Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The winds of the North always carry a knife-like edge.

The snowflakes were as big as a palm, and they stung when they hit my face.

Chen Xuan stood before the stone steps of the mountain gate, his black clothes fluttering in the wind. Behind him stood the majestic sect hall, and before him stretched the vast, boundless snowfield.

He was holding a sword.

The scabbard was made of black iron, cold, hard, and rough, and it was not good-looking at all.

But he gripped it tightly, and his knuckles turned somewhat white.

"Are you really leaving?"

An old voice came from behind me.

Chen Xuan didn't turn around. He tightened his cloak, which was issued by the sect and made of good material, but he still felt it wasn't warm enough.

Compared to that dark, damp cave where the sun never shines, the outside world clearly has the sun, earth dragons, and fine clothes and delicacies, yet he still feels cold.

It was so cold it went right to my bones.

"Mm," Chen Xuan replied.

The sound was faint and was quickly swallowed up by the wind and snow.

"You are the top disciple of your sect's outer sect. After the Grand Tournament of Ten Thousand Sects, within ten years, this Northern Region will be yours." The voice was somewhat urgent. "Is it worth it for a mere mortal desire?"

Chen Xuan's lips twitched slightly.

Worldly thoughts?

People in this world are blind.

They only see power, cultivation, and immortality.

He's a freak.

He has never cried since he was born.

He possessed innate wisdom from birth and knew his own nature.

According to the will of Heaven and the law of cause and effect, he should have reached the pinnacle with his unparalleled talent.

Even the Chen family, an imperial clan with a history of ten thousand years, went mad, saying that he was a born saint and the Chen family's hope for suppressing all races in this era.

The man he called father held him all day long, and before that supreme bone had fully grown, he used spiritual medicine to temper it day and night.

At that time, Chen Xuan thought that it would be nice to have a home.

Until he was three years old.

The ancestral hall was dimly lit by candlelight.

The man pressed him down on the cold stone table, holding a boning knife in his hand.

There was no ferocity, no hesitation.

The man simply looked at him calmly, as if he were looking at a thriving crop.

"Xuan'er, your younger brother possesses a powerful physique. You have no use for this bone. Give it to him; he will become the future of the Chen family."

"Father, we will remember your sacrifice."

The knife tip slices through the flesh; that's the sound of flesh and bone separating.

Chen Xuan didn't call out.

He simply stared intently at the man's face, trying to etch that hypocritical facade into the depths of his soul.

The bones were removed.

The blood has drained away.

Like throwing away trash, he was thrown into that legendary death trap where there was no chance of survival.

As his body plummeted, Chen Xuan felt only a cold laugh.

Sure enough, all that bullshit about family ties is nothing but a fart in the face of the path to immortality.

But that vixen was different.

Chen Xuan looked up at the snowflakes dancing in the sky.

A picture suddenly popped into my head.

It was a cold day like this.

That woman—no, that vixen—was sprawled undignifiedly on the stone bed, her nine tails tangled messily over her body, clutching a wild chicken leg she'd somehow acquired, eating it with gusto.

Seeing him approach, she handed him the half-eaten chicken leg, laughing carefree.

"Son, call me Dad, and this leg is yours."

He was only five years old at the time.

Although the body is five years old, the soul inside the shell can already distinguish right from wrong.

But that day, looking at the greasy chicken leg and the weariness that the woman couldn't hide in her eyes, he inexplicably took it.

Then, with a stern face, he shouted.

"father."

The woman laughed so hard she rolled around on the bed, her nine tails slapping loudly, causing dust to fall from the cave ceiling.

"My good son, I'll protect you from now on."

She patted her chest and assured him.

Chen Xuan thought at the time that this woman was mentally ill.

He later learned that the woman was not only mentally ill, but seriously ill.

That cave was a sealed place, its spiritual energy so thin it resembled a ghost realm.

In order to provide him with food and to help him embark on the path of cultivation, she secretly used her own essence and blood to nourish those spiritual herbs.

Every time he drank that so-called "nutritious soup," he could smell a faint, sweet, and fishy odor.

That was her blood.

On one occasion, he woke up in the middle of the night and saw her huddled in a corner, trembling and clutching a broken tail.

That was to give him a suitable space to create, but it was forcibly severed by the sealing formation.

The next morning, however, she acted as if nothing had happened, still putting her feet up on the table and forcing him to call her "Dad."

"What are you staring at?"

If that woman knew he was daydreaming at a time like this, she would definitely flick his forehead again.

Chen Xuan snapped out of his thoughts.

He hung his sword at his waist, turned around, and bowed slightly to the old man standing in the shadows.

"Elder, I have something I must do."

"More important than becoming an immortal?"

"More important than life itself."

After Chen Xuan finished speaking, he didn't linger.

He took a step forward, and his figure instantly disappeared into the wind and snow.

Only a shallow line of footprints was left, which was quickly covered by the heavy snow.

……

The northern region is vast.

It's a journey of 30,000 li from the sect to that sealed cave.

Chen Xuan did not use a flying boat or a teleportation array.

He walked on, step by step.

With each step he took, the memories in his mind became clearer, like a rope that tightened around him, making it hard for him to breathe.

