Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home

Chapter 248 The Final Push (Part 1)

Project Beat the Heavens: Day 5, 7:52PM; Apartment 20A, New Hongsheng District, Tiannan City.

Zi Yuan had just finished setting up the dining table when the Heir reappeared on the floor in a bright flash.

“Dang… That hurt…” The Heir rolled onto his side. “How many this time?” He let out a groan. “I kinda lost count.”

“Look up,” Zi Yuan said, pointing her finger at a bunch of numbers floating beside the jade plate. The figure looked promising.

“Oh. Thanks.” The Heir seemed rather engrossed in the floating numbers. “Sixty-four.” He turned his head to look at Zi Yuan. “Not too shabby, eh?”

Understatement of the millennium. To go from 0 bolts to 64 bolts in just a few days was impressive to say the least.

“You’ll get much better with more practice,” Zi Yuan said, taking a seat at the dining table. “But first, you have to eat.”

“It smells amazing in here,” said the Heir as he climbed to his feet.

“I hope you’re hungry, then,” Zi Yuan said, reaching for her rice bowl.

The Heir pulled out a chair and sat down. “Hell yeah I am.”

***

“So. Evaluation time,” Zi Yuan said once she was done with her dinner. The Heir was currently devouring his fourth helping. “Tell me all your observations. What have you learned?”

Zi Yuan had proposed that they approach the training in a more systematic manner. As such, every time a simulation ended, she would ask the Heir to report everything he had observed and learned during the simulation. These post-simulation evaluations were more for the Heir’s sake than hers if she was being completely honest. Which was why the evaluations would take place even on the occasions where Zi Yuan herself had been observing the whole simulation prior to its end; and on such occasions, the evaluations would usually involve the two of them comparing notes and sharing their own observations with each other. The evaluations had proven highly productive since they had allowed Zi Yuan to come up with several refinements to add on top of the Heir’s solution.

The Heir lowered his chopsticks and bowl onto the table. “I found that things start to get a little tricky past the 40th bolt.”

Zi Yuan studied the Heir’s pensive expression, silently waiting for him to continue.

“The area of damage is significantly larger.” The Heir shook his head slightly. “I have to dodge a larger distance to avoid getting hit.”

“That’s to be expected.” Zi Yuan nodded. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, there is.” The Heir looked up at her. “The intervals. It got really erratic. And sometimes, the intervals were super short.”

Zi Yuan detected a hint of worry in his eyes. “I see,” she said with a nod. “That does pose a danger.” If the interval between two bolts was too short, the Heir would be struck by the next bolt before he had time to react after he had dodged the previous one.

Zi Yuan glanced at the Heir. “Do you have a solution in mind?”

“I think I do.”

“Well?”

“Keep my body in motion slightly longer after dodging each bolt.”

“Mm.” Zi Yuan nodded. “Since the time interval between two bolts is so short, you can dodge two bolts with just one motion.” Zi Yuan held his gaze. “That could work, but there are a number of caveats.”

A grim look spread across the Heir’s features. “Yeah.” He sighed. “My speed might drop a little if the dodging movement becomes too large. I’ll have to take extra care to prevent that.”

Zi Yuan went silent in thought. She might have a solution for that. “You could recruit your own spiritual energy to compensate for the speed loss.”

So right now, he had a speed boost from the Jindan’s Aura, from the borrowed spiritual energy, and finally, from his Vital Orb.

Admittedly, that was a lot of speed boosts.

The Heir was smiling at her now. “That’s actually a great idea, thanks.”

Zi Yuan didn’t return his smile; there was another problem to address.

“You can’t keep your body in motion for too long.” Zi Yuan gave him a serious look. “Let’s say you manage to dodge two bolts in one movement. That’s good and all. But if you stop too late—”

“Yeah, I know… The time I stop moving would be too close to the time the third bolt is sent out, which leads back to the same problem.” The Heir paused. “I wouldn’t be able to react to the third bolt in time.”

