The Aloof Immortal Venerable is Pregnant with My Fox Cub - Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Cang Ran watched the departing fish and asked Tan Qingxuan: “Was that Great Koi just now constantly cursing me? Letting it go like that is too easy on it.”

Tan Qingxuan said calmly: “You knocked it out for a while. It’s normal for it to have a few complaints about you.”

Cang Ran stretched out her paw and unhappily poked the area above Tan Qingxuan’s heart: “Immortal Venerable, whose side are you on? Why don’t you speak up for me?”

A blush rose on the side of Tan Qingxuan’s neck, and she waved away the small paw: “If I didn’t speak up for you, you would be severely punished by the sect rules.”

Cang Ran snorted: “I’m not afraid of severe punishment. It’s just doing some chores. I don’t need you to shield me.”

She twisted her body twice and jumped directly from Tan Qingxuan’s shoulder, refusing to be held by Tan Qingxuan.

Cang Ran waved at the little hedgehog: “Come on, let’s go back to the Demon Realm. We’re not staying here anymore. This place is full of bad women.”

Cang Ran walked away quickly. The little hedgehog happily put down its fish basket, wanting to follow the Great King back.

Tan Qingxuan only said one sentence behind her: “The sect has a protective formation. Usually, without the Sect Master’s token, you cannot leave easily.”

Cang Ran secretly gritted her teeth, swishing her five large tails, and walked back again.

She held out her paw pad towards Tan Qingxuan: “Give me the Sect Master’s token!”

Tan Qingxuan said lightly: “The token is with my Junior Sister.”

Cang Ran was speechless. She would have to borrow the token from Tan Qingxuan’s Junior Sister just to go out. Even when Tan Qingxuan wanted her to stay in Fuyuan Palace, that Junior Sister could find a whole host of reasons to object.

If she really went to ask, that Junior Sister would probably interrogate her about her ancestors for eighteen generations, and then, after being suspicious, definitely wouldn’t give it.

Cang Ran sighed, looked up at Tan Qingxuan, and asked curiously: “Aren’t you an Immortal Venerable? Why don’t you have the token?”

Tan Qingxuan looked at her calmly: “The Taixuan Sect has its own sect rules.”

Cang Ran clenched and unclenched her fists. Oh, heavens, this was to block her way completely!

Seeing the little fox’s look of despair, Tan Qingxuan didn’t want to push her too hard: “In another month, I will take over the position of Sect Master. When my Junior Sister gives me the Sect Master’s token, I will give you a token allowing you free entry and exit.”

Cang Ran counted the days in her heart. One month. She had to stay here for that long. Did she have to personally watch Tan Qingxuan take the female protagonist as her apprentice in the future?

Tan Qingxuan saw that Cang Ran didn’t want to stay for even a moment. She silently clenched her sleeve and lowered her eyes: “Do you really dislike being in the sect?”

Tan Qingxuan’s eyes trembled slightly. Cang Ran hesitated for a moment but still nodded.

Tan Qingxuan’s eyelashes fluttered several times. She stared intently at Cang Ran, her usually cool voice slightly hoarse: “Stay for a bit longer. If you really dislike it here, I will send you away, Cang Ran.”

Cang Ran felt very heavy-hearted. She had to adapt to this feeling. There was nothing that couldn’t be let go of. Tan Qingxuan was great, but she didn’t want to see the day Tan Qingxuan hurt herself for someone else.

As long as she turned away fast enough, Tan Qingxuan wouldn’t be able to hurt her, and she wouldn’t become Tan Qingxuan’s enemy.

Cang Ran exhaled a cloudy breath: “Okay. Thank you.”

Tan Qingxuan leaned down and actively pulled Cang Ran into her embrace. Her voice was very dark and vulnerable: “Cang Ran, you don’t need to thank me.”

She had thousands of words condensed in her heart, but she couldn’t utter the one she wanted to say most.

She wanted to keep Cang Ran, but things turned out contrary to her wishes. She had originally thought the little fox was truly willing to follow her, which was why she clung to her and said those words about not leaving her behind.

But human hearts change. Even if she herself hadn’t changed in the slightest, what method could she use to retain a heart that didn’t want to stay?

After taking over the position of Sect Master, her duties would be complicated. She could only put the sect first and wouldn’t have extra time to spend with Cang Ran. If Cang Ran truly didn’t want to stay, she couldn’t force her.

Cang Ran was held very tightly by Tan Qingxuan. This time, she heard Tan Qingxuan’s heartbeat was faster than hers, which made her own heart beat faster too. But she knew Tan Qingxuan would soon no longer belong to her.

Humans are like this. Even knowing they can’t have something, they still harbor resentment. She had loved her for so long. Why should she give her up to someone else, just because the other person is the female protagonist?

