Beneath a seemingly plain hill at Mount Changbai.
Ooom.
Space rippled, and soon, a fox daemon covered entirely in a red coat of fur appeared. It was almost ten meters in length and had two wings protruding from its back, and it suddenly appeared over the grasslands.
It shook its fur coat when it landed and reared its head, baring its teeth as it barked several times at the skies. Then, laughing coldly and smugly, it said, “That trash Three Blades Lin actually dared to make an attempt on this emperor’s life?”
“After returning to the Holy Ground of this emperor’s tribe, the eminences had bestowed this emperor with daemonic cultivation techniques and an intermediate grade soul weapon. Moreover, this emperor is now Feral Emperor-pinnacle, and not even the Golden-Winged Roc nor the Dragoncroc Emperor are a match for this emperor now.”
That fox daemon was indeed the Scarlet Fox King who had been hunted by Three Blades Lin and his fellow disciple, Pei Donglai.
The Scarlet Fox King was still a Feral King at the time, though it was now Feral Emperor. Moreover, having gained a daemonic cultivation technique and a daemonic weapon bestowed by an Eminent Fox, its power had increased so much that it had become buoyed.
It was now considering whether it should rally all Ferals in the Hua Nation in resistance… When that happened, it could afford to grab a handful of humans with tender meat as snacks.
After all, the Scarlet Fox King was quite the ruthless character.
It had directly and indirectly caused the deaths of over a hundred thousand humans, and not even Wang Hou could do anything it when it gained the protection of an Eminent Fox.
And now, as its calls resounded, several rank-eight and rank-nine Ferals soon quickly arrived and prostrated themselves on the ground, communicating slogans like ‘welcome back, Your Majesty’ psychically.
Beside itself in glee, the Scarlet Fox King spoke in human speech, “It has been hard on you all this while with this emperor not around.”
“However, you would no longer need to suffer with this emperor’s return.”
“In the future, I might even obtain daemonic cultivation techniques and bestow you daemonic weapons… and guide you to my tribe’s Holy Grounds for cultivation.”
The Scarlet Fox King began to brag away then.
Bragging cost him nothing way, and what was not to like with having these imbecile Ferals follow him wholeheartedly?
Foxes were cunning, and foxes that cultivated up to the Scarlet Fox King’s level were naturally even more cunning!
It was the Feral King of Mount Changbai and the Greater Khingan Range in the first place, and it had many high-tier Ferals under its command. However, after Jiang He had slain the Golden-Winged Roc and the Dragoncroc Emperor, the Hua Nation began to hunt down all Feral Kings without restraint, causing the Feral Kings to flee or hide themselves. Now left without Feral King protection, the high-tier Ferals all became profits for the high-ranked martial artists of the Hua Nation.
And now, these high-ranked martial artists were settling down in groups within the wildlands.
They hunted down the high-tier Ferals and gathered materials from their corpses, as well as searched for floral spirits within the wildlands and various rare treasures. In fact, the Superpower Research Department had to slightly lower the prices at which they purchased Feral materials.
That was why the Scarlet Fox Emperor immediately ordered every Feral beneath its command to send word everywhere: it had now ascended to Feral Emperor.
Hence, in just a matter of hours, almost a thousand Ferals rushed there from Mount Changbai and the Greater Khingan Range, seeking an audience with the Scarlet Fox King… or the Scarlet Fox Emperor, to be precise.
Of the one thousand Ferals, twenty of them were high-ranked. Each of them communicated psychically and cheered, ‘Fox Emperor!’
That made the Scarlet Fox Emperor even smugger.
After all, one should know that its days in the Holy Ground of the Foxes had been tragic.
Every move was bound heavily by rules or regulations—where had the freedom it enjoyed so much at the mountains and the forest gone to?
Rules were deadly strict in the Holy Ground of the Foxes, and the title of Daemon King was not something the Scarlet Fox Emperor would have dared to use in that place. Only the daemons that had suffered through heavenly retributions would be addressed as king, so how could the Scarlet Fox Emperor not get smug when it was addressed as ‘Fox Emperor’?
