Song Wen tilted his head back and looked at Nether Fox's enormous body.
Feeling the chill emanating from Nether Fox, the corners of his mouth twitched several times before he barely managed to force out a smile.
"Nether Fox, long time no see. Congratulations on your tremendous leap in strength and your advancement to a ninth-rank Demon Venerable."
He had hoped to seize a sliver of life by awakening Nether Fox, but it now seemed he had landed himself in fresh trouble.
Nearby, Daoist Nun Suwei and Qingxuanzi also stared at Nether Fox with vigilant expressions.
Neither of them acted rashly. Instead, they slowly retreated, widening the distance between themselves and Nether Fox.
Nether Fox bared its huge mouth, revealing its ghastly white, razor-sharp fangs.
"Extreme Yin, back then, this Venerable was weaker than you, so when you called me 'Nether Fox,' this Venerable had nothing to say. But now that our strengths have reversed, what should you call this Venerable?"
"Se... Senior Nether Fox?" Song Wen's tone carried a cautious note of probing.
Nether Fox's grin widened, and a satisfied smile appeared in its eyes.
"Extreme Yin, this Venerable suddenly recalled the scene when you and I first met. At that time, you also called this Venerable 'Senior.'"
The forced smile on Song Wen's face gradually turned into a fawning grin.
"Senior Nether Fox, you are right. Over these years, you and I have advanced hand in hand and faced powerful enemies together. I have finally grown from the low-ranking little Rogue Cultivator I was back then into a cultivator at the peak of the Mahayana realm. Senior has even become a ninth-rank Demon Venerable. Looking back on the hardships of this journey, only Senior has always accompanied me along the way."
Disdain surfaced in Nether Fox's eyes.
Its