The little white fox’s ears twitched, and it immediately started "jiji" communicating to Chen Ye inside his garment.
Although it felt that human thoughts were overly complex, it also understood this was the easiest solution.
Almost the moment the little white fox "finished speaking."
Several vines—or rather, tendrils—suddenly flew out from Chen Ye’s sleeve.
They fiercely crashed into the rock wall, sending debris flying and stirring up a cloud of dust!
Bang!
At the same time,
A powerful aura erupted, rushing madly towards the valley entrance!
This sudden commotion was like a ferocious beast finally enraged, starting a desperate breakout!
Peng Hai, Yin Su, and the others in the miasma had their expressions change dramatically.
"Not good! That beast is trying to escape!" Peng Hai shouted urgently.
The old and cloudy eyes of Yin Su flashed with a sharp light: "The aura is fierce! Indeed, it’s not just the power of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage! Stop it quickly!"
Luo Heng also felt the intense impact, his mind tense.
The aura of the demon vine spiked momentarily as if trying to escape, its target clearly the weak point at the valley entrance...
This was indeed the normal reaction of a powerful demon beast facing a siege.
"Go! Chase it!"
"Don’t let it escape!"
"The treasure is still with it!"
The cultivators were startled into a bit of chaos by the unexpected burst, but greed quickly overcame their fear.
Not sure who led the charge, the remaining cultivators no longer lingered in battle and rushed towards the escaping aura.
After all, the Vine King was at the Middle Period of the Foundation Establishment, more than enough to deceive these cultivators.
For a while, cries and the sound of magical artifacts breaking through the air mixed together, and figures rushed out of the miasma.
The miasma also thinned immediately.
In Chen Ye’s embrace, the vigorously wriggling tendrils had long calmed down, tightly wrapping around his arm and concealing all aura.
The little white fox also obediently lay on Chen Ye’s shoulder, though its little claws gently gripped his clothes, a bit nervous.
If they discovered the Vine King was on this villain’s person,
wouldn’t it be beaten into fox scraps?
"Cough cough..."
Chen Ye’s figure swayed as he walked out from a whirl of green mist, his face slightly pale.
"Taoist Friend Chen! Are you alright?"
Luo Heng was one of the few who hadn’t rushed out immediately. He carefully surveyed the surroundings and sighed in relief only after seeing Chen Ye appear safely, but he couldn’t help but note his condition.
"Cough, it’s nothing! That beast suddenly went berserk, its momentum terrifying, I almost suffered."
Chen Ye waved his hand, his eyes urgently looking towards the noisy direction outside the valley,
"It’s trying to break out and escape! Taoist Friend Luo, we should hurry and chase it too! Don’t let the others get there first!"
As he spoke, he summoned his Flying Sword without hesitation.
Luo Heng suppressed the strangeness in his heart. At this point, he could only go along with it:
"Alright! Chase!"
He immediately drove his magical artifact as well, rushing out of the valley one after the other with Chen Ye.
Outside the valley, it was already a chaotic scene.
Meanwhile, Peng Hai, Yin Su, and the rest searched the valley first.
But the valley was already empty, those demon vines having vanished into thin air!
Only leaving behind some residual vines, but these vines were not the demon vine’s true form, just its innate ability.
Unable to find anything, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators had to join the other cultivators in pursuit.
After Chen Ye joined, he pretended to be searching earnestly.
From time to time, he would have the Vine King create faint traces of aura, clearing himself of any suspicion.
"There it goes again!"
"Damn it! That beast is so cunning!"
"Search separately! It surely hasn’t fled far!"
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Chen Ye symbolically searched for quite a while. As dusk approached, estimating that enough time had passed, he seized the moment to speak in a low voice to Peng Hai, the leader of the group:
"Taoist Friend Peng, the hour grows late, this crafty beast hides itself well. Continuing the chase may be fruitless and could attract other dangers. I was shaken internally by that beast’s final outburst and need to recover quickly, so I shall take my leave for now."
Although Peng Hai and the others felt unwilling, they indeed hadn’t gained anything. Seeing Chen Ye’s unwell appearance, it was inappropriate to force him to stay.
Luo Heng watched from the side, feeling even more doubtful.