Sitting a top a stony mountain and rearing its head, its scarlet fur coat seemed to blaze like flames as it breathed human speech, “I am aware of your situation. I will attack and get rid of the cells of powerful fighters who are nearby for you…”
Nonetheless, the Scarlet Fox Emperor did not notice a sword’s flash descending on the clouds overhead.
Of course, with its current cultivation, it could not see it even if it looked.
***
Up above the clouds, Jiang He was rather surprised when he looked down below.
Was that a… Feral Emperor?
“Aren’t all Feral Kings within the Hua Nation borders in hiding? So why is there a Feral Emperor on Mount Changbai?”
Jiang He could not hold back a twinkle in his eyes as he stared below.
He could feel the swirling presences of daemonic power on that Feral Emperor’s body.
Is that beast a daemonic cultivator?
“Hold on… a fox? In the Holy Ground of the Foxes at Mount Changbai?”
Jiang He could not help laughing when he realized that. “And I was troubled on my journey here… the Taixu Sect told me that the Holy Ground of the Foxes is in Mount Changbai, but did not say specifically where and how to enter… since that beast is a daemonic cultivator, it would know how to get in the Holy Grounds of its own kind, or at least a method to contact other fox cultivators.”
“Hmmm?”
Just as he was about to descend and capture the Scarlet Fox Emperor, Jiang He suddenly remembered something.
A scarlet fox?
Wings growing over its back?
Speaks human tongue?
It also clearly possessed fire-type powers, so it made sense that it breathed fire, yes?
“Could that be the Scarlet Fox King of the Greater Khingan Range? He saw a post about it when I first transmigrated, didn’t I?”
Something clicked in Jiang He’s mind then, and even today, he clearly remembered the post about the Scarlet Fox King of the Greater Khingan Range:
‘Shocking Find! A red fox the size of a calf spotted in the snowfields of the Greater Khingan Range! It has two wings growing over its back, speaks human language, and breathes flames!’
Though the size was different, the beast Jiang He was now looking at fits.
Indeed, size did not matter.
It was only natural that it grew larger now that it is a Feral King.
“So this is fate…”
Jiang He could not help grinning. Since he had confirmed that it was the Scarlet Fox King, he also recalled how Three Blades Lin had complained about a foiled attempt to hunt it down, and that it was the beast that killed many humans.
“This is the very same beast!”
“I’ll send it to the Superpower Research Department right after I capture it and have them extract its blood and essence every waking moment—it would be a way of punishing it.”
With that in mind…
Whoosh!
Treading upon the clouds, Jiang He descended from the skies then.
“Who is it?!”
The Scarlet Fox Emperor promptly rose from the giant boulder it stood upon, its eyes blazing as it growled, “Who dares tread upon the land of the foxes? Don’t blame this emperor for killing you with my attack!”
In truth, the Scarlet Fox Emperor was rather wary.
Who could it be?
Was there supposed to be such a powerful person among the humans?
Still, despite its own doubts, the Scarlet Fox Emperor became unruly once it remembered that the Holy Ground of the Foxes was just behind it. Leaping off the giant boulder, it bared its teeth in a ferocious glare as it seethed, “State your name. I, the Scarlet Fox Emperor, never devours the anonymous!”
Jiang He could not help laughing out loud.
Was this dude that poor in sight?
“I’m Jiang He.” He grinned then.
“What?!”
The Scarlet Fox Emperor was stunned, though it soon started laughing loudly. “Haha! You are that human who slayed the Golden-Winged Roc and the Dragoncroc Emperor? Good, good… it was said that you’re no weakling, and it would be greatly nourishing to devour you.”
Jiang He was dumbstruck.
It was now his turn to be baffled.
What the hell.
Did I give myself too much credit?
Could my name hold no threat at all?
