I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The dark red flames that were dying out in the monster's empty eye sockets suddenly flickered again, and the defeat ceased.

The cyan light spread along the modified spiritual paths, expanding outward from the core, reconnecting the array patterns torn apart by the golden light, erasing the control imprints left by Gu Chaoxi, and closing the gaps cleaved open by Fang Tianheng inch by inch.

The disintegrating seams stopped shattering the moment the cyan light passed by, like a wound being stitched up, the cracks at the edges slowly closing, healing, and merging back into one.

Lin Xuanfeng's expression became extremely focused in that instant.

His fingers moved rapidly across the array plate, spiritual energy flowing like drawn threads, advancing layer by layer along the reconnected spiritual pathways. Each command established a new connection with the massive body: "The core soul power has been intercepted and is no longer dissipating. The fragments shattered by Fang Tianheng are regrouping, but they are not obeying us; they are resisting."

Lin Xuanqing's voice came from the other side: "Those soul fragments still retain the imprint of obedience to the Blood Fiend Soul Refining Array. I need time... I need to change their core array patterns and replace those old, damaged imprints with new ones, otherwise they will never accept new commands."

"You only have the time it takes to brew a cup of tea," Zhihei's voice came from behind. "Given that monster's current state, it won't last much longer."

Lin Xuanqing did not speak again.

She closed her eyes and immersed all her consciousness into the jade piece buried in the array, like a thread thrown into a deep pool, sensing the frequency of the soul fragments scattered in the dark red spiritual light.

Lin Xuanfeng continued to manipulate the modified spiritual paths, guiding the reassembled soul fragments to their designated locations to buy time for Lin Xuanqing.

Guided by the cyan aura, the fragments moved slowly, like rearranged puzzle pieces, returning one by one to their rightful place.

The monster stood still, motionless.

It neither shatters nor is it repaired; like a giant bell being recalibrated, its internal forces are being repeatedly pulled apart by two different wills.

The dark red aura on its surface flickered, like a lamp being repeatedly wiped clean. Each flicker erased an old control mark, and each re-lighting etched a new control mark into it.

Between the seams, cyan light flickered alternately with dark red embers, like two forces testing each other, pushing, pulling, colliding, and merging repeatedly in the cold metal joints.

After a few breaths, Lin Xuanqing suddenly opened his eyes.

"That's fine."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire command room for a moment.

The spiritual light emanating from her palms followed the threads she had cast into the array, traveling along the connected spiritual paths like a tributary being injected into a new river, pushing the rewritten control imprints layer by layer into the core of the monster.

The fragments of soul trembled slightly upon contact with the new mark, then began to operate again at a completely new rhythm, like an engine that had just been powered on, each pulse pushing the rewritten instructions to every part of the body.

The monster's right arm twitched slightly.

The cracks on the surface of the shield on the left arm began to heal at a visible speed. The gaps torn by the golden light were being slowly filled with dark red spiritual light, like a wound being repeatedly painted over, closing up layer by layer.

The dark red ball of light in his chest began to beat again, a steady beat that was being guided by a new will; though weak, it was no longer chaotic.

The dark red flames in those empty eye sockets reignited.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; the monster's disintegration had been stopped.

But new problems arose.

The key to the subsequent plan lies in how to control it and how to power it.

Without a doubt, this is a disposable product.

The Demon Palace of Rebellion created it merely to buy time and block the Fang family's high-level forces; from the very beginning, they never considered subsequent supplies or maintenance.

This monster exists because it relies on the remnant souls of the demonic beasts that died in battle before Burning Bone Pass over the past thousand years, as well as the souls of the millions of cultivators and demonic beasts who perished in the battle before Burning Bone Pass this time.

It was these remnant souls that withstood Fang Tianheng's attacks time and time again, providing the monster with opportunities to regenerate time and time again.

However, the formation's soul power is now severely depleted.

Lin Xuanqing and the others only stopped the monster's dissipation, but the remaining soul power could only last for a few more hours at most, after which the monster would continue to disintegrate.

Although the flames that reignited in those empty eye sockets were bright, each flicker consumed the little remaining power of the soul, like an oil lamp about to burn out, using its last bit of oil to keep its light burning.

