Xuanwu War Sovereign

Night fell, and the moon climbed high in the sky.

Beneath the dark sky, Heavenly Red Peak was dotted with the flickering lights of torches. Teams of green-robed Medicine Boys patrolled with sharp gazes, carefully searching every nook and cranny.

Over the past few days, the security here had grown increasingly tight.

A guard post every three steps and a sentinel every five—it was no exaggeration.

Teams of green-robed Medicine Boys patrolled in circuits, with the Celestial Pool at the center of Heavenly Red Peak as their focal point.

The area around the Spirit Garden was the most critical, and patrols were most frequent here.

This was a massive Spirit Garden Herb Garden.

This Spirit Garden seemed to concentrate more than half the essence of Heavenly Red Peak. Its Life Essence Qi was so dense it condensed into a rosy mist, rising like steam and creating an air of profound mystery.

Within the Spirit Garden, stalks of Spirit Medicine absorbed the essence of heaven and earth to nourish themselves. Each plant was translucent and dazzlingly bright, exuding a pure, drifting fragrance.

Ages ago, this region had been a natural spirit-gathering place. In the distance, a great rock formation resembled a Dragon Head, seeming to pour its essence into the Spirit Garden Herb Garden.

In this Spirit Garden, aside from Spirit Medicines, there were also many Treasure Medicines that looked as if they were carved from coral and jade. The sight was so dazzling it made one’s mouth water.

The number of Spirit Medicines in the Spirit Garden had now grown from the original seven to twenty-five.

Nineteen stalks of Thousand-year-old Profound Yin Ginseng were clustered together. The original stalk had become the Ginseng King among them.

Their dark green leaves danced and rustled in the gentle breeze, absorbing the splendor of the Taiyin under the moonlight.

In a corner of the Spirit Garden grew a five-hundred-year-old Chicken Head Yellow Essence.

The leaves of this Chicken Head Yellow Essence were a luscious, tender green, shimmering with a brilliant Spiritual Light. It was brimming with essence qi. Nestled among its leaves were small, pale-yellow flowers, each one gleaming with a spiritual glow.

Having reached five hundred years of age, the Chicken Head Yellow Essence’s golden-yellow rhizome had gradually begun to form human-like facial features.

The skillful Medicine Boys had cultivated several new herb plots around the periphery of the Spirit Garden. Being close to the main garden, these plots were rich in Spiritual Qi, making them precious pieces of land.

Within these new plots, they cultivated clumps of rare and verdant medicinal herbs.

These included notable herbs such as Golden Crow Grass, Purple Night Grass, Dragon’s Blood Grass, and Bone-breaking Grass.

Although these herbs couldn’t compare in value to the seven Spirit Medicines, any single one of them would still fetch a considerable price at an auction in the outside world.

This was extra income for the Medicine Boys!

It was because of these newly cultivated plots that the Medicine Boys gradually warmed up to their Cave Master, Qin Feng.

Under Qin Feng’s leadership, the unity of Heavenly Red Peak was growing stronger. Given time, it was sure to become an unbreakable, monolithic force.

The moon was bright and clear this night, weaving through the clouds.

RUSTLE!

A gentle breeze stirred the leaves, and a beautiful white creature emerged from beneath a Purple Peony. It was a ball of soft white fur, and the little thing looked exceptionally wary.

It had three tails and moved in complete silence, weaving beneath the clumps of herbs as a flicker of white light, now visible, now gone.

It was a small fox. A small, white fox. A small, three-tailed fox.

This was a Three-tailed Spirit Fox, a descendant of the legendary Innate True Spirit, the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox.

’So it really is that creature!’ Under the cover of night, Qin Feng had appeared behind the Dragon Head Rock at the edge of the Spirit Garden.

Pressed against the cold stone, he looked down from his vantage point, his gaze fixed on the beautiful, almost bewitching creature.

The little white creature glanced left and right before leaping out from the Purple Peony bush. Its white form was nimble and incredibly fast, gone in a flash.

As a team of patrolling Medicine Boys passed by, a shimmer of light flowed over one of the creature’s large tails, and it instantly transformed into an ordinary medicinal herb.

One of the Medicine Boys walked right past it, completely oblivious to the strangeness at his feet.

