Time passed in this sealed little world.
The beasts were still as stupid. The wind still reeked of thin Dou Qi. And yet, the crimson-haired human hadn't given up.
> Most would've fled the mountain after I slammed them into a boulder. Twice.
Yet he remained.
Day after day, she'd watch him stumble through martial stances, grunt through weighted punches, and collapse under his own body's limits — only to get up again, eyes burning.
But then… she noticed something strange.
Very strange.
> He doesn't cultivate.
Not once had she seen him sit cross-legged, absorbing the natural Qi of the world. No meditation. No technique practice. No pills. No arrays.
Only repetition.
Over and over, again and again — refining his movements, sensing his muscles, striking with gradually increasing precision.
And yet…
> His strength keeps rising.
From 1-Star Dou Fighter to 2-Star, then 3-Star… then 4-Star.
By the end of the second month, he'd already become a 5-Star Dou Fighter.
> Impossible.
In this primitive realm, that kind of progression should require serious cultivation. Pills. Resources. External aid.
> But this fool? He doesn't even know how to sit still.
She'd circled him countless times, tails flicking thoughtfully, silently watching as he practiced basic punches for the hundredth time that day.
At first, she thought he had some strange bloodline.
Then she wondered if his body had some innate mutation.
But one night, as she perched silently on a cliff watching him move through stances under moonlight, it clicked.
Her tails froze mid-sway.
> ...He's not progressing through cultivation.
> He's breaking through because his true cultivation is sealed.
> He's training his physical and soul control until his strength aligns perfectly with it. He's earning back his power with absolute precision.
That realization shocked even her.
> Who seals their own cultivation and fights as a mortal just to temper control? And he's actually succeeding?!
That kind of resolve… that kind of discipline… was rare even among the Great thousand word.
> What kind of background do you have, Xiao Ranyu?
She squinted at him, heart flickering with curiosity.
And then—grinning wickedly—decided to help.
---
The next day, she interrupted his palm training.
He had just begun channeling Dou Qi through his strike, trying to flow it perfectly through his meridians when—
> SWISH!
A white tail slapped the side of his leg, throwing his stance off.
He tripped. Face-planted into the dirt.
> "You again?!" he groaned.
She flicked her tails mockingly, then demonstrated.
Standing on two legs for a moment, her three tails gracefully curved, guiding the trajectory of an invisible punch, perfectly timed with a twist of her small paw.
It was elegant. Precise. Mocking.
> Like saying: "THIS is how you control strength, idiot."
He stared at her for a beat.
Then narrowed his eyes.
> "Oh, so you're laughing at me now, huh?!"
She sat proudly.
He gritted his teeth, got up, and — begrudgingly — copied the motion.
Once.
Twice.
> Oh? His Dou Qi stabilized.
By the tenth repetition, the energy around him surged.
> Interesting...
---
A week later, his strength broke through again.
Not 6-Star Dou Fighter.
Not even 9-Star.
But Dou Master.
Huolian nearly fell off her tree branch.
> What… the actual tails?!
She sniffed him again later that evening.
Still no signs of cultivation. Still no pills. Still no arrays.
And yet...
> He broke through a bottleneck equivalent to Spiritual Movement Stage.
In her world, that stage was no joke. It was the foundation of true Sovereigns — those who could walk the heavens and split mountains with thought.
> For someone in this realm to reach that just by refining control… it shouldn't be possible.
And yet it happened.
She stared at his sleeping form under the firelight, his cloak covering his bare chest, expression peaceful despite bruises littering his arms.
> He's reckless, loud, and calls me cute...
She narrowed her eyes.
> But maybe… just maybe… you're more than a clown.
Her tails curled around her thoughtfully.
> Let's see how far you go, Xiao Ranyu. If nothing else… you're entertaining.
And then she grinned.
> Tomorrow, I'll trip him again. Mid-punch. He will be so grumpy. Heh.
---
Time flowed like water in the sealed, thin-aired world of the Dou Qi Continent.
The beasts still roared. The trees still whispered. And Xiao Ranyu… was still punching rocks like they insulted his ancestors.
But what once amused Huolian now began to deeply unsettle her.
Because—
> He was catching up.
