Two hours ter, Xiao Long arrived at his destination. In front of him y a massive pit, dozens of meters in diameter, surrounded by a hazy mist that obscured whatever y within.

  The area was ft aed, save for a few low-level demos curiously peering into the pit, too afraid to venture closer.

  "Scram!"

  Xiao Long's voice, charged with inner Qi, thundered outwards, his aura fully unleashed. The low-level demos trembled in fear and scattered like birds as.

  In this ion, ah-tier demo was sidered formidable, and with his dragon aura, ordinary beasts dared not approach him.

  Xiao Long climbed to the edge of the pit and peered ihrough the mist, he could vaguely make out a human silhouette, though it was unclear.

  "A human?"

  Xiao Long desded into the pit, reag its ter, and was instantly stunned...

  Ihere y a human—a young girl, to be precise. Her beauty could only be described as heavenly.

  Her eyes were gently closed, long shes resting on her fwless face, which seemed sculpted by the divine, without a single blemish. Her bck hair cascaded over her jade-like shoulders, and her pink lips were alluringly vibrant, her features exquisitely perfect!

  In two lifetimes, Xiao Long had never seen such perfe.

  A face that could topple cities and kingdoms.

  Such thoughts crossed Xiao Long's mind.

  As he looked down, he couldn't help but nearly have a nosebleed.

  The girl was unclothed! Her abaster body y exposed to the air, her slender legs long and graceful, her figure fwless, even more perfect than the Red Lotus Martial Emperor he had seen!

  "This..." Xiao Long's mind was momentarily unresponsive.

  To have cultivated to the peak of Martial Emperor, his mental fortitude was uionable. Xiao Long had seen tless beauties of all kinds, yet none had ever caused him to lose posure like this.

  After a moment, Xiao Long calmed himself. Such a mysteriously appearing girl was surely no ordinary being. Moreover, he was now a snake! A snake! Even if a beauty reseo him, he could do nothing; that was the crux of the matter!

  Once calm, Xiao Long began to examihe girl, only to be surprised to find her soul seemed extremely unstable, fragmented as if it might leave her body at any moment.

  Suddenly, her form blurred, transf into a humanoid white light, which gradually shrank until, right before Xiao Long's eyes, it became a white fox!

  The fox ure white, fluffy like a pristine snowball, only palm-sized, with a very faint aura.

  "This is... the aura of a Transformation Pill!" Xiao Long excimed in shock.

  The snow fox's aura was barely perceptible, its soul nearly shattered, and bined with the st of a Transformation Pill, Xiao Long immediately uood she was a demo that had failed to transform.

  When demos reach the Demon Sn realm, most transform into human form to cultivate, as the human body is the optimal form for uanding the ws of power.

  To transform, one must e a Transformation Pill and survive the Nine-huribution to successfully bee human.

  Transf from a beast to human defies the natural order, and heaven imposes a thunder punishment. Failure results in soul injury or memory loss at best, or plete annihition at worst.

  Transformation carries risks.

  However, Xiao Long did not believe her failure was simply due to the tribution. With his extensive knowledge of pills, he detected impurities iransformation Pill, likely mixed with toxins, which might have caused her failure.

  "Sigh! Failed the tribution, soul shattered, it's just your bad luck," Xiao Long sighed, about to leave when he paused, a strange look in his eyes.

  Such a mysterious demo surely held great secrets, possibly a legendary celestial demon from the Heavenly Realm. Could he just let her die?

  "Fet it, we are fated to meet. I, the Emperor, will grant you a ce. Whether you survive depends on your fate."

  Xiao Long sighed deeply, feeling a pang of heartache, as he took out the st Soul-Reviving Pill.

  With her soul in such a state, she was y-nine pert doomed, with only a sliver of hope lying in his hands.

  Xiao Long was fident that if anyone else tried to save her, even a Martial Emperor, exhausting all resources, they might not succeed. Oire Shenzhou ti, only Xiao Long had a ce.

  Because, tally, Xiao Long kwo formations to save a demo that failed transformation!

  Xiao Long opened his iory, scattering a rge number of spirit stones around, eling his inner Qi to trace a series of intricate patterween them.

  Gradually, the surroundings fell silent, the envirourning pitch bck.

  "The her Soul-Guiding Array, bined with the Seven Stars Soul-Nurturing Array, are my life's work. At my peak, I had a y pert ce of saving you. Now, my strength is not what it was, and the formations' power is less than a tenth of their perfect state. The spiritual Qi source only be sustained by middle-grade spirit stones. Whether you survive is up to fate."

  Xiao Long pced all his spoils into the formation, positioning two hundred middle-grade spirit sto the core as the energy source.

  "Activate the her Soul-Guiding Array!"

  Xiao Long unleashed his inner Qi, pushing the formation to its limits.

  He could feel the scattered soul fragments of the snow fox slowly returning to its body, though the process was agonizingly slow.

  If snakes could sweat, Xiao Long would be drenched. He felt his inner Qi being rapidly drained, half gone in just a few breaths.

  "Damn it, I'm risking my life here!"

  With some reluce, Xiao Long took out two spirit crystals, discovered in a spiritual spring, their energy purer and more absorbable than spirit stones. He swallowed ohout hesitation, throwing the other into the formation's core as its power source.

  With the support of the spirit crystals, Xiao Lo much relieved. The scattered soul fragments swiftly returo the snow fox's body, and after an hour, they were finally whole.

  Xiao Long exhaled deeply. Though he had spent two valuable spirit crystals, at least he hadn't failed.

  After a brief adjustment, Xiao Long scattered the remaining spirit stones in seven positions, f a new formation pattern. The positions correspoo the Big Dipper in the sky, faintly drawing down the power of the stars.

  Then, Xiao Long ed the Soul-Reviving Pill in his inner Qi, pg it at the heart of the formation. The pill, inally meant for himself, was now used to save a fox.

  Xiao Long was at a loss for words. For someone as pragmatic as he, using his resources to save a fox uo him, with no guarantee of success, was unheard of.

  "The Seven Stars Soul-Nurturing Array is plete. Now, it's up to your own fate."