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When the ethereal figure of the white-robed sword immortal appeared behind the him, Xumo's past memories flashed through his mind like a slideshow.

[Stop spacing out! Dodge now!]

A girl's urgent cry echoed in Xumo's mind at this crucial moment.

His pupils snapped back to focus. Realizing he had no time to evade, he instinctively clasped his hands before his chest, attempting to activate a defensive sword formation.

But as the white-robed youth and the sword immortal's afterimage swung their swords together, Xumo had barely formed his defense when he noticed something odd about the sword-drawing youth's position—

"What—?!"

Xumo blinked, unsure when his vision had become confused.

At his side, Yino's eyes flashed with an icy blue afterimage.

In that instant, as the wind howled, the airborne Xumo was engulfed by an overwhelming glacial sword intent.

[Jinyue, you traitor—!!!]

In the sea of consciousness, the nine-tailed white fox raged, manifesting nine spectral tails behind Xumo to resist the sword intent.

Even with Qiu Yuebai personally intervening to avert disaster, that terrifying glacial sword intent didn't diminish one bit.

The endless freezing power continued to creep up the nine snow-white fox tails, the extreme cold so severe that Qiu Yuebai could no longer feel pain—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!

As the frozen river swept past, violent sonic booms followed.

Xumo's figure was pushed back against the ancient hall's wall by the glacial sword technique. As the ice shattered into countless shards, only a small white nine-tailed fox remained, struggling desperately to protect the boy.

The entire ancient hall fell silent. Experience new tales on empire

"Huff... huff..."

Yino stood in place, breathing heavily.

Yuyan's afterimage behind him dissipated. He looked down to see that even his left arm, protected by the blood-colored armguard, was covered in frost.

Still, temporarily losing half an arm to frostbite was better than taking Yuyan's killing technique head-on.

Yino hadn't expected to underestimate the jade pendant this much.

He'd been too focused on whether his cultivation level could unleash Yuyan's killing technique's full power, but he'd forgotten one crucial bonus – his Innate Sword Dao Holy Physique buff.

If power isn't enough, talent makes up for it!

In the original game, the protagonist had the Innate Sword Dao Holy Physique, granting extremely high sword bonuses. This manifested not only in rapid sword comprehension but also provided additional buffs to various sword techniques.

Now, Yuyan's [Frost Chant Pierces Ten Thousand Rivers!] technique was already overpowered. Combined with Yino's Innate Sword Dao Holy Physique, how could Xumo's mere Core Formation cultivation handle it?

This forced Yuebai to reveal her true form much earlier than Yino had expected.

"Old hag, what good are more tails anyway?"

A seductive female voice suddenly rang out from the shadows behind Yino.

The voice was all too familiar. Though she wasn't mocking Yino, just hearing her speak gave him an inexplicable urge to grab her tail and fry it thoroughly. Seriously, were all fox spirits in this world this irritating?

"As a centuries-old hag, you couldn't even detect an illusion from someone hundreds of years your junior. How embarrassing~"

Jinyue slowly emerged from the second-floor railings of the ancient hall.

Her tone was playful, lips curved in a smile, three fluffy red fox tails swaying behind her. Even her hand-covering-mouth expression matched her original character portrait perfectly.

She still wore those glossy black stockings from outside the secret realm, but because she was appearing from the second floor with Yino directly below, he could catch a glimpse of what lay beneath her skirt – something that had always been censored in the game.

So it was safety shorts... no wonder it felt both soft and firm when I grabbed through her skirt…

Seeing the tight black shorts, Yino immediately lost interest and turned back to look at Xumo and the white nine-tailed foxgirl in the distance.

"W-when did she hide on the second floor..."

On the other side, Liuli was stunned by Yino and Jinyue's combination attack.

The moment she sensed Jinyue's presence, not only was Yuebai startled, but Liuli also felt cold sweat running down her back as a terrifying thought occurred. She tried to recall her brief clash with Yino half an hour ago.

For a moment, Liuli had noticed something strange.

No wonder she couldn't sense Yino's presence for so long after being ambushed...

Could it be that Jinyue had already infiltrated using illusions and helped conceal Yino's presence so he could sneak up on me?! "I admit defeat..."

Thinking of this, Liuli sighed softly, feeling helpless.

At this point, she had nothing left to complain about and returned to torturing the suspended treegirl as Yino had ordered.

Nearby, Yino shook his hand, waiting for his left arm's frost to crack and sensation to return. He then gripped the Frost Chant sword in his left hand and walked toward the arena, cracking his knuckles. Meanwhile, the red foxgirl from the second floor gracefully jumped down.

Yino walked in front, Jinyue following behind.

At the other end of the ancient hall, the white foxgirl watched the approaching pair with gritted teeth, sensing an unsettling presence.

"Xumo, you handle Yino, I'll deal with that dead fox..."

Qiu Yuebai whispered her plan.

But when her words fell, after a moment of silence, she turned around to find her useless disciple still unconscious against the wall. The white foxgirl's expression froze, her lips twitching.

She spun around, lifting her white silk-clad leg from under her chest-high pleated skirt. Her jade foot sprouted several sharp silver claws as she viciously kicked the unconscious youth's stomach— "Useless trash, get up!"

"Puh—!"

Xumo was kicked with searing pain, spitting out black blood. His eyes finally shot open, awakening as if from a dream to see the petite white foxgirl standing before him. In all these years, this was one of the rare times Xumo had seen his master's true physical form.

Before, Yuebai always said her divine soul was damaged and could only appear as an illusion in reality, needing Xumo to collect many treasures before she could manifest physically. But unexpectedly...

In less than a few years, his master could already manifest her true form.

"M-Master... How... How did you...?"

Xumo was shocked.

But soon, he felt another wave of cramping pain in his stomach, leaving him gasping for air.

Qiu Yuebai's solid kick completely contradicted her small, cute appearance! In all these years, this was the first time Xumo had seen his master so furiously angry!

"Stop talking nonsense and get up!"

Yuebai didn't bother wasting words with Xumo, lifting her white silk-clad foot from under her skirt, her seductive yet disgusted glare carrying an unmistakable threat.

Xumo startled, afraid of another kick, hurriedly scrambled to his feet.

On the other side, Yino broke out in cold sweat watching this.

Though Xumo hadn't seen it while unconscious, Yino had witnessed how the white foxgirl's seemingly delicate silk-clad foot manifested three razor-sharp silver claws, as if covered by an exoskeleton.

Looking at the frightening gouges in the floor, Yino figured Yuebai must have used those foot claws for traction while defending Xumo from the sword intent earlier.

She'd been merciful with Xumo, using the blunt side of her claws. If she'd used the sharp edges, one kick could have torn out his intestines.

"Scary... better not mess with fox's ice cream..."

Yino muttered inwardly, instinctively glancing at the black stockings under the red fox girl's skirt beside him.

But somehow, Jinyue caught his suspicious glance, their eyes meeting—

"What are you looking at? Afraid I'll scratch your face next time you play with my feet?"

"Tch, stop talking nonsense."

Yino cursed silently, realizing Jinyue could read minds even without Wangxue present.

Jinyue gave him a knowing smile.