The Aloof Immortal Venerable is Pregnant with My Fox Cub - Chapter 44.1

Chapter 44.1

The Taixuan Sect was truly vast. Following the shortest route suggested by the small round token, Cang Ran spent a significant amount of time running to the Spiritual Food Hall.

When she successfully arrived, the Spiritual Food Hall was already filled with Taixuan Sect outer disciples eating.

These outer disciples wore light green uniforms, with silver threads embroidered into lotus leaves on their collars and cuffs, and a red lotus petal dotted on their foreheads. Most were only in the Foundation Establishment stage.

The entire Spiritual Food Hall looked lively. Some disciples were discussing class content with classmates while eating, while others were gossiping, like a group of chattering skylarks.

When Cang Ran and the little hedgehog appeared outside the Spiritual Food Hall, hesitating whether to squeeze in to eat, all these outer disciples immediately surrounded them the moment they saw them.

“Are you the spiritual pets Immortal Venerable Qingxuan brought back from outside? You are so beautiful!”

“Where are you from? A secret realm or the Demon Realm?”

“Can you speak? Why can’t I see your cultivation level?”

It was the little hedgehog’s first time facing so many people, and it instinctively hid behind Cang Ran.

Cang Ran calmly asked: “How do you know we are Immortal Venerable Qingxuan’s spiritual pets?”

“The lotus mark on your jeweled garland is exclusive to Immortal Venerable Qingxuan. You must be Immortal Venerable Qingxuan’s spiritual pets.”

Cang Ran looked down at the jeweled garland on her body. No wonder Tan Qingxuan insisted she wear it. Going out with Tan Qingxuan’s mark like this felt so embarrassing!

Fortunately, her fox fur was red, and others couldn’t see her blush. Otherwise, they would surely notice that even her ear tips were crimson.

“I see. We came from the Demon Realm and need to get food at the Spiritual Food Hall. Can you let us pass?”

Everyone immediately moved aside, but a few people still enthusiastically came up and said: “What do you want to eat? I’ll get the food for you. I come here often. The eight-treasure spiritual rice porridge is the best.”

Others teased: “They are foxes; they eat meat. Recommending spiritual rice porridge to them is too unreliable.”

The outer disciple pushed his companion away: “I’m just living a simple life. Maybe the little fox likes vegetarian food, right? Eating vegetarian is good for physical and mental health.”

Cang Ran curved her eyes and slowly debunked him: “I am a meat-eating fox.”

The fluffy little fox suddenly smiled. Her eyes were like little hooks that sparked electricity, and the outer disciples immediately went wild.

“Ahhh, too cute! The little fox is so adorable!”

Taking advantage of the moment when these outer disciples were still obsessed with her fluffiness, Cang Ran quickly grabbed the still-dazed little hedgehog and sprinted into the Spiritual Food Hall.

The dishes in the Spiritual Food Hall were abundant, with fruits, vegetables, and meat available. Many dishes were pre-made. You could also bring your own vegetables and grains and pay some spiritual stones for the food cultivators inside to process them.

The small wooden sign for ordering food read three mid-grade spiritual stones for human cultivators and five mid-grade spiritual stones for spiritual beasts. Below, a space was circled for deducting spiritual stones. She walked over with her engraved small round token, saw five spiritual stones deducted, leaving her with seven hundred ninety-five.

The little hedgehog also mimicked the Great King, lining up behind her, standing on its tiptoes to place its small round token on the deduction area. Its spiritual stones were also deducted.

They carried their trays to the serving area. Cang Ran selected a few dishes, and the little hedgehog followed suit, choosing the same ones as the Great King.

The cultivator responsible for serving food in the Spiritual Food Hall saw they were spiritual beasts. He immediately swapped the regular spatula for an extra-large one.

One bowl was filled to the brim, with large meat balls teetering on top, plus five or six large chicken legs, and a big ladle of rich gravy.

The food cultivator in a white apron said kindly: “Eat more! You can always come back for more food if it’s not enough. We’ll save it for you.

