Chapter 42: Shizun, listen to your disciple’s explanation… Part 1

When dawn broke on the third day, Lin Chuyun went to look for the White Fox again.

This time, just as he entered the stone cave, the White Fox looked over. Seeing it was the Little Black Cat, a tail whipped over with startling dexterity, curling around the Little Black Cat and placing him right in front of its body.

Feeling the soft fox tail beneath his paw pads, Lin Chuyun couldn’t help but flex his claws gently, kneading with great care. Unfortunately, no matter how lightly he tried to act, the White Fox still noticed.

The White Fox glanced at the Little Black Cat but wasn’t angry. Instead, it flicked a tail right in front of the Little Black Cat’s face. Given the Little Black Cat’s size, even a single tail was more than enough for him to roll around on.

The Little Black Cat hesitated for a moment, then silently pushed the fox tail away, refusing. He was a dignified Immortal Lord! As an Immortal Lord, how could he roll around on someone else’s tail like a baby kitten?

Lin Chuyun thought his refusal was righteous and firm, unaware that the ears on his head had already drooped in disappointment, his gaze towards the fox tail filled with regret.

The White Fox couldn’t care less about that. With a gentle curl of its tail, it swept the Little Black Cat into the pile of tails.

Caught off guard by the flood of fox tails, the Little Black Cat let out a startled, soft “meow,” his little paws flailing frantically among the tails. But the tails were all soft fox fur; the moment a cat paw pressed down, it just sank right in, taking the Little Black Cat along with it.

After struggling for a long time, Lin Chuyun realized he was basically just rolling around in the fox tails, with absolutely no effect whatsoever.

And it gave him a strange… inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

Lying amidst the fox tails, Lin Chuyun rummaged back and forth through the original host’s memories a few times but found nothing about this White Fox. The original book never mentioned a White Fox on Spirit Beast Peak either. The only time a Fox Demon was brought up was when Bai Linghan went to the Demon Realm and mentioned that there had once been a very powerful Fox Demon there…

And it wasn’t even certain if that one was a White Fox. For all he knew, it could have been a Black Fox, a Red Fox, a Blue Fox, or a Green Fox.

“…Meow?” the Little Black Cat suddenly cried out softly. “Senior, have you met me before?”

Hearing this, the White Fox turned its head to look at the Little Black Cat in its tails, its own eyes also showing a trace of confusion. It, too, had noticed it was being exceptionally good to this Little Black Cat—not only unusually patient but even proactively cleaning up its messes.

Yesterday, it had planned to go ask Feng Wu about the Little Black Cat’s background, but it just so happened to overhear the Little Black Cat hiding the fact they had met.

In the end, not only did it not question Feng Wu, but it even went to help the Little Black Cat conceal the aura he’d left in the stone passage. Otherwise, when Feng Wu secretly investigated that night, he would have definitely discovered the Little Black Cat had met it.

But in its memory, it truly had never seen this Little Black Cat before.

Thinking of this, the White Fox suddenly leaned closer, gently bumping the top of the Little Black Cat’s head, and asked, “Are you really just a Little Cat Demon?”

Lin Chuyun looked up blankly, not understanding why it was asking this. “Why else would I be?”

“Could it be that you’re actually a Little Fox Demon?” the White Fox asked, its tone full of hope.

Lin Chuyun thought it was looking down on Little Cat Demons. Slightly offended, he bristled and casually batted a paw forward. “What’s wrong with being a Little Cat Demon!”

Fox tails might be soft, but cat tails are cute too!

The baby kitten’s strength was too weak; even landing on a face felt like a playful smack. The White Fox actually didn’t dislike Little Cat Demons; it was just that its Demon Core had been injured before, causing some memory issues. Although it remembered there was a little Demon Beast it was supposed to protect, it couldn’t recall what that little Demon Beast looked like.

It’s just that since it was a White Fox, that little Demon Beast should also be from the Fox Clan… right?

The White Fox collected its thoughts. After finally soothing the bristling Little Cat Demon, its pointed ear tips twitched slightly. It raised its head, looking in a certain direction, its beast pupils holding a hint of hesitation.

Lin Chuyun, who had also been a bit disgruntled, saw the White Fox seemed to have noticed something and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

The White Fox lowered its head, looking at the Little Cat Demon on its tails, and asked, “That Human Cultivator… did he go to forge a Spirit Sword?”

Lin Chuyun’s heart jolted with alarm, but he quickly steadied himself. There was nothing to hide about this, so he gently nodded. “Mm.”

The White Fox, however, felt a sliver of unease in its heart. It had indeed just sensed the aura of a Spirit Sword being born nearby. The aura was cold to the bone, somewhat similar to the aura on the Little Cat Demon, yet not as gentle.

When it had cautiously probed with its Demon Sense just now, it felt as if it had been plunged into an endless Ice Plain, surrounded by a sky full of biting wind and boundless killing intent.

