The Daughter of an Old Friend

Why had a fox demon infiltrated the Feather Transformation Sect?

Lin Jiufeng sat alone in the tea room, his Primordial Spirit suspended high in the Nine Heavens as it overlooked the Feather Transformation Sect. He watched the snow-white fox demon cautiously search for something before finally locating the Scripture Pavilion and quietly slipping inside.

Lin Jiufeng frowned. "You came for the Feather Ascension Scripture too?"

The fox demon did not know Lin Jiufeng was watching her, yet she remained exceedingly cautious as she sneaked in. Her cultivation was fairly strong—she had reached the Fifth Forbidden Zone—so the three little ones within the Scripture Pavilion failed to notice her at all.

Only Lin Jiufeng watched.

The White Fox entered the Scripture Pavilion without disturbing anyone. Instead, she carefully searched, going from one shelf to the next.

"Is she looking for the Feather Ascension Scripture?" Lin Jiufeng raised a brow. The Feather Ascension Scripture had never been written into a book and stored in the Scripture Pavilion.

But after watching for a while, Lin Jiufeng realized that the White Fox was not searching for cultivation techniques. Instead, she was looking for the biographies of past elders of the Feather Transformation Sect.

That left Lin Jiufeng utterly baffled.

A demon had infiltrated the Feather Transformation Sect's Scripture Pavilion, not for cultivation techniques, but to look for biographies of its forebears?

It was very strange.

Lin Jiufeng did not disturb the White Fox and let her continue searching in peace.

The White Fox searched with great care. Whenever she picked up a book and found it was not what she needed, she immediately returned it to its original place. Without close inspection, no one would notice that the books had been read.

Even Lin Jiufeng had no idea what she was looking for.

Until the White Fox found a book titled Biography of Zhou Sheng. Her expression suddenly turned sorrowful, and she carefully placed the book beneath the moonlight shining through the window and began to read.

Under the moonlight, the White Fox read quietly and sadly.

The sight stirred Lin Jiufeng's heart. He left the tea room and arrived at a corner of the Scripture Pavilion.

"What is your relationship with Zhou Sheng?" Lin Jiufeng asked softly.

Whoosh!

The White Fox was startled by Lin Jiufeng. Every hair on her body stood on end, her spine tensed, and panic filled her eyes. With a low growl, she clutched Zhou Sheng's biography in her paws, transformed into a streak of white light, and fled at top speed.

Lin Jiufeng shook his head. Could she really escape from him?

With a grasp of his great hand, energy gathered in his palm and directly sucked the fleeing White Fox back.

The White Fox of the Fifth Forbidden Zone had no power to resist before Lin Jiufeng. He seized her by the scruff of the neck as she struggled fiercely, her claws trying to scratch him. Yet Lin Jiufeng kept her at precisely the right distance, leaving her unable to touch him at all.

"Stop struggling. Tell me, why did you come to the Scripture Pavilion to look for Zhou Sheng's biography?" Lin Jiufeng asked again.

But the White Fox would not listen. Knowing she could not scratch Lin Jiufeng, her eyes reddened. White immortal radiance suddenly erupted from within her body, dazzlingly bright. With a bang, she actually broke free of Lin Jiufeng's control, fell to the ground, then sprang away.

Lin Jiufeng stared in surprise. "The Feather Ascension Scripture!"

Naturally, he recognized that white immortal radiance. It was the Feather Ascension Scripture he had comprehended.

How did the White Fox know the Feather Ascension Scripture?

Ever since the Feather Transformation Sect lost the Feather Ascension Scripture, only Zhou Sheng, Lin Jiufeng, Bai Yunfei, and the three little ones had learned it over all these years.

Yet a White Fox of unknown origin knew the Feather Ascension Scripture?

Watching the White Fox race through the mountain forest, Lin Jiufeng said, "It seems your connection with my Feather Transformation Sect runs deep."

The next moment, Lin Jiufeng's figure turned into a wisp of white smoke and silently vanished from the Scripture Pavilion.

Within the Feather Transformation Sect, the White Fox ran with all her might, truly like a wisp of white smoke speeding through the mountain woods.

She was terrified of Lin Jiufeng and unwilling to stop.

Yet even so, she kept Zhou Sheng's biography clenched in her jaws and refused to let go.

After running for a while, the White Fox felt she was far enough from the Scripture Pavilion. Only then did she slow to a stop, set down Zhou Sheng's biography, and gasp for breath.

