The Aloof Immortal Venerable is Pregnant with My Fox Cub - Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Cang Ran was overjoyed to see the cub was well, but she also caught a chill and let out several sneezes in succession.

Tan Qingxuan stroked her head and hugged her, instructing her to quickly use her strange fire to warm herself up.

Lin Mingyue and the others were all surprised. They had never expected the usually aloof and cold Venerable Qingxuan to care so deeply about a demon. Before meeting Cang Ran, Venerable Qingxuan had always been a dignified, self-disciplined, and unreachable role model of the immortal world.

For such a person to embrace Cang Ran in front of everyone, with an expression of deep, melting affection in her eyes, as if only the two of them existed in the world, was astonishing.

Yet, thinking closely, where else in the world could one find a demon more refined and beautiful than the red fox spirit? Even in the cultivation world, a woman with Cang Ran’s peerless beauty was rare and hard to come by. It was inevitable for the Venerable to have developed worldly affections.

Being with her, even Venerable Qingxuan’s aura of pushing people a thousand miles away seemed to have softened.

Two balls of flame rotated around the fox for a while, and the chill in the fox’s body finally subsided.

Mindful of the others present, Cang Ran didn’t stay close to Tan Qingxuan for too long, nor could she touch the baby in front of so many people, so she released her embrace after a while.

Tan Qingxuan placed a Spirit Nurturing Array into the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual spring, and infused some top-grade spirit stones. Golden light flashed within the array. Tan Qingxuan waved her sleeve, retrieved the artifacts, and released the constraint on the spiritual spring. The spring lingered around them for a moment before finally departing reluctantly.

Perhaps what they did would be useless to future visitors, but for this spiritual spring, they didn’t take its treasure for nothing. This Spirit Nurturing Array would last it for at least a few thousand years.

Cang Ran watched Tan Qingxuan finish these tasks earnestly. She turned her head and found that the others had somehow moved very far away, secretly glancing at her and Tan Qingxuan, acting suspiciously.

“Let’s go, let’s go find the ten-thousand-year-old Divine Wood,” Tan Qingxuan said calmly and indifferently, turning to the group.

Everyone quickly agreed. They re-entered the Divine Wood forest together.

The rain started falling again, a fine, dense drizzle descending from mid-air. Cang Ran folded a large tree leaf to shield Tan Qingxuan and herself from the rain and shared several balls of her strange fire with the others.

Since the divided strange fire might be unstable, Elder Qu devised a method, using a special heat-insulating artifact to contain it.

They all split up to search. Elder Qu distributed communication fireworks. If anyone found anything, they would set off the fireworks as before, so everyone could gather quickly.

There were many Divine Woods in this secret realm, making the search difficult. Fortunately, they had many people and spread out to search. They could examine the entire secret realm in about a day.

The days here were long and the nights short. When the sun set, the pitch-black night lasted only about two hours before the sun rose again.

Cang Ran and Tan Qingxuan searched the western side, looking for a long time until they reached the very edge of the secret realm.

Cang Ran took a sip of iced wine and fanned the sweat off her forehead with her wide sleeve. The deep forest was very hot, which was unfriendly to Cang Ran, a demon with thick fox fur. She had no choice but to expose her fox ears and tails to dissipate heat.

Seeing her so afraid of the heat, Tan Qingxuan used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Cang Ran took her hand and pressed it against her cheek.

“No need to wipe my sweat. You are the best at relieving heat.”

Tan Qingxuan’s hands were icy cold and felt very comfortable when pressed against her skin. After pressing it against her left cheek, Cang Ran moved it to her right, “We only have the last few trees left on our side. I wonder if Elder Qu and the others have found anything?”

Tan Qingxuan’s eyes shimmered, “They will set off the communication fireworks if they find it. You should rest here for a bit while I finish searching the last few Divine Woods.”

Cang Ran nodded in agreement but pulled Tan Qingxuan’s hand and placed it on her hot fox ear hidden in her hair, “Touch me first before you go.”

Tan Qingxuan’s neck warmed at her words. This fox was always unrestrained with her speech, blurting out such direct comments. Fortunately, there were no outsiders present.

