I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

"Sister Xin..." Wu Ran woke up and didn't see An Xin, feeling anxious.

Unexpectedly, before the time it takes to drink a cup of tea is up, An Xin and Hu Nuo have already hidden in the tree hole.

"Ah..." Before Wu Ran could speak, An Xin quickly covered his mouth with her hand and put her index finger to her lips with her other hand to make a shushing gesture.

The three of them were crammed into a small tree hole and had to stay still, which was really frustrating.

An Xin focused intently on releasing her Heavenly Eye and Heavenly Ear.

"Damn! What's wrong with them? They're breathing, and their eyes are moving!" A beastman patted and punched several motionless beastmen in front of him.

"Boss, could it be that pretty girl's doing? We heard the orcs call her the Witch Doctor!" A skinny, vicious orc said in a high-pitched voice, rubbing his hands together as he fawned over his boss.

The orc known as "Boss" stroked his goatee, his eyes darting around as he pondered for a moment: "We must capture these two females! A witch doctor, a priestess. If we subdue them and offer them to the evil king, our cultivation will increase, and then we'll have endless food and females... Hahaha..."

"Boss, you're brilliant! What do we do now?"

"What are we doing? We're splitting up to look for them, of course!"

"What about the two giant snakes ahead? They're of a very high level; one of them seems to be a high-ranking serpent priest!"

"These high-level monstrous beasts that I managed to find this time were really hard to come by. I'm sure I can defeat him. Even if I can't kill him, I can at least severely injure him!" The leader of the beastmen grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. He was both lewd and vicious.

More than fifty beastmen split up and acted separately. An Xin's hiding place in the tree hole was very likely to be found, and she was also very worried about She Ming and Ao Jue.

Without further hesitation, An Xin swiftly inserted silver needles into the pressure points of Wu Ran and Hu Nuo, causing them to fall into a deep sleep. With a wave of her hand, she took the two into her spatial storage.

Before the beastmen could find her, An Xin leaped towards the snake inscription with a light touch of her toes.

A few breaths later, she heard the sounds of fighting. As she got closer, she was utterly shocked by the scene of the battle.

The towering trees within a mile radius were crushed into dust by the spiritual power. A gigantic giant ape—commonly known as a chimpanzee—lay on the ground, its fate unknown.

At this moment, the enormous black dragon was tightly coiling around a giant brown bear.

—Holy crap! A death strangulation. This is the first time I've ever actually seen one live!

The bear's nose had started bleeding, and its eyes had rolled back.

After a long battle, She Ming was covered in wounds and his spiritual power was about to be exhausted, so he used the most primitive strangulation technique.

Behind a nearby tree, Ao Jue was excitedly observing the battle, wishing he could join in the fight. Unfortunately, his spiritual power was sealed, so he couldn't do anything but make sure he didn't hold anyone back.

A series of thunderous hoofbeats followed, a flash of silver light, and then a clang.

In the blink of an eye, a series of movements were executed flawlessly.

Ao Jue turned around and his scalp tingled. He saw An Xin holding the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) horizontally, blocking a gigantic wild boar in front of him. The huge tusks were only a foot away from his body.

"Quickly... shrink... I'll send you into the space."

An Xin used all her strength to hold back the giant pig, her hands gripping A Ye's hands with bulging veins, and her legs kicking backward continuously.

Ao Jue obediently curled up into a small white snake and wrapped around An Xin's neck.

In an instant, the two entered the space together.

"A-Jue, there's no time. She Ming is in danger. Keep an eye on the two of them. If they wake up, knock them unconscious. Also, dress Wu Ran in some clothes." Putting away the silver needles, An Xin instantly returned to the "battlefield."

The giant wild boar was about to charge at Snake Name. If Snake Name were to be pierced by its tusks, it would truly be doomed.

An Xin teleported to the front of She Ming and the giant bear, and shot the silver needles, infused with spiritual power, at the wild boar.

Except for the silver needle that pierced its left eye, all the other silver needles were blocked by the wild boar's extremely thick skin.

