Chapter 156: 150. Detaining the Fox, Imprisonment (1/2)

150. Detaining the Fox, Imprisonment (1/2)

How is this bird so big!

Chen An looked at the giant bird flying toward him at high speed, and he could not help but feel nervous in his heart.

This is the innate fear humans feel when facing giant objects.

Soon, Chen An calmed down.

He gathered his Divine Sense onto the giant bird to spy on its cultivation.

The next instant, the words "Golden Core Nine-tenths Great Perfection" appeared in his mind.

This is a terrifying great demon whose strength is infinitely close to the Nascent Soul stage!

A few breaths later.

The woman in the purple dress controlled the giant bird to fly and hover above Chen An's head, standing on the bird's head and looking down at Chen An from a high position.

This time, she did not start with a long-winded speech like before, but instead directly issued an order to the giant bird beneath her feet:

"Crippled him for me!"

This "him" refers to Chen An below.

Upon hearing the order, the giant bird immediately flapped its wings, which blotted out the sky and sun, toward Chen An, whipping up a powerful air current to blast him to death.

Feeling the terror of the air current, Chen An did not dare to resist it head-on, but chose to move his thoughts and use Shadow Kill Technique to teleport behind the woman in the purple dress on the bird's head.

Then, he unleashed Intentional Bombing Fist, fiercely punching toward the head of the woman in the purple dress.

However!

Just as Chen An threw the punch, countless glowing feathers suddenly stood up around the woman in the purple dress, forming a solid shield that protected her 360 degrees without any blind spots.

"Bang!"

Only this sound rang out.

Chen An's fist smashed heavily onto the giant bird's feathers, but it failed to pierce through them; instead, it shattered the bones in his fingers, and a sharp pain immediately surged forth.

This giant bird's feathers are too hard.

It is simply impossible to break through the defense with just a fist.

Intentional Bombing Fist can only ignore defensive measures; how much damage it can actually cause depends on the user's own strength.

And Chen An's current strength is clearly unable to injure this giant bird whose cultivation is infinitely close to the Nascent Soul stage.

This giant bird's physical body is too formidable; it is not something a human cultivator like him, with a cultivation of only Golden Core First Layer, can contend with.

"Hum... hum... hum!"

Suddenly, countless feathers on the giant bird shot into the sky.

These feathers, like sharp feathered arrows, shot toward Chen An with a "swish, swish, swish."

Chen An reacted extremely quickly and had already begun to retreat the moment the feathers shot into the sky.

Unfortunately, the speed at which the feathers shot over was truly too fast, and their quantity was immense.

Although he had tried his best to dodge, a flying feather still struck his shoulder.

Only a "pfft" sound was heard!

His shoulder was instantly pierced through.

Fresh blood splattered.

The bone shattered into powder.

Chen An gritted his teeth, endured the sharp pain coming from his shoulder, moved his thoughts, took out a Great Returning Pill, threw it into his mouth, and swallowed it.

Afterward, his injured shoulder instantly healed, returning to its original state as if it had never been injured at all.

"You are finished today!"

"No one can save you!"

"I want to return all the inhuman pain I suffered that day a hundredfold!"

From within that wall of feathers on the bird's head, the angry and triumphant voice of the woman in the purple dress rang out.

Chen An had no time to pay attention to her; he was busy dodging the feathers shooting at him one after another.

The giant bird cannot be fought.

The fox demon cannot be injured.

Escaping is also impossible.

No!

This cannot go on!

I will be shot to death sooner or later!

I must seek a change!

Chen An was anxious in his heart but not panicked, his brain turning rapidly.

Just at this moment, he noticed a pink heart appearing on the giant bird's pupils.

This proves that this giant bird was charmed by the fox demon.

Sage's Art!

I can try to use Sage's Art on the giant bird!

Once the thought emerged, Chen An flew to the giant bird's head at the first opportunity and used Sage's Art on it at close range.

The next moment, the giant bird, which had been bewitched by the fox demon into a puppet, saw the heart on its pupils instantly disappear.

The Charm Technique was broken!

