Chapter 9 The Tournament Invitation
After that, we met often.
When Master and the others learned I had befriended the little fox, they didn’t object.
In Master’s words, “The snow mountain fox clan is very proper. They love repaying kindness. Treat them well, and they’ll remember you for generations.”
I didn’t need the little fox to remember me for generations.
But I wasn’t doing charity either.
I had my own reasons.
Ten more years passed in a blink.
Heishui Sect had truly become my home.
I thought I could live like this forever.
Until a crane flew into the sect, delivering an invitation to the sect tournament.
Master clutched the invitation and fell off the kang in excitement.
The sect tournament was held once every hundred years.
Each sect sent one new disciple to compete.
It was the perfect chance to show strength and recruit new talent.
For centuries, Heishui Sect had no new disciples, so we had never participated.
Master held the invitation, tears streaming down his face.
“Now it’s different. Now we have Mingxi!”
Senior Brother and Senior Sister nodded eagerly, eyes burning as they looked at me. “This time we’ll show them what real strength looks like!”
In twenty years, I had learned much from Master.
My cultivation had soared to late-stage Golden Core.
Among all the new disciples from every sect, I was confident I could rank near the top.
Master was overjoyed and told us to pack. We would leave at dawn.
Senior Brother and Senior Sister slipped out overnight and returned wearing dozens of storage rings.
I asked what they’d been doing.
Senior Sister winked mysteriously.
“We went to pick up Heishui Sect’s recruitment pamphlets.”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Before leaving, the little fox came to see me off.
He said he was close to taking human form and wanted me there for it.
But the tournament was too important.
So I gently refused.
The little fox teared up and reached out a paw.
“Then you have to come back soon.”
“When you do, I have something very important to tell you.”
I smiled.
“Good. Because I’ll have something to tell you too.”
His ears flushed red, and he dashed into the snow.
We traveled day and night.
A few days later, we arrived at the sect tournament.
The moment we arrived, we ran straight into two familiar faces.