Chapter 113

Ke Yuanbai was probably the first among this group of people, aside from the Taoist priests, to sense that something was wrong.

The main reason was his previous experiences, which had left a deep impression on him, so when the atmosphere in the room began to change, he immediately realized something was off.

The faint "whimpering" sound in the air sent shivers down his spine, and his face instantly turned pale.

He couldn't help but take half a step back, and Zhu Chu glanced at him because of this movement. Then, following his gaze, he looked at the nine-tailed fox figurine.

Just at that moment, they locked eyes with the figurine's gaze.

Zhu Chu froze for a moment.

He hadn't looked carefully earlier, his attention was focused on the junk in the box, but had the nine-tailed fox figurine been facing him as soon as it was taken out?

While he was thinking about this, the eyes of the nine-tailed fox figurine suddenly moved, and its nine tails seemed to sway as well.

It was visually striking, but for an ordinary person, it was too bizarre for a figurine to suddenly move. Zhu Chu felt the hairs on his back stand up, and his scalp tingled. "Master, am I hallucinating because I haven't slept in a long time? Did I just see that figurine move...?"

Ke Xingzhou didn't look at him. He calmly spoke, "It's not a hallucination."

Zhu Chu: "?!"

At that moment, the "exquisite figurine" in Yan Xingwei's hand suddenly started moving right before everyone's eyes.

The nine fluffy tails swayed under the gaze of Ke Yuanbai and Zhu Chu, then in a lightning-fast motion, one tail slapped Yan Xingwei's face.

With a loud "slap," the nine-tailed fox's fluffy tail gave the distinct impression of a whip.

Everyone present was stunned.

Yan Xingwei, still in the middle of explaining his experience with receiving this figurine to the Taoist priests, was suddenly slapped, leaving him dazed.

He then realized that the weight in his hand didn't feel right.

Looking down, the palm-sized figurine had somehow grown larger, and a vivid, lifelike nine-tailed fox was floating just above his hand, its tail tips barely brushing his face, and a pair of bright black eyes glaring at him angrily.

Yan Xingwei's mind went blank, unable to comprehend the situation in front of him.

He stammered, seeking help from the Taoist priests, "M-Master, what's going on? Am I seeing things??"

However, the Taoist priests were just as bewildered.

They watched as the nine-tailed fox, which had swelled up in front of them and now occupied nearly half the room, with their minds buzzing, leaving only one thought in their heads—Grandmaster, they have really seen a divine beast!

Although the White Tiger had appeared in the southwest before, the Taoist priests from the Southwest Taoist Association had not finished their reports yet, and Xiang Ting's identity was also kept secret from the outside world. Even if the report was written, other Taoist associations wouldn’t know about it.

Therefore, the Taoist priests who came to Beijing for the ceremony still didn't know about this. When they saw the nine-tailed fox, they were overjoyed.

However, the nine-tailed fox wasn't in such a good mood. It glared fiercely at Yan Xingwei and let out a piercing roar: "Heartless man!!"

It then turned to the group of old Taoist priests, its gaze full of rage: "Mind your own business!"

Yan Xingwei: "??"

Taoist priests: "??"

Zhu Chu let out an exclamation, "We haven't even started advising on the breakup, and it's blaming us already? Dude, are you still a love-struck fool?"

Nine-tailed fox: "..."

Yan Xingwei felt so wronged. He was single since birth, hadn't been in a relationship for over thirty years—how did he suddenly become a heartless man?

This sense of injustice made him forget the shock of seeing a live nine-tailed fox. He guarded himself, holding onto his body defensively: "Who are you?! Do I know you?"

This sentence seemed to hit a sore spot with the nine-tailed fox. It howled to the sky and leapt toward the Taoist priests to fight with them.

Taoist priests: "..."

The Taoist priests' feelings were complex.

Originally, they had been invited by Yan Xingwei to perform a ritual. It was normal to be disturbed by a divine beast and even get beaten by it.

But it was Zhu Chu’s shout earlier that had made the whole situation feel off.

The more they looked at the nine-tailed fox, the more they felt that it was just an angry reaction after its good deeds had been disturbed. But it was clearly Yan Xingwei who had invited them!