“Yes.”

“What if…” The Heir’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to be thinking hard about something. “What if I…”

“Yes?”

“What if I’m constantly moving around?” The Heir shot her a hopeful look. “Would that work?”

Zi Yuan’s brows rose to her hairline. “Moving around? You mean throughout the entire divine punishment?”

The Heir nodded.

“No.” Zi Yuan shook her head. “It’s impossible for you to keep moving at dodging speed.”

“Right.” The Heir’s shoulder’s sagged. “Coz I don’t have enough juice to do that. The only way I can move at dodging speed is by borrowing the Heavenly Thunder’s spiritual energy.” He let out a groan. “Damn. This is tough.”

You think? Zi Yuan suppressed an eye roll. It wasn’t just tough; it was close to impossible.

“Anyway, I just need to find the right balance, right?” said the Heir. “I have to keep my body in motion for longer after each dodge, but not too long.”

“Yes.”

It sounded easy, but in actuality, it would take nothing short of perfect Qi control to pull it off.

“Okay.” The Heir sighed tiredly. “I won’t lie to you, Zi Yuan. I don’t feel confident right now.”

“Hey.” Zi Yuan tapped the table top a few times, and then waited until she had the Heir’s attention. “You’ll get there, okay? You just need more practice.”

The Heir stared at her for a few seconds before he nodded. He didn’t seem too convinced. Zi Yuan cursed inwardly at her lack of ability to inspire and motivate.

“What else have you observed?”

Since she was so terrible at giving pep talks, she would resort to distractions. Besides, what better way to boost the Heir’s morale than reminding him of all the progress he’d made?

“Oh, yeah. There’s something else.” The Heir was frowning. “I didn’t notice this before because my eyes were always closed. But I opened my eyes on one occasion. And when I did, I saw these green… strings?” He looked towards her. “I don’t know. They looked a bit like smoke, to be honest…” The Heir shook his head. “But anyway. Those green strings suddenly appeared out of thin air.” He paused in thought. “I think they were scattered along the path of the Heavenly Thunder, but I couldn’t tell for sure. There was just…” The Heir frowned and gestured with his hands. “Like, a lot of them floating around.”

“Hmm. Let me guess,” Zi Yuan said, “the green strings flew towards you and entered your body?” She paused to give him a look. “Like they were drawn to you?”

“Oh.” The Heir looked at her in mild surprise. “You were watching?”

“No.” Zi Yuan pointed at the empty dishes on the table. “Was preparing dinner, remember?”

“Right.”

“Well. The green stuff you saw inside the simulation is the result of the Heavenly Thunder’s residual spiritual energy being drawn to your Spirit.”

Recognition flashed in the Heir’s eyes. “I was absorbing them.”

“Yes. And that’s actually a good thing.” Zi Yuan folded her forearms above the table. “What else?”

“Hmm… Nothing else, I suppose.” The Heir spent a few moments in thought. “The early bolts are pretty easy to dodge now. But then things became progressively more difficult, of course… Oh, right!” He snapped his fingers and grinned at her. “Your levitation idea worked really well! The dodging became so much easier since my movements were smoother.”

“I’m glad it helped.” Zi Yuan smiled. “It does require more mental focus though. Would that pose a problem?”

The Heir shook his head. “Haven’t encountered any problems so far.”

Zi Yuan hummed. “Just keep practicing until it becomes like second nature.”

“Yeah…” The Heir glanced over at the jade plate. “Just have to keep practicing…”

A companionable silence passed between them, which felt rather odd considering the looming threat of the divine punishment. After all, they were now less than two days from the one-week mark. Zi Yuan couldn’t pinpoint the exact time it would come, but she knew it would be here sooner rather than later.

“I should probably get back to work,” said the Heir, jolting Zi Yuan out of her reverie.