The others might not know, but did he not?
Chen Ye was a Spirit Plant Cultivator; he might really have a way to control the Vine King.
"Fine, if he’s taking it, then let him take it... Why stir trouble for nothing."
Thinking this, Luo Heng smiled and said:
"Taoist Friend Chen, take care. If there are any clues in the future, I hope we can keep each other informed."
Chen Ye nodded, saying no more, and with the seemingly weary little fox on his shoulder, rode his Iron Sword and swiftly disappeared into the deepening twilight over the mountains.
The small cool tendril tightly attached to his arm wriggled slightly, as if expressing gratitude.
The Vine King indeed had the ability to escape, but it couldn’t abandon its kin—if it had intelligence, perhaps it would understand the need to cut losses and would have long ago escaped into the sky.
If Chen Ye hadn’t come, it would have eventually been worn down to death by the cultivators.
...
A day later, at Luoli Courtyard.
The afternoon at Luoli Courtyard was quiet.
Qing Jun was cultivating at Baopu Peak.
Little Shuyao was cultivating with the Lin sisters at Herb Peak.
Zhiwei was as usual huddled in her room in secluded cultivation.
In summary, it was another day of diligent cultivation.
In fact, no one yet knew that Chen Ye had returned home.
After returning home, not wanting to disturb his disciple’s cultivation, Chen Ye, with the little white fox, tested the Vine King in the Quiet Chamber.
Faintly,
The sound of a fox whimpering could still be heard in the Quiet Chamber:
"Gu!"
A snow-white, adorable little fox was seen hanging in the air, its limbs bound by tendrils, struggling continuously, yet unable to escape the grasp of the tendrils.
And those tendrils were actually emerging from a man’s sleeve!
The little white fox felt utterly hopeless.
What’s going on here?
The Vine King was clearly its good friend, so why, after Chen Ye cast some spell, would it help Chen Ye bully it?
Thinking this way, sadness welled up in the little white fox’s heart, its eyes misty, like a fox corpse, too tired to move.
It knew the more it struggled, the more excited the wicked human became!
A Saint Heir of the Refining God Sect, ending up like this...
Seeing it had gone too far, Chen Ye quickly instructed the tendrils to let the little fox down, approaching with a playful smile:
"Little White, I was just wanting to play with you. Look, isn’t swinging back and forth in the air quite fun?"
Who plays with a fox like this!
The little white fox turned around, showing its back to Chen Ye, not forgetting to use its fluffy tail to cover its head.
The Vine King also apologetically moved to the little white fox’s side, continuously touching its head with its tendrils.
"Jiji! (Not listening!)"
The little white fox completely ignored the Vine King, huffily curling into a ball.
At this moment, Chen Ye indeed felt rare guilt.
Upon returning to the sect, he had used the authority of an A-rank Guardian to exchange for a contract method.
And the Vine King trusted the little white fox innately, with the little white fox’s help, he smoothly contracted the Vine King.
As for raising the little white fox, it was to test whether, after contracting, the Vine King would listen to him or the little white fox...
The test results showed that,
As long as it didn’t harm the little white fox’s life, the Vine King would obey his commands.
If Chen Ye forcibly made the Vine King kill the little white fox, the Vine King would even forcibly break the contract.
After all, the Vine King was a Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer demon plant. Chen Ye couldn’t make a master-servant contract and thus chose an equal reciprocal contract.
"Whimper..."
The little furball pitifully huddled in the corner, whimpering softly.
How could Chen Ye have known that the little white fox truly regarded the Vine King as a friend?
Simultaneously, it trusted Chen Ye, thus cooperating with his spell casting.
Yet it didn’t expect Chen Ye to secretly contract with the Vine King behind its back, and after the contract, use the Vine King to bully it!
This truly broke the fox’s heart!
Chen Ye sighed.
There was no help for it, the fox’s heart would just have to be broken.
He couldn’t abandon the contract with a Middle Period Foundation Establishment demon beast just for a fox’s feelings.
As for the test, it was necessary...
He had to ensure the demon pet at his side would prioritize obeying his commands.
If it listened to others, it would become a fatal threat.
At worst, he’d just have to placate it more these days.
After all, it’s just a little fox!