Chapter 346 - 345

In the blink of an eye, over half an hour had passed.

Yulian fiddled in the kitchen for a while, then brought out several servings of stir-fried dishes to the dining table.

I have to say.

Even though Yulian looks like a troublesome fox demon, she is actually quite virtuous at heart.

As the head of her own household, she lived alone in a big villa without any housekeepers or maids.

She took care of chores like laundry and cooking by herself. Truly a jack of all trades.

When Li Jing sees Yulian place the meal on the dining table, he gets up from his phone and takes a look. Turning his head, he smiled and said.

"Xiaoyu, your cooking skills are getting better and better."

"Compared to you, I am still lacking."

Yulian laughed and replied.

"Wait a moment, there is also Century Egg and Lean Meat Congee inside, let me serve two bowls."

"Alright."

Li Jing nodded and sat down at the table.

...

Soon, Yulian came out with two bowls of porridge.

She handed a larger bowl to Li Jing and sat down next to him.

Seeing this, Li Jing took the opportunity to strike up a conversation.

"Xiaoyu, how much do you know about the Lingnan Fox Clan?"

Just as Yulian was about to start her meal, she paused and looked at him in surprise.

"I know a bit, why? Why are you suddenly interested in the Lingnan Fox Clan?"

"They have connections with the Demon Beast Union."

Li Jing said, and added "The man-eating fox demon Su Mei, she is from the Lingnan Fox Clan."

Hearing this, Yulian frowned.

She had previously sent Su Mei’s corpse to the inspection agency.

She was very clear about what Su Mei actually looked like.

As to what species of fox turned into a demon, Yulian didn’t have a clear idea, but definitely it was not the odd-looking Lingnan Fox.

However, if Li Jing said this, he must have verified her origins.

Yulian knew that not everyone in the Lingnan Fox Clan was a Lingnan fox that became a demon.

She moistened her red lips and said, "The history of the Lingnan Fox Clan is quite long, and it can be called a ’super rich family’ among our fox demons. There are rumors that there are no fewer than seven fox demon elders in the Lingnan Fox Clan who have lived for a thousand years, but no one knows if this number is accurate. However, according to my understanding, there are at least two Heavenly Foxes in the Lingnan Fox Clan."

"Heavenly Fox?"

Li Jing blinked.

This term was a bit unfamiliar.

"Which is Eighth Realm."

Yulian shrugged and said, "We fox demons naturally have wit, and although our combat power might not be that strong compared to other creatures, our level of intelligence is undeniably top among all creatures. We fox demons have our own culture, but we just don’t publicize it."

Speaking of this, she slowly recounted.

"These things can be complicated if you go into details, so I won’t explain too much here. About the Heavenly Fox, it’s actually a standard we fox demons set independently from the current world. From first to third realm are spiritual foxes, fourth to seventh realm are demon foxes, and those above the eighth realm are Heavenly Foxes."

"I see?"

Li Jing blinked, feeling a bit disappointed.

He thought there was something special about Heavenly Foxes, turns out they’re just the Eighth Realm?

That there are creatures of Eighth Realm in the world is not surprising.

Even the Seventh Realm, which is considered modern mythology for most people, is not that rare.

It’s just that they hide from the public due to various restrictions, and ordinary people rarely hear about them.

Let’s take Li Jing for example.

Right now, he has every right to make contact with the guardian gods of a nation just by judging his personal cultivation level.

However, he didn’t even know who the three guardian gods currently serving in Longyu are, let alone those from other countries.

He only recognized one called Jester after his trip to White Hawk.

But the fact that there are Eighth Realm powerhouses in the Lingnan Fox Clan, and not just one of them, indeed caught Li Jing by surprise.

The Lingnan Fox Clan is quite famous after all.

They are nestled in the Lingnan Nature Reserve, of which people like him, who know little of the outside world, may not be aware. But the officials in Longyu couldn’t possibly be ignorant.

Under normal circumstances, they would turn a blind eye.A group of Eighth Realm fox demons hiding in their own territory, I’m afraid, would not go unnoticed by Longyu.

Thus, Li Jing began to consider a possibility.

The Lingnan Fox Clan could very likely be a similar hidden world sect that had an agreement with the Longyu authorities allowing it to exist as a demon power.

If there are members in the Eighth Realm, then there must be those in the Seventh Realm like the Fox Master.

If it was an obscure fox demon force, then it wouldn’t matter much.

