Pov Hua Teng:
My life has for a long time been a tragedy....
Since we were young we have been taught in the Heavenly Fox tribe that giving birth is the best gift not only for your beloved, but also for your parents, as that represents the continuation of their blood and symbolizes the beautiful cycle of life and incarnations.
My life was normal. I was born blessed with health and good parents. I also had a beautiful younger sister, and our life in the tribe was full of harmony and serenity.
It all seemed like a dream now that I think about it....
I fell in love with a handsome boy with whom I shared various adventures during our childhood. Our relationship evolved until one day, following our traditions, he proposed to me in front of our parents.
At first, everything was beautiful. There was a party and some cried, like my mother, while others, like my father, got drunk until the end.
Everything was beautiful: a life with my beloved, visiting my parents and seeing my sister follow in my footsteps. But...
I couldn't conceive.
At first, we thought it was a normal problem. You know, we just had to try more often, and eventually I would manage to give birth to a beautiful baby, whether it was a girl or a boy.
But it wasn't.
We visited many doctors, all of them said there were no issues with my belly or my loved one. So we kept trying. However, in my mind, despair began to grow....
Time passed, but nothing happened. In spite of that, the love my beloved felt for me was real, and he did not abandon me, even though many women tempted him saying that they could give him a beautiful child.
However, I had a complex regarding this issue and, in my desperation, I made the first big mistake of my life.
Adultery.
I let myself be seduced by the idea that the problem was my beloved's, but the truth was far away. I tried a few times and while I was in the act, I thought, "He won't notice."
The only thing I wanted at that moment was to have a baby. My desire was so great that I neglected the purpose of having a baby in our village.
But my beloved found out and, in his deep sadness, abandoned me.....
And worst of all, I did not get pregnant.
At this point, my scandal became known to everyone in the village. All the women looked at me with contempt, and although my father was no exception, my mother welcomed me with all the love in the world, despite having committed that terrible sin.
The love I felt from my mother drove me even more to achieve my goal of becoming a mother, so I decided to leave the village and try my luck elsewhere.
My thought was to return with a son and show him to my beloved mother.
I traveled to many places in the land of beasts and established relationships with people from different clans.
The result?
Not only was I not conceived, but also my reputation changed from unfaithful to lustful.
At this point, my father simply did not want to see me, and although I could see the discomfort on my mother's face, she accepted me with her usual love.
One day, as I was crying in the room my mother had prepared for me, she came in and, holding my head and laying it on her chest, said to me:
"Why don't you go see the wise old woman? Maybe she has a solution."
The wise old woman, as we commonly called her, was an old woman who lived in the farthest house of our tribe. Although I personally had not seen her, she was said to be a rather ill-tempered woman and if you angered her, bad things would happen to you.
But what's the worst that could happen, I thought.
I decided to take my mother's advice and went to see her.
At first there was no response, but my will was not weak, so I knelt in front of her house for almost 24 hours, until....
"Hahh, come in."
The door to the house magically opened, but what really surprised me was the voice of the 'old lady', as she didn't sound old at all.
Upon entering, the house was much simpler than I imagined. After a quick look around, I sat down on the couch and waited patiently.
After a few minutes, the 'old lady' came downstairs. She was hidden by some robes and a mask, but that couldn't hide her beautiful white colored tail.
"What do you want?"
After she said that, I told her my story without hiding anything. I was so nervous that I could even feel my tail shaking non-stop.
(How embarrassing!)
The sage didn't interrupt me and just listened quietly.
"Firstly, it wasn't a mistake. The infidelity you committed had a purpose that you followed, the fact that you were found out was simply a consequence of your actions."
When I heard his words, I simply shrugged my ears and did not respond.
"As for your problem, you said you went to many doctors, right? Then the issue must be your very existence. The only thing I can think of is for you to start the path of cultivation."
(Cultivators...)
It is not an unfamiliar term, as in this world some beings resort to cultivation to increase their longevity and achieve feats such as destroying mountains and such things.
The reason it was not an option for me is that this practice goes against what we are taught in my tribe. Gaining strength to take lives and seeking eternal life through cultivation is not compatible with our principles.
But, being desperate as I was, cultivation could be the answer.
So I began my path in cultivation. I must say that I was quite talented, as Grandma (that's what I started calling her at a certain point) said that she had never seen such a talented heavenly fox woman.
Twenty years passed. For the mortals here, their bodies begin to weaken, but for me, who had reached the rank of Stellar Sage, my beauty was unrivaled.
On a certain day, Grandmother came to my cultivation room and said:
"Hua, your father's life is running out."
I nodded only and put on a hood.
I watched everything, from my father dying to his funeral, but always from afar and wearing a hood that concealed my identity.
Although, I did notice two people glancing in my direction from time to time: my mother and my sister.
