Inside the Thach Anh's inner world, Huli was concentrating on channeling her own spiritual energy, along with the absorbed external energy, into the Thach Anh's spiritual root. After an unknown amount of time, the spiritual root began to show signs of movement.
The spiritual root, initially in liquid form, was enveloped by streams of energy in the shape of fiery red, feathery tails.
Golden patterns appeared on its outer body, and a teardrop-shaped pattern on its forehead began to bloom, resembling a flower.
Huli transformed into human form after the energy channeling was complete. She felt the energy within her converging, the tails unfurling like flowers, and the spiritual root within solidifying.
"It worked?!" - Huli breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the spiritual root was undergoing a transformation; inside, it showed signs of taking the form of a newborn baby. The fox was astonished, unable to believe her own eyes.
"This child not only broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage but also to the Nascent Soul stage! What kind of absurdity is this?! Three breakthroughs?!" - Huli
The spiritual root continued to greedily absorb spiritual energy; if it continued like this, the surrounding environment would wither. Seeing that the situation was dire, Huli transformed into her human form and used a technique to shoot red fireballs towards the spiritual root.
However, upon hitting the spiritual root, it absorbed the fireballs, astonishing Huli.
"Impossible..." - Huli
She considered using more power, but doing so would damage the spiritual root.
"It seems I need to teach this child how to limit her absorption of spiritual energy, otherwise, absorbing too much spiritual energy will be very dangerous, not only for her surroundings but also for herself." - Huli
Huli used hand seals to cast a technique towards the spiritual root.
"That's enough! You're harming this body!" - Huli
The spiritual root seemed to have consciousness, or perhaps Huli was hallucinating; the spiritual root stopped absorbing spiritual energy. The child inside the spiritual root opened its eyes and saw Huli. Sensing something was wrong, she escaped from the Crystal's inner world.
As soon as she jumped out and returned to her female form, she saw the child still in a meditative posture, having fallen asleep. The female fox jumped between Crystal's legs and then gently patted her forehead with her paw.
'She's only just broken through, and the spiritual root already has consciousness? What's going on?' - Huli thought.
A faint light still flickered on Crystal's forehead, the budding pattern still visible. Huli frowned.
'From this level of enlightenment, I deduce that she has already reached the level of Karma Consciousness.' - Huli thought.
As the lines on her body glowed softly, Huli thought of a problem.
It wasn't just because she had linked her own soul to this child's spiritual root, but also because this child's spiritual root was problematic. A normal child would recover with just a little spiritual power, but for some reason, this spiritual root was different from any she had ever seen.
Then, realizing something, Huli looked up and saw that Thach Anh had opened her eyes. Those eyes lacked their usual innocence, replaced by emptiness and alienation.
Ignoring the fox, she stood up and walked slowly forward. Huli followed, calling out,
"Hey, are you sleepwalking? Wake up!" - Huli
Ignoring her, Thach Anh manipulated the nearby needle to extend it and stepped onto it to glide. Huli quickly jumped on to follow.
They soared through the dark night and damp, cold white clouds, their destination unknown. At that moment, Thach Anh looked down and saw the fox following them. She lifted it up, a childlike smile playing on her lips, yet it was a fake smile. Her voice, however, astonished Huli; it wasn't the voice of a child, but that of an adult woman.
"You truly are a loyal beast, following me like this" - Thach Anh
"Who are you? Why are you possessing this child's body?" - Huli
"Possessing? You seem to have misunderstood something. I'm not possessing this host's body, but merely living inside," Thach Anh replied.
Gently placing Huli on her head, Thach Anh's gaze remained fixed ahead.
"You haven't told me who you are." - Huli
"Does that matter?" - Thach Anh
"Of course it does. You're living as a parasite inside this child without even knowing who you are." - Huli bristled.
Immediately, Thach Anh's finger covered the fox's mouth, and she spoke in a gentle but somewhat threatening voice:
"You know the proverb [Knowing little means living long]. If you understand it, you know what to do." - Thach Anh
Hearing this, the female fox covered her mouth and said nothing more, only then was she satisfied.
