Li Meirong spun around, only to be met with the sight of Snowball flailing a snowy paw high in the air while he wiggled in Xiao An Fei's arms. His expression was one of righteous indignation.

The sight of Snowball looking so troubled by Senior Wei's words made her brows scrunch together in confusion. She couldn't help but toss her hands up, and shook her head helplessly at the mischievous little fox spirit before turning back to Senior Wei to offer her apologies.

"I'm sorry for my fox spirit's sudden outburst," said Li Meirong. "He's usually very sweet and friendly…" She cast her eyes downwards somewhat guiltily.

Senior Wei smiled at her reassuringly. "There is no need to apologize," he said, "I take no offense, and will think nothing of it."

At that moment, the barks of the so called fox spirit reverberated from outside the barrier.

"Are my words no better than empty air? Very well! I would like to see you try to court my wi- master, again! I dare you to try - we shall see what happens then!"

Snowball hopped down from Xiao An Fei's arms as he spoke, and struck viciously at the barrier surrounding the stage. With every strike of his furry hind legs, the force-field developed visible cracks.

Senior Wei paled as he glanced over at Snowball, growing paler still with each frantic kick at the barrier. The whites of his eyes showed a tad too much more than usual. He knew all too well what kind of high-level barrier surrounded the stage. The defensive mechanism of the array was far superior to any other he had ever encountered and was completely impenetrable - unless a force imbued with divine power was determined to destroy it.

This meant that only the grandmasters of the sect were capable of breaking it or building it to begin with. Only a nascent soul stage user or a spirit beast of the highest rank would or should be capable of tearing down the arena's array.

And yet, this harmless looking fox spirit merely had to kick against a small section of the barrier for it to crack under his tiny feet!

Senior Wei suddenly grew tense, staring at the little fox in trepidation. 'Just what kind of monster is he, exactly?!'

Li Meirong, upon hearing Snowball's latest announcement, looked back to lock gazes with Xiao An Fei, hoping to convey her desire for An Fei to deal with the little furry rascal, lest he take it upon himself to barge through the barrier!

"Xiao An Fei, how about you take Snowball for a short walk?" Li Meirong said. "He must be feeling anxious and needs to calm down for a moment."

"Take… take Snowball away, My Lady?" Xiao An Fei stammered out nervously. She did not miss His Lordship's vicious glare at the order, and once again found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Yes. Right away, please," Li Meirong answered, her voice a little more stern this time despite the politeness of her words. It seemed to her as though all her spirit pets were determined to have a temper tantrum at one point or another...

She was completely unaware of the dilemma she had just imposed upon her pitiful subordinate, or what a tremendous task this particular order invoked.

Xiao An Fei gulped hard, wondering if she had, perhaps, committed a terrible crime in one of her previous lives. She must have done so, to be placed in such a predicament. She was not a fool, however. When required to choose between whose orders to follow - those of the doting husband or the magnanimous wife - she knew exactly whose orders she needed to obey.

'If I defy the Sovereign Lord, Her Ladyship will protect me from his ire. But if I anger Her Ladyship, then the Sovereign Lord will permanently remove me from service!' Xiao An Fei considered the matter at hand, and made her decision as swiftly as possible.

Despite knowing her choice and understanding the consequences, she still did not wish to follow through. Purposefully standing in the Sovereign Lord's path was something Xiao An Fei did not wish to do! She could not recall a single instance in which someone from the clan - or anywhere else, for that matter - came away unscathed from an altercation with the wrathful Fox Lord.

As if able to hear her thoughts and taking them as his cue, Snowball viciously kicked at the barrier once more, causing an almost visible line to zigzag halfway across the array's perimeter. The barrier shaped like a transparent cap atop the stage was gradually fracturing beneath Snowball's assault.

Just one more kick, and the array would almost certainly shatter entirely.

There was no doubt in Xiao An Fei's mind that the Sovereign Lord planned to single handedly massacre the oblivious human boy, if she did not use every ounce of her bravery to whisk His Lordship away. All hell would break loose should he succeed in murdering that Senior Wei.

'I must be the one to save the day!' she thought, her fingers clenching into fists. Gulping down the fear, Xiao An Fei gathered the courage to face an adversary much more powerful than herself. She did not allow herself to hesitate any longer, rushing towards the disguised Fox Lord from behind and scooping him up into her arms.

For a moment, Xiao An Fei appeared to be deeply troubled, holding the venerable deity of her clan as if he were actually the little cub he pretended to be. Despite her fear and worry, she held His Lordship in her arms and recovered her bearings swiftly. She bobbed her head respectfully towards Li Meirong.

"Right away, My Lady," Xiao An Fei said while drawing Snowball farther away from the stage.

The Sovereign Lord's expressionless countenance and unexpectedly docile behavior did not match the bloodthirsty aura emanating from his tiny frame. That frightened Xiao An Fei even more than the resistance she had been expecting.

Once Xiao An Fei had successfully managed to drag the supposed fox spirit away from the tournament stage, into a secluded area that was a fair distance from all the hustle and bustle, a pair of scorching eyes directed the full measure of their wrath upon her.

Bai Qingyue's irises glowed like a pair of wrathful twin suns.