Unbeknown to Jiang He, the Scarlet Fox Emperor was no one important in the Holy Ground of the Foxes either, so how could he be allowed to know about Jiang He’s feats? The beast certainly did not know that he had wiped out the Penglai Sect and injured the Green Fox King, the Sufferance Daemon King with eight retributions weathered from hundreds of miles away either!
Nonetheless, Jiang He was about to move when his gaze shifted toward the distance.
Faraway, space itself rippled, and soon, an Elder Fox stepped out of the Holy Grounds in greeting, saying, “We were unaware that Brother Jiang He had come to visit us. Do forgive us for not coming out to greet you.”
In fact, every Eminent Fox in the Holy Ground of the Foxes sensed Jiang He the instant he set foot on Mount Changbai.
The reason they did not step out to greet him was because… they were a little flustered!
Therefore, the Eminent Foxes were discussing how they should greet and face Jiang He, but they certainly did not expect that outside, the Scarlet Fox Emperor had threatened to kill the man even before they even reached a consensus…
That instantly scared the many Eminent Foxes half to death.
And now, the Elder Fox landed in front of the Scarlet Fox Emperor and shielded it while forcing a smile, saying, “Brother Jiang He, this young fox doesn’t know your great name. Do forgive it if it has provoked you, Mister Jiang.”
Jiang He said nothing, and simply punched out once instead.
Boom!
Overflowing qi surged forth with the force of a natural disaster, his full-fledged Sufferance physical strength erupting instantly. The Elder Fox’s face dropped at that and promptly reverted into its true-form—a thousand-feet long white fox. It also spat out a daemonic weapon and attempted to block Jiang He’s punch…
Be that as it may…
It was merely seven-retribution.
Jiang He’s single punch had sent its daemonic weapon flying, and the thousand-feet long white fox flying several kilometers away. At the same time, the shockwave rippling away from the force of its punch had ground the Scarlet Fox Emperor and the one thousand Ferals around it into a single puddle of flesh.
Withdrawing his fist, Jiang He then smiled, “Don’t worry, Brother. Why would I, Jiang He, stoop to a little daemon’s level… Eh? It’s dead already?”
Beneath a seemingly plain hill at Mount Changbai.
Ooom.
Space rippled, and soon, a fox daemon covered entirely in a red coat of fur appeared. It was almost ten meters in length and had two wings protruding from its back, and it suddenly appeared over the grasslands.
It shook its fur coat when it landed and reared its head, baring its teeth as it barked several times at the skies. Then, laughing coldly and smugly, it said, “That trash Three Blades Lin actually dared to make an attempt on this emperor’s life?”
“After returning to the Holy Ground of this emperor’s tribe, the eminences had bestowed this emperor with daemonic cultivation techniques and an intermediate grade soul weapon. Moreover, this emperor is now Feral Emperor-pinnacle, and not even the Golden-Winged Roc nor the Dragoncroc Emperor are a match for this emperor now.”
That fox daemon was indeed the Scarlet Fox King who had been hunted by Three Blades Lin and his fellow disciple, Pei Donglai.
The Scarlet Fox King was still a Feral King at the time, though it was now Feral Emperor. Moreover, having gained a daemonic cultivation technique and a daemonic weapon bestowed by an Eminent Fox, its power had increased so much that it had become buoyed.
It was now considering whether it should rally all Ferals in the Hua Nation in resistance… When that happened, it could afford to grab a handful of humans with tender meat as snacks.
After all, the Scarlet Fox King was quite the ruthless character.
It had directly and indirectly caused the deaths of over a hundred thousand humans, and not even Wang Hou could do anything it when it gained the protection of an Eminent Fox.
And now, as its calls resounded, several rank-eight and rank-nine Ferals soon quickly arrived and prostrated themselves on the ground, communicating slogans like ‘welcome back, Your Majesty’ psychically.
Beside itself in glee, the Scarlet Fox King spoke in human speech, “It has been hard on you all this while with this emperor not around.”
“However, you would no longer need to suffer with this emperor’s return.”
“In the future, I might even obtain daemonic cultivation techniques and bestow you daemonic weapons… and guide you to my tribe’s Holy Grounds for cultivation.”
