Cultivation starts with picking up attributes
Chapter 78: Ch-78: saved by... Kyuuu~?

Chapter 78: Ch-78: saved by... Kyuuu~?

The Central Battlefield stretched ahead like a nightmare fossilized into reality.

The next morning arrived in a shade of gray, where the sun barely dared peek over the jagged ridges.

Tian Shen awoke first, brushing the thin layer of mist off his robes. The tent’s interior was still warm from the spiritual fire orb, but beyond the barrier, the air was as sharp as glass.

Lan Yueru opened her eyes soon after, already sitting cross-legged.

She offered no greeting, only a glance, before rising to her feet and checking her sword.

"You sleep like a mortal," she said.

"And yet I’m the one up first," Tian Shen replied with a grin.

They broke camp quickly, extinguishing their barrier and moving with quiet coordination.

Word had spread that areas north of the base camp had yielded not just resources—but relics.

More importantly, faint trails of ancient bloodlines had been detected. Naturally, this drew interest.

And danger.

Tian Shen and Lan Yueru chose a northeasterly path leading deeper into a segment of the battlefield known as the Crimson Hollows.

It was a place where fire and fox spirit cultivators had once clashed violently during the War of Five Hells. The terrain was scorched and broken, jagged ridges pitted with molten scars.

They hadn’t traveled long before the pressure in the air shifted.

Tian Shen felt it first, like fur brushing against his spiritual sense.

"People."

He whispered.

"At least four. Fast."

Lan Yueru had her sword half-drawn before he finished speaking.

"Coming straight at us."

From a veil of heat haze and fire-tainted Qi, four figures emerged.

Clad in flowing crimson robes embroidered with shimmering tails, they stepped gracefully onto the path—two men, two women, each possessing an ethereal beauty, their features sharp and their hair a flowing silver that glinted in the ambient light.

Their leader stepped forward, a woman with fox ears peeking through her silver-white hair.

Nine, shimmering tails fluttered behind her like living flames. Her eyes gleamed—amber and slitted, wild yet intelligent.

She smiled. It was not kind.

"Feilun disciples," she said, her voice smooth as silk.

"How fortunate. We rarely get guests in our ancestral grounds."

Tian Shen narrowed his eyes.

"Nine Tails Fox Clan?"

"Indeed," she said with a curtsy, mockery in every motion. "This land remembers our blood. As do we. And trespassers are... not welcome."

He stepped slightly forward, placing himself between her and Lan Yueru.

"We’re not looking for conflict."

Her smile sharpened.

"Conflict found you."

Without warning, one of the male fox cultivators moved.

Faster than Tian Shen could follow, his claws raked across the air, releasing a barrage of flame crescents.

Lan Yueru countered instantly, sword flashing, carving apart two of them.

But the third twisted mid-air and exploded against the rocks behind them, sending a shockwave of heat and smoke.

Tian Shen retaliated, hurling a formation talisman onto the ground.

A shimmering dome of golden light burst outward, forcing the attackers back for a moment.

"You know," the nine-tailed leader said lazily, "I was just going to scare you off. But now I’m curious."

Another flick of her fingers, and an illusion blanketed the battlefield—phantoms of fire kitsune swarming them from all directions. The illusions weren’t real, but the disorientation was potent.

Lan Yueru moved with precision, cleaving through the fakes and targeting the real attackers hidden among them.

Tian Shen activated a wind-enhanced talisman, leaping forward, fists glowing with layered Qi.

He struck one of the male foxes square in the gut, only for the figure to vanish—an afterimage.

A second later, fire claws raked down his back, tearing through his outer robe.

"Tch... they’re fast."

Lan Yueru was faring better, but the sheer unpredictability of the fox clan’s techniques—mixing illusion, charm, and fire—made countering difficult.

A burning whip lashed out and wrapped around her ankle, dragging her down.

Tian Shen tried to reach her, but a wave of red fire erupted in front of him.

The nine-tailed fox woman stepped through the flames, her pupils narrowing.

"I’ve decided," she said.

"You’re interesting. Especially that scent on you. Ancient. Old bloodlines. But faint..."

Her eyes narrowed.

"...almost like it’s sealed."

He growled, trying to force more Qi into his limbs, but she was too fast—she slapped him across the chest with her tails.

Each impact was a burst of fire Qi, sending him skidding into a boulder. Cracks spiderwebbed along its surface.

Lan Yueru shouted, breaking free of her restraints with a Qi burst. Her blade sang through the air as she charged.

She didn’t make it.

A male fox caught her mid-step, slamming a palm into her stomach and releasing a shock of concussive force.

She dropped to her knees, coughing blood.

The foxes circled them now. The fight had been quick, brutal, and wholly one-sided.