The Heir’s eyes never left the floating jade plate. Zi Yuan followed his gaze and stared at the number hovering beside the jade plate.

Sixty-four down. Seventeen more to go.

“Yeah… Back to work…” Zi Yuan whispered.

The number beside the jade plate change from 64 to 0.

Project Beat the Heavens: Day 7, 8:00AM; Tianyi Pond, Tianyi Cavern, Linggong Sect’s Sacred Grounds.

Ruan Hongling stood near the edge of Tianyi Pond, marveling at the dozens of lily pads scattered across the pond’s surface. Before her, the pond lay as still and transparent (at least for regions that weren’t obscured by lily pads) as ever. Tianyi Pond was by no means large; in terms of surface area, it occupied no more than ten square meters. Then again, what it lacked in size it compensated with depth and beauty. With thousands of years of history, Tianyi Pond remained one of the Zhengyi School’s most treasured places. The place had long since been hailed as sacrosanct and inviolable, so much so that only a few people were allowed to even set foot on it. Ruan Hongling was proud to be one of the very few who could.

Two soft splashes ended Ruan Hongling peaceful admiration of the pond’s beauty and reminded her of the task at hand.

Ruan Hongling glanced down just in time to see two lotuses falling off their stalks before tumbling into the pond water.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

“Failed…” Ruan Hongling released a tired sigh. “Again.”

How on earth did Zi Yuan jiějie manage to do it anyway? (Note: jiějie is a Chinese honorific that means “elder sister”; it is the same jie in the term shījiě) Zi Yuan jiějie had always made it look so effortless when the actual task was anything but!

Zi Yuan jiějie must be really busy if she was willing to entrust Ruan Hongling with such an important task. A task, Ruan Hongling might add, that she was failing miserably—if the past two days she’d spent holed up in here was anything to go by.

Ruan Hongling bit down on her lip and stroke the locket resting against her chest. No way she was giving up now. She was ready to keep trying even if it killed her. The last thing she wanted was to let Zi Yuan jiějie down.

Ruan Hongling crouched down beside the pond and positioned the tips of her index fingers above the surface of the pond.

It had to be simultaneous. The spiritual energy released from both fingers had to be in the exact same magnitude. Simultaneity. Uniformity. Equality. Those were the key components of the task. Ruan Hongling lowered her hand and watched her fingertips dip into the clear pond water. A moment later, her finger tips broke the water surface. Two concentric ripples spread across the pond surface.

Two tiny flower buds rose from the water’s surface. Ruan Hongling tilted her head slightly and studied the buds, noting their size and color.

Disappointment coursed through Ruan Hongling’s veins when she saw that the bud on the left was slightly larger than the one on the right.

Simultaneity. That was where Ruan Hongling had failed.

The good news was that the two buds had the same shape and color, which was a vast improvement compared to her first few attempts at the task. Ruan Hongling shuddered at the memory of those attempts, which had produced malformed lotuses and distorted buds.

The two buds continue to grow until their respective lotuses plopped back into the water.

Right. Time to try again. Time to make Zi Yuan jiějie proud.

Ruan Hongling repeated the task ten more times before she finally got it right. Two pink, perfectly shaped, and evenly sized buds emerged from the center of the ripples. Without further ado, Ruan Hongling removed the necklace from around her neck, and then held its locket with her right hand. Two balls of light (one blue, one red) swirled above Ruan Hongling’s palm the moment her right hand left the locket’s surface.

Ruan Hongling grinned. Now for the easy part.

Ruan Hongling raised her right palm until the two balls of light were level with her lips. Then, she blew gently on the two balls of light, causing them to drift towards the waiting flower buds.

The balls of lights then merged with the flower buds, which immediately bloomed into two glowing flowers.

Ruan Hongling sighed and rose to her feet, satisfied with her work. Even though it had taken her two days and one night…

Whatever. It was the final results that counted.

