Xiao Zhi Takes Human Form

At midnight, something boomed within his body. Liu Ji, deep in meditation, broke through. He sprang to his feet, bent one arm, and lifted his head, feeling the Suanni Soulforging Pill's mighty soul energy sweep through his meridians.

"Grandfather was right after all. The Liu Clan are frogs at the bottom of a well, clinging stubbornly to old rules. They only know how to guard that tiny inheritance of theirs and have no idea how to borrow external strength. Eight Hundred Li Village is truly worth it."

Liu Ji was brimming with excitement. His original Soul Forging Martial Apprentice Qilin Stage and the Suanni, both belonging to the lineage of ancient divine beasts, stacked their power together. Even if he used only the strength of Five Soulforging Cauldrons, he was already a level above his former peak.

"It seems the position of Liu Clan Patriarch can belong to no one but me. Hahaha."

Liu Ji laughed smugly through his throat and thought, It's already deep into the night. Should I go to the ancestral hall and test whether I can lift the Liu Clan's Six Soulforging Cauldrons?

He walked out of the courtyard and looked toward the dim lights of the ancestral hall. Unable to contain the excitement in his heart, he found himself heading there.

As he quietly approached the ancestral hall, Liu Ji was about to push open the door when Liu Ding's delighted voice suddenly came from within. "Eh? Xiao Zhi, y-you've turned into a fox spirit?"

Liu Ji froze, pressing one eye to the crack in the door. What he saw left him stunned. Two heads were poking out from the Seventh Soulforging Cauldron inside the ancestral hall. One belonged to that little hooligan Liu Ding, while the other belonged to an unfamiliar young girl.

"What fox spirit? Don't talk nonsense. And don't look!" The unfamiliar girl's voice was delicate and clear, seemingly bashful. She turned her little head away, only to face the door. Her bright eyes were like startled swans in flight, her skin like snow-white congealed cream, her lovely shoulders smooth as if carved away, her charm beyond measure.

The lone eye beyond the door crack was dumbstruck. That little hooligan actually had such outrageous luck. There was no justice in this world.

"Xiao Zhi, y-you can talk now?" That hateful little hooligan actually placed his hand on her lovely shoulder. What desecration.

"Mhm. Since I've taken human form, of course I can speak. But my state isn't stable. It seems the seventh ingredient is still wrong. Let's stop cultivating here tonight." The girl sighed softly. Her fleeting, night-blooming beauty gradually faded, and she returned to her White Fox form.

When Liu Ji saw Liu Ding jump down from the Seventh Soulforging Cauldron with the Little White Fox in his arms, he hurriedly retreated and hid in the shadows. At last, Liu Ding came out, the Little White Fox lying obediently in his embrace. Liu Ji's heart pounded wildly. Dazed and distraught, he unconsciously followed them for a stretch, watching Liu Ding enter his home. He stood there blankly until a voice exploded beside his ear and jolted him awake.

Seeing that the one calling him was his grandfather, Nie Zhengxu, Liu Ji grabbed Nie Zhengxu's sleeve and muttered, "Grandfather, I want that Little White Fox. I have to get that Little White Fox."

Nie Zhengxu was so furious he nearly spat blood. He had told him to endure in the first half of the night, yet in the latter half he had come out to offer up treasures. If Nie Zhengxu had not been worried about his cultivation, who knew what other trouble he might have stirred up? With a slap, he struck Liu Ji across the face and shouted sternly, "Useless thing! What nonsense are you talking about? I'll slap you to death!"

Liu Ji finally came to his senses. Covering his burning cheek, he said, "No, Grandfather, listen to me."

"What? You're saying that Little White Fox can take human form?" Nie Zhengxu's face darkened. "No wonder Liu Yandong has been acting so arrogantly. So he wants to use the Demon Race to help his worthless grandson. Very good. Let's see whether you still have a chance to turn things around this time."

The Little White Fox had taken human form, and Liu Ding was so happy he could not sleep all night. Holding the Little White Fox, he kept talking to her. "Xiao Zhi, don't worry. We'll find the seventh ingredient for the bathing medicine."

For more than a year, whenever they entered the Seventh Soulforging Cauldron to soak, Xiao Zhi had continuously added another medicinal ingredient to the six-ingredient formula for the Six Soulforging Cauldrons Phoenix Soul Pill. So it had all been for the sake of taking human form.

The Little White Fox nodded. The flush had yet to fade from her snow-white fur. Bashfully, she pushed Liu Ding away. This little fool—she had already taken human form, yet he still did not know to avoid impropriety. He truly deserved the title "little hooligan."

When midnight came again, man and beast refilled the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons with water, then tossed in the six medicinal herbs and spirit pearls from the Cauldron King Soul Pill formula. Finally, the Little White Fox added a Spirit Fruit.

Liu Ding recognized it. That Spirit Fruit was the Fire Dragon Fruit he had accidentally eaten years ago. Scratching his head, he said, "Xiao Zhi, this fruit is really scary. Don't come in too early later."

As he spoke, he took off his outer robe, stepped barefoot into the cauldron, crossed his arms, and pressed them against his shoulders on either side.

The totem of the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons was not a beast's head on a human body. It was directly a human figure, and the cultivation posture was crystal clear.

Xiao Zhi's heart warmed. Though Liu Ding was somewhat foolish, his care for her had never lessened. Every time, he made sure the medicinal water was safe before allowing her to enter.

