"Other worlds... humans... and we're living in the middle of nowhere in this mortal world..."
As she quietly absorbed her mother's teachings, her youthful and divine face gradually grew serious, her glowing eyes filling with intense curiosity.
"That's all for now," her mother fnished softly, a playful and amused smile lighting up her features as she observed the rapid shifts in her daughter's expressions during her talk.
"W-Wait! You said I'm a beast, just like those beasts I always encounter in the forest. And a fox, at that? But, Mom, you said foxes have tails. Why don't I have one then?" Her daughter voiced out with confusion.
She had assumed she was human based on the knowledge her mother had shared with her just now.
Hearing her daughter casually describe herself as a mere beast, similar to the ones she frequently defeated in the forest, her eye's twitched. Her precious child was not some mere beast! Her race was nowhere close to those unintelligent and weak creatures.
She shook her head inwardly, suppressing herself, took a playful grin. Giggling softly, she gently pointed behind her daughter and teased, "Hehe... You really think you don't have a tail? Then, what exactly do you think that is?"
Hearing her mother's remark, she quickly turned her head, doubtful and somewhat amused. Surely, she would have noticed by now if she'd had a tail all these years. Besides, her mother didn't have one—did she?
Yet, as her gaze shifted behind her, her eyes widened in shock, settling on the sight of a fluffy white tail gently wagging back and forth.
"AHH!"
"Hehe"
A few minutes later, the two stepped outside their home, walking together toward the dense forest, eager to test the abilities of this newly Spirit Master.
The daughter joyfully roamed ahead, yet she suddenly paused, turning back with a curious expression.
"Mom..." she began hesitantly, tilting her head. "Why don't you have a tail then?" She was a fox.. so her mother should be the same right? then why she didn't have?
Hearing her question, her mother's eyebrows twitched subtly, momentarily betraying hidden emotions. Quickly regaining her composure, she took her usual gentle smile, though now touched by a mysterious pride. "Back then, I had a tail too... In fact, also, not just one" she said gently, a faint nostalgia shimmering in her eyes.
The girl's confusion deepened, prompting her to inquire further. "Hmm? You had more than one tail? But I thought foxes have only one tail?"
Her mother merely continued smiling, offering no explanation. Yet, her gentle expression now carried a quiet dignity, glowing softly with prideful reminiscence of her past
Momentarily mesmerized by her mother's fragile and sick yet delicate beautiful expression, the girl silently admired her,
'Mom is truly beautiful' she inwardly muttered with a smile.
Receiving no further response, she decided not to press on, recalling her mother's earlier words that there were many things she'd yet to learn, just not now.
The two continued walking silently yet, suddenly, her mother suddenly stumbled, collapsing heavily to the ground.
"MOM!!" A surge of panic and fear instantly seized the young girl's heart, as she rushed toward her fallen mother. The ground were covered with gold crimson blood.
"..Don't worry, I'm oka–" she began, trying to regain her composure. However, her voice faltered when she saw her daughter's face clearly for the first time since collapsing. Her daughter was crying—crying terribly.
An unbearable pain, unlike anything she had ever imagined, surged through her heart. She had endured countless battles and agonies throughout her life, yet nothing compared to the agony of witnessing her beloved child overwhelmed by sorrow.
Helplessness consumed her completely as she watched tears cascade down her daughter's beautiful face, staining her cheeks in heartbreaking trails.
"D-Don't l-leave me"
Her daughter murmured softly, her voice trembling and choked with sobs.
A chilling realization struck her like lightning: her daughter already knew the truth about her condition. Her heart clenched in guilt and anguish, wishing fiercely she could rewrite fate itself to spare herself and her daughter.
"I– I…"
she stuttered, struggling desperately to find the right words to ease her daughter's pain, to somehow end this cruel, emotional torture for herself.
But before she could complete her sentence, an ominous ripple tore violently through the serene sky of the mortal plane way above them, creating a massive, dark rift amidst the once peaceful clouds.
