170: Chapter 129 Golden Core Scheme Against Hui Ke!

Before it died, it wanted to attempt a Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Golden Core, so I set up a Daoist arena for it to fish for the Fire-elemental Golden Essence.

I was just waiting for it to come so I could use Heavenly Fire to refine its core and alter my own Foundation."

She spoke, her chin slightly raised, revealing a slender, fair neck, with her collarbones faintly visible beneath the low-cut neckline.

"As it turned out, it was killed by your Revered Master.

With the Cloud-Swallowing Eagle dead, my years of preparation were all in vain.

Later, I discovered a lingering aura of a Seal left by Ancient Golden Core Cultivator Zhao Wuji in the ley lines on the east side of the volcano, so I took the opportunity to modify the Formation and turned it into a lure."

Chen Xuan looked at her.

"To lure me here?"

"To lure anyone interested in the Fire-elemental Golden Essence." The Fire Fox corrected him, her red lips parting slightly, the tip of her tongue flashing between her teeth.

"Anyone will do.

Loose Cultivators, the Buddhist Sect, or the Liuyang Sword Sect.

As long as I can lure a fish of sufficient weight, this trap won't have been dug in vain."

As she spoke, she turned to face the direction of the tunnel and stretched her waist.

In that instant, her long dress clung to her body, her waistline pulled incredibly tight, and the curves of her hips and thighs were clearly outlined in the firelight, like a clay figurine fired by flames.

New movements came from above the tunnel.

The ground was shaking, and after the Fire Fox appeared, the pit that had been dug showed signs of closing up, the surrounding rock walls slowly pressing inward.

Zhou Yuan glanced back, cursed, and brandished his curved blade to hack open a fissure, letting the Loose Cultivators retreat through the gap.

A Loose Cultivator at the Qi Refining stage had weak legs as he passed by the Fire Fox and nearly fell, only to be yanked away by the person behind him.

Huike had already led his people to retreat.

His gaze lingered on the Fire Fox for a moment before moving away, his face turning a shade paler than before.

The Fire Fox did not stop them.

She simply stood where she was, arms crossed over her chest—a posture that made her bust appear even fuller and more prominent—watching with a beaming smile as the Loose Cultivators and the people from the Buddhist Sect retreated through the fissure, like a cat watching mice slip from its paws.

Chen Xuan did not retreat.

He stood at the bottom of the tunnel, the rock layer beneath his feet cracking, the sounds of the retreating Loose Cultivators and their shouts behind him, and the smiling Late Stage Golden Core Fire Fox before him.

His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and he could feel the City Wall Earth Golden Essence in his Dantian slowly resonating, creating an extremely faint vibration with the surrounding rock layers.

The Fire Fox's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, as if she had sensed something.

Her tail stopped swaying and froze in mid-air, like three clumps of solidified flame.

Her gaze slowly moved down from Chen Xuan's face, sweeping over his chest, waist, and abdomen, then over his hand gripping the sword hilt, finally returning to his eyes.

"Inside you... there is City Wall Earth Golden Essence." Her voice dropped an octave, but the trailing note became longer, as if she had discovered something interesting.

"Little Junior Brother, you really have quite a lot of good things on you."

Chen Xuan did not deny it.

The Fire Fox uncrossed her arms and took another step forward.

This step was extremely close, so close that Chen Xuan could smell the warm yet dangerous fragrance on her, like sandalwood mixed with sulfur, or like white smoke rising after dried flower petals are ignited by fire.

She tilted her head slightly, her red lips almost brushing against his ear, her voice as light as if she were whispering a secret.

"You have quite a lot of nerve, stepping into a Late Stage Golden Core trap while only at the Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

You're different from those weaklings who run at the first sign of fear."

The hot breath she exhaled while speaking brushed against Chen Xuan's earlobe; his brows twitched almost imperceptibly, but he did not step back.

The Fire Fox stepped back half a pace and sized him up again, her gaze now containing a hint of genuine interest, like a hunter eyeing prey that wouldn't be so easy to bring down.

Her tail began to sway again, the three-pronged flames at the tips tracing three dark red arcs in the air.

"I'll give you a chance." She said.

"Leave the City Wall Earth Golden Essence, and I'll let you go.

You are still too green; it won't be too late to come find me for a fight once you've reached the Golden Core stage—I don't mind waiting a few more years."

Chen Xuan looked at her, his hand remaining firmly on the hilt of his sword.

The tunnel continued to collapse.

Stone chips and sand fell rustling from overhead, striking his shoulders.

Zhou Yuan's shouts came from outside the fissure, growing more distant as they had already retreated out of the tunnel's range.

The people of the Buddhist Sect had also left, and the golden light at the fissure had completely extinguished, leaving only the dark red firelight emanating from the Fire Fox, illuminating the entire tunnel with a flickering, unstable glow.