The giant boar, now blind in one eye, became even more frenzied, roaring and stomping its front hooves as it charged toward An Xin.

Because this wild boar had reached level 6, or the Void Refining stage, before it collapsed, although it had no spiritual power, its physical body was extremely strong, and neither the silver needles nor Ah Ye could penetrate its skin.

The Space Blade has not yet awakened, and other powers cannot be used.

With time running out, An Xin continued to use A Ye to fend off the giant boar's attacks. Looking into the giant boar's intact eyes, An Xin focused intently on silently repeating in her mind: "You're sleepy, go to sleep."

Whether it was the charm technique at work or not, the giant pig's gaze glazed over for a moment.

However, An Xin had never studied the art of seduction, and ultimately failed.

At the critical moment, An Xin roared with all her might, trying to strike the giant pig's other eye with all her spiritual power.

But at the moment when all spiritual power was mobilized and unleashed, a flash of silver light appeared...

Her eyes were completely black, with no white showing, and her face was expressionless. She raised her right hand, forming a grasping motion, and slowly closed her fingers…

The giant pig was suddenly terrified, screaming in agony as blood gushed from its mouth.

An Xin tilted her head, as if she had discovered some interesting toy, and a strange smile appeared on her face. Then she clenched her right hand into a fist, and with a "poof", blood gushed from the giant pig's seven orifices, and blood mist kept spraying out from the pores of its skin.

An Xin's fair face was splattered with blood mist, which she wiped away. Seemingly losing patience, she yanked outwards with both hands, and the giant pig instantly tore into pieces, as if ripped apart from the inside by immense force…

After doing all this, An Xin simply stood there quietly, closed her eyes, and a voice of indeterminate gender came from her mouth: "Weak..."

When Snake Ming finished off the giant bear and transformed into a human, he saw only blood and flesh scattered all over the ground. Lying amidst the carnage was a white fox that had transformed into a blood fox.

Snake Ming's pupils contracted sharply, and he picked up the fox to examine it thoroughly.

Fortunately, the little fox was only exhausted and had no injuries; the bloodstains on her body were not her own.

The rain finally arrived as expected, dripping onto She Ming's expressionless face.

They found a cave, and Sheming carried the bloodied little fox inside. Upon closer inspection, they could even hear the sound of water inside.

Using the snake slough to clean the little fox, and with a water spell, the moisture on its fur was immediately separated, and Anxin returned to being the beautiful white fox she once was.

Stroking her fur with spiritual energy, She Ming completely ignored his own injuries as he channeled spiritual energy into the little creature.

After a while, the little fox finally opened its eyes slowly. Seeing that it was being held in She Ming's arms again, it quickly closed its eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, I was still greeted by that exceptionally handsome yet indifferent face.

—Did I get killed by a wild boar? Why can't I turn back into a human? Am I reborn?

Watching the little fox look around, it tugged at his hand in his arms, whimpering for a long time.

Snake Inscription tried to ask, "Are you talking to me? I don't understand fox language!"

—Oh no, he's really been reborn. He said that to me before too.

An Xin sighed, thinking that since it was no use anyway, she might as well just lie down obediently.

"Ah Xin, did you kill that wild boar just now? That was too dangerous. I'll take care of it from now on!"

"—You're handing it over to me? Then we'll all just wait to die... Huh? He said wild boar? I didn't die? I didn't reincarnate?"

"After I dealt with the giant bear, I saw you lying motionless in a pile of rotten flesh, now a little fox! I was terrified, but thankfully you were alright..." Snake Ming continued to stroke the little fox's fur, talking to himself.

An Xin looked up and immediately saw that the man's eyes were slightly red and his brows were furrowed, and a warm feeling washed over her.

—How did that pig die? Did my burst of spiritual power work? Is it because I've run out of spiritual power that I can't turn into a human anymore?

—Even the great black dragon knows how to care for people now! It wasn't for nothing that it drank the spiritual elixir! Huh? He has wounds on his arms and legs, and his snake skin is also torn.

