Master of Strange Dao

The sealing is lifted, and with that, the trade is complete.

No matter if this fellow had truly died or was feigning death, and whether there was any chance they had left behind contingencies, they no longer had any opportunity now.

Literally, both body and spirit obliterated.

...

To the south of the Wilderness, life had begun to revive near the proximity of the Silver Lake Forbidden Land, and the range of this revival continued to expand.

Initially, only some wildly vigorous weeds appeared, but slowly, insects began to emerge, and after the rain, some fungi too.

Gradually, birds began to stop over when migrating within this area.

Slowly, creatures like moles also appeared, and the return to life quickened its pace.

Today, on this desolate land, a White Fox, seeking refuge from predators, entered the Wilderness from the borders of Daqian to give birth in a crude den.

The somewhat barren land was suddenly cast over by a phantom city, akin to a mirage shimmering into existence.

The White Fox poked its head out to glimpse at the twisted, illusory scenery around and, in a panic, pulled its head back into the den.

The birthing process became extremely difficult, and the fragile offspring, a Little Fox, showed no sign of movement for quite a while after birth.

The White Fox licked its newborn's wet fur in an attempt to revive its breathing, but couldn't manage to elicit any response or motion from it.

Dragging its weakened body, the White Fox looked around at the illusory city, with many unpleasant memories flooding its mind.

It burst out of the den in a desperate escape.

Inside that den, on the breathless Little Fox, a wisp of Light Spirit Qi emerged out of nowhere, circling the Little Fox a few times before it transformed into the phantom of a Nine-tailed Fox and merged into the Little Fox's body before disappearing.

Moments later, that yet-to-open-its-eyes Little Fox opened its mouth and let out a faint cry.

The White Fox that had fled, seeming to have heard the cry of its offspring, hesitated for a long time and, upon seeing the phantom of the illusory city disappear once again, it hurried back to the den and didn't dare to venture out again.

Even the mere phantom of that burning fire instilled in it an immense fear.

None knew what had transpired on this waste of barren land, though strong beings in the vicinity felt something stir, and when they cast their gazes over, they found nothing.

Nor did anyone realize that this place was once the location of Dingmao City.

An overwhelming force released in one breath, even just a sliver making its way to the outside world, was already immense.

This earliest creature to arrive at the southern part of the Wilderness, which was regaining vitality, chose to become a part of that resurgence, and it just happened to be at the site of old Dingmao City, earning a great stroke of fortune.

In just one day, the newborn Little Fox opened its eyes to the world outside for the first time.

Confused and barely conscious, it had already awakened its spiritual wisdom, with many fragmented things slowly surfacing in its mind.

The first thing it remembered was a man with gentle eyes, petting its head while looking at it quietly, seemingly saying something, but it didn't understand the words.

It only remembered the kindness in that gaze.

It would fall into a deep sleep after satiating its hunger, as if it felt safe and warm just being watched over.

The Wilderness was safe now.

The White Fox could be regarded as the biggest creature here.

Humans hardly ever came or lingered here, and the occasional Cultivator that passed by soared high above, their tunneling light streaking across the sky.

For a weak, newborn Little White Fox, this was the best place in the world.

It provided enough for it to grow up slowly, safely.

A month's time had passed, and the fluffy ball sat at the entrance of the den, blankly staring at the sky.

The snippets that occasionally surfaced in its mind were becoming more abundant.

Clumsily jumping off a small dirt mound, attempting to mimic the large fox it saw in its fragments, it aimed to fly.

But inevitably, it would tumble down and roll off the dirt mound, becoming a fluffy little ball.

Now that it had gained spiritual wisdom, it started pondering, and slowly, it began to understand it was different from its mother.

Whenever it saw the full moon, it would instinctively breathe in sync with the moon and naturally learned to conceal its existence.

More and more fragments appeared in its mind, disjointed and not clear, with only the first memory of that person remaining vivid.

Oh, that was a person, why do I know it's a person?

It had never seen people before.

Its tiny head was filled with huge doubts.

It felt that only by properly hiding itself, then consistently growing smarter and jumping higher, or being able to fly like that large fox, would it be able to unravel these mysteries.

...

Yu Ziqing stealthily emerged from the Abyssal Rift, sneaking around as if a thief, concealing his presence, not using any power, and quietly returned to the Wilderness.

He had never left Jinlan Mountain and was unaware of what had happened outside. Everything had nothing to do with me, Yu Ziqing.

After silently mouthing these words, Yu Ziqing headed straight for the locust forest.

However, just as he neared the locust forest, he saw a black shadow flying towards him.

Yu Ziqing punched out, and the shadow let out a "meow," screaming as it was sent flying backward.

"Meow?"

From the underbrush, a black cat flew into Yu Ziqing's arms.

Feeling Yu Ziqing supporting it with one hand and involuntarily stroking it with the other, the black cat squinted its eyes and settled down, tucking in its body cozily.

"I'm wounded! Without the Moon God's blessing, I can't recover."