Chapter 218 Fox Heart Moon Oath! Manipulation and Countermeasures!

Jiang Yun carefully placed the warm and heavy five-colored origin divine seed from his palm into his storage ring.

The vast, sea-like aura of the Five Elements Origin...

...still permeated through the spatial barriers of the storage ring...

...faintly transmitting heart-palpitating fluctuations.

He turned around.

Facing the direction where President Yun Xi had departed...

...he bowed deeply once more.

The gift from the President...

...was truly too profound.

It was not just a Sun-Level wonder capable of inciting a bloodbath, but also a heavy weight of trust and expectation.

"This Junior... will certainly not fail your expectations."

The whispered words dispersed into the night wind.

Jiang Yun straightened his back.

Within those clear eyes beneath the black robe...

...flashed a steadiness and decisiveness inconsistent with his age.

"President, since I have been appointed as a Grand Elder, and if the Guild has no immediate needs, I wish to head out for training and experience. For the coming period, I may leave the Guild for a while, perhaps to travel or handle some private matters. However, if the Guild has any tasks during this time, or if Senior has any instructions, please send word via Jade Slip at any time. I will return immediately without delay."

These words both clarified his whereabouts...

...and expressed his respect.

They also reserved enough room for personal freedom.

It was entirely reasonable.

President Yun Xi nodded with a smile.

The look of appreciation in his eyes grew even stronger.

Not arrogant or rash, knowing when to advance and when to retreat, understanding propriety.

Even with such status now, he remained low-profile.

"Go then."

His voice was gentle...

...carrying the concern of an elder and the confidence of a powerhouse.

"As a Grand Elder of the Guild, you have your own way of doing things; I will not interfere too much. Just remember, no matter where you go or what difficulties you encounter, the Appraisers Guild will always be your backing. Vice President Lin Yan will handle the Guild's daily affairs. If there are urgent or thorny matters, you can contact him directly or look for me."

"Yes! Thank you, President!"

Jiang Yun bowed solemnly once more.

With this promise...

...when he traveled abroad under the identity of Jiang Yun...

...his confidence would be even greater.

President Yun Xi nodded slightly.

He said no more.

Only the expectations contained in his gaze remained.

Jiang Yun bowed once more.

Only then did he truly turn around, walking with steady steps away from the quiet waterside pavilion toward the bluestone path outside Jianyun Residence.

Watching Jiang Yun's upright back gradually blend into the night...

...President Yun Xi finally slowly withdrew his gaze.

His fingertips unconsciously tapped lightly on the edge of the stone table, and a trace of inscrutable depth was added to his usual gentle smile... Meanwhile,

Jiang Yun had just walked a short distance from the courtyard gate...

...when the air beside him rippled with an almost imperceptible shimmer.

A figure as white as the moon emerged quietly, like a figure appearing from an ink wash painting, following him soundlessly and walking side-by-side.

It was the long-hidden Nine-Tailed Fox, Su Qingxue.

On her exquisite face beneath the light veil...

...the shame and dominance from the hall earlier were gone, replaced by a nearly burning urgency that was being suppressed with great effort, yet still overflowed from the depths of her purple eyes.

"Where is the item?"

She kept her voice extremely low.

It was cold, with an imperceptible tremor.

Her gaze was locked tightly on Jiang Yun.

As if she wanted to pierce through that black robe and mask.

"Did you get it?"

Jiang Yun did not stop walking.

He deliberately ignored her.

The corners of his mouth beneath the mask curled into a playful arc.

He tilted his head.

He glanced at the Fox Empress beside him, who usually held her head high and referred to herself as 'This Sovereign' at every turn. Now, she was following him like a child expecting candy. The gloom that had accumulated in his heart from being threatened and pressured for days instantly dissipated quite a bit.

Only then did he speak.

"With me taking action, it was naturally easy to obtain."

His tone was flat...

...as if he were speaking of a trivial matter, but that certainty caused Su Qingxue's tense heartstrings to suddenly relax.

"Really?!"

The Nine-Tailed Fox's alluring purple eyes instantly lit up brilliantly.

Like stars suddenly exploding in the night sky!

She even forgot to maintain her usual cold poise. With a flash of her figure, she moved like a teleportation, directly blocking Jiang Yun's path. Her plain white dress swayed gently in the night wind, carrying a faint fragrance.

She reached out her hand, white as jade yet trembling slightly with excitement, straight toward Jiang Yun. Her voice was filled with unconcealed desire and exhilaration.

"Give it to me!"

Four words.

Decisive!

Yet they sounded exceptionally crisp due to her surging emotions.

She even rarely omitted the words 'This Sovereign.'

At this moment, she was no longer the deeply calculating and dangerously unpredictable Nine-Tailed Fox Empress, but merely a cultivator who saw the hope of breaking through her shackles.

Jiang Yun stopped his steps.

He sized up the clearly out-of-sorts beautiful woman before him with great interest.

Moonlight spilled over her, outlining a breathtaking silhouette. The light veil could not hide the faint blush on her cheeks from excitement, and the light flickering in her purple eyes almost pulled one in.

However...

Jiang Yun just looked at her quietly for two seconds.

