As the powers of various sects stirred in the shadows, the Fox Zen Sect exuded an aura of serene tranquility.

At the break of dawn, Ao Wushuang awoke from her meditation. She exhaled softly, a stream of white mist shooting like an arrow from her rosy lips, dissipating only after striking the wall.

The beautiful woman's breath carried a fragrance like musk, instantly filling the room with an intoxicating, subtle perfume.

Ao Wushuang opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. To her sight, a forty-inch plasma television was mounted on the wall; the blast of air she had just expelled had coated the screen, more than four meters away, in a fine layer of condensation.

Beside the television stood a deluxe sound system, and beneath her lay a spacious, luxurious bed. The entire room was decorated in a style that was both modern and opulent.

Ao Wushuang couldn't help but feel a quiet sense of awe: having lived a life dedicated to asceticism, where a simple wooden bed constituted a home, she now found herself in such extravagance—a true anomaly.

As she pondered this, she suddenly noticed a small patch on the mist covering the television screen being wiped away. She inwardly chuckled and spoke gently, "Come out, stop hiding!"

Silence filled the room.

Ao Wushuang snorted, saying, "Look behind you; you just bumped the television! Stop pretending!"

Only then did a figure materialize in the room. This person smiled enchanting, her eyes darting playfully within their sockets, her brow filled with mischievous intelligence. It was none other than Su Chan.

Su Chan giggled, "Master is indeed discerning; your perception misses nothing!"

Ao Wushuang huffed, "Must our master and disciple resort to such theatrics? Can you not speak plainly? Why use the invisibility spell to approach? Are you afraid Li Yundong won't allow you to see me?"

Su Chan hastily waved her hands, hurriedly defending herself, "No, no, Yundong treats me wonderfully; don't speak nonsense."

Ao Wushuang looked at Su Chan with a strange expression, "Then what were you sneaking around for? Don't tell me you want to engage in a battle of wits with your Master again?"

Su Chan sat beside Ao Wushuang with an ingratiating smile, taking her arm and pleading coquettishly, "Master, how would your disciple ever dare to challenge your wisdom? In this world, who possesses beauty like yours, who holds intellect like yours? You truly are the foremost beauty and the wisest mind of all ages!"

Ao Wushuang listened with a faint smile at first, but as the flattery continued, she felt goosebumps rise all over her body. As the saying goes, all attempts to penetrate a facade fail, but relentless flattery cannot be endured!

Ao Wushuang’s eyes widened, "Enough nonsense. What is it? Speak quickly, or I’ll throw you out!"

Su Chan immediately put on a look of deep grievance, tears welling up as she lamented, "Oh, Master, now that you are free, you're already thinking of throwing me out?"

Seeing the tears appear on demand, Ao Wushuang was caught between laughter and exasperation, "You wicked girl, I meant out of this room!"

Su Chan instantly broke into a smile, wiping her eyes with both hands; her mood shifted as quickly as the April sky, "I knew my Master was the kindest!"

Ao Wushuang rubbed her forehead and shook her head helplessly, "You keep circling around it; what is it? Tell me quickly..."

Su Chan blinked, as if gathering immense courage, and asked cautiously, "Master, can you please continue teaching me cultivation again?"

Ao Wushuang paused, surprised, "In the time I was away, did Ziyuan and Li Yundong not teach you anything?"

Su Chan choked upon hearing this and adopted a pitiful look, "They were both too busy..."

Ao Wushuang chuckled, "It's you who refused to learn, isn't it? Look now, even Zhou Qin's cultivation is about to surpass yours. When Li Yundong was enforcing justice back then, this little girl was just a powerless mortal. Now, she's almost showing the bearing of a true cultivator. Are you feeling anxious?"

Saying this, Ao Wushuang couldn't help but lift her head. She recalled how she had wheedled and threatened Su Chan recently just to get her to practice diligently, but this little imp stubbornly refused. Now, having realized her mistake, she wanted to learn?

Ao Wushuang felt a surge of satisfaction, like a freed serf singing a triumphant song. She laughed heartily, "Now you want to learn? Ha! I refuse to teach you!"

Su Chan became frantic, quickly grabbing Ao Wushuang’s arm and shaking it vigorously, "Master, Master! You can't do this! I am your only disciple; how can you watch me become a burden!"

Ao Wushuang roared with laughter, "So you know it’s embarrassing to become a burden?"

Su Chan pleaded with a smile, "Yes, if the disciple is useless, it reflects poorly not just on me, but on you too, Master! Right, Master?"

Ao Wushuang glanced sideways at Su Chan, humming twice. She intended to put on airs slightly, lest the girl obtained this too easily and failed to cherish it.

Ao Wushuang paused in thought and said, "Su Chan, when you were little, I cast a divination for you. The result described your entire life."

Su Chan’s eyes widened roundly upon hearing this, and she eagerly pressed, "What did it say? Tell me quickly!"

Ao Wushuang grew serious, "You were lonely and orphaned from a young age, but your cultivation progressed rapidly until you met your destined beloved at the age of sixteen. However, afterwards, your progress would stall, and you would be ridiculed, until you reach the age of twenty..."

Hearing about meeting her destined beloved at sixteen, Su Chan thought: Isn't that Yundong? Hehe, did Master really cast a divination, or is she just making it up? But when she heard that her cultivation would stagnate later, the words struck a raw nerve. The little girl grew anxious and quickly asked, "What happens after twenty? Will I only make great strides after twenty? Huh? Do I have to wait four more years? But Master, what realm will I reach after twenty?"

Ao Wushuang cleared her throat and spoke mysteriously, "When you reach past twenty..."

