Gift
Chu Li had originally planned to help her two junior brothers choose the best magic weapon for themselves at the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion, but unexpectedly, one of them didn't even go.
Nan Yi sensed a hint of danger in Chu Li's tone and quickly shook his head: "How could that be? I just wanted to ask my senior sister to go with me."
Chu Li lowered her eyes to look at the fox's somewhat narrow eyes, generously refraining from exposing the fox's ulterior motives.
Wen Xiangluan had told her everything, right there at the Wanxiang Pavilion.
"Alright, the magical artifacts in the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion are rewards from the sect. I also have a gift for you here."
Chu Li took out a long, red piece of fabric from her spatial storage.
Nan Yi tilted his head and looked at it. When he heard that his senior sister had prepared a gift for him, he couldn't contain his excitement. He had thought that he would like anything, and when he saw something that was almost the same color as what he was wearing, he couldn't wait to go up and touch it.
Then Chu Li heard Nan Yi's delighted voice: "Is this for making clothes for me?"
Chu Li paused for a moment, then pointed her finger directly at the object in her hand. The object quickly shrank, becoming almost as long as Nan Yi's fox.
"This is a very basic cloak; you can make it look however you like."
Chu Li didn't know what style Nan Yi liked, so she bought the most basic form. In other words, it could indeed be called a piece of cloth, but it could be changed at will according to the user's wishes.
The cloak can change size, meaning that Nan Yi can wear it whether he is in human form or a fox.
Of course, its ability to change form is only its most insignificant advantage. Its main function is as a defensive magic weapon, impervious to water and fire, and capable of withstanding a strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator. Moreover, it contains a tiny spatial teleportation array that can be used at any time, making it extremely convenient for escaping. However, it lacks a fixed landing point.
Nan Yi returned to his residence in a daze. He had already chosen the most suitable robe to match the cloak behind him. Moreover, his fingertips touched the soft cloak countless times.
His mood was completely different from before; he even couldn't resist the urge to turn around in front of Wen Xiangluan—
But when he looked at the sky, it was too late. They lived close by and it would disturb his senior sister. He decided to wait until tomorrow and intercept Wen Xiangluan on her usual route.
Wen Xiangluan got up early today. He remembered that the sect leader had told him to go to the Wuxiang Hall. As the sect leader's disciple, it was normal for him to be called to his master's place from time to time. However, he couldn't feel good when he thought about his suspicion.
On the other side, Nan Yi, having shaken off yesterday's fatigue, dressed in his robes with renewed vigor and carefully fastened the cloak his senior sister had given him yesterday.
He reached out and touched the crane standing by the window, stuffed all the pills in his hand under the crane's wing, and then whispered to it, "Today, help me find out where that guy Wen Xiangluan went. If you can show me the way, I have even more pills here, they're all yours."
Nan Yi opened his hand, and sure enough, there were still countless pills in his palm.
Even without getting too close, the crane could smell the fragrance of the elixir. It raised its neck and let out a long cry, accepting this great fortune.
In fact, the news had already spread among the cranes. Within the Myriad Manifestations Sect, the most generous person was none other than the Grandmaster, and now perhaps this newly arrived fox should also be added to the list.
So every time they whistled, all the cranes would scramble to get a piece of the paw.
The crane circled once in the air and soon spotted Wen Xiangluan's trail. It then swooped down and called out to Nan Yi a few times.
"Is he going to the Wuxiang Palace today?" Nan Yi nodded and handed all the pills in his hand to the crane. He had better stop Wen Xiangluan before he arrived at the Wuxiang Palace, otherwise he didn't know how long he would stay there.
Wen Xiangluan walked along the road with a heavy heart, her pace much slower than usual.
But just as he was still some distance from the Hall of No Form, a shadow suddenly fell in front of him. He subconsciously looked up and saw someone he hadn't expected appear before him.
"Nan Yi?" Wen Xiangluan was surprised by Nan Yi's sudden appearance, and even more surprised that Nan Yi seemed to have changed his style today. Not only were his clothes more bright, but his eyes and brows seemed to be filled with joy, which was completely different from his disappointment yesterday.
But after spending more than half a year together, Wen Xiangluan knew that Nan Yi's appearance was definitely not for good purposes, and he subconsciously became vigilant. Could it be that Nan Yi already knew something and was waiting here to mock him?
Suddenly, Nan Yi flicked the cloak off his back: "Little Qingluan, although I didn't go to the Myriad Manifestations Pavilion yesterday, my senior sister specially prepared this cloak for me—"
He even moved closer, as if afraid Wen Xiangluan wouldn't be able to see clearly: "You can look a few more times, but you can't touch..."
Wen Xiangluan was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "Nan Yi, do you want to compete with me in this? Then why don't you take a look at mine?"
Wen Xiangluan's palm was facing upwards, and a hollowed-out sphere was floating above his palm.
Nan Yi was puzzled, and then he heard Wen Xiangluan say, "This was specially made for me by my senior sister. It's a small spatial domain. Remember, she made it herself."
The sun hung in the very center of the sky, casting intertwined shadows below.
"Xiang Luan? What's wrong with you?"
