Rare Breed
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's delighted expression, Jun Xuehan walked straight into the forest and said, "Once the Soul Ring are absorbed, help me find a fox. If you can't find a Snow Cloud Fox, other foxes of pure color will do."
Upon hearing the voice, Zhu Zhuqing immediately snapped out of her surprise and agreed. She then quickly followed behind Jun Xuehan, her eyes scanning the surroundings as she searched for Snow Cloud Fox or another fox of pure color.
Walking through the forest, a gentle breeze rustled the treetops of the ancient trees. Jun Xuehan smoothed her hair, which had been ruffled by the breeze, and used her Mental Power to survey her surroundings.
The two walked for about two hours. As they approached the center of the forest, a faint white mist began to rise around them. Jun Xuehan 'Jun Xuehan Mental Power, which was probing the surroundings, seemed to be struck by something, which surprised her.
The white mist appeared quickly and dissipated even faster; a gentle breeze carrying a slight chill was all it took for the mist to dissipate.
"What a strange white mist," Zhu Zhuqing said, her eyes scanning her surroundings warily, but everything around her was normal, exactly the same as before, with nothing amiss.
"A rare species!" Jun Xuehan's gaze swept around, and her silver eyes gradually narrowed.
"What?" Zhu Zhuqing seemed to have heard Jun Xuehan's soft murmur, but she didn't hear it clearly.
"Stand here and don't move!" Jun Xuehan said calmly, then walked straight ahead.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing watched Jun Xuehan's figure gradually disappear, nodded gently, agreed, and then casually found a place to sit down.
In the shadows, a pair of black eyes, like black gemstones, flashed with a bloodthirsty light as they looked at Zhu Zhuqing. But when they turned to look in the direction Jun Xuehan had left, fear appeared in their eyes.
As time passed, Zhu Zhuqing, who was sitting next to an ancient tree, suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly.
The pebbles on the ground were trembling slightly, as if some enormous creature was moving around them.
Zhu Zhuqing stood up warily, scanning her surroundings, ready to unleash her Martial Soul at any moment.
The tremors on the ground grew stronger and stronger, and Zhu Zhuqing turned her gaze forward.
Under her gaze, a figure gradually appeared before her eyes, but the figure vanished in an instant.
Zhu Zhuqing walked forward with some curiosity. When the figure disappeared, she found spots of bright red blood on the ground, and next to the blood was a hairpin stained with blood.
"This... isn't this the Pavilion Master's hairpin? How did it end up here?" Zhu Zhuqing turned back in astonishment to look in the direction Jun Xuehan had left, her eyes filled with shock and confusion.
She remembered that Jun Xuehan should have left towards the depths of the forest, but how could the hairpin have appeared in the opposite direction?
Zhu Zhuqing looked at the bloodstains on the ground and followed them forward, but her mind was highly focused; she sensed that something was wrong.
Following the trail of blood, a figure suddenly lunged out from the nearby woods. Upon noticing the figure, Zhu Zhuqing immediately dodged, releasing her Martial Soul. Three Soul Ring, two yellow and one purple, flashed beneath her feet. However, when she saw the figure clearly, she was somewhat stunned.
"Dai Mubai, what are you doing here?" Zhu Zhuqing asked in surprise as she looked at the figure.
"Zhu Qing, don't ask so many questions yet. Come with me quickly. That powerful Soul Beast is here. Let's get out of the forest first, and I'll explain to you later." With that, Dai Mubai pulled Zhu Zhuqing up and ran towards the edge of the forest.
Roar...
A beastly roar also rang out at that moment.
Zhu Zhuqing looked back and saw a huge, winged creature, resembling a tiger, suddenly following closely behind them.
The sudden turn of events caught Zhu Zhuqing off guard, and she instinctively followed Dai Mubai, running towards one direction of the forest.
After running for an unknown amount of time, the Soul Beast behind them gradually disappeared, and Zhu Zhuqing looked in the direction they had run, her eyes instantly filled with vigilance.
Because this isn't the direction out of the forest at all, but rather it's heading towards the inner edge of the forest.
"Who exactly are you?" Zhu Zhuqing shook off Dai Mubai's hand and looked at him warily.
"Heh, you're only realizing this now? Seems a bit late." A cold laugh rang out, Dai Mubai's figure gradually disappeared. What appeared before Zhu Zhuqing was a fox with silver fur and a body size of about two meters.
"If I eat you, I should be able to break through the 20,000-year lifespan limit." The enormous fox looked at Zhu Zhuqing with a bloodthirsty glint in its eyes.
"Soul Beast!"
Zhu Zhuqing looked at the fox, and the Third Soul Ring under her feet began to flash silently, a cold glint appearing on her sharp fingernails.
She instantly attacked the giant fox, but to Zhu Zhuqing's surprise, her attack passed right through the fox's body. The fox's body gradually disappeared and then reappeared not far away.
"Heh, it's useless. This isn't reality. Your attacks have no effect on me."
The fox's figure hovered in front of Zhu Zhuqing, and an immense Mental Power surged towards Zhu Zhuqing 'Zhu Zhuqing Spiritual Sea, causing her head to feel as if it were being torn apart.
The intense pain caused Zhu Zhuqing to clutch her head and kneel on the spot, watching helplessly as the fox bared its fangs and pounced on her.
Just as the fox was about to pounce on her, the surrounding scene began to shatter like a mirror. A mournful cry reached her ears, followed by a cold, clear voice.
"Didn't I tell you to stay where you are? Why are you running around in the forest?" Jun Xuehan looked at the huge fox stuck in the ground with the silver spear, her eyes full of calm.
Hearing the sound, Zhu Zhuqing looked up and saw that Jun Xuehan was holding a Snow Cloud Fox that was about one and a half meters tall and had been dead for a long time. Another unknown fox was stuck in the Silver Dragon Spear.
"I... I saw your figure and your blood-stained hairpin, so I followed the bloodstains away..." Zhu Zhuqing listened to Jun Xuehan's words and slowly stood up heavily.
"In Sunset Forest, Soul Beast around ten thousand years old are like overlords. Do you think they have the ability to injure me and make me leave my hairpin?" Jun Xuehan replied nonchalantly, then looked at the fox stuck in the ground by the Silver Dragon Spear.
This is a rare breed, the Silver Heart Fox, which is practically extinct. In terms of both age and strength, it is far superior to the Snow Moon Fox in my possession.