The Rich Cultivator-Chapter 356. Subduing the Fox

The Red Shrine shimmered like a beacon against the twilight sky. Winds howled across the Abyss terrain, their force growing stronger with each passing second.

At the top of the shrine arc stood Su Fei, her elegant figure silhouetted against the glowing structure. Nine magnificent tails flickered behind her like living flames, swaying in rhythm with the gusts. In her delicate hand, she held a fan etched with ancient markings, humming faintly with divine energy.

She stood still, waiting, poised like a queen awaiting her enemy.

Suddenly, space cracked like shattered glass beside her. A shimmering blur appeared, moving faster than the eye could follow.

Su Fei’s fan whipped through the air with precision, blocking the sudden strike of the Space-Time Rabbit, Dawn, who had emerged from the void in a blink.

"So even if my Time Domain doesn’t work on you..." Su Fei smirked, not missing a beat. "That doesn’t mean I’m weaker."

She slashed at the air with her fan, and a ripple of spatial force surged forth, colliding with the void itself. A figure was flung out of it—Dawn.

The rabbit-eared woman rolled across the shrine’s surface, landing with a light thud. She stood up slowly, brushing blood from her lips.

"You’re strong..." Dawn admitted, her eyes narrowing with respect.

Su Fei nodded, her tone equally respectful. "You too."

Both women had suffered damage. The battle had taken its toll, but neither was willing to back down.

With a shout, they charged toward each other again.

But before they could clash, the ground exploded beneath them.

BOOM!

A massive figure dropped between them, the force of the landing shattering the terrain. Dust and rocks flew in every direction as the shockwave pushed both Su Fei and Dawn back.

Su Fei’s expression twisted into a grin. Dawn’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The Giant who was fighting Tyler had appeared.

Su Fei’s voice was laced with curiosity and amusement. "Since you’re here... that must mean..."

The Giant silently raised one broad shoulder, revealing something draped across it—a person.

It was Tyler. Unconscious. Limp. His figure looked small in comparison to the Giant’s enormous frame.

Su Fei burst into laughter. "Good... good! Good! Give him to me. He’ll be my male pet forever!"

The Giant began to move toward her, his footsteps shaking the ground with each step. He plucked Tyler off his shoulder with two fingers and lowered him gently toward Su Fei like one might offer a fragile treasure.

But Dawn’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Tyler? Defeated? It didn’t make sense. She had seen him battle Su Fei with his own strength. Though He was not her match, he gave her hard time step for step. How could he have been brought down so quickly?

Su Fei’s hand reached forward, eager to take him.

Then—Tyler’s eye opened. It looked funny because Tyler was hanging between giant fingers.

But for Su Fei, she was suprised.

Before she could react, her entire body was wrapped in glowing prana. In the blink of an eye, ice spread over her, encasing her body in a shimmering prison. She couldn’t move.

"What?! Revers—!" she began to shout, trying to activate her Time Domain.

But the Giant, who was still holding Tyler with two fingers, suddenly released him. Then, with a grim expression, he clenched his massive fist—and smashed it down toward Su Fei.

"Traitor!" Su Fei screamed, her voice filled with fury.

Her fan flew upward, intercepting the blow midair and stopping the Giant’s punch. The resulting shockwave blasted across the battlefield, shattering nearby rocks.

The tide of battle had shifted so quickly that even Dawn stood frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Su Fei gritted her teeth, still trapped in ice. She tried again to channel spiritual energy—but failed.

Then, her fan fell from the air.

She couldn’t feel it anymore.

Her eyes darted down—and she saw it.

Around her neck, gleaming with strange runes, was a slave collar.

"You...!" she gasped.

Tyler landed gently on the ground before her, dusting off his dress with a smirk. "This Slave Collar was enhanced by Adam’s AI called Eve."

Without her fan defending her, the Giant’s fist came down again—only to stop a mere inch above her frozen head.

A tiny figure had leapt in to block it.

It was Tyler.

He held up one hand, his hand covered with dragon scales.

"Nah," he said calmly. "We’re not killing her."

The Giant hesitated and nodded... then retracted its fist and stepped back.

Tyler turned to Su Fei, whose entire body was frozen in a block of crystalline ice, save for her head.

