The wind and snow outside the cave had stopped.
The world was a vast expanse of pure white silence.
Bai Heng moved Yun Qing’s remains to a dry, level corner deep inside the cave.
Using her telekinetic power, she brought over several large rocks and carefully arranged them around the body, then covered the gaps with soil and smaller stones to form a simple stone tomb.
Once finished, she stood silently before the tomb for a moment and let out two soft whimpers as a farewell.
Afterward, she returned to the brighter, better-ventilated side of the cave and carefully stored away the plain gray storage pouch and the dark-cyan ring.
Then she reached out with her paw and gently touched the warm, lustrous white jade slip lying on the ground.
The jade slip felt slightly cool to the touch, as if some rhythmic flow stirred within it.
Bai Heng focused her mind.
The tuft of fur between her brows grew faintly warm as a thread of weak spiritual sense slowly probed toward the jade slip.
It was like pushing open a long-sealed door.
A flood of profound information poured into her consciousness—not in words, but as a more direct, instinctual inheritance of intent.
She “saw” a scene: beneath a tranquil night sky, an elegant Heavenly Fox with snow-white fur and three fluffy, flowing tails raised her head toward the moon.
Pure moonlight flowed around her like clear radiance.
Along with the image came the cultivation method known as the Heavenly Fox Moon-Drawing Art.
Of course, just as Yun Qing had said, the jade slip only contained the first half—up to condensing the third tail, forming a demon core, and transforming into human form.
Even so, for Bai Heng right now, it was a vast and priceless treasury.
The technique began by explaining its core: drawing in the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth and refining it into demon power—this was the foundation of demon cultivation.
The Heavenly Fox clan, however, was uniquely blessed and placed even greater emphasis on the power of moonlight.
Moonlight was pure and cool; it could cleanse demonic qi, gently nurture the demon body, and nourish the soul.
Ordinary demon cultivation allowed rapid growth in demon power, but it also made it easy to be influenced by the violent, instinctual side of that power, leading to an unstable temperament or even loss of self to strength.
The Heavenly Fox Moon-Drawing Art, however, guided the cultivator to absorb moonlight, making their demon power as reserved, calm, and harmonious as moonlight itself.
Not only did this allow better control of power, it also subtly purified the bloodline and elevated spiritual intelligence.
The technique also mentioned that once one reached the two-tail realm—roughly equivalent to the human Foundation Establishment stage—one could learn a secret art called the “Mirror Moon Art.”
This method allowed the cultivator, supported by moonlight power, to temporarily assume a half-demon form: a human body while retaining fox ears and tail, sustainable for six hours each day.
Cultivating in a form closer to the Daoist body would greatly increase efficiency, whether comprehending techniques or circulating energy through the Great Cycle.
Bai Heng silently absorbed all this information, and clarity gradually filled her mind.
She recalled Yun Qing’s all-night lecture.
Human qi cultivation emphasized sensing the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, following meridians and acupoints, circulating the Great Cycle, and refining qi into essence.
Although demon cultivation differed, the fundamental principles of “drawing qi,” “refining,” and “condensing” were the same.
Yun Qing’s experience was like a solid framework for her, while the Heavenly Fox Moon-Drawing Art provided the most suitable flesh, blood, and meridians to fill that framework for her current fox body.
She no longer hesitated.
Following the core method in the jade slip and the foundational principles Yun Qing had taught, she tried to calm her mind and focus her spirit.
At first it was not easy.
A fox’s senses were extremely sharp.
The slightest sound of wind outside, the faintest glimmer of light inside the cave, even the sound of her own blood flowing could easily distract her.
But she possessed far greater spiritual intelligence than an ordinary beast, along with the nearly terrifying patience forged over three thousand years.
If it didn’t work once, she tried ten times. A hundred times.
Gradually, she learned to ignore the chaotic sensory information and sink her consciousness into her body, sensing the formless yet omnipresent “qi” that existed between Heaven and Earth.
On the first day, she only felt occasional, faint cool sensations brushing across her fur.
On the second day, the feeling became more frequent—like tiny streams that appeared and disappeared, seeping into her body.
By the third night, when the moon was hidden and the stars sparse and everything was utterly still, Bai Heng curled up as usual in the small patch near the cave entrance where moonlight could reach her and quietly breathed in and out.
Suddenly, she felt a slight swelling between her brows.
Then, a thread of “qi” finer than a hair—carrying a cool, nourishing quality—slowly flowed in from the outside world through her brow, then traveled along a certain innate, hazy pathway through her body in a single cycle.
Although it was only one cycle and the qi was so weak it could dissipate at any moment, an unprecedented feeling of “fullness” and “clarity” arose within her.
It was as if a dusty mirror had been wiped clean in one corner.
She had succeeded in drawing qi into her body.
What surprised her even more was that as this thread of spiritual energy slowly circulated inside her, the constant hunger that belonged to her fox instincts actually eased considerably. In its place came a warm, energetic feeling.
So absorbing spiritual energy could itself nourish the body and replenish what had been consumed.
Joy filled Bai Heng’s heart, but she did not rush.
She remembered Yun Qing’s warnings and the reminders in the technique: foundation came first; progress must be gradual and orderly.
From then on, during the day she mainly used the foundational methods of the Heavenly Fox Moon-Drawing Art to absorb the free spiritual energy drifting between Heaven and Earth, slowly refining it into her own demon power that carried the cool, nourishing quality of moonlight.
