Don't Treat Auspicious Omens as Monsters

Lan Mu never expected that he would transform into the legendary White Nine-tailed Fox.

Although he only looked like a fox externally, he exuded a breathtaking charm.

Just standing on the mountaintop, under the stars and moon, facing the wind, with his nine tails dancing in the breeze, he naturally possessed an ethereal aura.

"This energy..."

Lan Mu discovered that he had absorbed moonlight with his tails. The moonlight's energy flowed into the middle tail and was stored there.

"Only this tail can absorb Moon Essence. What are the other eight for? Just for show?"

Lan Mu couldn't figure it out, so he looked at the mist that had formed with a single thought.

This mist had originally been scattered around him, but under his control, it gathered and transformed into a Water Mirror.

With another thought, the mist dispersed, returning to formlessness.

"I've really become a Monster? Is this really the Nine-tailed Fox from myths?"

Lan Mu finally managed to accept this reality. He hadn't expected to be able to transform into even a creature from myths and legends.

The concept of the Nine-tailed Fox has existed since ancient times. Various East Asian cultures have legends of the Nine-tailed Fox, a mystical beast that is neither demon nor immortal, described in ancient texts from China, Japan, and Korea.

There are even related records in smaller Southeast Asian countries and India. However, regardless of the origin of the myth, the descriptions of the Nine-tailed Fox are largely the same.

Originally, the Nine-tailed Fox was an Immortal Beast, said to appear when "the world is at peace, signifying an Auspicious Omen." It was a sign of national prosperity and wise rulers.

Later, during the Song Dynasty and beyond, it gradually became demonized, becoming a Demon Fox, representing Fox Charm causing trouble, and becoming a term for seductive allure, spreading to various countries.

But no matter what, the Nine-tailed Fox is a common symbol in East Asian culture. No matter who you ask, they would likely imagine an image of unparalleled beauty.

"But... I'm a guy!"

Lan Mu was speechless, feeling lost in the wind.

It was one thing to transform into an Elf, but why a Nine-tailed Fox? Was he supposed to go out and charm the world?

"Legends say the Nine-tailed Fox is skilled at Transformation into human form, usually appearing as various figures from the human world, indistinguishable from the real thing."

"How do I transform?"

A Nine-tailed Fox was seen hopping around the mountaintop, its tails sweeping over the forest and earth without picking up a speck of dust.

It seemed a thin Energy Barrier was preventing dust from settling, keeping this white fox immaculate and its fur perpetually beautiful.

The Nine-tailed Fox was not small in size, about the size of a dog. If its massive tails were stretched out, its total length would be over four meters, with the tails alone accounting for 2.8 meters.

Suddenly, it was enveloped by its nine tails, becoming a fluffy white mass.

When the tails unfurled, where was the white fox? A young man lay quietly on the rocks, completely naked, with smooth, fair skin.

But that wasn't all. Nine tails were still swaying from his backside, their fur tickling him.

"What the... the tails won't retract?"

Lan Mu struggled for a long time, unable to figure out how to retract his massive tails. These nine tails gathered together were larger than him, floating behind him like a dancing snow-white skirt.

His ears twitched twice. He reached out to touch them and despaired.

Not only could the tails not be retracted, but the fluffy demon fox ears were also perked up, occasionally twitching.

With a wave of his hand, the mist gathered and formed a mirror. Lan Mu looked at his reflection and sighed.

"My Transformation skills are too poor. This is clearly a Monster!"

In the mirror, Lan Mu's appearance was indeed his own, but his eyes were blood-red, his short hair disheveled, two fox ears emerged from his black hair, exposed to the outside, with nine massive tails forming the background behind him.

Although it was his own appearance, his aura was completely different, exuding astonishing charm from within, with every movement possessing a heart-stirring allure.

"Sigh..."

Lan Mu let out a long sigh, knelt on the ground, and bowed in despair, his heart as dead as ashes.

"With this kind of Transformation, it makes no difference whether I transform or not."

"And this transformation took more than a day longer than the last one, with a full eight days between transformations. Considering this, Fang Moqi should have already left after the seven-day mandatory period."

