But the little red fox still sensed something was wrong with that inner core. Before the clan leader and the others could speak, it rushed out and breathed fire onto the Daoist's face.
"Ah--"
The Daoist priest screamed in agony as his so-called inner elixir fell to the ground with a loud bang, creating a large hole and dragging the priest down with him. Only his screams remained in the air.
The Daoist priest fainted, and his face was no longer the handsome one he had just had, but a hideous crocodile face. He was a crocodile demon, and the Daoist priest was an imposter.
After he fainted, only a shattered Soul-Locking Mirror remained beside the large hole. Everything happened too fast; by the time the Fox reacted, it was already over.
" Xiao Jue! What are you doing here?! Come back quickly!"
Upon hearing Huo Yan's voice, the little red fox immediately turned and returned to the barrier. "Grandpa Clan Chief, he's not a Daoist priest at all, he's a crocodile demon! A big bad guy! He's the one who hurt Brother Ling Yu, and I avenged him!"
The Fox had already witnessed the transformation of the crocodile demon. The little red fox's innate divine power was the Heart-Purifying Fire, which had the effect of burning away all evil. Any evil thing that came into contact with its fire would spend its entire life in nightmares until death.
" Xiao Jue, well done! That wretched crocodile demon actually disguised himself as a Daoist priest to harm Ling Yu. Did you sense the aura of Ling Yu's inner core on him just now?"
Huo Yan praised the little red fox, then couldn't help but rub his head, asking him with some concern. The little red fox shook his head, but the clan leader had already taken the broken Soul-Locking Mirror. "There's a space inside this mirror."
As soon as the clan leader finished speaking, the Fox looked over and saw that the Soul-Locking Mirror suddenly shattered, revealing a Daoist soul embracing an inner core.
His eyes were tightly closed, and his soul was extremely weak, but the inner core was incredibly vibrant. It turned out that he had been filling the void left by the inner core with the power of his soul.
"Clan leader, this human actually used his soul power to replenish the depletion of his inner core! No wonder... no wonder Ling Yu was able to return to Qingqiu alive after his inner core was removed! So that's how it is!"
Upon hearing the elder's words, all the Fox were extremely surprised. Weren't humans supposed to be utterly wicked? How could a human make such a sacrifice?
"Elder, please take some people to replenish the energy at the key points of the mountain-protecting formation and repair the barrier."
"Second Elder, once you've dealt with this crocodile demon, everyone else may leave. Huo Yan Xiao Jue, come with me to the Spirit-Nourishing Pool."
At the clan chief's command, no one dared disobey, and they all dispersed to attend to their own affairs. However, the discussion about the Daoist priest was more heated than ever before.
In the Spirit-Nourishing Pool, a purplish-pink Fox lay on a lotus platform. The spiritual energy in the pool continuously flowed into his body, providing him with vitality and nourishing his severely damaged primordial spirit.
The little red fox saw Ling Yu so weak for the first time, and her eyes welled up with tears of worry. Huo Yan held him and stood beside him, urging the clan leader to save Ling Yu.
The clan leader used his magic to separate the inner core from the Daoist's soul, then sent him into the pool to let the spiritual energy nourish his weak soul. Only then did he replenish the spiritual energy of the inner core before merging it back into Ling Yu's body.
With the return of the inner core, Lingyu, who had been on the verge of death and was being kept alive by the Nourishing Ling Yu Spirit-Nourishing Pool, finally awoke.
He lazily opened his eyes, his once innocent, naive, and unrestrained gaze now bearing the marks of time and experience. He blinked, then came to his senses.
"Brother Ling Yu! You're finally awake!"
The little red fox climbed down from Huo Yan's arms and ran excitedly to Ling Yu's side, nudging his chin with its head. The tiny little red fox looked even smaller next to the big Fox.
" Xiao Jue..." Ling Yu rubbed his little head in a hoarse voice. Just as he was about to say something more, he suddenly smelled a familiar scent. His pupils trembled, and he abruptly stood up.
