The system's loud warning forced Yu Yi to remain vigilant. She approached the fully transformed beast cautiously, observing his reactions as she spoke, "A-Qiu, I know it's you. I just saw your face."
The giant fox demon, larger than a tree, crouched low, baring its fangs and growling threateningly at her. Drool dripping from its teeth burned the ground into ash, sending white smoke rising into the air.
Through the blood-red eyes of the beast, Yu Yi could faintly see the struggle within him. He hadn't completely lost his mind.
"A-Qiu, you look like a fox now, right? Fluffy, snow-white, and beautiful. Can I touch you?" Yu Yi tried to communicate with him, just as one would wake someone who was freezing and on the verge of falling asleep. She was determined to keep him awake. "A-Qiu, I came to find you, yet you're being so fierce with me?"
Xue Chenjing's remaining consciousness watched her approach without fear, and all he felt was terror.
No, don't come closer...
The system was right. The nine-tailed fox would eat her. If he couldn't control the fox, it would definitely devour her!
Half of his consciousness had been consumed by the nine-tailed fox, while the other half still struggled. The fox's violence affected Xue Chenjing, and his consciousness also influenced the fox.
The alluring scent of Yu Yi wafted into the fox's nostrils, stirring a fierce desire within it. Drool poured from its mouth like a waterfall.
She smells so good, she really smells so good!
It wanted to pounce on her, pin her down, tear open her throat, lap up her gushing blood, and chew her bones and flesh into pieces before swallowing them.
The woman approaching it was more fragrant and desirable than any cultivator's flesh.
The fox's muscles tensed, its bones creaked, and it was eager to leap at her.
However, when faced with that woman, the other person's will was stronger than ever. Even without his heart flame, he was gradually gaining the upper hand.
The nine-tailed fox, forced to retreat against its will, dug its claws into the ground, leaving deep, unwilling trenches.
In the world of demons, the law of the jungle was ingrained in their very bones. When Xue Chenjing was powerful, the nine-tailed fox had willingly submitted to him, becoming one of his many subordinates.
But now, this weak-willed, emotionally fragile waste, driven to desperation by human cultivators, could never make it submit willingly.
The fox growled with unyielding rage, and flames erupted from its body. Every hair on its body turned into raging fire, venting its fury.
Yet, despite its anger, it was being forced to retreat step by step by a fragile human.
Yu Yi didn't rush forward blindly. As Xue Chenjing retreated, she slowed her pace as well.
From behind the retreating beast, she spotted the two elderly people huddled together. Yu Yi's heart ached, and she suddenly understood why Xue Chenjing had cried so bitterly earlier.
A heavy stone seemed to press against her heart, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Yu Yi struggled to suppress the lump in her throat, taking a deep breath before she could speak again. She fixed her gaze on his eyes and said, "A-Qiu, you remember I'm your master, right? I told you, I only like obedient dogs. Foxes are no exception."
Sword flames silently slipped from her sleeve onto the ground, blending into the raging fox fire and spreading out a sword realm.
Yu Yi took another step forward, continuing to close the distance. "In the Sea of Heart, you pushed me away once. This is the second time. I don't like chasing after others. If I'm rejected once or twice, I'll give up. Do you still want me as your master?"
Xue Chenjing understood the implication in her words, and unease surged into his heart like a tide.
He had already lost his parents; he couldn't lose Yu Yi too.
Even the system's calculated affection level was his. This proof that Yu Yi loved him had always been his!
He could no longer rely on this value to confirm her feelings, to know if she liked him, or how much she liked him.
She might truly abandon him, she might really forsake him.
No, no, no, no—
He wouldn't allow it! He absolutely wouldn't allow it—
In the Sea of Heart, the nine-tailed fox's shadow shrieked in agony. The system was astonished to see the affection level begin to rise, indicating that the host's consciousness was regaining strength.
The system was almost overjoyed. As expected, it still had to rely on the heroine.
The fox's body twisted and convulsed as the conflicting consciousness tore at it. Facing a frail human, a mere morsel meant to be devoured, the nine-tailed fox arrogantly raised its head, wanting to maintain its dignity as a superior being.
What master? Does a human even deserve to be its master?
But the other consciousness forced it to bow, bending its knees in submission. Tears welled up in the fox's blood-red eyes, dripping down its fur.
Since its birth, even after being severed of its nine tails and destroyed its demon core on the battlefield of gods and demons, it had never cried so weakly and without dignity!
The nine-tailed fox was furious. Flames exploded from its body, and every hair turned into raging fire, venting its anger.
Was this the demon lord it had once served?
Yet, even without his heart flame, this demon lord, crying uncontrollably, slowly withdrew its consciousness, overpowering it with his own and imprisoning it in his annoying tendrils.