"Now we have to rely on Father." Lin Xuanfeng's voice came from in front of the array plate. His fingers had already left the spiritual light panels, but his gaze was still locked on the outline of the monster and did not move away.

After a moment of silence, everyone nodded in unison. This was the limit of what they could do; the next step of the plan would have to be carried out by their father.

…………

On a high peak southeast of Chuyang City.

A strong wind swept across the mountaintop, making the robes of the two men flutter loudly.

Lin Che and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Demon Emperor stood side by side on the edge of the peak, gazing at the turbulent battlefield thousands of miles to the east.

Although the battle at the Nascent Soul level has ended, the residual spiritual energy fluctuations continue to spread across the horizon, like a lake that has been repeatedly stirred, unable to return to calm for a long time.

"Battles at the Nascent Soul level are truly terrifying." Hearing the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox's exclamation, Lin Che nodded slightly, but his eyes were filled with longing instead of fear.

Xuanqi's voice came from the communication array in his arms: "Father, the next part of the plan depends on you."

Lin Che's gaze sharpened slightly. He didn't say anything more, only a brief reply: "Understood."

He realized it was time to take action himself.

After putting away the communication array, Lin Che turned his gaze to the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon Emperor, his eyes filled with apology: "Your Excellency Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, I have something to attend to and need to leave temporarily. I will have my clansmen receive you."

"Is Master Lin planning to retrieve that special puppet from the battlefield?"

Seeing that his purpose had been seen through, Lin Che did not hide it: "Indeed, this item is of great significance to the Lin family. I hope you will understand." The other party was a local commander who came in person, but Lin Che simply left without doing so. This was naturally not in accordance with etiquette, but he could not care about that now.

However, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon King's attitude was different from what Lin Che had expected.

She chuckled softly, her long, silvery-white hair fluttering slightly in the night breeze: "We'll be allies from now on, no need to be so formal. I can go with Master Lin, and I'll help you with anything you need."

To be honest, she didn't know enough about the Lin family before, which made her somewhat doubtful of the Venerable One's judgment.

When she saw the person in front of her with her own eyes, saw his cultivation level, saw him fight against the fourth-stage late-stage Burning Sky Crimson Ape with only the early stage of Nascent Soul, and saw the cultivation method practiced by the Lin family, she no longer had any hesitation in her heart.

"I know that Master Lin does not believe me, but the promise I made back then will not change. I will use the oath of Heaven to build our cooperation." The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Demon Emperor put away his calm smile and his face became extremely solemn.

She stepped forward, standing at the very edge of the peak, raised her right hand, palm up, fingers slightly spread, and silvery-white spiritual light slowly condensed in her palm: "I, the current Demon Emperor of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Clan, hereby swear by the Heavenly Dao..." Her voice spread through the night sky, "From this day forward, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Clan will formally ally with the Lin Family, advancing and retreating together, never betraying each other. If we break this oath, we are willing to suffer the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, our souls and spirits annihilated, never to be reincarnated again."

The silvery-white light rose from her palm, like a ignited star, shooting straight into the sky.

The next moment it exploded in the clouds, turning into countless tiny silver specks of light, like fragments of moonlight scattered by the wind, drifting in all directions.

The light spots were assimilated, absorbed, and engraved the moment they touched the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, turning into invisible chains that bound her vow to the laws of heaven and earth.

The oath made by Heaven has been fulfilled.

Having done all this, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon King slowly withdrew her arm, turned around, and looked back at Lin Che: "True Master Lin, can you trust me now?"

Lin Che remained silent for a moment, then nodded and took the lead in leaping off the peak. His figure transformed into a streak of azure light, rushing towards the direction of the dissipating spiritual light in the east.

He truly hadn't expected the other party to so readily make a vow to Heaven.

To be honest, he didn't believe the promise the Green-Faced Fox King made at first. But an ally with common interests could indeed solve the Lin family's predicament, which made him not object at all. He never expected that the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Demon Emperor would actually make such a decisive vow to the Heavenly Dao today!

But this also shows how ambitious their plans are!

Lin Che immediately stopped thinking about it; the key right now was to control this monster.

Behind them, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox followed closely.

