Chapter 27: The Desire for Personal Revenge
A powerful aura had instantly burst forth from within Qin Xuan.
At the same time, his appearance had started to change.
The once sharp and defined features of his face had gradually softened, and an additional feminine tone had appeared in his voice.
The black fox shadow behind him had gradually shrunk until it merged into Qin Xuan’s body. His hands had formed claws, black fox ears had sprouted from his head, and a large, fluffy tail had emerged behind him.
“I will kill you!”
Qin Xuan had roared, his eyes reddened, resembling a frenzied beast.
He had now completely merged with the black fox, and his cultivation had forcibly risen from the Foundation Establishment stage to the late Golden Core stage.
If not for the powerful restrictions in this ruin that instantly eliminated any power beyond the Golden Core stage, his cultivation level could have continued to rise.
Feeling the endless power within him, Qin Xuan had never felt so exhilarated.
He looked down at Ying Tong and the others, saying, “You people, with your strong family backgrounds, think nothing of me. If I had the same family backing as you, you wouldn’t even be worthy to bow down and shine my shoes.”
Ying Tong had felt her ears were tainted; she should never have allowed Qin Xuan to speak.
If these cultivators from prominent families really only relied on their family backgrounds, their wealth would have been squandered long ago, rather than growing steadily as it had.
At that moment, Qin Xuan had seemed like an arrogant beggar, proud yet with nothing to his name.
Unable to accept his inferiority, he attributed all his shortcomings to their family status.
He imagined that if they had the same family background, starting on equal footing, he would never lose.
But the reality was that the resources Qin Xuan and Zhangsun Ya had painstakingly obtained from Ying Xuan were merely the resources the Ying family would allocate to train a single member.
And the reason Ying Xuan had access to these resources wasn’t because of his family status, but because he was deemed worthy of such investment.
“You wretch, go to hell!!”
In the next instant, Qin Xuan transformed into a black whirlwind, rushing furiously toward Ying Tong’s position, with a burst of golden light appearing in his hands.
However, at this critical moment, the treasure he had brought back from the core of the ruins, for which he had paid a heavy price, suddenly slipped from his control.
And then… it was over.
Although Ying Tong only had the Golden Core cultivation level, her true form was that of a powerful Deity Transformation stage cultivator. If she couldn’t handle a watered-down Golden Core cultivator, she might as well bash her head against a wall and end it all.
Qin Xuan was once again sent flying, and this time, none of the spectators like Ying Xuechen and the others saw how Ying Tong had made her move.
It looked as if Qin Xuan had thrown himself out.
At that moment, Qin Xuan was severely injured and filled with terror. Or rather, the one truly terrified was the black fox that had fused with him.
“What kind of monster have you provoked?” the black fox screamed hysterically.
Unlike the narrow-minded Qin Xuan, the black fox had seen a great deal. So, in that brief moment of contact, it had detected a trace of Ying Tong’s aura.
From that faint aura alone, the black fox sensed an overwhelming fear and realized that the person before them was likely not an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.
Moreover, this person had easily taken control of the treasure they had fought so hard to obtain.
Although Qin Xuan hadn’t yet bonded or refined it, he had managed to activate it nonetheless.
However, even so, the opponent had effortlessly taken the item, the entire process as simple as saying, “What nice weather today.”
Ying Tong didn’t give it any chance to catch its breath or escape; she directly reached out and pulled the black fox out of Qin Xuan’s body.
The once fused man and fox were forcibly separated, experiencing a pain akin to being split in half.
With Qin Xuan already gravely injured, he immediately lost all vitality.
Seeing this, Ying Tong swiftly extinguished his soul, leaving him no opportunity for rebirth or possession.
As for the black fox, a look of disdain appeared on Ying Tong’s face.
It had looked quite beautiful in its shadow form, but its true appearance was shockingly ugly.
Just as Ying Tong was about to deal with the black fox, a voice suddenly rang out.
“Wait, please show mercy, respected one!”
Ying Tong looked at the orb in her hand; the voice had come from it.
“A weapon spirit?”
The orb slowly floated up, transforming in mid-air into a slightly plump, kindly-looking middle-aged man.
“I am not a weapon spirit, just a remnant soul,” he said.
In an instant, Ying Tong realized his identity. “You are the owner of this ruin.”
The middle-aged man smiled faintly. “Yes and no. This ruin doesn’t belong to me; I merely discovered it and transformed it into its current form.”
Hearing this, Ying Tong nodded and turned to the black fox lying on the ground. “So, you’re in cahoots with it?”
As she spoke, her gaze fixed on the middle-aged man.
If he said yes, she wouldn’t hesitate to extinguish this last remnant of his soul as well.
Sensing the murderous intent in Ying Tong’s eyes, the middle-aged man quickly denied it. “Of course not. Although I was merely a cook in my lifetime, I was also a person of integrity; how could I possibly associate with a black fox?”
Upon hearing that he had been a cook, Ying Tong instinctively thought of the thick recipe book, likely penned by the man before her.
“Since you’re not in cahoots with it, why do you want me to stop?” she asked.
The middle-aged man cleared his throat lightly and clasped his hands together. “I have a deep-seated grudge against this black fox. I ask that you allow me to handle it personally to understand this cause and effect. In return, I am willing to offer you all my life’s savings.”
He had anticipated that the fox would return here and reach the core of the ruins, which was why he had left behind this remnant soul, hoping to take his revenge when the time was right.
Ying Tong pondered for a moment before agreeing to his request.
“Fine.”
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man’s expression brightened. After all, he had been dead for countless years, and this remnant of his soul was more like an obsession than anything else.
With her consent, the middle-aged man wasted no time. He immediately formed hand seals, and the ground began to tremble.
Before long, a dozen or so light orbs emerged from the earth.
Since he had long expected the black fox’s return, he certainly wouldn’t have hidden his true treasures in the core of the ruins.
The real valuable items had been hidden in a much more secretive location, a place no one else could find besides himself.
