"Yes," Xueyan said with a small laugh. "You see, I didn't inherit strong ice affinity like my mother. And I also didn't have the Moon Dao affinity like my father."
He spread his hands.
"So for a long ti, I thought I had nothing."
There was no bitterness in his voice.
Just honesty.
"It wasn't until we visited the Guardian Beast Temple in the Huli Capital during an annual festival that everything changed."
Lin Mu listened more closely now.
Xueyan's expression softened slightly.
"I was just... in the crowd. Nothing special. But for so reason, Temple Head Puyi noticed ."
ng Bai leaned forward.
"He noticed you?"
"Yes," Xueyan nodded. "Later, he called and my parents to et him privately."
His ears twitched at the mory.
"He told us sothing we never expected."
"That I had a Spatial Elent affinity."
ng Bai's eyes widened slightly.
"That must have shocked your parents."
"It did," Xueyan said with a grin. "They didn't believe it at first."
"But Puyi demonstrated it," he added. "He showed how my perception interacted with space differently from others."
"And after that?" ng Bai asked.
"After that..." Xueyan shrugged lightly. "I beca his disciple."
He paused.
"And then he locked in seclusion for ten years. He let out for a month, then again in seclusion for another decade. I kept on repeating that pattern for a long ti... I think its been five hundred years now? No wait... Eight hundred... Nah, more than nine hundred and fifty for sure. Its hard to keep track."
Cattaleya snorted.
"Sounds about right."
ng Bai couldn't help but laugh slightly. Though he was also surprised at how long the foxkin had been cultivating.
Then, after a mont, he asked sothing else.
"...Is it normal for one talent to suppress others like that?"
Daoist Chu nodded.
"It can happen," he said. "Especially with rare elents or the three primordial ones."
He glanced at Xueyan.
"In such cases, the dominant affinity can suppress or even erase the
manifestation of others."
ng Bai nodded slowly.
Then he turned to Lin Mu.
"... Then how does Master have multiple affinities?"
Daoist Chu gave a wry smile.
"...Do you think there are many people like him?"
ng Bai paused.
"...No."
"Exactly," Daoist Chu said.
ng Bai let out a small "Oh" and nodded.
That made sense.
But Xueyan... Xueyan was staring at Lin Mu.
"... You have multiple affinities?"
His voice was quiet.
Curious.
Lin Mu replied simply.
"Space, tal, Fire, Water, and Earth."
Silence.
Xueyan blinked.
Once.
Twice.
And then... His tail froze mid-wag.
"...Five?"
Lin Mu nodded.
"...Five."
There was a pause before Xueyan inhaled sharply.
"...That's not possible."
Daoist Chu chuckled.
"And yet..."
Xueyan looked at Lin Mu again. This ti, differently. Not just with excitent,
but with utter awe.
"...No wonder Master sent with you," he muttered.
He lowered his head slightly.
"...I thought it was just a learning opportunity."
He looked up again, his eyes shining.
"...This is a miracle."
His tail started wagging again.
Faster.
"...I can learn four different elental interactions with space!"
Lin Mu: "..."
Daoist Chu: "...There it is."
Cattaleya laughed.
"Back to being a puppy."
Xueyan didn't even deny it. He was too busy imagining all the things he could
learn.
Below them, the Tival Kingdom passed by.
They did not stop. Shrubby continued forward, maintaining his speed as they crossed the borders
and moved further south.
The land began to change once more.
The air grew denser.
The forests thicker.
And sowhere far ahead the Mother Forest awaited.
And with it... Whatever ca next.
A week passed in flight.
The vast skies of the Fox Scion World stretched endlessly before them, shifting
from dense green canopies to rugged highlands, from winding rivers to distant mist-covered valleys. The journey was long, but not tedious, not with the group
Lin Mu traveled with.
They did not stop often. Only twice.
And both tis, it was for Little Shrubby.
Even a beast like him, capable of tearing through the sky at unimaginable speeds, required rest and sustenance when pushing such distances continuously. Each halt beca an opportunity, not for leisure, but for training.
For Xueyan though...
It beca sothing far more valuable.
A revelation.
The first halt ca on the edge of a vast plateau, where the winds howled
softly and the horizon stretched endlessly. Shrubby lounged nearby, lazily chewing on a large roasted carcass he had hunted, while the others gathered a
short distance away.
Xueyan stood at the side.
Watching, observing and recording.
He had taken out a jade slip, his fingers moving rapidly as he inscribed everything he saw, afraid that even a single missed detail might cost him
sothing invaluable.
And what he saw...
Left him stunned.
Lin Mu stood calmly, arms behind his back, while Daoist Chu adjusted several formation flags planted in the ground. In front of them was ng Bai.
He was sweating, breathing heavily, but standing firm.
"Again," Lin Mu said.
ng Bai nodded.
He stepped forward. Then-
Cattaleya moved.
BOOM.
Her fist ca down like a falling mountain.
Xueyan's eyes widened.
"0.0!"
ng Bai reacted instantly.
His spear spun, forming a defensive arc as water Qi surged around him,
condensing into a rotating shield. At the sa ti, a talisman activated on his sleeve, reinforcing his stance while a formation beneath his feet flared to life.
CRASH.
The impact exploded outward.
Dust rose.
Water splashed. And yet ng Bai did not fall.
He staggered.
But held firm. Xueyan's mouth opened slightly.
"...He blocked that?" He could clearly feel it. Cattaleya had not held back much.
That attack was easily capable of crushing a Second Tribulation Immortal if
taken head-on.
And yet... ng Bai, who wasn't even an Immortal yet, had endured it.
Not with brute force.
But with skill, technique and precise timing. All on top of absolute focus.
Cattaleya grinned.
"Not bad."
Then, she attacked again.
This ti faster.
WHOOSH
ng Bai shifted, deflecting instead of blocking, redirecting the force while
stepping back. His formations flickered, adjusting in real ti, while his spear moved like flowing water, never rigid, always adapting.
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