Nine-Tailed Fox

The Demon Realm.

In the boundless Gobi Desert, Tang Yuan, a snake half a zhang long, greedily absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and refined it into his Demon Core.

Only when the red moon began to sink did the demon snake Tang Yuan reluctantly swallow a Human Transformation Pill and take human form. He took clothes from Mystic Spoon and put them on, then swallowed a white Lesser Spirit Augmentation Pill.

Only then did he step onto a bamboo-leaf boat and fly east like the wind and lightning.

He had taken the Human Transformation Pill because, as a snake demon, Tang Yuan had yet to master the Technique for transforming into human form.

One Human Transformation Pill would at least ensure that he would not accidentally revert to his true form for seventy-two shichen.

As for the Lesser Spirit Augmentation Pill, it was naturally meant to temporarily increase his cultivation.

According to the miscellaneous accounts he had read, the cultivation he was currently displaying should be at the Qi Refinement Third Layer in the Demon Realm.

Both Monkey Master's and Duan Zhengfeng's travel journals had mentioned that Loulan City in the Kuagu Desert was the city where human and Demon Race cultivators lived together in the greatest harmony under heaven.

Although Core Formation Demon Beasts resided in Loulan City year-round, human cultivators still made up ninety percent of its population. To avoid unnecessary trouble and reduce his chances of being cheated, it was safer to take human form.

... After flying for a little over half a shichen, he saw that dawn was just breaking.

A magnificent, immense city rose from the barren Gobi Desert in the distance.

Tang Yuan put away his bamboo-leaf boat and hurried over on foot.

When he drew close to Loulan City, he saw that the bricks and stones of its walls fit tightly together and bore the weathered marks of time.

Spiritual light seemed to flicker above the city, reflecting the morning sun and making the immense city look even more impregnable.

Dressed in black, Tang Yuan wore a bamboo rain hat and kept his chin slightly lowered as he walked toward the city gate.

"The early bird really does get the worm. Senior, you smell wonderful.

Might I ask whether you're wearing a scented sachet, or is that your natural fragrance?" A young woman in yellow stepped forward and blocked his path.

What was all this about?

"And you are?" Tang Yuan asked, frowning slightly.

"I am Huangmen Changlai Huangmensheng, clad in yellow helmet and armor, with yellow eagle plumes..." The young woman in yellow took out a single-sided drum with several copper coins tied to its rim and immediately began to sing and dance.

Her singing was lively and light, and her dancing carefree and energetic.

It really was pleasing to watch and listen to. Tang Yuan found himself involuntarily keeping time in his head.

When the young woman in yellow finished her song, Tang Yuan nearly applauded.

"The song and dance were free.

Is this your first time in Loulan City, Senior?

For just one Spirit Crystal a day, I can show you around the city," the young woman in yellow said with a smile.

"Senior, don't fall for this demon woman's trick. Guides in Loulan City charge one Spirit Crystal for two days.

Hmph, don't be fooled by her youthful looks, Senior. A great human cultivator enlightened her, and only then did she transform from a demon into a human.

She was originally a weasel." A bearded male human cultivator walked over and cupped his hands in greeting. "Senior, I'll be your guide for just one Spirit Crystal for three days."

In his previous life, Tang Yuan had been an overworked corporate beast of burden on Blue Star, and he hated people who worked themselves to death competing with others.

"Hmm, if you can sing and dance for me like she did, I might consider hiring you." The corners of Tang Yuan's mouth tilted upward.

"I... I...

I'll try..." The bearded cultivator hesitated, then began slowly shaking his body.

But before he could open his mouth to sing, a group of male cultivators shouting "Eyesore!" had already knocked him to the ground with fists and feet.

"Lead the way," Tang Yuan said with a soft huff.

The young woman in yellow clutched her stomach and giggled for a while, then promptly led Tang Yuan toward the city gate.

He had chosen the young woman in yellow as his guide for three reasons: first, her song and dance really had been good; second, as a demon snake, he naturally felt some affinity for her; and third, he had some questions he wanted to ask her...

"Senior, my real name is Huang You'er. My human master gave it to me.

Don't listen to that male cultivator's nonsense. I'm not a weasel.

Before I took human form, I was actually a mongoose who loved eating venomous snakes above all else.

I've eaten cobras, bamboo vipers, horned vipers, many-banded kraits, and blue-banded sea kraits.

But what I most want to taste is a Nine-Faced Snake. They're just too rare. I spent over two hundred years looking and couldn't find a single one." The young woman in yellow skipped along ahead.

Tang Yuan stopped in his tracks, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Oh, if I find a Nine-Faced Snake someday, I'll be sure to let you have a taste."...

After spending more than two shichen looking around Loulan City and asking about prices and local customs, Tang Yuan was puzzled. According to Monkey Master's travel journal, Loulan City was the city where human and Demon Race cultivators lived together in the greatest harmony under heaven.

Yet as far as he could see, the thousands upon thousands of cultivators in Loulan City were all human. There were hardly any Demon Race cultivators, or at least hardly any displaying their true beast forms.

Demon Beasts that had gained intelligence, even those capable of human speech, such as two-headed snakes, red-faced wolves, and three-tailed flood dragons, were either shut in iron cages awaiting sale or had their hearts and lungs ripped out as they were slaughtered on the spot and made into dishes.

Huang You'er, however, acted as though it were perfectly ordinary and showed no surprise.

"Huang You'er, you're a member of the Demon Race too. Why don't you feel the slightest pity for your own kind waiting to be sold and slaughtered?" Tang Yuan asked with a frown.

"Senior Tang, you must cultivate on some human immortal mountain and have some misunderstanding about the distinction between humans and demons in the cultivation world." Huang You'er smiled.