Seeing his reaction, An Xin simply spun around and entered the space, holding a bottle of spiritual liquid in her mouth as she prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, a large hand grabbed her by the back of the neck...

"When did a white fox appear in this space? And it's from the Tushan Fox Clan? Only one tail? Trash!" Ao Jue picked An Xin up and examined her. "Hmm, it's a female fox~"

"Aaaaah! You really are a perverted dragon! Let go of me! Ao Jue, you're finished! You're really done for now, I'll scratch you to death..."

An Xin kicked and scratched with both her forelimbs, but she couldn't reach Ao Jue.

"Yo~ You little fox who stole the spirit elixir, you're pretty good, aren't you? Too bad I caught you by the scruff of your neck, hahaha!"

Ao Jue, holding the little fox in one hand and with the other on his hip, threw his head back and laughed loudly, looking just like a brainless villain!

—Damn it! I'm so angry!

Without further ado, An Xin thought, "Let's get out," and took Ao Jue, who was still laughing foolishly to the sky, with her when they left the space.

……

Inside the cave

While anxiously searching for An Xin, She Ming suddenly discovered that Ao Jue, laughing wildly, had appeared out of thin air in the cave, carrying a little fox in his hand.

Soon, Ao Jue found himself suddenly in a cave, with She Ming standing beside him, arms crossed and raising an eyebrow at him.

The scene became extremely awkward, so quiet that only the pattering rain outside the cave could be heard…

"Quickly put A-Xin down!" She Ming was the first to come to his senses, and after speaking, he went to hug An Xin.

"Wait, what did you say? This fox is An Xin?" Ao Jue pinched his chin, thinking for a long time, then suddenly realized that An Xin had indeed told him that she was now a fox, possibly a fox princess of the fox clan...

After staring at the little fox in his hand for a moment, Ao Jue let out a "howl" and flung the little fox away. She Ming swiftly caught An Xin.

She had cursed Ao Jue hundreds of times in her heart... and vowed to teach Ao Jue a lesson!

Pull the snake's mouth open and show it to him what's inside.

She Ming didn't disappoint her, immediately noticing the spiritual liquid: "For me?"

The little fox nodded softly, and She Ming couldn't resist patting her head.

He took the porcelain bottle, thanked her, and drank the spiritual liquid in one gulp. His internal injuries were indeed much better, but his body was still covered in bloodstains.

An Xin jumped down from She Ming's arms, ran to Ao Jue, grabbed the hem of his long robe, and dragged him toward She Ming.

"Xinxin, do you want me to help you? But my spiritual power is sealed, and I can't use my healing abilities!"

Rolling her eyes, An Xin knew perfectly well that he couldn't use healing magic. She just wanted him to create a spirit-gathering array for She Ming so that he could recover his spiritual power and injuries as soon as possible.

Her current spiritual power is far too weak to bring this powerful figure into the space; otherwise, everyone would be hiding inside. After half a day, the beasts would all return, and then it would be safe to leave the space.

An Xin could only circle around the snake inscription, then point at Ao Jue with her front paws, continue circling, and then point at Ao Jue again...

"Does Ah Xin mean to have Ao Jue surround me?" She Ming made a guess without confirming or denying it.

"It should be me who initiates the battle."

The little fox stopped and nodded repeatedly at Ao Jue.

"If we activate the formation... will it have a healing or protective effect on She Ming?" Ao Jue pondered, stroking his chin. "Ah! A Spirit Gathering Formation! It must be a Spirit Gathering Formation. You want She Ming to recover his strength and injuries as quickly as possible!"

The little fox nodded emphatically again! — I finally understood, otherwise I would have been spinning around and dizzy!

An Xin was supervising Ao Jue as he cast a spirit-gathering array on She Ming. An Xin disappeared as soon as she turned around, but reappeared a few minutes later, along with the unconscious Hu Nuo and Wu Ran.

He had Ao Jue give them both diluted spiritual liquid and watched them slowly wake up.

The rain outside the cave was lessening, and the orcs seemed to be getting closer; a great battle was imminent...