Flesh Tree

A Heavenly Fox three meters tall, gaunt and with rotting patches of fur, gradually came into view.

The whites of its eyes had turned black, while its pupils glowed faintly green.

Behind it, human faces grew from each of its tails.

Every face trembled slightly. Their eyes pointed every which way, and drool ran from their mouths. They looked deeply unsettling.

"Zhang Ping, I've caught you!"

It looked up at Zhang Ping and spoke in a hoarse voice.

As it spoke, its forked tongue shot out like a snake's, licking toward Zhang Ping's cheek.

"That hurts. So this is what danger feels like?" Zhang Ping glanced at his abdomen and spoke with difficulty.

Shi Jun let out a low growl and tore his own body apart, dropping into the Sea of Earth. But a tail immediately pursued him, coiled around his ankle, and hauled him up as three more tails stabbed toward his head.

At the last possible moment, a tortoiseshell shield appeared before Shi Jun and blocked every attack. He used the force of a spatial barrier to sever the tail around his ankle, then dropped swiftly to the ground and sank beneath it.

It all happened in a flash.

The Heavenly Fox glanced at the ground and simply ignored Shi Jun. It opened its mouth and lunged for Zhang Ping's head.

Suddenly, two streaks of purple light flashed past. The Heavenly Fox's head melted away like a candle in a flame, and its headless body collapsed to the ground.

Zhang Ping landed too. He grabbed his head with one hand and gave it a firm tug, pulling his head and spine free of the "body."

Countless onlookers swallowed silently and broke into a cold sweat.

Zhang Ping took out a bottle of purified water and poured it over