But if she snatched her, would Tan Qingxuan continue to love her steadfastly?

She was just an ordinary wild fox, skilled at nothing. Even the sword techniques were taught by Tan Qingxuan.

Cang Ran’s eyes welled up with a bitter tears. She sniffed and pushed Tan Qingxuan away: “I’m in a bad mood. I want to go for a walk somewhere else.”

The warm little fox left her embrace. Tan Qingxuan’s eyes flashed with sadness, and she silently watched the direction Cang Ran left in.

The little hedgehog glanced at Tan Qingxuan and quickly followed Cang Ran’s footsteps: “Great King, I’ll go with you.”

Cang Ran waved her paw: “You use the small round token to return to the side palace yourself. You don’t need to follow me. I want to be alone for a while.”

The little hedgehog gave a disappointed “oh.” So it was being treated the same way as Tan Qingxuan.

Cang Ran didn’t really know where to go. The Taixuan Sect was too big, many times larger than the Fox Fox Mountain where she used to live. The bigger it was, the more she felt a sense of cold, empty loneliness.

She had never felt this way on Fox Fox Mountain, but since coming here, she felt there were too many people and various restricting rules.

She truly didn’t know how Tan Qingxuan managed to live here for eight hundred years. Maybe she had gotten used to it long ago?

Cang Ran jumped onto the roof of a tall palace and saw a group of inner disciples practicing sword techniques below. The clothing and accessories of these disciples all bore the mark of the Taixuan Sect. Even their spiritual swords were uniformly issued by the Taixuan Sect.

However, the starting stances of several of this group’s sword techniques were completely different from what Tan Qingxuan had taught her. Could it be that Tan Qingxuan only taught her?

Two small white dots ran from afar and flew towards them on their swords. Their swords didn’t stop steadily, and they nearly crashed into an Elder. They were scolded by the Elder and sheepishly ran back into the formation.

Cang Ran clearly saw that one of the unlucky ones was the oval-faced girl from earlier, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Was Tan Qingxuan like this when she was young? Probably not. Tan Qingxuan looked like the type of person who would never be late and would be pulled out by the Elder as a model because of her exceptional excellence.

Cang Ran watched these disciples practice the sword for a while. A portion of them then began to practice a sword formation.

The power of the sword formation was very strong. Cang Ran, sitting on the roof, could feel the faint presence of lightning, a murderous aura, and sharp sword energy rushing into the sky.

This was probably the difference between sect disciples and rogue cultivators. A rogue cultivator in the Gold Core stage could only exert Gold Core stage strength, but when these sect disciples were all in the Gold Core stage and formed a sword formation, killing someone above their level was not a problem.

Most demon cultivators used self-taught techniques. If they encountered a large sect with rich inheritances, being served by a rotation of sword formations would be quite challenging, not to mention that large sects have deep foundations, and their magical treasures and spiritual artifacts have been updated through countless generations.

Cang Ran couldn’t help but wonder why the Demon Realm hadn’t been conquered by the cultivation world yet. Was it because there was a Demon Domain in between? These cultivators were busy slaying demons and protecting the righteous path and didn’t have the time to deal with them, allowing the Demon Realm to develop peacefully for so many years.

She remembered that she now also had a spiritual sword and could secretly learn how others controlled their swords.

The Elder responsible for teaching the disciples sword techniques had seen her long ago. Their eyes met several times, but he didn’t drive her away. He probably knew she was Immortal Venerable Qingxuan’s spiritual pet.

Cang Ran jumped down openly and watched from a closer distance.

Perhaps because she was too close, these disciples were distracted, frequently looking her way and telling those beside them that a spiritual fox had arrived.

This led the Elder of the sword formation to hit several disciples’ palms with a ruler and scold them continuously: “Even a little fox can distract you! If you go out for experience later, you will only bring shame to our Taixuan Sect! Don’t say you were disciples taught by me!”

The disciples had no choice but to withdraw their gaze, return to practicing the sword, and stop looking at the fox.

Cang Ran was about to leave when the kindly-looking Elder of the sword formation called out to her and beckoned to her.

Cang Ran walked over curiously, only to see the Elder take out a bag of pastries from his sleeve and hand it to her with a smile.

“You learned it all, didn’t you? You can come here often in the future. These little brats are distracted all the time, not even as serious as you, a little fox. It’s a good chance to punish them.”

So she, the little fox, was being used as a whetstone? This Elder was quite cunning.

Cang Ran nodded, picked up a small pastry, tasted it, and said in surprise: “Ooh, this rose-flavored flower cake is really delicious.”