The sect leader looked at the seventh disciple who walked in through the door. His face was bruised and swollen, and some parts of his skin were broken and bleeding.
As Wen Xiangluan felt the burning pain on her face, she couldn't help but hiss inwardly. That cunning fox actually hit so hard, and even slapped her face.
No one knows what Nan Yi did. He had clearly swallowed pills to stop the bleeding and help him recover, but the condition on his face didn't improve. However, he still had to come to the Wuxiang Palace today, so he gritted his teeth and came anyway.
"Master, I am fine. I was just injured during yesterday's competition."
The sect leader nodded slightly, then turned to the real topic of the day: "From now on, you will continue to cultivate under my guidance..."
Wen Xiangluan listened attentively. Perhaps he had already guessed, so when his master actually spoke, he didn't feel too disappointed.
Moreover, his master also gifted him a small spatial domain, a privilege that even Nan Yi didn't receive.
Nan Yi's appearance wasn't much better than Wen Xiangluan's, but unlike Wen Xiangluan, he deliberately left the marks on his face that hadn't fully healed before wandering off to Chu Li's residence.
He used elixirs to remove the unsightly swelling, leaving only a few minor bloodstains.
"Senior sister! Look..."
"Junior brother, you've come at the right time," Chu Li said, closing the book in his hand as he saw the newcomer. "Xiang Luan will be personally taught by Master from now on. What about you? Do you want to continue following me, or do you want to be like him?"
What is the same as him?
Nan Yi was almost stunned by the sudden surprise and hurriedly said, "Of course I will still follow Senior Sister."
He then recalled that he had just fought with Wen Xiangluan over the gift—now it seemed that the exquisite gift might have been a farewell gift for Xiao Qingluan!
Thinking about it this way, a guilty look appeared on his face. Little Qingluan was about to leave, and he had actually beaten him up as he was leaving.
He glanced at Chu Li discreetly and, seeing that Chu Li seemed unaware of the marks on his face, hurriedly used magic to cover them up.
As for his fight with Xiao Qingluan, as long as Xiao Qingluan doesn't say anything, his senior sister won't find out.
Just as Nan Yi was at a loss for words, a "tap tap tap" sound suddenly rang out.
Chu Li waved his hand gently, and the window opened automatically, letting in a small bird—"Junior brother, it's looking for you."
In a forest thousands of miles away from the Myriad Mandala.
At this moment, three foxes are sitting on a huge rock, the top of which is very smooth and flat.
"Do you think Nan Yi saw the letter we sent?"
"We should be able to see it. They might reply to us in a few days, right, Nan Er?"
Another fox, a little further away, heard its companion calling it and looked up, somewhat bewildered. "What's wrong?"
One of the foxes curled its lip and said, "Nan Si, why are you asking him? We just want to go to that sect. Do you think Nan Yi would disagree? Don't forget, the three of us took care of him when he was a child."
They and Nan Yi used to live together in the wild, and no one gave them names, so the four of them addressed each other by numbers. Later, when Nan Yi went to the fox clan and changed his name, the other three of them also changed their surname to Nan.
About a day later, the three foxes received a reply. Nan San and Nan Si read the letter with satisfaction and casually tossed it to Nan Er. "Alright, then we should go to the Myriad Elephant Sect and see Nan Yi again. He hasn't given us anything in a long time."
That day, a crane landed at Nan Yi's door and called out to him a few times. Nan Yi greeted Chu Li and said, "Senior Sister, it seems that my friends have arrived at the door. I'll go and meet them."
To be honest, he hadn't seen the other three for a long time, especially after he came to the Myriad Manifestations Sect. He hardly had time to go back, and now it was the other three who needed to come and find him.
Although the three of them lacked talent in cultivation, they had still reached the Golden Core stage and were able to successfully transform into human form, although they might occasionally reveal some non-human characteristics.
The disciples guarding the sect gate smiled when they saw Nan Yi arrive. "I guessed they must know you as soon as I saw them. After all, you're all cunning foxes. Alright, take them in, but be careful, there are some places that are not easy to go to."
Nan Yi nodded at him, "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."
Ever since he won first place in the sect selection last time, he has noticed that most of the disciples in the sect have started to recognize him, know that he is the sect leader's disciple, and know that his original form is a fox.
"Nan Yi, I didn't expect the sect you came to be so good." Nan San looked around and stiffly raised the corners of his lips.
They had heard from letters that Nan Yi had come to a sect to recuperate, but they just assumed that the sect was suitable for recuperation. It was only on a whim that they decided to come and take a look, and that's when they discovered that the sect Nan Yi belonged to was actually a first-class sect in the cultivation world.
Moreover, judging from that disciple's attitude just now, Nan Yi might actually be quite famous within the sect—
Nan Si took a deep breath, greedily savoring the spiritual energy in the air, which was far more concentrated than in their dwelling. He placed his hand on Nan Yi's shoulder and said, "How about we come and seek refuge with you? Your place is quite spacious; it should be enough for all of us."
"Yeah, just like before, we always slept together, didn't we? It was only because you went to the Fox Clan... We can't get into the Fox Clan, but this sect isn't that strict, is it?"
