As everyone knew, whenever a restriction was placed upon someone, that restriction necessarily contained some of the caster’s aura, making it possible to track the captive if they escaped.
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox’s inner core was sealed, and that restriction was naturally no exception.
The Fox King smiled. “I have my own way of concealing that aura for some time. There is no need for you two to worry about me.”
Now that he was free, he seemed very confident in his plans and no longer adopted the pitiful manner he had shown in his prison. Seeing this, the two martial brothers grew even more wary.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “In that case, we won’t pry. However…” His expression grew solemn as he looked at the Fox King. “Senior Brother and I have brought you out, as promised. Shouldn’t you now let us see your fragment of the Tianlan Secret Trove map?”
Yun Lie’s expression remained unchanged, but sword intent gathered at his brow, ready to surge forth at any moment.
He was guarding against the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox’s cunning tricks.
The fox looked between them and chuckled. “How do you know I’m carrying the fragment? What if I left it somewhere else?”
Xu Ziqing shook his head. “You’re joking, Fox King. The map is so valuable. Given your nature, how could you leave it lying about? Someone else might happen upon it, and that would be an enormous loss. I suspect you have a way to keep it with you while concealing it from the demon kings. The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox is a rare species born of heaven and earth. Even knowing something about you, we cannot guess how many divine abilities you keep hidden.”
The fox smiled more broadly. “Since we’ll be hunting treasure together, there is little harm in waiting until then to look at it. For now, let us find somewhere safe and discuss our expedition properly.”
Xu Ziqing sighed. “Fox King, you are intelligent and resourceful, but Senior Brother and I aren’t so foolish that we’d throw away our lives. Our agreement was simply that we would free you and you would share the map with us. Half the bargain is done. Show us the fragment so we can make a copy, and afterward we will part ways without further interference. Please don’t bring up that joke about going treasure hunting together again. Traveling alongside you would only make things more dangerous!”
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox’s eyes gleamed with interest.
Now certain that the two cultivators would remain deeply guarded against him, however glibly he spoke, he finally abandoned his other calculations. “…Very well. But once our transaction is complete, if we meet inside the secret trove, I won’t show mercy. Don’t accuse me of ingratitude then.”
Xu Ziqing relaxed and smiled. “What kindness do you owe us? We were never on the same side. Once we copy the map, you can take your road, and we’ll take ours. If our paths cross as enemies, it will be a matter of life and death.”
The fox nodded and ceased his attempts at persuasion. He pressed two fingers together, reached into his mouth, and drew out a cloud of pink mist.
A thread of spiritual light hovered within the mist, giving off a faint radiance like something alive.
Xu Ziqing swept it with his spiritual sense and found a palm-sized scrap of cloth covered in golden lines, apparently depicting a route.
After examining it, he looked toward Yun Lie.
Yun Lie nodded faintly. “It is genuine.”
Xu Ziqing nodded inwardly and said, “Then please release the map for a moment, Fox King, so I can copy it.”
The fox curved his lips and swept his hand across the mist.
The fragment leaped up and hung suspended between him and Xu Ziqing.
Xu Ziqing understood that this too was a precaution. With both brothers present, Yun Lie, whose cultivation was higher, could keep the fox in check, while Xu Ziqing handled the relatively simple task of copying the map.
They reached the decision with a single glance. Xu Ziqing promptly produced a blank jade slip, projected his spiritual sense onto the fragment, and began making a copy.
Because he had long needed to suppress Rongjin, Xu Ziqing’s spiritual sense was particularly strong, and the copying proceeded quickly. He did not study the map carefully now, but reproduced every line exactly, including the unusual tiny characters and written explanations.
After roughly seven or eight minutes, he had copied all the contents of the small fragment. He examined his work carefully to confirm nothing had been missed before stopping.
Xu Ziqing handed the jade slip directly to Yun Lie, confident that his senior brother’s keen perception could determine whether it was accurate.
Sure enough, Yun Lie examined it with his spiritual sense and nodded. “Correct.”
Xu Ziqing relaxed.
The Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox summoned the fragment back. He exhaled another puff of pink mist, wrapped the map in it, and swallowed it again.
Neither side had resorted to any underhanded tricks, and both were reasonably satisfied.
The Fox King’s eyes shifted, and he asked, “Now that our bargain is complete and you have seen my sincerity, might this fellow Daoist remove his sword intent from me?”
Xu Ziqing hesitated.
