The moon hung in the night sky, mirroring itself in the pool within the canyon grotto. The massive crater smashed into the sheer cliff face still bubbled faintly, ironically making the stream that tumbled down from this very spot appear like a cascade, shrouded in mist halfway down.

Zhang Yang slumped onto the ground. After several deep breaths, a thread of internal energy gradually coalesced in his dantian, and the energy permeating the canyon grotto rapidly surged into his body, filling the previous void.

Soon, Zhang Yang regained some strength, enough to stand upright, unlike moments before when he had collapsed weakly. However, his recovery speed slowed significantly, and the ambient spiritual energy he could sense was now sparse.

Most of the spiritual energy in the vicinity had been condensed by Zhang Yang into an Energy Burst to deal with that mutated Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox. Currently, the wisps of white smoke rising from the great crater above the precipice were merely energy that had been gathered but not yet fully dissipated.

Knowing that his current weakness was merely a lingering effect from using the Energy Burst, Zhang Yang paid it no mind. Hearing the system prompt meant that the troublesome Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was finally dead; there was no need for further worry.

This was not the time to open the mission log to examine what this bizarre task entailed. Zhang Yang quickly got up, pulled out a Jingxue Pill from his person, consumed one, and then produced three more, distributing them to Wuying, Shandian, and Zhuifeng.

Both Wuying and Shandian had been afflicted by the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’s poison, and with the fox’s power having advanced to the late Fourth Layer, it had been too formidable. They were not feeling well now.

The Jingxue Pill could replenish the large amount of energy expended. After taking them, Wuying and Shandian’s complexions improved considerably. However, the Jingxue Pill could not completely eradicate the poison they had contracted from the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox. As for the spirit hawk, its eyes went wide upon seeing the Jingxue Pills Zhang Yang produced. But since it wasn't particularly familiar with Zhang Yang, it felt too awkward to ask for one out of politeness, so it could only watch longingly as Wuying and Shandian swallowed the pills as if they were candy.

Qiao Yihong’s face was ashen; clearly, he had suffered quite a blow from the residual force of the earlier Energy Burst. But thanks to Zhuifeng’s aid, he hadn't sustained excessive damage. Now that everything had settled and the great battle was over, he immediately said to Zhang Yang, “Mr. Zhang, the antidote for the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox toxin is on Pu Chengen. I saw him with the antidote before!”

Qiao Yihong hadn't forgotten the numerous medicinal pills in Pu Chengen’s trench coat, and among those pills were ones specifically for suppressing the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox toxin. Since the fox was Pu Chengen’s own spirit beast and had been by his side for so long, it stood to reason that Pu Chengen would possess a dedicated antidote.

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

Zhang Yang had originally planned to have Zhuifeng carry him, Wuying, and Shandian back to the villa immediately. The villa held many Lingdan Miaoyao (Miraculous Elixirs), and he couldn't believe they couldn't cure the poison afflicting Shandian and Wuying. Hearing Qiao Yihong’s words, Zhang Yang’s eyes lit up.

Qiao Yihong walked over to Pu Chengen’s corpse, squatted down, and rummaged through his trench coat for a long time. At this moment, Zhang Yang also approached.

Zhang Yang understood the properties of the pills on Pu Chengen better than Qiao Yihong did. Most of these pills were specially formulated for spirit beasts. It seemed Pu Chengen had made comprehensive preparations before venturing out.

“Found them!”

When Qiao Yihong pulled out two bottles from the pocket where Pu Chengen had given him a pill before, his eyes brightened. It was from one of these bottles that Qiao Yihong had taken a pill to suppress the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox venom.

Handing the two bottles to Zhang Yang, Qiao Yihong scratched the back of his head and said, “One of these bottles should contain the pills for suppressing the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox toxin, but I’m not sure exactly which one.”

“Yangyang, Yangyang!”

Just as Zhang Yang took the bottles, a familiar shout suddenly echoed from outside.

Zhang Yang whipped his head around—the old man had actually come too!

Old Master Zhang Pinglu, having sensed the fluctuations of energy occurring here, could not remain calm and came personally to investigate. He hadn't expected that, chasing the source, he would arrive right here.

The door to the cave on the cliff face was not closed, so Zhang Pinglu walked smoothly into the canyon grotto. Upon arriving, he clearly sensed Zhang Yang’s presence.

The reason for Zhang Pinglu’s anxiety was that Zhang Yang’s aura was far weaker than usual. Fearing that the most talented successor of the Zhang family might suffer some misfortune, he had rushed over in a panic.

“Old Man, I’m here!”

Seeing the old man’s figure flash by, Zhang Yang quickly waved.

Another person had arrived!

Beside the spirit beast hawk, the disciples of the Spirit Beast Sect, who had been protected by the hawk and hadn't fainted from the residual shockwave of the Energy Burst, exchanged glances, stunned once again.

