Thach Anh crossed her arms and stared at the fox, while Huli stared back at the small human in front of her. They stared at each other for a long time before Thach Anh spoke first.
"You're a fox spirit? A real, genuine fox spirit?" - Thach Anh
"Of course! Otherwise, how would you think I could speak?" - Huli
"But how is that possible? Just yesterday you only made animal sounds." - Thach Anh
"That's not difficult at all. I used my own soul to heal your spiritual root. This also means we're now connected, so only you can hear what I'm saying." - Huli
"Heal my spiritual root? How did you do that? And what happened to my spiritual root?" - Thach Anh
The little girl lunged forward, causing the fox to raise its paws to block her.
"Of course it's connected to your spiritual root. As for what's wrong with your spiritual root, don't you feel anything strange yourself?" - Huli
Speaking of which, for the past few years since she acquired her spiritual root, she's focused all her attention on physical training and hasn't mentioned any training related to Qi cultivation. So she's been secretly practicing to develop her spiritual root, but every time she meditates, her body feels tired and her energy drains very quickly.
Huli crossed her front paws and stomped her feet as if deep in thought.
"Little girl, your spiritual root seems to be developing quite late. You said you only acquired your spiritual root at five years old, but normally babies are born with spiritual roots. I think you're quite late." - Huli
"My parents said the same thing as you, but they didn't tell me beforehand." - Thach Anh
"It's because you were so young back then that I was afraid you'd be upset. But now you don't need to worry about cultivating Qi anymore. Now, try it." - Huli
Nodding slightly, Thach Anh entered a meditative posture and closed her eyes. As if true to Huli's words, the spiritual energy began to absorb into her body, making her feel lighter and more energetic.
"That's right, you absorb it very well. When you cultivate Qi, your body will be stronger than average, and you can use basic magic. More importantly, you can cultivate elemental energy within a radius of one hundred meters." - Huli
"Really?" - Thach Anh exclaimed excitedly.
The fox then jumped up and placed its front paw on Thach Anh's forehead. A four-pointed star-shaped blue symbol appeared on her forehead, with a teardrop-shaped image in the center.
"What is that?" - Thach Anh
"That's your gate to enlightenment, because your spiritual root is a special type. I used a cultivation technique that I created myself to resolve this, which is why the gate to enlightenment appeared." - Huli
"My spiritual root is special?" - Thach Anh
"I don't know much about this. Perhaps your spiritual root isn't a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but rather a True Spiritual Root, or worse, a False Spiritual Root." - Huli
According to what she was taught, the most common classification by attribute is the Five Elements Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. There are also rare types like Lightning, Wind, and Ice, called Abnormal Spiritual Roots.
The quality of spiritual roots is usually based on three main characteristics.
Heavenly Spiritual Root: Possesses only one attribute, extremely rare, and represents geniuses in the cultivation world due to their incredibly fast cultivation speed.
True Spiritual Root: Has 2-3 attributes, cultivation is quite stable.
False Spiritual Root, also known as Waste Spiritual Root: Has 4-5 mixed attributes, very slow spiritual energy sensing speed, and consumes a lot of resources.
Huli lowered her foot and looked at the other party thoughtfully, as if scrutinizing something. She lightly nudged Thach Anh's chin with her front paw.
"Previously, your spiritual root had a problem, so the range of your power was limited to only surrounding your body. Now the range has expanded, you can try it." - Huli
Hearing this, she took out a piece of metal from her pocket and tried to manipulate it. With just a flick of her finger, the metal in her pocket deformed according to her finger movements. Thach Anh became cheerful.
"Oh, look here, I can do it more easily!" - Thach Anh
Thach Anh molded the metal into various shapes, even creating a small fox and holding it up to Huli to tease her. The fox immediately used its front paw to push the fox-shaped metal away and snorted disdainfully.
"That's just childish. Anyone can do it." - Huli
"Oh come on, this is my fun too! I have to show it off to others!" - Thach Anh
Jumping out of bed, she ran outside to show her grandparents, but suddenly stopped. Downstairs, not only were her grandparents and aunts and uncles there, but her parents were also there. As soon as they heard footsteps running down the stairs, all the adults...
"Oh no, I'm doomed..." - Thach Anh
So, as soon as she got home, she was forced to kneel in her room without moving, with a bucket of water on her head. If she moved and knocked the bucket over, she'd get a spanking.
As for Huli, after her aunt and uncle persuaded her, her parents reluctantly agreed to take her home. Sure enough, when she got home, the fox didn't cause any trouble but lay comfortably, watching Thach Anh to see if she would cheat during her punishment.
"Serves you right." - Huli
"Shut up." - Thach Anh
She sat there as punishment until the sun reached noon.
Her legs were numb and immobile; even the slightest movement felt like an electric shock, and stepping on the ground felt like stepping on a thousand needles.
At this moment, she just wanted to play around with the new technique. Frustrated, Thach Anh's voice echoed throughout the house.
"WHY?!" - Thach Anh
Suddenly, her father's angry shout rang out.
"Shut up, or you'll have to sit here for extra time!" - Dad Son
Her body jolted, causing the bucket on her head to tilt slightly. She scrambled to regain her balance, only letting a few drops of water fall to the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, she reluctantly sat still, accepting her punishment.
The fox continued to watch its owner from behind, its gaze unwavering. It couldn't help but ponder the spiritual root within the little girl.
After forming the seal to connect with the spiritual root, whether it was an illusion from exhaustion or if the spiritual root contained a soul, there was even a fragmented, indistinct voice.
'What exactly is this child...?' - Huli thought
_______
In Grandpa Hoan's private study, a letter with a wax seal lay on his desk, causing him to frown.
"Husband, what's bothering you so much?" - Grandma Thu
"Nothing, just...a little personal matter." - Grandpa Hoan
"Is it an invitation to 'that place'?" - Grandma Thu
"...." - Grandpa Hoan remained silent, his lips parted as if to speak, but no words came out.
"It seems that day will still come. You know, no matter what we do, sooner or later that child will have to go. The situation is very sensitive now; not going is unavoidable." - Grandma Thu
Newspapers and news reports constantly circulated outside about the expansion of the demons and monsters. Some countries, recognizing the global threat, signed peace treaties and established schools to train young generations to defeat the demons and monsters.
"Many years have passed, and the demonic forces seem to be acting strangely. They seem...unusual, as if they are searching for something." - Grandpa Hoan
"So you think it's related to our granddaughter?" - Grandma Thu
"Don't think like that, our granddaughter is just a child. What can a child do?" - Grandpa Hoan frowned
"Yes, you're right, maybe I've been overthinking it." - Grandma Thu
"Cough, cough, cough..." - Grandpa Hoan coughed lightly
"Husband, your illness." - Grandma Thu panicked, covering her husband's mouth with a handkerchief.
"It's nothing, just a slight cough. This illness won't affect our upcoming plans." - Grandpa Hoan
The old couple's eyes turned towards the safe where they kept something they would give to their granddaughter.