A long silence ensued.

Seeing how the fox endured so well, Xia Feng smiled and no longer threatened, hypocritically praised, "Still, Lord Nine-tails is wise, easily discerning the stakes here. Fine, let me lend you a hand."

"Release the Spiritual Pressure, and I'll pair them at a rate of a thousand collisions per second, putting these Moon Time and Moon Space particles in a 'about to collide' state."

Xia Feng let more particles dissipate from his middle finger, speaking solemnly, "If you wish to cultivate afterward, trigger a collision state. While the effect won't be as good as confronting me face-to-face in real-time pairing, it won't be much weaker either."

"Hmm..." Jiang Qiue murmured softly, her legs tightly together as she rested for a moment, her beautiful eyes lightly lifted, "There's still time, how about facing each other for some Dual Moon cultivation first."

Though Xia Feng's talent for learning Spiritual Clothes wasn't remarkable, his near 100% Light Attribute gave him a unique talent in the special dual cultivation-type Spiritual Clothes within the Moon Time Divine Domain.

A hundred thousand Moon Space particles precisely struck a hundred thousand Moon Time particles, achieving a perfect match of 100%. Amidst the chiming of Ten Thousand Laws, Jiang Qiue faced such a strong impact for the first time, the massive influx of information making stars appear before her eyes.

Fortunately, her thoughts reached an unprecedented peak with this stimulation, her inspiration surging like a torrent.

Unconsciously, she hugged Xia Feng's back tightly, beginning to comprehensively grasp the Dao.

*

Nine Pillars Space.

"It's been half an hour, Yophiel, is this the ten seconds you claimed it would take Nine-tails to resolve Black Spade?" Lady Mi looked at the distant birdman with displeasure.

"....."

Yophiel was also somewhat puzzled. He had specifically researched Lord Nine-tails' abilities, and in the Four-tails state, the strength should definitely be deemed invincible at the level of the Darkness Holding Sage.

How could such strength fail against Black Spade?

Could Black Spade possess terrifying means similar to Dragon God Authority imposed upon themselves?

If so, this Abyss Saint would indeed be too absurd....

Well, this person's methods were already inscrutable.

One could never know how many trump cards they actually held.

It could only be said it's no wonder they are the Human World Agent of the Abyss Dragon God, truly powerful! Enmeshed in his thoughts, a subtle smile emerged at Yophiel's lips.

He was not worried but rather quite pleased.

After all, if Black Spade wins, then Lord Nine-tails won't obtain the Pigeon Prohibition Technique, which aligns with his interests.

So, respected Black Spade, please increase your efforts; defeat Lord Nine-tails severely!

"Snap—!!!"

Indeed, Xia Feng did severely defeat Nine-tails. This Burned Fox was indeed extraordinary, fainting directly after just under an hour with Xia Feng's finger swipes executing Spiritual Clothes technique.

He hadn't even used his full strength yet.

About three or four seconds later, Jiang Qiue's shoulder trembled, her water-misty eyes suddenly sharpening. Despite her disheveled hair and a sickly red glow amidst the sweat on her Immortal Cheek, her expression quickly returned to a placid detachment.

Expressionless, she brushed away Xia Feng's hand that still sought to demean her, gave him a glance, and withdrew back.

"Alright, this lord can only assist you to this extent. Hereafter, you must find ways to face the Evil Crow on your own. That woman's intent to rid herself of the Pigeon Prohibition Technique does not pale in comparison to mine; she will not easily let you go."

"Rid itself of the Pigeon Prohibition Technique?"

Xia Feng wiped wet stains from his hands with a tissue, puzzledly looking up, "What do you mean?"

"I reached an agreement with the Life Star God: if they allow their associate to clear the path, they can acquire the means to rid themselves of the Pigeon Prohibition Technique," Jiang Qiue replied indifferently.

Xia Feng was momentarily stunned; was there such a thing?!

Yet the next instant, he suddenly understood.... what Jiang Qiue had given up.

"Don't look at me that way. I merely made a timely assessment of the pros and cons. If you haven't won, I'd have collaborated with the Life Star God; if you win, as your master, naturally, I'd need to assist you."

"???"

"I'm leaving now; manage dealing with the Evil Crow yourself." With a light voice, the fox woman in a green dress drifted into the air, turning into a green light that vanished into the void, causing the surroundings of the Fox Immortal Painting Realm to collapse entirely.

Xia Feng looked up at the sky of thunderclouds restored to color, deep in thought.

It must be said, this Burned Fox... when serious, truly made people slightly uncomfortable.

He naturally knew what the Pigeon Prohibition Technique meant to an innate divine being like Nine-tails. Now possessing a method to counter it yet voluntarily foregoing the opportunity — without something more important... things — such an decision would not have been made lightly.

So it's the Life Star God that holds the means to counter the Pigeon Prohibition Technique... Xia Feng's dark eyes narrowed slightly; it seemed he inevitably had to oppose the Life Star God next.

Adding one more to the list of Divine-level enemies.

[Congratulations Number 9, successfully defeating the Gatekeeper·Nine-tails in 30 minutes 18 seconds—]

[Rest time: 10 minutes]

[Ten minutes later, Gatekeeper·Evil Crow arrives; clearing the way will win the final victory, earning the Sumeru Throne inheritance!]

Nine Pillars Space, everyone: "???"

He really won?

Yophiel's heart drew a cold breath, thoroughly awed by the Black Spade Man.

No choice but to respect indeed, unaware of how this Black Spade Man defeated Lord Nine-tails, truly unfathomable.

"Can anyone tell why, how he won?" Lady Mi asked, deeply puzzled, in a low voice.

Jinyang Tian remained silent; the isolation of the Fox Immortal Painting Realm was too strong, leaving him unable to discern anything.

The Black Moon Pope did not speak, but was aware of the reason.

Because he suspected that the Black Spade Man was the Q-faced Man who previously escaped the Black Moon Church, thus the likely relationship with Nine-tailed·Jiang Qiue was not negligible.

For this reason, he was more clearly aware that the first Gatekeeper chosen by the Life Star God was inherently unreliable.

Only due to certain reasons, he hadn't alerted Lady Mi.

As for Huang Zhaoyue, her beautiful eyes remained half-closed from start to finish, with little attention to the Fox Immortal Painting Realm, because she too saw.... that Black Spade Man knew Nine-tails.

After all, she knew the Black Spade Man was Xia Feng, who previously stayed together with Nine-tails in the Black Moon Court...

This Gatekeeper selected by the Life Star God truly was unfortunate, being an innate divine being willing to sacrifice self-interest to actively assist Xia Feng.

It's just unclear what the specific relationship between Xia Feng and Nine-tails is, for Nine-tails to willingly make such an extraordinary choice.

But it doesn't matter now, next is the Evil Crow.... even less important.

Everyone present mistakenly believed the Black Spade Man to be an Abyss Saint due to the powerful Tribulation Transformation effect of the Abyssal Sinful Desire aged over 3000 years.

Only she knew, Xia Feng's real identity could very likely be.... the Pale Saint!

Of course, saying he's the Pale Saint was just speculation; Huang Zhaoyue temporarily held the notion indecisively, needing a close examination of Xia Feng's Dragon Tail to fully confirm his identity.

However, this guy Xia Feng, despite being misunderstood by everyone, didn't bother to explain, obviously wanting to draw the Abyss's hostility while concealing his true identity.

Insidious to the extreme.

But Huang Zhaoyue also couldn't be bothered to meddle more; she too... had no right to interfere.