I simply nodded and went back to Grandma's house.
"That's probably the worst part of being a cultivator, having to watch those you love leave," Grandma said.
I cried a lot that night…
--
5 years later…
My senses had developed in an incredible way and alerted me to something.
Mom's life was coming to an end.
I snuck into her house during the night, unlike Dad, because I wanted to say goodbye and apologize for being her misfortune.
"Mother, I..."
"Shhhh, don't worry, daughter. Your mother loves you no matter what, because that's the job of a good mother. The only one you have to apologize to is yourself," said my mother, now aged and lying on her bed, the same one she had shared with my father for most of her life.
Her weak voice still had the serenity of always, as if she was not afraid of death.
"Take that off, I want to see the face of my first blessing."
I hesitated, but I heeded and took off my robe, revealing my face.
"Heh, heh, you were always a beauty, my daughter," his hand touched my face, it was warm but weak....
"Don't obsess over your flaw, find your place in the world, my daughter. Perhaps the fox god has a great plan for you."
Tears came like a waterfall.
"Mother..."
"Shhh, your mother is sleepy. And don't be sad, for I will be back. Remember the teachings of the fox god, we always come back. So you, who will live long, perhaps you can see me reborn in you or your sister. Let your mother rest peacefully."
I said nothing, I could not.
"I love you, my eldest daughter, Hua Teng. Follow the path you think is right for you. Your father, before he died, apologized to you for his harshness and said he loves you."
I nodded.
"Go, your mother wants to sleep."
She settled in, and I helped her arrange her sheets, from her years-aged head to her beautiful, shaggy gray tail.
That day, she closed her eyes forever.
On the day of her funeral, I attended without the hood, showing my determined face, as she would have wanted.
People murmured, but I didn't mind.
My sister also greeted me with her charismatic smile, introduced me to her children and, although they looked at me uncomfortably, they greeted respectfully.
They were good children.
--
I went back to Grandma's house and simply meditated. I didn't want to immerse myself completely in cultivation because I knew that if I did, I would miss saying goodbye to my last family member. So I simply trained some curious skills that Grandma taught me.
Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye....
My perception of time was ruined, as I could have sworn it was only yesterday that I said goodbye to my mother. Even her last words still echo in my ears.
But time passed, it really passed, because my senses warned me that it was my turn to say goodbye to my sister.
I didn't hide at all, I went in my typical clothes, and none of my nephews tried to stop me.
As I entered, I could see my sister already withered on a beautiful pure white bed. As I approached, she noticed me and spoke.
"Hello sister, you're, as always, so beautiful."
She spoke in her characteristic playful and charismatic voice as always. Even in her old age, her voice carried a fleeting, energetic vibe.
"You are more beautiful than I am, little sister," I said, smiling.
We laughed and talked about many things. She even introduced me to all her descendants, from her 2 children to her newborn grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
But our time was not infinite, and we both felt it. Me with my grower senses, and my sister…I don't know how, but I knew, as she asked the following:
"Sister, will you promise me something?"
"Sure, anything for my beautiful little sister," I said.
Maybe she wanted him to protect her children or build a house for her newborn great-grandchildren, who knows?
But his request was completely different.
"I want you to be my mother in my next incarnation."
When I heard that, tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I wanted to refuse, to tell her that I might not be able to conceive....
But I saw how her beautiful eyes sparkled, I restrained myself and replied:
"I will prepare myself to be the best mother I can."
And I flashed the best smile I could.
"Heh, heh, then go sister, I have to prepare myself to be the worst daughter, ha, ha, ha, ha." We laughed for a while and I said goodbye.
I was the last to leave on the day of her funeral.
When I returned to Grandma's house, I greeted her as usual and told her that this time I would fully immerse myself in the crop. She simply nodded and told me not to rush.
---
How long it took? 150 or 200 years, I have no idea, but I finally reached the rank of Dao Lord, at which time the physical transformation of my body was completed. So I set out into the outside world to fulfill my wish.
I said goodbye to grandmother and marched into the world of cultivation.
I experienced many things, met some very horrible people, but also quite nice people.
But nothing else happened. Even when I tried unmoral things, I could not conceive, and this depressed me. I even considered suicide for a moment, but....
That's the line I will never cross.
I returned to Grandma's house defeated and not caring that she was upset with me, I hugged her and for the first time I saw her face.
She was beautiful, very beautiful. Her hair was pure white that contrasted with her skin, her eyes were ruby red and instead of looking dangerous, they conveyed to me that motherly love that I always saw in my mother's eyes.
She did not reject my embrace and simply comforted me. I cried a lot, and when I calmed down, she told me the following:
"Calm down, calm down, why don't you try it with dragons? It is said that they can beget anything."
Dragons.
I have met and know a few things about them. They are said to be lustful and temperamental. I also learned that they only follow the orders of the strongest.
