The night ended and dawn broke.
Jiang Huai was still groggy after waking up. He had strange dreams last night, and unexpectedly, he dreamt of Jiang Zhi. He dreamt that Jiang Zhi had turned into a well-behaved and cute dog girl, crawling at his feet and wagging her tail. The scene was too perverse, so Jiang Huai slapped his face, shaking the strange thoughts out of his head.
Bai Li wanted to linger in bed a little longer, so he got up to make breakfast. He came to the courtyard, where Bai Jin was sitting on a chair. Today, Bai Jin was dressed particularly elegantly and exquisitely. She wore a gorgeous purple long dress with a cutout design on the side of the skirt, revealing some of her fair skin and waist. Her silver-white hair was meticulously styled and adorned with a silver hairpin. There were also silver chains on her skirt, decorated with glittering jewels. Her black high heels made her calves appear even more slender, and the sharp tips of the shoes gleamed coldly.
“Aunt Bai looks so beautiful today,” Jiang Huai said softly. Bai Jin turned her eyes towards him, gazed at him tenderly, and replied softly, “Later, we should have a guest.”
“A guest?” Jiang Huai scratched his head. “Do I need to make more dinner or lunch?”
Bai Jin shook her head and replied softly, “No need. It might not be a guest, and they might be coming with ill intentions.”
“Who?”
“The Fox Emperor.”
…
For breakfast, Jiang Huai made scallion oil noodles. While eating breakfast, Jiang Huai learned about the Fox Emperor from Bai Jin and Bai Li.
The royal family of the Fox Clan all took Su as their surname. The Fox Emperor’s name was Su Qiang, and she was in the early Ninth Realm.
The Monster Clan was gradually declining, but the Fox Clan and the Snake Clan were still prosperous among them. Currently, Bai Jin and Su Qiang were the only cultivators in the Ninth Realm in the Monster Clan. The severe drought these days was not only affecting the Snake Clan but also the Fox Clan.
However, the drought in the Fox Clan was slightly less severe than that in the Snake Clan. A while ago, the plague within the Fox Clan was also very serious. On the Snake Clan’s side, in just a few days, a large number of cheap but extremely useful pills had been refined, healing many members of the Snake Clan. Naturally, the Snake Clan had informants in the Fox Clan, and Bai Jin calculated the time, knowing that Su Qiang should be arriving today.
The two tribes were not on friendly terms but had been at odds for many years. This year, they had also been fighting over several cities, and in just half a month, there would be a grand competition between the two tribes. There were only two cultivators in the Ninth Realm in the Monster Clan. If the two Ninth Realm cultivators were to fight, it would result in mutual destruction, which would be detrimental to the entire Monster Clan. Therefore, they had agreed that the younger generation of cultivators would compete to decide the ownership of those cities and the resources in the forest. Bai Li had been training fiercely for this very reason. She had met the Fox Emperor’s only daughter twice before, and her cultivation was particularly terrifying.
Jiang Huai had only seen fox girls in scripts before, but never a real one, so he had some anticipation. He chatted with Bai Li in the palace for the entire morning until noon, when Jiang Huai went to prepare a large table of dishes.
A arc of light flashed in the distance. The moment they saw the light, two figures had already arrived above Bai Jin’s palace. The Fox Emperor Su Qiang lowered her head and looked down at Bai Jin, who was sitting on the ground. She had already been waiting for a long time.
“You’ve arrived,” Bai Jin’s voice had shed all its gentleness, becoming cold and authoritative.
Jiang Huai, who had been playfully bantering with Bai Li, immediately stopped what he was doing. He looked up and was slightly stunned.
The Fox Emperor was extremely beautiful.
Jiang Huai had seen many beautiful fairies in his life, but the Fox Emperor floating in the air now gave him a strange sense of familiarity. This familiarity was probably from Chu Xianning, because the Fox Emperor Su Qiang’s eyes were also exceptionally cold, as indifferent as a pool of cold spring water.
Her features were exquisite and alluring, her narrow eyes revealing a hint of seductiveness, which was then dispelled by the coldness in her eyes.
She wore a gorgeous white dress with an off-the-shoulder design, revealing her smooth shoulders and collarbone. The skirt of the lower garment was not very long, and below it, her fair and tender calves were slender and well-proportioned; she wore no shoes or socks. Su Qiang was exceptionally tall, but not as slender as Chu Xianning. The dress on her chest was pulled up high by her ample bosom, but due to her indifferent eyes, Jiang Huai could barely feel any seductiveness, only a suffocating sense of authority.
However, even the coldest face, paired with a pair of beast ears, would inexplicably make one feel cute. A pair of snow-white fox ears were hidden in her jet-black hair, standing tall. Her fox tail behind her was fluffy and slightly perked up.
Behind her was another woman, also suspended in mid-air. She also had a mature figure, just not as full and exaggerated as Su Qiang’s, and was slightly slender like a girl. She wore a simple black dress, her features almost identical to Su Qiang’s coldness, and her face also showed a seven-point resemblance.
Clearly, that was her daughter, the Grand Princess of the Fox Clan, Su Qingyi.
However, after a moment, Su Qiang and Su Qingyi landed on the ground. Both women wore no shoes or socks, their porcelain white feet stepping on the bluestone-paved ground. Bai Jin had already known they were coming and had even prepared chairs for them.