When Tan Qingxuan’s hand touched her ear, she realized Cang Ran’s ears were startlingly hot. She gently rubbed the sweat-dampened fox fur with her fingertips.

Cang Ran’s heart fluttered from the rubbing. She placed her hand on Tan Qingxuan’s back, climbed up Tan Qingxuan’s neck, and pulled her down into her arms.

She was standing slightly lower than Tan Qingxuan, so she had to look up and capture Tan Qingxuan’s beautiful red lips.

They were extremely close, their breaths hot. Having not been intimate for several days, Tan Qingxuan was momentarily slow to react. Her red lips were nibbled several times, causing a tingling numbness like an electric current. She couldn’t help but let out a soft moan and held Cang Ran tightly.

Their tongues tangled. After a long, deep kiss, both their cheeks were slightly flushed.

A faint, crystalline silver thread lingered on the corner of Cang Ran’s mouth, arousing a flutter in the heart of anyone who saw it.

After wiping it clean for her, Tan Qingxuan gently parted the stray hair on her forehead and kissed her forehead.

Cang Ran also returned a kiss to Tan Qingxuan’s soft lips and straightened her clothes, “Let’s go. I’ll go with you to continue searching now.”

Among the remaining few Divine Woods, they found one that was different. Under the intense heat of the strange fire, the tree bark returned to its original color. This tree was exceptionally lush and dense. Rich spiritual energy surrounded it, and its exposed roots were much thicker than the other trees.

Cang Ran dug deeper into the roots and saw that a section of root, as thick as an arm, was deep green, and a light golden liquid was flowing within that root section. This must be the Divine Wood Essence.

She quickly pointed it out to Tan Qingxuan, “Qingqing, the jade slip says this is the Divine Wood Essence. Should I use Eighty to dig it out?”

Tan Qingxuan shook her head slightly, “Set off the communication fireworks for Elder Qu and the others first. If you use the divine sword to dig it out directly, you might damage the Divine Wood.”

Cang Ran quickly said, “Okay.”

She took out the communication fireworks and lit them immediately. The fireworks bloomed right above them. Before long, Elder Qu and the others arrived upon hearing the signal.

Seeing the ten-thousand-year-old Heavenly Mulberry Divine Wood, a flash of excitement crossed Elder Qu’s eyes, and everyone else’s faces were filled with joy.

“This is great! We finally found it!”

Elder Qu handed the prepared spiritual artifact to Tan Qingxuan and allowed the younger disciples to observe nearby.

The spiritual artifact was a black jade-like porcelain bottle. A small incision was made in the phloem of the root, and the bottle’s mouth was placed near it. The light golden liquid automatically flowed into the bottle.

Where they couldn’t see behind them, the strong roots of the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual tree, which was growing hundreds of steps away, silently broke through the cold, hard soil. The sharp roots aimed at their backs like aggressive thorns.

Under the suppression of a layer of pale green spiritual energy, the sharp roots, like cold, poisonous snakes, retreated back into the ground.

Tan Qingxuan put away the extracted Divine Wood Essence. With the intention of teaching her disciples, she didn’t use mental calculation as before but casually picked leaves to serve as counting rods.

Tan Qingxuan asked gently, “Muyu, have you and Mingyue learned how to set up a Spirit Nurturing Array?”

Yun Muyu shook her head obediently, “Not yet, Master.”

Lin Mingyue also replied respectfully, “Venerable, I’ve learned a little, but this array is a bit too difficult. I’m not very good at Array Dao.”

Shen Yunyan and Shui Shaoyi had heard that Venerable Qingxuan was proficient in Mystic Gate Daoism, Qi Men Dun Jia, and every other discipline. Such immortal sect arrays were generally not taught to outsiders, but the Venerable didn’t ask them to leave, which filled their hearts with awe.

Tan Qingxuan said, “It’s alright. Watch and learn a bit. With time, you’ll slowly figure out how to do it.”

