Chapter 27: The Fox Spirit
Chapter 27: The Fox Spirit
The rain fell through the entire night.
Lin Jiufeng cultivated through the entire night as well.
In that single night, he absorbed more Spiritual Energy than he had gathered through an entire year of seated meditation and Qi cultivation.
After breaking through to the Seventh Seal, he had spent the past year making no deliberate effort to advance — instead, he had been consolidating, stabilizing his Seventh Seal cultivation.
Yet in just one night, Lin Jiufeng had pushed his cultivation all the way to the peak of the Seventh Seal.
The newborn Spiritual Energy was vast and extraordinarily pure. As it poured into his body, it drove his cultivation ever higher without pause.
The Seventh Seal — the Spiritual Sanctuary — Lin Jiufeng had already unlocked much of it.
His Soul Sea world now truly resembled a boundless ocean, stretching without end, with countless treasures waiting to be excavated from within.
When the proud morning sun illuminated the Golden Summit Hall of Yuhua Sect, Lin Jiufeng ceased his cultivation and glanced at the three young disciples beside him. They were still cultivating, their auras fluctuating intensely. Last night's Spiritual Energy had been a tremendous boon for them, and now that the rain had stopped and the energy was gone, they were still in the process of digesting it.
Lin Jiufeng did not disturb them. He quietly withdrew to the tea room, brewed a pot of tea, and sat in careful contemplation.
Though last night's advancement had not broken through to the Eighth Seal, he had gained no small amount of insight — his understanding of heaven, earth, and all living beings had grown considerably clearer.
What puzzled Lin Jiufeng was this: why had his single Rain Seal caused such a descent of Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth?
"That Spiritual Energy was far more abundant and far purer than anything I've encountered before — as though it came from an entirely different world." Lin Jiufeng slowly turned over the events of the previous night in his mind.
He had reactivated his Heavenly Comprehension, dormant for a year, and comprehended the Rain Seal. That in itself was unremarkable — after all, he had spent a full year in consolidation.
But when the Rain Seal struck the gentle spring drizzle and triggered a torrential downpour, bringing with it an enormous surge of Spiritual Energy — that was beyond anything he had anticipated.
"Should I try it again?" The thought had barely formed before Lin Jiufeng acted on it, immediately unleashing a Rain Seal.
Boom!
The Rain Seal conjured a shower of rain over Yuhua Sect's mountain gate — but within that rain, there was none of the Spiritual Energy Lin Jiufeng had hoped to see.
"It doesn't work now?" Lin Jiufeng frowned, lifted his teacup for a sip, and speculated: "Could it be that the Rain Seal only produces that effect when it's already raining?"
"It seems I'll have to wait for the next rainfall and try again." Lin Jiufeng filed the matter away in his mind.
"Still, even with a full year of accumulation, I've only reached the peak of the Seventh Seal. The Eighth Seal is still some distance away. It seems the Eighth Seal — the Dao Ancestor realm — is truly difficult to break through." Lin Jiufeng turned his gaze inward and smiled to himself.
He felt no discouragement. If he hadn't broken through to the Eighth Seal this time, there would be a next time. Besides, Yuhua Sect's situation was far better than before — Bai Yunfei was out in the world buying him time, so there was no need to rush.
Thinking of Bai Yunfei, Lin Jiufeng suddenly realized that his Junior Brother had been away from Yuhua Sect for a full year now. He wondered how things were going for him out in the cultivation world.
"He should be fine. Bai Yunfei is an Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor, and he has the Yuhua Ascension Scripture along with the other techniques I passed on to him. To kill him, you'd need either a Ninth Seal cultivator or seven or eight Eighth Seal masters attacking together. Short of that, there's nowhere in this world he can't go." With that thought, Lin Jiufeng's worries dissolved.
He lit a stick of sandalwood incense and settled in to enjoy his tea in peace.
A gentle breeze stirred, setting the small bells hanging from the eaves of the Canon Pavilion chiming with a clear, crisp sound.
The True Qi within Lin Jiufeng's body flowed steadily, smoothing out the restless energy from his recent breakthrough.
At that moment, the three young disciples at the Canon Pavilion's entrance finished absorbing the vast Spiritual Energy from the previous night. They came pattering into the tea room, chattering excitedly at Lin Jiufeng all at once.
