Chapter 345

Chapter 346: Out-of-town Fox

The large silver-lit moon grew bigger in view, until its energy dome, artificial atmosphere, scattered settlements, and giant structures became clear; a moment later, the Celestial Ship pinged Foxy with a reminder to slow down for docking, and Yu Sheng watched the Celestial Ship in his sight drift like a falling leaf toward a glowing navigation marker on Nethermoon.

Foxy flicked a few tails, fine-tuning angle and thrust to match the High Immortal vessel’s descent, then followed its landing guidance through the atmosphere and down toward the ground.

A huge facility came into sight ahead: a tall tower built on a plain, delicate like a Seven-Treasure pagoda, wreathed in auspicious clouds. Many white jade platforms engraved with immortal sigils floated around it. Celestial Ships dropped from orbit to rest on those platforms, which then slid to new positions, lowered to the ground, or retracted into hangars beneath the tower to speed up takeoffs and landings.

When Foxy eased toward one platform, the tower’s Artifact Spirit sensed the Temporary Mobile Immortal Operating License tied under her chin. A guiding beam shone, and the platform moved on its own to the best landing spot; a clear, airy voice reached Foxy and Yu Sheng: “Welcome, Nine-Tailed High Immortal, to the Lingxi Mining Scenic Area; you may dock here free of charge.”

Foxy turned her head at once, sounding extra happy: “Benefactor, I can park here for free!”

Yu Sheng said with a pause: “Yeah. As long as you’re happy.”

After a short queue, the white jade platform lowered to the ground near the tower. Foxy hopped down lightly and headed toward where the Celestial Ship had landed, while Yu Sheng took the chance to look around and noticed another platform also descending.

He glanced up, and there on the platform stood a huge fox, a Jade-Faced Golden-Furred Five-Tail that walked off with its head high, full of pride and poise.

It was Yu Sheng’s first time seeing an Immortal Fox from this region, and he tugged the fur beneath him in surprise: “Hey, Foxy, there’s a Fox Immortal over there!”

Foxy lifted her head to look, spotted the Jade-Faced Golden-Furred Five-Tail marching along, then stepped over with quick, cheerful strides: “Hello!”

The next second, Yu Sheng saw the Jade-Faced Golden Fox tremble all over. She raised her head toward the Nine-Tailed Silver Fox, looking shocked and tense; Yu Sheng could hardly read expressions on a fox’s face, but the other fox’s tails were puffed up like pom poms, which was enough proof.

The Jade-Faced Golden Fox lowered herself without thinking, tilted her head as if she didn’t dare make eye contact, and spoke in a crisp girl’s voice: “High Immortal, do you have any orders for me… ah, I didn’t mean to take your Immortal Ark Platform! I saw it empty, so I pulled in…”

Foxy tilted her head, confused: “Huh? You didn’t take my spot. I just saw another fox and brought my benefactor to say hi~~”

Yu Sheng stood up on Foxy’s head so the golden fox could see him, pressed his hands together in greeting, and said: “Hello, I’m Yu Sheng.”

The Jade-Faced Golden Fox blinked: “Ah, hello?”

After a moment, she looked carefully at Foxy and asked: “High Immortal, do you need anything?”

Foxy answered casually: “Nope. We said hi, and now we’ll be on our way. We still have things to do.”

The golden fox hurried to reply: “Uh, High Immortal, take care on your way.”

Foxy carried Yu Sheng off at an easy trot.

The Jade-Faced Golden Fox still held her posture tight, watching the Nine-Tailed Silver Fox until the figure disappeared in the distance; only then did she finally breathe out, and her exploded fur slowly settled.

Almost at the same time, a middle-aged voice came from the side: “Ling Long? Why are you standing here?”

The golden fox called Ling Long turned and saw a tall, slim, pale man in purple robes with a high crown and tied-up hair standing nearby, looking at her in puzzlement.

She bent down at once, eyes shining as her voice turned gleeful: “Great-Granduncle, nine tails! That Immortal Elder just now had nine tails!”

“What nine tails with no beginning or end,” the purple-robed man frowned. “I told you to come find me as soon as you landed. You never showed up. I thought you crashed into someone else’s Celestial Ship again, and here you are daydreaming! Have you forgotten how you got rear-ended last time, bandaged your tail, and had to lie down for over a month?”

