In his desperation, Park Seung-eun only spoke Korean, seemingly unaware that Zhang Yang understood none of it. However, Qiao Yihong did, and he was utterly shocked that Park Seung-eun, now completely defeated and at his mercy, would utter such a shameless plea.

That Zhang Yang, being Korean, killing him would be fratricide? Such brazen words, only Park Seung-eun could manage!

"Zhang Yang, you absolutely cannot let him go! This time he came to Huaxia specifically to hunt our spiritual beasts and bring them back to Korea for some unknown purpose. This sack holds the Illusory Wolf he previously captured in Zijin Village, and that old man was also injured by him!"

Qiao Yihong, frantic, ignored the throbbing poison of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox within his body and urgently shouted at Zhang Yang. He now loathed Park Seung-eun to the very core.

That shout, however, triggered the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox poison inside Qiao Yihong. Calculating the time, the pill Park Seung-eun gave him was only meant to suppress the toxin for thirty minutes, and that time was nearly up.

After speaking, Qiao Yihong’s complexion visibly darkened at a startling speed, the signs of the toxin’s full onset clearly appearing!

"Don't speak yet, this poison won't be fully neutralized for a while!"

Zhang Yang frowned and cautioned Qiao Yihong. At some unknown moment, Wuying had already arrived beside Qiao Yihong, leaping up to bite down hard on Qiao Yihong's arm!

After Wuying’s bite, Qiao Yihong was suddenly struck by the realization that the spread of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox toxin inside him seemed to slow down.

Wuying was no ordinary treasure-seeking mouse; having consumed so many spiritual elixirs alongside Zhang Yang, its detoxification ability could even counteract the poison of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, which inherently countered spiritual beasts!

Park Seung-eun had not seen Wuying detoxifying Qiao Yihong. After a moment of stunned silence upon hearing Zhang Yang’s response, he became ecstatic. He hadn't registered Qiao Yihong’s warning at all, nor did he catch the subtle ambiguity in the three words Zhang Yang had spoken. Instead, he mistakenly believed Zhang Yang’s attitude towards him had wavered.

"I meant, between you and I..."

"Better shut up; I don't think you're capable of saying anything decent!"

Park Seung-eun opened his mouth, looked up at the relentlessly advancing Zhang Yang, and repeated his previous words in fluent Mandarin. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he started, Zhang Yang cut him off, stooped down, and delivered a fierce punch directly to his cheek!

Puff!

Struck by the blow, Park Seung-eun felt his jaw warp and dislocate. His body and head spun violently in the air twice before crashing heavily back onto the ground.

Now, Park Seung-eun was spitting blood and foam, managing only pained whimpers; he couldn't utter a single word.

The burning pain in his cheek was secondary; Park Seung-eun felt as if every tooth in his mouth had been shattered by that single punch. In his mouth, beyond the surging blood from within, were fragments of his own teeth—a truly agonizing torment.

The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, entangled by the three other spiritual beasts and finally knocked off balance by Zhuifeng's hoof, was in no position to look out for Park Seung-eun. Yet, even it hadn't expected Park Seung-eun to be defeated by Zhang Yang so completely, unable to muster any defense.

"Chirp!!!"

Seeing Park Seung-eun beaten so miserably, the somewhat recovered Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’s eyes flared with malice. Its nine snow-white tails swelled like iron rods. In its fury, it disregarded Wuying, Shandian, and that blasted Zhuifeng that had kicked it, surging towards Zhang Yang like lightning!

The strength of a fourth-layer Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox far surpassed Park Seung-eun's. A large part of the reason Park Seung-eun dared to be so brazen here was due to this beast's presence.

Now, fueled by rage, the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox attacked with full force, finally drawing Zhang Yang’s attention as he gracefully retreated.

Zhang Yang evaded the charging fox, and the toxic mist it exhaled failed to harm him in the slightest!

However, its nine tails, rigid and hard as iron rods, plowed through the ground where he’d been standing, carving nine deep furrows and kicking up countless clumps of turf, soil, mixed with pebbles and gravel!

Bang bang bang bang!

Missing its target, the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox abruptly turned. Its nine tails struck out like lightning, using the movement like a batter hitting a baseball, flinging the unearthed stones and hard debris—infused with its inner strength—ferociously at Zhang Yang!

These pebbles, imbued with the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’s inner energy, transformed into projectiles, shooting towards Zhang Yang at incredible speeds, affecting Wuying, Shandian, and Zhuifeng as well!

Zhang Yang stepped back one pace. Facing the barrage of debris, he transformed his fist into a palm, drawing the surrounding Heaven and Earth energy into his hand.

The materialization of energy served not only as an offense but also as the ultimate defense!

Tap tap tap!

