Night fell.
Jiang Qingyu was still busy completing her task of swinging the sword five hundred times. The wind stirred around the small courtyard as she brought her flat blade across from left to right. With this stroke, she reached a full six hundred swings.
Experience bars never filled up out of thin air.
These hundred extra swings were added within the limits of what she could currently manage.
Jiang Qingyu shook out her aching arm. As expected, this body was still too small; six hundred swings was already her absolute limit.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Jiang Qingyu looked back toward the roof. It was Sister Mei.
Mei Niang fluttered down lightly, her red robes snapping in the wind: "Xiaoyu is amazing!"
It wasn't really all that amazing. Praised like that, she felt a sweet warmth bloom in her chest. Jiang Qingyu gave a shy smile: "Thank you, Sister Mei~" She put away her wooden sword, "Care to come inside and sit?"
"I was just about to suggest it." Mei Niang nodded, following Jiang Qingyu inside to her bedchamber.
Feeling a bit awkward, Jiang Qingyu smiled sheepishly: "Haha, the place is a bit small."
She didn't drink tea and had none prepared, so she could only offer plain warm water.
Jiang Qingyu twisted her fingers nervously: "Only this..."
She was mortified. What kind of hospitality was this?
Mei Niang watched with a gentle smile as the little girl bustled around the room, eager to bring out the best she had to offer, only to find her quarters bare except for plain water, making her too ashamed to lift her head.
"I am a bit thirsty, warm water is just right." Mei Niang finished it in one gulp, pushing her cup forward: "Could I have another?"
Jiang Qingyu blinked, happily taking the cup to refill it: "Of course!"
This time Mei Niang didn't chug it. Holding the cup, she asked, "Little Bai said you had some questions for me?"
"Yes," Jiang Qingyu took out the Shark Pearl and placed it on the table: "I want to know everything about it."
"This thing... easy enough."
"When I was alive, I was the top courtesan in a pleasure house. A cultivator once offered it as a betrothal gift just to spend a single night with me. I refused and played the pipa for him instead. When the gifts were being cleared away, the brothel madam confiscated it as payment for my uncompensated performance."
"Finding it pretty, I had it mounted on a hairpin as an ornament."
"Not long after that, trouble broke out at the brothel. As a courtesan with a humble background and a cheap life, I was forced to drink poisoned wine."
"After death, through a twist of fate, I became a ghost spirit. I discovered that this pearl was brimming with yin energy and deep resentment. Relying on the pearl, I quickly cultivated into a fierce ghost."
"Once I absorbed both types of energy, it became a spent bead, losing all its color."
"It wasn't until I was bathing in the moonlight one day, when I decorated my hair with it just like before, that I noticed it actually began to absorb lunar essence. After trying a few times, it truly started regaining its luster, though very slowly. Ever since then, I've kept it with me."
"No wonder this Shark Pearl is so full of spiritual qi..." Jiang Qingyu took out the Shark Pearl and placed it on the table closer to Mei Niang: "It's so important, yet Sister Mei is just giving it to me like this?"
Mei Niang smiled and pushed the pearl back to the edge of Jiang Qingyu's hand: "There is no reason to take back a gift once it's given. Besides, I am a ghost spirit and cannot absorb spiritual qi; keeping it here would only be a waste. Better to give it to someone destined for it."
After a brief pause, Mei Niang asked, "Xiaoyu, did you just say it's a Shark Pearl?"
Jiang Qingyu nodded: "Eldest Senior Brother said it is, so it must be right."
Mei Niang nodded in agreement: "Indeed. Little Bai has never misjudged an object in his life."
After finishing her water, Mei Niang stood up, gazed out the window at the night scenery, turned into a red mist, and vanished from Jiang Qingyu's sight.
The room echoed with Mei Niang's ethereal and melodious voice: "It's getting late, thank you Xiaoyu for your hospitality, let's meet again next time~"
***
Today was the day the Third Senior Sister and Fourth Senior Brother were returning.
