The crazy foxkin actually did it. She caught all the fish. I think there were around twenty people capable of snagging fish from the crowd during the chaos, but everyone below the sky-realm had no chance. A lot of people were killed by the technique she used to summon liquid qi that she splashed on them. And even more people were killed by experts who stole fish from them. There was also one unfortunate fellow who was caught by the net and smashed into the ground before being thrown into the foxkin’s interspacial pouch. I wonder if she even noticed he’s in there.

“Mm, so now, all I have to do is eat these fish?” the foxkin asked. Her phoenix had created a small campfire and stuck sticks through the slaughter fish to roast them. The phoenix didn’t even remove their organs or scales. Being an animal, it knew nothing about prepping food. And being a quasi-immortal, it didn’t even have to eat in the first place! If people knew this crazy foxkin was using a phoenix as a chef, what would they say? I bet the Rainbow Phoenix Sect would like to have a word with her.

“You—no, Senior, do you mind … sharing some fish with us?”

Shameless people were coming to beg. Isn’t it obvious that the inheritance isn’t made for them? Why are they still here? How will the foxkin react?

“These fish are mine! Scram!”

…She reacted just as I expected her to, in a completely unreasonable manner. Like she captured and subdued me to be her guide instead of asking nicely, there’s no way this foxkin would be willing to share fish that she worked to catch by herself. No, it should go beyond that. Judging by her previous response, there’s no doubt she’d be willing to steal other people’s fish if she saw they were weaker than her. The heavens are blind, letting someone like her reach the peak of the sky realm. “Good people die young, villains live forever….”

“Right!?” The foxkin nodded at me. “The world’s so unfair sometimes, hmph.” She appeared in front of me in an instant, holding onto a bundle of skewered fish. Steam was still coming off of them, and their skin sizzled as oils seeped out of them. “Here, eat these.”

The phoenix opened its mouth, and the foxkin shoved ten fish—skewers included—into its mouth. It didn’t seem to mind that it was eating wood. Then, the foxkin stared at me. “You too. Open up.”

…Was she going to shove the burning hot fish into my mouth while they were still on their skewers. Surely even she wouldn’t be that unreasonable, right…? “If you free my hand, I can—” It burns! Even if I’m a sky-realm expert, something heated by phoenix flames is going to still injure me no matter how much I reinforce my mouth! Wait! Stop! “Mpff, mpff!” That many won’t fit!

“Stop?” The foxkin tilted her head. “Don’t you need to eat ten to pass? I still need you for the next trial!” She poked my cheek, which was bulging, with the tip of one of the skewers. The fish on it had its eyes wide-open. I know it’s dead, and its expression shouldn’t mean anything, but I swear it’s looking at me with pity. I, I’ll just think of this as part of the trials…. I reinforced my teeth with qi and chomped down, biting through the hard scales and into the fish’s organs. Some bitter liquid splashed onto my tongue, but I ignored it and swallowed. Heat flooded my body, radiating from my stomach, and I had the sudden urge to stab the foxkin in front of me to death. It must’ve been the slaughter qi contained inside the fish that was affecting my mental state.

While I desperately chewed, the foxkin munched on a fish before freezing in place. Her eyes widened and glazed over. Her hand was still raised, holding the skewer up to her lips which were placed on the slaughter fish. Good. The more abnormal she acted, the more time I had to eat. The wooden part of the skewer was oddly easy to eat. Was it bamboo? I have to thank the phoenix for preparing it this way. I’m sure the foxkin would’ve made me eat it even if it were made of an inedible wood. Perhaps the phoenix knew this was going to happen and prepared the bamboo skewers in advance. Once I was done eating, bamboo and all, the foxkin still hadn’t moved. There’s still plenty of time before the hour given for the trial is up. It’s probably better not to disturb her.

“Look! While she’s distracted, we can steal the fish from her!”

“You idiot, are your eyes just decorations? That’s a phoenix by her side!”

“I have a fire-resistant cape. Even if the phoenix is a sky-realm expert, it won’t be able to hurt me.”

These morons! If they were going to do something, they should’ve done it instead of discussing it beforehand! Now that everyone’s heard you, they can come up with countermeasures to stop you. I don’t understand. Why are people so stupid? Is it because there’s so many of them? In order for geniuses to exist, there must be morons to highlight their abilities.

My stomach heated up, and the phoenix below me sneezed. A ball of fire flew towards the person who claimed he had a fire-resistant cape, and he disintegrated into ashes once the flames touched him. With that, I don’t think there’ll be anyone else trying to steal from the foxkin while she’s distracted. In the first place, why did she freeze like that?

“Boss?” the timid man that the foxkin refers to as a barkeep asked. “Are you okay?”

“Shush,” the phoenix said. “If I’m not wrong, she’s being enlightened. Though very faint, there’s traces of slaughter laws inside of them. And since Boss follows the Path of Slaughter, those laws should be showing her the way to immortality.”