As gravity pulled the fox to the ground, Liu Xing saw its eyes roll upward, revealing only the whites and realized that it had fainted. Seeing this, he poured more qi from the Ethereal Pearl into his right gauntlet. While his previous attack had been impressive, he had only used half the qi from the Ethereal Pearl. Now, he could unleash another full attack.

He kicked the ground hard and launched himself into the air toward the fallen fox. The wind whistled past his ears as he soared upward. As he flew past the fox, Liu Xing summoned his shield and used it to stop his ascent. Then he turned to face the still-falling fox from above, materialized a huge ball of lightning in his palm, and struck it.

"Eat this!"

The strike unleashed a huge pillar of lightning with a thunderous roar while propelling him higher into the air. But before his attack could reach its target, he saw the fox suddenly awaken. His eyes were wide as saucers, his expression terrified. The fox's feet then turned into moss and then solidified into a large shield in front of him to block his attack.

The pillar of light swallowed the moss shield and the fox. From a distance, it looked like a huge white pillar descending from the sky, as if a shining heavenly foot tried to trample the fox. In a split second, the pillar of light crashed into the ground. The earth around it rippled like water, erupting in a shockwave of debris and blinding light that radiated outward.

When the attack receded, a deep hole several meters in diameter marred the ground. At the center lay the unconscious fox, its eyes rolled back once more. It had lost its feet and arms, leaving only its head and torso. The previously blackened fur was gone, revealing charred skin across its entire body. It looked as if someone had thrown the fox into a fire for an hour before tossing it to the ground. At this point, the fox resembled charcoal more than flesh.

Despite its grievous injuries, the fox was still alive, demonstrating the incredible resilience of a Core Splitting realm. Still, Liu Xing couldn't complain. This fight had been much easier than his battle with the frog.

Falling through the air, Liu Xing aimed his gun at the unconscious fox. He activated the Exploding Fist technique and let the gun absorb it. Now his gun was loaded with six exploding bullets and Xing pulled the trigger six times, sending six exploding bullets hurtling toward the target.

When the bullets were mere meters from their mark, the mouth of the still-unconscious fox suddenly opened. Green moss poured out, creating a small dome that encased the fox. The six bullets hit the dome, obliterating it, but not the fox. Six green appendages, like insect legs, extended from the fox's charred torso. It scurried away like a cockroach, carrying the still unconscious fox with its eyes rolled upward.

Seeing this, Liu Xing's eyebrows rose. What was happening? The fox was unconscious, but the moss moved as if it had its own mind.

The fox climbed out of the hole and zigzagged between trees like a true cockroach, weaving through the undergrowth. Liu Xing, still invisible, summoned his shield and kicked it, trying to follow the blackened fox carried by six moss feet. As he aimed his gun and fired at the fox, the feet seemed to sense his bullet. They jumped onto a branch, and it began jumping from tree to tree like an oversized and charred squirrel..

As Liu Xing followed the charred fox, the forest blurring around him as he gave chase, he suspected the moss possessed a mind of its own. Either it was the fox's special ability, or it was actually a symbiote living inside the fox. Either way, the moss was trying to keep the fox alive. He scanned his surroundings and soon realized the six appendages were trying to carry the fox into the clearing where the Diamond Pills were located.

Jumping from a tree with such force it exploded, Liu Xing shot forward like a bullet and flew right over the scurrying creature. He aimed his gun and fired an exploding bullet at it. The still unconscious fox suddenly opened its mouth again and spat out green sludge that looked like wet moss. His bullet hit the ball of sludge and exploded. The explosion blew both the scurrying fox and Liu Xing backward.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

In the air, Liu Xing spun around, summoned his shield, and kicked it. The world blurred, but he knew the explosion had allowed the six moss appendages to reach near the tree holding the Diamond Pills. Knowing this, Liu Xing kicked the shield again and again, accelerating faster and faster through the air.

One of the moss appendages stretched into the hollow of the tree and pierced the glass box where the pills were placed. The tip of one appendage, which before looked like a cockroach foot, transformed into a claw and pinched a Diamond Pill. The five remaining appendages then pulled open the fox's maw, and the last green appendage dropped the pill right above its mouth.

Just as the pill was about to fall into the fox's mouth, Liu Xing arrived. With an outstretched hand and his heart beating frantically, he caught the pill before it could land inside the fox's mouth.

"Too slow!" Liu Xing smiled.

Liu Xing then summoned his shield, twisted his body, summoned his shield, and kicked it to fly towards the tree with the remaining pills. He heard the moss wail, high-pitched like squeaking mice, as if frustrated that its plan had been foiled. One of its appendages turned into a spear and lashed out, but it hit nothing but air.

As he flew towards the tree, Liu Xing reached out and grabbed the glass box. His body slammed into the tree, and the tree exploded in a shower of bark, branches, and moss-covered leaves. After the tree shattered, Liu Xing spun in the air and landed smoothly on the ground, holding the glass box tightly in his hand. When he stopped, Liu Xing examined the glass box containing four Diamond Pills. He then threw in the pill he had snatched from the fox's mouth into the box, and the glass box now held five Diamond Pills.

Seeing that he had successfully retrieved all five Diamond Pills, excitement began to fill his heart. There were many pills that outer disciples needed to retrieve, but these Diamond Pills were among the rarer ones. He could eat two of them and give the rest to the sect.

Liu Xing itched to grab his token and reconfirm the information about the Diamond Pills, but before he could do that, he suddenly heard high-pitched sounds emitted by the six appendages extending from the charred fox become louder.

Seeing this, Liu Xing wondered what exactly this fox and the moss were. Were they truly symbiotes? Or was the moss fully controlling the fox? Seeing that the fox was still unconscious, Liu Xing suspected the moss was controlling it, but still, it was the fox that had achieved the Core Splitting realm, not the moss.

Whatever it was, Liu Xing watched as moss began to pour from the fox's mouth. The amount was staggering, and soon the charred body of the fox was engulfed entirely by dark green moss. The high-pitched wailing grew higher and louder, and then the moss started standing on two newly created feet that looked big and muscular. Two large hands sprouted from its sides, and the unconscious fox's torso and face emerged from the moss. Instead of charred black, the fox was now invaded by dark green, as if the moss had injected itself into the charred flesh, creating dark green veins that wriggled like worms. The fox's face was also full of green veins, most prominently around its eyes, as if the entirely white eyes were leaves held by several green vines. The eyes were lifeless, as if the fox was already dead, but the qi around the moss-fox started surging, becoming denser and stronger, as if it had suddenly broken through to the next stage of the Core Splitting realm.

The fox, now entirely controlled by the moss, roared. The sound was thunderous, like the roar of a mighty lion, making the wind ripple and leaves tremble on nearby trees. Then it crouched, its green feet entirely created by moss kicking the ground and the green fox hurtled at Liu Xing like a bullet.

Seeing this, Liu Xing realized these Diamond Pills were incredibly important to the moss. It would probably hunt him to the edge of the world to retrieve them. But unfortunately for his opponent, Liu Xing had no intention of giving up the pills.

With adrenaline coursing through his body and electricity coating his skin, Liu Xing kicked the ground and jumped into the sky. In the sky, Liu Xing rotated his body so his head pointed downward. He watched the ground recede farther and farther away.

When his momentum slowed and the world sharpened back into focus, Liu Xing saw the moss-fox had also kicked off the ground and jumped, trying to follow him like a hound smelling blood. Although Liu Xing was still invisible, the glass box he held in his right hand was not, so the creature was probably following the box.

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