Tan Qingxuan’s demeanor was calm and cool. While arranging the counting rods, she explained the process to the two of them. Unlike the confusing explanations from the Array Elder, Tan Qingxuan’s instruction went from shallow to deep. Lin Mingyue and Yun Muyu gradually became engrossed, and Shen Yunyan and Shui Shaoyi, listening nearby, were also captivated.

The Spirit Nurturing Array was successfully set up near the Divine Tree, positioned beneath the roots. Some spirit stones were also placed there and were quickly absorbed by the tree roots that had just lost the Divine Wood Essence.

Elder Qu nodded repeatedly as he watched. He explained to Yun Muyu and Lin Mingyue, “This is a tradition of our Grand Mystic Sect. It was a rule set by our Ancestral Grandmistress. All things have spirit, and for extremely precious items, we only take what is strictly necessary. We try our best not to damage the secret realm. If we are too greedy and drain the pond to catch the fish, we will provoke a heavenly punishment.”

Cang Ran asked curiously, “Did the Ancestral Grandmistress of the Grand Mystic Sect experience something like this back then?”

Elder Qu pondered, “Yes, a tragic event happened back then. Some cultivators would scrape three feet of the earth every time they entered a secret realm. No matter if the spiritual plants were mature or not, they would dig them up, angering the Realm Spirit. The Realm Spirit self-destructed, causing the secret realm to collapse and perish along with those cultivators. Some Mahayana stage cultivators were also lost.”

Cang Ran sighed upon hearing this, “It seems the Realm Spirit is quite formidable.”

She had planned to extract some of the spiritual liquid from the less-than-ten-thousand-year-old Divine Trees to sell for money, but it seemed that wouldn’t work.

Elder Qu saw her sigh and couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you suddenly so melancholic?”

Cang Ran cupped her face, “It feels like seeing a mountain of gold and silver but not being able to take it with me.”

Elder Qu laughed heartily, “This area is full of extremely rare artifact-refining materials. You can casually pick up things and exchange them for spirit stones.”

Cang Ran was surprised, “Where?”

Elder Qu curved his eyes, “The Heavenly Mulberry Divine Wood that has naturally died and fallen to the ground. You can pick up some. Smaller branches can be sold to Talisman Cultivators for making talisman brushes, and larger branches can be sold to Array Cultivators for array materials.”

Cang Ran’s eyes sparkled, “How much money can I sell them for?”

Elder Qu held up one palm, “Talisman brushes for five hundred top-grade spirit stones, and array materials for one thousand top-grade spirit stones.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

This was practically the same as gold lying everywhere!

Cang Ran immediately took out a cloth bag from her storage artifact and started picking up wood everywhere!

When the others heard this, they also started picking up wood nearby.

Only Tan Qingxuan and Elder Qu remained standing there. Elder Qu took a sip of wine, shook his head, and smiled, “Qingxuan, your little fox is quite fond of money.”

Tan Qingxuan looked at Cang Ran’s back, her lips slightly curved, “She thinks we’ll spend a lot of money at the auction in a few days, so she wants to help earn some.”

Elder Qu then asked, “Doesn’t the little fox know that you are very wealthy? Your Master, Fu Qing, is notoriously good at accumulating wealth. Before she took over the sect, the Grand Mystic Sect’s accounts were running a huge deficit. Your master’s lineage was the richest of all. Back then, when the Sect Leader was Senior Sister Miaoning, she worried herself bald every day, yet Senior Sister Fu Qing still managed to feign ignorance and continue living a rich and carefree life.”

Tan Qingxuan smiled without speaking. She remembered the time Cang Ran sold spiritual herbs for money; the fox’s tail practically touched the sky. She thought that earning money must also be Cang Ran’s hobby, and if it made Cang Ran happy, then it was more important than anything else.

Elder Qu saw the tender light in Tan Qingxuan’s eyes. These young cultivators nowadays were truly unique. Pretending to be poor in front of one’s future Dao Companion was unexpected. Poor little fox being tricked in circles.

After a while, Cang Ran returned. Tan Qingxuan didn’t know how much wood the fox had collected, but it must have been stored in her storage space. She was sweating and her eyes were shining. The other few people also looked delighted.

