Chapter 187: Chapter 185: The Gate of Profound Island Opens
"You’re so dense! I already told you, I’m out gaining experience!" Linghu Feiyue was very unhappy with Qin Li’s idiotic question, especially the two words "local fox"—they just sounded so awkward.
Qin Li just chuckled, shrugging it off. He asked casually, "So where’s your hometown? I’ve never seen a Spirit Beast that has undergone Transformation before!"
"Don’t you know it’s rude to just ask a girl where she lives? Someone who didn’t know any better might think you have ulterior motives!" Linghu Feiyue rolled her expressive eyes and pouted her glistening lips. ’What a huge idiot! Even dumber than that stupid bear! Hmph, how could you have never seen a Spirit Beast that’s undergone Transformation? It’s your own fault for being so blind!’
Qin Li pursed his lips and walked on ahead, ignoring her.
"Hey, are you mad?" Linghu Feiyue ran to get in front of Qin Li, holding out a delicate, jade-like hand and waving it before his eyes. She pouted. "Seriously? You’re a man, don’t be so petty, okay?"
"Little sister, if you keep chattering, we won’t reach that canyon before dark!" Qin Li said, pointing to the majestic mountain range over a hundred li away.
Linghu Feiyue squinted at the setting sun and snorted. "Little sister? I’m way older than you!"
"Then what should I call you? Big Sister? Auntie? Or maybe Grandma?"
"Uh... just stick with ’little sister,’ then. Human language is so complicated..."
The setting sun stretched their shadows out long. Its rays shone on their faces, covering them in a sacred-looking glow.
That evening, the two of them arrived at the outskirts of the Grand Canyon. The night was as tranquil as still water, and the calls of birds only deepened the mountain’s serenity. A light breeze swept over the ridges, causing the leaves on the trees to rustle against one another.
The stars glittered and a bright moon hung high in the sky. Standing amidst the vast, silent mountains evoked a peculiar sense of solitude.
In this atmosphere, even the ever-talkative Little Fox, the young Linghu Feiyue, fell silent. A campfire crackled between them, its leaping flames casting flickering shadows across their faces.
"Hey... what’s your dream?"
After a long silence, Linghu Feiyue, who sat with her chin resting in her hands, suddenly asked the question.
"My dream?" It seemed like an easy question, but it sent Qin Li deep into thought. After a long moment, he gave a self-mocking smile and said, "My dream... My dream is to travel this magical continent with the person I love, seeing all kinds of new things I’ve never witnessed before."
"Oh? That dream sounds pretty easy to achieve!" Linghu Feiyue said casually at first. But then, her pale blue eyes, as pure as water, stared into the fire as she added softly, "Then again, I guess it isn’t so easy. First, you have to actually be with the person you love. And then, you have to possess immense strength! How strong? Hmm, at least as strong as me... no, that’s not right..."
Linghu Feiyue’s expression was serious as she continued her analysis. "If you ran into an enemy like that stupid bear, even someone with my level of strength wouldn’t be safe. So, you’d have to be even stronger than me. And I... just how many years have I been cultivating?"
The question plunged Linghu Feiyue into a deep silence. A thousand years, fleeting as the moon’s reflection on water. Cultivating in the mountains, unable to speak, enduring the wind and rain, sleeping under the open sky, surrounded by powerful enemies... If Linghu Feiyue had ever heard a certain song, two of its lines would have resonated deeply with her.
_I am a fox of a thousand years’ cultivation; a thousand years of training, a thousand years of solitude..._
Qin Li watched as the young Little Fox girl overthought herself into a corner, growing so weary from it that she curled up into a ball by the fire and fell asleep. A warm smile touched his lips. Even though he knew someone with her power wouldn’t fear the cold, Qin Li still stood, unfastened his cloak, and gently draped it over her.
In her slumber, she must have been having a pleasant dream, for a happy smile graced the young woman’s flawless face.
「The Next Morning」
Early the next morning, Qin Li and Linghu Feiyue made their way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Linghu Feiyue frowned. "This Grand Canyon really was home to many powerful Spirit Beasts! I can sense their auras, and they clearly haven’t been gone for long. But why would they leave?"
Qin Li asked, "You don’t sense any danger at all?"
"Danger? Nope!" Linghu Feiyue shook her head firmly. "I don’t sense the presence of any danger whatsoever!"
Qin Li was also puzzled. After a moment’s thought, he looked into Linghu Feiyue’s expressive, pale-blue eyes and asked, "Have you ever heard of a Mysterious Land?"
"A Mysterious Land?" Linghu Feiyue gave Qin Li a quizzical look, then shook her head.
"It’s... well, it’s a place that’s like another world. For example, this land under our feet, we can see it and touch it. But in this very spot, another place can exist simultaneously. You need a special method to open its gate and go inside. The Spiritual Qi in places like that is usually many times denser than it is out here!" Qin Li shrugged. "Does that make sense?"
