Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person

On the rooftop of the Inviting Moon Pavilion, the moonlight shone like a ribbon.

Chen Ruoan's figure was made even clearer and more isolated. His ten fingers were spread open, and there were still fine, soft black fur between his fingers, with traces of fox fur that had not yet faded.

The five ghosts waited in the four directions on the top floor, not daring to utter a sound.

Chen Ruoan lowered her eyes to examine her hands, then turned to look at them: "Looking at my appearance, has I been able to take human form?"

The five ghosts looked at each other in bewilderment, their eyes darting around.

As spirits of pure wind, they rarely witnessed evil and strange things. The scene before them was bizarre and grotesque. They dared not agree rashly, nor were they willing to disobey their master. They could only stand frozen in place, not daring to utter a single word.

Seeing their appearance, Chen Ruoan felt a sense of doubt.

He raised his hand to touch the top of his head, his fingertips touching the tips of his two furry ears, then touching the corners of his mouth. His lips were sharp, with the distinctive shape of a fox's mouth, not the soft, round shape of a human's lips.

Behind it, a thick, bushy black tail was leisurely swaying back and forth.

"Something's not right," Chen Ruoan murmured.

It did take on a new form, but it was only half complete.

It's neither here nor there, neither fish nor fowl.

Before the Moon-Inviting Pavilion had prepared a mirror, Chen Ruoan found a clear mountain stream. The moonlight fell into the stream, reflecting a clear image.

Looking down, the figure in the ravine was beginning to take on a human shape. It was slender and graceful, but its body was still covered with a thin layer of fur. Its fox ears stood up and its pointed snout had not faded. Only its eyes had lost the fox's liveliness and cunning, and had turned into a pair of alluring peach blossom eyes.

It has a fox's head and a human body, and is half human and half fox.

With this appearance, the fox has some human-like features, and normal people who see it might experience the "happy bean effect."

But those who are obsessed with Fu Rui would probably be overjoyed to see this.

"I've been practicing the Moon Worship Ritual for almost two months now, but I'm still only at a half-baked level."

Human life is hard to obtain, being born in the Central Land is hard to obtain, and encountering the true Dharma is hard to obtain; to have all three is the greatest fortune.

The Immortal Abode has been established, and the True Method of Moon Worship is in hand. The only obstacle that remains is the human body.

Chen Ruoan stood atop the Inviting Moon Pavilion, bathed in moonlight, feeling no anxiety whatsoever.

In that case, we should proceed cautiously and steadily.

It still adheres to its cultivation duties, refining its Qi on the mountaintop during the day and ascending to the top floor at night to absorb the moonlight, letting the clear radiance of the moon cleanse its meridians without the slightest slackening.

The Wishing Tree's innate supernatural power needs to be nurtured by good karma. Chen Ruoan would occasionally conceal her fox form and, in a half-human, half-fox form, wear a plain robe and a simple mask, and go to the commercial street at the foot of the mountain to play.

Some food stalls always tempt the fox to the point of madness: roast chicken, braised goose, sweet cakes, fried dough twists—everything is designed to tickle the fox's itch.

When she was craving something sweet, Chen Ruoan suddenly realized she had made a mistake—

When I went with Zhang Zhiwei to resolve the Xu family's troubles, I received a lot of reward money afterward, but I forgot to split the money 50/50 with the Taoist priest!

Back then, I thought money was useless to foxes, but now, living in the marketplace, I realize that everyone needs money to make a living.

Chen Ruoan never expected that even a fox would have to worry about such mundane things.

"Building houses, cultivating immortality to obtain official positions, and scrambling for money... It's such a strong sense of déjà vu."

Do I have to grow calluses all over my claws and baldness on my head before I look more and more like a "person"?

Goddess Taishan, right now, there is no way to completely eliminate the fox spirit.

The peak season for pilgrimage to the mountain is a time when pilgrims flock to the mountain, making it a prime opportunity to make money.

The leader of the Five Ghosts was most skilled at identifying spiritual herbs from mountains and marshes, so Chen Ruoan asked him to select some herbs with calming and soothing effects, weave them into adorable little fox pendants, and then entrust them to the young Taoist priest Fang Dongtian of the Taishan Taoist Temple to sell.

