Zhou Yi and Hu Jiuying had left the area for quite some time.
More than a dozen figures prowled around the area, and after they found no omissions upon investigation, they soon scattered and left.
After these people departed, silhouettes arrived, wave after wave. They nodded their heads to one another, then silently sat down, cross-legged, in the vicinity.
The Immortal Fox of Greenhill was a legend. To have remained undefeated after confronting her meant that the individual must at least be at her level.
The aftermath of the battle plowed the nearby hills, leaving a ravine stretching across tens of miles on the ground.
Cultivators loved to observe battles from the side to figure out spells and divine arts, but it was limited to techniques at the same level.
But for battles between sages, people would remain as far away as possible to not accidentally be reduced into ashes. If that happened, they would not even get the chance to redress their grievances.
Now, the Immortal Fox had left. Her magical aura however, was still evident, and people had rushed to this place to soak up the leftover essence of her Immortal Aura.
Zhou Yi returned to the inn and probed around with his magic power. He did not sense any strange auras.
Hu Jiuying stood on the windowsill in a graceful yet wary manner. It seemed as if for her, the room was a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den.
“Come in, I have no interest in a thousand-year-old lady.”
Zhou Yi stroked the teapot. Sparks flashed and the tea boiled instantly.
Hu Jiuying murmured a sentence secretly and moved obediently to the side. She was now extremely in awe of Zhou Yi.
The Immortal Fox was the religion of the Spirit Foxes of the Greenhills. No matter how troublesome things were, as long as the Immortal Fox made a move, all problems would vanish into nothingness.
This was the first time Hu Jiuying saw the Immortal Fox being defeated by a human in a battle of magic.
After downing three cups of hot tea, Zhou Yi’s emotion gradually soothed.
Drinking tea could calm one’s mind and make one’s spirit tranquil.
He was thinking about his unplanned encounter with the Immortal Fox of Greenhill. Although she was merely an incarnation, she was still an entire grade above him in nature.
Zhou Yi had met more than one first-grade master of spirit cultivation and had even killed the Dragon King of Green Waves and Red Body Holy Maiden with his own hands. In their memory, they had seen plenty of combat techniques. Hence, he knew that the Mind Refining Stage was about unleashing one’s own magic power.
The Immortal Fox of Greenhill was able to easily grasp all the Primordial Qi between Heaven and Earth and crush everything with her domineering presence.
Spells, magical items, sword art, arcana… all would be useless when within the range of her “nuclear strike”.
Zhou Yi’s Ten Thousand Year Magic could be hailed as one of the rarest of techniques in the world, but it still could not give him the upper hand against the Immortal Fox.
The battle was just a test for the two of them to learn about each other’s capabilities. Neither of them went all out to defeat the other. The Immortal Fox did not unleash the Arcana of the Fox, and Zhou Yi did not use the Tiangang Taoism-dharma.
Being able to command the wind and rain was beyond techniques to summon rains and gales!
Evidently, the Immortal Fox was also unwilling to forge a feud of death with Zhou Yi just to save Huyue. The advice she left for him before leaving could even be interpreted as a hint of friendship.
“Tell me, why did you come to harm me tonight?”
“I wasn’t trying to harm you, Great Sage. It was because I sensed the aura of a clanmate… I didn’t think that it was from your Spirit Pet, so I came here to investigate.”
Hu Jiuying’s life was in danger and she wasn’t thinking straight. She randomly said that she thought the enslaved fox was his Spirit Pet.
Zhou Yi waved his hand and released Feng Ling’er, “She is not my Spirit Pet. The blood of the Spirit Fox flows within her body, and she cultivates in the Secret Tome of the Sky Fox. I guess that makes her pretty close to the Greenhills.”
Feng Ling’er could not shapeshift yet. She held her paws and bowed, “Mister, Sister Jiuying.”
Spirit light flashed across Hu Jiuying’s eyes. She clicked her tongue in amazement.
“Half-human half-fox. Her aptitude is supposed to be inferior. However, the strength of her soul is already on par with a Yin-God! She already has seven tails at such a young age, which is rare even at the Greenhills.”
“Are you willing to call me master and cultivate at the blessed land of Greenhill?”
Hu Jiuying’s insight was way above Huyue’s. She was able to see through Feng Linger’s heels at a glance.
Feng Ling’er looked at the expressionless Zhou Yi and bowed to Hu Jiuying three times, “Master Jiuying, I’m willing to come with you to cultivate at the Greenhills.”
“Chachacha, don’t worry, my disciple. I, your master, have a lofty position at Greenhill. No fox will dare to bully you when you go there.”
When Hu Jiuying was talking, she glanced at Zhou Yi from time to time. Obviously, her speech was meant for him to listen to.
She was a fox who had lived for a thousand years, and although she had never left Greenhill, she had been pondering about how the mind works for as long as she could. Without a doubt, she excelled at observing a person’s gaze.
Feng Ling’er hesitated for a moment, and said to Zhou Yi, “Sir, before leaving, I would like to see my dad…”
“Hm?”
Zhou Yi had never hid Feng Ling’er’s origins from her. He was never a fan of lies with good intentions and did not believe that one was too young to know the truth.
