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For a moment, Xumo's eyes met the blood-red gaze through the crevice, detecting the malevolent smile in those beautiful pupils. At this critical juncture, his eyes widened as he swiftly shifted tactics, summoning a defensive formation around himself.

SLASH!

From within the vines protecting Liuli, a blood-colored tendril with a sharp tip shot forth like a deadly arrow.

Its speed matched that of a bullet, carving through the air with a piercing shriek.

Xumo's formation had barely materialized when the pointed tendril pierced through his barrier, violently penetrating his abdomen.

Puh!

Blood spewed from Xumo's mouth as he collapsed to his knees.

Yet the blood-colored tendril didn't withdraw. Instead, barbs sprouted along its length, twisting and tearing at the young man's flesh.

"The destined child of the Liuli Sect..."

At some point, the black vines had begun to decay, and the red-robed Holy Maiden revealed her true form once more.

Looking up, Xumo saw that the tendril impaling his abdomen grew directly from her palm.

"All these years, this Holy Maiden has remained in the Western Region, only hearing tales of your reputation from other sects..."

"Chen Jianxin of the Wuji Sect possesses the Innate Sword Holy Physique, but I wonder what special talents you, the destined child of the Liuli Sect, might possess?"

Liuli controlled the blood-colored tendril with one hand while advancing step by step toward the kneeling boy whose life force was being continuously drained.

"Damn you..."

Xumo cursed under his breath, enduring the twisting pain in his abdomen, yet the killing intent in his eyes remained undiminished.

Liuli gave a cold laugh, merely rotating her palm slightly as five hooked claws grew from the tip of the blood tendril piercing the boy's abdomen.

In that instant, Liuli violently pulled back her left arm.

SPLATTER!!

Another spray of blood and flesh.

The sharp five-clawed hooks were forcefully torn from the boy's abdomen.

Xumo screamed in agony, writhing on the ground as his body convulsed.

"Master... Master..."

"Master... your disciple knows you can hear..."

"Please help your disciple... Master! Awaken my potential... I cannot watch helplessly as Lady Ruoning falls to demonic corruption... Today no matter what, I must kill these conscienceless cultists..."

Xumo's face turned ashen as he pleaded silently in his sea of consciousness.

[...]

Above the cloud sea, the white foxgirl's expression remained blank, though her hand beneath her sleeve formed a light fist, her platinum pupils barely concealing her anger. In the physical world, the red-robed Holy Maiden continued advancing toward Xumo.

But compared to her earlier contemptuous smile, Liuli now seemed to notice the boy muttering something to himself.

"?"

Liuli's brow twitched. Based on her years of observing those with destiny, for Xumo to dare challenge her at the Core Formation stage, he must have some hidden trump card! Thinking this, she cautiously raised her hand, summoning several more blood-colored tendrils.

Yet at that moment, the boy who should have been writhing in agony suddenly had his eyes burst with platinum light--

"?"

Liuli's beautiful eyes widened as she instinctively raised her hands to defend.

In the next instant, an eerie spiritual energy erupted around the boy.

The terrifying energy waves even caused a bead of sweat to roll down Liuli's cold, stunning face.

Unlike Chen Jianxin who was only at Qi Refinement stage, Xumo started at Core Formation stage and possessed a destiny physique no weaker than Chen Jianxin's. Now with Qiu Yuebai in his ring helping unlock his seals, Xumo's cultivation instantly erupted to nearly reach the Nascent Soul stage.

"Someone is helping him from the shadows--?!"

Liuli keenly detected a trace of an unusual aura.

Based on her years of dealing with Jinyue, this fox demon aura was unmistakable!

"Who could it be?"

Liuli narrowed her cold eyes, still pondering the identity of the person behind this.

At that moment, the black-robed boy bathed in the spiritual storm suddenly stood up--

"Demoness, hand over Lady Ruoning!"

Xumo uttered lowly as spiritual energy surged, and the nine azure swords circling him gradually became covered in platinum spiritual markings.

In an instant, before Liuli could evade, a mighty formation spread out a hundred meters in all directions with Xumo at its center.

