"Emperor of cultivation? Nine Yellow Reincarnations?"
An Fei's eyebrows shot towards the heavens at the woman's abrupt question, her consciousness nearly grinding to a halt in her confusion.
The young girl stared at the curtained bed, as though her gaze could pierce through the silken sheets to perceive the Second Elder of the Shen Family's true form and intentions.
"I am not sure of which legend the Second Elder may be speaking of?"
The young girl elected upon a defensive route, ensuring that her mind only enacted on her decisions after considering all available avenues.
"…This lowly one of the Shen Manor has overly assumed her capabilities," the Second Elder whispered after a rapid intake of breath.
"My apologies – to the Esteemed Guest, may this lowly one introduce a rather renowned legend of the jianghu?"
Legend of the jianghu?
Just like that of the scholarly elder she had encountered at the Heaven and Earth Arena, the Second Elder of the Shen Family was unable to detect her cultivation?
"Perhaps the theory is indeed true…"
An Fei murmured to herself in a barely audible voice, before glancing at the woman concealed behind the curtains of silk.
Weighing the options in her heart for a brief moment, the young girl willed the heart to prepare the necessary prerequisites to trigger the phenomenon of the invisible diagram, before gesturing for the Second Elder to explain.
"I am not experienced in the world of cultivation, nor am I of any involvement," the young girl's scarlet irises locked onto the indistinct figure of the woman behind the curtains.
"May the Second Elder impart onto this one, what this legend of the jianghu's emperor may be?"
"This lowly one wishes to know, does the Esteemed Guest know the ranks of the jianghu?"
The Second Elder's heart relaxed at the softening in the young girl's tone, and she rushed forth to strike the anvil whilst the nail was still scorching hot.
The woman struggled to keep herself on her proper side of the curtained barrier, deeply wishing to shake An Fei and extract the information regarding the seven-tailed fox from her body.
"The ranks of the world of cultivation?" An Fei paused, her mind quickly catching onto the answer.
"The Second Elder refers to the major realms of Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, Spirit Building, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul?"
The young girl uttered the words at a swift pace, leaving no room for rebuttal.
As she cycled through her thoughts, An Fei's mind hummed with a curiosity towards the intentions of the Second Elder of the Shen Family.
"The Esteemed Guest truly knows so well!" the woman clapped her hands in surprise.
"The realms of Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, and Spirit Building – the foundations of the jianghu and the principle of cultivation and its miracles. Core Formation and Nascent Soul, these realms belong strictly to the kings and emperors of empires and sects, their strength capable of shadowing over the sun. However…"
However?
Could this pertain to… this legend of the Nine Yellow Reincarnations?
The young girl's eyes narrowed in thought, her mind racing with a constant slew of information. An Fei pursed her lips as her fingers played with the long strands of her hair.
"The Second Elder refers to the legend of the Nine Yellow Reincarnations? What is the integral secret of this legend to cause the Second Elder to refer to this person as the emperor of the jianghu?"
"Emperor of the Jianghu… Esteemed Guest, do you think that the Nascent Soul Realm of cultivation is the utmost limit of the path of cultivation?" the woman behind the bedcurtains shivered with a hint of ecstasy and awe.
"What if… this lowly one was to inform you of a subtle realm that existed over the Nascent Soul Realm, one that could indeed replace the shining sun in all of its glory?"
A brief pause soon enveloped the room of the Second Elder's bedchamber.
The woman quietly and patiently waited for the young girl's response, her mind fully aware of the shock that was bound to strike onto any reasonable and seasoned veteran of the cultivation world's consciousness.
Alas, An Fei was indeed startled by the surprising news, but not in the circumstance the Second Elder had envisioned.
The Shattered Star Continent could only achieve that of the Nascent Soul Realm?
She had only stopped there since it seemed reasonable to do so, to emphasize her lack of knowledge regarding the mortal world's jianghu…
"This… is the Nine Yellow Reincarnations' legend?" the young girl's voice could be heard, though it had become rather flat.
"A strength that can surpass that of the Nascent Soul Realm… does the Second Elder know the appropriate nomenclature of such a realm?"
To think that the Shattered Star Continent could only actually achieve the Nascent Soul Realm… so the realms of Mortal Tribulation and beyond were not disclosed…
The words of the Second Elder confirmed her expectations, and the woman's voice was tinged with a substantial amount of regret.
"Indeed, the world is unaware of the realm beyond the Nascent Soul Realm – the Nine Yellow Reincarnations did not mention it during any of his battles. Fortunately, on his last appearance, the Nine Yellow Reincarnations did state that should they find his legacy, the truth of the matter was to be revealed without a shred of doubt."
"And this requires the blood of a seven-tailed fox?" the young girl spoke in a dry voice, a wry smile hidden within the shadows of the bedchamber.
An Fei eased the trembling of the small fox in the leather bag with the tips of the fingers of her left hand, her vigilance not abating in the slightest.
The little raven remained silent as it carefully observed the woman's figure obscured by the veil of silk, the crimson eyes flashing with a violet shade.
When the flicker of violet raced through, the world decayed to differentiate between truth and falsehood.
"No, not exactly the blood of a seven-tailed fox, but that of a nine-tailed fox if the tracing to the Nine Yellow Reincarnations' legacy were to succeed," the Second Elder pouted from behind the curtains.
"The seven-tailed fox's blood essence can only allow a practitioner to trace back a few steps – not much more. Of course, a seven-tailed fox is rare enough to the extent that only one appears every few hundred years, much less its nine-tailed ancestor."
"A nine-tailed fox…" the young girl murmured with a distant gaze.
A snow-white fox with nine fluffy tails – had she not fought one in the forest?
Back then she had attempted to catch it for the heavenly, silken fur…
Ahem!
An Fei anxiously wiped the budding trail of drool threatening to slip from the corner of her lips, berating herself for the obvious lack of self-control.
Tapping herself on the wrist to steady her expression and voice, the young girl took a step forward, her scarlet irises gleaming with a brilliant light.
"Thus, the Second Elder's proposal is…?"
The sudden intake of air could be faintly heard as the woman within the curtained bed shivered with delight.
Only after the span of a few breaths had passed, did the Second Elder calm down to the extent of being able to converse with a normal tone.
"Esteemed Guest, this lowly one of the Shen Family merely requests for a single drop of blood!" the Shen Elder squawked with an unprecedented urgency.
"A single drop of blood will not harm a spiritual beast's abilities, nor will it allow a practitioner to trace its ancestral roots and glean its secret techniques. A single drop of blood, no more!"
The young girl paused at the words tinged with a cruel mixture of passion and insanity, an uncomfortable thought arising within her mind.
An Fei stroked the snow white fox's fur, her consciousness whirling to form an evasive reply.
"Back then, that youth said the same exact words – a single drop of blood," the young girl intoned in a grave voice.
"Here, now – you say the same words to me. I have yet to know the method you seek to attain this Nine Yellow Reincarnations' legacy, only that you require a drop of a seven-tailed fox's blood, of which I don't have. Why seek this from someone who cannot even provide the initial component necessary to your plans?"
"That's impossible!" the Second Elder roared in a hoarse voice, her eyes blazing with a distorted gleam.
"After all, the Patriarch's