Chapter 107: The Great Fox

Li Qiuyang had been back in the town for a few months when his father, Li Chengfu, died. The funeral was quite grand, and the main clan sent people to express their condolences. Li Qiuyang thanked the guests one by one, sitting alone in the mourning hall, staring blankly at his father's coffin. His brothers were respectful to him, which made him feel uncomfortable.

Li Chengfu died quite peacefully, holding on until Li Qiuyang returned to town before passing away. He went with a sense of relief, holding Li Qiuyang's hand on the bed and passing away quietly.

Looking at the mourning hall filled with white cloth, Li Qiuyang vaguely remembered when he was seven years old, Li Chengfu heard that the main clan was testing for spiritual aptitude. He took him out and left without a word. The two walked along the stone road for a while, and he asked his father:

"Father, where are we going?"

"To seek immortality!"

Li Chengfu said, laughing to himself.

One day, Li Chengfu got drunk with him and laughed softly:

"When I was young, catching fat rats in the fields, I could see there were three smart people in the village. One was Li Mutian, and one was Chen Erniu! One was fierce and calm, and the other was clever and capable."

"And the third?"

Li Qiuyang asked with a smile.

"It's Ye Chengfu."

Li Chengfu laughed loudly, his drunken eyes blurred, the wine bowl in his hand shaking uncontrollably.

Li Qiuyang suddenly woke up from his memory, looked at Li Chengfu lying coldly in the coffin, and saw a bouncing little child run into the room, wearing a white cloth tied to his forehead, looking at him with tears.

"Father!"

Holding his young child in his arms, Li Qiuyang muttered to himself:

"None of you eight have spiritual aptitude. Where does the hope for my lineage lie?"

"Father can only protect you for a lifetime of wealth. Since you have no spiritual aptitude, I'm afraid you will go before your father."

He looked at the ignorant child, and had just said two sentences when a clan soldier walked in from the door and bowed:

"Clan Uncle, the Clan Head is calling for you."

Li Qiuyang hurriedly stood up, packed his things, and rushed up Lijing Mountain. After walking along the stone road for a while, he saw a huge patterned snake corpse coiled on the ground.

"What a long worm!"

Li Qiuyang praised, and without waiting for Li Xuansuan to speak, he very consciously bent down and cast the Spirit-Sealing Technique on the demon's body. Li Xuansuan smiled and said:

"How is Clan Uncle's cultivation?"

"Fourth level, Green Origin Wheel."

Li Qiuyang chuckled. Beside him, Li Xuanfeng was wiping his bow, dressed in plain clothes and saying nothing, his mood clearly quite poor.

The clan soldiers below rushed up, sweating profusely, and whispered in Li Xuansuan's ear:

"Clan Head! News from the Shanyue! Jia Nixi is dead! Assassinated at the Shanyue Great Sacrifice."

Li Xuansuan was stunned for two breaths, then joy spread across his face. He hurriedly stood up and said to the two of them:

"Jia Nixi is dead, assassinated at the Great Sacrifice. We can finally sleep in peace! Let's have a big drink!"

The two were stunned. Li Xuanfeng paused, and said coldly:

"He got off easy."

Li Qiuyang's expression was quite complex, and he said silently:

"I saw many Shanyue commoners when I was in the Shanyue territory, and they were quite devoted to this person. Why would he be assassinated?"

Li Xuansuan nodded, took up the topic, and questioned:

"Moreover, his cultivation was at least at the peak of Qi Refining. Who could kill him except for a Foundation Establishment cultivator? There are many suspicious points in this. I'm afraid the water is very deep."

"What about Uncle? I'm afraid only he knows the key to it!"

Li Xuansuan asked, and Li Xuanfeng answered:

"He went to kill demons."

————

Li Tongya followed the mountain veins for a while, and according to his memory, found a large banyan tree with white leaves on a hillside. It stood on the slope, and the white leaves fell one after another, scattering a patch of mottled white on the ground.

Finding the location in his memory, he indeed saw a large red fox sleeping soundly by the tree. He had just stopped when the fox's ears pricked up sensitively, and it glared at him with narrowed eyes.

Li Tongya watched quietly for a while. This demon's cultivation was around the fifth level of Qi Refining. He had seen it once when he was looking for a sacrifice for the talisman energy, and had been frightened away by its aura from afar. Now that his cultivation had increased, it was just right to test his sword on it.

The big fox's eyes were quite agile. It stared at the sword in his hand and licked its paws, opening its big mouth to stutter:

"I haven't eaten... people."

Li Tongya was stunned, scanning the fox with his spiritual sense, confirming it was at the fifth level of Qi Refining and not Foundation Establishment. It was the first time he had seen a demon that had opened its spiritual wisdom and refined its transverse bone. For a moment, he didn't know how to answer, so he said softly:

"Fellow Daoist... I just want to spar with you, stopping at the point of contact."

Seeing the big fox speechless, Li Tongya laughed, raised his hand, and slashed at the big fox. The fox jumped up on the spot, extending its claws to block. For a time, the sound of metal clashing rang out. After dozens of moves, Li Tongya had a bottom line in his heart, opened the distance, and used sword aura to hack.

The demon fox was restricted for a time. After blocking a few sword auras, it opened its mouth and spat out a string of fox fire.

The fox fire was scorching red, and it rushed toward Li Tongya's face in a series, startling him into retreating several steps. Who knew the fox fire followed like a shadow, sticking to Li Tongya's protective true essence and sizzling.

Li Tongya spent several strands of true essence to extinguish the fox fire. The big fox had already bared its fangs and brandished its claws, rushing up to engage Li Tongya in close-quarters combat.

Li Tongya had long since retracted his sword to accumulate power. A white light erupted in his hand, and the Moon Palace Sword Arc surged out. The white sword arc was exceptionally sharp, stinging the big fox's hair until it stood on end. It retreated repeatedly, spitting out several groups of fox fire to eliminate the sword aura.

Just as it blocked the Moon Palace Sword Arc, several sword auras arrived in front of it. The big fox screamed, and even its speech became fluent. It said repeatedly:

"Don't fight! Don't fight... My superior is a Demon General, you... cannot kill me!"

Li Tongya's sword paused. He also wanted to take the opportunity to gather information, so he sheathed his sword and smiled:

"Fellow Daoist's fox fire is truly powerful!"

"Not as good as your sword."

The fox sighed low, revealing a trace of human-like frustration. It sat under the big banyan tree and answered lazily:

"You are... the family immortal from under the mountain? One who uses a bow killed many demons. Do you know him?"

Li Tongya knew it was Li Xuanfeng as soon as it mentioned the bow, and cupped his hands:

"Many thanks for your leniency, Fellow Daoist. It is indeed a junior from my family."

The big fox smacked its lips, groomed its fur, and called out lazily:

"How many die has nothing to do with me. Just don't disturb that big pig demon, and you can hunt the demons on the outskirts as you please."

"I wonder about this Demon General?"

Li Tongya asked with cupped hands, and saw the big fox stand up on its hind legs, gnashing its teeth:

"It's a Foundation Establishment pig demon. All the demons in this area are under its control. It's raw... overbearing. It eats this and that, and wants me to send spirit bamboo shoots to it every year..."

Li Tongya nodded, thinking to himself:

"There really is a Foundation Establishment demon in the mountains. Fortunately, I didn't rush into the mountains rashly! I only wandered around the outskirts."

Today is quite late~ trying two updates of over five thousand words (ó﹏ò)

(End of chapter)