"Damn it, did I just waste all this effort?" The short, stocky young man had already pulled his fingers away from beneath the white fox's nose before the three senior monks had even landed, bursting out with a sharp exclamation of frustration. As he looked up at the three arriving figures, his expression of disappointment still evident, he seemed ready to say more. Yet, at the very moment, the three senior monks above him all suddenly changed expressions, shouting in unison, "Watch out!" "The fox is alive!" "It's faking death!" Though their words varied, they conveyed the same meaning. The short, stocky young man proved himself quick-witted; upon hearing this, his expression instantly shifted. Without hesitation, he waved his hand once, and a white scroll now appeared between his fingers, which he then struck firmly against the small creature still held by his grasp. His movement, however, had been slightly delayed—his arm had only just extended halfway when a sudden, tearing pain shot through his palm where he had gripped the fox. He roared, his fingers releasing involuntarily, and the white fox slid smoothly to the ground with a soft *shush*. Just moments before, the snow-cloud fox had instantly caused the fine hairs on its tail to stand rigidly upright, like needles, piercing the plump young man's palm and leaving it bloodied and torn. The three figures above were stunned and rushed straight toward the small creature that had fallen to the ground. Yet now, having finally gained freedom, the white fox would not remain to be captured or die in place. With a sudden leap, it transformed into a streak of white light, shooting out over fifteen paces, then plunging into the nearby thickets after several swift movements. In a flurry of urgency, Wang Sheng and the others moved with remarkable agility, surrounding the thicket like a whirlwind and each deploying a magical artifact to carefully search the area. But after a short while, they were left utterly astonished. Beyond a heap of scattered stones, the thicket was completely empty—no trace of the snow-cloud fox remained, despite having clearly leapt into it just moments before. The three stood there, at a loss, unsure what to do. "Wait! Where is Han弟 going?" Quihuan regained his composure and instinctively looked up into the sky, only to gasp in surprise. Now it dawned on the others that Han Li was already riding the artifact, swiftly flying toward the distance. Wang and the others were utterly puzzled. At that moment, they heard Han Li's voice transmitted through the air. "None of you need to worry," Han Li said. "That little creature has used a diversion technique, slipping beneath the ground. I'm currently tracking it with the artifact. As soon as it emerges, I'll capture it alive." With that, Han Li's voice faded away, and he continued to glide upward on the flying sword-vehicle, gradually moving toward the edge of the marsh. Wang, hearing Han Li's words, was filled with excitement and immediately called out to the others. With eager anticipation, he took off after Han Li's figure. Quihuan and the others followed close behind. "Ma弟, is your hand all right?" "Amidst all the haste, this Wang elder brother didn't forget to turn back and ask the shorter, plump young man one more question. "Thank goodness—the toxin on its fur wasn't harmful, just a superficial wound," the shorter, plump young man said, his figure lagging behind, his face flushed with embarrassment. After all, it was his own carelessness that had allowed the captured spirit beast to escape, especially after someone else had gently reminded him. This made the Ma youth feel deeply embarrassed. "That's good. Let's hurry and catch up. Though we don't yet know what kind of artifact Fr. Han used to pursue and eventually conceal the earth-dwelling fox, we should all move quickly." Wang elder brother managed a faint smile. On hearing this, Kui Huan also turned his face and nodded repeatedly, marveling, "But to be honest, isn't this evolved snow-cloud fox rather unusually intelligent? It managed to feign death so completely that even Master Ma couldn't tell it was pretending—truly surprising!" The shorter, plump young man, holding his injured hand, blushed even more deeply. Fortunately, at that moment, Master Wang stepped forward and spoke on behalf of the young man. "This isn't the fault of Ma's younger brother. Even if it were me stepping in under those circumstances, I might still have been caught. It's simply that this Snow-Cloud Fox is too cunning." Upon hearing this, the young man of the Ma surname glanced at Master Wang with a touch of gratitude, and felt somewhat relieved. Just as they were speaking, the young man with a pale golden complexion, who had been quietly and steadily pursuing them, seemed to witness something utterly astonishing and exclaimed aloud. "Everyone, look! Han's younger brother has disappeared into the stone wall! What shall we do now?" The others, startled, turned to look ahead and realized that they had now reached the edge of the marsh. At a distance of several hundred