181: Fox Clan Secret Techniques

Chen Xuan curled his lips into a light smile and teased, "If you put it that way, I'd still rather die as a romantic ghost. After all, a man remains a youth until the day he dies."

His gaze swept over the black-red demonic fire flickering on Night Butterfly's fox tails. Even without using spiritual power to investigate, the faint, eerie heat emanating from it made him certain this flame was no ordinary fire.

Night Butterfly completely ignored the Man in White Robes's teasing. The demonic fire at the tips of her tails suddenly surged, transforming into hundreds of palm-sized fire crows. Their flapping wings scattered fine sparks as they charged toward Chen Xuan, who was guarding the cave entrance, like a rain of crimson arrows.

This was a unique ability of the Fox Demon Clan.

This was a unique secret art of the Fox Demon Clan. Legend had it that fox demons were born with the ability to control fox fire. As their Realm ascended, the power of the fox fire would multiply with each additional tail, and it would even develop completely different, eerie effects.

Night Butterfly currently only had a Soul Transformation eighth-layer cultivation base and six fox tails, yet her fox fire had already reached such a terrifying black-red color.

Seeing the fire crows attacking like arrows piercing the air, Chen Xuan instantly condensed pale gold spiritual power in his palm and struck out with a spiritual power palm print.

However, the expected scene of the fire crows being annihilated did not occur. The palm print passed straight through the bodies of the fire crows and slammed heavily into the cave wall behind them.

"Boom!"

A dull, loud explosion echoed through the cave. The rock walls shook violently, and debris fell like rain. The entire cave looked like it was on the verge of collapsing.

Chen Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly. He tapped his toes lightly on the ground, his figure drifting out like willow catkins.

Once the dust settled, that area of the cave had been reduced to a pile of rubble, yet the hundreds of fire crows remained unscathed, still relentlessly pursuing him by following his aura.

The speed of these fire crows was astonishing, not at all inferior to a Flying Sword Magic Treasure driven by a Deity Transformation Realm Cultivator. What was even more troublesome was that their numbers were still increasing.

Chen Xuan reached out into the Void Realm and grasped the air. A pitch-black longsword suddenly appeared; it was the one Mu Wanqing had previously obtained from the mirror heart trial tower. He rubbed the hilt with his fingertips, pondered for a moment, then withdrew the longsword and replaced it with an Earth Rank longsword.

It wasn't that he looked down on the rank of that pitch-black longsword, but rather that he hadn't yet figured out the properties of the fire crows. If he rashly used the gift from his Eldest Disciple and the sword ended up destroyed, it would be a pity.

After all, its significance was different.

Seeing the fire crows closing in, Chen Xuan flicked his wrist, and the blade of the longsword was instantly enveloped in pale gold spiritual power. He spun around and swung the sword, sending a sharp spiritual power blade toward the nearest fire crow.

"Chi—!"

The blade collided with the fire crow but failed to disperse it. Instead, it was ensnared by the black-red fox fire. The pale gold spiritual power was instantly dyed crimson-black, as if it had been given an eerie flame enchantment, and it spread rapidly along the blade toward Chen Xuan's fingertips.

Startled, Chen Xuan quickly let go of the longsword in his hand while simultaneously sidestepping to dodge another fire crow's sudden attack.

The moment the Earth Rank longsword left his hand, it was completely engulfed by the black-red demonic fire. Continuous "crackling" sounds were heard as the blade visibly charred and warped before turning into a handful of ashes in an instant.

"What domineering flames!" Chen Xuan's eyes darkened.

Night Butterfly pursed her lips and giggled. "Don't waste your energy. These Heart-Burning Crows are not comparable to ordinary demonic fire. Anything they touch will be instantly ignited. Well? Are you satisfied with this sister's hospitality?"

Chen Xuan said calmly, "To be honest, I still preferred your previous appetizer."

Seeing that the Man in White Robes showed no signs of panic, Night Butterfly felt a surge of displeasure.

As her fox tails swayed, several shadows faintly appeared; all six tails moved in unison.

One fire crow after another flew out from the flames at the tips of her tails.