“Hey hey, I wasn’t daydreaming, I met a High Immortal! A nine-tailed silver fox, so white… not a single off-color hair,” Ling Long kept talking, too excited to hear the scolding. “You didn’t see her, she was so pretty! Pure spirit fire floated around her; she just walked up, and her fur was like satin… how does she keep it so nice? I didn’t dare ask. The High Immortal came right over and greeted me… nine tails!!”

The purple-robed man finally got the gist from her messy, over-excited report. Surprise slowly rose on his face, then he frowned.

“A Nine-Tailed Silver Fox? What would a High Immortal like that be doing here… touring the mining park too?”

“I don’t know, she didn’t say. But I saw a person standing on the High Immortal’s head, said his name was Yu Sheng. He looked like an ordinary person. The High Immortal called him ‘benefactor.’”

“…?!”

“What’s wrong, Great-Granduncle?”

“Stop reading the comic books your dad collects!”

“Huh?”

…

By a pavilion built into the hillside, Yu Sheng met Xuan Che, and also Luna and Irene, who had stepped off the Celestial Ship.

At first glance he saw Irene standing on Luna’s shoulder like a sailor at a lookout, peering everywhere.

“This place is great,” the little doll shouted as soon as she spotted Yu Sheng. “It’s not as grand as Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, but there are huge buildings, machines, and ships everywhere! I thought a ‘satellite’ like this would be empty and lonely.”

Yu Sheng laughed: “It’s a colony that’s been developed for hundreds of years. How could it still be empty?”

He looked the two dolls up and down, noticing they seemed to get along: “You two didn’t fight. I’m surprised.”

Irene folded her arms: “C Buckle is my defeated foe. I don’t need to bully her.”

Luna didn’t mind the bragging doll on her shoulder. She only nodded slowly and reported to Yu Sheng: “Short-Lin didn’t mess around, didn’t get stuck in a chair.”

“See? Yu Sheng worries too much,” Irene said proudly as she gave a hard hop onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder, then waved at Luna. “By the way, I think your accent is a bit heavy.”

“Was the trip smooth?” Xuan Che asked, giving a glance to the Nine-Tailed Fox crouching to scratch an itch beside Yu Sheng. “You took a while after landing before you came out.”

Yu Sheng nodded: “All good. We just met another Fox Immortal after we landed and went over to say hello.”

“People kept staring at us,” Foxy muttered as she scratched the soft fur on her neck with a hind paw. “What are they looking at?”

“Foxy’s appearance draws attention,” Xuan Che said after thinking a moment. “Nine-Tailed Spirit Foxes are rare here, and silver ones rarer. In the Fox Clan, white is held in highest honor, and the number of tails shows one’s level. I forgot to warn you.”

Foxy stopped scratching and tilted her head in doubt: “So more tails means stronger?”

“Pretty much,” Xuan Che said. “An old saying goes, ‘A fox adds a tail with a life.’ It refers to an ancient method for Spirit Foxes: after passing through the four tribulations of birth, aging, sickness, and death, each full cycle adds one tail. Some say a Spirit Fox must survive a Death Tribulation to gain another tail. That practice is outdated now, but ranking by tail count is still widely accepted among Beast Spirits and Demon Immortals.”

Foxy stared for a beat, then brightened in a heartbeat: “Hey, benefactor, then could I…”

“No.”

“I didn’t even finish-”

“You may not summon Ten Thousand Tails here… and it’s about time to change back. At that size in a crowd, I keep worrying you’ll step on someone.”

“Oh.” Foxy’s ears drooped; she rubbed her nose against Yu Sheng, grumbled a little, then obediently ended her shapeshift. She turned into a lively teenage girl again, but she did not hide her nine tails.

After all, she had come to Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain to enjoy the joy of letting her tails feel the wind and the sun.

Yu Sheng saw and said nothing. Compared to Foxy running around with nine tails, he was also walking around with an Artificial Saintess.

He had confirmed Luna’s situation with Bai Li Qing. The result was simple: not only ordinary people, more than ninety percent of transcendent folks wouldn’t recognize an Artificial Saintess on sight. Few ever needed one to act, and even fewer who had seen one were still alive. In Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, where master artifact refiners were everywhere and strange Automatons were common, there was nothing to worry about.

“I’ll take you to the entrance of that eerie Otherworld,” Xuan Che said. “I checked more details with my master on the way. The entrance lies deep in the mine’s restricted zone. Come with me.”

Yu Sheng nodded and stepped after Xuan Che.

Right then, Irene suddenly lifted her head on Yu Sheng’s shoulder and blurted out of nowhere: “I sense killing intent!”