The giant bird gradually regained consciousness, looking at the unfamiliar environment around it with confusion in its eyes.

Soon, it noticed the woman in the purple dress on its head, smelled a trace of the aura that only a fox demon possesses, and instantly realized that it had just been charmed by the woman in the purple dress, who was suspected to be a fox demon, and it was immediately filled with extreme rage.

It immediately retracted the feathers protecting the purple-skirted woman's body, shook her off like it was flicking away an ant, and then viciously swiped a claw at her.

The purple-skirted woman was still wondering why her Charm Technique had suddenly failed, when in the next moment, she was shredded in mid-air by the incoming sharp claws, transforming into a sky full of fur and a tail that had lost all signs of life as it drifted slowly down.

At the same time, the barrier in front created by the Heavenly Prison Talisman also vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Chen An immediately used Sword Flight to escape, lest he be caught in the giant bird's collateral rage.

Fortunately, the giant bird paid him no mind; after killing the purple-skirted woman, it soon flapped its wings and flew away.

Watching the giant bird's back as it flew further and further away, Chen An felt a lingering fear in his heart.

It was a good thing the Sage's Art could be projected externally.

Otherwise, even if he didn't die today, he would have at least lost a layer of skin.

At this moment, the Sound Transmission Talisman in his Storage Bag began to vibrate.

Someone had sent a message.

Chen An stirred his thoughts, took it out, and listened; it was a message from his wives and concubines at home.

"Husband, why haven't you returned yet, it's so late?"

It was the voice of his young wife Song Huaying, sounding full of worry.

Chen An replied: "I ran into some things on the road back and forth today, so I was delayed a little, but I am on my way back now and will be home in at most a quarter of an hour."

"Husband, what did you run into?" This time it was Gu Xinyue's voice, sounding even more worried than Song Huaying just now: "Did you run into that fox demon again?"

"That is a long story; I will tell you all in detail after I return," Chen An said calmly.

Gu Xinyue said: "Alright, then Husband, be careful on your way back."

Chen An replied: "Mm, I'll stop for now, see you at home in a bit."

Baicao Lane.

Inside the tunnel.

When Chen An walked down, his wives and daughters were already sitting in the hall waiting for him.

The wives and concubines were waiting for him to return, while the two daughters were waiting for the Spirit Cake he had bought.

"Husband, drink some water."

Gu Xinyue was more sensible; as soon as she saw Chen An enter, she immediately stood up, carrying a cup of cool well water she had poured in advance, and handed it over.

Chen An took the bamboo cup and drank it all in one gulp, revealing a satisfied expression as his thirst was relieved.

This look of satisfaction was intentionally shown to Gu Xinyue; after all, with his current cultivation, it was impossible for him to actually feel thirsty.

"Daddy, did you buy Spirit Cake?"

"Daddy, I want to eat Spirit Cake!"

The two daughters crowded in front of Chen An, looking up at him with anticipation.

Among them, the silly second daughter Chen Yike was drooling so much from greed that her little mouth was dripping; she was a proper little foodie.

Wen Zhiyun could not bear to watch any longer and scolded the two of them:

"You two little rascals, Daddy just got back from outside; as his daughters, you should be pulling out a stool for Daddy to sit and rest, then pouring water for Daddy to drink!"

"How can you be like this, opening your mouths to ask for food the moment he arrives!"

"You really have no manners at all!"

Wen Zhiyun's tone was very stern, and the two young daughters wilted instantly, timidly not daring to make a sound.

Song Huaying added: "That's right, you two girls are so ill-mannered, Daddy and Mother won't love you anymore in the future."

"Mother, I was wrong, don't stop loving me!"

Chen Yuejian was panicked, quickly running to Song Huaying to hug her leg, lifting up a pitiful little face as she spoke.

Chen Yike looked rather silly, so she just shrank back where she was, timid and not daring to speak.

It seemed she was afraid that saying too much would lead to more mistakes.

Or perhaps she just didn't dare to act spoiled toward her fierce mother.

As a father, Chen An also felt his two daughters were not thoughtful enough, so he did not rush to give them the Spirit Cake.

