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墨書 Inktalez
Thirty-Three Heavens Outside Purple Cloud Palace
Hongjun was dressed in a purple robe, with a jade pendant hanging from his waist and silver hair cascading over his shoulders. He sat leaning on the railing, gazing at the lake beneath the pavilion. The clear green surface of the lake revealed schools of fish swaying their tails as they swam about.
"You seem to be in a leisurely mood." A low, charming voice came from behind him. Hongjun continued to watch the fish in the lake without changing his expression. He didn't need to turn around to know who had arrived; only the arrogant Mara Lord Rahu would dare to intrude so boldly into Purple Cloud Palace.
Dressed entirely in black, exuding an air of wickedness, Rahul noticed Hongjun's unchanged demeanor and smirked as he walked in and casually took a seat. Without any courtesy, he picked up a wine cup, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one gulp, saying, "This wine is not bad; it seems your brewing skills have improved."
Hongjun coldly replied with two words, "Flattering praise."
"I just dislike your hypocrisy," Rahul said.
"Likewise! I also dislike your uninvited presence," Hongjun retorted.
Instead of getting angry, Rahul laughed at this. With a sharp smile, he said, "I heard that Azure Fox King is going to marry Black Lotus?"
Hongjun's expression stiffened slightly before he replied in a neutral tone, "It's just rumors."
Rahul continued enthusiastically, "I remember when Black Lotus used to follow me around. Later, when I wasn't by his side, he ran off with someone else. Truly heartless and ungrateful. I was quite upset about it for a while, but who would have thought that today you and I share the same fate?"
"Don't compare me to you; it's merely external gossip that you actually believe," Hongjun said.
Hearing this, Rahul deepened his smile and said, "I heard that Black Lotus publicly declared his affection for Fuxi?"
"What poor taste! Clearly, I am far better than that young brat Fuxi. After being by my side for so long, how could he not see my worth?" Rahul feigned regret as he spoke.
"Misinterpreting words and fabricating stories!" Hongjun maintained his expression and replied calmly.
In response, Rahul looked at the fish fleeing across the calm surface of the lake and smirked with satisfaction. Animals are most sensitive to danger and adept at avoiding it. "I heard that Black Lotus and Fox King went to Qingqiu Mountain?" Rahul delivered his final blow.
After a moment of silence, there was no response. The fish in the lake scattered even faster, distancing themselves from the man they sensed as a threat. After a long while, Hongjun stood up, waved his sleeve as he left, and coldly remarked, "Just visiting friends; it's nothing worth mentioning."
Rahul smiled as he watched the cold figure leave, then turned his gaze to the spot where Hongjun had just been, noticing five deep fingerprints on the railing. He wiped the smile from his face, his expression turning icy as he spoke in a low voice, "If he can't handle this, then when he goes to the Demon Realm with me, won't you be so angry that you'll spit blood?"
Rahul tilted his head back and downed a flask of wine, a scornful smile appearing on his lips as he strode away.
***************
Meanwhile, Ye Chuanze followed Kitsunetsu to Qingqiu Mountain. After arriving at Azure Hill, they descended from the clouds and walked towards the Fox Clan's settlement.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan lived in groups, and behind a forest of mountains stood a cluster of Bamboo Houses, which was their dwelling place. The population of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan was small; combined with the Fox Clan and Spirit Fox Clan, there were only a few hundred individuals. The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan possessed exceptional innate talents and devoted themselves to cultivation. After cultivating nine tails, their power could rival that of a Quasi-Saint. Conversely, to balance their immense potential, the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan had an extremely low birth rate, and young foxes took a long time to mature. This forced the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan to live in seclusion to preserve their population; after all, losing even one member meant one less for future generations. Young foxes also needed a safe environment to grow up in, which was crucial for the clan's future.
After understanding these circumstances, Ye Chuanze could only sigh; reproduction was a significant challenge for any race in any era. Too many births were problematic, but too few were equally concerning.
Suddenly inspired, Ye Chuanze asked Kitsunetsu, "If you had to choose, would you prefer the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan to worry about low birth rates or high birth rates?"
Without hesitation, Kitsunetsu replied, "Naturally high birth rates. If there are more births, it simply means more individuals; if there's not enough land or food, those are minor issues. If there's not enough land, we can expand outward. If there's not enough food, we can seize it from elsewhere. Isn't that how your demon race operates?"
"If birth rates are too low, then we face the risk of extinction. There's no need to hesitate over such a choice," Kitsunetsu continued.
Hearing this, Ye Chuanze looked at him meaningfully and said, "If a Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox cultivates nine tails, it will live as long as heaven and earth and possess strength comparable to a Quasi-Saint. If reproduction is unrestricted, then ten thousand years later, the entire Primordial realm will belong to the Nine-Tailed Spirit Foxes, filled with Quasi-Saints."
Upon hearing this, Kitsunetsu immediately understood his point. By that time, it would likely lead to the extinction crisis of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox Clan. Under heaven's way, balance is paramount. An overly powerful existence disrupts the world's equilibrium and ultimately faces eradication.
Currently, the demon race was facing this very crisis; their population was rapidly increasing and had reached substantial numbers. Their innate potential was also limitless; if left unchecked, it would threaten other races' survival in the Primordial realm. The demon race was born for cultivation and thrived on spiritual energy. If their numbers grew too large, it would lead to an imbalance in spiritual energy within Primordial.
Ye Chuanze pondered for a long time before realizing why heaven ultimately chose humanity as the future protagonist of Primordial. Aside from humans, all these ancient races born from nature were inherently cultivation bodies with exceptional talents thriving on spiritual energy. The more such beings there were, the greater the consumption of spiritual energy in Primordial would be. Over time, this would inevitably lead to an imbalance.
