Chapter 15

After dealing with Ning Tian and Wu Feng's matters, Huo Chen's life entered a relatively peaceful period.

Every day, he taught classes, led training, and gave individual guidance. His days were full and orderly.

Xiao Xiao's control over sound waves improved by the day. Wang Dong's gaze toward him shifted from wariness to complicated curiosity. Ning Tian's eyes gained a little more anticipatory light whenever she cultivated, while the quality of Wu Feng's flames steadily rose.

But he had yet to seek out Cui Yajie.

It was not because he had forgotten, but because he was waiting. The awakening of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox bloodline required her to take that first step herself.

She had to first realize what she "wanted" before that seed could truly take root in the soil. He was waiting for the right moment—for her to come to him on her own.

That opportunity finally came on Wednesday evening of the third week.

That afternoon was the weekly practical combat class. Huo Chen stood at the edge of the training grounds, watching several groups of students spar. His gaze seemed to sweep casually across the field, but every detail entered his eyes.

The students of Class One all had solid foundations. After three weeks of adjustment, many had already found combat rhythms that suited them. Flashes from colliding soul power rose and fell across the field, while cheers and shouts of approval mingled together. The entire training ground was as lively as a pot of boiling water.

But his gaze lingered for a moment in one corner.

Dai Huabin. The White Tiger Duke's legitimate son, and one of the few students in Class One who dared to challenge Huo Chen head-on.

There were always two people by his side: the quiet, taciturn girl Zhu Lu, and a pretty girl with long pink hair.

Cui Yajie.

At that moment, she stood half a step behind Dai Huabin, her posture respectful yet carrying a trace of caution.

Dai Huabin was discussing the exertion techniques of the White Tiger martial soul from the previous match with another boy. He did not glance at her once throughout the conversation, much less invite her to join in.

She simply stood there in silence, her pink hair hanging over her shoulders like a flower planted beneath the shadow of a giant tree. The sunlight could not reach her, and she did not dare move on her own.

Occasionally, someone passed by and greeted her. She would smile and reply, then withdraw her gaze again and let it settle once more on Dai Huabin's back.

Huo Chen's gaze rested on her for several seconds.

Cui Yajie seemed to sense something. She raised her head slightly and happened to meet Huo Chen's eyes.

She froze for a moment. A flash of surprise passed through her amber eyes, and she quickly lowered her head, hiding her gaze among the gravel beneath her feet as though afraid of being called on by the teacher.

Huo Chen did not call out to her. He merely looked away and continued watching the sparring matches.

But he had already made up his mind.

That evening, the setting sun dyed the sandy training grounds a warm orange.

The students dispersed in twos and threes, their laughter and chatter gradually fading down the tree-lined path.

Huo Chen had packed up his lesson plans and was about to leave when he caught sight of a pink figure still standing at the edge of the training grounds.

Cui Yajie stood there alone, her hands clasped before her as the tip of her shoe unconsciously ground into the sand, as though she were waiting for someone.

But her companions, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, had long since vanished from sight.

The sunset stretched her shadow long and thin across the sand, a lonely streak. The wind lifted her pink hair and let it fall again. She simply stood there, as if she did not know where to go next.

After a moment's thought, Huo Chen walked over.

"Cui Yajie."

The pink-haired girl turned around and answered somewhat awkwardly, "Teacher Huo."

Up close, Cui Yajie truly was very beautiful. Her long pink hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, glowing softly beneath the setting sun.

Her features were delicate and alluring, the corners of her eyes slightly upturned. Every shift of her gaze carried an innate charm. It was the natural allure of the Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul, not something she was deliberately displaying.

Standing in the sunset now, there was a hint of unease and nervousness in her amber eyes. She was like a little fox ready to flee at any moment—her tail well hidden, but her ears already pricked up.

"Waiting for someone?" Huo Chen asked casually.

"Ah... no." Cui Yajie smiled awkwardly. "Dai Huabin and the others left first. I'll stay by myself for a while."

When she said, "They left first," her tone was as calm as if she were commenting on the pleasant weather. But Huo Chen noticed her lowered eyelashes tremble slightly.

What that sentence really meant was that they had left without calling her, and she had simply been left behind.

Huo Chen nodded without pressing further. He only said, "Perfect. There are some things I'd like to talk to you about. Do you have time?"

Cui Yajie hesitated briefly, but ultimately nodded.

The two of them walked slowly along the tree-lined path beside the training grounds.

The sunset streamed through gaps in the leaves, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow. Orange flecks fell across her pink hair like scattered gold.

The air carried the scent of grass and earth. Cui Yajie walked half a step beside Huo Chen, her hands unconsciously twisting together. Her pace was much slower than usual, and she was clearly somewhat nervous.

"Are you afraid of me?" Huo Chen suddenly asked.

"No, no!" Cui Yajie hurriedly shook her head, then hesitated again.

"It's just that Teacher Zhou rarely spoke to students alone before. Usually, he only called us over when there was a problem, scolded us, and then sent us away. He thought even one extra moment was a waste of time. So I'm a little unaccustomed to a teacher speaking to me so calmly."

