“There’s nothing!” Yung shouted in the room with enough annoyance to make flowers wilt. He threw the thick book against the wall and plopped down on the mat. It hurt his back, so he rolled sideways.

“What’s with all the philosophy! Just give me a straight answer ahhh!”

He was incredibly frustrated, to the extent that he wanted to yank out his own hair.

Yung had gone through twenty-seven books, scrolls, and slips on cultivation over the last three days. If this was the old Yung, it would have been an amazing achievement!

The ultimate crammer: read 10 books a day.

It was because of the improvements brought about by his 6th stage Faith refining cultivation, no doubt.

But alas, these improvements didn’t include the smarts Yung needed to extract the necessary info from those difficult texts.

If he had an exam, his cramming would have been considered a failure.

Because the study materials included stuff like:

“Wisdom begins not with knowing the answers, but with cherishing the questions.”

What are you, some WhatsApp quote my Indian uncle shares every damn morning? I need hard, technical methods, not chicken soup for the soul.

“In the dance of the cosmos, propriety whispers the steps; heed its subtle rhythm, and move in sync with the unseen.”

What ‘cosmos’? What ‘sync with the unseen’? Is this a poem or a letter?

“As the gentle caress of dawn dispels the night, so does benevolence touch the soul, awakening a dawn within, where once there was darkness.”

I’ll awaken the dawn within you goddamn mo—!

Pages after pages of weird quotes and texts, mantras with no supplementary explanations and diagrams of imaginary divine gods rather than imperfect mortals.

No solid, actionable steps, no technical scripts he could follow for real world results.

Each author seemed to have this sadistic tendency to use all their literary brainpower to skirt around the main points of whatever Faith qi techniques they were personally cultivating. The lengths they went to include everything but what Yung really needed was astounding. Praiseworthy even!

It’s as if they knew that one day they could piss of a poor bloke with their word soup.

They had an excuse, though.

To directly impart enlightenment upon the foolish reader is the way of the greedy, they said. If the reader knew information about the nitty-gritty details of their brands of Faith qi cultivation, it would hamper their growth, they said.

But then, why was the Foxfire Creek Heart Sutra so open and transparent?

All the damn diagrams were in excruciating detail, listing the most obscure innate meridians all mortals were born with, from the ones in their eyes to the ticklish ones in a vixen’s tail. It had passages of text on how to circulate heart qi and how to meditate with one’s true qi for the most time effective returns. They did a great job explaining the mantras, going off on tangents without feeling filler-ish about why each utterance and hand sign mattered.

The others were nothing but filler!

If the Foxfire Creek Heart Sutra was a peer-reviewed research article, and the Jade Slip crafting manuals Yung had studied before were boring textbooks, then all the other faith qi cultivation techniques Yung had the displeasure to see were a collection of self-absorbed biographies of a bunch of mean-spirited narcissists.

Knowledge hoarders, the lot of them, preaching their philosophy as if they were right without actually sharing anything of importance.

The literal example of all form, no substance at all.

… it reminded Yung a bit about himself. He wondered if all Faith qi cultivators were egomaniacs.

Yung sighed, then got up and stretched. His joints made soft popping sounds, and he almost melted.

He sat down again, cross-legged, and started practising the Foxfire Creek Heart Sutra. Although he had no fox tail, the technique was suitable for ren men too.

It was so flexible! It was originally meant for vixens to cultivate, but there have been mentions of tods reaching great heights with this method in the past millenniums.

It was a fitting choice because of a special property of the method. Using this technique, the practitioner would cultivate both the ‘Yin creek’ and the ‘Yang fire’ innate meridians. Innate meridians were meridians that every being was born with, without the need to ‘build’ them up specifically. The meridian building body cultivation realm would further refine these meridians into something greater, more meta-physical and capable of handling the occult.

The main method of the Foxfire Creek Heart Sutra relied on honing one's own will, to create a so-called ‘foxfire’ within one's Heart Palace Dantian.

It would take in the Faith qi from all the worship Yung’s totem would receive, then refine it into True qi.