When I was three years old, there was a family feud.

His so-called father, in order to curry favor with the elders of another lineage, personally dug out his supreme bone and threw him into the Death Realm like trash.

He thought he would die in such a wretched state.

The results of it?

The woman picked him up and disgustedly wiped the mud off his face.

"It's so ugly, eating it would probably give me diarrhea."

She has a sharp tongue.

It felt very light in my hand.

She bathed him and made him clothes—though the clothes were pieced together from leaves and animal skins, making him look like a savage.

She taught him to read—even though her own handwriting was so ugly it looked like chicken claws scratching.

She told him stories—mostly "things that fox spirits have to tell," which left him speechless.

Thirteen years.

Thirteen years in total.

In that illusory world, he lived a life he never dared to dream of.

That's home.

It's a bit shabby, a bit cold, and I have an unreliable older sister.

But that's home.

Chen Xuan stopped in his tracks.

Ahead was a frozen river.

The river water was black and shiny, exuding an aura of death.

We're not far from that cave.

He touched his chest.

There was a small knife hidden there.

It was made by filing down that woman's fingernails.

He escaped that hellish place back then using this knife and the ropes made from her hair.

On the night he fled, he didn't dare look back.

He was afraid that if he turned back, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to leave.

That stupid woman must think he's an ungrateful wretch, right?

You must have thought he ran away to save his own life, right?

"idiot."

Chen Xuan cursed.

I don't know if he's cursing Su Chang'an or himself.

He crouched down and ran his finger across the ice.

Ice shards flew everywhere.

"I want to become stronger."

This was the vow he made the day he ran away.

For the past four years, he has been cultivating desperately in the Northern Region.

Enter the secret realm, seize opportunities, and slay monsters.

Every time he was on the verge of death, he would think of the meat soup that woman made.

It tastes awful.

It has a strong fishy smell, and no salt has been added yet.

But he just wanted to drink it.

I'm going crazy thinking about it.

"When I get back, I'm going to pluck those tails off you completely."

Chen Xuan stood up, his eyes revealing a fierce look.

His current cultivation level is already at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and he has already stepped halfway into the Cauldron Forging Realm.

Among the younger generation in the Northern Region, he is undoubtedly a genius.

But it's not enough against that seal.

That seal is an ancient formation that can even trap quasi-emperors.

With his meager skills, trying to forcefully break the formation would be suicide.

But he doesn't care.

He's not going back to break the formation this time.

He went to meet someone.

Over the past four years, he has searched all the forbidden areas in the Northern Region and found a "Heaven-Mending Stone".

It is a legendary divine object that can repair all the loopholes in a formation. It can also be used to open a temporary opening in a formation, allowing cultivators below the Transformation Realm to freely enter and exit the secret realm.

Although it can only last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

But that's enough.

That's enough for him to go see her again and tell her how much he misses her.

Chen Xuan took a deep breath, the cold air filling his lungs and making him much more awake.

He continued walking forward.

The snow is getting bigger and bigger.

At the edge of the horizon, a dark mountain range can be vaguely seen.

Like a sleeping giant.

That is the sealed land.

Chen Xuan's heart beat a little faster.

What is that woman doing now?

Are they sleeping?

Are they still cursing him?

Or... is he already dead?

After all, that seal was constantly draining her life force.

Thinking of this, Chen Xuan's steps faltered.

Will not.

That's a nine-tailed fox spirit, with nine lives.

It's not that easy to die.

"Su Chang'an, you'd better stay alive."

Chen Xuan gritted his teeth and quickened his pace.

They went from walking to running.

In the end, it turned into a frantic run.

The black figure left a trail of afterimages across the snow-covered plain.

Nearly.

closer.

He could already feel that familiar oppressive atmosphere.

That is the power of the seal.

It tastes like home.

Chen Xuan stopped at the entrance of a hidden valley.

This place is hidden by rocks and weeds, and ordinary people would never find it.

But he can find it even with his eyes closed.

Because this is where he escaped from back then.

It was also the place where that woman used her last bit of strength to send him out.

Chen Xuan reached out and brushed aside the withered grass.

A dark, gaping hole was revealed.

Cold air was still billowing out of the cave entrance.

He stood at the entrance of the cave, not going in immediately.

He was tidying up his clothes.

Tie up your wind-blown hair and brush the snow off your cloak.

He even took out a bronze mirror from his pocket and looked at himself.

"You've lost some weight."

He looked at himself in the mirror.

He's much taller than he was four years ago, and his features are more defined; he's no longer that little kid who only knows how to cry.

He now resembles the decisive and ruthless Emperor of Zhongzhou he will become in the future.

He forced a smile.

A bit stiff.

"Fine, let's leave it at that."

Chen Xuan put the mirror away.

He placed his hand on the stone wall at the entrance of the cave.

A bone-chilling coldness came from my palm.

"Sister, I'm back."

He said something in a low voice.

This time, he was no longer the child who needed to be protected.

Even if it means tearing a hole in the sky.

Even if it means shattering this place into pieces.

He will never let go again.

Darkness swallowed him.

Only the wind was still howling outside, as if singing a farewell song.

Or perhaps, it's the melody of reunion.