"Not all members of the Demon Race are the same.

The birds and beasts of the world, those that swim beneath the waters and those that soar on feathered wings, gain intelligence, form Demon Cores, and grow hyoid bones through their bloodlines, by absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi over long lives, by encountering immortal fortunes, by consuming spiritual materials and earthly treasures, by eating miraculous pills and medicines, or by being enlightened by a great cultivator. At that point, they can all be called Demon Beasts.

A Demon Beast's fate is to become food for its own kind, or a human cultivator's pet, mount, or ingredient, or to be refined into pills and Law Treasures by human cultivators.

The best outcome is to live for a thousand years and survive a heavenly tribulation, only then escaping its beastly body.

Only Demon Beasts that take human form and devote themselves to cultivating the human race's Great Dao are accepted by human cultivators and called the Demon Human Race or Spirit Race.

So although I come from Demon Beasts, eating and refining other Demon Beasts is only natural.

To me, Demon Beasts that haven't taken human form are like the chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cattle, and sheep raised by mortals.

How many mortals feel pity when they see chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cattle, and sheep slaughtered?"

Tang Yuan fell silent for a few breaths, unable to argue. He thought to himself, Human cultivators even eat Human Pills for the sake of cultivation. Isn't it perfectly normal for Demon Beasts to eat Demon Beasts?...

With Huang You'er guiding him, Tang Yuan spent one Spirit Stone to rent a room at an inn for a whole year: one Spirit Crystal for a month, one Spirit Stone for a year.

In the inn room, Tang Yuan took twenty-one Red Spirit Eels from Monkey Master's beast-hide Storage Bag. Tang Yuan had asked his neighbor on Ten Thousand Snakes Island, Old Man Kang, to buy these eels from his fellow fishermen at two Spirit Sand apiece.

Fortunately, Monkey Master's beast-hide Storage Bag could hold living animals with Spiritual Qi. Otherwise, Tang Yuan could only have brought dead fish from the Human Realm.

Tang Yuan had also tested it, however, and found that Monkey Master's beast-hide Storage Bag could only hold the lowest-grade aquatic animals with Spiritual Qi, such as fish, shrimp, and crabs. Even ordinary mortal dogs, mice, and butterflies could not be placed inside alive.

Carrying a water bag containing the Red Spirit Eels, Tang Yuan followed Huang You'er to Loulan City's cultivator market.

The shops lining the streets were like jade palaces and jeweled towers, countless grades above the Xuan Dou Cultivator Market on Xuandou Island in the Human Realm.

Without Tang Yuan needing to say a word, the clever Huang You'er led him to the seafood market.

After a battle of tongues between Huang You'er and a fishmonger, the fishmonger finally agreed to buy Tang Yuan's Red Spirit Eels for nine Spirit Crystals apiece.

Loulan City stood in the vast Kuagu Desert, hundreds of thousands of li from the sea.

No matter how skilled a cultivator was at keeping them fresh, by the time living Red Spirit Eels were brought from the sea to Loulan City, they would already be on their last breaths, belly-up.

"Fellow Daoist, if you can supply more than two hundred Red Spirit Eels at once, all just as fresh and lively as these, I'm willing to buy them for two Spirit Stones apiece.

I can put it in writing first, guaranteeing that I'll buy them." The fishmonger cupped his hands in greeting.

"Why would the price be higher for a large quantity?" Tang Yuan returned the gesture.

"To be honest, I can get about fifty Red Spirit Eels a day, but they're nowhere near as fresh and lively as these twenty-one of yours.

The Red Spirit Eels I get have to be sold the same day, or they can only be dried or pickled.

Recently, several cultivation Lineages in the city have mentioned that they're willing to pay four Spirit Stones apiece to buy hundreds of live Red Spirit Eels at once and hold eel banquets to celebrate events in their Lineages.

But I simply can't gather hundreds of live Red Spirit Eels all at once, so I'm asking for your help, Fellow Daoist." The fishmonger looked at him expectantly.

"That can be discussed. I'll see if I can get them for you by this day next month.

But I can't promise." Tang Yuan smiled.

Just as the delighted fishmonger was about to pay, Huang You'er tugged pitifully at Tang Yuan's arm. "Senior Tang, could you leave one Red Spirit Eel for me today? I haven't had one this fresh in decades.

I'll buy it from you. You can deduct it from my future pay."

"One Spirit Stone. I'll put it on your tab for now," Tang Yuan said without a change in expression.

Huang You'er's lips moved. She nodded and reached for a fish.

After accepting eighteen Spirit Stones from the fishmonger, Tang Yuan tilted the corners of his mouth upward. "Take me to a shop that sells Spiritual Qi and pills."

Huang You'er's eyes lit up, and she happily pulled Tang Yuan toward the center of the market.

The corner of Tang Yuan's mouth twitched. Does that little demon Huang You'er think I'm easy to talk to and plan to take me to a shady shop?...

After walking for less than the time it took two incense sticks to burn, Tang Yuan and Huang You'er arrived in front of a shop: the Luo Household Pill Shop.

Looking at the plaques of honor hanging outside, Tang Yuan laughed inwardly at his own narrow-mindedness. The Luo Household was the largest cultivation Lineage in Loulan City and had a Core Formation Cultivator among its members.

The shop had been renowned for nearly a thousand years for its fine goods, low prices, and fair treatment of young and old alike.

"Senior Sister, you must be hungry.

Here's a fish. Have a taste." Huang You'er held out the Red Spirit Eel with both hands to a Demon Beast in an iron cage inside the shop.

The Demon Beast confined in the shop's enormous cage was a Nine-Tailed Fox, its form graceful and its nine tails swaying elegantly...