blood of living creatures for a reason after all.

"What exactly happened? And what about your wounds?"

Li Xiaoyu looked at the wound on the Six-Tailed Demon Fox's chest and asked with a grave expression.

He could feel that the extremely yin and cold ice poison was incredibly overbearing.

Upon hearing Li Xiaoyu's question, a flash of endless sorrow and rage crossed the eyes of the Six-Tailed Demon Fox.

Beside him, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox trembled, her eyes revealing a deep-seated hatred.

"It was Incense Burning Valley!"

She gritted her teeth, enunciating each word clearly.

"It was that group of despicable, shameless hypocrites from Incense Burning Valley who reduced him to this state!"

As it turned out, they were the last remaining members of the fox demon clan from the Southern Border.

Three hundred years ago, their clan—the Nine-Tail Celestial Fox clan—had been one of the most powerful demon races in the Southern Border.

However, in order to seize the fox clan's sacred artifact and enslave their ancestors, Incense Burning Valley launched a brutal suppression against them, even skinning their kin to forge weapons, creating a blood feud that could never be washed away.

Six-Tailed's mother, the Nine-Tail Celestial Fox of that generation, was imprisoned deep within the Mystic Fire Altar by a formation powered by the Mystic Fire Mirror, the sect's supreme treasure, where she suffered the agony of being burned by flames for eternity.

Through secret arts, the imprisoned Nine-Tail Celestial Fox spent a hundred years sending information to her kin outside, plotting a heaven-shaking plan for revenge and rescue.

Three hundred years ago, the time was ripe.

Under the secret guidance of the Nine-Tail Celestial Fox, Six-Tailed, as the young master, led the elite of the entire fox clan to launch a desperate assault on Incense Burning Valley.

They first created a massive disturbance outside the valley, successfully drawing away the main force of experts including Shangguan Ce, and then, through an insider they had long since bribed, found a weak point in the defenses of the Mystic Fire Altar.

It was an incredibly tragic and bloody battle.

The fox demon clan paid the price with their lives, wave after wave, literally tearing a path to the Mystic Fire Altar with their own flesh and blood.

In the end, after all his kin had fallen in battle, Six-Tailed finally succeeded in rushing into the Mystic Fire Altar, seizing the Mystic Fire Mirror that served as the core of the formation at the very last moment.

But even so, he still could not save his mother.

Just as he was carrying the Mystic Fire Mirror to rescue her, he was intercepted by Shangguan Ce, who had rushed back upon hearing the news.

A furious Shangguan Ce unleashed the Nine Cold Freezing Thorn, dealing a lethal blow to the already exhausted Six-Tailed.

Six-Tailed used his last ounce of strength to escape, but he took that fatal strike to his chest, and the bone-chilling ice poison invaded his source, causing his vitality to drain away ever since.

Over these years, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox had taken him into hiding, fleeing the endless pursuit of Incense Burning Valley and searching the world for spiritual elixirs, yet they were never able to purge the overbearing poison of the Nine Cold Freezing Thorn from his body.

Seeing Six-Tailed's life force fading day by day, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox, in her desperation, thought of draining the essence and blood of living creatures to forcibly sustain his life.

But this method was, in the end, like drinking poison to quench thirst; it treated the symptoms but not the root cause.

Moreover, every time she drained essence and blood, the Three-Tailed Demon Fox suffered immense inner torment.