Chapter 1146: The First Companion!
When the Sword Sect’s experts surrounded him, the Face-Shifting Fox was driven to a nearby area. Using the “Turtle Breathing Technique,” he hid motionless in the shadows of the bushes, witnessing every detail of the Sword Sect master’s crushing defeat.
“…”
Though outwardly calm, the Face-Shifting Fox’s heart was tumultuous like raging waves, unable to settle for a long time.
The former Sword Sect master, Jian Ao, was a renowned expert in the martial world; alone, he might not have lost to this Evil King…
At first, the Face-Shifting Fox feared the Sword Sect master might take out his anger on him after defeating his opponent. But after seeing what happened, he didn’t know how to express his shock.
Dozens of Sword Sect experts forming a battle array couldn’t stop Happy’s advance, nor could they halt his relentless pursuit of the Sword Sect master.
The opponent was just an ordinary Shaolin disciple—a young hero at the Wuwei stage…
Now, the Face-Shifting Fox had forgotten why he came—to convey a message to Happy and join forces to escape. In his eyes, escaping was completely unnecessary.
The Sword Sect’s sword formation was no more solid than tofu in front of Happy, not to mention the Sword Sect master, who kept retreating step by step. If it weren’t for the Sword Sect experts sacrificing themselves to save him, the master would have been severely injured by Happy. Now, not only could he fight no more, but he also lost all courage to stay, fleeing without looking back, leaving behind only the corpses of dozens of Sword Sect experts and those who scattered in panic.
“…”
After the Sword Sect master fled in disarray, the experts also scattered from the island one after another, and the forest fell silent once again.
“…”
The Face-Shifting Fox remained motionless where he was.
At this moment, he knew the most dangerous time had passed. All that remained was waiting for Happy, who had achieved a complete victory, to leave.
But to his surprise, gentle footsteps sounded in his ears, getting closer and closer.
Thud! Thud-thud!!
Even in his Turtle Breathing state, the Face-Shifting Fox felt his heartbeat quicken, and his mood grew tense.
“How long do you plan to stay lying there?”
The footsteps stopped for half a minute before Happy’s mocking voice rang in his ears.
“…”
The Face-Shifting Fox’s heart trembled, but he didn’t get up right away.
“Do you want me to come and pull you out personally?” As soon as those words were spoken, a faint sword energy swept toward where he was hiding.
“No!”
The Face-Shifting Fox rushed out of the bushes like a rabbit.
Happy had been keeping an eye on the Face-Shifting Fox, who had just taken action. He immediately moved to block his path, standing in front of him.
Shouting in alarm, he said, “Master Happy, we’ve had no grudges in the past, and no quarrels recently…” The strength Happy had shown earlier had indeed scared him, and now, without any leverage to negotiate with Happy, how could he dare speak to him as before?
“When you left Tianchi Sword Sect, did you take a precious treasure from them?”
“…”
The Face-Shifting Fox’s eyes lit up, only to quickly become shrewd and evasive.
Happy could tell right away that he was trying to haggle again. Without giving him a chance to build confidence, he stared into his eyes and said indifferently, “There’s no need to struggle. With the Sky Crystal in hand, whether Tianchi Sword Sect’s treasures exist or not doesn’t matter to me…”
As he spoke, the bone-chilling Sky Crystal was deliberately lifted slightly.
“…No! It’s this.”
The Face-Shifting Fox’s lips twitched as he stared at the sharp tip of the Sky Crystal Sword, nearly terrified. Like by magic, an object familiar to Happy appeared in his palm.
The token of the leader of Tianchi Sword Sect?
His pupils contracted. Happy glanced at the Face-Shifting Fox in surprise:
He was naturally familiar with this object. Back then, the leader of Tianchi Sword Sect had given it to him when he was in Gusu City, though it was a fake.
But thanks to that mission, Happy had obtained the real token of the leader of Tianchi Sword Sect. With his memory, he could easily tell whether the one in the Face-Shifting Fox’s hand was genuine or not.
What surprised Happy, however, was…
This token was something that the leader of Tianchi Sword Sect, Qingxue, kept close to her body. How did the Face-Shifting Fox get it?
At that moment, Happy’s respect for the Face-Shifting Fox’s abilities increased even further!
But the Face-Shifting Fox, of course, didn’t know this. He was still very anxious, worried that Happy might take the item and then kill him to cover his tracks. With a hint of fear, he looked at Happy pleadingly:
“While spying for Tianchi Sword Sect, I saw the leader several times holding this token by himself. Since its material was so special, I thought it must be a valuable treasure, so I stole it… If Master Happy likes it, just take it.”
“…”
Happy grabbed it rudely, feeling the warmth and texture of the familiar material of the token. He gave the Face-Shifting Fox a brief glance and said, “Is that all?”
The calm tone didn’t sound so peaceful to the Face-Shifting Fox. It thought there was something unsatisfactory about being happy and quickly replied in shock, “Just this? I wouldn’t dare deceive Happy Sect Master…”
Heh, quite smooth flattery.
