"Senior Yu, my cave dwelling is on the west mountain of Cloud Phoenix Mountain. There are many spirit herbs there. Do you need any, Senior Yu? If so, I'll give them to you for free!" The first to speak was Xi Yanmei, whose beauty was unparalleled and whose tone was playful.
She no longer felt any resentment about not being able to withstand a single glance, and instead felt a yearning for Yu Zhibo.
"Senior Yu, I am Zhang Feng from Qingyun Sect. My father is an elder of Qingyun Sect, and we have many spirit beasts. I can offer three hundred of them on behalf of my father. You are welcome to visit Qingyun Sect!"
"Senior, I am Yun Ye from Lie Tian Sword Sect. I also have spirit beasts to offer."
"Senior..."
Yu Zhibo happily chatted with everyone, and he did not completely refuse their kindness, only asking them to leave their addresses and he would collect them when he had time.
"Everyone, farewell. I have some medicinal matters to attend to shortly, so I will not be able to entertain you further."
"You are too kind, Senior. Feel free to visit our Cloud Phoenix Sect when you have time."
"Don't forget about our Qingyun Sect! Our Qingyun Sect has beautiful scenery and outstanding people. You must not miss it, Senior!"
"Senior, goodbye!"
"..."
Everyone flew away on their遁光 (dùn guāng - escape light). Yu Zhibo remained in place, thought for a moment, and then moved a nearby mountain into his spatial artifact.
This time, no one else stepped forward. Instead, the outer disciple of Lie Tian Sword Sect who was guarding the mountain gestured for Yu Zhibo to move a few more.
In the following time, Yu Zhibo collected some immortal energy before finally stopping.
"Lu Jiuge once said that this world also has the Heavenly Fox clan. I wonder if they escaped from Chan'er's hometown? Perhaps there are also Chan'er's lost relatives."
Yu Zhibo thought this and decided to visit the Heavenly Fox clan's settlement.
Bai Chanyi had deep feelings for her family and had mentioned more than once how well her elder siblings had taken care of her. Her separation from her family had almost become a knot in her heart.
Now that there was hope of encountering Bai Chanyi's family, he naturally could not miss this opportunity.
Thinking of this, he moved his will, and an old woman with crane hair and wrinkled skin appeared before him. It was Lu Jiuge.
"Master, what are your orders?" Lu Jiuge looked at him with reverence and was about to kowtow.
Yu Zhibo helplessly stopped her, "You don't need to perform the grand ceremony every time."
As he spoke, he glanced at the aged Lu Jiuge and pursed his lips, saying, "Since you have submitted to me, I will give you some fortune."
After speaking, he raised his palm upwards, and dense wood-element life force gathered in his palm, finally forming a green bead, which he casually tossed towards Lu Jiuge: "Take this."
Lu Jiuge's old body trembled, "Thank you, Master!"
After swallowing the green bead, her entire body seemed to reverse time, and she began to rapidly regain her youth.
The wrinkles on her face, which were deep enough to kill mosquitoes, smoothed out. The aged skin on her hands began to quickly recover its firmness, transforming from an eighty-year-old appearance to sixty, then fifty.
Her silver hair also began to regain streaks of black.
After several dozen breaths, the old woman had become a beautiful young girl. Her cute and delicate face was adorned with a pair of large eyes, and her gaze towards Yu Zhibo was filled with adoration.
Except for the lingering ancientness in her eyes, she was entirely a vibrant, beautiful young girl.
However, Yu Zhibo already had Bai Chanyi, and all beauty paled in comparison before him. He looked at Lu Jiuge calmly and said, "Take me to the Heavenly Fox clan's settlement."
"Yes, Master!" Lu Jiuge replied respectfully.
With Yu Zhibo's current primordial spirit power, a single thought could envelop the entire Green Rock Island. However, this island possessed many cultivators at the Dao Integration stage, and even those at the Void Returning stage, who were hidden and powerful. If he were to forcefully search with his divine sense, it would be considered very offensive.
Therefore, Yu Zhibo had the idea of asking Lu Jiuge to lead the way.
Lu Jiuge floated up and said, "The Heavenly Fox clan was once neighbors with my Spirit Deer clan. However, because this clan produces many beauties, and those with the Heavenly Fox bloodline and spatial talent are excellent materials for cultivation and refining storage artifacts, they have faced much more targeted persecution than us."