"But you don't need just any dragon, so you should train hard to get the best one you can," Grandma said.
It is said that if you defeat a dragon in the Dragon Empire, you can force him to do any favor you want, as long as it doesn't affect his life.
With this in mind, I trained and farmed twice as hard.
---
Time passed, but I didn't really care because I had already reached the rank of Sovereign of Existence, a higher rank in cultivation.
Oddly enough, I could not feel how powerful Grandmother was even when I came to this realm.
(She is quite mysterious).
But I did not inquire, for if time has taught me anything, it is that everyone has their past.
"Grandma, I think it's time," I said.
"Go carefully," she said with a motherly smile, to which I nodded and left.
To the Dragon Empire.
Interestingly, when I arrived, there was a big skill contest going on. Anyone could apply, and the reward was to become the Emperor's concubine, so I immediately applied.
I trained carefully, polished all my aspects and even developed a unique combat dance to fully harness the potential of my race, the Celestial Fox.
But in the finals I was defeated.
My disappointment was mitigated when I saw that the Dragon Empress, the most powerful woman in the empire, wanted to talk to me.
"Why are you trying so hard? Your tenacity was admirable, but you seemed to be gambling your life. What brought you here?" she asked me.
"I want only one thing: a son of my blood."
Hearing that, she made a sympathetic face and then considered something.
When she finally settled her thoughts, she said:
"If you endure 5 minutes in combat with me, I'll let you try it with the Emperor."
5 minutes, but what I had in front of me was the Dragon Empress herself, one of the most powerful beings in the immortal world?
(I have to do it, I promised my sister...).
I accepted.
The summary of the battle: I was defeated in 3 minutes.
I completely collapsed on the ground and, hugging my beautiful black tail, I cried like a baby.
"Haaa, little fox, you have moved me, so I will give you 20 years to conceive a child, but he will stay in the empire until he turns 200. what do you say?"
My appearance was so pathetic that it even moved a dragon, a being full of pride and inflexible normally, but I thanked him and promised to repay this debt regardless of the outcome.
"But tell me, why don't you adopt, isn't it easier? Although, I can understand you wanting a dragon-blooded offspring."
Yes, adoption could have saved me hundreds of years of struggles and sacrifices, but I didn't want to.
"Our tribe thinks of all of us being reborn from our descendants. Adoption cuts all this off, because they don't have our blood."
I gave a very bad and stupid argument, but it was what I sincerely believed, although the reason I didn't adopt was more because of my pride as a woman and the promise I made to my sister.
"My dragon grandmother once said that we all have some kind of madness in our thinking, yours is quite special."
And so I had 20 years to conceive a child with the dragon emperor. As for his opinion? It didn't matter because I just had to follow the empress's orders, and it wasn't that I was ugly.
In fact, I was considered an incredible beauty in the Empire.
But to me disappointment. I couldn't conceive, even when I spent 15 years constantly trying.
Ironically, the winner of the contest did manage to lay an egg after 5 years....
In the end, I decided to leave. I felt completely uncomfortable and could even see the mocking faces of the emperor's concubines.
But my good friend, the empress, always shut them up with a look and that day when I decided to leave, she called me and said:
"I need your help."
When I heard that, I immediately turned my full attention and hoped to fulfill my debt to what I might consider the most important living person to me, after grandmother.
"You see, my second daughter is about to hatch and I want you to take care of her."
As far as I know, princesses and princes, dragon are mostly handled by specialized wet nurses, so I could intuit what what what she said to me really meant.
"Do you want to be a mother? I'll let you take care of my daughter under the guise of a favor, so you know what motherhood is."
I wanted to refuse, but I couldn't, as I had to pay my debt somehow.
I agreed and we immediately went to the place where the egg was located.
When we arrived, the golden and blue colored egg was completely still.
"Don't worry, it's normal. It just needs to feel my presence to start the process."
"Now, come closer so you can be the first one I see in this world," she continued.
According to what I learned about dragons, they think that the first creature they see in the world is their mother. Won't it be a problem for the princess to believe that?
When I conveyed my doubts to her, she replied:
"That only happens with inferior dragons. She is royalty. When she senses my aura, she will immediately know who I am." When she said that, she put her hands on her hips and pushed her chest as if she was showing off.
I simply nodded and walked over to the egg.
"Ready?" he asked.
I nodded in response.
When his aura landed on the egg, it began to vibrate until a small claw broke the shell in one motion.
"Oh, you are lucky, Hua. She will be a prodigy."
Though still young and small, her body was covered in shimmering scales that reflected the light in shades of deep, brilliant blue, generating a celestial effect.
Her curious eyes landed on me and she exclaimed:
Rawr!
I felt something in my heart and greeted her.
"Hello, little Meilin."