Nan Er frowned and stepped forward to interrupt the two: "Only true disciples of the sect can live here, Nan Yi, right?"
Nan Yi nodded silently for a moment: "If you want to come in, you might as well try the sect's recruitment. The sect recruits new disciples every once in a while, and there is no discrimination against spirit beasts here."
To be honest, both he and the Azure Phoenix were considered spirit beasts, but the disciples of the Myriad Manifestations Sect did not look at them with any strange eyes. At most, they were curious, but most of their gazes were kind, which he could tell.
Nan San and Nan Si shrugged and exchanged a glance. If they had the talent to get in through proper channels and work so hard, they would have already entered the sect to study.
But they're still living as wild foxes in the forest, precisely because they lack the ability to do so.
Unfortunately, Nan Yi was also clueless and failed to understand their underlying meaning, or perhaps he was deliberately pretending not to understand?
He himself got in through his connections with the fox clan, but he never expected them to come.
Nan Yi led them to his residence, where a fox curiously pointed to the magnificent hall in front of them and asked, "Where is that?"
Nan Yi glanced at it and said in a somewhat indifferent voice, "That's the Wuxiang Hall, where the sect leader handles matters."
Nan San then began to examine Nan Yi's living environment again, and was somewhat surprised. This Nan Yi had clearly entered the fox clan, but the things he used were not expensive at all, which meant that they couldn't choose much.
At this moment, Nan Si coughed heavily, signaling to Nan San not to forget the real purpose of this trip.
"By the way, Nan Yi, it seems like you haven't given us any treasures in a long time."
Since Nan Yi went to the Fox Clan, he has always brought them many pills, magical artifacts, and so on. With the help of these pills and such, they finally reached the Golden Core stage.
But after Nan Yi came to the Myriad Manifestations Sect, no more treasures came into their hands.
Nan Yi was taken aback, as if he hadn't expected them to ask such a question. He paused for a moment before replying, "I didn't bring much with me to the Myriad Manifestations Sect."
He initially thought it was just a quick look at the situation, but it was only during the journey that he realized he would need to stay at the Myriad Manifestations Sect for a while. However, by then he was already quite far from the Fox Clan, so he didn't go back.
Most of his treasures are still kept in the fox clan; he only carries with him his most frequently used items.
"Really? You've been in the Myriad Manifestations Sect for quite a while now, haven't you bought anything else?" Nan Si seemed a little unwilling. They had thought about it for a long time before deciding to come here in person. Were they going to go back empty-handed again?
Nan Yi wasn't oblivious to what he was saying; he understood the unspoken meaning. His expression immediately turned cold: "Since you've already reached the Golden Core stage, why don't you go out and train on your own? Why bother coming to find me?"
"Hey, that's not what Nan Si meant. He just wanted to see if you had anything you didn't need, so we could use it up for you."
Nan San pulled Nan Si a little further away and tried to ease the atmosphere with a clumsy excuse.
Night fell quickly, and Nan Yi took advantage of the darkness to arrive at Chu Li's residence. "Senior Sister, you were looking for me?"
Chu Li nodded, then glanced at his residence again: "Have your three friends all gone to bed?"
"I also happened to overhear your conversation today."
It wasn't that Chu Li could eavesdrop, but rather that they didn't lower their voices at all; every word they spoke was extremely loud, and someone with Chu Li's cultivation level could hear it effortlessly.
"You heard that."
Nan Yi let out a long breath. He didn't really know how to describe his feelings today; he could only say they were very complicated.
It's not only complicated, but also very divisive. On one hand, you know that the group has a good relationship, but on the other hand, you hear them openly coveting what he has.
He was already worried that since his senior sister lived nearby, if she found out that he actually had such a friend, she might naturally categorize him as one of them.
Now that he knew Chu Li had heard everything all along, he felt a sense of relief. Moreover—there was no disgust in her eyes, and that was enough.
"Actually, the people I knew before weren't like this."
Nan Yi was actually the youngest of them all. When he met them, he was just a cub who couldn't even walk steadily.
Their forest was often frequented by wild beasts, and a spirit fox like him was extremely attractive to them.
During those times, it was always those three foxes who protected him as he grew up. After he grew up, he began to cultivate. Perhaps because of his high talent, he easily surpassed the other three foxes, and the roles began to change, with him becoming the one to protect the other three foxes.
When he was taken away by the fox clan, the other foxes were very reluctant to part with him. It was after he joined the fox clan that he began to have his own cultivation resources, and he would occasionally give these things to his childhood friends.
The four of them also exchanged letters from time to time, which were full of friendly conversations. They never showed any ulterior motives in their letters.
So after this reunion, everything was beyond his expectations.
He didn't know why they wanted to rely on him for a living in the sect, nor did he know why they coveted those cultivation resources—
In the end, Nan Yi began to feel a little lost. He didn't actually know that many people, but the people he was really close to were probably Nan Er, Nan San, and Nan Si.
As for the fox clan, he never intended to integrate into them, so he remained indifferent to each of his clansmen.
"Junior brother, what should be discarded should be discarded in time, otherwise it will only rot in your body and become a pain that you can't get rid of."
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