With a silly grin plastered on her face, Ruan Hongling turned around and walked away from the pond. On her way towards Tianyi Cavern’s exit, she entertained herself by studying the magnificent wall whose surface held numerous engravings of faces. Not just any faces. Those faces belonged to the previous grandmasters of the Linggong Sect.

Ruan Hongling really liked that wall; it reminded her of the Linggong Sect’s glorious days. Every time she looked at those engravings on the walls, she could forget, at least temporarily, the miserable state that the current Linggong Sect was in. Not that it was Zi Yuan jiějie’s fault that the Linggong Sect turned out like this. The truth was that the Linggong Sect had lost a lot of influence ever since Master and Yan-shibo were gone.

Ruan Hongling stopped in front of the wall and then turned around.

The wall was located near the cavern’s exit, so she could see pretty much the whole cavern from where she stood.

Tianyi Cavern. Famed for its beauty and serenity. No doubt one of Ruan Hongling’s favorite places in the world.

“Hello?!!” The boisterous voice of a woman shattered the quietude. “Hey, hey, hey!!! Anybody home?!! Is anyone from the Linggong Sect still alive?!!”

Maybe not so serene after all.

Scowling, Ruan Hongling marched out of the cavern. Who could that be? It had been forever since anybody had visited the Linggong Sect. And so rude! How dare they kick up a fuss here? This was a respected Cultivation sect, not a playground for a bunch of uncivilized barbarians.

The grounds outside the cavern were deserted when Ruan Hongling walked out, which meant that the voice had to have come from the temple.

And she was right. There were three of them. Three visitors, standing in the front hall, each immaculately dressed in pristine Daopaos.

All three of them were standing side by side. The one on the left—a short and plump man sporting a long, black beard—was carrying a miniature pagoda in his hand. Ruan Hongling found herself taking an instant dislike to the portly little man; the arrogant look on his face rubbed Ruan Hongling the wrong way.

The visitor on the right was a beautiful woman with a curvaceous figure. Ruan Hongling immediately inferred that she was the one who had shouted earlier. It wasn’t that big of a deductive leap considering that the woman was the only female among the three visitors. The voice she had heard just now was most definitely female.

A long sword was attached to the woman’s back. There was a fly whisk in her hand as well. A Taoist priestess, Ruan Hongling surmised. From the way the woman’s eyes were darting around in their sockets, Ruan Hongling could tell that the woman was taking stock of the place. Ruan Hongling would have construed the behavior as that of curiosity if the contempt in those eyes wasn’t so blatantly obvious.

The person in the middle was a handsome man. Unlike his two companions, the man wasn’t armed at all. Even so, Ruan Hongling could tell that the man was the most powerful among the three. Something in her gut told her the man was in the same league as Zi Yuan jiějie.

Whoever these people were, Ruan Hongling knew that she had to tread carefully. Even more so when Zi Yuan jiějie wasn’t here. Ruan Hongling stepped away from the huge pillar that she’d been hiding behind and marched over to greet her visitors.

The handsome man in the middle broke into a grin as soon as he noticed her approach. The next thing she knew, the man was making his way towards her as well. It was then that Ruan Hongling noticed the jade earrings that he was wearing. Yet another sign of high status and prominence.

The man folded his hands in front of his chest and tilted his head forward. The gesture revealed the various jade rings adorning the man’s fingers.

Definitely no ordinary Cultivator, this one.

“Peace in the Tao,” greeted the man. “Are you perhaps Zi Yuan Zhenren of the Linggong Sect?”

Ruan Hongling would be lying if she said that she wasn’t surprised. Nobody had ever mistaken her for Zi Yuan jiějie. And to be frank, she didn’t think she was worthy of such comparison.

Ruan Hongling returned the hand gesture. “Who might you be? And to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Admittedly, Ruan Hongling’s social skills required some refinement. She realized that she hadn’t told the man that she was not, in fact, Zi Yuan Zhenren of the Linggong Sect.