Happy sneered inwardly but said bluntly, “Oh? Didn’t you say you were Chu Liuxiang before?”
“…Uh.”
The Face-Shifting Fox turned pale at Happy’s words, stammering unable to speak, and looked at Happy awkwardly, “Happy Sect Master, please be lenient.”
By then, Happy had received a system notification: the Sky Crystal and the precious treasures of the Tianchi Sword Sect were obtained, and the task was complete.
But the Face-Shifting Fox didn’t leave, which made Happy somewhat intrigued despite his surprise. His eyes darted as he quickly realized he could get more benefits from this top-tier thief.
Never miss an easy opportunity—otherwise, disaster awaits!
Realizing this, Happy calmed down…
“You stole my Sky Crystal and set traps to ambush me. This debt shouldn’t be settled so easily with just a few words, right?”
Happy said calmly, staring at the Face-Shifting Fox.
The Face-Shifting Fox smiled bitterly:
“Happy Sect Master, tell me what you want so I can stop. After all, we just saw how even the Sword Sect’s master, a supreme expert of the Heavenly Dao, was nearly killed by you. I’ll lower my stance—my tone is filled with resignation and despair.”
“I want to learn your theft skills and lightness arts,” Happy said, having come up with an idea.
Since the Face-Shifting Fox could obtain treasures like the sect leader’s token from a master at the peak of the Mythical Realm, it proved his theft skills were unparalleled in the world.
As for lightness arts!
Its speed surpassed even that of the “Light Step.” Though not suitable for combat, it was enough to create a top expert for the Jinxiu Riverland.
“What do you say?”
Happy said, “As long as you give me the secrets of your theft skills and lightness arts, we’re even.”
Hearing Happy’s condition, the Face-Shifting Fox, whose life was in someone else’s hands, turned ashen and nearly lost control:
“No!”
A sharp scream tore through the night sky!
Whoosh…
It scared countless birds returning to their nests.
The Face-Shifting Fox quickly realized his overreaction from Happy’s darkening expression. His face changed, and his tone shifted drastically: “Happy Sect Master, I rely entirely on my theft skills and lightness arts to travel the world. Unless I find a worthy disciple, I’ll never reveal them. If you insist on getting my skills, it’s better to kill me now.”
“…”
Happy frowned in frustration.
The mantle truly isn’t something that can be obtained easily. He was prepared for rejection, but he didn’t expect that neither stealing skills nor light-footwork techniques would work. “Then what can you offer me?” Happy naturally wouldn’t kill the Face-Shifting Fox on impulse; instead, he asked feigning displeasure, “Among the things you have, the only ones I’m interested in are stealing skills and light-footwork…” “I also have the treasures of the seven major sects…” Mid-sentence, the Face-Shifting Fox seemed to remember something, his expression changing. After glancing at Happy, he quickly swallowed back the rest of his words. Happy naturally understood why the Face-Shifting Fox suddenly stopped speaking and said indifferently, “It seems that aside from the treasures of the seven major sects, there’s nothing else on you that could interest me…” “…There is.” The Face-Shifting Fox sensed a hint of murderous intent in Happy’s words, swallowed hard, and hurriedly said, “Besides the treasures of the seven major sects, I’ve also uncovered some ruins and obtained some fine divine weapons and martial arts secrets…” He paused briefly, hesitated slightly, and looked at Happy awkwardly, “Of course, Master Happy might not even consider these things.” “There’s more!” Seeing Happy growing impatient, the Face-Shifting Fox quickly added, “I also know some secrets about those ruins…” “I’m not interested in adventures. I want things I can see.” With just one sentence, Happy shattered the Face-Shifting Fox’s illusions. The latter’s face turned grim as he grew increasingly anxious. With the Heavenly Crystal in his possession, no divine weapon could interest him. With masterpieces like the “One Yang Finger” and “Light Step,” ordinary martial arts secrets held no appeal. Excluding those treasures of the seven major sects that held significant significance, he really couldn’t think of anything suitable to exchange with Happy. Yet Happy wasn’t in a hurry to press the Face-Shifting Fox… Since the system hadn’t given any hints, he was content to let the Face-Shifting Fox rack his brains further, using the opportunity to gather more information and options from him. After about half an hour, Happy finally obtained a few decent options from the Face-Shifting Fox. One was a treasure from one of the seven major sects! Such as the Beggars’ Sect’s Dog Beating Stick or the Emei Sect’s Heaven-Piercing Sword… The other option was a collection of martial arts secrets the Face-Shifting Fox had found in various ruins over the years, including several truly remarkable martial arts techniques.
The last option was for the Face-Shifting Fox to follow Happy for half a year, agreeing to serve as his attendant. During those six months, wherever Happy went, the Face-Shifting Fox would go as well. But to protect his own reputation, the Fox would always wear a human mask. The price Happy had to pay was fifty thousand taels of silver per day as salary for the Fox. Having a divine thief at the late mythic realm level as an attendant was probably unique in the martial world. Happy quickly saw the value in this and without hesitation chose the last option, keeping the Face-Shifting Fox by his side to serve as his attendant incognito for half a year!