The fox spirit lineage is often depicted in certain legends as a type of being that seduces people through beauty and charm.
But that understanding is far too one-sided.
When Xueji was teaching at a university, after witnessing Shen Moling’s abilities, she became curious about the principles behind such powers.
As a Sage, she had already analyzed the charm techniques of succubi in another world—using desire as a catalyst, releasing special pheromones through magical power to achieve the effect of making people obey one’s every word.
It’s worth mentioning that because the pheromones make the victim see the succubus as whatever they desire most, succubi can look like just about anything.
But the bloodline power of the nine-tailed fox is different. The level of their power far exceeds imagination. Charm techniques are merely a low-level application of their abilities.
By analyzing their abilities to their absolute limit, Xueji arrived at the essence of this power—reality manipulation through the medium of emotion.
Of course, if the nine-tailed clan relied solely on themselves, their degree of reality manipulation would still be limited.
Fortunately, what Xueji excelled at most was breaking through limits.
Within Shaya’s mental realm, the land of intertwined ice and fire.
Shen Moling, having manifested her nine-tailed form, sat face to face with Xueji.
“Teacher, please release all the longing in your heart for the girl named Shaya.”
Xueji closed her eyes, and every little detail of her time with Shaya surfaced in her mind.
From their first conflict, the clash between one person and one wolf.
To the companionship that followed, the energetic little wolf girl who influenced her.
Under the grassland moon, the expression of their feelings for each other.
And more than anything, as partners—Shaya had always supported Xueji, helping her through all kinds of extraordinary and severe incidents.
Before she knew it, Xueji could no longer endure a life without the little wolf girl by her side.
“Shaya, I miss you so much.”
Emotion surged wave after wave, pushing her longing forward, and in that moment, the desire for reunion reached its peak.
Sakura-colored glass encased the entire space.
After a brief blank, the glass gently shattered.
As the fragments fell, Shaya’s figure appeared before everyone.
At this moment, she was trying to control two completely opposing forces. Red and blue vein-like patterns appeared across her body, and she was in unbearable pain.
——-
After Xueji was guided by her longing and reunited with Shaya, Sophia and Aria’s consciousnesses returned to the outside world.
“What’s wrong with her?” Aria could only sense the powerful aura emanating from Shaya, but the forces within her were incredibly chaotic—she couldn’t understand what was happening at all.
Sophia laid Shaya and Xueji on a blanket, and even gave Xueji a lap pillow.
Only after slowly finishing all this did she bother to acknowledge Aria.
“Two extreme forces have converged within her body. Her body and soul have become a battlefield of ice and fire,” Sophia explained. “Come help me stabilize her condition.”
“How many healing spells can you use simultaneously? The high-tier kind.”
“Ah, two.” Aria was quite confident in her mastery of healing magic.
However, Sophia’s mouth twitched without any attempt to hide it, giving her a look as if she were looking at trash.
“What? They’re high-tier! Using two at the same time is already beyond what normal people can do!”
Yet the very next second, Sophia activated over a dozen healing spells simultaneously, the rich life force emanating from them rivaling an entire forest.
Aria lost her footing and plopped down onto the ice, her eyes vacant, questioning life itself.
“I’m trash.”
“That’s not entirely true. Come here for a moment.”
Hearing this, Aria’s eyes lit up. She remembered an old Chinese saying: the child of a mouse knows how to dig holes.
So she wasn’t completely useless after all.
“Come help me hold my phone. I want to scroll through TikTok.”
“Lady Saint, I am at least a Pope.”
“I’ll teach you a forbidden spell.”
“Coming right up!”
“Teacher, what’s wrong with her?” Shen Moling looked at Shaya, who was in so much pain she couldn’t speak, and couldn’t help but feel heartache.
“These two forces are fighting each other, and she can’t control them.” Xueji walked closer and embraced Shaya from behind.
“Moling, it’s going to be very dangerous here in a moment. You should go out first.”
With that, paying no heed to the erosion of the cold and hot forces, Xueji leaned close to Shaya’s ear and spoke.
“Shaya, do as I say. Don’t try to control these two forces.”
“You need to guide them, let them flow.”
“Although ice and fire are opposites, they are also two sides of the same whole. They can transform into each other.”
Shaya couldn’t speak, but Xueji’s words reminded her of when Ling Xiaoxiao was circulating her energy.
When Ling Xiaoxiao cultivated, golden energy transformed into a pair of fish rotating around each other, one generating and one extinguishing.
“Taiji—do you know it? The flow of power has a beginning and an end. The end is also the beginning. If you simply try to control it, sooner or later you’ll be constrained by power that’s too vast. A true strong person doesn’t need to deliberately control power—they only need to let it circulate on its own.”
Back then, when she was forced to wear a maid outfit, she was so angry and annoyed that she didn’t take those words to heart.
But now, she finally understood what Ling Xiaoxiao meant.
She tried to transform the two forces into the two poles of Taiji, but the previous battle had already left her body severely injured, and her soul power was overdrawn.
Guiding both forces simultaneously was extremely difficult.
She finally managed to form the rudimentary shape of the twin fish, but a single moment of distraction made her lose control.
“Don’t worry, I’m here.”
Xueji’s warm and gentle soul power completely enveloped Shaya. Her ultimate mastery over power allowed her to help Shaya circulate the twin fish diagram.
The glaciers and the flame domain within the mental realm began to devour each other’s tails, slowly rotating together like a Taiji diagram.
“What a comfortable feeling.”
Shaya could finally speak, which also meant she was about to fully master these two forces.
After Shaya learned the trick, the two forces began to slowly contract.
In the end, the glaciers and flame domain that had ravaged the mental realm transformed into a yin-yang twin fish pool, slowly circulating, silent and soundless.
Xueji and Shaya slowly awakened in the real world.
The moment she opened her eyes, Xueji’s vision was blocked by two massive objects.
The softness she felt at the back of her head was something to be savored.
Before she could even speak, Xueji was pulled into a tight embrace by Shaya, who was lying beside her, unable to move.
“Aji, I thought I’d never see you again, wuwuwu~”
She was a mess of tears and snot, crying in a way that made one’s heart ache.
“You really worked hard, Shaya.” Xueji stroked Shaya’s fluffy head and spoke softly.
“Ah, who is this sister?”
“This is Sophia, my companion from another world. She came to help.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Shaya didn’t mind that there was one more person—after all, she understood Xueji’s capabilities. If she could have these few here, there was no way she had none during her earlier otherworld period.
Aria stood to the side, watching the three of them inexplicably harmonious, and could only grind her teeth furiously.
“How indecent, don’t you think so, little Moling?” She hugged Moling’s arm, speaking with indignation.
Shen Moling wanted to pull her arm out, but Aria was holding on too tightly, so she could only let her be.
“Um, the arm is one thing, but could you not touch my tail?”
“Then what about the ears?”
“That’s also a no.”