Everyone had the right to know their own destiny. Whether they could bear it or not, it should not be decided by others.
“Dad was really kind to me back in the days. He would always hug me for a very long time whenever I go home. After I leave this time, I wonder when I would get to return. Maybe I’ll never…”
Feng Ling’er wept softly. The higher one’s Cultivation Base, the clearer one’s painful memories would become. One would never get to forget them even if they wished for it.
The strength of Cultivators was thousands of times stronger than ordinary people, and the pain they had to endure was also thousands of times more.
“I’ll take leave tomorrow morning and take you to see him.”
Zhou Yi stroked the tip of the white fox’s head. In any case, he was pleased that Feng Ling’er was able to miss her father.
Looking at her, Zhou Yi suddenly thought of his own parents from his previous life. Although he was powerful enough to brew storms on rivers and seas right now, he could never see them again.
Greenhill was separated from Great Qian by many high mountains and numerous streams, but Great Qian and the Blue Star were separated by an entire world.
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”
Zhou Yi did not recall Feng Ling’er into his sleeves.
Feng Ling’er was Hu Jiuying’s disciple right now, and actions ought to be conducted with a sense of propriety. Unless she committed great evil, Zhou Yi would never restrain her out of his own will.
All was quiet in the dead of night. Accompanied by the skittering of foxes, he went to sleep.
…
The Resource Division was very lively this morning.
Before Zhou Yi stepped into the building, he could already hear Zhang Cheng’s hearty laughter.
“Hahaha, come and have a taste, everyone! I passed by the White Cloud Monastery’s Spirit Tea Hill when I came back from Emerald Peak last night, and I picked these leaves in passing.”
Zhang Cheng took out handfuls of fresh and tender tea leaves. “It’s no match to the Drunken Spring produced with a secret recipe, but nonetheless, it’s still a rare type of Spirit Tea. If it hadn’t been for the massive event that took place last night, there was this group of geezers that I think would even go to the bed while hugging the tea plants.”
Zhou Yi could not help but laugh when he heard that. The Emerald Peak was just outside North City, and the White Cloud Monastery was hundreds of miles to the west. How was he supposed to pass by that place?
When the priests of the White Cloud Monastery saw the empty tree when they got back, they would definitely jump around in rage.
The officials of the Resource Division had seen many monsters, but they were only ever given second-grade goods. The White Cloud Monastery’s Spirit Tea was famous across Great Qian. According to legend, it had the magical effect of enlightenment and concentration. All of them proceeded to drink the tea in large buckets.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you even broke the tea branches. Aren’t you afraid that the Spiritual Master would go crazy?”
Chief secretary Chen, who was rarely seen on weekdays, also came to enjoy the tea. He had a broad smile on his face. He picked a twig with buds from the pile of tea leaves, and quickly put them away carefully.
The grafting technology of tea plants was no longer a secret in Great Qian.
In order to cultivate Spirit Plants, Cultivators use different species to graft, mutate, hybridize and ripen… it could be said that they did everything possible.
The gap between cultivators and mortals was not only in lifespan, strength, and knowledge but also in the application of various technologies. Everything was done for better cultivation.
Zhou Yi held a big bowl, made tea, took a seat, and enjoyed his drink.
At this time, he longer cared about the art of drinking tea. When one could drink Spirit Tea that even money could not buy so casually, gracefulness in drinking tea was the last thing they would care about.
The taste was indeed inferior to Drunken Spring as it did not have the hazy drunkenness, but its richness in Spiritual Qi was enough to enhance one’s cultivation at the Qi Refining stage.
“Heheheh, I passed by a tea hill in the middle of the night, and no one responded after I yelled a few times. So, consider these free!”
Zhang Cheng smiled triumphantly, “Now, those geezers don’t have time to give a damn about me. They are outside North City arguing with each other right now.”
Chief Secretary Chen looked around. He lowered his voice and asked, “What actually happened last night? I heard from my uncle that there was a great fight between a couple of masters?”
Chief Editors were Great Qian’s ninth-grade low-ranking officials. They seem to be inconspicuous everywhere, but it really depended on what department they were in.
The Chief Editor of the Demon Slaying Department was a representative of officials who were low in rank but great in power. Just a tiny bit of the treasures they acquire would generate for them an income more than that of high-ranking officials.
Chief Editor Chen was able to stay in this position for more than ten years not only because he had handled leader-member relations well, but also because his aunt was married to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs.
Zhang Cheng pretended to be mysterious, “Of course they were masters, Old Chen!”
“Just how powerful were they?” Chief Editor Chen asked subconsciously.
The others halted their tea-drinking and pricked their ears to listen. Such secrets were beyond the reach of ordinary officials.
“They were huge, probably about three- to four-stories high. They must be powerful!”
“Tsk—”
The crowd’s anticipation crashed, and they stopped questioning. It was obvious that the higher-ups had issued a gag order.
While drinking tea, Zhang Cheng looked up at the bronze lamp on top of the Resource Division and could not help adding a sentence inwardly.
I’m a goddamn frog under the well, aren’t I?