[AN: Before starting the chapter, I would like to let you know that I will be busy with work from now on, so it may take a while for more chapters to come out. I'm not sure how it will be, but I'll explain in the next chapters later on.]
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The atmosphere in that place was quite gentle. Long Chen still caressed Xiao Xue's face tenderly. He felt the connection with her, a silent bridge of trust and gratitude.
Xiao Xue was an ally. That certainty was as solid as the ground beneath him. Then, as he moved to stand up, a cold breeze reminded him of a crucial detail: he was practically naked.
"Ah," he murmured, his face reddening slightly as he looked down at the tattered cloth barely covering him. Using the remnants of his clothes, he began to patch together something minimally usable.
While tying the scraps of his pants into an improvised loincloth, he smiled amused at everything that had happened. But without him noticing, a single strand of pure silver now nestled among his black hair. His skin, which had already been well cared for and smooth, was even softer to the touch, and he felt a clarity in his eyes that hadn't existed before.
Unconsciously, a subtle and natural aura of charm radiated from him.
"Haha! Now let's collect the rewards!"
With his modest dignity restored, he ran excitedly to secure his spoils. The bodies of the three beasts and their demonic cores were treasures that could greatly boost his cultivation. But soon he realized he was no longer alone.
Thinking carefully, he first presented the three glowing demonic cores to Xiao Xue. "Do you need these?" he asked, offering the spheres of power.
"Kyuun?"
Xiao Xue tilted her giant head, sniffing the cores with disinterest before shaking her head in refusal. All those cores were incredibly weak for her now. They wouldn't give her any significant increase in strength.
"Kyuun! Kyuun!"
She used her snout to point toward the corpse of the Golden Hawk farther away, whose feathers still shone under the faint sunlight.
"Oh! That's useful for you? Alright, I'll get it."
The understanding came instantly to Long Chen. The hawk's flesh, rich in pure blood essence, would be a powerful tonic to strengthen her growing pups' bodies.
"Let's go!" he said with a nod. He stored the cores and the bodies of the Dragon and the Serpent in his spatial ring, dragging the Golden Hawk's corpse into the cave.
Inside the cave, Long Chen showed impressive ingenuity.
He broke off one of the long, sharp wings of the hawk and, using its metallic edge like a knife, began slicing the meat into small, easy-to-eat pieces.
"Kyuun!!" The two pups cried out.
Though still somewhat sleepy, the two lifted their small heads, noses twitching. The scent of high-quality meat instantly awakened them. They hurried clumsily toward the food and began devouring it.
Long Chen smiled and casually rubbed each of their heads, receiving small happy whimpers in return, before turning with a smile to Xiao Xue.
"Xiao Xue, I'm going to enter a cultivation state for a while," he warned. "I feel there's still an unrefined power inside me. Please protect me while I do this." He had already reached Five-Star Bronze Rank and wanted to see if he could cross directly to Silver Rank.
Xiao Xue tilted her head and nodded.
Then, to Long Chen's surprise, she moved with fluid grace and curled around him, her massive warm body forming a protective nest. He was now enveloped by safe warmth and soft fur.
"Thank you, Xiao Xue!" With a genuine smile, Long Chen closed his eyes and began circulating his soul force.
---
The moment he entered a meditative state, the world dissolved. The familiar sensation of being pulled caught him by surprise.
'Not again!' he thought, a mix of alarm and curiosity taking over. He didn't resist, knowing it would be futile.
His consciousness solidified under the same starry sky as before. But this time, there was no fear. He was only alert, his spiritual senses sharpened, scanning the void for the threat of any demonic beast. But for now, there seemed to be no danger.
Yet something else caught his attention.
In the center of the cosmos, floating with divine serenity, was a small white fox. Its nine majestic tails slowly moved behind it like liquid northern lights, and its eyes were not blue, but a molten gold containing the wisdom of the ages. It turned toward him.
A voice, sounding simultaneously in his ears and in the universe, echoed in his soul.
"Celestial Spiritual Fox!"
Before Long Chen could process the name or the vision, the divine fox leapt.
"Sou!~"
It transformed into a golden comet and shot straight at him.
"Damn! No!" Long Chen turned pale but was too slow to move. He then felt a slight impact on his soul as the light hit the center of his brow and disappeared.
"What was that? Where did it go?" He closed his eyes and tried to search for it in his mind.
Within seconds he sensed its presence... inside him. It was infiltrating his Soul Realm, the sacred empty space where a warrior should absorb and fuse with a demonic spirit.
'What?! It's fusing with me?!' Panic hit him. He tried to resist, but the presence was gentle yet irresistible. Then, a completely unexpected and mundane thought arose amidst the panic. 'Wait... a fox? No... no... no! I don't want a fox as my demonic spirit! That's so... feminine!'
Despite the situation unfolding completely out of his control, a part of his brain was genuinely dismayed at how things were turning out.
But it was already too late. He felt the presence nestle in his Soul Realm, fully merging with his own essence.
---
"Hu!~ Long!~" An aura suddenly exploded.
Meanwhile, outside, Xiao Xue abruptly raised her head. Long Chen's body erupted with a dazzling silver aura. The pressure of Silver Rank filled the cave, a demonstration of power that, though impressive, was nothing significant to her.
"Kyuun?"
What happened next, however, made her observe with intense curiosity.
Long Chen's body underwent a breathtaking transformation. His bones began to crack and he grew taller, his muscles defining beneath his skin. His black hair grew even longer downward,
transforming into a cascade of shining silver.
The most impressive was the mark on his forehead! A small silver crescent moon slowly took shape, glowing with a soft light.
His eyes opened. They were no longer black, but a deep, hypnotic blue, the same color as Xiao Xue's eyes.
He stood up, no longer a boy, but someone with the height of an adult.
"Did I really fuse with a nine-tailed fox spirit?" Long Chen whispered with a bitter smile, looking at the claws that had grown on his pale hands.
The first thing he did was easily tear off one of the golden hawk's largest shining wings. He turned so he could see his reflection on the metallic surface.
"This is... unbelievable!" he whispered, his voice sounding a little deeper than usual. He admired the silver figure with blue eyes staring back at him. Fortunately, he only looked even more handsome, not like a fox girl.
Then, suddenly, knowledge about everything related to his new form flooded his mind. Skills. Instincts. A power that felt like an extension of his own body.
"So this is the ability of a nine-tailed fox spirit?"
With just a thought, he extended his hand.
Swoosh!
A fist-sized rock that lay outside the cave shot through the air and landed softly in his palm. He watched it for a second, then concentrated. The rock floated in the air before him. With another thought, the solid rock simply disintegrated, crumbling into fine dust that fell to the ground.
'Gravity manipulation...' he thought, a smile of pure excitement spreading across his celestial face.
"Haha! Let's see what I can do with this!"
Unable to contain himself, ignoring Xiao Xue's curious gaze, he stepped out of the cave and, with slight focus, his feet lifted off the ground. He began to float using his soul force and gravity, rising one meter, then two, laughing under the night sky.
The feeling of power was addictive, absolute. The view of the whole mountainous area was incredible! He just didn't shout out of excitement for fear of attracting more demonic beasts.
He floated for several seconds in the sky, admiring his new ability.
Unfortunately, such a divine engine demanded an equally immense fuel. After just over two minutes of testing and euphoric floating, the energy in his body abruptly ran out. The celestial transformation flickered and vanished. His hair returned to black, leaving only the single silver strand. His eyes went back to their original color.
The strength left him all at once, and he fell to his knees, gasping, having to lean on the ground to avoid fainting. The power was gone, but its memory and promise remained.