Jiang Qingyu woke up bright and early, washing up while bearing two dark circles under her eyes.
When she washed her face, the basin reflected her haggard, pointed face, her eyes devoid of light.
She did a set of eye exercises, but alas, it was completely useless.
Abandon all hope.
Whatever, just leave it like this.
She had stayed awake the entire night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the azure sea stained red with blood, the surface completely deserted, while beneath the water, disgruntled Merfolk wailed, shouting at the top of their lungs with wide, furious eyes, crying out their unjust grievances.
No wonder Sister Mei could use the Shark Pearl to cultivate; the hatred of a destroyed clan was irreconcilable. Weeping blood was nothing less than hatred and curses directed at evildoers, and it was only natural for a Shark Pearl formed from that to carry resentment.
Jiang Qingyu didn't want to close her eyes and look at those bloody scenes, so she lay awake all night counting sheep, reaching a total of over fourteen thousand.
She swore she would never count sheep again in this lifetime.
She casually tied her hair into a ponytail, securing it with a bell-adorned hair tie that rang crisply with every step she took.
Very well, it was a spirited, bell-ringing kind of day.
Baishui flew over on his sword to Guanyun Peak to pick people up, and was startled by Jiang Qingyu's ghostly appearance, quickly stuffing two Qi-replenishing pills into her mouth.
A moment later, he took out a beauty pill for the little girl: "Be a good girl, eat it, and don't scare your Senior Brother with that look again!"
Eldest Senior Brother flew fast and steady.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived at the main peak.
Jiang Qingyu looked with envy at Baishui's spiritual sword. Jinglan was still slumbering, and she had no idea how long it would take before it woke up.
Baishui noticed the little girl's thoughts and raised the spiritual sword in his hand: "Its name is Yaoxue. Want to touch it?"
Jiang Qingyu shook her head and refused.
A spiritual sword was a sword cultivator's wife; she already had Jinglan, so how could she go fooling around with other swords—especially Yaoxue, which already had an owner?
Her gaze drifted to the hilt of Yaoxue, where a cyan tassel hung, accompanied by a fluffy ball of pure, untainted white fur.
Perhaps she should also make a few nice sword tassels for Jinglan, changing them every day. Jinglan would surely be thrilled to death!
And the scabbard, she had to arrange a scabbard too!
She would never allow her sword to go without even a change of clothes!
In the main hall, Lord Wuling and the other two had been waiting for a long time.
Song Wu could no longer wait to grab her little sister's hand and tour every corner of the sect!
"Master, I've brought Xiaoyu."
Baishui and Jiang Qingyu stepped into the hall one after the other.
Three pairs of eyes immediately locked onto Baishui.
Without batting an eye, he rolled his eyes, scooped up the little kid behind him, placed her beside himself, and greeted them gently: "Third and Fourth, long time no see."
Song Wu and Tang Yuan exchanged glances.
Song Wu: No way, no way, I think I just saw Eldest Senior Brother roll his eyes!! Heavens preserve me!
Tang Yuan: Yes, I saw it too. Truly something never seen before, unheard of!
"Eldest Senior Brother, long time no see!" the two said in unison.
The focus shifted entirely to Jiang Qingyu.
"Qi Condensation Peak, not bad. Very fast, and her foundation is solid." Lord Wuling merely glanced at her and could already tell Jiang Qingyu's current realm, offering unsparing praise.
Baishui was immediately unsettled. She reached Qi Condensation Peak after just a few days?
By any reasonable count, it hadn't even been three days, right?!
Advancing a stage a day?
Even taking pills wouldn't make her that fast!
Because of the *Returning Moon* mental cultivation method, Jiang Qingyu's realm had always been concealed. Baishui had assumed she had only just drawn spiritual qi into her body a couple of days ago and was still lingering in the early stages of Qi Condensation.