Instead, he took the colorful clothes out of the Storage Bag to give gifts to his wives and concubines first.

Seeing the bright and beautiful clothes before them, the eyes of the wives and concubines flashed with a glimmer of light.

It was clear they liked these clothes immensely.

However, liking them was one thing, but Wen Zhiyun still said to Chen An: "Husband, we already said not to waste money buying us gifts, why did you buy them anyway?"

"I didn't buy them; these were freebies for buying pill formulas."

"Freebies for buying pill formulas?"

Wen Zhiyun rolled her eyes with charm and said testily: "You might as well have said you picked them up; that would be more convincing."

Chen An was speechless and explained:

"I bought twenty Third-tier Pill formulas in one go at the firm; the shopkeeper saw that I bought so many and gifted me two extra formulas, over a dozen sets of clothes, and nearly a hundred boxes of Spirit Cake."

Spirit Cake!

Upon hearing these two words, Chen Yike's pair of large, watery, cartoonish eyes lit up instantly.

She wanted to run over, open her arms to hug Chen An's thigh, and shout up at him: "Daddy, I want to eat Spirit Cake!"

But hindered by her stern mother standing right there, she dared not make any rash moves, fearing she would be scolded or spanked.

Wen Zhiyun asked skeptically: "Husband, is what you're saying true?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

Chen An could not be bothered to dwell on such trivial matters and placed all the clothes on the table.

Then, he said to his wives and daughters:

"There are twelve sets of clothes in total; Xiao Yuejian and Xiao Yike have a share too, two sets each, you can negotiate and pick them out yourselves."

"No need to pick, the three sisters and I can take turns wearing these clothes, which means each of us can have eight new outfits to wear," Song Huaying said.

After hearing this, Wen Zhiyun smiled and said, "Ying is truly clever."

At this moment, Shen Qingyi, who had been silent all along, spoke up and asked, "Husband, you mentioned in the Sound Transmission Talisman earlier that you encountered trouble on the road back and forth; what exactly happened?"

"Oh, it went like this..."

Chen An gave Shen Qingyi a rough account, telling her everything from meeting the people from the Void Kun Gang on the way there to encountering the fox demon on the way back, without leaving a single detail out.

A moment after listening.

Shen Qingyi's pair of slender, beautiful willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she said with some worry:

"Husband, that fox demon can keep using Severing Tail to Escape and then make a comeback; isn't that a bit too persistent?"

"Although that fox demon poses no threat to you right now, I worry that if time drags on and it happens too many times, some accident might occur."

What Shen Qingyi said was not without reason.

After hearing this, Chen An also nodded and said:

"This is indeed a hidden danger, but I have twelve parts confidence that I can pass the test of the Heaven and Earth Sect's Alchemy Hall."

"When that time comes, our whole family can move into the Heaven and Earth Sect to settle down, and we won't have to worry about being harassed by that fox demon ever again."

After talking for a few more sentences.

The topic of the fox demon was basically skipped over.

The gazes of the wives and concubines fell back onto the beautiful clothes on the table.

Seeing styles that suited them, several of them took off their clothes and changed into them right there in public.

Anyway, the only male in the house was their husband, and the rest were sisters and daughters, so they could take them off however they pleased.

In fact, if they didn't feel ashamed, it wouldn't matter if they walked around the tunnel naked all day long.

While the wives and concubines were trying on the clothes, Chen An was on the side distributing Spirit Cake to his two daughters.

Although the second daughter had a much larger appetite than the eldest, Chen An divided them equally by quantity when handing them out.

Each of the two daughters got forty boxes, and one box was left over at the end.

That was a box of snow-fruit flavored Spirit Cake.

The texture was cool.

The taste was fragrant and sweet.

It was the most delicious box out of these eighty-one boxes of Spirit Cake.

At the same time, it was also the most expensive one.

Both daughters had eaten it before and liked it very much.

There were seven pieces of snow-fruit Spirit Cake in the box, just enough for the seven members of the family to have one piece each, so it was divided equally like that.