The black-red fox fire flowed along the patterns of her tail fur. The previously scattered fire crows suddenly changed direction, like soldiers receiving an order, connecting head-to-tail to form several rings of fire that firmly trapped Chen Xuan in the center.

"This sister wants to see just how much longer you can hold out!" Night Butterfly said coldly.

The thousands of fire crows moved flexibly and coordinated perfectly with each other; it was simply impossible to defeat them one by one.

It wasn't that he didn't have a way to break the situation.

As long as he ignored these fire crows and charged directly at Night Butterfly's main body, using any God-Tier Divine Ability, this flirtatious fox would have to kneel on the spot and beg for mercy.

However, Chen Xuan still wanted to study the weaknesses of these fire crows. In case Mu Wanqing and the others encountered this Fox Demon Clan while out on experience, they would have a way to deal with them.

As the thought flashed by, the spiritual power around Chen Xuan's body suddenly erupted. The pale gold spiritual power transformed into a spherical barrier, temporarily blocking the pouncing fire crows.

Hundreds of fire crows slammed into the barrier simultaneously. The sound of "bang bang bang" impacts was incessant. The black-red fox fire stuck to the barrier like maggots on a bone, constantly eroding the pale gold spiritual power. Ripples spread across the surface of the barrier, and the consumption of spiritual power was visible to the naked eye.

"It seems this move still won't work," Chen Xuan muttered to himself.

He recalled that flirtatious fox's first attack, when she used pink Demonic Beasts to create an illusion to confuse him, then looked for an opportunity to strike a killing blow.

Chen Xuan's eyes sharpened, and he suddenly thought of something, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He looked down at Night Butterfly, who was leisurely watching the show. Her voluptuous body stood lazily, her six orange-yellow fox tails swaying gently, and the black-red fox fire at the tips of her tails flickered more and more rapidly.

As expected of the Fox Demon Clan, her every frown and smile exuded charm.

She seemed like an angler waiting for the bait to be taken.

Chen Xuan's heart stirred. A tiny crack appeared on the left side of the spiritual power barrier, and hundreds of fire crows swiveled in unison, rushing toward the gap.

Just as the fire crows were about to pass through the crack, Chen Xuan suddenly circulated his spiritual power, compressing the spiritual power around him into an invisible "spiritual power thread," which coiled precisely around Night Butterfly's swaying third fox tail like a sharp arrow.

"Buzz—!"

The moment the spiritual power thread touched the fox tail, the Demonic Power around Night Butterfly's body suddenly stalled, and the previously smooth flow of fox fire experienced a brief stutter.

And those fire crows rushing toward the gap also became like puppets that had lost their control, circling wildly in the air. The light of the black-red fox fire instantly dimmed, and a few fire crows even dissipated directly into sparks.

"As I thought."

These black-red fire crows seemed invincible—burning everything they touched and passing through attacks. Ordinary attacks simply couldn't do anything to them.

But in reality, they were an "extension" of Night Butterfly's Demonic Power. Once her control over the Demonic Power was interrupted, the fire crows would lose their source of power.

In that previous illusion, Night Butterfly had also taken the initiative to try and finish Chen Xuan in one blow.

But this time, she was completely observing the battle from the sidelines. It wasn't that she didn't want to attack, but that she had to concentrate on using her fox tails to control these fire crows.

Just now, the spiritual power thread had only slightly interfered with the Demonic Power in her fox tail, yet the fire crows showed such an obvious weakness. If he could directly affect her core Demonic Power circulation, these Heart-Burning Crows would surely collapse on their own.

Chen Xuan immediately changed his strategy. While dodging the pouncing fire crows, he transformed his spiritual power into dozens of thin threads, which flew toward Night Butterfly's six tails like willow catkins filling the sky.

Night Butterfly's expression changed drastically. She hadn't expected Chen Xuan to be able to see through the weakness in her control. She hurriedly swayed her fox tails to avoid the spiritual power threads while simultaneously unleashing more fox fire, trying to make the fire crows regroup and attack again.

However, she found that the opponent's movements had suddenly stopped. This made Night Butterfly freeze for a moment, and then alarm bells started ringing in her heart.

Chen Xuan said calmly, "There's still some time. If you have other methods, you might as well use them all."