"What is your relationship with Zhou Sheng?" Lin Jiufeng's gentle voice rang out behind the White Fox. She jolted in fright, swiftly picked up Zhou Sheng's biography, and fled once more.

Matching the White Fox's pace, Lin Jiufeng followed behind her and asked, "You cannot escape. I mean you no harm. Why not stop and explain everything to me?"

The White Fox turned her head and saw Lin Jiufeng following at an unhurried pace, smiling at her. Frightened, she used every ounce of her ability and accelerated.

But no matter how much she sped up, Lin Jiufeng remained right behind her.

After running for some time, the White Fox was drenched in sweat, even her fur soaked through, yet she still could not shake Lin Jiufeng. Finally, she simply stopped running. Standing in place, she glared fiercely at Lin Jiufeng, bared her fangs, and let demon aura billow around her.

Lin Jiufeng was not frightened. Instead, he pointed at Zhou Sheng's biography and said, "This man was my senior brother, once an outstanding genius of the Feather Transformation Sect. You entered the Scripture Pavilion without stealing or taking any of those cultivation manuals, specifically seeking his biography. What is your relationship with Zhou Sheng?"

Upon hearing Lin Jiufeng's words, the White Fox's snarling expression softened somewhat. Her bright eyes fixed on Lin Jiufeng as though she were weighing something.

Lin Jiufeng crouched down with a gentle smile. "Zhou Sheng's life is not recorded in much detail in that book. If you wish to know more, I can tell you—but first, you must tell me your relationship with Zhou Sheng."

After hesitating for a moment, the White Fox said, "I am his daughter."

Her voice was alluring, like a spring breeze in the third month brushing across one's face, making him feel as though he were bathing in the spring wind, joy rising in his heart.

But what shocked Lin Jiufeng was her answer.

Zhou Sheng's daughter?

Lin Jiufeng stared at the White Fox in astonishment. He suddenly recalled that Zhou Sheng had married a woman of the Demon Race back then, which was why he had enraged the Supreme Dao Sect.

The Supreme Dao Sect styled itself as the leader of the righteous path, claiming it had to uphold justice in the Cultivation World. A union between human and demon was intolerable to heaven's law. They forced the Feather Transformation Sect to hand over Zhou Sheng, setting off the chain of events that followed.

But that had happened over a hundred years ago. At the time, Lin Jiufeng had not yet entered the Feather Transformation Sect.

Zhou Sheng had married back then, only to be driven to death not long afterward. Could his daughter still be this young now?

Lin Jiufeng looked at the White Fox and recalled the aura of the Feather Ascension Scripture that had erupted from her body in the Scripture Pavilion. He already believed more than half of it.

"Senior Brother Zhou Sheng still has a daughter alive? Why have I never heard of this?" Lin Jiufeng asked.

The White Fox grew somewhat calmer. She paced back and forth, then said in a low voice, "After Father died, Mother discovered that she was pregnant with me. That was why no one knew of me. To evade the Supreme Dao Sect's pursuit, Mother never revealed my existence. She carried me for ten years before giving birth to me."

Lin Jiufeng stared at the White Fox in surprise. She had carried her for ten years before giving birth?

That was far more impressive than Nezha.

Perhaps encouraged by Lin Jiufeng's gentle attitude, the White Fox continued, "When Mother was carrying me, she was injured by people from the Supreme Dao Sect. It left me with congenital deficiencies and an insufficient origin. To cover Mother's escape, Father lured away the Supreme Dao Sect's experts alone. Mother found a place to heal, and only then discovered that she was pregnant with me."

"Mother's injuries could have been healed at the time, but to protect me and leave Father a bloodline, she disregarded her own wounds and transferred all her vital essence to me, ensuring I could be nurtured. Day after day for ten years, she exhausted her life's blood. After I was born, Mother was only with me for several months. She told me these things, then used the last of her strength to seal me away and use the spiritual veins of heaven and earth to repair my congenital deficiencies."

"That restoration lasted more than a hundred years."

"Not long ago, I was finally freed and entered the Cultivation World. I encountered many people. Seeing how fine my fur was, they wanted to skin me and make clothes from it. I narrowly escaped death several times. I had planned to return to the Million Mountains, but I accidentally heard news of the Feather Transformation Sect. I remembered clearly that Mother said it was Father's sect, so I came to take a look."

"I entered the Scripture Pavilion only because I wanted to find a biography of Father and learn about his life. I had no other ill intent."

The White Fox gazed at Lin Jiufeng and spoke softly.