The Little Fox was truly hungry.
So hungry that she had forgotten Li Jiusheng was still beside her.
She had spent several hundred years inside the Demon Refining Tower of the Luochuan Sect. Though she had never entered the world, she had consciousness and knew that her mother had suffered endlessly at the hands of humans.
So when she first emerged and saw Li Jiusheng, the Little Fox had been terrified and immediately fled. Later, although she learned that Li Jiusheng was the person her mother had entrusted her to before her death, she still refused to get close to him. Even when he fed her, he could only do so from afar.
The Little Fox and Li Jiusheng had never been this close before.
But she had no choice. Right now, the Little Fox could see nothing but food.
She devoured the food Li Jiusheng had prepared for her. Though her body was small, it could hold far more food than her weight suggested. This was thanks to her being a Nine-tailed Demonic Fox, blessed with extraordinarily strong innate absorption. The moment she swallowed the food, her body absorbed it and turned it into pure energy.
However, the Little Fox absorbed energy in a very primitive manner. She did not know how to use it at all. She had only just been born and had received no guidance from her parents, so it was perfectly normal for her not to know how to cultivate.
Li Jiusheng did not know that the Little Fox possessed inherited memories. Seeing her like this reminded him of the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land and of her mother. With a sigh in his heart, he said, "I'll teach you how to cultivate."
The Little Fox suddenly stopped eating. She raised her head and looked at Li Jiusheng with her brilliant eyes full of confusion. She had inherited memories that would unlock when the time came. For instance, she had learned to write through those memories.
With inherited memories, did she still need to learn from Li Jiusheng?
The Little Fox lowered her head and continued eating, ignoring him.
Li Jiusheng assumed she did not understand what cultivation meant. After all, she had only just been born. He was in no hurry. They could take things slowly.
The Little Fox quickly finished her food. When she came back to her senses, she realized she was far too close to Li Jiusheng. She immediately turned into a ball of white light and vanished from the spot.
Li Jiusheng smiled and said nothing. He turned around and returned to the Scripture Repository Pavilion, continuing to contemplate Fish Leaping in the Sea of Time.
"My cultivation has reached the middle stage of the Grandmaster realm." Li Jiusheng felt the surging power within him. When he expanded his domain to its limit, it had unknowingly reached a range of one hundred li.
At this range, even peak Grandmasters could only look on in awe. Only Great Grandmasters could contend with him.
His strength had also steadily increased, reaching one hundred and fifty Dragon Elephant Power. That was because Li Jiusheng had devoted most of his attention to his next nirvanic rebirth.
Li Jiusheng had already completed the first nirvanic rebirth of the [Mountain and Wild New Life Method] and the [Great Sun Nirvana Scripture]. Now, he was accumulating the foundation for his second nirvanic rebirth.
The [Mountain and Wild New Life Method] imitated the unending renewal of mountains and wilderness. A human life lasted but one age, while grass and trees lasted only one autumn. Yet after that autumn passed, the wilderness remained the wilderness, welcoming new grass and trees. Cultivators had to do the same: renew themselves without end, transform into a better version of themselves on the foundation of the old, and ultimately shed mortality to become immortals.
The [Great Sun Nirvana Scripture] was one of the Buddhist Sect's finest methods for cultivating the physical body. It required repeated nirvanic rebirths. Each time, a flower of new life bloomed from the old body, then blossomed and bore fruit.
The goals of these two cultivation methods were the same, so Li Jiusheng cultivated and accumulated them together. One rebirth brought two nirvanas, and the gains were enormous.
That was why he was not in a hurry. Minor breakthroughs would come naturally. Through Fish Leaping in the Sea of Time, he had come into close contact with those great dao. Even if he had remembered only one millionth of them, it was still an immense gain for someone in the Grandmaster realm. He needed time to settle, absorb, digest, and turn what he had remembered into something truly his own.
That night, Li Jiusheng sat in meditation, cultivating bit by bit as he contemplated, analyzed, understood, and comprehended the dao.
The next morning, Li Jiusheng rose early and came to the edge of the wilderness, not far from the Little Fox. Bathed in the morning sunlight, he slowly practiced his fists, cultivating the [Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Strength] and tempering every bone in his body.
The morning sun was brilliant and bright, piercing through the heavy mist over the wilderness. It shone upon Li Jiusheng in multicolored rays, as though draping him in a robe of dawn.
With every punch and stance, Li Jiusheng seemed to push the light of daybreak itself. The spiritual energy flowing through the surroundings moved with his body, dancing in turn. Butterflies flew from the forest and gathered around Li Jiusheng, fluttering gracefully.
Not far away, the snow-white Little Fox hid beneath a tree and watched without blinking.
Cultivation!
This was her first time encountering it.
Even though she had inherited memories, those memories would not teach cultivation to a baby who was not even a month old. Teaching her words was already remarkably early.
After all, the inherited memories had no way of knowing that the Little Fox had spent several hundred years in her mother's womb and had long since fully developed.
The Little Fox watched eagerly. She wanted to cultivate too. Especially after the unbearable memories of her time in the womb, she desired cultivation more than anyone.
When Li Jiusheng had asked whether she wanted to cultivate the night before, the Little Fox had actually wanted to. But she was afraid of having too much contact with him, and she also believed her inherited memories would surely provide her with cultivation methods later. That was why she had refused.
But now, seeing Li Jiusheng practice his fists and cultivate, drawing in all things of the wilderness, filled her with longing.
Especially as Li Jiusheng cultivated beneath the morning light, surrounded by countless colorful butterflies, she could not help but envy him.
As she watched, she began copying Li Jiusheng's posture and slowly followed along.
Li Jiusheng was practicing slowly anyway, so this did not count as secretly stealing his techniques. After all, he had said yesterday that he wanted to teach her cultivation.
They were separated by some distance, but that still counted as teaching, didn't it?
The Little Fox was quite good at comforting herself. Once her mental burden was gone, she carefully watched every movement Li Jiusheng made.
Since Li Jiusheng was practicing slowly, she happened to learn every move.
And so, in the wilderness near the Scripture Repository Pavilion, an old man and a fox practiced the same set of punches from a distance apart.
The corners of Li Jiusheng's lips curled slightly. The Little Fox was still too young. He had risen early to practice his fists, deliberately moving so slowly and even intentionally drawing butterflies over, all to lure the Little Fox into learning with him.
The [Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Strength] was not only suitable for humans; it suited the Demon Race as well. After considering it carefully, he decided it was the most suitable technique for the Little Fox. It would be perfect for laying her foundation.
As Li Jiusheng performed the [Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Strength], he guided the spiritual energy around his body toward the Little Fox, allowing her to absorb it as she practiced and establish a solid foundation.
Without really understanding how, the Little Fox learned the [Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Strength]. She only felt that absorbing spiritual energy was effortless and pressure-free. Her body felt incomparably comfortable and light, while her bones and innate foundation were nourished. She had only just been born, and everything about her had yet to take shape, meaning she could be molded into something better. Even among Nine-tailed Demonic Foxes, there were strong and weak ones. Li Jiusheng was using the [Dragon Elephant Prison Suppression Strength] to strengthen the Little Fox's young body.
As she practiced, the Little Fox suddenly realized that all the spiritual energy in the wilderness was circling around her, making it easy for her to absorb.
The Little Fox glanced at Li Jiusheng and knew he was behind it. Yet strangely, she did not dislike it. Her heart even began to feel happy without her realizing it.
Though she hated humans, at the end of the day, she was only a newborn child. When someone cared for her attentively and treated her gently, even the toughest heart would slowly melt.
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