"I'm not Teacher Zhou." Huo Chen smiled. "I didn't ask to speak with you because you made a mistake. I wanted to understand your situation.

"You've been at Shrek for nearly a year, but I looked through your file. The section concerning your cultivation direction was practically blank. No one ever wrote any development recommendations for you, nor had anyone evaluated your martial soul's potential."

Cui Yajie's steps paused slightly, as though she had not expected Huo Chen to say something like that.

At Shrek, teachers usually only looked at results: soul power level, practical combat performance, and task completion. No one had ever asked her, "What do you think?"

He paused, then asked, "What level is your soul power at now?"

"Level twenty-five, two rings," Cui Yajie answered, her voice carrying a trace of uncertainty.

"Agility-attack type, Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul. Level twenty-five puts you slightly above average in the class—not bad—but your actual combat record is average. Your solo win rate is below fifty percent. You perform better in team battles, where you can coordinate with teammates to provide control and interference."

"Level twenty-five really isn't bad," Huo Chen said. "But from what I've seen of your usual performance, it seems you haven't fully brought out the advantages of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Cui Yajie's steps faltered slightly before returning to normal. Her voice dropped a little. "The Nine-Tailed Fox was never a martial soul known for combat. Its strengths are charm and control, but those aren't very useful in a direct fight.

As long as the opponent has even a slightly stronger will, charm won't have much effect, and illusions are easy to see through. So I usually take a support role, interfering with opponents and creating opportunities for my teammates."

"Did you come to that conclusion yourself, or did someone tell you that?"

Cui Yajie fell silent for a moment before quietly saying, "Dai Huabin said it. He said the Nine-Tailed Fox could only play support. In a frontal battle, you still had to rely on assault-type soul masters.

He had a point. I tried fighting people head-on a few times, but I couldn't keep up in either speed or strength. I lost badly.

So I listened to him. I cooperated however he told me to. At least that way, I wouldn't hold anyone back."

Huo Chen stopped walking and turned to look at her.

"What do you think? Do you think the Nine-Tailed Fox can only play support?"

Cui Yajie opened her mouth, but no words came out.

She had known since childhood that her martial soul was the Nine-Tailed Fox, a type of beast martial soul, but one that did not excel in strength or speed.

Her family had said that charm and illusions were the foundation of the Nine-Tailed Fox. That was how it had been for generations, and there was nothing to resent.

She had always believed that too. In the beginning, she had even been glad to be a support-type soul master. She did not have to charge at the front or take the hardest hits. It was much safer.

But she could not say when that "gladness" had begun to change.

She only knew that sometimes, late at night, when she stood alone before the mirror in her dormitory room and moonlight slanted in through the window, she would stare into those amber eyes in the mirror and suddenly feel as though something deep within them was watching her.

It was not her martial soul, nor was it soul power. It was a deeper, more ancient force, locked away in the deepest part of her bloodline. Sometimes it would awaken for a brief moment, stir twice within her chest, then sink back into a heavy slumber. She did not know what it was, nor did she know whom to ask.

"I don't know," she finally answered honestly, her voice tinged with confusion.

"I've always felt that the Nine-Tailed Fox should be more than this, but I don't know how to uncover its potential.

"I tried. I secretly practiced variations of illusions and concentrated releases of spiritual attacks, but the results were poor.

"So maybe Dai Huabin is right. Maybe the Nine-Tailed Fox only has that much to offer. Maybe I'm overthinking it."

As she said that last sentence, the corners of her lips even tugged into a smile, as if she were trying to smooth things over for herself. But the smile never reached her eyes.

Huo Chen looked at her, his gaze calm yet certain. "You're right. The Nine-Tailed Fox truly is more than that."

Cui Yajie abruptly raised her head, surprise flashing through her eyes.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul within you possesses more than just charm and illusions."

Huo Chen spoke slowly. "It carries the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. That power you sometimes feel waking within you is that bloodline reminding you that you are more than this."

"The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox?" Cui Yajie repeated the name, her voice trembling slightly. "What is that?"

"The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox is an ancient divine beast. At its peak, it could contend with true dragons and phoenixes.

"Its power does not lie in brute strength, but in its command over the laws of heaven and earth.

"Illusions, charm, spiritual control—those are merely the surface of its abilities.

"A true Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox could move mountains and rivers with one tail, and throw yin and yang into chaos with nine."

Cui Yajie was left dumbstruck.

She stood in the setting sun, her long pink hair lifting gently in the wind. Her amber eyes were wide open, reflecting the last glimmer of sunset like two lamps being lit.

She had never imagined that her martial soul had such an extraordinary origin.

"But I've never felt that kind of power."

She spoke urgently. "If I really had such a powerful bloodline, I should have sensed it long ago."

"Because your bloodline has not awakened yet," Huo Chen said.

"The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox bloodline within you is dormant, wrapped in a seal. That seal was not placed on you by someone else. Your ancestors set it to protect you. The bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox is too overbearing; if it awakened too early, your body simply could not endure it. You said just now that you occasionally feel something moving inside you. That is it telling you that it is about to awaken."

