Ren looked down at the massive, uncoiled carcass of the Obsidian-Scale Viper. "System," she thought, her internal voice crisp and commanding. "Store target."
[ Ding! Item Added to Inventory: 1x Obsidian-Scale Viper Carcass (Mortal Beast - Level 8). ]
A vacuum of blue light enveloped the twenty-foot serpent, pulling it cleanly from the ferns and freezing it instantly within the stasis-locked slots of her soul.
She trotted back toward her lightning-struck redwood tree, her stomach letting out a sharp, distinctly loud growl. Her rapid cultivation breakthroughs—climbing to Level 8 and forcing her body through Stage 3: Organ Fortification—had reinforced her internal biology beautifully. But structural optimization came with a massive caloric metabolic debt. She was absolutely starving.
"I have a four-hundred-pound Iron-Tusk Wolf and a twenty-foot heavily armored viper sitting in my pocket dimension," Ren calculated, her ears twitching. "Both contain high-density, Qi-enriched spiritual meat. Eating them raw will nourish my core, but I don't have human hands or tools right now. If I try to tear them apart with my claws, I risk tearing the valuable pelts, crushing the venom glands, and ruining the pristine bone structures I need for future crafting recipes."
She paused, looking toward the misty mountain peaks where the Clear Water Sect was nested. Her Qi Sense picked up the boundary markers the humans had frantically erected earlier—stones pulsing with an anxious defensive light warning disciples away.
"The sect has locked its gates and entered a state of Absolute Terror," Ren mused, a small, highly amused fox-smile playing on her snout. "Their threat level toward me is zero. They think I'm a localized harbinger of a divine tribulation. If I show up asking for a favor, they are far too terrified to refuse me. In fact, they might even cook it for me."
Deciding to leverage her psychological monopoly, Ren blurred through the forest. Her white fur was nothing more than a pale ghost weaving through the brush as she utilized Swift Step to effortlessly scale the steep mountain pathways, skipping past the boundary stones entirely.
Within minutes, she reached the massive, towering marble gates of the Clear Water Sect.
The gates were completely shut, sealed by three active glowing defensive arrays. The two gate guards stationed on the stone battlements were shivering, clutching their halberds as they stared out into the forest, visibly traumatized by the divine intervention that had melted the Council Hall earlier that day.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Ren trotted calmly up the pristine marble steps. She reached the colossal, gold-studded front doors of the outer sect boundary. Because she was only a tiny white fox cub, her perspective barely reached the bottom trim of the gate.
She sat back on her hind legs, raised one small, pristine white paw, and knocked firmly against the thick wood.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Up on the ramparts, the first guard froze. His knuckles turned white on his halberd. "Did... did you hear that?" he whispered, his eyes wide with fear. "Someone is knocking at the mountain gate. But the array didn't trip a human footprint."
The second guard leaned over the edge of the stone parapet, looking straight down. The moonlight cut through the mountain mist, illuminating a tiny, snow-white creature sitting neatly on the steps, her fluffy tail wrapped perfectly around her paws. Her golden-blue eyes tilted upward, locking directly onto his gaze with absolute, chilling intelligence.
The guard’s blood turned to absolute ice. He fell backward, his halberd clattering loudly against the stone.
"It's... it's the Sacred Beast!" he screamed, his voice cracking into a panicked shriek. "The white fox from the warning! She's at the front door! Call the Elders! Inform the Patriarch! Heaven has come to collect!"
Ren let out a soft huff from below, waiting patiently. She simply wanted a butcher, but to the humans inside, the executioner had arrived.