"Our Fox Race has methods for prayer and warding off disasters, as well as secret arts for extending lifespan. You, Sect Leader, truly get a significant advantage by forming a bond with me!"
Xu Qing was moved at heart.
Prayers are a divine technique obtained by a Nine-tailed Fox when they cultivate their fourth tail. It allows one to make wishes to the heavens and earth, enhancing fortune and increasing the blessing of oneself or others.
Averting disaster is an ability gained upon reaching the fifth tail, which serves to mitigate calamities affecting oneself or others. It is a method to ward off and resolve disasters.
However, excessiveness can be detrimental. If the Nine-tailed Fox's divine techniques for prayers and disaster aversion exceed their own limits, it will inevitably diminish their cultivation and bring about canine tribulation, human tribulation, killing tribulation, and other costs.
Xu Qing understood; the idea of forming a bond with a spirit fox essentially meant gaining a charm that provides positive benefits for oneself.
Realizing this, he felt relieved.
Talking about money damages feelings, talking about feelings damages money, but if it's mutually beneficial without other constraints, an extra charm doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Xu Qing gladly agreed.
However, at this moment, Xu Qing had no inkling about the additional conditions that came with bonding with the Fox Immortal.
It's important to know that gifting a fox as a token of connection is a traditional skill of Qingqiu and Tu Mountain.
Hu Baosong didn't mention this, nor did Daoist Yizhen.
By common rule, the sons and daughters of the Nine-tailed Fox clan are generally exquisitely modeled, each incredibly handsome. Coupled with their innate seductive allure, whether it's a Fox Girl connecting with a human woman or a fox prince with a human man, relationships are likely to develop into an uncontrollable situation.
Not to mention the attraction between yin and yang, the pull between genders.
However, Xu Qing's zombie form was already extremely yin. Let alone Bai Qiuyu, wrapped tighter than a mummy in her divination robe, even if Senior Sister Yizhen took a contrasting approach with a qipao, he'd still look for thermal pants to put on her.
Within the ruins of Qingqiu Kingdom, a bright moon hung high.
Xu Qing walked under the moon, led by the Fox Girl.
Everywhere they passed was overgrown with wild smoke and grass, with broken walls and ruins hidden in the forest. When they reached a secluded valley, under the pale moonlight, mounds of graves and gravestones were revealed.
Amid the forest of graves, ghostly wisps lingered flittingly, accompanied by whispers of foxes.
If encountered by a common person, they would not be frightened to death instantly but would certainly be terrified.
But Xu Qing approached it like a stroll to the neighbor's graveyard, walking leisurely without any restraint.
Throughout the journey, it was Bai Qiuyu who maintained a strained expression, speaking awkwardly as if bringing a son-in-law to meet his elders for the first time...
Xu Qing observed the ruins of Qingqiu Kingdom. Though it bore the name of Qingqiu Kingdom, it was actually a cemetery preserved by the Qingqiu Nine-tailed clan for tens of thousands of years.
Bai Qiuyu led Xu Qing into the depths of the cemetery. When she saw a collapsed stone tablet, her face showed sorrow as she said, "A fox returns to its origin, that is the nature of our race. Unless one dies in a foreign land by accident, they will strive to return to Qingqiu to rest in peace."
"This grave belongs to my maternal line," she continued, standing alone before the monument.
"When the world was connected, outsiders still feared the celestial ties Qingqiu had with the three realms and six paths. But after the heavenly way was severed, Qingqiu, with its countless treasures, became a target labeled as a demon by everyone."
Xu Qing remained silent.
Both Qingqiu and Tu Mountain, as well as the Nine-tailed Fox types, were regarded as auspicious creatures akin to Bai Ze since ancient times.
Rumors that Nine-tailed Foxes eat humans, seduce people, and cause calamities originated only after the separation of the heavens.
The reason, simply put, was that people couldn't find a way out, and since Qingqiu and Tu Mountain were steeped in legends of celestial fate...
To give legitimacy to their actions, even if the Nine-tailed Foxes weren't demons, they had to be considered as such.
If one wants to impose a crime, there will be no lack of excuses.
Looking at the array of graves, Xu Qing could barely imagine that this place was once a flourishing celestial paradise.
However, just as Xu Qing was lost in thought, the Divination Maiden beside him suddenly offered incense to the ancestors and declared:
"With the spirits of the ancestors above, as the last descendant of the Nine-tailed, the final bloodline of Qingqiu, I should naturally bear the responsibility of continuing our lineage."
Saying this, Bai Qiuyu's face turned a shade of red as she inadvertently gave Xu Qing a sidelong glance, an instant of charm that truly captivated the soul.
Not you, what are you looking at me for?
Xu Qing finally sensed that something was amiss.
But considering Bai Qiuyu was in the middle of ancestral worship, Xu Qing, possessing absolute professional demeanor, restrained his impulse to take out the Sacred Ruler to instruct her.
He had warned this fox long ago not to rely on that seductive technique when unnecessary, and it was clear she treated his advice as trivial as the wind by her ears!
Finally, after Bai Qiuyu finished her ancestral worship, Xu Qing asked, "When do you plan to introduce me to your family elders?"
Bai Qiuyu took out a jade shaped like a fox's head and said, "This jade is a symbol of our Qingqiu clan. Sect Leader can take this jade to the main house; thus, even if the ancestors blame us, they might show leniency out of respect for this Jade Pendant."
Xu Qing accepted the Jade Pendant, tying it to his waist. But just as he was about to set off to work, Bai Qiuyu hurriedly blocked his path and said, "I haven't told you the direction to the main house yet..."
"Are you referring to the underground living tomb that moves around?"
Before Bai Qiuyu could respond, Xu Qing had already led her to a grave.
"Don't you forget, I'm a burial master. There's no tomb in this world that I haven't been able to enter."
As he spoke, Xu Qing wrapped his arm around Bai Qiuyu's waist, and they lay down on the ground. In the next moment, their bodies seemed to sink into the mire, and in an instant, they descended into the earth's veins, reaching the true location of the 'Qingqiu Capital.'