The Ultimate Number and the Fox

“A-wu, are all the demonic beasts in your Spirit Beast Hall this free?”

Wugou felt a pang of envy.

Recalling his own ‘ordeals’ over the past month, he almost wanted to weep.

These two gluttons ran wild every day, yet no elders from the Spirit Beast Hall ever came to catch them.

Even now, they were bouncing around his dormitory, filling the room with their antics.

Just moments ago, Wugou had been marveling at how clean his dorm was.

Now, pairs of paw prints covered the floor and the bed.

“Haha, Wugou, come and catch us! If you do, I’ll let you pet my tail, haha~”

A-wu leaped into the air, somersaulting before landing steadily on Wugou’s head. But no sooner had their paws touched down than they instantly bounced away, incredibly nimble.

Wugou touched his head, finding a good deal of sand and mud there. ‘Could it be that A-wu went to mess with the seabirds by the shore just now?’ he wondered.

“Damn it! If a tiger doesn’t assert its might, do you take me for A-miao? Take this!”

“Roar!”

A-miao had clearly heard Wugou’s words and let out a protest in response.

Wugou was quite fond of A-wu. The little creature’s eyes sparkled with intelligence and charm, and their habits were almost indistinguishable from a human’s. Such a spirit beast could only be a Nine-Tailed Fox, though he didn’t know their specific breed.

In Wugou’s original world, Nine-Tailed Foxes were exceedingly rare. He had barely heard of or seen a handful in total.

He only knew that there were three types of Nine-Tailed Foxes.

The first was the “Nine-Tailed Jade-Faced Profound Fox.”

Before his master, Pure Yang Ancestor Lu Dongbin, ascended to immortality, he had battled one, severing eight of their tails and subduing them as his mount.

After his master achieved enlightenment, that Nine-Tailed Fox, having lost their tails and thus their immortal destiny, was released.

While Wugou was in the Heavenly Court, seeking guidance on alchemy from Tai Shang Laojun, he had once discovered that two of Tai Shang Laojun’s disciples had secretly descended to the mortal realm and taken a Nine-Tailed Jade-Faced Profound Fox as their godmother. They had apparently even stolen several immortal artifacts from him, one of which seemed to be called the Purple Gold Gourd.

When Wugou was still in the Heavenly Court, he had naturally mentioned this matter to Tai Shang Laojun. To his surprise, the old man simply adopted an inscrutable expression, muttering something about how ‘heaven’s will cannot be defied.’

‘Stupid old man, go ahead and regret it,’ Wugou thought.

In the mortal realm, there was also a great demon named the Bull Demon King.

Wugou enjoyed listening to gossip.

He had heard that the Bull Demon King had taken a Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox as his concubine, and their life together was quite joyful.

Not to mention the infamous Daji.

The immortals in the Heavenly Court all claimed Daji had died long ago.

However, his master, Pure Yang Ancestor Lu Dongbin, had told Wugou that Daji originated from India, where they were known as Lady Huayang. They had seduced the Indian king, causing India to crumble. Later, they fled to the Central Plains, transforming into Daji and repeating their destructive actions, before escaping to Fusang, where the locals called them Tamamo-no-Mae. Yet, they remained unrepentant in their nature.

Wugou had encountered many of these “immortal families” in the Heavenly Court. Much like Tai Shang Laojun, they were all individuals obsessed with saving face.

‘Perhaps, at that time, they only managed to destroy one of Daji’s clones,’ he mused.

The second type was the “Nine-Tailed Fated Fox” of Tushan.

Tushan was enveloped by a formation barrier, making it inaccessible to ordinary people.

This was because the ancestors of the Nine-Tailed Fated Foxes shared a profound connection with Yu the Great.

Thus, all the foxes of Tushan held immortal registry in the mortal realm.

These foxes had always guarded a “Love-Sickness Tree” under the command of Yu the Great.

Using their bodies as immortal foxes as “vessels” and the Love-Sickness Tree as a “medium,” they performed the duties of matchmakers, accumulating considerable karmic merit.

The final type, and the most mysterious, was known as the “Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.”

Their name alone commanded a good deal of awe.

Wugou had only ever seen fragmented descriptions of them in some ancient texts within the Heavenly Court’s scripture repository.

“One day, the sky tore open. Nuwa mended the heavens, commanding the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox to offer sacrifice.”

It was a headless, tailless fragment, and Wugou couldn’t quite grasp its full meaning.

However, to be mentioned in records related to the great goddess Nuwa, they certainly weren’t some minor demon to be trifled with.

After that, there were no further records of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.

In summary, all three types possessed significant origins, almost always combining beauty with power. Judging by Daji’s deeds, their intelligence was likely formidable as well.