All the pebbles aimed at Zhang Yang were blocked by the dense white mist coalescing before his palms, halting mid-flight and embedding themselves within the white fog, resembling countless stars set against a dark night sky!

As for the pebbles aimed at Wuying, Shandian, and Zhuifeng, the three spiritual beasts easily handled them; the debris simply fell harmlessly at their feet.

For the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox to try and defeat Zhang Yang and the three spiritual beasts single-handedly was clearly a pipe dream!

The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox pressed its attack, but its momentum waned, and when it realized this move was also futile, it couldn't follow up with a third attack.

"Go!"

Zhang Yang shook his shoulders and pushed his hands forward. The white mist blocking the debris suddenly dispersed, and the pebbles seemed to be reinjected with inner strength, rebounding along their original trajectories!

"Chirp chirp!!"

Seeing the stones flying back towards it, the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox knew disaster was imminent. Its first reaction was to leap skyward, hooking one tail around an overhanging branch, and swiftly pulling itself up to perch on the branch, thus dodging the barrage!

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox dodged the stones, but Park Seung-eun, standing behind it, was not so fortunate. Park Seung-eun had just managed to push himself up, taking advantage of the standoff between the fox and Zhang Yang, but he was immediately struck by the returning stones. He looked as if he had been pierced by a thousand arrows, and his scream echoed throughout the entire valley-like grotto.

Even the people associated with the other spiritual beasts couldn't help but flinch; Park Seung-eun's fate was truly grim!

Many pebbles burrowed into his skin and stuck to his face. When he finally turned around, he resembled a living stone statue, just as repulsive as the words he had once used against Zhang Yang!

Thud!

Park Seung-eun collapsed to the ground. Only then did the pebbles lose their kinetic energy and fall away from his body and face.

These stones, carrying Zhang Yang's internal force, were no ordinary debris. Even with his cultivation at the middle stage of the fourth layer, they were overwhelming for Park Seung-eun.

The most fatal impact, however, was a small pebble that slightly veered off course, striking the tree branch where the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was perched.

But this small pebble was casually batted away by one of the fox's tails!

"Ugh!!"

Park Seung-eun, sobbing wretchedly from the impact of the debris beneath the branch, was dealt the final blow when that tiny pebble, swept aside by the fox’s tail, shot precisely into his slightly open mouth.

This single small stone sealed his fate!

With a tragic whimper, Park Seung-eun writhed in agony for a few moments before his limbs suddenly went limp, and his breathing ceased entirely.

In effect, Park Seung-eun died by the hand of his own spiritual beast.

Park Seung-eun instantly became the most unjustly killed Korean cultivation master in Huaxia, dying even more pathetically and losing more face than Kim Hyun-shin or Park Young-joon!

"Chirp chirp!!!"

The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox on the branch was stunned for a long time. It hadn't expected that its own evasion would expose Park Seung-eun to Zhang Yang’s counterattack.

But the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox never considered itself the direct cause of Park Seung-eun’s death. It blamed Zhang Yang entirely for Park Seung-eun’s demise!

This demonstrated clearly that the loyalty of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox to Park Seung-eun was far less than the loyalty Zhang Yang received from Zhuifeng, Wuying, and Shandian. If the situation had been reversed, any of those three beasts would never have abandoned their master, as the fox did, to evade stones.

"Chirp chirp!"

"Squeak squeak!"

With only the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox left standing, Wuying and Shandian suddenly cried out to Zhang Yang. The two little ones were urging him to let them handle the fox so he could attend to other matters.

Zhuifeng let out a long, high neigh beside them, clearly indicating to Zhang Yang that if Wuying and Shandian couldn't manage the fox, he was there as backup.

Zhang Yang nodded. Although this Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was somewhat strange, its strength was only at the fourth layer, matching Wuying and Shandian. Apart from its toxic venom that countered spiritual beasts, there was nothing else for the three spirit beasts to worry about. Having three of them team up against it was already giving it considerable attention; losing would be impossible.

The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’s loyalty to Park Seung-eun was vastly inferior to the devotion of Zhang Yang’s three beasts. Having no intention of dying for Park Seung-eun, the fox seemed liberated by his death.

Standing on the branch, the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox suddenly threw its head back and let out a long howl!

"Chirp chirp... Woo woo!!!"

Gradually, the sounds coming from the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox changed. Its eyes suddenly emitted a red glow. Its nine snow-white tails turned gray and dim, gradually becoming entirely black, as if splashed with ink, matching the color of its body.

"Ding!!"

A familiar mechanical notification sound rang out in Zhang Yang's ears, accompanying the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox's howl to the heavens!

The interface for the Divine Hand System, unseen for a long time, unexpectedly materialized before Zhang Yang.