Two figures, one after the other, crossed the edge of Chuyang City in the night sky, past the cultivators and spirit beasts who were cleaning up the battlefield, past the remnants of the beast tide that were gathering, and across the blurred boundary between the wasteland and the hills, heading with all their might towards the direction of the slowly disintegrating monster.

His gaze fell upon the site of the battle between the Nascent Soul cultivators, and his mind raced as he recalled his own plans.

When they learned about the general plan of the Demon Palace of Rebellion, everyone had the same thought: Could the Lin family control this monster?

What is the core of the Lin family? Without a doubt, it is the "Ten Thousand Beasts Paying Homage to the Ancestor Technique," which is the foundation of the Lin family.

With the help of the "Myriad Beasts Paying Homage to the Ancestor Technique," can the Lin family successfully form a contract with this monster?

That's actually quite possible.

Among these numerous remnant souls, there are a large number of remnant souls of demonic beasts. The souls of demonic beasts that died a thousand years ago in front of the Burning Bone Pass, and the souls of demonic beasts that perished in this beast tide, have all been absorbed, compressed, and fused together by the Blood Fiend Soul Refining Array.

If one were to select one of the fragments of a soul as the "main soul," and then let it devour all the other remnant souls to reconstruct a new, unified existence, and then form a contract with it, would that be feasible?

Once the contract is fulfilled, it means the Lin family has gained control of this monster, and the plan will be half completed.

Two figures landed one after the other on the ridge of the low mountain.

Beneath my feet lay scorched earth, repeatedly bombarded. The stone surfaces, scorched by the golden light, still emitted a faint residual warmth. The air was filled with the smell of something baked by the high temperature, mixed with dust and the embers of scattered spiritual light.

The monster was standing a hundred feet in front of them.

Its massive size, like a mountain frozen in time, casts a deep shadow in the sunlight.

Its surface is covered with crisscrossing cracks that spread outward from the core, dividing its body into countless slowly moving fragments.

Lin Che's gaze swept over the cracks and landed on the dark red ball of light pulsating on the monster's chest. That was its core, the convergence point of tens of thousands of souls, and the place he needed to contact.

He began to activate the spiritual path of the "Ten Thousand Beasts Paying Homage to the Ancestor" technique, adjusting his own spiritual power to the correct frequency.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon King stood beside him, his gaze also fixed on the monster.

She didn't interrupt him, but simply observed him quietly.

After a while, she spoke: "Master Lin, are you planning to contract that puppet as a spirit beast?"

Lin Che paused slightly, but did not deny it: "Yes."

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon King nodded, showing no surprise: "You want to find a main soul among the vast fragments of souls, let it devour the other souls, and thus rebuild a new, unified entity that can be contracted, right?"

Lin Che nodded slightly.

She paused, her gaze returning to the monster: "The idea is good, but you've encountered a problem. Those soul fragments are too scattered. None of them are powerful enough to suppress the others and become the main soul. They tear at each other, cancel each other out, like countless fish thrown into the same pond. None of them can swallow all of their kind; they only stir up the water more and more."

Lin Che remained silent for a moment, but his gaze spoke volumes.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox was right. Although the number of soul fragments he sensed was enormous, each one was too fragmented, like a book torn to shreds with millions of pages, not a single page complete, and no single fragment capable of bearing the weight of the "main soul" on its own.

"I can provide you with a sufficiently powerful main soul." The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Demon Emperor's voice came in the night wind, still steady, but it made Lin Che pause slightly.

"When I was traveling through the Fallen Soul Mountain Range, I sensed the remnant soul of an ancient demon beast in a deep valley sealed by subterranean fire."

That demonic beast died at the peak of the fourth rank, only half a step away from the fifth rank. Its fighting spirit was extremely strong, and its resentment was extremely deep. Because its obsession was too strong, its remnant soul had not completely dissipated even hundreds of years after its death. Instead, it remained trapped in that deep valley, repeatedly burned, compressed, and tempered by the earth's fire, making it even more solid than before.

Her gaze fell upon the monster, its silvery-white pupils reflecting the slowly disintegrating dark red spiritual light: "I can guide you to the location of that remnant soul, but whether the contract succeeds depends on yourself."