Chapter Forty-Eight: The Millennium Pact

The wolf demon was dead, the dust had settled, and Feng Yuan let out a long sigh of relief. Tonight had truly been an eye-opening experience—one ghost, one wolf, and a fox as well. He was, it seemed, living right in the heart of a den of monsters.

“Master Feng, I am wounded and must take my leave,” Lan Qirou said, looking at Feng Yuan.

“Very well, Miss Lan. I intend to leave this place for a few days to avoid further trouble. I will help investigate your matter, so please rest assured,” Feng Yuan replied.

Lan Qirou nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than her form dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, vanishing toward the second courtyard behind the house.

Meanwhile, Hu Xiao approached the corpse of the wolf demon, reached into its skull, and produced a green orb the size of an egg. She walked over to Feng Yuan and handed him the orb. “Sir, this is the wolf demon’s inner core. It holds all the essence of his cultivation. If you absorb it, it will benefit both your injuries and your cultivation. As for my story, I’ll explain it to you in a moment.”

Feng Yuan nodded, taking the orb and examining it. It was beautiful, resembling jade, and he could sense the immense energy swirling within it.

“A demon core—just like in those cultivation novels. It seems that what I’m practicing isn’t ordinary martial arts, but the true art of cultivation!” Feng Yuan thought, excitement stirring within him. If this were truly the case, wouldn’t he one day be able to soar through the skies and travel the earth like an immortal?

With that thought, Feng Yuan began absorbing the wolf demon’s inner core. He was unsure of the process, so he used the same method he’d employed to absorb golden light before. It proved to be the right approach.

Green rays of energy streamed out from the demon core, entering Feng Yuan’s body and transforming into golden light as they flowed into his dantian. The energy within the core was vast—comparable to the golden light he’d generated himself—and absorbing it took considerable time.

It wasn’t until dawn that all the energy from the core had been assimilated, leaving behind nothing but powder. At the same time, Feng Yuan’s injuries were fully healed; the cluster of golden light in his dantian automatically repaired any damaged parts of his body.

“It seems to have grown larger again,” Feng Yuan mused, glancing inward at the golden light within his dantian.

At that moment, the cluster of golden light began to send out tendrils that surged toward an acupoint in his chest. The process lasted nearly half an hour, and when it finally ceased, the acupoint shone all the brighter, the figure within it growing ever clearer.

Feng Yuan sensed that this acupoint was no ordinary place, and that the figure hidden within might bring him great benefit.

With everything settled, Feng Yuan opened his eyes to find the room completely restored—spotless and undamaged, as if nothing had ever happened.

“How did this happen?” Feng Yuan wondered, surprised. He stood and walked outside.

In the courtyard, Hu Xiao was gathering her belongings, preparing to return to the village. When she saw Feng Yuan, she bounced over cheerfully.

“Sir, are your injuries healed?” Hu Xiao asked, concern in her eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine now. Thank you for last night—if not for you, I would have been dead,” Feng Yuan replied.

“There’s no need to thank me, sir. My life is a gift from you to begin with. Saving you is only right,” Hu Xiao said sincerely.

“You mentioned earlier that you had something to tell me. Go ahead,” Feng Yuan prompted.

Hu Xiao nodded and began her tale.

Thousands of years ago, when Hu Xiao was still a young fox, she was caught in a hunter’s trap. By chance, she was discovered by Feng Yuan’s previous incarnation—a powerful cultivator who possessed great magical abilities and could traverse the skies at will. He rescued the young fox, awakened her spiritual intelligence, and entrusted her with a task: when she had achieved success in cultivation a thousand years later, she was to protect his reincarnated self.

Hu Xiao kept this in her heart, and after a millennium of cultivation and surviving the tribulation of lightning, she took human form and prepared to repay her debt of gratitude. However, weakened after the tribulation, she was once again ensnared by a hunter’s trap and captured to be sold at the market.

By a twist of fate, she encountered Feng Yuan, now reincarnated, who bought her and saved her life once more.

It seemed as if their destinies were written by heaven itself. Hu Xiao was overjoyed, but feared that Feng Yuan would not accept her true identity as a fox, so she kept it secret, protecting him from the shadows.

The times Feng Yuan nearly fell victim to Lan Qirou were all instances where Hu Xiao had intervened from behind the scenes. She had also subtly guided Feng Yuan in his cultivation—the nameless cultivation manual he practiced had been deliberately arranged by her, and it was a technique passed to her by Feng Yuan’s previous incarnation, meant for her to deliver to his next life.

After hearing Hu Xiao’s story, Feng Yuan was silent for a long while. He hadn’t expected such a bond to exist between them.

“Sir, do you despise me for what I am?” Hu Xiao asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Feng Yuan smiled. “Of course not. What’s there to despise? With a beautiful little bodyguard like you, I’m more than happy.”

“Really?” Hu Xiao’s face lit up with joy.

Feng Yuan nodded, then continued, “Tell me more about my previous life and about cultivation.”

Feng Yuan was deeply intrigued by these matters, especially cultivation—he was still lost and knew little about it.

But Hu Xiao shook her head. “Sir, I don’t know much either. I only met your previous incarnation twice, and he told me nothing. I don’t understand cultivation myself.”

“What? If you don’t know, how did you cultivate for a thousand years?” Feng Yuan asked, bewildered.

Hu Xiao looked just as puzzled. “I just followed your methods, sir. No one else ever taught me. I’ve always lived deep in the mountains, with no friends.”

“I see…” Feng Yuan said, feeling a little helpless. “Well, tell me—do immortals truly exist in this world?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then, can you tell me what the golden light I’m absorbing is?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then… never mind. Just tell me what you do know.”

“I’ve already told you everything I know,” Hu Xiao replied.

Feng Yuan was speechless.

It seemed that if he wished to understand cultivation, he would have to explore it himself; relying on Hu Xiao was hopeless.

Still, at least he now knew that what he was practicing was not martial arts, but true cultivation—the path of the immortal. One day, he might indeed soar through the skies and travel the world. That was enough for now; the rest he could learn in time.

“Come on, let’s head back to the village,” Feng Yuan said to Hu Xiao.