"About to break through?"
Jiang Qingyu nodded honestly.
The moment she drew spiritual qi into her body, she was already at New Moon Stage Two. The Spiritual Qi of Wuya Sword Sect was abundant, and her lunar spiritual root naturally possessed a clear and harmonious attribute. Even if she just sat there without moving, spiritual qi would seep through her skin and be absorbed into her dantian, making New Moon Stage Three nothing more than a formality.
She was just waiting for the right timing to break the barrier and officially step into the Foundation Establishment Stage.
It shocked Baishui for eight hundred years.
"Alright, alright, the Junior Sister is a genius, Eldest Senior Brother, you don't need to be jealous."
Baishui glared with his fox eyes. Was he jealous???
Tang Yuan stepped forward to pull Baishui aside, turned around, and smiled as he introduced himself to Jiang Qingyu: "My name is Tang Yuan, your Fourth Senior Brother. I heard from Mei Niang that the Junior Sister is extremely cute, and seeing you today, it's truly so."
Looking at the baby face before her, Jiang Qingyu broke into a smile: "Hello, Tangyuan Senior Brother~"
Seeing this, Song Wu refused to let Tang Yuan steal the spotlight. She shoved the annoying Baishui aside with her hip and took over the spot: "Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, I am Song Wu, your Third Senior Sister. You look so cute, can I pinch your cheeks?"
"Then Third Senior Sister must be gentle, okay~"
Song Wu gave them a gentle pinch. They were soft and squishy, like a glutinous rice ball—the texture was simply amazing! And so much fun to pinch!
The two of them surrounded Jiang Qingyu, chattering away endlessly.
Baishui crossed his arms and stood expressionless in the spot where Song Wu had pushed him.
Hmph, so noisy.
Lord Wuling walked over and patted Baishui's shoulder: "Angry about being squeezed out?"
Baishui acted aloof, stubbornly refusing to admit it for once: "No!"
Lord Wuling let out a low chuckle: "You entered the sect around Xiaoyu's age. You think I don't know you?"
Laughter echoed through the hall. Baishui suddenly twitched the corners of his mouth, the lines of his face softening.
Song Wu and Tang Yuan were young and retained their childlike innocence, loving to play and cause a ruckus. He knew the little girl would be very happy meeting the two of them.
"You've been showing more emotions lately. As your master, I am very gratified."
Baishui didn't answer, only quietly watching Jiang Qingyu and the other two.
"Let them make a fuss. Follow me."
In the purple bamboo forest, zither music drifted gently, and tea fragrance curled upward.
A two-story bamboo building stood deep within the bamboo grove.
The six-petaled diamond ice flowers brought back from Ice Abyss Valley earlier were meticulously tended in a corner of the fence, where a small dark cloud was working hard, puffing and panting as it made snow.
All around the small courtyard, strange flowers and exotic herbs grew in abundance.
Before the bamboo building, Baishui transformed into his true form—a snow-white Celestial Fox with eight fluffy tails held high, stepping forward with an elegant fox gait.
Entering the courtyard, Lord Wuling scooped up the fox and placed it on a stone table. Man and fox stared at each other.
Lord Wuling conceded first, helplessly stroking the fox's head and smoothing its fur: "You, you're just as much of a headache as A Yin."
The fox enjoyed the petting, its throat rumbling with a purring sound.
"I told you long ago that my judgment is excellent, and told you to let things go, but you refused to listen, getting yourself stuck at the Deity Transformation Peak for over a hundred years. You really something else."
The fox lifted its chin slightly, petulantly dodging the hand stroking its fur, curling up into a furry fox pancake on the table.
"Tell me, how on earth did you expose yourself in front of Xiaoyu? Was it really just because of those two breaths of spiritual qi?"
The fox's two soft, bouncy ears stood upright on top of its head, their tips slightly flushed as they twitched from time to time, its tail hanging off the edge of the table, swishing lazily back and forth.