As soon as the second daughter, Chen Yike, got the snow-fruit Spirit Cake, she didn't even think about it before opening her mouth and finishing it in two or three bites, her little round face filled with satisfaction.

In contrast, the eldest daughter, Chen Yuejian, liked to save the best for last.

She put the snow-fruit Spirit Cake away for safekeeping, planning to enjoy the deliciousness of this piece of snow-fruit Spirit Cake after finishing the other Spirit Cakes.

Soon, the day came to an end.

In the days that followed.

Chen An did not leave the tunnel even once.

Except for being intimate with his wives and concubines and playing with his daughters, he spent all his time holed up in the Alchemy Room learning to refine Third-tier Pills.

With his previous experience in refining Third-tier Pills, his efficiency in learning to refine Third-tier Pills this time was much higher.

Basically, he could learn to refine a new type of Third-tier Pill every day.

This day, Chen An was in the Alchemy Room learning to refine the twelfth new type of Third-tier Pill when a noise suddenly came from Wen Zhiyun's room next door.

"Speak, was it you who stole and ate my snow-fruit Spirit Cake!"

"I... I didn't, I didn't, don't you talk nonsense!"

"It must have been you who stole it!"

"I didn't steal it!!!"

"..."

Hearing the argument between his two daughters, Chen An worried they might start fighting, so he got up to go over and check the situation.

A moment after walking into Wen Zhiyun's room.

Chen An saw his eldest daughter, Chen Yuejian, looking fierce as she cornered his second daughter, Chen Yike, against the wall, blaming Chen Yike for stealing and eating her snow-fruit Spirit Cake.

"Daddy, big sister is bullying me!"

Seeing Chen An enter, Chen Yike immediately crouched down, ducked under her big sister Chen Yuejian's legs, and scurried behind Chen An to hide, seeking protection.

Chen Yuejian ran over right after her, looking angry as she complained, "Daddy, little Yike stole and ate my snow-fruit Spirit Cake!"

"I didn't!"

Chen Yike's voice was very loud.

Chen Yuejian pointed at some Spirit Cake crumbs stuck to the corner of her mouth and loudly questioned her:

"The Spirit Cakes Daddy gave you were all eaten up that very day, and now more than ten days have passed since then, so why are there Spirit Cake crumbs on the corner of your mouth now?!"

After hearing her big sister Chen Yuejian's analysis, Chen Yike's expression changed instantly.

Holy crap, how is big sister so smart?!

Afterwards, she hurriedly reached out to wipe off the Spirit Cake crumbs stuck to the corner of her mouth and quickly stuffed them into her mouth to eat them, not wasting a single bit, and then stubbornly refused to admit it:

"Where are there Spirit Cake crumbs on the corner of my mouth?"

"Don't you go wronging me!"

Unable to stand such blatant sophistry, Chen Yuejian went around to beat Chen Yike.

Although she could not beat Chen Yike, she now had reason on her side and could get her father to stand on her side and help.

"Mother!"

"Sister is bullying me!"

"Awoo, awoo, awoo..."

Seeing that the situation was not looking good and that her father seemed to be siding with her sister, Chen Yike made a prompt decision to use an Ancient Forbidden Technique—the Mother Summoning Art.

Soon, Wen Zhiyun walked in from outside upon hearing the noise, her face stern as she said, "What are you two bickering about again? Can you please be quiet for me?"

As soon as these words were spoken, both daughters dared not continue to make a scene and fell silent one after another.

"Mother Wen, little Chen Yike stole and ate my Heavenly Snow Spirit Fruit."

Chen Yuejian could not swallow this injustice and complained to Wen Zhiyun with a grievance-filled face.

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhiyun immediately looked at her silly daughter hiding behind Chen An and asked with a sunken face, "Chen Yike, did you steal and eat your sister's Spirit Cake!"

"I, I..."

Chen Yike wanted to quibble, but under her mother's fierce gaze, she instinctively lost her nerve; she dared not lie in front of her mother, fearing she would be beaten if exposed.