The Scarlet Fox King began to brag away then.
Bragging cost him nothing way, and what was not to like with having these imbecile Ferals follow him wholeheartedly?
Foxes were cunning, and foxes that cultivated up to the Scarlet Fox King’s level were naturally even more cunning!
It was the Feral King of Mount Changbai and the Greater Khingan Range in the first place, and it had many high-tier Ferals under its command. However, after Jiang He had slain the Golden-Winged Roc and the Dragoncroc Emperor, the Hua Nation began to hunt down all Feral Kings without restraint, causing the Feral Kings to flee or hide themselves. Now left without Feral King protection, the high-tier Ferals all became profits for the high-ranked martial artists of the Hua Nation.
And now, these high-ranked martial artists were settling down in groups within the wildlands.
They hunted down the high-tier Ferals and gathered materials from their corpses, as well as searched for floral spirits within the wildlands and various rare treasures. In fact, the Superpower Research Department had to slightly lower the prices at which they purchased Feral materials.
That was why the Scarlet Fox Emperor immediately ordered every Feral beneath its command to send word everywhere: it had now ascended to Feral Emperor.
Hence, in just a matter of hours, almost a thousand Ferals rushed there from Mount Changbai and the Greater Khingan Range, seeking an audience with the Scarlet Fox King… or the Scarlet Fox Emperor, to be precise.
Of the one thousand Ferals, twenty of them were high-ranked. Each of them communicated psychically and cheered, ‘Fox Emperor!’
That made the Scarlet Fox Emperor even smugger.
After all, one should know that its days in the Holy Ground of the Foxes had been tragic.
Every move was bound heavily by rules or regulations—where had the freedom it enjoyed so much at the mountains and the forest gone to?
Rules were deadly strict in the Holy Ground of the Foxes, and the title of Daemon King was not something the Scarlet Fox Emperor would have dared to use in that place. Only the daemons that had suffered through heavenly retributions would be addressed as king, so how could the Scarlet Fox Emperor not get smug when it was addressed as ‘Fox Emperor’?
Sitting a top a stony mountain and rearing its head, its scarlet fur coat seemed to blaze like flames as it breathed human speech, “I am aware of your situation. I will attack and get rid of the cells of powerful fighters who are nearby for you…”
Nonetheless, the Scarlet Fox Emperor did not notice a sword’s flash descending on the clouds overhead.
Of course, with its current cultivation, it could not see it even if it looked.
***
Up above the clouds, Jiang He was rather surprised when he looked down below.
Was that a… Feral Emperor?
“Aren’t all Feral Kings within the Hua Nation borders in hiding? So why is there a Feral Emperor on Mount Changbai?”
Jiang He could not hold back a twinkle in his eyes as he stared below.
He could feel the swirling presences of daemonic power on that Feral Emperor’s body.
Is that beast a daemonic cultivator?
“Hold on… a fox? In the Holy Ground of the Foxes at Mount Changbai?”
Jiang He could not help laughing when he realized that. “And I was troubled on my journey here… the Taixu Sect told me that the Holy Ground of the Foxes is in Mount Changbai, but did not say specifically where and how to enter… since that beast is a daemonic cultivator, it would know how to get in the Holy Grounds of its own kind, or at least a method to contact other fox cultivators.”
“Hmmm?”
Just as he was about to descend and capture the Scarlet Fox Emperor, Jiang He suddenly remembered something.
A scarlet fox?
Wings growing over its back?
Speaks human tongue?
It also clearly possessed fire-type powers, so it made sense that it breathed fire, yes?
“Could that be the Scarlet Fox King of the Greater Khingan Range? He saw a post about it when I first transmigrated, didn’t I?”
Something clicked in Jiang He’s mind then, and even today, he clearly remembered the post about the Scarlet Fox King of the Greater Khingan Range:
‘Shocking Find! A red fox the size of a calf spotted in the snowfields of the Greater Khingan Range! It has two wings growing over its back, speaks human language, and breathes flames!’