The True qi refinement part was fuelled by the Faith qi channelled via the Yang fire innate meridians.

Then came the Yin creek meridians.

Take part of the True qi, and rather than keeping it in the Sea of Consciousness to supplement one's cultivation base, channel it through the body with a specific rhythm and tempo, going through specific meridians that favoured yin qi, the Yin creeks.

At the end, this True qi would be fed back to the foxfire, forming an orb within the Heart Palace Dantian. A ball within a ball, like a Russian doll.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It was a foxball.

After about three complete circulations completed, Yung collapsed on the mat, sweating profusely.

The jade slip mentions that even the least talented tod can complete nine circulations in an hour. Yung could barely do one third of that.

Originally, he had wanted to supplement his shortcomings with this method with inspirations taken from other cultivation manuals.

Like those eastern fantasy protagonists who could read and understand and create their own techniques like nothing.

He was a transmigrator! He was important people.

But it seems his talent did not lie there, like, at all.

He could barely understand those scrolls. Modern self-help books were written in very simple English. Yung was the type who preferred reading books about Nietzsche and Voltaire rather than reading the books written by them.

As such, the scrolls and books on meta-cultivation, knowledge about cultivation rather than the cultivation manuals themselves, were a bit better.

Sadly, Yung did not think he had enough expertise over this craft to modify the techniques on the go.

He had tried, of course.

He wanted to switch out one of the yin creeks he was using for a neighbouring one. It was a bigger creek that started and ended in the same place as the original yin creek.

Boy, that hurt. Like his innards were being tied into two slip knots.

Qi deviation was a real thing.

If Yung was more talented, maybe he could start with why it hurt and work from there.

But nope, too painful.

It took him one whole day of rest before he could circulate qi again. He wondered if it was someone like Chao, they would be able to grit through the pain and progress nonetheless.

No, shit, stop it. Stop comparing.

Yung wiped his body with a towel and put on a new pair of clothes.

Because of the formations in the room, and the spirit water spring, perhaps, the air did not feel stale.

But Yung’s mental state certainly did.

Another thing he noticed about himself, close-door cultivation was effing boring!

Before, he could shut himself in the hotel’s Jade Slip Workshop because there was always a soft girlfriend to flirt with.

Here, Yung didn’t even have Silky.

Yung injected some qi into the formation of the room using the key.

The stone door rumbled open, and he stepped out.

It’s only been three days, but it felt like years.

Yung did not think he would be able to do another closed-door cultivation session anytime soon.

It was pathetic that he even considered this distracted, three-day shut away as ‘closed door.’

Yung checked his cultivation progress just in case and grimaced. It had barely increased.

“Wow, you’re talentless.” A voice came from the shadows.

Su Haochen appeared like a swamp monster rising from the mud.

“Don’t make that face. It hurts.” The tod said. “The mistress wants to see you.” He stopped, then added, “She’s being a brat.”

“I’ll go.” Yung nodded. The time apart was not only to review his cultivation but for a healthy time apart from his bad girlfriend too.

Yung had thought many things through within these three days. What he did wrong, what she did wrong, and what they could do to make things better.

Honestly, he would prefer if he could get one more week apart from the vixen, but…

Yung forcefully breathed in and out deeply.

But he was way too horny.

There was something wrong with his body and mind. This level of obsession, not towards his girlfriend as a person, but as an object of sexual desire, was not normal.

Mother raised him better!

Something was messing with his psyche. Yung was pretty sure it was Nanya’s Extreme Yin Physique. It was not her fault, but a natural side effect of courting a fox.

Yung couldn’t ignore it. He had to find a solution. This kind of dependency was just as toxic as emotional co-dependency.

And like all things, needed to be managed, harmonised, and balanced.

They walked out of the Jade Slip store, and the hustle and bustle of the market square hit Yung like the chirp of cicadas.

The sunlight was strong, the roads were dusty.

Birds flew in the air.

Clop clop clop.

Strange merchants with strange beasts pulled intricately crafted carriages with wares from afar.

There were fiend hunters from out of town, and kids from the city playing their own modified version of football. Three players in each team and one goalkeeper who was her own team.

