The majestic spirit-fox towered above Tian Hao, her ethereal form radiating an overwhelming sense of power that pressed against him like a physical force. Her eyes glowed like molten gold, burning with intensity as she addressed him, her voice reverberating through the forest with undisguised arrogance.
"Who dares disturb the rest of this great and powerful 九尾 (Jiuwei)? Speak, mortal, before I decide your fate!” Each word echoed through the forest as if it held within its essence the very weight of her displeasure.
Tian Hao, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs, quickly assessed his situation. 'What have I gotten myself into?' he thought, the enormity of the spirit fox's power pressing down on him, his thoughts scrambling messily for a solution. His initial relief had quickly morphed into something closer to despair as he realized just how incredibly imposing this spirit fox truly was.
This was clearly no ordinary spirit beast.
His gaze drifted involuntarily to the pulsing formation beneath his feet. He knew this strange encounter had something to do with him bleeding on it, something about disrupting some form of confinement, but the how’s and why’s were entirely beyond his understanding, replaced by a rising sense of panic.
He hurriedly bowed, lowering himself in a gesture of utmost respect as he hoped to appease her—or at least delay her displeasure long enough for his addled mind to decide upon a better course of action.
“Senior Jiuwei,” he stammered, his voice a nervous tremor, “I—I am merely a humble cultivator who stumbled upon your greatness by sheer accident. I meant no disrespect.” He tried to compose himself, desperately pulling at his tattered and blood stained silks as if to straighten them, the act a feeble attempt to regain a semblance of his composure. An attempt that seemed to crumble faster with each word spoken.
He pasted on a smile, his fingers fidgeting nervously as he hoped a bit of flattery and deference would sway her. “Your presence is majestic beyond words, Senior, your power clearly unmatched, and your heritage... truly ancient and honorable. To stand before you is like witnessing the embodiment of the heavens themselves, a brilliance so grand that mere mortals such as myself are unworthy even to look upon it. Your aura radiates a greatness that dwarfs all, your might is beyond comprehension, and I am but a speck of dust fortunate enough to be in the presence of such divine splendor.”
The fox, Jiuwei, flicked her tail dismissively, the soft swish cutting through the silence of the forest.
"Indeed, you have good eyes, my power is unparalleled! For I am Jiuwei, the guardian of realms, born of celestial lineage, descended from the legendary nine-tailed fox spirit of myth, whose origins trace back to the dawn of cultivation itself, and feared by even the mightiest of spirits. I am tied to the ancient events of the Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Bang; 封神榜), where the greatest of celestial beings fought for supremacy. My lineage is one of legend, woven into the fabric of the most pivotal moments in mythic history. Even the heavens themselves acknowledge the power of my ancestry! I am the embodiment of celestial greatness, the one who has seen the rise and fall of those who dared to claim power without the worthiness to wield it! My presence is one of legend, my prowess—" She paused mid-sentence, her voice wavering slightly, as if she had been distracted.
Tian Hao's blood, which had previously fallen onto the formation, started to evaporate as it's innate power was used up. The glow of the intricate patterns began to flicker, weakening, sputtering like a dying flame.
Jiuwei's gaze softened, losing its fierce edge, becoming almost pleading.
“Young one… I implore you,” she said, her voice lowering, the echoes of her once-imposing tone now replaced by a desperate urgency that surprised Tian Hao. “Assist me. I have been trapped within this cursed formation for countless eons, my power sealed by a treacherous and blackhearted rival. I need your help to break free.”
Tian Hao blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in her demeanor. Her previously grandiose pronouncements now contrasted sharply with the vulnerability in her plea, her words laced with desperation.
He straightened up from his long-held bow, confusion evident on his face as he considered her words.
“Wait,” he stammered, his voice laced with incredulity, “you’re this incredibly powerful, ancient spirit fox, and yet you need my help? How could someone like me possibly help you?”
Jiuwei’s golden eyes, once blazing with arrogance, now flickered with hope and worry. Her tail, previously swaying with majestic grace, now drooped slightly, its tip dimming as if mirroring her waning power.
“The formation binds me,” she explained, her voice laced with weariness. “Only an external force can weaken it further. I have tried for centuries to break free, but my strength alone is not enough. You, young one, may be the only one who can disrupt its power. I beseech you… help this senior.” She looked down at Tian Hao, as if he were her last lifeline.
As Tian Hao processed this improbable request, BSS’s voice filled his mind, laced with her usual sarcasm. “Ah, Little Hao, isn’t it poetic? Here you are, brought down by karmic retribution, and yet the heavens present you with an opportunity for something grand. Karma works in mysterious ways, don't you think?”
Tian Hao sighed, rubbing his temples, trying to massage away the tension that coiled within him. A combination of exhaustion and anticipation now warring for dominance over his thoughts. “Oh sure, because getting roped into freeing an ancient spirit fox is just my idea of a relaxing day,” he muttered in his mind.
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BSS continued, ignoring his complaint. “The Heavens often give tests, Little Hao, but sometimes they also present opportunities for growth. Perhaps this little fox is more than just a trial, more than some random obstacle. Maybe she’s part of your path forward. Or maybe you’ll just mess it all up. Either way, it’s certainly making things more interesting.”
He focused on her presence in his mind. "And if I don't?"
She sighed. “Then you stay here, rotting away with her. You said you wanted to make an impact on the world. I see no way of doing that unless you return.”
With seemingly little choice in the matter, Tian Hao took a deep breath, glancing up at Jiuwei, whose golden gaze held an intensity that bordered on fear, her fate now resting in his hands. He remembered the few things he had left—most notably, the flasks of spiritual wine.