Cui Yajie's eyes lit up, but they soon trembled again. "Then... what is the trigger? What do I need to do to awaken it?"

Huo Chen did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Cui Yajie, do you follow Dai Huabin because you want to, or because you have no other choice?"

The question came too suddenly, and Cui Yajie froze.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say, "It was my own choice," but the words lodged in her throat and would not come out.

The wind passed through the treetops, blowing her pink hair across half her face. She did not brush it aside. She simply stood there, her eyelashes trembling several times.

She had not followed Dai Huabin because she particularly wanted to follow him. It was because, when she had first enrolled, Dai Huabin had extended a hand to her and said, "Follow me. No one will bully you."

At the time, she had just arrived at Shrek. She knew no one, and her strength was nothing exceptional. When someone was willing to take her in, she clung to that lifeline.

But after clinging to that lifeline for nearly a year, she had gradually realized that Dai Huabin did not need her as a "companion."

What he needed was merely a tool that could run errands for him, gather information, and be pushed out when necessary.

He had never asked whether she had difficulties in cultivation, never cared how her martial soul should develop, and never regarded her as an equal teammate.

In her eyes, she was no different from Zhu Lu—just a tool. The only difference was that Zhu Lu was a sharper tool, while she was a prettier one.

"I..." Cui Yajie's voice was somewhat hoarse. "I just don't know where else I can go."

The moment the words left her mouth, her nose suddenly stung.

She had always thought she was used to being treated as a tool, used to standing half a step behind others.

But when she said those words aloud, she realized that she had cared all along.

Every time Dai Huabin walked ahead without looking back while she followed behind, she had cared.

Every time a practical battle ended and no one asked her, "How was that move you used just now?" she had cared.

It was not that she did not care. She had simply piled those concerns up layer by layer, until eventually, even she thought she no longer cared.

Huo Chen looked at her with a trace of gentleness in his eyes, quietly waiting for her breathing to steady.

"What if I said I could help you?"

Cui Yajie abruptly raised her head, disbelief filling her eyes. She even took half a step forward. "You're willing to help me?"

"You are my student. Helping you is only natural," Huo Chen said. "But I have one condition."

"What condition?"

"From now on, you must learn to make choices for yourself." Huo Chen looked at her and spoke seriously, each word slow and steady.

"It is not about doing whatever others tell you to do. It is not about believing Dai Huabin when he says, 'A Nine-Tailed Fox can only play support.' And it is not about staying where you are just because 'there are no other choices.'

"It is about you—what you want to do, what kind of person you want to become. Once you learn that, I will help you awaken the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox."

Cui Yajie stared at him blankly. After a long while, she finally took a deep breath.

"I... I'll try."

"Not try," Huo Chen corrected. "Do. Trying means you can back out. Doing does not. Once you choose, you have to keep walking."

Cui Yajie took another breath, lowered the hands that had been twisting the corner of her clothes, and clenched them into fists at her sides. "Mm. I'll do it."

Huo Chen nodded in satisfaction, then took a tiny jade vial from his robes.

The vial was entirely lustrous white and no larger than a thumb. Its mouth was sealed with a layer of pale golden wax, upon which an exceedingly fine rune could vaguely be seen.

Even through the wall of the vial, Cui Yajie could sense a warm aura radiating from it. The Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul within her began to stir uncontrollably, and the phantom of a tail flashed behind her.

"This is...?" Her voice trembled.

"Something left to me by an old friend." Huo Chen looked at the jade vial, a trace of nostalgia flickering in his eyes.

"Many, many years ago, I once met a true Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.

"She was an existence at the level of a God King, her nine tails reaching the heavens. In her fury, she could burn an entire river of stars.

"I did her a small favor, and when we parted, she gave me a drop of her essence blood. She said that if I encountered a destined descendant in the future, I could use it to awaken their bloodline."

He raised his head. "I think you are that destined person."

Cui Yajie's breathing quickened. The Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul within her stirred wildly, as though it had sensed an aura from the same source.

But Huo Chen put the jade vial back into his robes. "But now is not the time.

"Your body is still too weak to withstand the power of a God King's essence blood.

"Once your soul power improves further and your foundation becomes more solid, I will help you complete this awakening.

"Before that, do one thing first: leave Dai Huabin's team.

"You do not need to fall out with him. Starting tomorrow, simply tell him that you want to cultivate on your own, form your own team, and decide for yourself how to fight.

"If he asks why, tell him you want to try a different path."

Cui Yajie nodded forcefully, her eyes slightly red. "I understand. I'll tell him tomorrow."

Huo Chen smiled. "Once you awaken the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, you will realize that you were never some useless talent fit only for support. You are a fox lying dormant, merely waiting for the day you awaken."

He turned and waved a hand. "Go back. Cultivate well, and don't disappoint me."

Cui Yajie stood where she was, watching him disappear at the end of the plane tree-lined path. The evening breeze blew in from Sea God Lake, carrying the scent of moisture and fresh grass.

She lowered her head to look at her slender, fair hands, which had always been regarded as "support" hands, then clenched them tightly into fists.

From this day onward, she would no longer be anyone's tool.

She would become a true Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.