The wind slowly died down.
Dust settled across the shattered forest floor, broken trees leaning at unnatural angles where the earlier battle had torn through the land.
At the center of it all—
The cultivator's body lay still.
A clean hole pierced through the center of his skull.
Dark blood pooled beneath his head, slowly soaking into the soil.
The white-scaled lizard stood beside the corpse, his chest rising and falling slowly. Several of his scales were cracked, and faint traces of golden qi still burned across his body where the earlier techniques had struck him.
His vertical pupils remained locked on the corpse.
Watching.
Waiting.
The fox landed lightly on the ground nearby, her brown fur settling as the last currents of spiritual energy faded. The massive jade-green blades she had used moments earlier flew back into the storage pouch hanging from the cord around her neck.
Her turquoise eyes scanned the body.
Then narrowed.
A moment passed.
She sighed.
"Mm… disappointing."
She stepped forward calmly.
Then clicked her tongue softly.
"…As expected."
Her voice carried a faint trace of amusement.
"That isn't his body."
Her tail flicked once behind her.
The lizard's head shifted slightly toward her.
The fox crouched beside the corpse, studying the dead face closely before tapping the forehead lightly with one claw.
"That… is just a corpse."
She stepped closer, her gaze sweeping over it with sharp precision. The spiritual aura around the body was wrong—empty and hollow, like a shell that had never truly lived.
The flesh dented strangely.
No life.
No soul.
No lingering spiritual imprint.
"A corpse puppet," she said with mild annoyance.
She stood back up, brushing imaginary dust from her fur.
"It seems he managed to escape. At the last moment, he switched places with a prepared corpse using an escape technique."
Her lips curled into a small smile.
"Fast thinking."
For a Golden Core cultivator to escape death at the final moment like that… it meant he had experience.
It also meant he had been terrified enough to abandon everything.
Her gaze slowly shifted to the object lying beside the corpse.
The spear had fallen a short distance away, still radiating faint golden spiritual light.
The fox's eyes brightened instantly.
Turquoise pupils gleamed with unmistakable greed.
"Well… not a complete loss."
She walked over and picked up the weapon carefully.
The moment her spiritual sense touched it, the spear hummed faintly in response.
Her smile widened.
"A spirit-grade tool."
She crouched beside it slowly, her gaze gleaming with unconcealed greed.
"For a Golden Core cultivator to abandon this…"
Her lips curved upward.
"It must have been a last resort."
Her voice carried clear satisfaction now.
Her turquoise eyes sparkled with naked greed.
"For risking my life… I suppose this counts as proper compensation."
She ran a claw lightly along the shaft of the spear.
"The Soul Surveying Needle."
She chuckled softly.
"That technique of yours might have saved you."
Her voice turned colder.
"But it wouldn't have mattered."
She looked down at the corpse again.
"Planting this inside your soul earlier was worth the risk."
"If you had tried to self-destruct…"
Her smile sharpened.
"That would have been a shame."
Her tail swayed slowly behind her.
"Destroying such a treasure… or even yourself… would have ruined my reward."
The spiritual energy inside the spear trembled slightly, resisting her unfamiliar aura.
But her grip only tightened.
"Now this…"
She admired the weapon for another moment before sliding it into the storage pouch hanging from the cord around her neck.
"…is proper compensation."
Her turquoise eyes gleamed brightly with joy and naked greed.
"For risking my life."
The pouch flickered with light as the spear disappeared inside.
Then she turned.
Her gaze landed on the lizard.
The white-scaled creature still stood beside the corpse, unmoving.
Watching.
Silent.
The fox tilted her head slightly.
Her turquoise eyes studied him with curiosity now rather than greed.
"Well…"
Her tail swayed slowly behind her.
"You're still standing."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Impressive."
She walked a little closer, stopping a few steps away from the large lizard.
Her eyes traced the cracked scales, the lingering golden burns, and the faint instability in the creature's aura.
"You fought a Golden Core cultivator head-on…"
"And survived."
She crossed her forelegs lightly.
"That's not something a normal spirit beast can do."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"But then again…"
Her lips curled with interest.
"You're not normal, are you?"
The forest around them had gone quiet again.
Only the distant sound of wind moving through broken trees remained.
The fox's turquoise eyes gleamed faintly as she looked directly into the lizard's vertical pupils.
"So…"
Her voice carried a playful edge now.
"What exactly are we going to do now?"
The white-scaled lizard's throat rumbled softly.
For a moment he simply stared at the fallen body.
Then his jaws parted slightly.
"I marked him."
The fox blinked.
Her ears twitched once.
The lizard's gaze shifted toward the distant horizon where the cultivator had fled.
"Before he escaped… my piercing strike carried more than force."
His voice was low and rough, like stone grinding together.
"A fragment of my energy entered his body."
The fox's turquoise eyes narrowed slightly.
The lizard continued.
"I can vaguely sense his direction."
His tail slowly swept across the broken soil behind him.
"If he tries to approach…"
His pupils thinned into sharp slits.
"I will know."
Silence lingered for a moment.
The fox stood there, thinking.
Then she hummed softly.
"…Oh?"
She tapped a claw against the ground once.
"That's actually a good thing."
The lizard watched her.
But she shook her head lightly.
"Though I doubt he'll come chasing us."
Her tail flicked lazily behind her.
"That man barely escaped with his life. Losing a spirit tool and a corpse puppet like this will already bring him plenty of trouble."
She gestured toward the body on the ground.
"He doesn't have a lead to track us."
Her turquoise eyes turned toward the distant mountains.
"And more importantly…"
Her lips curved faintly.
"He won't even have the time."
The fox spoke with quiet certainty.
"A wounded Golden Core cultivator carrying a damaged soul and fleeing without preparation?"
She chuckled softly.
"He'll be busy keeping himself alive."
Then she crouched beside the corpse.
Her eyes glowed faintly as spiritual sense flowed from her body, scanning the puppet carefully.
After a moment she nodded with clear satisfaction.
"Mm."
Her paw pressed against the puppet's chest.
"This one is decent."
She glanced back at the lizard.
"A corpse puppet at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment."
Her voice carried open approval now.
"For someone at my level…"
She smiled slightly.
"…this is quite a useful harvest."
The fox opened the storage pouch hanging from the cord around her neck.
A faint ripple of spatial light appeared at the pouch's opening.
"With some refining…"
She lifted the corpse effortlessly despite its human size.
"…it will make a very obedient guard."
The puppet disappeared into the pouch in a flash of dim light.
The fox straightened and dusted her paws lightly.
Her turquoise eyes shifted back to the lizard again.
For a moment she simply studied him.
Then her tail swayed slowly.
"Well."
Her gaze glimmered with quiet amusement.
"It seems today's hunt was quite profitable."
She tilted her head slightly.
"For both of us."