Su Chan’s eyes were wide open, her heart pounding, and she asked nervously, "What happens after twenty? Can I cultivate to the Six-Tailed Mystic Fox? Or maybe the Seven-Tailed Divine Fox? Could it be the Eight-Tailed Earth Fox?"

Ao Wushuang replied with mock solemnity, "When you reach past twenty... you will slowly grow accustomed to being a burden!" With that, she couldn't help but burst into loud laughter.

Su Chan was exasperated, "Master, how could you be like this!"

After laughing for a moment, Ao Wushuang suppressed her smile, shot Su Chan a glare, and mock-scolded, "Isn't that the truth? I've been gone so many days, has your cultivation improved even a little?"

Su Chan seemed genuinely a bit angry. She jumped off the bed and stomped toward the door, mumbling as she went, "Bad Master, smelly Master, annoying, so annoying! Won't even teach her own disciple, utterly detestable!"

As Su Chan neared the door, Ao Wushuang noticed her pace slow, her movements hesitant and dragging. She couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

Seeing that the moment was right, Ao Wushuang said, "If you truly wish to cultivate, you cannot give up halfway this time, or I truly won't be polite to you!"

Su Chan instantly spun around like a gust of wind and rushed back to Ao Wushuang, her eyes wide, her long eyelashes flickering like two small brushes, nodding her small head vigorously as if a chick pecking grain, "Mhm, Chan'er will be the most obedient!"

Ao Wushuang laughed, "You are the least obedient one!"

Su Chan grinned shamelessly, taking Ao Wushuang's arm again, laughing, "Anyway, I'm your only disciple, and you won't find anyone more obedient, so Master will just have to make do!"

Ao Wushuang looked at Su Chan with a smile, her eyes full of doting affection. She stroked Su Chan's hair and said, "Stop with the empty talk. Sit down quickly, circulate your energy, and meditate. Let me see your current cultivation level."

Su Chan murmured an 'oh' and obediently sat down. But as soon as she settled and her expression began to calm, she heard a burst of cheers from outside the room—the calls of the little foxes.

Ling Yue's crisp voice drifted in, filled with delight, "Sect Leader, you bought so much delicious food today!"

Upon hearing this voice, the eyes Su Chan had just closed flew open, wide and round. Her pupils darted around, her head involuntarily lifting toward the door, stretching her neck out long, her feet itching to spring up, desperate to rush outside and see what treats Li Yundong had bought.

But just as Su Chan moved, she heard Ao Wushuang cough forcefully beside her.

The little girl turned her head and saw Ao Wushuang looking at her with an icy expression, her eyes full of menace, as if to say: Try stepping outside!

Su Chan immediately retracted her head and meekly sat back down. However, feeling unwilling to give up, she mumbled quietly, "Is it impossible to just peek outside for a moment and come back? Perhaps some of it was bought for me."

Ao Wushuang snapped, "No! A cultivator must be detached and free from desire. How can you cultivate like that?"

Su Chan shrunk back at the reprimand, complaining aggrievedly, "I was just saying..."

Ao Wushuang’s delicate eyebrows shot up. She couldn't help but get angry, "Are you trying to infuriate me to death? You just promised to cultivate well, and less than a minute later, your mind is wandering and your attention is split!"

Su Chan flushed at the scolding and forced herself to sit up straight, concentrating hard on circulating her energy. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, the noise from outside the door persisted, pouring into her ears like spilled quicksilver, impossible to block.

Su Chan heard the other little foxes cheer, followed by chirping voices: "Ah, I love this one!" "Quiet down, this is for me, that one is yours!" "Nonsense, this was clearly bought for me by the Sect Leader; go ask him if you don't believe me!" "Sect Leader, tell us, who was this really bought for?"

Outside, Li Yundong sounded utterly overwhelmed by the pestering. He shouted, "Stop arguing! This is for Su Chan, and these are for you all!"

Su Chan’s eyes immediately snapped open again, filled with surprise, and she instinctively started to rush out. But halfway through her movement, she stumbled, and a dark shadow slapped down sharply on her forehead.

"Ay!" Su Chan cried out, clutching her forehead, only to see Ao Wushuang glaring at her, "Vile disciple, how dare you!"

Su Chan said with a wronged expression, "Yundong bought things for me! It will only take a moment to go see what they are, won't it?"

Ao Wushuang looked furious, "Insolent! If you have the guts, say that again! We cultivators value composure—to remain unshaken when Mount Tai collapses before us, to keep our eyes steady when a deer leaps to the left. Do you even qualify as a cultivator looking like that?"

Su Chan was startled and muttered something under her breath before closing her eyes, "Maybe there are things for you too..."

After she finished, she still felt an itching sensation in her heart. The sounds from outside were like twenty-five little mice turning the world upside down inside her mind, scratching at her soul. The little girl couldn't help but open her eyes again.

The moment she looked, she saw Ao Wushuang adopting the angry gaze of a wrathful Bodhisattva, her delicate eyebrows raised high. It looked as though any word from her would result in a torrential beating.

Su Chan was frightened and dared not speak again. She murmured an 'oh' and quickly closed her eyes again.

Seeing that she had finally quieted down, Ao Wushuang snorted, "Can't I handle you?"

But just as she spoke, she heard the little foxes' voices clearly from outside: "Oh, there's something for Junior Martial Aunt too!" "Yes, Junior Martial Aunt, the Sect Leader bought you things!"

The voices outside erupted in excitement, but the room fell silent. Su Chan couldn't resist opening one eye just a crack, only to see Ao Wushuang glaring at her furiously.

The two stared at each other for a moment, utterly speechless.