Among the corresponding soul pill formulas for the Liu Clan's Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons, the first six each contained seven ingredients, while only the Seventh Cauldron had six. Clever as ice and snow, Xiao Zhi understood that the formula was most likely missing an ingredient. After repeated failures, she had finally been able to temporarily take human form last night after adding the White Phoenix Flower.

It was an immortal herb bearing the name of a divine beast, so today Xiao Zhi began testing the Fire Dragon Fruit, which bore the character for dragon. Clever as she was, this was how she gradually investigated the missing seventh medicinal ingredient step by step.

The Fire Dragon Fruit melted into the medicinal liquid, and it was indeed completely different. At the beginning, Liu Ding clenched his teeth as though he could barely endure it. Gradually, he finally sensed a wave of the aura left behind by the Moon Yin Fruit emanating from within his body, neutralizing the Fire Dragon Fruit's violent medicinal properties. The medicine water began to turn gentle.

"Alright, Xiao Zhi. You can come in now." Liu Ding nodded at Xiao Zhi.

With her previous experience, Xiao Zhi was already familiar with the process. After circulating several Small Heavenly Cycles, her divine gate opened as expected, and she began taking human form.

Liu Ding widened his eyes as he watched the adorable Little White Fox before him transform once more into a breathtakingly beautiful girl.

"It seems... it worked." Xiao Zhi opened her eyes and spoke. Seeing Liu Ding staring at her without even blinking, her already bashful little face became tinged with an even deeper blush.

Before Liu Ding could respond, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted through the ancestral hall. "Demon girl, you've finally revealed yourself!"

Xiao Zhi's lovely face drained of color as a terrifying wave of restrictive Cauldron Qi descended over her head.

"Whoever you are, don't hurt my Xiao Zhi!" Sensing the terrifying power of that restrictive Cauldron Qi, Liu Ding roared. He raised both palms, trying to break apart the invisible shackles.

The moment they clashed, the suppressing Cauldron Qi instantly ran rampant. With a thunderous boom, the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons actually toppled over. A torrent of medicinal water surged out, revealing a half-clothed young man and woman.

Liu Ding wore only a pair of underpants. Though Xiao Zhi still had a thin gauze robe draped around her, the glimpse of her slender willow waist only made her seem all the more graceful and enchanting.

The instant she fell, she wrapped her arms around her chest and cried out, curling forward as her delicate body trembled.

"Put this on her." A robe dropped from the air within the ancestral hall as Liu Yandong floated down from the skylight.

Liu Ding caught it with one hand, swiftly draped it over Xiao Zhi, and held her tightly. "Don't be afraid, Xiao Zhi. It's Grandpa."

"Liu Yandong, you actually shield a demon girl who stole the family's secret treasure?" Nie Zhengxu shrieked as he smashed through the window and leaped inside. At the same time, quite a few elders flooded into the ancestral hall.

"Even if she were an enemy, should she be left naked to satisfy your filthy eyes?" Liu Yandong looked at him with utter contempt.

Nie Zhengxu's old face turned red, but he immediately shouted again, "Fine! Your foolish grandson colluded with a demon girl and stole the secrets of the family's Soul Forging supreme treasure. Let's see how you deal with this!"

"Since you yourself say my grandson is foolish, how can the word 'colluded' possibly apply?" With a casual remark, Liu Yandong seized upon Nie Zhengxu's verbal slip and dissolved the attack without a trace.

"You—" Nie Zhengxu choked, feeling miserable beyond measure. Every time he traded words with Liu Yandong, he never gained the slightest advantage. It left him deeply stifled.

"No matter what, the secrets of the Soul Forging Cauldrons cannot be stolen by outsiders. This concerns the lifeblood of the family." Several elders stepped forward, speaking with righteous solemnity, every one of them as lofty as Yue Buqun.

"This Little White Fox is my grandson's beast pet. How can she be called an outsider?" Liu Yandong truly had a talent for catching verbal slips, and the group of elders was immediately rendered speechless.

Nie Zhengxu extended a finger, dipped it into the medicinal liquid on the ground, and lightly tasted it. His eyes turned cold and sinister. "This is medicine from the Cauldron King Soul Pill formula for the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons. Since your grandson is foolish, where did these formula ingredients come from?"

"You want to say I gave them to him?" Liu Yandong countered without yielding an inch.

"Hmph, you said that yourself." Nie Zhengxu snorted. He would drag Liu Yandong into the water and see how he dealt with it.

"The Little White Fox can take human form and has awakened her intelligence. I think the issue lies with her." One of the elders shifted the battlefront.

"But someone disregards the family rules and blindly protects his own. What then?" Nie Zhengxu pressed relentlessly, refusing to let go.

"Which eye of yours saw me disregard the family rules?" Liu Yandong snorted. "Men, take this White Fox spirit beast into custody first. I will interrogate her personally. All idle people are forbidden from interfering."

"Pfft!" Nie Zhengxu nearly spat blood. What "idle people"—this was clearly protection in another form. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Liu Yandong, you can protect her for a moment, but can you protect her forever? If you cannot give the family a satisfactory explanation, the Council of Elders will have the right to deal with her in fifteen days."

"Then we'll talk in fifteen days."

With a wave of Liu Yandong's hand, disciples from the Family Disciplinary Hall stepped forward carrying shackles. Liu Ding was so frightened that he clung tightly to Xiao Zhi and cried out, "No! Don't take my Xiao Zhi away!"