Her heart sank deeper into dread as a second realization shattered her mind, causing her heart to halt in shock. She recognized instantly what was happening, her eyes widening in horror.
Someone from a higher plane is descending!
She inwardly cursed the heavens then realizing there was no time left, she quickly released her daughter's trembling arms and firmly grasped her shoulders, forcing herself to assume a serious, unwavering expression despite the sorrow and anger she felt.
"Listen to me!"
Startled by the sudden dominance in her mother's voice—a tone she'd never heard before—the girl felt goosebumps rising all over her body. Yet, beneath the commanding force, she sensed a softness, an overwhelming love wrapped in urgency. Gathering herself, she quickly steadied herself and gave a nod.
"Promise me..." her mother started, pausing momentarily as hesitation appeared in her eyes, yet she continued. "Promise me you'll cherish your life more than anything or anyone. Promise me you'll stay alive—no matter what!"
"M-Mom, what's goi—"
"I said promise me!" Her mother interrupted sharply, infusing her words with even greater intensity and dominance. It was the first time she'd ever seen her mother like this, fierce and unwavering, and the sight was frightening. Unable to think or protest further, she swiftly nodded in.
"I-I promise."
"Good..." her mother whispered gently, her voice quivering as tears slowly welled up in her eyes. Without warning, she pulled her daughter into an embrace.
"Mommy has things she needs to do now... I'll be gone for a long time... a very, very long time," she whispered sorrowfully and continued.
"You must cultivate diligently, Little Star. Train hard, and never slack. And never, ever forget your promise."
Contrary to her mother's bittersweet resolve, the daughter felt her fragile heart shattering into pieces. She burst into tears once more, utterly broken, sobbing uncontrollably against her mother's shoulder.
"Go back home now" her mother gently urged, placing a small, mysterious stone into her daughter's shaking palm. "Take this. With it, you'll learn everything you need to know."
She embraced her daughter one final time, pouring every ounce of love, warmth, and affection she had left into that fleeting moment. Their time had almost run out. Gently pulling away, she softly whispered her farewell, a heart-wrenching yet tender smile on her lips
"Goodbye, my little star"
'Noooo...'
Losing all strength, the young girl collapsed helplessly onto the ground, unaware of the fact that her mother actually started flying rapidly toward the sky.
Hovering high above the trees, her mother drew in a deep, painful breath. 'Thankfully, I still have just enough spiritual energy left for this.' She gracefully performed a complex series of rapid, intricate hand gestures. Her hands danced swiftly, weaving countless threads of spiritual energy into a beautiful pattern. In mere moments, an invisible ripple expanded from her slender figure, swiftly enveloping the entire forest like a ghostly curtain.
Seconds later, the transparent veil solidified, blanketing the forest beneath a flawless illusion, seamlessly erasing all traces of the forest as though it had never existed at all.
Panting heavily from exertion and fatigue, she immediately dashed away toward a distant deserted castle.
Meanwhile, high above, the ominous rift finally stabilized and opened fully, revealing two formidable figures descending slowly onto the mortal plane.
The first figure had long, sleek black hair cascading freely behind him, framing an arrogantly handsome face adorned with sharp, intimidating features with a buky body.
Beside him stood another figure, slimmer and slightly taller, possessing an elegantly indifferent expression. His demeanor was calm, bordering on boredom. Both emitted an overpowering aura, and their eyes held a cold disdain as if everything beneath them in this plane was worthless.
"AHH!"
"Help! I'm dying, help me, Brother Xuanfeng!" the bulky figure groaned, his voice echoing through the sky.
"Tch, stop being so dramatic, it's not that bad," Xuanfeng replied dryly, his tone laced with mild annoyance as he glanced casually toward his companion.
"Not that bad!? If I hadn't eaten in two thousand years, I would have vomited to death already!" Unsurprisingly, this mortal plane's spiritual energy was like dirt and dust for them, flowing to their dantian involuntary.