The person who just arrived possessed power no less than the young man. And the scene of that young man battling the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox earlier was something they would never have imagined in their lives.

These Spirit Beast Sect disciples probably wouldn't have guessed that someone could wield both white sword energy jian mang and such a devastating offensive measure as the Energy Burst. In their minds, Zhang Yang had already been elevated to a god-like status, and they harbored no thought of resisting him.

Their thinking was simple: it seemed the Spirit Beast Sect, which had sequestered itself in Mount Zijing and avoided worldly affairs, was facing a major catastrophe today.

“Old Man, I’m fine. Please check on Wuying and Shandian first; they’ve been poisoned!” Zhang Yang’s current strength was less than one-tenth of his normal level, preventing him from using his internal energy to detoxify Shandian and Wuying. Now that the Old Man had arrived unexpectedly, even the pills in hand seemed secondary; he mustn't forget that the Old Man was also a master of medicine from the Zhang family of Medical Saints.

The Old Man took the bottles from Zhang Yang, drew one pill from each, observed them for a moment, then scraped a tiny amount of powder onto his tongue to taste. He immediately analyzed and processed the true purpose of these pills.

“These pills… are the antidote for the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox toxin?”

Zhang Pinglu was greatly astonished, then looked at Zhang Yang and asked, “Has someone in our Huaxia developed an antidote for the virtually extinct Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox? The antidote for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox can only be formulated using the venom of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox itself. What on earth is going on, Yangyang?”

“Old Man, I’ll explain later. Help Wuying and Shandian detoxify first!”

Zhang Yang didn't answer immediately; the poison in the two little ones, Wuying and Shandian, still needed curing.

“Jijiji!”

“Zhizhi zhi!”

Seeing that the Old Man had found the true antidote for the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, Shandian and Wuying immediately scurried over, begging for the medicine.

The Old Man handed the genuine antidote bottle to Shandian. Shandian promptly took out three pills, ate one itself, fed one to Wuying, and didn't forget the remaining one for the Third Layer spirit beast, the hawk.

Although the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox's toxicity had greatly increased after its mutation, this antidote was still effective. After taking it, Wuying and Shandian’s complexions improved markedly, and they could already feel abundant energy returning to their bodies. The paralyzing effect of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox poison was diminishing.

The hawk’s toxins were cleared first. The spirit hawk, having regained its strength, leaped up and circled above the canyon grotto, letting out joyful screeches.

Whoosh…

The flocks of birds that had flown away earlier due to the hawk’s cries of agony returned in a dense mass upon hearing its cheerful calls, hovering behind it.

This spirit beast hawk had suddenly become the monarch of this domain, and those birds were undoubtedly its subjects.

Seeing their sect's Sacred Beast return to the light, and realizing that these powerful individuals seemed uninterested in seizing their Sacred Beast, the people of the Spirit Beast Sect could not help but shed tears.

After the joy of regaining freedom, the hawk finally left its subjects. It flapped its wings and flew toward the distance, quickly becoming a white speck vanishing into the sky.

Watching the departing hawk, the Spirit Beast Sect members were clearly surprised that it left so abruptly, and they stood stunned for a moment.

By this time, Zhang Yang had explained everything that had happened to the Old Man. Upon hearing that people from Korea had stretched their claws into this territory, Old Master Zhang Pinglu became furious.

“So they possessed a spirit beast like the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, which made them reckless enough to hunt spirit beasts on our Huaxia soil!” Zhang Pinglu raged, his beard bristling, then continued to Zhang Yang, “I know of the small sect on Mount Zijing, the Spirit Beast Sect. They don't have many masters. Fortunately, Yangyang discovered their conspiracy in time, otherwise, these Koreans might have actually succeeded in their plot.”

“But don’t worry, Yangyang, there definitely won't be any more incidents like this. Since they are so shameless as to hunt our Huaxia spirit beasts, we certainly won't be polite to them from now on!”

“Old Man, does Huaxia have a special organization targeting foreign cultivators? And is that why you said last time that foreign Great Perfection cultivators dare not set foot on Huaxia soil?”

After listening to Zhang Pinglu, Zhang Yang’s idea that the country must also have cultivators became stronger. He had this thought as early as when he encountered that ninja from Japan, and the Old Man’s words now confirmed this suspicion.

Hearing Zhang Yang ask, the Old Man no longer concealed it and frankly admitted, “That’s right. Within our Huaxia State Security, there is indeed a group of recorded cultivators, and I have even interacted with them before. However, these cultivators serve the country exclusively and will never involve themselves in any matters within our cultivation world. This is considered top secret, which is why I didn't tell you before.”

Receiving this answer, which was essentially what he expected, Zhang Yang shook his head. While these state cultivators might be powerful, they also had significant vulnerabilities.