"It seems I won't be able to make it to our appointment... In this state, if I entered Kuala Lumpur, I might shock the world?"

Lan Mu stroked his vast, canopy-like tails, feeling utterly helpless.

If he only had beast ears, he could conceal them, but with these nine massive tails, was he supposed to say he was cosplaying?

Lan Mu could only resign himself to fate, deciding to obediently endure the seven-day mandatory period in the deep mountains.

"I've had enough of this kind of transformation... Next time, I'll transform into something more imposing?"

He couldn't help but complain, when he heard a voice like that of a baby speaking.

This childish voice was clear and ethereal, its tone striking directly at the heart, its echoes carried by the wind across the mountaintop.

Although it could speak human language, after hearing this voice, Lan Mu lost the desire to complain.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, hugging his own nine large tails, idly studying them.

Several hours passed quickly. The moon had long set, followed by the dawn's sunrise.

After absorbing Moon Essence all night, as soon as the sun came out, his fourth tail instinctively swayed.

Unlike the coolness of Moon Essence, a scorching energy poured into his body, finally settling in his tail.

"So sunlight can be absorbed too?"

Lan Mu's mind, which had been researching for a whole night, suddenly opened up.

"The fourth tail is for absorbing solar energy... that leaves three unknown ones..."

Lan Mu probed his own body and discovered that all of the Nine-tailed Fox's abilities came from its tails.

The first tail represented transformation, allowing him to change into anyone's appearance. Theoretically, he could pass for the real thing, but everything relied on instinct. His transformation ability was not up to par, and he was always unable to change his fox ears and tail. As a result, he could only maintain the monstrous appearance commonly seen in TV shows.

The second tail was purely illusion. He hadn't figured out its specific uses yet, but it instinctively gave him the ability to bewitch people, such as charming a cloud leopard into lying obediently beside him like a docile pet.

The third tail was his ability to control mist, allowing mist to permeate the area around his body. At its densest, it could obscure vision, and he could even gather and disperse it at will, but it had no offensive power. If all of it were gathered, it would just be a puddle of water.

The fourth tail was for absorbing solar energy, but it was stored in his tail. He didn't know what use it had; Lan Mu still hadn't figured out how to use solar energy.

The fifth tail was the same, absorbing Moon Essence and storing it. Besides a cool sensation, it was useless.

The sixth tail was impressive. It could wrap his body in a thin layer of force field, isolating external objects at will. Not only did it have the effect of repelling dust, but it could even protect him. However, its defensive capability was rather weak. When he tried to stab himself with an arrow, it still pierced his skin, leaving a white mark.

Considering this, if he were shot by a strong bow or heavy crossbow, he would still be injured, let alone by firearms.

As for the remaining three tails, he hadn't discovered any use for them at all; they seemed purely for show.

The sun slowly rose, and the mountaintop was constantly exposed to the scorching sun. Protected by the force field of his sixth tail, Lan Mu wasn't worried about getting sunburned.

He spent the entire day calmly absorbing solar energy until dusk approached, then he stopped.

Watching the sunset, he stood up and stretched lazily, feeling as if he had just woken up from a nap.

"Is this how one cultivates by absorbing the Essence of Sun and Moon? It feels good, not tiring at all, and I can't even sense time passing..."

"But... I'm actually hungry?"

After basking in the sun all day, Lan Mu felt lazy from the inside out, yet he was surprised to find his stomach empty and a feeling of hunger.

"Aren't I an Immortal Beast? Even if I were a monster... I shouldn't be hungry, right?"

"So cultivation requires eating too... This..."

Lan Mu didn't know what he wanted to eat, so he could only run down the mountain to forage in the jungle.

However, out of habit, he directly leaped off a rock and ran down the steep slope of the cliff, forgetting that he wasn't a White-haired Lion anymore.

"Ah!"

Lan Mu fell miserably, tumbling down the mountain, lacking the White-haired Lion's usual grace.

He once again experienced the fear of falling off a cliff. His body rolled, hitting rocks and branches, his tail instinctively curling into a ball to protect himself.

When he landed, he was disoriented. His fair skin was covered in scratches, with minor abrasions in some places.