Shandong has a strong belief in fox spirits, and among the pilgrims who come to worship the Goddess of Mount Tai are wealthy ladies and noble ladies from famous families. Naturally, they love these pleasing fox-shaped ornaments.

Fang Dongtian was also a shrewd businessman. When he encountered people dressed in fine clothes, he would simply set a high price on the surface, and in the end, his business prospered.

As time went on, the Taoist priests at the temple saw how thriving their business was, so they also started to tinker with it, finding some rare mountain stones to make all sorts of ritual implements. They would boast to worshippers that these implements had miraculous effects in warding off evil and disasters, which attracted worshippers from all walks of life to buy them.

In just over a month, he managed to scrape together the five thousand dollars in protection money that the warlord had come to demand.

With the fox having spare money to stroll around and have fun, the Taoist priests of Quanzhen Temple knelt day and night before the statues of Yuanjun and Laojun to reflect and repent.

The essence of Quanzhen (全真) is to "preserve one's true nature and not deviate from one's original intention." However, in order to preserve the temple, some people violated the Three Great Precepts and abandoned the principles of "being true to one's word and being honest and without falsehood" in cultivating truth and enlightenment.

"If you ask me, at least you preserved the memorial tablets of several ancestors. The gods and immortals above will understand," Chen Ruoan said to Fang Dongtian.

"The Quanzhen School emphasizes the dual cultivation of 'spirit and life,' but several elders couldn't overcome their inner hurdles, making it difficult for them to achieve a state of mind that is truly fulfilling."

"Shameless people are more suited for spiritual practice..."

The fox's words were full of Taoist and Zen wisdom. Fang Dongtian pondered them for a long time and came to a conclusion—no wonder Zhang Zhixiu was so successful in his practice.

Chen Ruoan examined the Taoist priests repenting on the prayer mats and asked Young Taoist Master Fang a question: "What is the dual cultivation of body and spirit?"

In the game "Under One Person," magic is considered a minor art, while the ability to preserve both life and health is considered a major art. Yet, despite all the cultivation efforts, no one has ever explained this to the fox.

Chen Ruoan doesn't believe that "sex" and "life" are simply a matter of the soul and the body.

"Are you interested in the Quanzhen School's cultivation methods?" Fang Dongtian asked with a smile.

"You worship the Goddess of Mount Tai, who governs all foxes under heaven, and I am naturally under her command. In a way, we are fellow Daoists, so I am naturally curious about your methods."

Since the fox spoke frankly, Fang Dongtian explained without reservation: "Sex is our spiritual awareness, and destiny is our life force. The creation of sex depends on the mind, and the creation of destiny depends on the body, but the two cannot be simply reduced to the concept of mind and body."

Simply put, the former is your inner Tao, and the latter is your outer Tao.

"Mysterious and strange techniques are ultimately just ways of using Qi. It is not an arrogance of us to regard them as strange skills and tricks. In the end, high-level competition between different people still comes down to their own 'life'."

As Fang Dongtian explained, he walked out of Bixia Temple with a heavy heart, gazing at the misty fog on the mountaintop, gradually becoming absent-minded.

He didn't mean that ingenious skills and tricks are unimportant, but if someone really thinks that ingenious skills and tricks are unimportant, then that person is not far from being invincible.

Fang Dongtian didn't want to admit that among his peers, only Zhang Zhiwei, who was a few years older than him, possessed such qualities.

He didn't really hate Zhang Zhiwei, but whenever he met that arrogant senior brother, he would feel a strong sense of frustration at being far behind others.

They are angry at themselves for not fighting back, and instead take their anger out on others.

"Sigh, I'm still a long way from there."

Fang Dongtian glanced at the fox: "You're far from it. Wait until you've cultivated into human form. The scriptures in the temple are all summaries of the wisdom and experience of our ancestors; there's nothing about foxes."

"It's not far." The fox exhaled mist, transformed itself, and used the clouds to conceal its non-human parts with robes and a mask. "Humanity is rare, but I have already achieved half of it."

If the upper elixir of the fox head doesn't work, then let's start exploring the lower and middle elixir first.