Seeing her silly daughter stuttering and unable to answer, Wen Zhiyun already knew the result in her heart.

Her expression turned cold in an instant; she grabbed Chen Yike from behind Chen An, pressed her face-down onto her lap, raised her hand, and began a frantic spanking on Chen Yike's little bottom!

"Smack! Smack! Smack..."

"Awoo, awoo, awoo, awoo, awoo..."

In an instant, a series of crisp slapping sounds rang out in the room, along with Chen Yike's wailing, which sounded as miserable as a slaughtered pig.

Chen Yike had suffered a backlash from using the Ancient Forbidden Technique, being attacked by the summon she herself had called forth.

Watching this scene in the room, Chen An stood to the side, unable to laugh or cry.

Soon after, he left the room and returned to the Alchemy Room to continue learning how to refine Third-tier Pills.

In the blink of an eye.

Half a month passed.

Chen An had successfully learned all twenty-two Third-tier Pill recipes he had bought, and over the past three days, he had mastered them thoroughly; his proficiency had reached a very high level.

"In just about a month, I've learned to refine twenty-two new types of Third-tier Pills; this efficiency is truly not bad."

"Hmm, it's time to go to the Market to buy new Third-tier Pill recipes to learn."

"I also need to buy some medicinal herbs; my previous stock is almost used up."

"However, it is already late, so I'd better wait until tomorrow."

"Today seems to be the day to sleep with Shen Qingyi; it's about time to head over."

Thinking of this, Chen An got up and headed to Shen Qingyi's room to play a role-playing game of female knight and thief with her, to add a little spice to their marital life.

About three hours later.

【Sword Technique +3, Gold Spirit Root aptitude +3】 x36

"Husband, can you please not say such lewd things in the future? I find it very embarrassing to hear."

"It's fine, you'll get used to it."

"Alright then."

Shen Qingyi was somewhat reluctant in her heart, but in the end, she chose to accommodate Chen An.

Not long after, Shen Qingyi fell asleep.

She had not slept for nearly half a month, so it was time to catch up on some sleep.

Meanwhile, Chen An, who was holding her, was currently full of energy.

He wanted to continue lingering in bed with his wives and concubines, but all four of them were already asleep.

He wanted to refine pills, but the materials for refining pills were all used up.

He wanted to refine Spirit Stones to cultivate, but he didn't have many Spirit Stones left in his pocket, and they all had to be saved for buying Third-tier Pill recipes to learn.

"Forget it, since I'm just idling in the tunnel anyway, I might as well go to the Market to sell some things for money, and then buy some more Third-tier Pill recipes."

With that thought, Chen An took paper and pen to leave a note for his sleeping wives and concubines, saying he was heading to the Market.

Then, he quickly left the tunnel.

Just as he walked out of the tunnel and prepared to use Sword Flight to leave.

Chen An's expression suddenly changed.

He saw a familiar figure not far ahead.

It was none other than the woman in the purple dress!

Chen An looked closely and discovered that the woman in the purple dress was squatting around the tunnel, painting and drawing, covering the ground with Talismans inscribed with various ancient runes.

She appeared to be setting up some kind of array.

Seeing this scene, a chill and lingering fear instantly rose from the bottom of Chen An's heart.

This fox demon knows I live in the tunnel!

The array she is currently setting up is aimed at me!

This tunnel can no longer be lived in!

Also, this fox demon must be dealt with!

She knows Severing Tail to Escape; I cannot just kill her and be done with it like before!

Imprisonment!

I must imprison her!

Restrict her freedom!

In just a brief moment, thousands of thoughts flashed through Chen An's mind, and he finally arrived at this solution.

Once he had an idea in his heart, he immediately used the Sage's Art on himself, allowing him to enter a Sage Mode that could grant immunity to the Charm Technique.

Then, under the illumination of the faint moonlight, he used the Shadow Kill Technique all the way along the shadows of the grass and trees, approaching the back of the purple-skirted woman without a sound.

PS: I can't reach ten thousand words today, I estimate there will only be about eight thousand words; as usual, I'll send red envelopes in the group chat at twelve o'clock.