“Are you blind?” the woman on the right snarled. “Are you seriously telling me that you don’t recognize him?”

Ruan Hongling glanced at the woman briefly before returning her eyes to the man whom she was supposed to—but sadly didn’t—know. Ruan Hongling had decided to ignore the rude lady for the rest of the conversation.

“This is Zhang Tianhé, the son of the current Head of the Zhengyi School,” the woman continued in her annoyingly loud voice. “Everyone knows him as the Jade Zhenren.”

Clearly not everyone, Ruan Hongling added silently.

“And you’re saying that you’ve never heard of him?” the woman said. “How absurd.”

How conceited.

There were probably millions of people who’d never even heard of Grandmaster Pan Shi, as legendary as the man was.

Ruan Hongling schooled her features and gave the man her most polite smile. “Greetings, Zhang Zhenren,” she said with a bow. “I apologize for not recognizing you sooner.”

Though I feel not a single ounce of remorse, sorry not sorry.

Zhang Tianhé smiled and waved off her apology. “So you are Zi Yuan Zhenren then?”

“My shījiě is away.” Ruan Hongling regarded Zhang Zhenren carefully. “Is there anything that I can assist you with? You have a message to deliver to my shījiě, perhaps?”

Ruan Hongling tried not to squirm under the Jade Zhenren’s intense scrutiny. “You mentioned that Zi Yuan Zhenren is your shījiě…” Zhang Zhenren smiled. “Are you perhaps Hongling Zhenren?”

“Indeed, I am.”

Ruan Hongling didn’t really mind living in Zi Yuan jiějie’s shadow, but this was starting to feel a bit bothersome.

“So. Is there something that I can help you with, Zhang Zhenren?” Ruan Hongling repeated her question.

“Ah, right. Here’s the thing.” Zhang Zhenren shared a few glances with his companions. “We’re here to borrow your shijie’s strength.”

It took Ruan Hongling everything to maintain her poker face. “Borrow my shijie’s strength?” Ruan Hongling frowned slightly. “Is there… Is there an ongoing battle?”

“Indeed.” Zhang Zhenren smiled. “You might be unaware of this, but there will be—”

“I don’t see why you’re wasting your breath on these people, shīdì,” the woman interrupted rudely. “Just look at this place. It looks like it’s been abandoned for years! There are probably cobwebs hanging from those statues over there.”

Ruan Hongling released a feral growl. “Hey! Watch your—”

“Their strength has most likely weakened considerably if they couldn’t even keep their halls clean,” the woman said snidely. “I say we drop the whole idea of asking them to join us. They might end up becoming a burden for all we know.”

“I completely agree!” the plump man spoke for the first time.

Anger rose inside Ruan Hongling.

“Watch your foul mouth!” Ruan Hongling snapped. “How dare you insult my shījiě like that?!”

A smirk spread across the woman’s lips. Ruan Hongling wanted to wipe that smug look off the foul woman’s face and then shove it down her equally foul throat.

“Oh? Are you saying that I’m wrong?”

Ruan Hongling bristled. “You…”

“Where is your precious shījiě now? Hiding away like a coward?”

Something inside Ruan Hongling snapped right then and there. “That does it! Let’s duel, you and I! We don’t even have to wait for my shijie’s return. I am going to wipe the floor with you right here right now!”

“Have it your way, then!” The woman drew her sword from its scabbard. “As if I’m afraid of weaklings like you!”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Zhang Zhenren stepped between Ruan Hongling and the woman. “Let’s just calm down, okay? We’re all from the Zhengyi School. Allies shouldn’t fight amongst themselves.” Zhang Zhenren turned around to face the obnoxious woman. “Zou Ping shījiě… Please don’t make things difficult. My father will have our heads if we stir up trouble here.”

Anger flashed inside Zou Ping’s eyes. “That weakling challenged me.” The woman swung her sword in a downward arc.