"Fortunately, the force field of my sixth tail protected me. Otherwise, rolling all the way down like this would have definitely broken my bones."

The six-tailed protection was quite effective; he wasn't seriously injured despite rolling for so long.

However, he soon became annoyed, thinking dejectedly.

"Why am I so weak? Am I even a monster? Are there monsters this weak?"

"No strength, no speed, am I just good-looking? A decorative monster?"

Then Lan Mu thought that perhaps it was because he had transformed into human form. Transforming into human form had also inherited human frailty.

With this thought, Lan Mu canceled his transformation and reverted to his Nine-tailed Fox form. A handsome, large fox appeared in the forest.

Indeed, his fox body was much more agile than his human form. It was a beast form, after all, more suited to the natural environment. The degenerated human body was simply not suitable for traversing mountains and forests.

If he had descended the mountain in his beast form earlier, he wouldn't have tumbled all the way down. Hopping and skipping down the mountain would have been much more agile than in human form.

"Tapir? Saw another tapir, no appetite, not eating!"

"Snake? So gaudy, disgusting, not eating!"

"Deer? Also no appetite, not eating."

"Bullfrog? Damn it! Get lost!"

Lan Mu strolled through the forest, running back and forth, but couldn't find anything he wanted to eat.

To find something to eat, Lan Mu purely followed his instincts. If his body had no appetite for something, he would decisively be picky.

After wandering through the woods near the foot of the mountain, encountering various animals, he finally found the prey his heart desired.

"Bird... So I wanted to eat a bird..."

Lan Mu used all four limbs to climb a large tree, slowly approaching a bird's nest. Inside were a few little ones, and on a branch, an unknown bird the size of a sparrow was perched.

However, as soon as Lan Mu got close, the bird became alert, chirped, and flapped its wings to fly up, protecting the nest.

Lan Mu gritted his teeth and pounced, but the bird dodged.

He himself landed with a baby bird from the nest in his mouth.

Ignoring the large bird's squawks, Lan Mu, with his fluffy tail curled up, decisively ran away.

When he stopped and spat out the baby bird, it had already been instinctively drained of blood by him, becoming a corpse.

Looking at the corpse again, he lost his appetite.

"Damn... I just wanted to drink blood..."

The bird was too small. Lan Mu only drank a small mouthful of blood. With this kind of hunting efficiency, Lan Mu felt like crying.

Just then, a wild chicken with colorful feathers appeared in his field of vision.

The Nine-tailed Fox's surging desire returned!

Lan Mu pounced, but unexpectedly, the rooster was fierce and domineering. With a glare, it pecked at him. Its wings flapped, forcing him to jump low, appearing very imposing.

Not only that, but several more wild chickens rushed out from the forest. Lan Mu was pecked a few times, and even with the force field protecting him, he felt pain.

He vaguely felt that he couldn't win a direct confrontation! He had no choice but to turn and run.

"Nine-tailed Fox! Nine-tailed Fox..."

"Are you really a monster? How can you not even be able to hunt?"

But as he ran, the wild chickens wouldn't let him go. They actually chased after him angrily.

Lan Mu was furious. He was a monster, after all! Even chickens dared to bully him?

Did they really not consider an Auspicious Omen to be a monster?

His second tail swayed slightly. Lan Mu stopped running, squatted in place, and faced the chickens.

The wild chickens, who had been charging ferociously, suddenly became docile. They looked at the Nine-tailed Fox with infatuation and slowly approached.

"So it's not about hunting with claws... it's a skill..."

Lan Mu thought, That's more like it. He grabbed a wild chicken by the neck and took just one sip, causing it to fall to the ground dead.

He repeated this process until all the wild chickens had their vital blood drained.

As for Lan Mu, he only drank a little blood and immediately stopped. He had no desire for the meat at all.

But after only drinking this little bit of blood, Lan Mu didn't feel satisfied. He always felt these things were too low-level and not enough to drink.

"It feels like if I only drink blood, I won't be full even if I drink a ton..."

"This shouldn't be the true food of a Nine-tailed Fox..."

"Heavens... what should I eat?"