We flew for a long time until we reached a mountain shrouded in white clouds, where the world's largest sandstone statue of Maitreya Buddha stood, nestled in the Garden of Non-Self. There was also a 72-meter-tall bronze Buddha statue on the summit, known as the Statue of the Goddess of the West Bodhisattva Mountain.
"What are we here for?" - Huli
"Black Virgin Mountain*. It's a sacred place where the earth's energy converges, bringing peace and good fortune to everyone, especially those seeking healing, spirituality, and energy balance." - Thach Anh
Through the white clouds, a statue with no visible holes emerged.
"A place to pray for peace, good fortune, and inner tranquility, suitable for anyone, regardless of their birth element. Therefore, those with Fire and Earth elements will receive energy replenishment, increased stability, and prosperity when they come here." - Thach Anh
Thach Anh landed on the ground, walked towards the statue of Maitreya Buddha, and knelt down to bow three times.
After bowing, she went inside to meet the statue of the Bodhisattva of the West. Below the statue was a staircase leading up, with a statue of a Deva at each step. Thach Anh knelt and bowed once as she ascended. When she reached the statue of the Bodhisattva of the West, she knelt once more before sitting upright to begin her meditation.
A sudden gust of wind arose, and all that could be heard around her was the rustling of leaves and the gentle sound of flowing water.
Thach Anh performed a hand seal, a lotus flower pattern appeared on her forehead, and the surrounding spiritual energy began to be absorbed into her powerfully. The spiritual root continued its unfinished absorption process.
The female fox was horrified, unable to believe that even at this point, it could still absorb. But everything has its limits; children are not like adults, they only absorb when they have enough, while adults have strong bones and skin, and a resilient spirit capable of withstanding damage to break through.
But what was the point of this child absorbing again after just breaking through?
The spiritual root inside Thach Anh shattered the outer layer of the core, allowing the child to escape. Sensing her breakthrough, a smile curved on her lips.
"That's it, it's complete. To have accelerated the breakthrough process like this, and with only minor damage to the body, it truly shows that this body is destined for me." - Thach Anh
She extended her finger, and a small flame appeared at the tip, the flame moving vigorously as if dancing. Then she extinguished the flame without doing anything further.
"Well, never mind. This is a sacred place, it's best I don't trespass." - Thach Anh
"What did you do?" - Huli
"Nothing, you don't need to be so tense. I've already helped the owner of this body break through a lot. You should be pleased." - Thach Anh
"But you cheated. At most, this child will only break through to the Foundation Establishment stage or at most the Golden Core stage." - Huli
"Huh? That sounds so restrictive. Wouldn't it be better to jump straight from Qi Refining to Spirit Severing? That would be like surpassing the entire realm." - Thach Anh
"That won't do. Everything must have its impact limited. The person you're living off is just a little girl, not a grown-up or middle-aged adult!" - Huli
A person and a fox stared at each other for a very long time, then Thach Anh let out a sigh.
"As expected, we still need to tone it down. I was just joking, don't be so tense. I can help this girl break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. However, she'll still essentially be at the Nascent Soul stage. Is that okay?" - Thach Anh
"How will you do that?" - Huli
"That's simple." - Thach Anh
Sitting down on a nearby stone bench, the moonlight shone from behind, casting shadows over her face, but her eyes gleamed with a golden light, her eyelids curving upwards as if smiling.
"I'm just living in this body anyway." - Thach Anh
_______
Dawn began to break.
The sunlight shone, causing Thach Anh to squint and wake up. She yawned, having had a good dream.
"It seems I was meditating yesterday... I overslept again—Ah!" - Thach Anh was startled.
She regained consciousness and found herself precariously perched on the railing of her apartment building. A slight tilt, or perhaps just a moment of drowsiness, and she could fall to her death at any moment.
"How did this happen?! How did I get up here?!" - Thach Anh screamed.
_______
*Núi Bà Đen: Ba Den Mountain, is a mountain in Tây Ninh City, Vietnam.