Yung even saw a madlander or two. One of them he recognised as the Meridian Building Realm cultivator woman who had accompanied them in their delve. The one with the staff, and she was walking with a chattering Youjin Linbi and a demure Youjin Tenghou.

They exchanged waves.

Yung walked in the opposite direction.

“The Hotel is that way.” Su Haochen said. He pointed at the looming, tall building behind the roofs of the smaller establishments.

There was still swirling clouds above it.

“I want to take a walk.” Yung had to prepare himself.

Su Haochen shrugged.

It took less than half an hour to reach the Bazaar.

The smell of spice and other exotic goods was stronger here.

This place was more for the local lower town folks than the respectable upper town denizens.

More madlanders, less law keepers.

The shops were open carts and stalls, not actual stores.

There were a few restaurants, like Wang Gangbao’s place, and a lot of homes turned business fronts. Again, not as respectable as a storefront.

Because they were poorer.

Yung saw someone being accosted by a group of hooligans in an alley. He walked away from the sea of carpet roofs towards the yelling.

“Fess up, why’d ya rat on us, you creep!” One of the taller hooligans said.

She was a pretty woman with the classic hourglass body.

Her fellow hooligans were women too, a short and round one and a tall and thin one. All of them were attractive in one way or another.

Their victim was the ugliest man Yung had ever seen.

The man was crying, on his knees, begging for them to let him go.

“Ye enjoyed it more than me! Should be proud I let you feel me for a night and you try an’ run away!” The prettiest tall hooligan kicked the man.

They had smokey makeup and lightly powdered faces. Their lips were glossy and lashes long.

All of them were showing their cleavage and thighs from high-cut lady clothes.

Yung realised they were courtesans.

“B-But I didn’t want it!” The ugly man cried, “I-I-I bring you customers, and you give me food. That was the d-deal. I-I heard nothing about fathering your babe!” He shouted, wronged.

Yung didn’t know what to feel. The pimp was the victim of assault here. The guy’s ‘products’ were calling the shots.

The ladies kept punching and kicking the poor man. The punches looked playful, but by the way the ugly man was reacting, it was as if he was being flung left and right.

Yung readied his Pink Heart Ring. Mother taught him gender equality.

Su Haochen’s breathing got faster. “Are you gonna do it, kid?”

Yung thought better of it. With the effects of the beam… That poor guy would really be done for.

But Yung wanted a fight. For some reason, he was feeling like committing violence today.

“How dare you speak up!” The short and round lady spat back with a punch, “Big sis was kind enough to take you in when you were washing down the river, and now you wanna reject her? Don’t be unreasonable.”

“Yes, yes,” the tall and thin one said, “She gave you rice to eat and money to spend from other men's wallets. And now that she wants to retire, you won’t take her in?”

Oh, so the pretty lady wants quite her craft and settle down. Yung felt more confused about the situation than ever. Usually, high ranking courtesans would be auctioned off. What the hell kind of business were they running?

Yung approached them, “Assaulting someone in broad daylight. Does this city not have any rules?”

“Mind yer own business—Ziyou Yung!” the pretty tall lady said with shock.

She fumbled for her words; her face going pale. She bowed her head low, followed by the other two hooligans.

Seeing Yung not reacting, the three ran away. Yung was still looking at their retreating backs when he heard a loud thunk.

“B-Benefactor,” the ugly man prostrated before Yung, hitting his head on the ground so hard it bled, “Lord cultivator! They did nothing wrong. Forgive them, lord cultivator. They are no criminals! Mercy, mercy!”

…Yung narrowed his eyes. What the hell was happening?

The ugly man cried and begged like Yung was eyeing his land, and Yung had to convince him over and over that no, he would not purge their families.

Only then did he convince the man to leave.

“People are complicated.” Su Haochen said, “If you’re looking for a fight, there’s one over there.” Su Haochen pointed towards another alley. “Some cultivators are beating up a mortal coolie.”

The fox in black stopped, then said, “The coolie tried to steal some food. That was wrong. The mercenary is using excessive violence, which is wrong too. Whose side are you going to take?”