Though the size was different, the beast Jiang He was now looking at fits.
Indeed, size did not matter.
It was only natural that it grew larger now that it is a Feral King.
“So this is fate…”
Jiang He could not help grinning. Since he had confirmed that it was the Scarlet Fox King, he also recalled how Three Blades Lin had complained about a foiled attempt to hunt it down, and that it was the beast that killed many humans.
“This is the very same beast!”
“I’ll send it to the Superpower Research Department right after I capture it and have them extract its blood and essence every waking moment—it would be a way of punishing it.”
With that in mind…
Whoosh!
Treading upon the clouds, Jiang He descended from the skies then.
“Who is it?!”
The Scarlet Fox Emperor promptly rose from the giant boulder it stood upon, its eyes blazing as it growled, “Who dares tread upon the land of the foxes? Don’t blame this emperor for killing you with my attack!”
In truth, the Scarlet Fox Emperor was rather wary.
Who could it be?
Was there supposed to be such a powerful person among the humans?
Still, despite its own doubts, the Scarlet Fox Emperor became unruly once it remembered that the Holy Ground of the Foxes was just behind it. Leaping off the giant boulder, it bared its teeth in a ferocious glare as it seethed, “State your name. I, the Scarlet Fox Emperor, never devours the anonymous!”
Jiang He could not help laughing out loud.
Was this dude that poor in sight?
“I’m Jiang He.” He grinned then.
“What?!”
The Scarlet Fox Emperor was stunned, though it soon started laughing loudly. “Haha! You are that human who slayed the Golden-Winged Roc and the Dragoncroc Emperor? Good, good… it was said that you’re no weakling, and it would be greatly nourishing to devour you.”
Jiang He was dumbstruck.
It was now his turn to be baffled.
What the hell.
Did I give myself too much credit?
Could my name hold no threat at all?
Unbeknown to Jiang He, the Scarlet Fox Emperor was no one important in the Holy Ground of the Foxes either, so how could he be allowed to know about Jiang He’s feats? The beast certainly did not know that he had wiped out the Penglai Sect and injured the Green Fox King, the Sufferance Daemon King with eight retributions weathered from hundreds of miles away either!
Nonetheless, Jiang He was about to move when his gaze shifted toward the distance.
Faraway, space itself rippled, and soon, an Elder Fox stepped out of the Holy Grounds in greeting, saying, “We were unaware that Brother Jiang He had come to visit us. Do forgive us for not coming out to greet you.”
In fact, every Eminent Fox in the Holy Ground of the Foxes sensed Jiang He the instant he set foot on Mount Changbai.
The reason they did not step out to greet him was because… they were a little flustered!
Therefore, the Eminent Foxes were discussing how they should greet and face Jiang He, but they certainly did not expect that outside, the Scarlet Fox Emperor had threatened to kill the man even before they even reached a consensus…
That instantly scared the many Eminent Foxes half to death.
And now, the Elder Fox landed in front of the Scarlet Fox Emperor and shielded it while forcing a smile, saying, “Brother Jiang He, this young fox doesn’t know your great name. Do forgive it if it has provoked you, Mister Jiang.”
Jiang He said nothing, and simply punched out once instead.
Boom!
Overflowing qi surged forth with the force of a natural disaster, his full-fledged Sufferance physical strength erupting instantly. The Elder Fox’s face dropped at that and promptly reverted into its true-form—a thousand-feet long white fox. It also spat out a daemonic weapon and attempted to block Jiang He’s punch…
Be that as it may…
It was merely seven-retribution.
Jiang He’s single punch had sent its daemonic weapon flying, and the thousand-feet long white fox flying several kilometers away. At the same time, the shockwave rippling away from the force of its punch had ground the Scarlet Fox Emperor and the one thousand Ferals around it into a single puddle of flesh.
Withdrawing his fist, Jiang He then smiled, “Don’t worry, Brother. Why would I, Jiang He, stoop to a little daemon’s level… Eh? It’s dead already?”