paces, there stood a massive mountain, its peak invisible from their vantage point. Directly facing them was a steep, sharply carved black cliff. And Han, who had just been leading the way, had vanished without a trace. The four stood before the cliff, staring at each other, even Wang Sheng looked utterly stunned. ...Indeed, Han Li was within the mountain wall. At this moment, he held the Wolf-Head Jade如意, radiating a soft yellow glow. Nearby, a yellow wolf pup about three feet long was trotting ahead, using its body to clear a path for him through the earth, performing the earth-transcendence technique. As the spirit of the jade artifact passed, the soil and stones automatically aligned themselves, leaving no trace. Han Li followed steadily behind the pup, his expression thoughtful and enigmatic. Within his awareness, a white light point was racing forward, some fifty paces below, desperately striving to reach the front—this was the white fox. With his divine abilities, he could not have missed the snow-cloud fox's pretense of death. Even as the spirit fox slipped away silently, using a small patch of stone vein hidden within the shrubbery, it had not escaped his divine perception. If it were a common low-ranking beast, Han Li would naturally have promptly reminded the disciples from Yinjian Peak at once, making a smooth favor. Yet what surprised Han Li was that, as soon as this fox appeared, he immediately noticed something unusual. There was a kind of spiritual aura on the creature that felt somewhat familiar to him. Upon pausing to think carefully, he was struck by the realization that this fox carried a subtle, clear and refined qi—very much like the one present in the incarnation of the Ji Qu Ling Shan herb, specifically in the white rabbit that had once appeared. Han Li was naturally delighted, believing he had discovered another celestial spiritual entity. However, upon further examining the white fox with his spiritual awareness, he grew puzzled again. The clear and refined qi on the fox’s body seemed notably insufficient—dramatically different from that of the Ji Qu Ling Shan herb, falling far short of even one-tenth of its intensity. Moreover, after closely scanning the fox with his spiritual senses, he confirmed that the Snow Cloud Fox was indeed a solid, flesh-and-blood being, not some ethereal or transformed form. Otherwise, how could a mere five-line maze array possibly hold it? Though now certain that this young fox was no embodiment of a celestial or terrestrial spiritual being, Han Li found himself even more curious. He suspected that this creature's evolution from a common beast into an immortal beast must be closely tied to the subtle aura of purity and clarity it carried. Instantly, he resolved to investigate further. Thus, he allowed the creature to feign death and escape the notice of Kui Huan and the others, while he himself quietly followed behind, eager to uncover what secrets it might hold. Now, before this towering cliff, the snow-cloud fox hesitated not at all—merely transformed into a sphere of white light and seamlessly merged into the rock. This prompted Han Li, who had been observing from the shadows, to release the earth-element spirit of his Jade如意 ancient artifact without hesitation. Only by employing the small wolf's earth-phantom technique could he move silently and avoid disturbing the creature. Otherwise, if he were to use his flying swords to cleave through the mountain, he would surely startle the white fox once again. This great mountain clearly was no small one. After Han Li had followed the white fox for several hundred paces, the white light suddenly paused and then burst forth from the stone, as though appearing within a sealed stone chamber. Han Li was instantly delighted and quickly used his如意 to urge the earth-element young wolf, commanding it to accelerate its earth-dwelling pace. At the same time, he strengthened his spiritual awareness, intending to first secretly examine the chamber before taking any further action. However, as his consciousness approached the stone chamber, it was suddenly repelled by an odd force, unable to penetrate even slightly. "Hm!" Han Li murmured in surprise. His forward movement naturally slowed down, and his alertness heightened. Just then, he felt a sudden tightening around his body, as though his form had grown heavy as a mountain, and a soft voice murmured gently in his ears. "Since guests have arrived, there's no need to fuss about. Shall I really have to personally invite you in?" As soon as the voice fell, countless streaks of yellow light surged around Han Li, and a powerful force suddenly pushed against him from behind. Han Li felt a bright flash and found himself suddenly transported into a stone chamber. Startled, he swiftly waved his jade如意, causing a shimmering halo of yellow and red light to form around him. At the same time, he opened his mouth and emitted十几 beams of green light that spiraled rapidly around the outer edge of the light shield. Only then did he have a moment to steady himself and gaze around him.