The leader knelt in front of Tian Shen, tilting his chin up with one burning finger.

"Now, let’s peel back your secrets—"

"KEEEIINNN!!"

The sound was shrill and furious.

Everyone turned.

A tiny crimson blur burst out of a swirling portal that had cracked open above Tian Shen’s chest—his beast companion space.

Little Mei emerged in full form—a tiny fox with fur like blood-touched rubies, her eyes glowing a deep crimson.

She landed on Tian Shen’s shoulder, snarling. Despite her small size, the force of her presence twisted the air.

The leader’s expression changed instantly.

Her nostrils flared.

"A 3-star... Blood Fox?!!"

The other members of her clan staggered back, their eyes wide.

The leader stood abruptly, her expression unreadable.

"A companion beast? No, not quite... You—" she addressed Little Mei, "—what is your lineage?"

Little Mei growled, but didn’t speak. Her tail fanned out—glowing with a deeper red as if soaked in ancient blood.

The nine-tailed woman exhaled slowly.

"...She’s a Blood Fox, who broke their bloodline limit, maybe of royal lineage. If not higher."

Tian Shen coughed, half-propped up by his elbows.

"Bloodline limit? Royal lineage? What does that mean? Anyways you’re going to stop kicking my ass now, aren’t you?"

Lan Yueru glared at him.

"Really?"

The fox leader didn’t laugh.

But she did lower her hand.

"You’re in luck," she said finally.

"We need to inform this abnormality to the superior."

She turned to her subordinates.

"Withdraw."

The fox cultivators didn’t question it. Within moments, they faded into flame and illusion, vanishing among the rocks.

Little Mei huffed and leapt down to the ground, her tails twitching in irritation. She paced in a tiny circle before settling beside Tian Shen. Gentle licking his wounded hands.

Lan Yueru got to her feet, swaying slightly.

"Well," she said, voice dry.

"That went well."

Tian Shen winced as he stood, brushing dirt off his arms.

"I didn’t expect them to be so strong."

Little Mei glanced at him and made a small hmph noise, clearly proud of herself.

He smiled and rubbed her head.

"You saved us, big lady."

"Kyuuu~."

She leaned into it with a soft purr, eyes closing contentedly.

Lan Yueru folded her arms.

"What was that about royal lineage?"

Tian Shen’s expression turned thoughtful.

"I... don’t know. I tamed her in my hometown."

"You tamed her?"

Yueru looked at him sideways.

"Or did she tame you?"

Little Mei gave a smug flick of her tail.

Tian Shen coughed.

"Semantics."

He looked up toward the jagged cliffs ahead.

"Let’s not linger. If your Blood Fox is recognized by the Nine-Tails, this place may be dangerous for her."

Lan Yueru nodded.

They moved forward again, bruised but alive. Little Mei sat perched on Tian Shen’s shoulder, eyes scanning the path ahead like a queen inspecting her domain.

...

The Crimson Hollows rippled as the Nine-Tailed Fox clan members vanished into their illusions, reforming atop a secluded ridge cloaked in heat shimmer.

Silence hung heavy, broken only by the distant groaning of scorched earth. The leader—Saeri—stood with her arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

"That was no ordinary beast," murmured one of the men, his silver tail twitching uneasily.

"Maybe she’s really of royal lineage."

Said the other woman.

"It’s still not certain. Don’t forget, A Royal Blood Fox hasn’t appeared in centuries."

Another man whispered.

"How did such a creature become a companion to a human boy?"

Saeri didn’t respond. Her amber eyes burned with complex emotion—curiosity, wariness, perhaps a touch of fear.

Without a word, she turned, opening a rift of blazing flame with a sweep of her tails.

The base of the Fox Clan in the Central Battlefield was nestled within a fractured ridge pulsing with residual fire Qi.

As they stepped through, elders and sentries turned to greet them—only to halt as Saeri’s face betrayed rare seriousness.

"We encountered an anomaly," she said.

Inside the command pavilion, the air was heavy with incense and power.

A towering man sat upon a throne of embers—Elder Veyran, one of the oldest pureblood foxes alive, with ten tails that lay coiled like sleeping serpents.

Saeri knelt.

"Report," he intoned.

She didn’t hesitate. "A human cultivator accompanied by a young Blood Fox, suspected of royal lineage—sealed, likely not awakened. Three-star strength at minimum."

The elder’s eyes opened, glowing like twin suns.

"A Royal Blood Fox?" he echoed slowly. "In human hands?"

The flame around the chamber surged violently.

"Find them again. Do not engage. Observe."

Saeri nodded solemnly.

"But do not mistake her youth for harmlessness. If she is what I suspect... war may follow."

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