He smiled.

It was a smile carrying a bit of playfulness, a bit of cunning, and a bit of youthful pride.

He didn't speak.

Nor did he make any move to hand over the divine seed.

Instead, he lightly pivoted his feet.

He actually bypassed Su Qingxue and continued walking unhurriedly along the path.

"..."

Su Qingxue's extended hand froze in mid-air.

The excitement and expectation on her face receded like a tide, instantly replaced by a dazed blankness.

Huh?

She blinked those eyes that were enough to enchant the world, slowly turning her head in disbelief to look at Jiang Yun's leisurely departing back.

The night wind blew through her hair and skirt, but she didn't seem to feel it. She just stood there in a daze, unable to react for a moment.

What... does he mean by this?

He got it?

But he won't give it to her?

A feeling of indescribable humiliation, anger, and the absurdity of being toyed with surged from her heart like a wildfire!

"Jiang Yun!"

A low shout suppressed with fury rang out.

Su Qingxue's figure disappeared once more like a ghost.

In the next instant...

...she blocked Jiang Yun's path again.

This time...

...the distance was even closer, almost pressing against him.

A pressure far more solid and colder than before, like an invisible ice prison, crashed down, precisely enveloping Jiang Yun's entire body!

Bang!

The bluestone slabs beneath Jiang Yun's feet...

...silently developed several fine cracks.

He felt the air around him suddenly solidify, and pressure as heavy as a mountain squeezed from all directions, causing his body to sink abruptly and his raised foot to stop.

The muscles beneath his black robe instantly tensed.

His bones even made a faint creaking sound.

He looked up.

He met a pair of eyes that were now covered in frost, swirling with purple light, and showing hints of Evil Qi.

"What do you mean?"

The Nine-Tailed Fox spoke each word slowly.

Her voice seemed squeezed from between her teeth...

...carrying a bone-chilling coldness.

"Didn't we agree earlier? You dare to toy with This Sovereign?"

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop by several degrees.

The fury of an Amethyst Peak Vicious Beast sovereign, even if only a sliver leaked out, was enough to make a Gold Rank Beast Tamer's Soul tremble.

However...

Jiang Yun, at the center of the pressure, although his face beneath the mask turned slightly pale, his eyes were exceptionally calm, even carrying a hint of expected indifference.

What he wanted...

...was this very moment!

He wanted to use this divine seed to properly take this Mother Fox down a peg!

To let her know...

...that from now on, it was no longer a one-sided coercion and passive endurance, but a... cooperative relationship built on a certain equal contract.

"Mother Fox."

Jiang Yun spoke.

His voice through the mask sounded somewhat low but was crystal clear, even carrying a hint of deliberate provocation.

"You had better restrain your aura a bit."

He tilted his head slightly.

Despite being uncomfortable under the pressure...

...his gaze met Su Qingxue's cold eyes without any evasion.

"This is the heart of the Human Race's territory, the core of the provincial city, and right at the feet of the Appraisers Guild. If you continue to release your aura so recklessly and attract the senses of those human powerhouses... even if you kill me now and take the divine seed, do you think you can leave safely?"

He paused.

His tone took on a hint of mockery.

"Moreover, President Yun Xi just told me he saw you. Do you think, with his cultivation, if you cause a major disturbance here, he wouldn't notice? When the time comes, facing a human Sun-Level powerhouse and the encirclement of countless Eclipsing Moon Rank experts... Tsk tsk, Your Majesty, how much confidence do you have in escaping?"

"You!!"

Su Qingxue's delicate body trembled. Her exquisite face turned from pale with anger to red, and the fire in her purple eyes almost turned into substance and erupted!

"Despicable human!"

She gritted her teeth, her chest heaving slightly.

She was clearly beyond furious.

"Going back on your word and threatening This Sovereign is one thing, but you actually dare... actually dare to call me..."

The words 'Mother Fox'...

...she seemed too ashamed to say.

Ultimately, it turned into a scolding filled with endless resentment.

"Mother was right! You humans are indeed all cunning, despicable, and untrustworthy scoundrels!"

Seeing her so exasperated yet forced to suppress her anger out of wariness, Jiang Yun felt refreshed but also found it slightly amusing.

He shook his head, his tone returning to a bit of seriousness.

"When did I go back on my word?"

"You!"

Su Qingxue pointed at Jiang Yun, her jade-like finger trembling slightly with rage.

"You got the item but won't give it to me. If that's not going back on your word, then what is?!"

"I said I would help you get it, and I have gotten it."

Jiang Yun was unhurried.

"But when did I ever say I would give it to you right now, unconditionally?"

He deliberately emphasized the word 'unconditionally.'

Su Qingxue was startled.

Jiang Yun continued:

"Humans have a saying: words carry no weight. Your promise to protect me for half a year is just empty talk. To you, does it have any binding force? Today you are in a good mood and might keep it; tomorrow you are in a bad mood or encounter a greater temptation, you might turn and leave, or even kill me. What could I do then?"

He looked at Su Qingxue with sharp eyes.

