Zhou Yi and Hu Jiuying had been gone for quite some time.
A dozen or so figures landed nearby and prowled around. Finding nothing left behind after their investigation, they soon scattered.
After they left, wave after wave of figures arrived. Acquaintances nodded to one another, then silently sat down cross-legged to seek insight.
The Fox Immortal of Green Mound was a legendary existence. Anyone who could fight her without losing had to be on the same level.
The scattered shock waves of their battle had plowed through the nearby hills, leaving a furrow stretching more than ten miles across the ground.
Cultivators liked watching magical battles to study spells and divine abilities, but only those fought by others of their own rank.
When immortals fought, they hid as far away as possible, lest they accidentally be reduced to ash, with nowhere even to plead their case.
Now that the Fox Immortal and the true immortal had left, they hurried over while the traces of magic remained distinct, hoping to catch a little immortal aura.
Zhou Yi returned to his room at the inn and swept it with his magical power, finding no unfamiliar presence.
Hu Jiuying stood prettily on the windowsill, as though the room were a dragon's pool or a tiger's den.
"Come in. I'm not interested in a thousand-year-old maiden."
Zhou Yi brushed his hand over the teapot. A flash of fire flickered, and the tea boiled in an instant.
Hu Jiuying muttered something under her breath and obediently settled beside him. She now held Zhou Yi in the utmost awe.
The Fox Immortal was the object of faith for Green Mound's Spirit Fox Clan. No matter how troublesome a problem was, once the Fox Immortal acted, it would vanish like smoke and clouds.
This was the first time Hu Jiuying had seen a human fight the Fox Immortal without losing.
After three cups of hot tea, Zhou Yi's emotions settled.
Drinking tea could calm the heart and quiet the spirit.
His unexpected encounter with Green Mound's Fox Immortal had been with only an avatar, yet her essential nature still far surpassed the first rank.
Zhou Yi had met more than one first-rank Spirit Refining expert. He had personally slain the Azure Wave Dragon King and the Red-Clad Saintess, and witnessed many magical battles in their memories. He knew that those in the Spirit Refining realm still wielded their own magical power.
With every gesture, Green Mound's Fox Immortal held the world's primal energy in her grasp, suppressing everything beneath the majestic might of heaven and earth.
Spells, magical treasures, exquisite swordsmanship-within the range of a "nuclear strike," none of them made any difference.
Zhou Yi's ten thousand years of magical power could be called a rarity unmatched in the world, yet he had failed to gain the upper hand in their exchange.
Both had merely been testing the other, without striking to kill. The Fox Immortal had not used the Fox Clan's secret arts, and Zhou Yi had not employed his Heavenly Gang Daoist arts either.
Wind-Calling and Rain-Summoning was far more than a technique for making rain fall and wind blow!
Clearly, the Fox Immortal was unwilling to make a mortal enemy of Zhou Yi over a mere Hu Yue. Her parting advice even carried a hint of interest in befriending him.
"Tell me, then. Why did you come to harm me tonight?"
"Esteemed immortal, this junior never intended to harm you. I merely sensed the presence of a fellow clanswoman... I never imagined she was an immortal's spirit pet. Forgive my intrusion."
With Hu Jiuying barely able to protect herself, enslaving a member of the Fox Clan had become keeping an immortal's spirit pet.
Zhou Yi waved a hand and released Feng Ling'er. "She isn't my spirit pet. She has spirit fox blood and cultivates the Heavenly Fox Secret Canon, so she does have considerable ties to Green Mound."
Feng Ling'er could not yet assume human form. She cupped her paws in greeting. "Greetings, sir. Greetings, Senior Jiuying."
A spiritual gleam flashed through Hu Jiuying's eyes, and she clicked her tongue in wonder.
"Half human and half fox-your aptitude ought to be poor, yet your soul is already as strong as a Yin Spirit! So young, and already on a path straight toward the Seven-Tail Realm. Even in Green Mound, that is rare."
"Would you be willing to become my disciple and cultivate in the Green Mound Blessed Land?"
Hu Jiuying's discernment was leagues beyond Hu Yue's. One glance was enough for her to see through Feng Ling'er's origins.
Feng Ling'er glanced at the expressionless Zhou Yi, then bowed three times to Hu Jiuying. "Greetings, Master. I am willing to go to Green Mound to cultivate."
"Heeheehee, rest assured, my good disciple. Your master holds a lofty position in Green Mound. Once you arrive, no fox will dare bully you."
As Hu Jiuying spoke, she kept stealing glances at Zhou Yi. Clearly, those words were meant for him.
A thousand-year-old fox, though she had never left Green Mound, had spent long years pondering people's hearts. Even a single eyelash plucked from her would be hollow with cunning. Naturally, she excelled at reading expressions.
Feng Ling'er hesitated briefly, then said to Zhou Yi, "Sir, before I leave, I'd like to see Father..."
"Hmm?"
Zhou Yi had never concealed Feng Ling'er's background from her. He had always wanted nothing to do with excuses such as "I hid it for your own good" or "You're too young; it would be bad for you."
Everyone had the right to know their own fate. Whether they could bear it or not was never something others should decide for them.