“Sit,” Bai Jin said softly.
Her expression was not like one welcoming guests, and Su Qiang did not seem like a guest either. She did not sit down but stood quietly, her eyes fixed on Bai Jin in front of her. “That prescription and the refining method, I want them all. Name your price.”
“Cancel this year’s Grand Competition. The Moon Forest, the Maple Forest, and those four cities, I want them all,” Bai Jin replied calmly.
Bai Jin had previously told Jiang Huai that the Fox Emperor’s purpose for this visit was for that prescription and refining method. The Monster Clan had some understanding of refining their physiques and practicing the path of combat, as well as forging weapons, but they were almost completely ignorant of refining pills.
Therefore, Bai Jin had also asked for Jiang Huai’s opinion, asking if he was willing to sell this prescription. Jiang Huai naturally had no objection, as it was just an ordinary prescription, and the pill formations that were drawn to heal were all low-level spirit arrays. In reality, the ingredients for the prescription he provided could be refined by any Yellow-tier Alchemist, and the thousand pill formations only saved the refining costs of those thousand alchemists.
This pill prescription and pill formations had already saved most of the Snake Clan. The refined pills were continuously being sent to all parts of the Snake Clan. Now, there was no longer a need to use them all. Even if half were given away, it would be enough to sustain the Snake Clan’s supply.
“You’re not going to come and take it from me directly,” Su Qiang said, looking at Bai Jin coldly.
Negotiation naturally involved starting with an exorbitant demand, thus creating room for compromise. Although both of them disliked these roundabout plays, they had no choice.
“The price you can offer will show how much your Fox Clan citizens mean to you. Think about it yourself,” Bai Jin leaned back slightly in her chair, crossing her fair and slender legs under her skirt.
“You want these things because you know very well that your Snake Clan will definitely lose the Grand Competition this year, right?” Su Qiang glanced at Bai Li, who was sitting beside her. The moment she sensed her cultivation, the corners of her lips curled up slightly, her words laced with undisguised mockery.
She was very proud because her daughter was far superior to Bai Li.
Bai Jin was not moved by her words, nor was Bai Li angered by them. Jiang Huai knew the inside story. Bai Jin had just told him some secrets of the Fox Clan. The Fox Emperor Su Qiang, from birth, possessed the ancient Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox bloodline, which was why she could not reproduce with anyone in the Fox Clan. To continue her bloodline, she had expended almost half of her source, and three thousand years of her lifespan, to create the current Grand Princess of the Fox Clan through a secret technique.
Therefore, the cultivation and talent of the Grand Princess of the Fox Clan were exceptionally terrifying. Even if Bai Li had received the Inheritance of the Shizu, she would not be her match right now. The Grand Competition between the two tribes this year would likely result in the Snake Clan’s defeat.
“If you still have the leisure to chat about this, why don’t you go back to the Fox Clan? The Snake Clan does not welcome you.”
“Your asking price is too high,” Su Qiang said, looking at Bai Jin. “The plague in the Snake Clan has been controlled, and the drought is over. My informants have already seen it, and I know the current situation of the Snake Clan. You clearly no longer need these things, yet you want to sell them to me at such a high price. Your Snake Clan is indeed so greedy.”
“Then what can you offer?” Bai Jin raised her eyes to look at her.
“Within ten years, everything in the Moon Forest can be given to your Snake Clan. As for those four cities, you will definitely lose this year, but I can still leave one for you.”
“Too little,” Bai Jin shook her head.
“Then keep it for yourself,” Su Qiang stood up, as if the negotiation had broken down.
Actually, Su Qiang was not wrong. Those pill formations and prescriptions were of little use to the current Snake Clan. In fact, Bai Jin leaned towards giving the prescription to the Fox Clan. The Snake Clan and the Fox Clan were sworn enemies, but they were both demons in the Western Region. She and Su Qiang had no enmity. On the contrary, both of them, due to their pride, tacitly refused to compromise with the Dragon Clan. If it weren’t for their different clans, Bai Jin would have greatly respected Su Qiang.
Su Qiang was a cultivator who had reached the Ninth Realm through hard work, while Bai Jin had reached the Ninth Realm through a great opportunity midway. In terms of age, Su Qiang was more than half her senior. The Fox Clan had prospered under her leadership, and she had been the Fox Emperor for a long time, while Bai Jin had only recently taken charge of the Snake Clan.
“In addition to your previous condition, there are two more,” Bai Jin said slowly from behind Su Qiang after she turned to leave. Su Qiang did not turn around but merely turned her head, looking at Bai Jin. “You said.”
“After you entered the Ninth Realm, you should have produced some more of the first milk you fed to your daughter, right?”
A moment later, Su Qiang understood Bai Jin’s meaning. The first milk of the Monster Clan could be considered a spirit medicine. It had excellent effects in increasing cultivation and refining the physique, and even between different races, the effects were mutual. Bai Jin probably wanted to feed the remaining first milk to her daughter Bai Li to increase her cultivation.
This was not a difficult matter, so Su Qiang looked at Bai Jin and asked, “What’s the next condition?”
Bai Jin slightly withdrew the coldness from her eyes, her tone softening a little.
“Let me pinch your tail.”