"You want the divine seed? Fine. But the prerequisite is that you must make the condition you promised me guaranteed. Make me believe that within these six months, you won't break the contract at any time, or even... won't kill me to silence me the moment you get the divine seed."

Jiang Yun spread his hands.

His tone carried a hint of helplessness...

...but his eyes were as shrewd as a fox.

"After all, with your strength, if you want to leave or kill me, I can't stop you at all. Giving you this divine seed is no different from handing my life over to you. I don't do such losing business."

Silence.

The night wind brushed past, carrying a chill.

Su Qingxue stared fixedly at Jiang Yun.

The anger in those purple eyes was gradually replaced by a complex emotion.

Astonishment, scrutiny, a hint of realization, and some... indescribable sense of frustration.

For the first time...

...she looked at this human youth so seriously.

A sixteen-year-old body, the weak spiritual energy fluctuations of a Gold Rank... yet the eyes beneath that mask were clear, calm, and flickering with a shrewd light of insight into people's hearts and interests that was completely inconsistent with his age.

Every word he spoke was like a precise scalpel, cutting through the surface to point directly at the core of interest exchange and risk control.

Does this guy... really only have a sixteen-year-old Soul living inside him?

How does it feel...

...like he has deeper schemes and more precise calculations than those old foxes who have lived for hundreds of years?

After a long while.

Su Qingxue slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

The terrifying pressure around her receded like a tide, but her eyes remained cold, carrying a hint of unwilling frustration at being controlled.

"It is This Sovereign... who underestimated you."

Her tone was complex...

...carrying a hint of self-mockery.

"Human... brat!"

Those last two words...

...she said through gritted teeth, yet somehow they lacked a bit of killing intent, sounding more like a helpless admission.

Jiang Yun smiled, not caring about the address.

"So, Your Majesty, how do you plan to make our agreement a bit more reliable? If there is no reliable constraint, this divine seed might have to stay with me for a bit longer."

Su Qingxue gave Jiang Yun a deep look.

She seemed to have made a certain decision.

She raised her hand.

Her slender jade fingers formed a complex and ancient hand seal under the moonlight, and a faint silver glow, as cold and mysterious as moonlight, flowed from her fingertips.

"My Fox Clan's ancestors passed down a technique called the Fox Heart Moon Vow."

Her voice was cold...

...carrying a solemn tone.

"This technique can establish a special spiritual contract. Both parties use their Divine Soul as a guide and the moonlight as a witness to engrave the contents of the agreement into the core of the contract. A time limit can be set, and within that limit, the power of the contract binds the Divine Souls of both parties. If there is any violation..."

The light in her purple eyes flashed.

"...at best, the Divine Soul will be damaged and the Realm will stagnate; at worst, the Heart Demon will backlash, the Divine Sense will collapse, and one will even suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering."

She looked at Jiang Yun.

Her tone carried a hint of pride...

...and a hint of warning.

"Once this contract is formed, it is extremely difficult to break unless both parties agree, one party dies, or the time limit expires. Even This Sovereign will have to endure the pain of backlash if the contract is violated. How about it? Is such a constraint weighty enough?"

Fox Heart Moon Vow!

Jiang Yun's heart stirred.

Just hearing the name and description allowed him to feel its ancientness and mystery; it was definitely not comparable to ordinary beast-taming contracts or human oaths.

It involved the Divine Soul.

Swearing by the Divine Soul... this binding force was indeed powerful enough!

Especially for a proud existence like the Nine-Tailed Fox who pursued the Great Dao, the punishment of Divine Sense collapsing and the Realm being unable to advance was likely more unacceptable to her than death.

"Good!"

Jiang Yun hardly hesitated.

He nodded in agreement, a look of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"In that case, I ask Your Majesty to perform this Fox Heart Moon Vow. The content of the contract will be as we discussed. I will provide you with the five-colored origin divine seed, and you must protect my safety when I am in the identity of Jiang Yun whenever I need it, for a period of six months. After six months, whether or not the divine seed has been used by you, the contract will automatically dissolve, and we will be square, owing each other nothing."

He paused and added:

"Of course, the contract must specify that if we encounter a powerful enemy that even you cannot resist, saving our lives is the priority. Taking other measures to avoid danger will not count as a violation on your part. Similarly, I must guarantee to hand the divine seed over to you and must not deliberately delay or set up obstacles."

As Su Qingxue listened to Jiang Yun's clear terms that blocked almost all loopholes, her gaze became increasingly complex.

This guy... his considerations are too thorough!

He even included that saving lives is the priority when encountering an enemy she can't handle?!

And it wouldn't count as a violation?!

Hearing this point...

...the Nine-Tailed Fox couldn't help but give Jiang Yun a deep look.

She hadn't thought that far ahead for a moment.

She didn't expect this guy would actually proactively mention this loophole.

Does he not want me to die?

The Nine-Tailed Fox thought to herself.

Unintentionally, she felt a bit more goodwill toward Jiang Yun.

"Agreed."

She responded briefly.

The silver moonlight between her jade fingers became more solid and began to outline ancient and profound runes.

"Relax your mind and do not resist. Use a sliver of your Divine Soul's thought to touch this moonlight rune and silently recite the contents of the contract."