---
At first, she'd simply wanted to tease him.
Give him a little nudge here. A correction there.
Trip him mid-kick. Slap his shoulder mid-stretch. Throw an herb at his head when he slouched.
Nothing serious. Just… playful lessons.
> He calls me cute? I'll show him how 'cute' I can be.
But then—
He took those accidental demonstrations.
Copied them.
Refined them.
Improved them.
---
By the end of the fourth month, he stood at the pinnacle of Dou Master, and Huolian—perched in her favorite sun-warmed tree—felt her tails stiffen with disbelief.
> No pills. No arrays. No practice manuals. Nothing. Just raw control and physical comprehension…
> ...and he's almost caught up to the stage I reached after devouring a Moonlight Essence Flame core?!
She leapt from branch to branch, circling above as he practiced.
Watched the flow of Dou Qi through his meridians—clean, crisp, efficient.
> He's compressing his Qi flow instinctively. Most Practitioner can't do this without years of training...
Her third tail twitched nervously.
She didn't like this.
> This is terrifying.
He's still sealing himself. This is just a fraction of his real power...
And so—on that fated morning—Huolian made a decision.
> I'm going to test him.
...Then maybe slap him until he forgets how to grow.
---
It began like any normal day.
Xiao Ranyu was shirtless again.
(Seriously, why was he always shirtless?)
He stood near the edge of a cliff, practicing palm strikes with his usual overconfidence.
> "One more time! —"
> FWOOOSH!
Huolian darted in, her paw glowing faintly with icy Dou Qi, and sent a shockwave that canceled his movement mid-strike.
> "Huh?! Fox again?!"
Before he could react, she pounced.
Claws swiped, not deep enough to wound, but strong enough to force a response.
Ranyu skidded back, shocked but grinning.
> "Oh? A rematch? Fine, bring it on, tail puff!"
> Tail puff…?
> You brave, stupid man.
---
What started as a playful exchange quickly escalated.
His strikes were crude—but powerful.
His footwork, unstable—but adaptive.
She increased her strength. He met it with raw instinct and shocking battle sense.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Twenty.
The ground cracked. Trees splintered. Dust and leaves filled the air.
Her expression—once playful—turned grave.
> He's reading my feints faster.
> His flow is keeping up with my tempo...
> This is not normal!
---
They clashed again.
His right palm, now lined with compressed Dou Qi, met her paw in mid-air.
The resulting force cracked the stone beneath them.
Huolian's pupils shrank.
> He's matching 60% of my peak strength… and he's still just a Dou Master?!
> I'm a Three-Tailed Celestial Fox! Equivalent to a peak Dou Grandmaster!
She landed heavily, breath slightly ragged.
He grinned.
> "What's wrong, tail puff? Getting tired?"
> ...You're dead.
---
She vanished.
Reappeared behind him.
A paw slammed into his back, sending him flying into a cliff.
> THUD—BOOM!
Before he could stand, her tail wrapped around his leg and smashed him into the ground.
> "—ACK!"
Then again.
Then again.
Finally, she let go.
Xiao Ranyu lay there twitching in a crater, eyes swirling.
> "...Ow."
She sat down next to him, fur ruffled, panting lightly.
And stared at him with something between respect… and raw, existential dread.
> This human… if he keeps growing at this rate…
He'll catch me in half a year.(What she thought)
A year from now, I'll be the one dodging like a scared beast.
She bared her fangs.
> No way I'm letting that happen!
So she did what any noble, celestial fox with anxiety and pride would do.
She pounced on him again and beat the stuffing out of him until he passed out.
---
That Night
She sat next to his unconscious body.
Poked his cheek with her paw.
> "Hmph."
No response.
She huffed and curled up beside him.
> I'm not scared.
I'm just… preventing
imbalance.
> Yes. That's it.
But she kept one eye half-open all night, watching him breathe steadily under the moonlight.
And whispered, as if to herself:
> Don't you dare stop growing, Xiao Ranyu.
The moment you catch me… I'll take you seriously.
Maybe.
...Probably.
Her tails curled tighter.
And somewhere in the forest, a panther howled in the distance—far away from the clearing where one absurd fox was guarding one absurd human.