Ignoring his companion's complaints, Xuanfeng silently extended his senses outward, instantly engulfing the entire planet within his divine sense. He quickly scanned every corner, effortlessly perceiving all life forms. His indifferent eyes finally paused, settling upon a distant castle where a weak and fragile-looking woman had fled before.
A faint smirk appeared on his lips as he remarked, "Stop complaining and come with me. And be careful—even though she's lost her godly tails and can't cultivate thus, she can't even replenish it anymore, she might still possess a little bit spiritual energy"
"What?! we finnaly found that bitch?!"
Somewhere under the vast heavens, deep within a forgotten corner of a mortal plane, a woman stood still—her eyes gently closed, having already accepted her fate.
A soft breeze brushed against her pale cheek, stirring strands of her silver hair. Slowly, her tired eyes opened, only to meet the gaze of two dark-clothed figures standing before her, cloaked in spiritual pressure.
"Well, well, well... did your esteemed self enjoy this little mouse-and-cat game?"
The slim figure said mockingly, his usual nonchalance now edged with irritation. It was rare to see Xuanfeng visibly annoyed, and even rarer for someone to be the cause of it.
"Game? What are you talking about, Brother Xuanfeng?"
Hearing his companion's remarks, he clicked his tongue. 'This idiot...' Xuanfeng cursed inwardly. For eleven long years, he'd endured this fool's company, to find the woman now barely standing before them.
'At least it's over now'
His senses confirmed it—she was drained of spiritual energy, utterly helpless. Not answering his question, he continued coldly.
"How lucky you are to still be alive,
If we'd arrived a few days later, you would've been dust like most of your kind."
The woman remained silent, didn't rebuke or anything. Her chest rose and fell with labored breath. "Enough... just lead the way," she muttered, barely managing to stay upright. She wanted to leave this mortal plane as soon as possible; the illusion that had veiled her daughter's presence was powerful enough to deceive even someone like those two, but there were only a few minutes left before it unraveled.
"Oh? So now you're willing to share the secrets of ?@€#>|£#||ßo* to save the few remaining lives of your race?" Xuanfeng sneered, mocking. "Why didn't you do that back then?"
They had both considered the possibility that she had committed suicide during the long years they searched, but now she was surrendering just like that. The two couldn't understand why she ran away in that condition; the pain she felt while her life was slipping away every day was unnecessary. Cultivators, even the most broken ones, always believed in miracles. But in her case, there was no way she could regrow her tails or something, cultivate again.
Yet, she didn't respond. Without further questions, a rift tore open in front of them.
"Aiyah" the bulky man groaned, stretching his shoulders. "I've lost count of how many times we've opened these spatial gateways. Our master must be richer than those annoying dragons…"
He wasn't wrong. Traveling between mortal planes wasn't something even powerful cultivators could do freely. Each time they were using immense worth of treasures.
Meanwhile, the woman stared into the swirling vortex of the rift, her body tensed. She knew what awaited her—imprisonment, interrogation, and the slow bargaining of her knowledge in exchange for her people's safety. 'As if they'd truly be freed... No, but they'll be safe. As long as I have what they want, they won't touch them'
She took a step forward—but as one foot crossed into the rift, her face darkened; she felt two gazes crawling over her body. She stepped in immediately without looking back.
To Xuanfeng's surprise, even he faltered for a heartbeat. Seeing her this close, fragile yet still carrying an echo of divine beauty, he was mesmerized.
'Even after all this, even sick and stripped of her former glory... she could still be called a divine beauty'
The two men immediately followed her into the rift, leaving the mortal world behind; there was no reason to stay here; their dantian was crying from the trash Qi.
As silence filled the fading space, a whisper echoed softly within the depths of the dimensional passage. Only she could hear it—gentle, aching, and filled with longing.
"Xi Ling... my little star... I missed you already."