The nine-tailed fox had just called him a heartless man, and now it was attacking them—what was going on?

The more they fought, the more complicated their expressions became. They felt like they were getting caught in something beyond their control. And with the divine beast's strength, it was impossible for them, ordinary Taoists, to resist. The beating was even more humiliating.

The nine-tailed fox was immensely powerful, with a very strong physical constitution. The Taoist priests, not daring to hit too hard because it was a divine beast, were still being beaten down by its ferocious moves, quickly falling into a disadvantage.

Taoist Priest Qian struggled to keep up and wondered why he hadn’t heard the chanting from the Xiaoyao Sect. Turning around, he noticed that the people from the Xiaoyao Sect were just standing there, not moving.

The unfamiliar faces that had come with Ke Xingzhou were munching on sunflower seeds, enjoying the show while casually cracking them.

Looking at the shapes of their mouths, they were probably saying something like, "The love-struck fool has no hope."

Taoist Priest Qian: "..."

Taoist Priest Qian was speechless. What was going on with the Xiaoyao Sect? Why weren’t they helping at such a crucial moment?

He shouted to Ke Xingzhou, "Ke Daoist, please come help!"

Ke Xingzhou was empty-handed, not even pulling out talismans from his pocket. He slowly shook his head: "I don’t have enough merit."

Taoist Priest Qian: "???"What kind of new excuse is this!

What Ke Xingzhou said was actually the truth. He had accumulated quite a bit of merit recently, but compared to a divine beast, it was like a drop in the ocean.

Earlier, when they were on Insect Mountain, just holding onto Xiang Ting made him feel his merit’s golden light shaking violently, as if the moment he dared to do anything to the divine beast, he would immediately meet his doom.

This feeling hadn’t occurred in a long time. The last time was when Lan Xing wanted to give him a large sum of divination money.

Since then, Ke Xingzhou had been very cautious in his actions. Before taking any action, he would first check his “merit bank” to confirm his merit balance.

It was clear that his merit was no match for the nine-tailed fox’s.

Without his help, even though the Taoist priests outnumbered the fox, they were ultimately powerless. Soon, several of them had wounds on their bodies.

Ke Xingzhou immediately felt that his merit’s golden light had stopped trembling.

His eyes lit up, and his expression turned joyful: “Nice job!”

Injured Taoist priests: “...”

The Taoist priests who had been scratched covered their wounds with a speechless expression, thinking, what kind of strange sect is this Xiaoyao Sect? They didn’t help during the fight, and now they’re happy seeing us hurt?

The Taoist priests gave the Xiaoyao Sect a reproachful look, but none of them responded.

Three fanatical fans were admiring Ke Xingzhou’s heroic appearance, while the other senior disciple was holding up his phone, preparing to record the process of his master subduing the divine beast and post it on their official account for promotion.

The Taoist priests had nothing left to say. Their gaze instantly turned to Taoist Priest Qian.

Had the Taoist temples in Beijing fallen into decline? Why call such a small, childish sect to come and cause trouble?

The group was filled with frustration, and Taoist Priest Qian was also overwhelmed.

Although Taoist Priest Qian didn’t understand Ke Xingzhou’s earlier remark, he could tell that it was a refusal. But if he didn’t want to, then fine, but what was he trying to do now?

As Ke Xingzhou rushed to the nine-tailed fox, Taoist Priest Qian, feeling pity, couldn’t help but remind him: “Ke Daoist, don’t be careless! The divine beast is unstable right now, be careful not to get... hurt…”

He stopped halfway through his sentence because, as Ke Xingzhou charged toward the enraged nine-tailed fox, even when he got close, the fox’s attack didn’t touch him.

The nine-tailed fox immediately noticed this slippery human and shifted its target from the other Taoist priests to Ke Xingzhou. Its fur stood on end, and its tail viciously swung toward Ke Xingzhou!

The strike was so powerful that it seemed to change the very air, and a chaotic demonic wind began to swirl inside the room.

The Taoist priests immediately forgot about everything else. Their expressions changed dramatically: “Stop!”

However, before their voices could even land, Ke Xingzhou raised his hand and directly grabbed the nine-tailed fox’s tail as it swung toward him.