Originally, it had thought the Human Cultivator by the Little Cat Demon’s side just happened to have an Ice Spiritual Root, but judging from the aura within this Spirit Sword, this person was clearly cold-blooded, heartless, and ruthless.

Leaving the Little Cat Demon in the hands of someone like this… it felt a growing sense of unease.

…

Spirit Wind Peak was unusually quiet today. No one was cultivating; instead, they had all gathered near the Artifact Refining Room.

Standing at the very front was the Peak Master of Spirit Wind Peak, Jiang Fengmo. He stared at the still-silent Artifact Refining Room, brows tightly furrowed.

“How much longer?” Jiang Fengmo suddenly asked.

Xu Quanfeng, standing behind him, secretly calculated the time in his mind. “Answering Shizun, it should be… almost time.”

As his words fell, the previously silent Artifact Refining Room indeed shuddered. Jiang Fengmo’s eyes lit up, and he stepped forward, intending to approach the room, but was firmly held back by Xu Quanfeng.

“Shizun, Shizun!” Xu Quanfeng quickly wrapped his arms around his Shizun’s waist, desperately pulling him back. “You can’t go near!”

When a Spirit Sword is born, Artifact Lightning is sure to appear. The lightning can only be withstood by the Spirit Sword and its master together. If anyone else helps, the Spirit Sword’s rank will be affected.

It wasn’t that Jiang Fengmo didn’t know this; he just hadn’t been able to suppress his excitement upon seeing the signs of the Spirit Sword’s emergence.

As time passed, frost quietly began to spread from within the Artifact Refining Room, sealing the entire structure in ice, even covering the surrounding ground with a thick layer of frost.

Finally, just as the frost reached Jiang Fengmo’s feet, the entire Artifact Refining Room exploded with a thunderous boom. Endless wind and frost rapidly spread outward, making the entire peak of Spirit Wind Peak look as if it had been blanketed in a layer of white snow.

“This is…” Jiang Fengmo couldn’t finish his words. The long-awaited Artifact Lightning up in the sky came crashing down with a roar.

A figure stood suspended in the air amidst the wind and frost. Because the swirling snow obscured the view, no one could see the Spirit Sword in his hand. They only vaguely saw his right hand rise, swinging towards the direction of the Artifact Lightning.

The scattered ice and snow gathered together with the cold wind, layering around the Spirit Sword. Finally, the magnified tip of the Spirit Sword clashed fiercely against the Artifact Lightning.

All sound between heaven and earth seemed to freeze for a single breath.

After that breath, the wind and snow erupted violently. The Artifact Lightning seemed to have been cleaved apart, vanishing in an instant.

“…Heaven Rank,” Jiang Fengmo murmured.

The surrounding wind and snow lost their control and began to fall quietly. Disciples, blown into disarray by the cold wind, helped each other to their feet.

Snapping out of his shock, Jiang Fengmo quickly approached the center of the ruined Artifact Refining Room, yet he couldn’t see a single person. All that remained was a Storage Bag lying in the snow.

Xu Quanfeng hesitantly stepped forward, picked up the Storage Bag, and looked inside. He found it was completely full of Spirit Stones. As for Junior Brother Feng himself, he had already vanished to who-knew-where.

…

After enduring the Artifact Lightning, Feng Xixing simply left the Spirit Stones behind and flew straight to Spirit Beast Peak on his sword at top speed.

Although he knew Feng Wu wouldn’t truly harm Lin Chuyun on account of him being a Demon Beast, Feng Xixing always worried whether his Shizun had been eating and sleeping well these past few days, or whether he had been bullied by the other Demon Beasts on Spirit Beast Peak.

However, when he arrived at Spirit Beast Peak, he didn’t see Feng Wu. There was only a White-Clothed Person he had never seen before, standing with his back to him at the entrance.

Feng Xixing became wary. The moment he laid eyes on this person, his intuition screamed danger.

Hearing the sound behind him, the White-Clothed Person slowly turned around.

Feng Xixing frowned slightly, his grip on the Spirit Sword tightening.

The White-Clothed Person’s features were androgynous, his narrow, phoenix-like eyes slanting upwards slightly. His gaze, resting on Feng Xixing, held a hint of appraisal. As his eyes moved, though devoid of obvious emotion, they carried a trace of allure.

Feng Xixing could sense the White-Clothed Person bore him no goodwill, yet also no killing intent. His heart full of suspicion, he took the initiative to step forward two paces and saluted. “May I ask Senior’s honorable name?”

The White-Clothed Person looked at him for a long time before speaking indifferently. “Bai Nanyi.”

Hearing this name, Feng Xixing’s hand gripping the Spirit Sword instinctively tightened for an instant, but it was still noticed by Bai Nanyi. Bai Nanyi raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised. “You know of This Venerable.”