Last time, when the sect’s immortal cranes came to eat, they complained to the inner disciples about us. We definitely don’t cut corners! We make sure the spiritual stones you spiritual beasts spend are worth the value.”

Then the immortal cranes of your Taixuan Sect must be quite plump.

Cang Ran held the large tray. Her paw pads were about to be flattened. The little hedgehog also swayed precariously with its tray. This was too much.

She suddenly understood why spiritual beasts had to spend more spiritual stones than ordinary cultivators—the portions were different.

However, the prices at Taixuan Sect were still quite expensive. A bowl of wontons in Luofeng City cost only three low-grade spiritual stones. Here, a meal cost five mid-grade spiritual stones. It was likely because all the ingredients here were spiritual plants and spiritual meat.

Seeing that Cang Ran and the little hedgehog were struggling to carry the trays, the outer disciples quickly helped them place the trays on a table.

They ate while being watched by a crowd, occasionally hearing exclamations of how adorable they were.

Cang Ran suddenly felt that the Demon Realm was quite good. At least the demon cultivators didn’t think she was cute. Everyone could live peacefully.

Next time, she wouldn’t come here. She would give spiritual stones to that person named Zheng Mingxin and ask her to bring the food.

The little hedgehog had never encountered a situation where there were so many more humans than demons. Its paws were shaking, and its head was almost buried in the tray as it slowly ate with a small spoon.

When the outer disciples asked if it needed help being fed, the little hedgehog immediately buried itself lower in panic, rapidly shoveling food with the spoon.

The little hedgehog had stayed in the Demon Realm for too long and hadn’t undergone social training. It usually encouraged her with the forceful-takeover scenarios from storybooks, but when it came to being watched, it immediately became timid.

Cang Ran transmitted a message to the little hedgehog’s mind: “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Have you seen any humans eating demons in the storybooks where demons eat humans? Just eat your food. Pretend they don’t exist.”

The little hedgehog transmitted back: “There are, Great King! Some people in the storybooks are very good at eating demons. The demons are eaten until they can’t get out of bed.”

Cang Ran’s eyes widened. She didn’t expect this little hedgehog, who seemed quite timid, to be so explicit when exposed.

Her ear flaps felt warm: “Little Hedgehog, no sudden pervertedness allowed! I told you to read fewer storybooks. Next time, let me read some too. I want to see who wrote those explicit books.”

The little hedgehog’s face was flushed yellow: “The one who wrote the storybooks is an old perverted deer. He’s very famous in the Demon Realm. If the Great King wants some, I’ll buy them for the Great King to read when I go back to the Demon Realm.”

Cang Ran coughed: “Speak quieter through the transmission. Give them to me secretly when we get back. Just eat first.”

The little hedgehog listened very obediently to the Great Fox King and immediately sat up straight, eating quickly as usual.

The food cultivator’s skill was unquestionable. Cang Ran felt it could compare favorably to her own.

As a demon beast, she had a huge appetite. This amount of food was too much for human cultivators but just right for a demon, leaving her about seventy percent full.

After eating, they went for a walk to digest the food. The path from the Spiritual Food Hall back to Fuyuan Palace passed by a Koi Pond.

When Cang Ran and the little hedgehog passed by, they saw a few inner disciples aged sixteen or seventeen fishing there.

Cang Ran went over and looked curiously, finding the fish basket empty. She couldn’t help but ask: “How long have you been fishing? Why haven’t you caught a single fish?”

“Shhh, be quiet! Don’t scare my fish away.” The inner disciple had an oval face, very bright eyes, and was holding a fishing rod, staring intently at the water surface. “Whether I can get first place in the Inner Sect Competition depends entirely on whether I can catch a koi.”

Cang Ran was surprised: “Your Taixuan Sect Inner Sect Competition relies on fishing?”

The oval-faced girl asserted: “Of course not. It’s just that the first competition is about silently reciting heart mantras. The koi in this pond were brought back by Founder Fu Qing when she was slaying demons outside. The smallest ones are hundreds of years old. If I can catch one and keep it for two days, I’ll receive a good luck blessing, and I’ll have a better chance of winning.”