Humans were created by Nüwa from clay and could survive without spiritual energy. In contrast, they lacked powerful magical abilities. Humans could only absorb spiritual energy through cultivation; without guidance from immortals as mentors, they could never grasp cultivation methods.
The Lich Clans looked down upon humans as weak beings without magical prowess—like ants beneath their feet that could be easily crushed. They were completely unaware of Nüwa's profound intentions behind creating humanity and did not care to know. Only those powerful Primordial beings with deep insight understood humanity's significance. Even if they did not realize that these seemingly weak humans would become protagonists of heaven and earth in the future, they understood that humanity's birth carried profound meaning. Otherwise, why would Nüwa achieve sainthood through creating humans? Why would heaven place such importance on humanity's birth and development?
"After hearing you say that, I feel much better; I used to worry quite a bit about the Fox Clan's reproduction," Kitsunetsu laughed.
"You are just caught in the situation, blinded!" Ye Chuanze said.
"Don't you find yourself in the same situation? Yet you see it clearly."
"That's because I view everything from the perspective of an outsider, which prevents me from being misled. The clearer you see, the longer you live."
"That makes sense."
After passing through a forest, they suddenly came into a clearing where a row of neat Bamboo Houses appeared before Ye Chuanze.
"Is this where your tribe resides?" Ye Chuanze asked.
Kitsunetsu turned back and smiled at him, saying, "Welcome to the Azure Hill Fox Clan's village; these are all my people."
Kitsunetsu led him into the village, where the Bamboo Houses were scattered yet orderly. The outer perimeter of the village was surrounded by bamboo groves. It seemed that these Bamboo Houses were built using local materials. Throughout the village, there were only two intersecting Great Daos. Ye Chuanze glanced around but did not see any other members of the Fox Clan.
"The adults in the tribe don't like to stay idle in the village all day; most of them have gone out to have fun, leaving only children and guards behind," Kitsunetsu explained, sensing Ye Chuanze's thoughts from his expression.
Just as Kitsunetsu finished speaking, a few Fox Clan children gathered on the street ahead, playing with a ball.
Seeing Kitsunetsu and Ye Chuanze suddenly appear, the children blinked their eyes and curiously looked at them, or rather at Ye Chuanze. They merely glanced at Kitsunetsu before focusing all their attention on the stranger, Ye Chuanze.
Ye Chuanze also took an interest in observing these Fox Clan children. True to their reputation as the most beautiful race in Primordial, these children were exquisitely crafted and exceptionally good-looking. Especially with two fox ears atop their heads, they appeared extraordinarily cute. Ye Chuanze mischievously looked behind these children, only to be disappointed to find no tails.
"There are rarely outsiders in the village; these kids found you unfamiliar and stared a bit longer. Please don't mind," Kitsunetsu said.
"Why don't they have tails?" Ye Chuanze suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Kitsunetsu momentarily didn't understand.
"I mean them..." Ye Chuanze pointed at a few Fox Clan children in front of him and said, "Why don't they have tails when they clearly have ears?"
"Cough, cough..." Kitsunetsu coughed a few times, glanced around, and then quietly said to him, "Originally, we didn't have ears, but our tribe's high priest... has a peculiar preference and insisted that our children keep their ears after transforming into human form."
"......" Ye Chuanze.
"Why not just keep the tails too?" Ye Chuanze asked.
Kitsunetsu looked sorrowful and said, "This is the result of my long-standing protest. I firmly opposed the high priest's selfish desires that disregard others' feelings. In the end, the high priest agreed to remove the tails but insisted on keeping the ears."
"......" Ye Chuanze.
"Kitsunetsu, is the high priest in your tribe older than you?" Ye Chuanze asked.
"Eh? How did you know?"
"...... Oh, just a guess." Ye Chuanze thought to himself, knowing full well that you must have been forced by the high priest to keep both your ears and tail when you were young. After a strong protest, you managed to get rid of the tail but had to keep the ears.
"Sire, is this your bride?" Suddenly, a very cute and soft voice rang out. Ye Chuanze and Kitsunetsu turned their heads at the same time.
A child dressed in red with a pair of silver fox ears on their head and holding a ball curiously looked at Ye Chuanze and asked again, "Is this your bride?"
Kitsunetsu bent down to meet their gaze and smiled, saying, "Yes!"
"Your bride is really pretty. When I grow up, I want to marry such a beautiful bride too," the Red-Clothed Child said.
"......" Ye Chuanze.
"Then you need to work hard and be as impressive as me to marry a beautiful bride," Kitsunetsu said with a smile.
"...... Shut up! Don't lead the child astray!" Ye Chuanze's mouth twitched.
"Kitsunetsu, be quiet! If you keep talking nonsense, you will go to Fairy Trail Cliff for reflection!" A cold and clear voice came through.
Ye Chuanze turned to look, only to see a handsome man in a crescent white robe standing ahead.
"Ah ha ha... Mr. Ye, let me introduce," Kitsunetsu said as he turned his head to Ye Chuanze. "This is the high priest of our clan."
"..." Ye Chuanze glanced at the elegant and handsome man in front of him, then looked back at Kitsunetsu, unable to reconcile this with Kitsunetsu's description of the high priest having strange preferences.
Kitsunetsu twitched his lips and said, "Isn't it hard to believe? He looks so presentable!" The last sentence was filled with indignation.
"Sire, what are you saying about me in front of guests?" the high priest coldly spoke.
"... Nothing! A Xuan, you misunderstood!" Kitsunetsu immediately replied.
The high priest gave him a sidelong glance before turning to Ye Chuanze, sizing him up and saying, "So you are Sire's bride?"
"Not bad looking," the high priest commented.
"..." Ye Chuanze felt a twitch in his face. Is every member of the Fox Clan like this?
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