I’ve seen this raw strength only once before!

Since Xie Qing lost consciousness, an hour had passed. The young man came to his senses due to a sudden burst of powerful energy within his dantian. It was both painful and exciting.

"Hm? My cultivation has improved a bit," Xie Qing discovered, and then, opening his eyes, he raised an eyebrow: "A fox…?"

Indeed. Before him lay a fox about 45 cm (18 inches) tall. What was remarkable was that it had nine tails.

"Hm? Strange, where did this fox come from…" Xie Qing wondered and felt a slight discomfort: "Why do I feel like this fox is staring at me?"

The young man took a deep breath and exhaled, rubbed his eyes, and then looked at the fox again. He… saw annoyance in its eyes?

"What a fu-…" he almost swore but caught himself mid-sentence: "Nine tails… hm… how strange… do foxes have nine tails?"

This fact puzzled him, but after a few seconds, Xie Qing began to sweat when he remembered a certain legend.