Chen Xuan stood between that dark red light and the falling rocks, and drew his sword.

The moment the three bright moon sword left its scabbard, the firelight reflected on the blade was swept away by his strike, transforming into a cyan arc that landed on the ground between him and the Fire Fox, like a dividing line.

The Fire Fox looked at that dividing line, her smile deepening.

Her gaze shifted from the sword mark back to Chen Xuan's face, sizing him up from head to toe.

Her full chest trembled slightly with a soft laugh, and then she spoke, her voice carrying the languor and patience that only a cat playing with a mouse would have.

"Interesting." She said.

"I especially like tough bones like you."

The falling rocks in the tunnel became increasingly dense.

The Fire Fox stood in the dark red light, waiting with a beaming smile for him to make his decision—either hand over the City Wall Earth Golden Essence, or die.

Chen Xuan's sword was already drawn, but he did not move.

Three breaths.

Within three breaths, he had thought through four things.

First, the Fire Fox is at the Late Stage of the Golden Core; he cannot beat her.

There is a chasm between the Perfection of Foundation Establishment and the Late Stage of the Golden Core that cannot be bridged by Sword Dao Thunder Sound and a few Divine Abilities.

Second, the Fire Fox set this trap for the Cloud-Swallowing Eagle.

Since the Cloud-Swallowing Eagle is dead and she doesn't want her efforts to go to waste, she wants to use his City Wall Earth Golden Essence to settle the account.

This shows she is not obsessed with killing him; she is only obsessed with gaining benefits.

Third, Huike led the people of the Buddhist Sect away, but they haven't gone far.

He can sense several gazes peering down from the fissure above the tunnel, watching, waiting, waiting for him and the Fire Fox to both be injured; even if only one side is injured, it would be enough.

Fourth, the tunnel is collapsing.

The rock layer beneath his feet is already cracking, and after that mark modified by the Fire Fox is completely shattered, the ley lines will lose their balance; in at most the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, this tunnel will completely collapse.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Chen Xuan raised his head and looked at the Fire Fox.

"I cannot give you the City Wall Earth Golden Essence." He said, his tone very flat, as if he were speaking about something unrelated to life and death.

"But I can tell you something else."

The Fire Fox tilted her head, red hair sliding down from her shoulder, the three-pronged flames at the tips of her tail tracing dark red arcs in the air.

"Let's hear it."

"Do you know why Immortal Master Kumu has been holed up in the White Lotus Sect headquarters and never leaves?"

The Fire Fox's smile faded slightly for a moment.

Chen Xuan continued.

"Because he has to guard the remains of Maitreya.

Maitreya was struck by a blade from a Sword Sect Immortal Master in the Central Plains; his Physical Body was shattered, leaving only a remnant.

Immortal Master Kumu retreated to the Southern Territory not to take refuge, but to find a new vessel for those remains."

"The trap you set lured me here, and it also lured the people of the Buddhist Sect.

After Huike returns, he will tell Immortal Master Kumu everything exactly as it happened—that beneath the Nanming Volcano, there is you, the Fire Phoenix Spirit, and a complete Heavenly Fire Golden Essence.

What do you think Immortal Master Kumu will do?"

The Fire Fox's tail stopped swaying.

It froze in mid-air, like three clumps of solidified flame.

"You mean to say that Immortal Master Kumu's target isn't the trap I set, but the Fire Phoenix Spirit?"

"To be precise, it is the complete 'Heavenly Fire Golden Essence' inside the Fire Phoenix Spirit." Chen Xuan looked at her.

"How many years have you been guarding that lava lake?

The Fire Phoenix Spirit sleeps at the bottom of the lake; you know that the Golden Essence is right there, but you dare not take it.

Because that is the Origin of the Fire Phoenix; if you take it, the Fire Phoenix will wake up.

You cannot defeat a Fire Phoenix that has awakened."

"But Immortal Master Kumu would dare.

He is at the Late Stage of the Golden Core and has Maitreya's remains in his hands.

He doesn't need to take the entire Golden Essence; he only needs to sever a portion, which would be enough to severely damage the Origin Qi of the Fire Phoenix Spirit.

When that happens, the Spirit will go berserk, the lava will erupt, and the rock cavern you are guarding will be completely submerged."

The Fire Fox's smile completely vanished.

Her vertical pupils narrowed into thin lines as she stared at Chen Xuan for a full five breaths.

The dark red light around her fluctuated violently, like the surface of water rippled by the wind.

Then she laughed.

The laughter was soft, but the trailing note rose, carrying a meaning that Chen Xuan didn't quite understand.

"Interesting." She said.

"A little Cultivator at the Perfection of Foundation Establishment, betting your own life that I wouldn't dare to kill you.

You bet correctly."

She took a step back, her snow-white thighs flashing beneath her slit skirt in the firelight.

"You can keep the City Wall Earth Golden Essence.