"Back then, Father was actually very good to me. Every time he came home, he would hold me for a long time. Once I leave, who knows how many years it will be? Perhaps never again..."
Feng Ling'er sobbed softly. The higher her cultivation rose, the clearer certain painful memories became. Even if she wanted to forget, she could not.
Cultivators were hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than ordinary people, and the pain they endured was hundreds or thousands of times greater as well.
"I'll take leave tomorrow morning and bring you to see him."
Zhou Yi gently stroked the white fox's head. Whatever else had happened, he found it comforting that Feng Ling'er could still miss her father.
Her feelings turned his thoughts toward himself, and he suddenly remembered his parents from his previous life. Even with magical power mighty enough to overturn rivers and seas, he would never see them again.
Green Mound lay beyond a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers from Great Qian, yet that distance was still finite. Great Qian and Blue Star were separated by an entire world.
"I'm tired. I'll turn in."
Zhou Yi did not take Feng Ling'er back into his sleeve.
Now that Feng Ling'er was Hu Jiuying's disciple, everything required a sense of proportion and boundaries. Unless she caused harm or committed evil, Zhou Yi would not impose his own will to control or restrain her.
In the stillness of the deep night, whispered fox voices accompanied him into sleep.
The Ministry of Works was bustling that morning.
Before Zhou Yi even entered, he heard Zhang Cheng's hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Everyone, come try some. On my way back from Verdant Peak Mountain last night, I passed Spirit Tea Peak at White Cloud Temple and stripped off a few handfuls."
Zhang Cheng pulled out handful after handful of tender tea leaves. "It can't compare to their specially prepared Drunken Spring Return, but it's still rare spirit tea. If something earth-shattering hadn't happened last night, those old fellows would have been hugging their tea trees even in their sleep."
Zhou Yi could not help laughing. Verdant Peak Mountain was outside North City, while White Cloud Temple lay several hundred miles to the west. Just how conveniently "on the way" did somewhere have to be for him to make that detour?
When the Daoists of White Cloud Temple returned and saw those bare branches, they would surely be stamping their feet and cursing.
The Ministry of Works officials had seen plenty of demons and spiritual treasures, but they could only enjoy scraps around the edges. White Cloud Temple's spirit tea was renowned throughout Great Qian and was said to have miraculous effects in comprehending the Dao and focusing the spirit. Each of them simply grabbed a large bucket to drink from.
"Tsk, tsk, Old Zhang, you even snapped off the branches. Aren't you afraid that old True Person will fly into a rage?"
Clerk Chen, who was rarely seen around on ordinary days, also came smiling to scrounge some tea leaves. He picked a tender twig with a bud from the pile and hurriedly tucked it away with great care.
Tea-tree grafting was no longer a mysterious technique in Great Qian.
To cultivate spiritual plants, cultivators employed grafting between different varieties, mutation, crossbreeding, forced ripening... There was virtually nothing they would not try.
The gulf between cultivators and mortals extended beyond lifespan, strength, and knowledge. It also encompassed the application of all manner of techniques, all in pursuit of better cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao.
Zhou Yi took a large bowl, steeped some tea, and sat to one side, drinking in great gulps.
At a time like this, nobody cared about the art of tea. When spirit tea that a fortune could scarcely buy was freely available, who would fuss over artistry?
Its flavor truly could not compare to Drunken Spring Return, lacking that hazy intoxication, but its rich spiritual energy was enough to increase a Qi Refining cultivator's cultivation.
"Hehehe, I passed the tea mountain in the middle of the night and called out several times. Nobody answered, so I just found it lying there!"
Zhang Cheng grinned smugly. "Those old fellows have no time to bother with me now. They're outside North City, arguing with someone."
Clerk Chen glanced around. Seeing only their own people, he lowered his voice and asked, "What exactly happened last night? My uncle said some supreme experts fought outside?"
In Great Qian, a clerk was a sesame-seed-sized ninth-rank official, barely qualifying for a rank at all. They seemed insignificant and common as dirt, but that also depended on where one served.
A clerk in the Demon-Slaying Bureau Ministry of Works was the very model of low rank and great power. With all the treasures passing through his hands, he need not even skim a layer off the top. The grease that leaked through alone could exceed what a high regional official received.
Clerk Chen had held his position securely for more than a decade not merely because he managed his relationships with superiors and subordinates well. Most importantly, his aunt had married the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Zhang Cheng put on a mysterious air. "Supreme experts, of course! Old Chen knows how to keep his mouth shut. He understands what matters!"
"How high were they?"
Clerk Chen asked the question instinctively.
The others stopped gulping their tea and pricked up their ears. Secrets like this were normally beyond the reach of petty officials.
"About three or four stories high!"
"Pfft-"
Everyone erupted in derision, but asked no further questions. Clearly, those above had issued a gag order.
As Zhang Cheng drank his tea, he looked up at the bronze lamp hanging overhead in the Ministry of Works and could not help adding inwardly:
I was fucking underground!
I saw quite a few readers recommending that Ergeng learn from Pili glove puppetry. I'll go look it up tonight~
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