Tan Qingxuan asked gently, “Are you done picking up things?”

Cang Ran nodded, unable to hide her excitement. She leaned close to Tan Qingxuan’s ear, “I picked up a lot! Qingqing, we’re going to get rich this time! Shui Shaoyi also told me about some valuable medicinal plants that sell well, and we gathered some of those too.”

Tan Qingxuan’s calm gaze fell upon Shui Shaoyi. Shui Shaoyi quickly said, “Venerable Qingxuan, we are cooperating with Senior Cang Ran. We can process these together on the road, and we can sell them all just before the auction.”

Tan Qingxuan nodded slightly, “It’s alright. A lot of time has passed now. We need to hurry back and deliver the medicine to True Master Yuheng.”

Elder Qu also said, “Yes, we must leave quickly. Otherwise, factoring in the return journey, it will be too late for Song Zhen.”

Just as they were about to leave the secret realm and look for the exit, they suddenly felt the earth shaking violently. A rumbling sound came from below, and the mud and sand on the ground were all churned up.

A fierce gust of wind swept through the forest, causing everyone’s robes to flap up and down.

Countless thick, arm-like roots suddenly erupted from the ground, wrapping around them like cold, terrifying snakes.

Cang Ran immediately drew Eighty, guarding Tan Qingxuan, and slashed at the roots. The roots were extremely tough, as if made of profound iron. The sword’s friction against the roots made a sharp grating sound.

Her divine sword possessed the power of thunder and fire. With one slash, she managed to cut a gash in the root.

She thought she could pierce deep into the root and crush it, but these roots were tempered somehow. The divine sword inserted into them, but when the roots wrapped tightly around the blade, it couldn’t be rotated and became stuck, emitting a sizzling, burning sound and billowing black smoke.

Cang Ran had never encountered such a situation. She didn’t have time to pull the sword out. She had to use her sharp claws to free Eighty. Fortunately, Zhuoyue seemed to sense the danger. It automatically unsheathed and came to Eighty’s rescue, repeatedly slashing and hacking at the entangled roots.

Cang Ran was finally about to retrieve Eighty when, without warning, a root suddenly wrapped around her waist. Tan Qingxuan recalled Zhuoyue and, with a single slash, unleashed a powerful sword aura that shattered the root trapping Cang Ran into dust.

Tan Qingxuan’s eyes were clear and cold. A few more fierce sword auras sliced through the air, destroying all the roots wrapped around the others.

The roots, which had been so rampant just a moment ago, immediately retreated in fear, trembling and lying prostrate on the ground, as if surrendering.

Now they knew they had messed with the wrong people.

A little girl’s voice suddenly rang out in mid-air, “I’ll return your spiritual swords to you. Can you help me with a favor?”

As the little girl’s voice faded, a pale green spiritual energy swept over the roots, and all the spiritual swords were delivered back by the roots.

Cang Ran took Eighty back and asked toward the air, “Who are you?”

The little girl quickly said, “I am the Realm Spirit here. I see that you are all very powerful. Can you help me repair the spiritual meridian of the secret realm? My spiritual meridian is broken, and I haven’t been able to go to other places for a long time.”

Cang Ran couldn’t possibly know how to solve a problem of this difficulty. Only Tan Qingxuan would know.

Cang Ran looked at Tan Qingxuan. Upon hearing the little girl’s voice, Tan Qingxuan gently stroked her lower abdomen.

A high-level Realm Spirit was indeed formidable. It could even sense that she was pregnant and used a child’s voice to try and evoke her compassion as much as possible.

Seeing that the people didn’t immediately agree, the little girl sobbed several more times, crying in a soft, sweet voice, “Please help me! I’ll give you a Wood Spirit Heart that I’ve cherished from the Divine Tree! You like these Divine Trees, right?

With the Wood Spirit Heart, you can communicate with plants, and it’s also beneficial for the young cub. It contains vibrant life force and can help the cub grow stronger.”

As a mother-to-be, Cang Ran was inexplicably softened by the crying. This Realm Spirit was truly clever; it knew how to lure them and had even noticed they had a little fox cub.

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