He grimaced, thinking to himself, "The spiritual wine... it might be potent enough. At my current level, my own qi is barely a trickle compared to what this wine can provide. Maybe it could amplify the energy flow, enough to weaken the formation."
He paused, hoping for some kind of reassurance, some guidance from BSS, though she only chuckled softly in his mind. “Go on, Little Hao. What have you got to lose?”
Rolling his eyes, Tian Hao pulled almost all of his remaining wine flasks from his spatial ring. There were so many that he had to start piling them on the ground beside the formation, creating a small pyramid of various luxurious flasks.
"There goes my collection," he thought bitterly, each flask feeling like a precious memory slipping through his fingers. "Who knew saving an ancient spirit fox would cost me my best vintages?"
He stared at the colorful pile of flasks, a twinge of regret combining with his growing apprehension. Each one was a fine wine, a small reminder of the life he’d left behind, the comforts of the Skyward Lotus Sect—comforts that now seemed so very far away, and more like fragments of some dream rather than some previous lived reality.
He hesitated for a moment longer, then took a deep swig from one of the flasks. The wine was rich and heady, its warmth spreading through his chest, a reminder of the comforts he was sacrificing.
He sighed dramatically at the waste before he started emptying them onto the formation, one after the other. The pungent aroma of fine wine mixed with the damp, earthy scent of the forest. Tian Hao shifted his arms, allowing the blood from his wounds to cascade down as crimson streams, dripping from his fingers and mingling with the spiritual wine, creating a swirl of garnet and life-blood red that flowed across the ancient formation.
For a second, nothing happened, the formation still pulsed with a slowly waning energy. Then, as the wine-blood mix seeped into the lines of the carvings, the entire surface began to spark and crackle, arcs of mystical energy sputtering and flashing like short-circuiting wires.
Tian Hao stepped back, shielding his eyes from the sudden brilliance, his heart pounding as the energy from the formation swirled around him like a miniature tempest. Jiuwei’s ethereal form shimmered, her golden eyes widening as she felt the restraints around her loosening.
The formation beneath her crackled violently, the air around Tian Hao thick with the scent of ozone. He coughed, his eyes watering slightly as the mystical energies swirled and danced, twisting the very fabric of reality.
Jiuwei let out a low, triumphant growl, her ethereal form pulsing with a renewed power. “Yes… yes! You did it, young one!” she said, her voice now filled with both gratitude and a hint of her earlier arrogance.
Tian Hao exhaled, relief and exhaustion washing over him.
He looked up at the spirit-fox, the relief swirling together with his fear of what might happen now that this clearly powerful being had regained its freedom, especially after its initial greeting.
“So…” he began, his voice barely above a whisper as he thought back on what BSS had said about him stumbling into opportunities, “what happens now?” His words held an almost pleading, cautious undertone.
BSS snickered quietly. “Well, Little Hao, let’s just hope that curiosity doesn’t end up getting you eaten by this little fox.”
“I’m serious, Big Sister,” Tian Hao groaned internally, watching warily as the spirit fox stood before him, her imposing form once more radiating the intensity of power that had made him quake when they first met.
Her eyes, gleaming like twin pools of fire in the darkness, seemed to pierce into the very depths of his soul.
“I told you—the Heavens give tests, and opportunities. Perhaps you found an unexpected friend, Little Hao,” Big Sister System said, her voice taking on an unusually kind, encouraging tone. “Perhaps she will repay your efforts, though personally, I would keep an eye on that tail. Foxes are tricky.”
Jiuwei’s tail swayed gently, almost hypnotically, its shimmering tip casting patterns of light across the clearing, her every movement radiating raw power.
“Young one,” Jiuwei began, “you have freed me from a prison that has held me captive for countless eons. For this, I am eternally grateful.” Her gaze, once filled with burning intensity, now softened, a hint of amusement—almost like the fond indulgence of an elder to a junior—softening the intensity of her now amber eyes.
“I shall bestow a reward befitting such a… heroic deed, or rather, your rather fortunate clumsiness,” she continued, tilting her head slightly as if considering her next words.
Her ethereal tail flicked, the motion creating a strange, swirling pattern of light that seemed to mesmerize Tian Hao, drawing him in, his own eyes fixated on the patterns of light that seemed almost alive. He felt suddenly lighter, as though the entirety of his self floated within those patterns, every previous fear replaced by an ethereal bliss.
“I grant you the gift of shapeshifting,” Jiuwei announced, her voice resonating with power, each word echoing the strange and growing symphony within his ears.
“It is not a complete transformation, not yet, not even close, but it is a taste, a starting point. With time and practice, you will learn to shift between the realms—a fox of shadow, a whisper in the wind, a flicker in the dark.” Her eyes, glowing like twin suns, met his as a stream of silver light, the essence of a technique never dreamt of by mortals flowed from her gaze into Tian Hao’s. The knowledge settled within him, a gift both grand and terrifying in it's possibilities.
Tian Hao blinked, coming back to his body. The patterns faded as he felt his mind expand, the knowledge settling within him, his breath hitching at the strange, sudden potential of it all.
“Shapeshifting? Like… like a real fox of myth?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper, the barest inclinations of the implications of her gift settling within him.
“Not yet,” Jiuwei replied. “The seed is planted, the potential awaits. It is a gift of the ancient ones, a skill that transcends the boundaries of mere cultivation. However, it will take much effort for one such as you to even touch upon its potential.”
BSS’s voice returned to his consciousness, the tone playful. “Well, Little Hao, I must admit, I’m impressed. Not bad for a lazy cultivator. You've turned exile into enlightenment, though the amount of wine used for this kind of spiritual growth is quite impressive. Just try not to turn into something… too fluffy. Unless that’s your thing, of course. I wouldn’t judge.”