Just as Su Zhiyun and A Ran had breathed a sigh of relief, Jiu Baiyun stumbled, and soon after, the Spiritual Barrier enveloping the four of them suddenly dissipated.
The moment the barrier collapsed, the feeling of weightlessness seized everyone like an icy claw.
“Ahhh—”
The screams were torn apart by the howling wind.
Su Zhiyun and A Ran felt their bodies suddenly sink, plummeting uncontrollably.
Xiao Mu let out a shrill scream, her arms tightly locked around Jiu Baiyun’s neck, clinging to him like an octopus, immense fear nearly suffocating her.
Jiu Baiyun tried desperately to stabilize himself, but he simply couldn’t.
It wasn’t because of Xiao Mu, but because of his own body.
His Spiritual Energy was depleted, making it impossible to maintain the Protective Shield even with Demon Power assistance, and the changes in his body made it hard for him to focus on re-forming a new shield with Demon Power.
Nevertheless, Jiu Baiyun still tried his utmost to mobilize every muscle, steady himself, and gather Demon Power to support the others.
But the tearing sensation from inside his body and the violent transformation of Fox Demon attacked like countless red-hot steel needles piercing his nerve endings.
The tingling and swelling at the sides of his head could no longer be suppressed.
A pair of furry, strangely lustrous silver-white fox ears popped through his hair, twitching uneasily in the wind.
The fox tail at the base of his spine thrashed violently, almost bursting through his clothes.
His consciousness was dragged into a thick mire, sinking rapidly, the darkness at the edges of his vision expanding sharply, nearly swallowing all light.
‘No! Can’t pass out!’
The ground rushed up in his vision, jagged rocks and low shrubs looming menacingly.
This height was nothing to him, but for Su Zhiyun, A Ran, and Xiao Mu, if they fell, even if they didn’t die, they’d be severely injured!
“Ugh—”
Jiu Baiyun let out a low growl, clamped his teeth together, and used the last of his strength to bite down hard on his tongue.
Pain! An indescribably sharp pain mixed with the rusty, bloody taste exploded from his tongue, brutally piercing his fading will.
His unfocused pupils suddenly contracted, coming into focus.
Now!
Whoosh!
Feeling that he could exert force, Jiu Baiyun didn’t hesitate any longer and immediately pulled out the massive Demon Power belonging to the Yao Fox Demon Venerable within him.
Just before they collided with the ground, a dark blue Demon Power with a hint of chill instantly enveloped the four of them.
Boom!
With a loud noise and a thick cloud of dust, they slammed heavily into the ground. Shrill screams rang out from fear.
Dust filled the air, choking and blinding.
The violent impact seemed to make the earth tremble.
“Cough… cough… cough…”
Su Zhiyun was knocked dizzy, feeling as if her organs had shifted.
She coughed violently while struggling to push herself up from the ground.
At least thanks to Jiu Baiyun’s timely action, they only felt a bit uncomfortable, not shattered into pieces.
The A Ran in her arms, who had been well protected, now lifted her little face in shock, her face covered in dust, her big eyes filled with fear and confusion.
After all, that sudden drop was truly terrifying.
“Big Brother Jiu…”
After confirming she was unharmed, A Ran instinctively looked around for Jiu Baiyun.
Not far away, Jiu Baiyun was kneeling on one knee, one hand firmly on the ground, the other reaching back to protect Xiao Mu on his back.
He lowered his head, silver-white hair falling messily, covering most of his face, only his heaving chest and rapid breaths visible.
“Mm… mm…”
Xiao Mu still kept her eyes tightly shut, curled up on Jiu Baiyun’s back, trembling uncontrollably.
She had thought following Jiu Baiyun would be safer, but she never expected it would be so terrifying.
But she didn’t feel dissatisfied or regretful… Although she didn’t understand much, she knew clearly that without Jiu Baiyun, she would have died there.
So now she was just scared, but deeply grateful to Jiu Baiyun.
“Xiao Mu… it’s okay… for now… safe…”
Feeling her trembling on his back, Jiu Baiyun spoke with difficulty, his voice terribly hoarse.
The blood oozing from the bite on his tongue made him look miserable.
The furry fox ears on his head drooped weakly, and the uncontrollable fox tail at the base of his spine also hung limply under his robe, no longer able to thrash.
“Jiu Baiyun! Are you alright?”
Su Zhiyun finally caught her breath and quickly looked at Jiu Baiyun, but froze when her eyes landed on him.
“Your… your ears…”
Although she had guessed something about the relationship between Jiu Baiyun and the Fox Immortal, seeing this now stirred a huge wave in Su Zhiyun’s heart.
The voice wasn’t loud, but it snapped A Ran out of her daze, also showing surprise and bewilderment.
“Are you the Fox Immortal’s child!?”
When he heard Su Zhiyun’s words, Jiu Baiyun had already thought ‘Oh no’ in his mind, but he didn’t expect such an absurd guess to come out of Su Zhiyun’s mouth.
A Ran, hearing this, showed a shocked and hesitant expression, with a hint of excitement.
‘Child my ass!!! I am the Venerable itself!’
That’s what he thought, but Jiu Baiyun couldn’t say it.
Let the misunderstanding stand; it was better than being guessed as the Fox Immortal.
Once his identity was guessed, the scene would be incredibly awkward.
However, there was one thing he had to correct.
“Cough… cough… Child? I’m actually of the same clan as the Fox Immortal…”
He wanted to explain more clearly, but the emptiness and tearing pain from dual depletion of Demon Power and Spiritual Energy suddenly hit him, making his vision go dark, his body sway, and the arm supporting him tremble slightly.
The pair of furry silver-white fox ears on his head drooped weakly.
The shock in Su Zhiyun’s eyes hadn’t completely faded, but seeing Jiu Baiyun’s terrible state and the blood at the corner of his mouth, and remembering how he had desperately brought them out of the encirclement, her questioning words got stuck in her throat.
“Alright, alright, same clan…”
Su Zhiyun didn’t dwell on it.
Knowing Jiu Baiyun was of the same clan was already surprising enough, and now was clearly not the time to focus on that.
Thinking so, she struggled to stand up fully, brushed the dust off her clothes, and looked around cautiously.
“This isn’t the time for that! How are you? Can you move? That damn thing is still behind us!”
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
The danger level on the System Panel had dropped to “High Danger,” but the oppressive feeling from the Black Heavenly Palace that blotted out the sky in the distance remained undiminished.