The Jade Tree swayed, and the mountain wind sighed through the air, stirring layer upon layer of white skirts until they billowed upward. The sight was like an epiphyllum blooming in a flash, or snow and moonlight mingling, spilling a bright glow across the courtyard.
The radiance illuminated the face of the Nine-tailed Fox woman. Her beauty seemed to drip with color. She gave a slight nod and smiled. "Not bad!"
"Back then, the Heavenly Tribulation sealed off all of Qingqiu."
"Our entire clan perished beneath the Tribulation Lightning. I was the only one who survived."
"My father, Guang, was the previous Lord of Qingqiu and a Dao Governing Immortal Official. Yet even he could not withstand the ever-strengthening Heavenly Tribulation. In the end, he died, his Dao vanishing, and was scattered utterly between heaven and earth!"
"Before Father died, he passed on to me the authority of the Lord of Qingqiu, the position of clan leader of the Nine-tailed Foxes in the lower realm, and the immortal office of guarding the 'Gazing at Heaven' Well."
As she spoke, the Nine-tailed Fox woman lightly swept her wide sleeves and reached out with her bare hand to catch a drifting jade leaf. Feather-shaped, the leaf shimmered with fine golden threads. Its light reflected in her long, narrow eyes, lending her bewitching beauty a thread of nobility. Smiling brightly, she continued, "I am of the Nine-tailed Fox clan's direct bloodline. I was an immortal from birth, and the Young Master of Qingqiu from the moment I drew breath."
"Inheriting everything from Father was only natural and right!"
"After receiving the immortal office of the 'Gazing at Heaven' Well, I endured an Immortal Tribulation and ultimately became the new Dao Governing Immortal Official."
"After that, Father Guang, my little sister, and all my