Cang Ran watched for a while longer: “I see. Why don’t you try scooping them up with a net?”

The oval-faced girl frowned when she heard this. She turned her head to look at Cang Ran: “It’s not that easy to scoop them up with a net. Ah, why are you a fox?”

Her gaze circled and landed on the jeweled garland on Cang Ran’s body. She said in surprise: “Are you the fox Immortal Venerable Qingxuan brought back from outside?”

Cang Ran nodded, gave the little hedgehog a look, and had the little hedgehog hand her the nearby scooping net: “Mmm. If you trust me, lend me the scooping net. I’ll help you catch one.”

The oval-faced girl was skeptical: “Don’t bother trying. I’ve never been able to scoop one up before. This net was a free gift from the shop owner; it’s completely unreliable.”

Cang Ran took the net from the little hedgehog’s paw, pointed to a red koi not far from the shore, and said to the oval-faced girl: “Isn’t there a big one right there? A red koi, too, not far from your fishing rod.”

Only then did the oval-faced girl notice the red koi. She had only been staring at the float just now. Seeing it, she still sighed in disappointment: “It’s useless. I’ve encountered fish closer than that one before, and I couldn’t scoop them up at all. The fish get scared away as soon as the net touches the water.”

Cang Ran got playful and said confidently: “Let me try.”

The next second, a large red koi was fished out of the water by Cang Ran, thrashing its tail non-stop in the scooping net. The entire process was smooth and fluid.

The oval-faced girl was instantly overjoyed: “That’s incredible! How did you do that?”

Cang Ran smiled mysteriously: “The secrets of heaven must not be revealed. Anyway, I caught the fish for you.”

The oval-faced girl was full of excitement: “So powerful! Are all you foxes this amazing? This koi is so big! A whole arm’s length! I’ve never seen such a large fish. It’s beautiful!”

The little hedgehog demon chimed in: “The Great King is the most amazing! The fish the Great King catches are the biggest fish in the whole world!”

With a Heart Motion stage cultivation, not yet at the Nascent Soul stage, it would be impossible for her to scoop the fish up with a net if her spells weren’t advanced.

Telling her would certainly dampen her enthusiasm for fishing. Fishing definitely offers a better chance than scooping.

Cang Ran said profoundly: “Of course, it’s merely a matter of being skilled.”

The oval-faced girl was stunned by her air of an expert and quickly said: “Senior Five-Tailed Fox Demon, your cultivation must be very high.”

Cang Ran propped her palm against the side of her face and handed over the fish: “Keep a low profile, low profile. Just mediocre talent. Take this fish. Good luck with the Inner Sect Competition. You will definitely get a good ranking.”

The fish in the net was heavy. She had never gotten such a large fish in her life. The inner disciple was overjoyed and respectfully bowed to Cang Ran repeatedly: “Senior Fox Demon, you are so kind! Let me pay you some spiritual stones. This large fish is worth one hundred mid-grade spiritual stones in the sect! Feeding it will bring more blessings!”

Tan Qingxuan had given her a lot of spiritual stones. Cang Ran waved her paw: “I don’t need your spiritual stones. Just lend me your fishing rod to play with. I’m bored anyway. You can sit next to me and chat.”

The oval-faced girl was immediately excited: “Senior Fox Demon! You are the best senior I have ever met! How about I give you both the fishing rod and the scooping net? I feel bad. You gave me such a large fish!”

Cang Ran was just doing it on a whim. The fishing rod was of little use to her. She could even whip the fish onto the shore with her fox tail: “You keep them. I don’t need them. Just teach me how to mix the bait for fishing, and do you have a smaller fishing rod? Get one for my little hedgehog too.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Seeing that the Senior Fox Demon really didn’t want anything, the oval-faced girl put the fish into the fish basket, immediately went to rummage through her tackle box, found an extra small fishing rod, and put it in the little hedgehog’s paw.

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