"Senior Uncle, the Spiritual Energy last night was so dense! One night of effort surpassed half a year of my usual gains." Yue Dashan exclaimed in amazement.
"Right! By the end of last night I couldn't absorb any more — it's the first time I've ever felt full from absorbing Spiritual Energy." Zhou Tianzi nodded along.
"Senior Uncle, where did all that Spiritual Energy come from?" Wen Xinyun asked curiously.
Lin Jiufeng looked at the three eager young disciples and chuckled. "That Spiritual Energy descended from the heavens. As long as you all cultivate diligently, there will be more descents of Spiritual Energy in the future."
"That's wonderful! Just last night brought me to the peak of the Fourth Seal — if it happens again, I'm sure I can break through to the Fifth Seal." Yue Dashan said excitedly.
"Same for me. The Fifth Seal isn't far off." Zhou Tianzi chimed in.
"Senior Uncle, did you absorb Spiritual Energy last night as well?" Wen Xinyun asked with concern.
"I did." Lin Jiufeng nodded.
"Then did Senior Uncle break through to the Eighth Seal?" Wen Xinyun looked at Lin Jiufeng with hopeful eyes.
The other two young disciples also looked at him with excitement.
They all knew that Yuhua Sect's great enemy, the Taishang Sect, was formidable. If Senior Uncle broke through to the Eighth Seal, Yuhua Sect would have far more to stand on.
Lin Jiufeng shook his head. "If the Eighth Seal were that easy to break through, it wouldn't deserve to be called the Dao Ancestor realm. You're overestimating your Senior Uncle."
Wen Xinyun offered comfort: "It's alright. I believe Senior Uncle will definitely break through. Master told us that the future of Yuhua Sect rests on Senior Uncle's shoulders."
Lin Jiufeng smiled. "You all have that much faith in your Senior Uncle?"
"Of course! Senior Uncle is our role model." Wen Xinyun said with conviction.
Yue Dashan and Zhou Tianzi nodded firmly in agreement.
"Alright, go consolidate your rapidly increased cultivation. Build a solid foundation — a towering building rises from the ground up, and everything depends on that foundation." Lin Jiufeng shooed the three young disciples away, lest they disturb his peace.
As they had grown over the years and spent more time together, the bonds between them had deepened considerably. Lin Jiufeng had come to notice that all three of the young disciples had a tendency to be a little talkative.
Of course, that was only in front of him. In front of Bai Yunfei, the three of them spoke far less.
After all, Bai Yunfei was often in seclusion and had spent very little time with the three of them.
With the three young disciples sent away, Lin Jiufeng returned to his tea, savoring and contemplating the Rain Seal he had comprehended.
Time passed until nightfall.
Lin Jiufeng's Divine Soul sensed that the three young disciples were each in their own rooms, sitting cross-legged in meditation, absorbing Spiritual Energy without the slightest slackening of effort.
"The little ones are working so hard — I, their Senior Uncle, had better work hard as well." Lin Jiufeng raised a hand and extinguished the lamp, preparing to sit cross-legged and cultivate.
But in the very next moment, his brow furrowed. His senses detected someone sneaking furtively into Yuhua Sect, heading straight for the Canon Pavilion.
Ever since Bai Yunfei had made a name for himself out in the cultivation world, everyone knew that Yuhua Sect now had only a handful of people within its walls. As a result, over the past year, many had snuck into the mountain gate attempting to steal the Yuhua Ascension Scripture.
Without exception, every one of them had been dealt with quietly by Lin Jiufeng.
At the Seventh Seal, Lin Jiufeng could handle even an Eighth Seal Dao Ancestor without making a sound — as long as they didn't come in great numbers.
Tonight, Lin Jiufeng treated it as he would any other such occasion and was just about to act — to silently deal with the intruder — when he suddenly realized that what had entered Yuhua Sect's mountain gate tonight was not a person.
It was a fox spirit.
Lin Jiufeng's Divine Soul soared high above, looking down over the entirety of Yuhua Sect's mountain gate, and there he saw it — a white jade fox, flawless and translucent, its white fur shimmering with extraordinary softness beneath the moonlight.
"A fox spirit?" Lin Jiufeng was utterly astonished. This was the first time he had ever laid eyes on a fox spirit.
And a legendary fox demon at that.