" Brother Chen!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ling Yu jumped into the pool without a second thought. Before the little red fox could react, he was gone. When it tried to follow him, the clan chief grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, leaving it with no choice but to cower and look pitiful.
"Grandpa, I want to go with my brother to see them. That human seems a little different..."
The clan chief frowned slightly, placed him on the ground, and patted his little head with a serious expression. "Grandpa called you here to let you see the deeds of that Daoist priest, not to make you curious about the human world or yearn for it."
The little red fox's second supernatural power is the ability to All-Seeing Sacred Fire. Anything that comes into contact with this fire, including spirits, will have all its experiences in its life read by him. He can even use the sacred fire to create Sacred Viewing Mirror to view important content.
"Okay, Grandpa, Xiao Jue knows!"
The little red fox obediently followed orders, and after Ling Yu retrieved the more solidified soul, it went to work.
Then he saw a different world: Daoist temples, incense, humans, lantern festivals...
The little red fox yearned for the human world more and more, but he dared not say it aloud. He simply found this important information and then transferred the contents into the Sacred Viewing Mirror.
The mirror played a video of Ling Yu and Min Chen's journey from meeting, getting to know each other, falling in love, to staying together. Although the whole process was filled with struggles and heartache, the ending was very happy.
Min Chen truly loves Ling Yu, and he takes her as his Daoist partner to punish the evil crocodile demon together, making a promise that he will never change in this lifetime.
But an unexpected event still occurred. The crocodile demon escaped, but on its return, it killed Min Chen and imprisoned his soul. The crocodile demon then impersonated Min Chen, severely injured Ling Yu, and took his inner core.
Before consuming the inner core, Min Chen exerted all his strength to break out of the Soul-Locking Mirror, took Ling Yu's inner core into his arms, severely injured the crocodile demon, modified the Soul-Locking Mirror's restrictions, and then added another seal.
He was resealed into the Soul-Locking Mirror, but the crocodile demon was too badly injured to open Soul-Locking Mirror. After much deliberation, he risked his life to storm the Qingqiu Divine Mountain, intending to capture Ling Yu as a threat...
"Clan leader, Brother Chen hasn't betrayed me, please save him!"
Ling Yu was already sobbing uncontrollably, the little red fox was moved to tears beside her, and Huo Yan was also silent. He couldn't understand humans anymore. To be willing to have their souls scattered for the sake of one person—was it really worth it?
When the Mystic Viewing Mirror opened, Xuan Ling, Yi Shuang, and Ling'er all arrived. After they saw it, they felt a pang of inexplicable heartache for a long time, but they didn't know why, so they remained silent...
"He's already dead. If he's not sent into reincarnation, he'll vanish into nothingness. I can't save him."
The clan chief remained silent for a long time, lost in thought, before speaking. His words were both an opportunity and a gamble.
" Ling Yu, human lifespan is inherently short. If he is reincarnated and sees you again, and still falls in love with you, then I will no longer stop him."
After a pause, the clan leader turned to look at Ling Yu, his eyes sharp and his words carrying a heavy sense of punishment.
"If he falls in love with someone else, you must drink the Emotion-Forgotten Water and swear to the gods that you will never set foot in the mortal realm again, or your soul will be forever imprisoned in Qingqiu, for all eternity."
Ling Yu hesitated for a moment, but still agreed. In the end, Min Chen was sent to the Naihe Bridge and successfully reincarnated, while Ling Yu recuperated in Qingqiu, waiting for Min Chen's reincarnation.
Later, the Fox of Qingqiu began to learn human knowledge. Many Fox began to enter the world, engaging in business, acting, administration, and military service, among other things.
Qingqiu Divine Mountain ushered in its own internet age. Then, the beloved little red fox Shang Shujue, who had been pampered since childhood, grew up even more. Now he is 35,000 years old, but he still has never been to the human world.
So, on this day, at the urging of her friends, the little red fox secretly went down the mountain, and her life in the human world had just begun...