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At midnight, somewhere in Yunlong City.
For the evil spirits that lurked there, this was destined to be an extraordinary night.
Bones, limbs, bloodstains – a vision of spiritual contamination constructed at the end of the alley, a scene that even in nightmares would struggle to materialize as if straight from purgatory.
After some indeterminate time, footsteps from afar intruded into the alley. The crisp sound of heels crushing bones injected a jolt of energy into the evil spirits, and their listless spirits began to revive.
Following the sound, they saw a woman in a cultivator's robe wearing a fox mask approaching from a distance, heading deeper into the alley.
A legend that made all evil spirits tremble with fear had long been circulating in Yunlong City – a demon that fed on evil spirits was living in the city, and today, more of their kind had died at the hands of this demon. After years, the fear once governed by the legend had returned.
And the one who was now approaching them was the only being capable of standing up to that legend.
The woman in the fox mask ignored the evil spirits she passed by, keeping her gaze forward as she entered the entrance at the end of the alley, and upon turning her gaze, the bloody, broken vision was gone. In its place was a room cloaked in red hues. At the moment she stepped into the room, a cold female voice was heard, "So, is playing the fool fun?"
There was no one in the room, the voice coming from all around, "I don't remember you ever mentioning you were planning to move in."
Get close to Duan Mingyuan, find the demon's weakness, and strike unsuspectingly.
At least it was a decent plan.
"After seeing him, I came up with an even better idea."
The woman in the fox mask continued without looking sideways, "That 'Companion Demon Plan' proposed by the humans isn't entirely without merit."
"You didn't say that last time."
The voice in the room sighed with resignation. She remembered that upon first hearing the plan, the fox had considered it a form of enslavement of monsters, even wanting to round up all those involved in its creation and not sparing the monsters willing to obey humans. After seeing Duan Mingyuan for just a day, her attitude had transformed so drastically.
"If they can use monsters to form bonds with humans, becoming partners of justice, why can't we form an evil alliance as well?"
"I must remind you that the demon is far removed from humans, and undoubtedly, he will become stronger and stronger."
"That's what makes him all the more worth bonding with."
If Duan Mingyuan had been less than he seemed, she would have already made her move.
Since ancient times, fox demons have been synonymous with manipulating hearts and causing calamities, and as a descendant of fox demons, this was undeniably an instinct branded in her blood. Moreover, she knew everything there was to know about Duan Mingyuan, "A homebody like him with no friends, who has never been in love and prefers to stay at home if he doesn't have to go out, is just the easiest to manipulate. Just show him a little kindness and he will come to you like a moth to a flame."
Her amber eyes glinted with a dazzling brightness, lending her the air of a Calamity Fox, but the other voice in the room fell silent, clearly reserving judgment.
Because the fox herself perfectly fit several of the labels she just described.
"...Are you serious?"
Finally, the cold female voice sought confirmation again. If this was a joke, it was certainly not one to laugh at.
"It will be tainted black."
The Fox Lady curled her lips upward, confidently proclaiming her victory.
"On what basis?"
"On our first meeting, Mr. Mingyuan revealed the secret of his ability to me. What does that tell you?"
Even her way of addressing him had changed.
There was another lengthy silence.
In the copper mirror by the bed, someone's figure seemed to flicker, a figure in white clothes staring intently at the Fox Lady for a long time, her mind already settling on an answer.
What does that tell you? What else could it tell?
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This suggests you really might not be playing the fool.
Seeing that the reflection remained silent, Fox Lady chuckled and said, "That's right, after all, you don't understand these things, listen well, this means Mr. Mingyuan must like me."
…
"There's progress on the extraterrestrial matter."
After an unknown amount of time, the person in the mirror changed the subject, feeling that this might be the only way to salvage the eerie atmosphere in the room.
When it came to the extraterrestrials, the smile faded from Fox Lady's mouth, leaving only a cold curve, her eyes filled with a sinister light.
The person in the mirror let out a long sigh of relief, this was the monster she was familiar with, "They will arrive in Yunlong City in a week."
"Understood."
Action must be taken.
Mr. Mingyuan is a man of great wisdom and strategy, and although she had to stand through his last lesson tonight, she had received plenty of information. Matters concerning Universe Company had to be handled with caution, nobody could land a decent job at the company with just a phone call.
In that place where the utmost value is placed on, everyone must demonstrate their own value.
For instance, finding a way to control life energy.
They turned their attention to two other colleagues in the same city, both of whom were worthless weaklings, their only reason for being alive was that they were lucky enough not to have encountered a malicious spirit head-on.
Yet Mr. Mingyuan highly valued these two people.
Their very worthlessness was where their value lay.
Proving that a plan could enable a worthless weakling to stand up to a malicious spirit would show that their proposal was persuasive enough, but even until bedtime, Mr. Mingyuan hadn't come up with a viable plan.
She had thought of a good idea, and that was the reason she had returned here.
Struggle and attachment are indispensable nutrients on the path to growth, but besides these, there's one other crucial element.
—A rival of equal strength to grow alongside.
Thinking this, Fox Lady stepped out the door under the shocked gaze of the reflection, surveying her surroundings and carefully selecting among the many evil spirits. Every spirit that met Fox Lady's gaze quickly looked away in terror.
Her gaze finally settled on a thin figure that seemed malnourished, and if you got close enough, you could hear a low whisper of "disgusting," "disgusting," "disgusting."
"Intern."
That was Mr. Mingyuan's term for these types of spirits.
Because they had not yet consumed energy, not even their intelligence had awakened, they would just repeatedly utter meaningless vocabulary, and in this crowd of spirits, it was hard to find a weaker existence than this one.
"Very well, it shall be you," Fox Lady declared as she grabbed the shadow's body, effortlessly lifting it up.
The figure struggled in mid-air, its whispers growing even more frequent.
"You shall become Mr. Mingyuan's nemesis."
This time, the skinny figure seemed to understand Fox Lady's intent, as a crimson eye vaguely appeared beneath the dry straw-like hair.
The incessant whispering stopped, and the figure opened its mouth, miraculously making a different sound.
"…Me?"