At night—especially on the nights of the full moon—she adjusted her breathing and intent to specifically draw in the purer, colder moonlight power that descended from the sky.
Moonlight power differed from ordinary spiritual energy. It was gentler and more selective.
It seemed to prefer meridians that had already been preliminarily cleansed by spiritual energy. When it merged with demon power, it did so silently like streams joining a river, yet it made the entire “river” clearer and deeper.
The days of cultivation were simple yet fulfilling.
The cave became her quiet chamber, the mountain forest her courtyard.
She occasionally went out to grow familiar with her body’s increasing strength and agility, hunting small animals or foraging for wild fruits to satisfy her hunger.
As her spiritual power grew, her need for food gradually decreased; eating became more about satisfying her appetite and replenishing essential blood and qi.
Winter passed and spring arrived. The mountain scenery changed colors.
Bai Heng’s fur grew even smoother and whiter. Under moonlight it would shimmer with a faint, pearl-like luster.
Her eyes became more lively and profound. When she pondered things, they carried an almost human-like calm.
This night was another full moon.
Clear radiance poured down like silk, bathing the mountain forest.
Bai Heng sat crouched on a flat rock outside the cave, facing the round moon and breathing in its moonlight.
After nearly six months of cultivation, the demon power inside her had formed a stable, cool stream that circulated endlessly along specific pathways.
Moonlight power merged into it, making the demon power so pale it was almost transparent.
Its aura was quiet and reserved; unless examined closely, it was nearly indistinguishable from the natural moonlight spiritual energy around her.
At the moment when moonlight was at its strongest, Bai Heng suddenly felt a strange, tingling itch at the base of her tail.
The itch was not unpleasant. Instead, it carried a vibrant, life-filled pulsation, as if something wanted to break through the soil.
Her heart stirred. She understood that she had reached a certain threshold.
The Heavenly Fox Moon-Drawing Art mentioned that when demon power accumulated to a certain level and the bloodline received initial purification, the foundation for a second tail would begin to form at the base of the tailbone.
This marked that she had touched the threshold of the two-tail realm.
Her strength was now roughly equivalent to the late Qi Refining stage for human cultivators.
Almost at the same moment, she felt a gentle “tremor” deep between her brows—at the spot that had always been the source of her telekinetic power and special abilities.
It was as if an invisible thin membrane had been quietly pierced.
A brand-new, extremely small yet genuinely existing “space” clearly appeared in her conscious perception.
This was not the space opened by an ordinary storage artifact. It was a strange aperture located inside her brow, intimately connected to her soul—the consciousness aperture.
According to the scattered records in the technique and the vague instincts of her demon bloodline, Bai Heng understood that this was an inner space that only a few demons with special innate abilities could open on their own after awakening their spiritual intelligence and reaching a certain level of cultivation.
Compared to externally refined storage artifacts, this aperture was far more closely linked to herself.
Access was effortless, and it was much harder for outsiders to detect or seize.
With a slight thought, she tried to “store” the white jade slip on the ground into it.
The jade slip vanished from sight.
Yet her consciousness clearly “saw” the jade slip floating quietly inside the small, chaotic space of her brow’s consciousness aperture.
With another thought, the jade slip reappeared in front of her paw.
She then tried the dark-cyan ancient ring and the plain gray storage pouch.
Because these two were already spatial artifacts, they met slight resistance when entering the consciousness aperture, but they still succeeded in the end.
Joy surged in Bai Heng’s heart.
With this consciousness aperture, carrying important items had become far safer and more convenient.
At this moment, several different kinds of power existed inside her: the cool and reserved demon power she had cultivated; the more balanced and neutral spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth that she had absorbed and refined; the pure, nourishing moonlight power she drew in every month; the telekinetic power from her original blood essence that leaned toward mental control; and the life-filled healing power contained within that same blood essence.
These powers were distinct in nature and flowed clearly separate within her body.
With her current realm and understanding, she was still far from being able to merge them into one.
However, some of the basic techniques recorded in the Heavenly Fox Moon-Drawing Art gave her a way to begin using these powers.
For example, she could mobilize demon power to cast the “Light Body Art,” making her body even lighter and more agile so she left no trace on snow.
She could combine moonlight power with the “Concealing Breath Art” to hide her presence to the greatest extent, blending perfectly with her surroundings.
She could drive her telekinetic power for more precise control, such as making several fallen leaves fly along different trajectories at the same time.
She even tried infusing a trace of weak life force into her demon power and circulating it to the tips of her claws in a specific way.
When she lightly brushed a piece of dead wood with such claws, a faint hint of green appeared on the wood’s surface.
Though it vanished in an instant, it showed her the wonderful possibilities of combining different powers.
These methods were still crude, more suited for assistance and clever application, and far from being powerful offensive techniques.
But Bai Heng was already very satisfied.
She had never been one to seek dominance or competition.
These abilities were more than enough to help her survive better in this mountain forest and to give her greater confidence for the journey ahead when she delivered the ring.
The moonlight gradually slanted westward.
Bai Heng leaped down from the rock, landing lightly on the ground without making the slightest sound.
She glanced back at her own fluffy white tail.
The itch at its base had faded, but the feeling of new life being nurtured remained in her heart.
She walked back into the cave, lay down quietly beside Yun Qing’s stone tomb, closed her eyes, and continued guiding the cool stream of demon power inside her body, letting it circulate slowly.
Outside the cave, only the rustling of wind through the treetops remained, along with the occasional cries of nameless insects and birds.
Grind time