After killing his own flesh, Zhang Chen will be forever trapped here. As long as Zhang Chen hasn’t gone mad, he would never do such a thing.
"Boy, have you thought it over? If you’re sensible, hand over the True Dragon Destiny obediently, and I’ll take you out of here, giving you a chance to live. Otherwise, by the next time I come, I’m afraid you’ll have starved to death in this tomb." The Fox Spirit’s voice was very pleased, filled with smugness.
Upon hearing the Fox Spirit’s words, Zhang Chen realized that the upcoming events would definitely not end well.
Since it cannot end well, it’s naturally time to strike fiercely! Strike first to gain the upper hand, or suffer the consequences!
In the next moment, Zhang Chen’s palm suddenly revealed a tiny mouth, with two fangs extending out and piercing into the Fox Spirit’s body. Then, the Fox Spirit’s blood began to pour continuously into Zhang Chen’s body.
While absorbing the Fox Spirit’s blood, Zhang Chen carefully observed the reaction of the Fox Spirit within the walls, yet it seemed unaware of the blood loss from its own body, as if the flesh was not its own.
After three breaths, until Zhang Chen absorbed all of the Fox Spirit’s blood, the Fox Spirit within the walls continued to stare angrily at Zhang Chen, waiting for his decision.
Zhang Chen stroked the Fox Spirit’s body, confirming that the Fox Spirit had ceased breathing, yet the soul across showed no reaction — truly strange!
"It shouldn’t be this way! That body is the Fox Spirit’s, and now with the body’s death, how could the Fox Spirit’s soul emergence have no connection to the body?" Zhang Chen was puzzled.
According to his understanding, the flesh is the foundation, the source of everything, the origin of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Now, having dealt with the Fox Spirit’s body and it showing no reaction, isn’t that strange?
"Skill Soul Hook---activate!"
The next moment, Zhang Chen executed his new skill without hesitation.
Then, Zhang Chen’s soul chains slightly swayed, and in the next moment, Zhang Chen felt his surroundings transition between realms, mist strangely emerged around. The sights and sounds within the tomb seemed distant, the world turned dim, somewhat resembling the Netherworld from Journey to the West, yet the entire world seemed dead, with no sound except for Zhang Chen standing alone in darkness.
"Where is this?" Zhang Chen gazed at the dark world before him, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Then, he realized his body appeared transparent, transforming into a soul form.
Mysteriously, a force augmented his soul, revealing an enigmatic rune within, which flickered for a moment. Zhang Chen seemed to understand the principle of the skill, directly stepping onto the sole chain, embarking into the deeper mist.
Zhang Chen seemed to walk ten steps, yet also hundreds of steps, when suddenly a light flickered before him. The mist of the Netherworld swiftly dispersed into a ten-meter circle, revealing a deep dark cave, which looked somewhat familiar. Zhang Chen, focusing his gaze through the circle, found himself standing on ice, holding a Luminous Pearl.
He saw through the circle the white-furred fox, its soul attached within the stone wall, forming a silhouette that looked down on him.
The world within the soul’s mist and the world beyond the circle seemed like two different realms; the soul’s mist was the Netherworld, beyond the circle was the Material World.
The soul chains now lay beneath his feet, while the other end was directly embedded in the Fox Spirit’s soul.
At this moment, the time and space within the cave appeared to be halted. Zhang Chen noticed his own breathing had paused, the Fox Spirit had stopped mid-sentence, its cursing expression vividly imprinted on the wall.
Instinctively, Zhang Chen felt that by slightly tugging the chain, he could pull the soul from the Material World into this strange world.
In reality, Zhang Chen indeed did exactly that, bending down to grab the chain floating in the void below, and lightly pulling, pulling out a small miniature Fox Spirit from the Fox Immortal Maiden’s body.
The Little Fox was very small, about the size of a fist, with a bewildered look in its eyes, lacking any spirituality. It resembled a naive beast, having no power to resist as Zhang Chen tugged the chain.
"Something’s not right! Way too wrong!"
As the Little Fox was pulled out by the chain, the chain split into two.
One connected to the Little Fox Spirit’s body, the other to the Fox Immortal Maiden’s body.
"How could this be?"
Zhang Chen was dumbfounded, looking at the fist-sized, adorably foolish white-furred Little Fox before him, with its big innocent eyes full of simplicity, showing no signs of awakened intellect.
With the Little Fox’s soul drawn into the misty world, the previously halted time resumed, and the Little Fox seemed to come alive, staring at Zhang Chen with a face full of disbelief and horror, emitting a series of whimpering cries, desperately trying to struggle, causing the chains to clatter.
"This Little Fox is entirely a normal fox spirit, lacking even the slightest hint of awakened intelligence!"
"How could it be like this? What is this Little Fox?"
With eyes fixed on the Little Fox, Zhang Chen’s hands twisted the chain, bringing the Little Fox to hover in front of him, struggling desperately to break free from Zhang Chen’s grip.
"It shouldn’t be! This Little Fox Spirit’s eyes completely devoid of any awakened wisdom, looking nothing like an intelligent being — what exactly is happening?"
Zhang Chen turned his gaze to his Golden Finger Interface: "Hey Golden Finger, are you bugging out? How come this situation arises, with two souls in one body?"
As Zhang Chen pondered, his Golden Finger seemed to detect something amiss, its interface twisted and crumbled into countless snowflakes.
An instant later, the snowflakes reformed, displaying new information.
[Species: Ordinary Fox]
[Level: None]
[Lifespan: 0]
[Note1: Body severed, soul can be hooked]
"Ordinary Fox?"
Seeing the description on his Golden Finger Interface, Zhang Chen was left buzzing, unable to figure out the situation — how does the Fox Spirit’s body contain another soul?
After closely inspecting the Little Fox Soul for a moment, Zhang Chen was perplexed, his eyes filled with confused shock. He turned to the white-clad maiden, noticing another chain linked to her body.
[Species: Fox]
[Level: Seventh Tier Possession Realm]
[Lifespan: 0]
[Note1: Body severed, soul can be hooked (Can possess a body to sustain life within seven days of severing!)]
"Damn!"
Gazing at the refreshed information on the Golden Finger Interface, Zhang Chen was trembling, as all his information instantly reorganized like electrical currents, replaying a scene in his mind.
Even previous unexplained matters are now deduced by Zhang Chen.
"This Fox Spirit has been concealing itself! Previously told me it was a Sixth Tier Appearance, who would have known it was actually a Seventh Tier Possession!" Zhang Chen cursed internally, gaining clarity on the past years’ events, having roughly deduced a storyline.
Based on the information before him, Zhang Chen organized the pieces from the last five years, resembling a movie, revealing a truth: roughly five years ago, for reasons unknown, the Fox Spirit’s body was destroyed, then possessing the Little Fox, suppressing its soul. Just then, the Fox Spirit newly possessed, with all skills like water, then caught by Hunter Wang Wu, nearly skinned for a fur collar.
At a critical moment, the neighboring scholar for some unknown reason decided to abandon his estate to buy the Fox Spirit from Wang Wu’s hands. Without even thinking, Zhang Chen knew there must be fox tricks involved — how the Fox at some point managed to form a connection with Zhang Chen, prompting him to spend his family fortune without hesitation to acquire the Fox Spirit.