Liu Xing summoned his gun in his left hand, activated Lightning Cloak, as well as his invisibility.

"You all trash need to die!" The fox growled with a low-pitched voice. It balled its paw into a fist and kicked the ground. The ground where it stood cracked, and it leaped like a speeding truck.

Liu Xing pumped as much qi into his feet and jumped backward. As he jumped, the fox smashed its massive fist into the ground where Liu Xing had been standing, and the ground surged like a boulder hitting a water surface.

Liu Xing landed on a boulder covered in moss, half of his body was already invisible. The fox looked at him with an enraged expression and took off like a rocket. Liu Xing jumped backward again. The fox hit the boulder, and as its fist made contact, the boulder exploded into smithereens. A gray cloud of dust and moss spread everywhere.

Liu Xing jumped back several times, using the cloud of dust to hide. Several moments later, Liu Xing was fully invisible and perched on another large boulder that jutted out of the ground like a giant fang. On top of this boulder, Liu Xing calmed his heart and his breathing. He stood silently, willing his presence to be as thin as possible.

The fox's shout scattered the dust cloud around it. Liu Xing noticed that even though the fox was in the Core Splitting realm, it didn't seem much more dangerous than the frog he'd fought before. Still, he'd learned his lesson about facing tough enemies head-on, and he needed to use his invisibility more frequently. But Liu Xing knew his invisibility wasn't perfect. The frog had found a way to track him, so this fox might have a trick up its sleeve too.

Liu Xing jumped silently from the fang to one of the trees circling the clearing. Unlike the tree in the center, not all of these trees were fully covered by moss; only the bottom of the trees was invaded by green moss.

Liu Xing could see the fox searching left and right. It was growling like a normal wild animal, its ears, eyes, and nose twitching every second.

Liu Xing jumped back as slowly as possible. His main strategy now was just to hide, making the fox think that Liu Xing was already gone. When it showed its weakness, Liu Xing could strike.

"Coward human, show yourself!" The fox shouted, and as it shouted, the moss surged from its two feet, creating a green wave with blackish tints that spread everywhere.

Seeing this, Liu Xing realized that this moss was probably its way to detect nearby enemies. He pursed his lips and jumped several times, making sure the green waves didn't touch him.

As Liu Xing moved, he observed the wave of moss covering everything around the fox, whether it was trees, rocks, flowers, or even a small pond not far from the clearing. Everything was covered with green moss.

"Coward! Coward! All of you humans are cowards!" As it shouted, the moss surged faster and higher from its feet, as if it were a green geyser. Then, the moss started floating around the fox, circling it, and creating a green tornado. At first, the tornado was around the size of the fox, but it grew bigger and taller until the clearing was filled with a green tornado so tall Liu Xing needed to tilt his head to see its upper part.

The wind picked up speed, and the trees covered in moss started bowing to the tornado, as if pleading not to be uprooted.

Seeing this, Liu Xing's eyes widened slightly. He knew that Lock Opening and Core Splitting realms were different, mainly in how much qi they held and how much control they could exert over it. But seeing the size of the tornado and feeling the massive qi it used, Liu Xing now truly understood that the Core Splitting realm was the first step to creating wide-area techniques that could engulf everything.

"Should I attack?" Liu Xing muttered.

While he couldn't see the fox, he could feel it. It was in the center of the moss tornado.

Stolen novel; please report.

Since this fox could control the moss tornado, Liu Xing had no doubt that it was trying to spread its moss rapidly to find him, like that frog jumping to the sky and hitting the lake to create rain.

Deciding it was better to attack while still hidden, Liu Xing aimed his gun at the center of the tornado. He grabbed the Ethereal Pearl and held it in his mouth. This pearl was now filled with much more qi than when he fought the frog, thanks to his efforts in refilling it during his journey from the pond and before encountering the snakes.