She glared at him with hatred and humiliation. "Kill me."

"I won’t," Tyler replied with a relaxed shrug. "You wanted to make me your male pet, didn’t you? Thought I’d be your pretty little trophy?"

His lips curled into a grin. "Let’s reverse it."

"What?" Su Fei hissed.

Tyler leaned in slightly, voice laced with mockery. "From now on, you are my pet. My fox pet. Or female pet? Whichever works."

"How?" Dawn asked as she walked beside Tyler.

Tyler took out his Storage Bead and stored Su Fei in it.

Tyler turned toward Dawn

"It’s simple, Miss Dawn..." he said with a grin. "We didn’t actually fight."

Dawn blinked. "Huh?"

Let’s turn back time a little...

The battle between Tyler and the Giant had seemingly begun with full intensity. The terrain rumbled as Tyler flew through the air, his Chess Domain activated. Checkerboard patterns spread across the ground beneath them, glowing with Aura and Prana as his projections of trident clashed against the Giant’s massive war hammer.

"Ahhh... I’ve gotta keep you in check till Adam and Dusk finish off your boss," Tyler muttered, spinning through the air before hurling his trident at the Giant once more.

The Giant blocked effortlessly with his hammer. The sheer impact split the earth beneath them.

"Same here," the Giant replied calmly. "I just need to stall for time."

Tyler raised an eyebrow mid-air and said jokingly "Heh... then why don’t we stall time without actually fighting?"

He hovered for a moment, preparing another attack.

The Giant paused. He seemed to genuinely consider the idea. "Alright," he said with a shrug.

Then, in a bizarre twist for a battlefield, he casually sat down on the ground and placed his war hammer beside him like it was a picnic.

"...Huh?" Tyler muttered, blinking in disbelief. "You’re serious?"

"Yup," the Giant nodded.

Seeing no reason to waste energy, Tyler descended and formed a small icy platform to sit on. It floated at eye level with the Giant, making things feel more like a tea break than a duel between two powerhouses.

"So... we’re just gonna wait here?" Tyler asked, reclining back slightly.

"Yeah. But if you move suddenly, I’ll kill you," the Giant said bluntly.

"Likewise." Tyler didn’t even flinch.

There was a moment of silence.

"...So is your name literally ’Giant’?" Tyler asked, curiosity piqued.

---

Back to the present...

Dawn stared at him, clearly baffled. "Wait, that’s it?"

"Pretty much," Tyler replied with a grin. "After that, we just talked. The big guy opened up a bit. Told me that this Abyss Group he’s part of is just a small sub-group. Apparently, there are thousands of these factions, and they all works to some Immortal Abyss Hunters who dungeon dive in the deepest floors of the Abyss." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Dawn’s eyes narrowed. "So the higher-ups don’t really care about these surface-level hunters?"

"Exactly," Tyler nodded. "They’re just pawns. And our buddy, Mr. Giant, well... he wants to climb up the ranks and eventually lead this faction. So he doesn’t really care if Apollo wins or loses. If Apollo falls, it just makes things easier for him."

"So... he’s on our side?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not quite." Tyler leaned back slightly and crossed his arms. "I told him I can help Adam and Dusk take down Apollo. He agreed to help me against Su Fei, but he’s not touching Apollo. That part’s on us."

Tyler stretched. "Now... let’s go help the girls."

"Help who?"

The unexpected voice echoed through the clearing.

Tyler turned sharply, recognizing that voice instantly.

There they were—Lily, Mana, and Mathilda approaching them. Mathilda was carefully carrying an unconscious Astrid in her arms, while Grandmasters followed behind, looking worse for wear but still standing.

Lily crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Help who, exactly? Because from where I’m standing, we handled everything just fine."

Tyler blinked. "Wait, you girls are done defeating Night, Already?"

The Girls chuckled and held their head proudly.

"What happened to Astrid?" Tyler asked with concern.

The Girls explained what happened.

He quickly took out a Life Orb he got from the Labyrinth under the New Rose Kingdom and fed her.

Tyler looked at her condition. Half of her side looks different.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Author here:

Curious about Astrid’s half-transformation state? Check out the Volume 5 cover! (Unless you’re reading this after it’s updated—then, gomenasai, the picture’s probably changed by now.)