It buried its head in its body, leaving only a furry fox butt exposed.
Lalalala, I can't hear you!
Lord Wuling was so exasperated he laughed: "You little fox cub, you really throw your weight around just because you're the last bloodline of the Celestial Fox clan."
The fox remained unimpressed, closing its eyes to feign sleep.
***
Back in the day, the demon clan revered the Celestial Foxes as royalty. The old Demon Emperor had been indebted to Lord Wuling and, on his deathbed, entrusted him to take good care of the Celestial Fox clan's bloodline.
He had merely dashed over to the Linghua Mirror to mind his own business, and the moment he returned to the Cultivation World, he heard that the new Demon Emperor had eloped with a human, throwing the demon clan into civil rebellion with the Winged and Beast clans committing treason.
When the tiger is away, the monkeys claim the king.
All sorts of news slammed into Lord Wuling all at once. He used an earth-shrinking technique to rush to the Golden Wind Tower and spend a fortune just to figure out what was going on.
After the old Demon Emperor died, various demon tribes fell into endless infighting. Suxin, the old Demon Emperor's only successor, fell in love with a human medical cultivator and gave birth to a son—namely, Eldest Senior Brother Baishui.
After giving birth, Celestial Foxes entered a vulnerable period lasting up to three months. The Winged Clan seized the opportunity and spread the news that the Demon Emperor had eloped with a human.
At that time, the Cultivation World didn't particularly ostracize half-demons, but as soon as this news broke, the human and demon realms launched fierce debates over whether humans had seduced the demons or demons had seduced humans.
Some said, "The demon princess is of the Celestial Fox clan, and her seduction arts are formidable."
Some demons also said, "The Celestial Fox clan is proud and aloof; how could they ever take a fancy to a mediocre-looking human?"
The conflict between the two realms intensified. Taking advantage of the fact that the Cultivation World wouldn't interfere with the demon clan, the Beast Clan chieftain had coveted the throne for hundreds of years and finally led his people to unite with the Winged Clan, slaughtering their way into the demon palace and wiping out the entire Celestial Fox bloodline.
When Lord Wuling arrived, Suxin and the human medical cultivator had already fallen, yet the demon palace was so clean not a single outsider remained.
Relying on the Demon Emperor's token, he entered the palace and searched every secret passage, finally discovering a soundly sleeping little fox and a letter under the bed in the old Demon Emperor's bedchamber.
*To Wuling, upon opening:*
*When you read this letter, Baizheng and I should have already offered ourselves as sacrifices. To protect the demon palace, I had no choice but to detonate my demon core and establish a heavenly contract: anyone not holding the token or lacking Celestial Fox bloodline is forever forbidden from setting foot in the demon palace and Celestial Fox territory by even half a step. Those who violate this will be executed.*
*Father Emperor once said you would take good care of the Celestial Fox clan. This time, during the great calamity of the Celestial Foxes, you broke your promise. However, it doesn't matter. Those brainless fools in the Winged Clan actually learned human plotting. I suppose if you had joined the battle, you'd only have ended up with your corpse intact. It's just as well that you didn't come; knowing you, you definitely would have returned the moment you heard news of the Celestial Foxes.*
*I know you have the fox fire Father Emperor gave you, so the contract doesn't apply to you, and I knew you'd definitely search the secret passages when you returned to the palace. I just didn't know if you'd check Father Emperor's bedchamber first?*
*Probably not, you respected him quite a bit. It's just a pity my son will have to sleep a little longer.*
*Lastly, I entrust the last bloodline of the Celestial Fox clan, my son Baishui, to you. I hope you will teach him and protect him.*
*Signed: Suxin*
Lord Wuling carried the little fox all the way, dodging demon pursuers, and returned to Wuya Sword Sect, living in seclusion ever since.
Toward the Celestial Fox clan, he harbored a deep sense of guilt.