Watching this, Qin Feng was momentarily stunned. He mused, ’This little one’s bloodline is incredibly pure. With three tails, it must have awakened three Lifebound Divine Abilities. The transformation I just saw must be the Illusionary Divine Ability of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox. Another must be a Forbidden-breaking Divine Ability. That’s the only way it could completely ignore the Array Prohibitions on the peaks!’

’I just wonder what its third Lifebound Divine Ability is,’ Qin Feng mused. ’It must be related to escape; otherwise, the little one could never have gotten away from that Giant.’

After the patrol of Medicine Boys had passed, the creature flashed with a faint white light and reverted to its form as a small, white Spirit Fox.

The little creature’s figure flickered, and in the next moment, it appeared near the Spirit Garden. It gazed at the Spirit Medicines within, hesitated for a moment, then scanned its surroundings again. It saw that no one was around.

With a flash of white light, it landed nimbly inside the Spirit Garden. The Spirit Medicines in the garden had already developed a spiritual nature. The moment the little white creature entered, it was like a fox in a henhouse. The stalks of Spirit Medicine trembled in fear, too terrified to even attempt escape.

The little white creature moved with the grace of a King. In just a few steps, it reached the Phoenix Blood Yellow Essence and snatched the plant up in its mouth. Its eyes swept over the other Spirit Medicines in the garden, a flicker of reluctance in its gaze. It let out a soft whimper, then exited the Spirit Garden with light steps. A moment later, a flash of white light marked its departure into the distance.

The entire process took only a few breaths. Silently and without a trace, a Spirit Medicine had vanished from the Spirit Garden.

The group of Medicine Boys remained completely oblivious.

Watching the white creature enter the Spirit Garden and make off with the Spirit Medicine, Luan Xiaochuan grew anxious. He was about to leap out when Qin Feng pulled him back, allowing the creature to escape with its prize.

Several minutes after the little creature had gone, Qin Feng and the others finally emerged from behind Dragon Head Rock.

They walked over to the Spirit Garden in a few strides. The spot where the Phoenix Blood Yellow Essence had been was now just a freshly dug, empty hole in the ground.

Staring at the empty hole, Luan Xiaochuan looked up in the direction the little white fox had fled, unable to stop himself from asking.

"Cave Master, why didn’t we stop it?!"

Qin Feng turned to Luan Xiaochuan and retorted, "Do you think we could have caught it?"

A trace of hesitation crossed Luan Xiaochuan’s face. "Probably... not," he said, uncertain.

"Of course not!" Qin Feng scoffed. "That little creature has escaped the pursuit of countless powerful figures and even Giants. How could we possibly hope to catch it?"

Gazing in the direction the Three-tailed Spirit Fox had gone, Qin Feng’s lips curled into a cunning smile. "So, why would we want to startle it?"

"Why give it a bad impression of us?"

"But... doesn’t that mean our Spirit Medicine was just wasted?!"

Luan Xiaochuan’s gaze fell on the empty hole, his heart aching at the loss. A five-hundred-year-old Phoenix Blood Yellow Essence was an incredibly rare treasure, something one could only stumble upon by luck.

If he had been able to consume it, he could have broken through at least one minor realm.

"Of course it won’t be wasted. My Spiritual Objects aren’t that easy to digest." Qin Feng’s gaze fell on Luan Xiaochuan’s greedy expression, and he changed the subject.

"Tomorrow, prepare another three- to four-hundred-year-old Yellow Essence and bring it to my Cave Mansion."

"Prepare another one?" Luan Xiaochuan was stunned. He then muttered, "Are we just going to let that little fox waste it again?"

Gazing in the direction the fox had fled, a faint smile touched Qin Feng’s lips. "Exactly."

"What?!" Luan Xiaochuan’s eyes went wide.

Qin Feng explained, "The Three-tailed Spirit Fox isn’t an ordinary Barbaric Beast. You can’t deal with it using simple, crude methods. If you want to tame it, you need a great deal of patience."

A mysterious, sly grin spread across Qin Feng’s face, like a fox that had just raided the henhouse.

Qin Feng wasn’t worried about the little fox stealing the Yellow Essence; he was only worried that it wouldn’t come back for more.

What Qin Feng didn’t know was that while he was busy scheming to capture the little fox, a neighboring power to All Stars Academy—the Great Sun Divine Hall—had been annihilated.

In fact, the annihilation of the Great Sun Divine Hall had a great deal to do with him...

(This is the fifth Chapter of the day, with one more coming tonight! Please vote and add to your collection!)