"I get it now. You’re talking about... a Legacy-Bestowal Ground, right?" Linghu Feiyue said softly. "My Fox Race has a place just like that. Any Spirit Beast of our race can enter it to receive the legacy of our ancestors, which allows us to advance much further on our cultivation path. And it’s not just the Fox Race; most other Spirit Beast races have places like that. For instance..."
Linghu Feiyue hesitated for a moment. She had been about to say, ’For instance, that unlucky Black Water Kui Ox...’ but then she remembered that this idiot still didn’t know her true identity. ’And I, a noble Spirit Beast who has mastered Transformation, was spanked by him! It’s just too humiliating, too shameful to even mention!’
Qin Li, however, didn’t notice anything amiss. He nodded and sighed lightly. "No wonder so many Spirit Beasts are so powerful. It turns out they have their own racial legacies passed down in places like these."
"Yeah! So, are you saying there’s a place like that right here?" An excited smile spread across Linghu Feiyue’s face. "I’ve never been to one besides the Fox Race’s own Legacy-Bestowal Ground! This is great! You’ll take me with you, won’t you?"
"It’s very dangerous there!" Qin Li said, though inwardly he thought, ’Having a powerful helper like Linghu Feiyue would actually be fantastic. The girl seems kind-hearted, not like some untamable wild Spirit Beast. If you didn’t know the truth, you’d assume she was a human girl with peerless talent.’
"Can you guarantee that people far stronger than you won’t be able to tell you’re a Spirit Beast?" Qin Li voiced his concern.
"Of course!" Linghu Feiyue answered crisply. She looked at Qin Li and said, "Unless they’re a Martial Artist who has reached what you humans call the Venerable Realm, who could possibly see my true form? Hmph! If you hadn’t happened to overhear my conversation with that stupid bear, would you ever have suspected I was a Spirit Beast?"
Qin Li obediently shook his head. ’Who would ever suspect such a beautiful and adorable girl?’ he thought.
After a moment’s thought, Qin Li said, "I’m going to that place to find my fiancée. Her Sect might not be so willing to let her go, so there will definitely be trouble. Aren’t you afraid?"
Linghu Feiyue faltered for a second when she heard the word "fiancée," but then she immediately replied with a dismissive air, "You’re so much weaker than I am, and you’re not afraid. What do I have to fear? Don’t worry, if anyone dares to bully you, I’ll beat them up for you!" The Little Fox added in her heart: ’There. I’ll consider this my way of repaying you for saving my life!’
Qin Li smiled and nodded. "Alright, then it’s settled!"
A sly glint flashed in Linghu Feiyue’s eyes. ’Finally, something fun is happening!’ she thought. ’I wonder what kind of experts are in a human Legacy-Bestowal Ground? Judging by this kid’s worried expression, it won’t be simple... But I am Linghu Feiyue, a once-in-ten-thousand-year genius of the Fox Race! Why would I be afraid of a little challenge?’
「The Sixth Day of the Sixth Month. Early Morning.」
Before sunrise, a wisp of purple qi appeared on the horizon in the East. In a place as spiritually potent as this, it seemed even more concentrated.
Qin Li took a deep breath. As Linghu Feiyue watched, dumbfounded, that wisp of purple qi from the horizon transformed into a long, violet rainbow and shot directly toward him!
Qin Li inhaled it in a single breath. His entire body immediately began to emit a faint purple glow, while a heart-stopping pressure slowly began to form around him.
Linghu Feiyue stood there, her face a mask of disbelief. On the fifteenth night of every month, the night of the full moon, the Fox Race would absorb the moon’s essence. The gains from that one night were equal to several months of arduous cultivation!
This was a closely guarded secret of the Fox Race! It was a cultivation method the entire race had practiced since time immemorial!
But she had never imagined that a human could, just like her Fox Race, absorb that exquisite wisp of purple qi from the horizon to cultivate their strength!
’This... isn’t that a bit too powerful?’
In that moment, the aura of mystery surrounding Qin Li deepened considerably in Linghu Feiyue’s eyes.
Before, she had only thought of him as a human Martial Artist with exceptional talent. Now, Linghu Feiyue felt that there were far more secrets to this man than she had first realized.
Her motivation began to shift from a simple desire to repay her debt to genuine curiosity.
HAAAAH!
Qin Li slowly exhaled a breath of faint purple air, then drew it back in. His whole being seemed to be brimming with explosive energy.
Opening his eyes, Qin Li looked at Linghu Feiyue, who was standing beside him, completely stunned. He grinned. "Little Fox, lovely weather today!"
"..."
At that very moment, a subtle yet unfathomably deep wave of energy suddenly rippled out, spreading throughout the entire, immense canyon.
For an instant, Linghu Feiyue felt her very soul become unsteady, even causing her to Tremble. "Heavens," she gasped, "what is this power? It’s terrifying!"