"If I'm not mistaken, they should currently be at the White Tiger clan's settlement. A hundred years ago, the Nine-Tailed leader of the Heavenly Fox clan married the White Tiger clan's Tiger Lord and became a royal consort. They have most likely gone to seek refuge with the Tiger Lord."
Yu Zhibo nodded slightly, "If that's the case, then take me there. You are flying too slowly; I will carry you, and you can point the way."
As he spoke, the two of them shot towards the White Tiger clan's settlement.
...
The Eastern Region was a vast expanse of undulating forest seas.
Here, mountain ranges crisscrossed, and towering trees that required dozens of people to embrace were common. Roars of fierce tigers could occasionally be heard from the forest, causing leaves to fall and birds to take flight in alarm.
The White Tiger clan had a strong sense of territory, so the Spirit Fox clan was settled in the peripheral areas, bordering the Tiger Forest to the north and the territory of the Pallas's cat clan to the east.
Beneath a small hill.
A fox with gray, black, and white fur, a round face, and a pair of cat ears was crouching in the weeds. Not far away, a plump spirit rat was sticking its rear out, digging for a wild sweet potato.
The Pallas's cat clan were felines, very similar to orange cats, but with a wider forehead, a very short muzzle, and dense, soft fur. They primarily fed on rodents, but also ate wild rabbits, pikas, pheasants, and other small animals. They also got along quite harmoniously with the Heavenly Fox clan.
And this little fox, possessing the facial features of a Heavenly Fox, as well as the soft fur and drooping round ears of the Pallas's cat, was clearly a hybrid offspring of a Pallas's cat and a Heavenly Fox.
The little fox had a slightly longer muzzle but short limbs and abundant fur. Its disadvantage was its lack of the Heavenly Fox clan's swiftness, while its advantage was its ability to camouflage like a Pallas's cat. As long as it found a spot to lie down, it looked like a clump of weeds.
At this moment, this clump of weeds was slowly moving towards the spirit rat with its rear sticking out, preparing to launch a fatal strike.
Just then, the spirit rat, which was gnawing on the sweet potato, paused, and its ears twitched.
The little fox immediately stopped, its pair of bright, large eyes fixed on the bamboo rat, looking nervous.
The spirit rat turned its head and looked around. Finding nothing unusual, it resumed its gnawing.
The little fox continued to move towards the spirit rat. When it was only a meter away, a dangerous glint flashed in its intelligent eyes.
"Awooo~"
It let out a cry, jumped back on its short legs, and pounced towards the spirit rat.
"Squeak squeak~"
The spirit rat let out a startled cry, kicked off with its hind legs, and in an instant, it had fled ten meters away.
Just as the spirit rat was about to escape, a gray shadow flashed from the bushes, directly pinning the spirit rat down. It then picked up the rat in its mouth and rushed towards the little fox with an angry expression.
This was a Pallas's cat, about the size of an adult Samoyed, likely a Class D demon beast.
It angrily ran up to the little fox, slapped it flying several meters away with a large paw, and roared in beast language, "How many times have I told you not to howl? Just catch it, can't you be quiet? You scare away the prey every time!"
"Every time I ask you to find food, you bring back tree frogs, or spiders, mantises, and caterpillars. If you continue like this, when will you be able to support yourself? I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to have a daughter like you!"
The little fox covered its head with its paws, looking wronged, "I know I was wrong~"
The mother Pallas's cat sighed, "Your father was captured by cultivators years ago. You are neither a fox nor a Pallas's cat now. What will become of you in the future..."
"Hehe, I have space. I can raise spirit rats in it," the little fox said proudly, sitting on the ground.
"You're talking nonsense!"
The mother Pallas's cat was furious and slapped it again with a large paw, muttering, "How many times have I told you not to expose your abilities randomly? Do you know the consequences if others hear about it? Skinning and extracting marrow are the least of it. Don't you want to live..."
Mid-sentence, the mother Pallas's cat's voice abruptly stopped, and she looked at the little fox's back with a look of horror.
The little fox turned its head in confusion, its expression freezing for a moment.
A young man was looking at it with a smile.
Beside the man stood a young girl with a confused expression.
"Awooo~"
It let out a roar and pounced towards the young man.
"Mother, run quickly!"