"Is that all?" Fan Li asked, intrigued.

Had they really come all this way to the Tomb of Xuanyuan just to retrieve these two treasures as gifts for someone else? If so, Fan Li felt sympathy for Qing Qiu.

He had a feeling that Qing Qiu wasn't truly content within the Brahma Sound Pure Land. And now, with the Pure Land transforming into the Great Ci Dynasty, it seemed even less suited to her.

‘Perhaps I could convince her to leave the Pure Land,"’ Fan Li mused.

The thought excited him. Poaching talent from the Pure Land? Others might hesitate, but he was more than willing to try.

“Qing Qiu, have you ever considered…”

“There's one more thing," Qing Qiu interrupted, handing him the Human Sovereign Sword and the Imperial Seal of the Shang Dynasty. Then, she walked over to Daji’s remains and sat down, legs crossed, entering a meditative state.

"Seriously?" Fan Li exclaimed, incredulous. "She’s going to cultivate here?" He couldn’t believe she hadn't even bothered to inform him.

“Ahem,” he said, approaching Qing Qiu. “I'll keep watch, but please don’t take too long. I have matters to attend to back home.”

As he finished speaking, a pink, ethereal aura enveloped Qing Qiu.

She was no longer the same. The plain, unadorned woman was gone.

Her lips, once pale, now resembled ripe berries. Her closed eyelids shimmered with a faint pink eyeshadow, adding to her allure.

Fan Li stared. He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to embrace her.

Then, something even stranger happened.

Nine white, fluffy tails, as soft as clouds, sprouted from behind her. They were ethereal, shimmering like phantoms, seemingly formed from pure spiritual energy.

"Holy crap!" Fan Li gasped, swallowing hard. "A fox spirit!"

As a man, he could barely control himself. He felt a heat rising within him.

"What's going on?!" he thought, bewildered.

He wasn’t a lustful man. Besides, he had seen countless beauties in his lifetime; his life had never lacked for female companionship. But Qing Qiu’s beauty seemed to awaken a primal urge within him.

‘I can’t resist! I’m going to make a mistake!’ he berated himself. ‘Fan Li, you’re Qing Qiu’s friend. You can’t take advantage of her like this! You’d be worse than scum!’

He mentally slapped himself, but his legs, trembling, still moved towards her, inch by inch.

Three steps.

Two steps.

One step.

He was mere inches away from this breathtakingly beautiful, completely unguarded woman.

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Then, with a sudden burst of strength, Fan Li lunged forward.

Not towards Qing Qiu, but towards the colossal skeleton behind her.

The ancient bones, hardened over countless years, were as solid as iron.

His forehead slammed against the skeleton with a sickening thud. Skin split, blood spurting like water from a showerhead in his previous life.

The pain jolted him awake, breaking the spell of Qing Qiu’s allure.

He fumbled for a bottle of blood-replenishing pills, swallowing the entire contents. The pills, produced by the Fan Clan Trading Company, were incredibly effective. His gruesome head wound, now just a superficial bruise, was rapidly healing.

However, the sight of blood splattered across the ground was still unsettling.

“Why are you injured?”

Qing Qiu's voice startled him. She was awake, her nine tails swaying gently behind her. Her voice, even more seductive than before, reminded him of Princess Chang Le.

No, even Princess Chang Le couldn't compare to Qing Qiu at this moment.

Fan Li swallowed hard. "You… You need to speak normally. Otherwise, I’m… I’m going to do something indecent!"

Qing Qiu clearly didn't understand. She tilted her head, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Damn it! The head tilt!" Fan Li mentally cursed. He quickly turned his back to her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Me?” she replied innocently. “I made a breakthrough. Is there something wrong with that?”

A breakthrough? She was already at the seventh rank of the Great Vehicle realm. Did that mean she was now at the eighth rank, as strong as Emperor Yao Guang?

"How… How can that be?" Fan Li exclaimed. "You came to the Tomb of Xuanyuan, and you just happened to have a breakthrough?"

“It’s not a coincidence,” Qing Qiu explained. “I was already about to break through. It’s a tradition among fox demons to return to the Tomb of Xuanyuan before a breakthrough. We only leave once we’ve successfully advanced. In the past, I couldn’t return because I hadn’t mastered the use of the Banner of Summoning Demons. I would simply find a secluded cave and stay there until I broke through.”

She continued, “Fan Li, this is the first time I’ve returned to the Tomb of Xuanyuan for a breakthrough since I left as a child!”

“Con… Congratulations,” Fan Li stammered, his body trembling. He almost lost control again.

An eighth-rank Great Vehicle realm cultivator, one of the strongest in the world, had transformed into a seductive temptress. Who could resist?

“Wait, I have tails again?” Qing Qiu exclaimed.

She quickly realized her mistake. The nine tails were merely manifestations of spiritual energy. They faded within moments, along with the seductive makeup on her face. Her personality also reverted to its usual detached state.

“Fan Li, you can turn around now. I’m fine.”

Hearing her familiar, emotionless tone, Fan Li sighed with relief. And perhaps, a tinge of disappointment.

He turned around, forcing a smile. “You could have warned me beforehand, you know. Most men can’t resist the allure of a nine-tailed fox.”

“…This is the first time I’ve had a breakthrough in front of a man. I apologize,” Qing Qiu said, lowering her head like a child admitting a mistake.

“It’s alright, it’s alright.”

He could tell she was inexperienced in these matters. At least nothing disastrous had happened.

“Are there any other nine-tailed foxes here in the Tomb of Xuanyuan?” Fan Li asked, looking around. “What about your family and friends?”

Qing Qiu’s emotionless mask cracked, a flicker of sadness crossing her face.

“I am the last nine-tailed fox. My mother failed her tribulation and died. I cultivated alone in the tomb until the spiritual energy was depleted. I had no choice but to leave, taking the Banner of Summoning Demons with me. The Brahma Sound Pure Land and the Tomb of Xuanyuan have always had a close relationship. The First Supreme Sage Ruler showed kindness to my clan. So, I sought refuge in the Pure Land and was taken in by the previous Supreme Sage Ruler…”

“Wait a minute!” Fan Li interrupted. “Your mother failed her tribulation? What about the other nine-tailed foxes? Did they all fail their tribulations and perish?”

Qing Qiu nodded. “Yes.”

Fan Li stared at her, incredulous.

Failing a tribulation? Were they joking?

It wasn’t a national ascension; it was just one individual cultivating. How could it be so difficult that it led to the extinction of an entire race? Were these legendary fox demons all cultivation failures?

But Qing Qiu was right there before him, an eighth-rank Great Vehicle realm expert. In terms of cultivation talent, she was among the top ten in the world.

“Is it possible… that the nine-tailed foxes were cursed by Heaven?”

His gaze, unconsciously shifting away from Qing Qiu, fell on the inscription behind Daji’s remains:

"What was the crime of the Shang Dynasty?"

"What was the crime of the Emperor?"

"Why, oh why, did Heaven abandon us?"

Perhaps… Heaven’s wrath had fallen not only on the Shang Emperor but on the entire nine-tailed fox clan.