But an "upper-class house" such as this one that is so famous among fox demons, is not something that the Longyu authorities could possibly be ignorant of.

At the end of the day...

Longyu has this peace agreement argument.

Many great demons who have signed their agreement are not a few, among them are Sixth Realm fox demons like Jiu Li, who are more or less recognized by Longyu.

With such recognition, they certainly cannot turn a blind eye.

As if knowing what Li Jing was speculating in his mind, Yulian said,

"The Lingnan Fox Clan residing in the nature reserve of Lingnan City is a unique demon power. They have deep connections with Longyu, after all, the land they live on belongs to Longyu. The great demons of the Lingnan Fox Clan, those who are in the Sixth Realm and above, have all signed a peace agreement."

Upon hearing her words, Li Jing raised an eyebrow, thinking that it must be true.

Meanwhile, Yulian continued,

"Theoretically, the Lingnan Fox Clan is unlikely to have connections with the Demon Beast Union. Although the Lingnan Fox Clan may not be as powerful as those unknown hidden world sects, they are not far off. To put it bluntly, the Demon Beast Union is not worthy of associating with the Lingnan Fox Clan. And those underhanded dealings of the Union... the Lingnan Fox Clan would never stoop to such acts."

With that, she took a sip of her Century Egg and Lean Meat Congee, and continued,

"That man-eating fox demon is most likely a fox demon who was expelled from the Lingnan Fox Clan."

"As an influential fox demon force, the Lingnan Fox Clan tends to be friendly towards fox demons who are not of their kind, unless the fox demons are of unknown origin, they are generally welcomed."

"With a larger base population, some odd fox demons naturally appear, and there are often those who are expelled from the Lingnan Fox Clan."

Listening to Yulian’s string of statements, Li Jing furrowed his brow.

He had to admit that what Yulian said made sense.

The reputation of the Lingnan Fox Clan logically didn’t appear to have any connection with the Demon Beast Union.

The two parties are completely incomparable.

The Demon Beast Union, at most, can only be said to be a relatively large, immoral, demon group.

However, the Lingnan Fox Clan is an "upper-class house" that has formally signed a peace treaty with Longyu, securing a habitat in a nature reserve. Their position is on par with the hidden world sects.

In addition to Su Mei, Li Jing also came across a Fox Master.

After briefly falling silent, Li Jing asked,

"Shouldn’t the title ’Fox Master’ be exclusive to those in power within the Lingnan Fox Clan?"

"Fox Master?"

Yulian blinked her beautiful eyes a couple of times before shaking her head,

"I’ve never heard of this title. The Lingnan Fox Clan is a group mainly composed of Lingnan foxes. They have a clan chief, elders and also guest ministers from other fox clans. They have their own system internally, but no grand title as ’Fox Master’."

Hearing Yulian’s answer, Li Jing slightly furrowed his brow.

He, of course, would trust what Yulian said.

Not to mention their close relationship, there’s no reason for Yulian to lie to him.

But Yue Ling Ling too, wouldn’t lie to him.

Hence, he realized a problem.

This so-called Fox Master is actually not from the Lingnan Fox Clan, but rather from another fox demon force.

He misunderstood...

The Fox Master’s origin in the Lingnan Fox Clan was something Yue Ling Ling told him, he didn’t hear it from the Fox Master or Su Mei themselves.

This probability, that Fox Master was pretending to be from the Lingnan Fox Clan while interacting with Yue Ling Ling doesn’t seem too likely.

Compared to humans, demons are relatively straightforward.

They might put on a front, but they wouldn’t brag excessively.

With the Fox Master’s cultivation level at the Seventh Realm, there was no point in boasting to Yue Ling Ling, who had barely stepped into the Third Realm, at the time.

With such a vast cultivation level difference, why brag?

Upon thinking carefully, Yue Lingling’s message seemed to only indicate that Fox Master was a jerk from the Lingnan Fox Clan, rather than the boss of the Lingnan Fox Clan.

Upon scrutiny, Li Jing came to a conclusion.

Even though Fox Master originated from the Lingnan Fox Clan, he had long been excommunicated and expelled.

Having reached this conclusion, Li Jing became even more interested in the origins of the Fox Master.

Since Lingnan Fox Clan signed a peace treaty with Longyu as Yulian had told him, Li Jing naturally couldn’t harbor any thoughts against them.

On top of everything else...

The signatories of the peace treaty are protected by Longyu’s laws.

Taking direct action against them wouldn’t be practical.

Moreover, they have not only one, but several Heavenly Foxes of the Eighth Realm stationed there.

