Chapter 52: The fox spirit invites, the Great Sage is injured

    "Hu Yuyu is the most talented fox demon in our Fierce Tiger Mountain. That wolf demon probably kidnapped her precisely because he recognized her potential, wanting to breed with her and produce offspring with even greater gifts," the sand fox clan leader said with relief. "If not for your divine intervention, Immortal, our Fierce Tiger Mountain lineage might never have deciphered the ancestral jade stele."

    She gently stroked Hu Yuyu's head. "Because... only this exceptionally gifted child could gain our ancestor's favor."

    "Ancestral jade stele?" Jiang Liuer asked curiously.

    "Over there," the clan leader pointed.

    A massive greenish stone protruded from the ground nearby, its exposed portion measuring fifteen meters tall, nine meters wide, and nine meters long. Upon closer inspection, it revealed itself not as stone but jade overgrown with moss. Years of neglect had allowed vegetation to claim its surface.

    "Why are you staring at me?" Jiang Liuer suddenly noticed the fox clan leader and Hu Yuyu gaping at him in astonishment. He then realized both foxes stood nine meters away from the stele, maintaining their distance.

    Panicking internally, Jiang Liuer thought: 'Have I offended their ancestors? Did I step on buried remains?' Muttering apologies, he quickly retreated.

    The square-faced clan leader wept freely while Hu Yuyu gazed at him with reverence. Shou Qing attempted to approach but collided with an invisible barrier, stumbling back dazed.

    "There's an unseen wall at nine meters!" Shou Qing exclaimed, rubbing his head. Then he froze: "Why can Fellow Daoist Jiang enter?"

    Jiang Liuer skeptically stepped in and out of the nine-meter radius, feeling nothing unusual.

    "Indeed there is," the tearful clan leader explained emotionally. "For a thousand years, none of our foxes could approach within nine meters or decipher the stele. Yet today, heaven has sent us an immortal benefactor!" She attempted to bow, but Jiang Liuer stopped her.

    "Let me examine it then," he said, scrubbing away centuries of moss to reveal a blank jade surface. Activating his Nether Passage Art, his eyes glowed as hidden text appeared - detailing the fox clan's celestial origins and cultivation techniques.

    "Your ancestors were two exiled celestial foxes!" Jiang Liuer exclaimed to Hu Yuyu. "There's cultivation methods here! Paper and ink!"

    A fox produced stolen scholar's tools. After transcribing thousands of characters, Jiang Liuer handed the scrolls to Hu Yuyu, triggering another round of worshipful bows from the clan.

    The subsequent feast featured wild fare rather than delicacies, interrupted when a flirtatious vixen tried seducing Jiang Liuer. Hu Yuyu violently dragged her outside, declaring: "The benefactor is mine!"

    Come dawn, Jiang Liuer declined the clan's requests to stay, citing unresolved vengeance. They gifted provisions despite his protests. Hu Yuyu memorized the ancestral techniques overnight, departing with him after tearful farewells.

    ...

    After a month's travel, Jiang Liuer mastered body-forging and sword-control arts. His strength now rivaled ten thousand jin.

    Meanwhile, the group chat exploded with news: [Great Sage Equal of Heaven] had attacked Spirit Mountain!

    [Cleansing Altar Messenger]: "Brother Monkey! Still picking fights after centuries under Five Elements Mountain? First Heaven, now Buddha's realm! You got yourself injured for nothing!"

    [Great Sage Equal of Heaven]: "If Heaven were good, I'd tend horses. If Buddha's land were pure, I'd be acolyte. Since neither is, why shouldn't I rebel?"

    [Jiang Liuer]: "@Great Sage, are you badly hurt? Why attack Spirit Mountain?"

    [Great Sage Equal of Heaven]: "Merely scratches! Those bald hypocrites ganged up on me! But I plundered their treasures first!"

    [Ding! "Great Sage Equal of Heaven" sent a random luck red packet!]

    ...