Liu Xing used the qi from Ethereal Pearl to activate Lightning Palm, using more qi than usual, hoping the lightning bullets would become stronger. When the technique activated, his gun absorbed it, and Liu Xing could feel six lightning bullets inside his gun.

Still invisible, Liu Xing pulled the trigger. A lightning bullet shot from his gun with speed so fast it looked like true lightning. The lightning bullet flew through the air, piercing the moss tornado and creating a hole for a split second.

Through the hole, Liu Xing saw the fox snap its head at him, but before it could react, the lightning bolt struck its face, and the hole closed. The fox screamed painfully, no doubt arcs of electricity dancing around it, paralyzing it. The moss tornado halted, as if it were a cog that was stuck, and Liu Xing, with his heart beating fast and adrenaline coursing through his body, kicked the ground and flew straight into the tornado.

He crashed through the wall of moss in front of him and landed right in front of the fox, still surrounded by blue electricity. As his feet touched the ground, he saw the electricity around the fox diminish, the fox's red eyes focused on him, and with effort, its clenched fist tried to strike his face.

Seeing this, Liu Xing aimed his gun and shot in less than a fraction of a second. When the furred fist was mere centimeters from his nose, another lightning bullet hit the fox right in the center of its torso, making the receding arcs of electricity around it roar again, paralyzing it further.

He rapidly fired all his lightning bullets, ensuring the creature couldn't move for several seconds. The fox now appeared trapped in a prison of electricity. It growled deeply, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Liu Xing didn't waste any more time and poured half of the qi from the Ethereal Pearl into his right gauntlet. The yellow line already spirals around it, making it more durable and able to withstand more qi than usual. In a mere fraction of a second, Liu Xing adjusted his stance, and a ball of white lightning three meters in diameter suddenly materialized in front of his palm, as if teleported from somewhere.

As he shouted, Liu Xing thrust out his palm. The huge ball of white lightning struck the front of the giant fox, engulfing it and exploding with brilliant white light. The white light was so bright, so intense, that Liu Xing almost thought he was inside his own consciousness.

The white light that bathed everything held for almost a second, and then the sound of an explosion, as if millions of lightning bolts were hitting a single spot, made the world tremble, as if an earthquake were suddenly happening. And then, a pillar of condensed light, around three meters in diameter, shot from his palm, engulfing the Emerald Fox fully. Amidst the ringing in his ears and the sound of the explosion, Liu Xing could also hear a painful wail.

Liu Xing gritted his teeth and tried to hold his position. The attack from Thunderstrike Gauntlets usually didn't have much backlash. He could hold it, even when he was in the sky. But this attack, with its sheer size, made Liu Xing need to plant his feet into the ground so he wouldn't be blown back.

Liu Xing shouted, holding the attack for several seconds that felt like minutes.

Several moments later, the giant condensed lightning receded, the white light disappeared, and the world was suddenly silent. Only the howl of the wind and creaking of the swaying branches could be heard.

In front of Liu Xing, there was a deep trench with burning red ground, almost looking like lava. This trench stretched several dozen meters, obliterating boulders, trees, and everything in its path. Seeing no one in front of him, Liu Xing scanned his surroundings. This attack was so strong, but Liu Xing doubted that the fox had died so easily.

Liu Xing scanned his surroundings and quickly noticed that the fox had been blown into the sky as if it had been caught in a gust of wind. As it soared through the air, he could clearly see that both of its hands were gone, leaving only smoldering stumps. It seemed that the fox had tried to protect himself from the attack, sacrificing his hands in the process.

The green robe it once wore had completely disintegrated, revealing burnt fur covering its body. Even from a distance, Liu Xing could see plumes of black smoke rising from the charred fur.

Despite the damage, it was less than Liu Xing had hoped for. He had hoped to disintegrate at least half of its body. After all, this fox wasn't supposed to be tougher than the frog he had easily sliced with less qi. However, the fox proved to be more resilient than it looked.