Li Jing was capable of killing those at the Eighth Realm.

However, if he was up against several, he couldn’t deny that he might face difficulties.

However, the Fox Master’s case led to another fox demon force right?

The Lingnan Fox Clan has no connection with the Demon Beast Union, but there must be some power behind the Fox Master, right?

This could be interesting.

After gulping down a few bites of the flavorful Century Egg and Lean Meat Congee, Li Jing narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Xiaoyu, I’m planning to take a trip to Lingnan in a couple of days. Do you want to come with me?"

?

Yulian slowly typed out a question mark, frowning.

"You... You’re not planning on causing trouble with the Lingnan Fox Clan, are you?"

"People have signed peace treaties, they possess basic civil rights, I cannot just find someone to trouble them, can I?"

As Li Jing spoke, he conjured the Fox Master’s corpse from his storage space and casually tossed it to one side.

"This is the Fox Master. He was the head of the Demon Beast Union’s stronghold that I eliminated. He had reached the Seventh Realm in terms of his cultivation level. I recognized a fox demon who had once been part of the Demon Beast Union but has since severed ties. I sought her out to verify the situation. She confirmed that she had met the Fox Master, and revealed to me that he was originally from the Lingnan Fox Clan."

"..."

Yulian.

She was oblivious to the existence of the Fox Master.

Li Jing abruptly unveiling the corpse literally startled her.

Even though it was dead, a seventh realm entity was still a seventh realm entity.

As a sixth realm monster, she could immediately sense its aura.

For Li Jing to just whip it out like that, it was quite a shocker.

After studying the almost intact corpse—missing only its head—that Li Jing had casually tossed aside, Yulian couldn’t help but look at Li Jing with a growing sense of incredulity.

Just how powerful was Li Jing now? She truly couldn’t comprehend.

Although the corpse was small, it had nine fox tails.

Clearly, this was a fox demon with the Thousand Faces ability, like Jiu Li.

Among all fox demons, a Thousand-faced fox demon’s combat ability was undoubtedly top-tier.

A seventh realm Thousand-faced fox demon, and Li Jing had easily eliminated it single-handedly. Yulian wasn’t surprised.

After all, Li Jing had done even more outrageous things in the Chongyuan Holy Realm.

Furthermore, after the incident on Dark Street, she realized that Li Jing had quietly made his way into the Seventh Realm.

So, here comes the issue.

Looking at the intact level of the corpse, it was obvious that it had been killed instantly without even having a chance to resist.

One hit kill—a seventh realm entity!

Really?

Back when Li Jing was in the fifth realm, it was acceptable that he could instantly kill fifth realm entities.

Now that he was in the seventh realm, he could still instantly kill major demons of the same realm...

This was, to speak frankly, far-fetched.

Ever since they transform into monsters, their individual strength greatly surpasses human cultivators at the same realm level.

Monsters, especially those focused on physical strength, have a higher tolerance for error in combat.

The advantage human cultivators have when facing monsters come from external forces like skills and weapons.

As the realm level increases, the gap between the individual strength of monsters and human cultivators grows larger and larger.

Without an array of formidable skills and weapons to support them, human cultivators find it difficult to stand against monsters.

But even with such skills and weapons, human cultivators can at most match a monster, unless... unless the skills and weapons they possess are extremely unconventional...

Gazing steadily at Li Jing, Yulian’s expression grew complex.

Looking at Li Jing’s harmless face, she suddenly realized she shouldn’t be surprised.

Since she met him, when has Li Jing ever behaved conventionally?

Isn’t his accomplishing all these impossible feats just a testament to him possessing skills and weapons that exceed the norm?

After swallowing more of the Century Egg and Lean Meat Congee to calm her nerves, Yulian pursed her lips.

"If you want to go to Lingnan, I can go with you. But Sisi is still at the Liu family, aren’t you...?"

"No big deal, I just want to take a trip, learn more about the Fox Master, and see if there’s anything to gain regarding the Demon Beast Union." Li Jing smiled, saying,

"Sisi rarely has the chance to visit the capital for a while, it’s no big deal to stay longer. I’ll text her later to let her know, that’s all. As for Brother Jiu, it’s better for her to stay in the capital with Sisi, there’s no need for her to come."

Hearing Li Jing say this, Yulian didn’t think much of it and nodded.

"Alright, just let me know when you’re ready to leave for Lingnan, and bring me along."

As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a picture of the Fox Master’s corpse on the ground, then sent it off.