The Elder of the sword formation smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes deep. He was very kind and approachable, and his voice wasn’t old, a bit proud: “I made it myself. You are a Core Condensation stage demon cultivator. You can transform into a human form. Why do you always maintain your beast form?”

Cang Ran finished the pastry, wiped the corners of her mouth with her small paw, and said indifferently: “The same reason as you.”

Cultivators could maintain their youth, but this Elder of the sword formation displayed his silver-haired, weathered appearance to others. He must have his own reasons.

The Elder of the sword formation couldn’t help but smile. He took down the red wine gourd from his waist and shook it in front of Cang Ran: “Can a little fox drink alcohol? The demon cultivators I’ve seen are all good drinkers. Have a few sips with me.”

Cang Ran could certainly drink alcohol. With her current body mass, she could easily drink a few barrels without any problems, let alone a small wine gourd.

“I don’t have anything else to do anyway. I can drink with you for a while.”

Cang Ran took it, holding it with both small paws. She took a big gulp and found the wine gourd contained plum wine. The fruity aroma was sweet and gentle, with a long aftertaste.

After drinking, her mood seemed much better. Cang Ran couldn’t help but thank the Elder of the sword formation: “Senior, thank you for the wine. It’s very delicious.”

In front of an elder, the troubles of a young person are easily seen through, and the same was true for the little fox.

“Since you like it, it’s yours.” The Elder of the sword formation took out another wine gourd from his sleeve and drank several mouthfuls himself, looking as carefree as an old wine immortal.

“This plum wine is brewed with plums from a thousand-year-old plum tree, along with last year’s new snow and the best spiritual spring water. It tastes wonderful. I usually don’t bear to give it to those little brats. Today, it’s your lucky day, little fox. Take it and drink.”

Cang Ran nodded happily, picked up the wine gourd, and drank for a while longer. She thought she would finish it quickly, but she didn’t know what kind of immortal storage artifact the gourd was. No matter how much she drank, the wine inside never ran out. Shaking it would produce new wine.

The wine was so delicious. Cang Ran drank too much and lay on the chair, her eyes half-closed in intoxication.

When she woke up, the disciples who had been practicing the sword were gone, and the Elder of the sword formation was also gone.

The evening breeze was gentle, and large expanses of golden-red sunset appeared in the sky. When she sat up, the wine gourd in her arms was knocked over, spilling wine on the ground.

Cang Ran rubbed her aching forehead, bent down, picked up the gourd, capped it, and put it into her jeweled garland. Next time, she would find something good to share with the Elder of the sword formation.

She stood up, jumped to the ground, and walked towards Fuyuan Palace, facing the red sunset, jumping onto the rooftops.

When she reached Fuyuan Palace, the little hedgehog was happily kicking its little feet and eating jerky in its den. Several baskets of spiritual fruits had also appeared in the side palace. Cang Ran couldn’t help but ask: “Where did all this jerky and spiritual fruit come from?”

The little hedgehog performed a flat-on-the-ground pose for Cang Ran and happily said: “I met a lot of people on the way back. They said they would give me spiritual fruit if they rubbed me once, so I lay there motionless and let them rub me for a while. They really gave me a lot of spiritual fruit. When I said I couldn’t carry any more, they even gave me bamboo baskets.

The jerky was delivered by Zheng Mingxin. She said she would deliver it once every day and even brought us new food. Great King, I was waiting for you to eat together.”

Cang Ran couldn’t help but look at the little hedgehog’s round cheeks. She estimated that in a few more days, this little hedgehog would get several times fatter.

Cang Ran slumped into her fox den and sighed: “Next time, you eat first. You don’t have to wait for me.”

She was about to take a nap when she suddenly heard footsteps. She looked up and saw Tan Qingxuan walking in from outside the palace.

Just as Cang Ran felt confused, Tan Qingxuan directly picked up her fox den.

Cang Ran froze for a moment and couldn’t help but angrily say from inside the fox den: “What are you doing? Put my den down!”

Tan Qingxuan lowered her head slightly, her eyebrows and eyes picturesque as she gazed at her, and said in a low voice: “I’m taking you to the sleeping quarters for strict supervision.”

Cang Ran snorted twice: “I haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t need to be supervised!”

Tan Qingxuan’s eyes were dark: “A little fox smelling of wine might go crazy from being drunk.”

Cang Ran didn’t want to talk to her anymore. She kicked Tan Qingxuan’s pale, cold wrist with her paw pads, and her fox tail also slapped Tan Qingxuan’s arm: “I won’t go crazy from being drunk! Put me down!”

Tan Qingxuan’s arm holding the fox den remained very steady, and her pace was quick. The corner of her lips curved into a slight arc: “I’ll put you down once we are inside the sleeping quarters.”

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