Though A-wu didn’t seem particularly intelligent…

His master, Pure Yang Ancestor Lu Dongbin, had once said, “‘Nine’ is the ultimate number of the heavens.” Whatever encountered “nine” always underwent some kind of unusual transformation.

Wugou deeply believed this to be true.

That was why Wugou had once considered asking A-wu to become his mount.

A Nine-Tailed Fox!

How magnificent it would be to ride out on one!

However, Wugou had spent so much time with A-wu, and the creature had always remained palm-sized…

Reluctantly, he could only settle for riding A-miao, the short-legged tiger.

Their legs were a bit short, but at least they could fly. More importantly, their fur was abundant and comfortable, they could change direction quickly in the air, and when it came to catching shrimp, they were not much slower than an ordinary flying sword.

Moreover, their stamina also seemed quite impressive.

Wugou had once let A-miao carry him around the island for an entire day, and the creature hadn’t shown any signs of panting.

He had never seen a tiger of this breed before; it must have been a type unique to this world.

Squish.

Wugou was stepped on by A-wu once again.

“Haha, Wugou, what was that phrase you taught me again?” A-wu jumped onto the headboard, their two watery eyes almost narrowing into slits from laughter.

“Damn it, you’re really pushing your luck! You brought this upon yourself!”

Wugou’s fury flared.

He condensed his qi.

His right foot lightly tapped the ground.

Ripples spread outward.

His form instantly vanished from the spot.

In a flash, he reappeared directly in front of A-wu.

Then, his right hand swept out with great force.

He firmly seized the “furball” in his hand.

At this moment, the smile hadn’t even faded from A-wu’s face.

Clearly, they had never expected Wugou to possess such a move!

“Uh…”

A-wu froze, their large eyes staring into Wugou’s smaller ones, creating an incredibly awkward silence between them.

At the other end of the bed, A-miao continuously rolled around, covering their large mouth with their front paws, whimpering softly. A glint in their eyes revealed their schadenfreude.

Wugou flashed an evil grin, boasting, “Hehe, A-wu, you didn’t see that coming, did you? Cloud-Stepping Art! Impressive, right?”

If Zhu Manzhi were present at this moment and saw Wugou had actually mastered the Cloud-Stepping Art, he would undoubtedly be astonished beyond measure.

Wugou hadn’t even reached the first level of Qi Refining!

Wugou himself was beaming as he executed the Cloud-Stepping Art. Although the distance covered was a little short, and he could only use it once, he had still managed to pull it off!

He largely owed this to Luo Bingyan, who had insisted he practice Body Tempering Art daily.

While his strength hadn’t increased significantly, all the muscles and bones in his body had become incredibly obedient and flexible.

Wugou had only seen Zhu Manzhi use it a few times. With his immortal’s insight, he naturally found it easy to discern the technique’s power exertion method. Coupled with the barely sufficient qi within him, dashing two or three meters was no problem at all.

A-wu tried to struggle a few times, but Wugou was simply too experienced. He held firmly onto their “scruff of destiny,” rendering them completely unable to move due to instinct.

“Waaah, please let me go! Or… or I can warm your bed tonight…” A-wu pleaded, their large eyes wide and misty with tears, looking utterly pitiful.

“Hehe, cuteness won’t work,” Wugou chuckled. “It’s summer now. If you warm my bed, I’ll get heatstroke! You’re up to no good~”

Wugou grew even more smug, his earlier vexation completely swept away.

“Then… then what do you want? I… I can’t move like this, it’s so uncomfortable! Or… or you can touch my tail?” A-wu stole a glance at Wugou, only to find him completely unmoved.

“Hmph!”

A-wu turned their head away, seemingly upset.

“Hmm…” Wugou mused, “Alright, how about this: let me pat your butt today, and those two times you stepped on me will be forgiven!”

As he spoke, Wugou’s hand reached out.

“No…”

Before A-wu could even finish their sentence, they already felt their rear end being squished.

Their body temperature instantly soared, and their two long ears turned red and hot.

Seeing this scene from behind, A-miao was also startled. Their eyes darted around a few times before they quickly turned their back, though muffled chuckles could be heard incessantly, clearly indicating they were trying to suppress their laughter.

Observing that the “furball” in his hand had completely ceased resisting, Wugou grew even more enthusiastic in his petting.

He even felt himself getting a little addicted.

‘Why does it feel so good? This is far more comfortable than petting a tail,’ he thought.

A long time passed.

Wugou sat by the bed, a look of utter contentment on his face.

On the other side of the bed, A-wu lay motionless, their eyes glazed over, seemingly filled with unshed tears…

“A-wu, it’s late night now~”

Wugou sighed softly.

A-wu’s long ears twitched slightly, and A-miao instantly perked up.

Wugou then stripped off his upper garment.

He let out a loud shout!

“Time to get to business!”