The tide began to turn.
At the same time, a blinding white light hidden within the fox fire suddenly converged and erupted from beneath the fox. Sword flames transformed into intertwined fire ropes, like a hunter's trap, binding the fox's limbs.
Its fox fire was suppressed by the sword flames, and its massive body crashed to the ground.
Yu Yi walked up to it, looking at the fox still trying to bare its teeth in threat. She reached out and stroked its nose, praising, "Good boy."
Despite her words of praise, she didn't hold back, urging the sword fire, covering the fox fire with white flames, suppressing it with all her might.
Perhaps the resonance from their recent soul fusion still lingered, Yu Yi and Xue Chenjing shared an inexplicable tacit understanding.
The nine-tailed fox was attacked from both inside and out, its flames weakening inch by inch, and the red in its eyes fading like dissolved cinnabar.
The system watched as the affection level stabilized and the host's consciousness grew stronger. It finally stopped anxiously scrambling across the task tree and could rest assured, protecting its hard-earned retirement funds.
The fox fire spreading through the forest began to retreat, and the flames weakened. Xue Chenjing's eyes, no longer filled with bloodlust, looked up. His beast form remained, his eyes like full moons, reflecting the figure standing before him.
Yu Yi's brows were tightly furrowed, her hair dancing in the fierce wind created by the clash of flames. Sweat dotted her forehead.
Suppressing the nine-tailed fox's flames with her sword realm was indeed difficult for her. She had nearly drained her spiritual energy, and her meridians ached from the strain, feeling as if her dantian was tearing apart with pain.
But she couldn't retreat. The sword flames couldn't weaken even a bit, or the suppressed fox fire might surge back.
"A-Qiu, look at me. You still have me. I'm here."
Yu Yi stood firmly before him, her hand on his head. The sword mark on her forehead glowed brightly, more dazzling than his heart flame.
A-Yi was helping him, helping him tame this savage beast.
Xue Chenjing wouldn't let her exhaust herself alone. Even without a heart flame, he had found his mainstay.
He was unwilling to offer his soul anymore. How could he, who loved her so deeply, allow a beast to devour his consciousness, his thoughts, and his devotion that was meant only for his master?
The nine-tailed fox, once it had knelt before him, would forever kneel before him!
In Xue Chenjing's dark heart, a faint light suddenly appeared. At first, it was just a tiny glimmer, like a summer firefly, but soon that light grew stronger. A flame ignited within his heart, like the sun piercing through the night, radiating brilliance and dispelling the darkness that had lingered in his heart for years.
The Heart Flame.
His Heart Flame had awakened.
As the Heart Flame returned, Xue Chenjing's soul grew stronger, and the overwhelming pressure it exerted made the nine-tailed fox tremble instinctively, forcing it to submit at the feet of the stronger force.
The light extended to the half-collapsed mountain temple, effortlessly penetrating the thick rock and illuminating the inner sanctuary. Xue Mingyuan stood bathed in the light, feeling the long-lost warmth of the Heart Flame enveloping his soul, causing his very spirit to shiver with warmth.
The return of the Heart Flame meant that his mental realm was inevitably collapsing.
No one understood better than Xue Mingyuan the intense hatred that had grown among the demons sealed beneath the tower for thousands of years. If these demons were unleashed, it would bring about an unprecedented catastrophe.
Xue Mingyuan could not bear to see such a disaster repeat itself, but it seemed there was no way to prevent it.
A thunderous roar echoed across Wangye, like rolling thunder across the sky. The crack in the sky above Wangye grew larger. Within the crack, the tower imprisoning the demons trembled, and the intense light at its peak visibly weakened.
The cultivators guarding the Moon-Touching Palace were all stunned. In addition to intercepting the demon, they had set up layers of defenses around the Wangye seal, making it impossible for even a fly to enter the Wangye boundary.
Moreover, according to the reports, the demon was still lingering in the forest over a hundred miles away from Wangye, and the righteous cultivators were busy preparing for a new round of encirclement.
Since he had not even entered the boundary, how had the divine flame at the top of the tower begun to extinguish so rapidly?
This question lingered in everyone's mind, but there was no time to find an answer. As the divine flame at the tower's peak weakened, its light was no longer enough to suppress the demons below. The demons rejoiced, and black mist surged, ready to burst through the crack.
Zhang Zai immediately reported the change and led the cultivators guarding Wangye to hastily adjust the formation, re-deploying their defenses.
The direction of the formation's attack was shifted from defending against intruders to defending against the demons about to erupt from Wangye.
Under everyone's vigilant watch, the last faint spark at the tower's peak suddenly stopped weakening. The light barely managed to suppress the demons below.
Xue Mingyuan looked up in astonishment. His brother had actively prevented the complete return of the Heart Flame.