The sword intent had been planted merely to buy them time if the Fox King turned hostile. Now that he had shown good faith, refusing to remove it seemed dishonorable. Yet what if his behavior had only been a disguise, and he attacked as soon as it was gone?
Xu Ziqing could not decide immediately.
Just then, the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox’s expression changed.
He cried, “This is bad! The savage beasts are moving!”
Xu Ziqing froze, then felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. It was as though a vast army was advancing from afar, making the earth shake before it had even approached.
Startled, he looked up at Yun Lie. “Senior Brother, could it be… a beast tide?”
Yun Lie’s expression grew grave. Without further discussion, he lifted a hand and sent sword intent into the fox, instantly shattering eighty percent of the strand remaining inside him.
“Look after yourself,” he said. Then he pulled Xu Ziqing toward him. “Go!”
Xu Ziqing had no time to think. He immediately became a streak of green light, while Yun Lie transformed into a golden streak. One behind the other, they sped away and soon vanished into the distance.
The fox watched them leave, then swiftly circulated his innate abilities. Within a few breaths, he had expelled the rest of the sword intent completely.
But those few breaths had delayed him enough that he could no longer catch the brothers. He turned and fled in another direction.
Not long after both sides departed, the pounding steps behind them drew steadily closer.
Countless black savage beasts surged onward like a roaring wave! Every one bore an identical black horn, dark, gleaming, and exceedingly sharp.
A single beast or even a small herd of these one-horned savage beasts was not especially frightening. But when thousands upon thousands gathered, then tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions, they became a terrifying force.
Even mighty Nascent Soul cultivators would be driven to exhaustion after fighting them. If their true essence ran dry, they might not be able to save their own lives!
This was a beast tide, beginning with the one-horned savage beasts and rolling onward like the sea.
It turned the entire Savage Beast Plains into a hunting ground!
Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul old monsters under Xuan Li sped across the plains, spreading their spiritual senses to search everywhere. The Sovereign King also used magical power to track the restriction within the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox. But the fox apparently possessed a divine ability that completely suppressed the restriction’s fluctuations. Despite expending considerable power, the Sovereign King could not locate him.
Xuan Li grew anxious and advised, “Senior Sovereign King, why don’t you come outside with us? Perhaps using your arts there will be easier.”
Without the fox, Xuan Li would never cooperate with the Sovereign King. But having already revealed so much of his plans, he could only continue working with him and hope to recover the map fragment soon.
Finally, Xuan Li steeled himself. “Senior Sovereign King, let’s go at once!”
The Sovereign King rose, his imposing aura surging. “Go!”
Soon numerous figures emerged from the demon-beast lair. King Panshan gathered many sixth-rank or higher demon soldiers and rode the demonic winds while searching every part of the plains. The Sovereign King, Xuan Li, and their companions followed, employing innate divine abilities and magical treasures without rest.
They divided the plains into several sectors and searched them one by one. Confident in their power, these old monsters feared neither five-horned savage beasts nor entire herds, and left no area unexplored.
After roughly half a shichen, dawn was near. The sun was climbing and about to spread red light across the land.
Suddenly, the sky darkened. High-pitched beast cries arose from innumerable savage-beast herds and continued without end.
Xuan Li’s expression changed drastically. “How can there be a beast tide? There should still be more than a year before the next one! Why has it erupted already?”
The Sovereign King and the other demon beasts frowned deeply. “This tide is larger than in previous years. Have those golden-horned beasts undergone some change?”
At that moment the vast tide surged toward them. Roars and pounding hooves sounded like distant thunder that never ceased. Behind innumerable black horns, red-horned savage beasts formed a flood like a huge crimson wave.
Then countless specks of golden light flickered among the beasts. Powerful auras stood out amid the mass of black, only to disappear again.
The tremendous commotion resembled raging seas battering an endless shore.
The sounds burst forth like sudden thunder on level ground, deafening all who heard them.
Many martial artists and cultivators hunting alone on the plains panicked. “It’s… it’s a beast tide!”
“The beast tide is here!”
“Run!”
Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie flew swiftly toward Borderguard City at the plains’ edge without daring to delay. Even so, shortly before they could escape the plains, two savage-beast herds swept around and intercepted them.
At the outbreak of the beast tide, scattered herds instinctively gathered and began attacking any other races remaining on the plains.
A still greater tide was advancing behind the brothers. They had to eliminate the two herds quickly before they could continue fleeing.
Without needing to discuss it, Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie stopped together.
In an instant, thirty-two bloodred vines surged toward the heavens.
On the other side, a colossal golden sword came crashing down—