Seeing this, Li Jing paused, then realized she had sent it to Jiu Li.

With this realization, the corners of Li Jing’s mouth twitched several times.

There were quite a few yin-yang characters around him.

Among the females around him, Yulian was the most normal one.

Mature, steady, understanding.

But it turned out, there was evil in humans too.

Brother Jiu was generally bold.

But upon receiving a decapitated corpse of the thousand-faced fox demon, even she, with her boldness, could not turn a blind eye.

Fox demons with the potential to awaken the thousand-faced gift were rare.

The photo was even sent by her ’enemy’, Yulian...

This was even more fierce than sending a razor blade...

Seeing Yulian take the photo and send it, then leisurely resume her breakfast, Li Jing wanted to say something but didn’t know what, so he simply played ignorant and focused on his congee.

After only a couple of sips, his pocket vibrated with his phone.

Without taking out his phone, Li Jing could guess who the message was from.

In matters between women, he felt it was better for him, a rough man, not to get involved too much.

In Yulian’s presence, he couldn’t just be Brother Jiu’s advocate, right?

Moreover, he had an appointment with Yulian to go to Lingnan.

He should ideally cooperate and put some pressure on Brother Jiu, who was currently roaming around somewhere before he left.

At least, he had to make Brother Jiu feel threatened into coming back to continue drafting.

...

After having breakfast with Yulian, Li Jing left to the Liu family to report to Liu Sisi.

Li Jing was always busy with one thing or another, which Liu Sisi was already used to.

It had only been a day and a night since someone was suddenly taken away by the Inspectorate General, and she was prepared not to see him for a few days. So she didn’t ask much.

This time in the capital city, she had planned to stay longer to accompany her elderly mother.

After all, it was rather seldom that she came here.

After reporting to Liu Sisi, Li Jing didn’t stay at the Liu family house for long, but went straight to Jianghai.

He still needed to see Yue Lingling in person.

He had already confirmed during breakfast that she had finished her live stream.

With his Sky Control speed, it wouldn’t take long to go back and forth from the capital city to Jianghai, so he decided to check if he could gain anything from a visit.

...

Around eight to nine in the morning, Li Jing controlled the Spirit Soldier to Jianghai and hovered above the Earth Realm. He took out his phone and found Yue Lingling’s Immortal Message.

"Miss Lingling, I am in Jianghai. Tell me a place, and I will come to you."

They had agreed in advance, so Yue Lingling was waiting for Li Jing to contact her.

As it happened, just as he had sent the message, she immediately replied.

"17 New City Small Mansion, my house. I’ve streamed all night and don’t want to go out, just come over."

Seeing that she provided her home address, Li Jing didn’t give it much thought. He replied "I’ll get there soon," opened the location to find the exact location, and guided the Spirit Soldier straight towards it..

...

As a Three Realm fox demon, Yue Lingling was richer compared to ordinary Three Realm monsters.

The place where she lived, New City Small Mansion, was a high-end villa park.

It was slightly out of the way and therefore relatively cheap, yet the environment and villa specifications were no worse than Li Jing’s Closed Moon Flower Garden.

Li Jing didn’t take long to locate the New City Small Mansion and found Yue Lingling’s house according to the house number.

When dealing with benefactors, Yue Lingling was definitely not negligent.

When Li Jing arrived, she was eagerly waiting for him in her yard.

Seeing Li Jing arrive, Yue Lingling revealed a smile and waved at him, looking at him with somewhat envious eyes.

She had known Li Jing for much longer than Yulian had.

Back then, Li Jing was just an ordinary young man who could easily be overlooked in a crowd, but now...

Yue Lingling didn’t know much about Li Jing, nor did she know how strong he was.

But she knew for sure,

That Li Jing was initially just a worker in a Chicken Shop, earning a meager salary for killing chickens.

But now, he could casually give donations worth hundreds of millions...

When she received his donation earlier, Yue Lingling was thinking.

How nice it would be if she had met Li Jing, this inexplicably soaring "potential stock", instead of Meng Fanhao?

Unfortunately, life doesn’t have an ’if’.

Li Jing landed and greeted Yue Lingling with a slight smile.

"Miss Lingling, long time no see."

"If we’re talking about meeting in person, it indeed has been quite a while."

Yue Lingling replied with a faint smile, turning her body to the side and saying,

"Don’t stand outside. Let’s go inside to talk."

Li Jing nodded at her words.

"I hope I’m not intruding."