Nine-tailed fox: “?”

Taoist priests who had been hit by the tail multiple times: “??”

Zhu Chu: “Awesome! Master is amazing!”

This scene caught everyone completely off guard. Even though An He and the others were Ke Xingzhou’s die-hard fans, they hadn’t expected him to be so fierce. The sunflower seeds they had been peeling fell out of their fingers.Ke Xingzhou grabbed the nine-tailed fox, and the golden light of merit on his body didn’t tremble at all. He immediately felt a sense of certainty in his heart.

It seemed that even divine beasts would be rejected by the Heavenly Dao for harming others.

In his eyes, the nine-tailed fox still exuded immense merit, with golden light so thick it almost blocked his view, but it no longer posed any threat to him.

Ke Xingzhou raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but laugh with joy.

Refreshing!

The next moment, his expression became serious, and he quickly began reciting the demon-suppressing spell.

“Chì chì yáng yáng, the sun rises in the east, I grant the spiritual talisman, sweeping away misfortune... Those who wish to subdue the demon and kill, transform into auspiciousness. Taishang Laojun, as the law commands!”

Ke Xingzhou stretched out his arm, and the talismans in his pocket flew into his hand as if they had eyes of their own, floating in midair. As the spell was recited, they emitted dazzling golden light.

The nine-tailed fox was a divine beast, not an ordinary demon, so the demon-suppressing spell didn’t have much effect on it. It only restricted its movements slightly.

However, this act was a great provocation to the nine-tailed fox. Its eyes instantly turned blood-red with rage, and its fangs became ferocious. This once majestic divine beast was now showing a vicious side.

Its movements became more fierce and swift, with its nine tails swinging through the air, creating a fierce wind. Its teeth and claws reached for Ke Xingzhou’s vital points, seemingly ready to kill.

The Taoist priests were startled, but they saw Ke Xingzhou leap into the air, dodging the attack, and landing directly on the back of the nine-tailed fox, grabbing its ears and starting to pull upward.

Everyone then realized that Ke Xingzhou’s state was a bit strange.

He was so excited that he looked like his chains had suddenly been removed, his eyes and brows lifted, and his hair was blown up by the wind, exposing his smooth, full forehead.

Even Zhu Chu and the others had never seen Ke Xingzhou so emotionally exposed. They were all momentarily stunned.

They were standing too far away to hear the sounds from the battlefield.

Only the nine-tailed fox, in the midst of the howling wind and intense pain, heard the gritted teeth and muttering from behind: “What’s the point of having more merit? More merit doesn’t stop you from getting hit! I’ll show you, you’re trying to intimidate me with your merit!”

Nine-tailed fox: “???”

Not buddy, what merit, what beating? Why are you hitting me because you’re crazy?

The nine-tailed fox was probably stunned for the first time in its life because it had too much merit and was getting beaten. The entire fox was dumbfounded.

Especially this human, who seemed to have no special traits, yet for some reason, he was incredibly strong. His hands had strange power that suppressed the divine beast’s bloodline, rendering it immobile.

The nine-tailed fox’s ears were almost pulled off. Finally, in excruciating pain, it came to its senses, and it lay on the ground, trying to shake Ke Xingzhou off.

After several failed attempts, it was instead grabbed by the tail.

It was finally scared and screamed, “Ahhh! Let go! Pulling my ears is one thing, but my tail took decades to grow! Don’t touch it! Aahhh!”

Ke Xingzhou remained unfazed.

Having had his merit suppressed for so many years, now that he was finally allowed by the Heavenly Dao to strike a creature with far more merit than him, how could he possibly stop?

He ground his teeth: “A nine-tailed fox takes a thousand years to grow one tail, and you grew one in just a few decades? Do you think I’m a donkey?”

“I didn’t!” The nine-tailed fox screamed, “I really spent decades growing this one! What would I lie to you for!”"Who knows what you're going to do? Anyway, you're lying!"

The nine-tailed fox was almost crying in frustration. It had never encountered someone so unreasonable: "You're not even a fox, what do you know!"

Upon hearing this, Ke Xingzhou couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.

Right, why would he know how many years it takes for a nine-tailed fox to cultivate a tail?