But you must promise me one thing."

"What thing?"

"In the future, when you go to take the Heavenly Fire Golden Essence, I must be present." The Fire Fox said, pursing her red lips.

"Not to seize your things, but to watch you take it.

Once the Fire Phoenix Spirit awakens, I need someone to block the first wave of backlash for me.

You take your Golden Essence, and I protect my rock cavern.

We each get what we need."

Chen Xuan was silent for a moment.

"Deal."

The Fire Fox turned around, her long dress tracing an arc behind her, two of the three-pronged flames at the tips of her tail extinguishing, leaving only the middle cluster still slowly dancing.

She walked toward the dark red fissure deep in the tunnel, her waist swaying, but she never looked back at him again.

"You have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to leave here.

After that, the entire ley line will completely collapse.

As for that bald donkey hiding above and eavesdropping—" She paused and said without looking back, "You had best deal with him before he makes a move."

Her figure disappeared into the dark red fissure.

That flame at the tip of her tail was like a drop of candle wax falling into water; it struggled for a moment and then completely extinguished.

Only Chen Xuan remained in the tunnel.

He stood where he was, his palms covered in sweat.

The next second, he moved.

The light of his magical power surged from his palms, and the three bright moon sword traced a cyan arc in the narrow tunnel, its Sword Light Differentiation splitting into nine, striking at the rock layer overhead.

Stone fragments flew, and he leaped upward, stepping on a falling stone slab, each step landing on the crumbling rock wall, like a beast trying to escape a landslide.

The tunnel collapsed layer by layer behind him, dark red light surging from the fissures and then extinguishing, the rumbling sound wrapped in the smell of sulfur chasing him from beneath his feet, like an awakened beast biting at his heels and refusing to let go.

When he rushed out of the pit entrance, a stone pillar was just crashing down from overhead.

Chen Xuan rolled to the side to avoid it, the debris grazing his back and falling into the depths of the tunnel, the wind generated by it cutting painfully at his earlobes.

He flipped to his feet, the three bright moon sword held horizontally before him, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

The pit entrance was already unrecognizable.

The originally flat cliff terrace had collapsed for the most part, revealing the fractured rock layers and churning heat beneath.

The figures of a few Loose Cultivators swayed in the distance, and Zhou Yuan was berating them to retreat further.

And three zhang directly in front of the pit entrance stood a person.

Gray-white monk's robes, barefoot, with a gentle face and calm eyes.

It was none other than Huike.

The four people behind him were nowhere to be seen, likely having been sent away by him.

Only he remained.

He stood there just like that, the rubble beneath his feet still trembling slightly, but he stood there with his hands pressed together, as if standing in the courtyard of his own temple, the chaos around him having nothing to do with him.

"Benefactor Yun." Huike spoke, his voice as gentle as if he were reciting a slow, steady scripture.

"After thinking it over, the poor monk still feels that I should not just leave like this."

Chen Xuan did not respond.

His magical power was more than half exhausted, and the burn on his shoulder had been scraped open by the rock wall during his climb, blood seeping through his clothes and sticking stickily to his skin.

The City Wall Earth Golden Essence in his Dantian floated quietly, giving him no extra power.

Huike took a step forward.

"The poor monk is not in a hurry." He said.

"Benefactor Yun can take your time to catch your breath.

The poor monk has waited here for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn; I don't mind waiting a few moments longer."

A faint golden light lit up in his palm, as if he were holding a warm pebble.

"Things in this world are often like this.

You think you have escaped the greatest crisis and that the path ahead is smooth—but in fact, the greatest crisis always arrives only after you think you are safe."

In this instant, Chen Xuan thought of many things.

He thought of his first life in the court of a secular Dynasty, those days when he thought he could rest easy after toppling a powerful minister.

He thought of his second life in the merchant association in Fusheng Immortal City, those nights when he thought he could practice peacefully after stabilizing the situation.

He thought of his third life in the quiet room on Qingming Peak, those mornings when he thought he could forge ahead after breaking through a Bottleneck.

Every time, just when he thought the hardest hurdle had been cleared, the next hurdle appeared silently beneath his feet.

The three bright moon sword let out a clear, resonant hum in his hand.

A new crack had appeared on the blade during the recent battle, but he did not look down at it.

He raised his head and looked at Huike.

In Huike's palm, that golden light brightened.

It was like an amber held in his palm, emitting a warm, gentle light, carrying an indescribable, compassionate meaning as it slowly flowed between his pressed-together fingers.

He took a second step forward.

The moment his second step landed, a muffled sound came from deep within the tunnel, as if something had completely snapped beneath.

The ground beneath their feet sank violently, and the range of the collapse expanded outward by three feet.

Chen Xuan finally moved.

He gripped the sword hilt tightly and took a step forward.

The cyan sword light exploded in the dark red air, like a bird breaking free from its cage.