“Who are you calling a weakling?!” Ruan Hongling growled, fully prepared to summon her damask.

“Zhang Zhenren grabbed Zou Ping’s arm.

“Zou Ping shījiě… Please drop this, okay? Do it for me. Please?”

Seconds passed in silence. Ruan Hongling struggled to keep her rage in check. Calm down, Hongling. Calm down… Zi Yuan jiějie wouldn’t want this… Just breathe… Just breathe…

A moment later, Ruan Hongling noticed Zou Ping’s sharp glare.

“This isn’t over,” Zou Ping growled, resheathing her sword.

“Thank you, shījiě,” Zhang Zhenren said, then turned back around to face Ruan Hongling. “Now. As I was saying, a joint assault is about to take place and we would like you and Zi Yuan Zhenren to be part of it.”

Ruan Hongling’s stomach tightened. A joint assault? This was her first time hearing this. Then again, nobody told the Linggong Sect anything anymore.

“Pardon me? A joint assault?” she asked, keeping her tone even.

“Indeed,” Zhang Zhenren said. “A pact has been reached between the members of the Great Six to destroy the Fox Zen School once and for all.”

Ruan Hongling’s blood ran cold. “The Fox Zen School?”

Zhang Zhenren nodded and gave her a look of sympathy. “It’s the last place your shibo had visited before she went missing nine years ago, isn’t it not?”

Stunned by the news, Ruan Hongling could only nod.

“My deepest condolences to you and your shījiě,” Zhang Zhenren said. “I myself was greatly saddened by the news.”

“I- I thank you,” Ruan Hongling stammered.

“So will you and your shījiě be joining us?”

Panic rose inside Ruan Hongling. What the heck was she supposed to do here?

Contact Zi Yuan jiějie… She’ll know what to do.

After all, Zi Yuan jiějie herself had told Ruan Hongling to contact her the moment the Linggong Sect received any word from the other sects. Had Zi Yuan jiějie anticipated that someone would reach out to them?

She should call Zi Yuan jiějie right this instant and let her know what happened.

Ugh! Grow up, Hongling!

What was she, a ten-year-old? Why did she always have to rely on Zi Yuan jiějie to handle everything? Zi Yuan jiějie had enough on her plate already, especially with the Heir’s incoming divine punishment.

Ruan Hongling might not like the Heir, but she didn’t want him dead.

The Heir needed Zi Yuan jiějie right now, so she should just suck it up and handle this herself.

“Hongling Zhenren?”

Ruan Hongling snapped out of her tumultuous thoughts. She realized then that she had left Zhang Zhenren’s question unanswered. She cleared her throat. “Yes. I would like to join you.”

“And what about Zi Yuan Zhenren?”

“Shījiě is currently in training and has specifically asked not to be disturbed until her training is fully complete.”

“I see,” Zhang Zhenren drawled.

“Might I suggest that I join you first?” Ruan Hongling stood firm under Zhang Zhenren’s studious gaze. “That way I can bring shījiě up to speed when she join us later on.”

This was the best way to handle this, Ruan Hongling was sure of it. She would go along with these people and then find out what was really going on. She would gather all the facts first and then report everything to Zi Yuan jiějie.

“Hmm. That works, I suppose,” Zhang Zhenren said, then paused for a moment. “But do you mind if we depart now?” He smiled at Ruan Hongling. “The schedule is rather tight, I’m afraid.”

“I am ready to leave any time,” Ruan Hongling said politely. “But where are we going?” Last time she checked, the Fox Zen School was literally gone. Had the school been relocated? Did these people know where its new location?

“There will be a meeting later tonight,” Zhang Zhenren said with a pause. “All members of the Great Six who are part of the assault will assemble before the actual attack takes place.” Zhang Zhenren smiled. “It would be best if we leave now if we want to make it there in time.”

Ruan Hongling squared her shoulders and gave the man a nod. “Please lead the way.”