Liuli merely glanced down at the golden formation marks at her feet. When she looked up again, Xumo had already brought nine platinum slender swords straight for her eyes--

THRUST!!!

Liuli raised her hands to defend, but the slender swords still pierced through the bandages wrapping her jade hands, embedding themselves in the red-robed Holy Maiden's forehead like seals with their platinum spiritual markings.

The terrifying spiritual energy waves even sent the red-robed maiden's figure flying.

"--!"

With swords stuck in her head and blood flowing from her brow, Liuli's gaze grew dull.

From the flying swords' impact, the red-robed Holy Maiden stumbled back several steps before losing balance and slowly falling backward.

But this was just the first sword of Xumo's sword formation. The remaining eight azure swords, also bearing platinum spiritual markings, stabbed one after another into Liuli's different organs.

Liuli kept retreating as flying swords sealed her organs and limbs, even lifting her into the air at one point.

This bizarre scene left Yino, who was observing from a distance, dumbfounded.

Holy shit!

Damn, when I played through the Liuli Sect opening in my past life, I never felt the protagonist's sword formation was this overpowered!

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Watching Liuli's bloody form suspended in the air, Yino couldn't help but swallow nervously. For a moment, he even worried that Liuli might be killed instantly. If Liuli died, wouldn't that make Yino the next cursed cultist?

"Yino, we should run..."

Meanwhile, Jinyue was also frightened by Xumo's terrifying burst of power, unconsciously grabbing Yino's hand from behind.

She knew why Xumo had suddenly powered up - because a certain old fox who was Jinyue's nemesis resided within Xumo.

Unlike Jinyue, who at most reached Core Formation stage even counting her hidden trump cards, the other party was a centuries-old fox whose cultivation and various trump cards exceeded even the Nascent Soul stage!

Therefore, Jinyue could guess without thinking that the Celestial Master must have sent Qiu Yuebai to kill Yino!

"Yino, quick, let's run while that monster hasn't noticed us!"

Growing more anxious as she thought about it, Jinyue urgently shook Yino's arm.

But Yino unexpectedly gripped Jinyue's hand.

He held the girl's hand, gradually calming her down.

"?"

At the same time, Yino turned to look at Jinyue.

The foxgirl couldn't help but lift her face, blinking her crimson alluring eyes in confusion.

For a moment, Jinyue's heart seemed to beat faster, as she felt an indescribable sense of security from Yino's calm and composed face.

"Jinyue."

Yino held Jinyue's shoulders, calling out her name with deep emotion.

At these words, Jinyue's pretty face immediately flushed red, and her previously anxious voice became somewhat stuttered.

"W-what's suddenly..."

Jinyue grew inexplicably nervous, her heart fluttering.

But just as the girl was wondering what touching words Yino would say with such an emotional expression, he silently raised two fingers and lightly tapped them against Jinyue's forehead-

"Lazy fox, you're just like other devious little vixens who need training."

"When will you be able to help your host unleash their potential and beat up villains easily like other foxes?"

Jinyue: "?..?"

….

"So it was you."

In the final second before losing consciousness, the red-robed maiden's unbandaged right eye widened.

Then she fell to the ground.

Nine platinum slender swords pierced her body. As the sword formation took effect, the maiden gradually lost her life force, and the flesh beneath her red bandages began to decay, turning into a mass of black-green rotting vegetation.

Xumo panted heavily, narrowing his cold eyes as he approached to examine the cultist Holy Maiden's corpse.

[Xumo, enough!]

[She's dead and you've had your revenge, quickly leave while you can!]

In his sea of consciousness, the nine-tailed white fox called out anxiously.

"But where has she hidden Lady Ruoning?"

Xumo's brows furrowed as he gazed ahead.

Just as confusion filled his eyes, a red afterimage flashed across a clearing in the distance.

Under Xumo's watch, the red afterimage swiftly darted through the forest, its blood-colored tendrils casually snatching a figure from the nearby bushes.

"Demoness! Put Lady Ruoning down!"

Xumo's eyes widened. Though he couldn't clearly make out the figure, given the urgency of the situation, he ignored his master's angry rebukes from within the ring and drew his sword to give chase.