《Celestial Fox》Chapter 23: Sprout
Advertisement
Hearing knocking sounds from the door, Yvette put on her veil and said, “Come in.”
Following her words, the door was opened and the female guard who Yvette sent to look for information before came in. But Yvette noticed that a slightly plump man followed behind her as she entered.
Seeing this, Yvette did not ask anything and motioned her to explain.
“My lady, this man is one of the merchants who has a friendly business relationship with the clan branch. He said that he has information regarding the current lockdown by the army.” Said the female guard.
Hearing this, Yvette turned towards the slightly plump man. Feeling her gaze, the plump man also looked back towards her and gave a friendly smile before bowing towards her.
“Greetings, my lady. This humble merchant is called Hain; I am most pleased to meet you. May I know what your name is?”
The sight of the plump Hain bowing could be considered quite amusing, but Yvette kept an impassive face and said curtly.
“Yvette.” She then inquired, “What information does sir has?”
Hearing her question, Hain’s expression turned grim. Then, with a suppressed voice, he explained.
“I received an inside information which said that in a few days, the general of Blood River City is prepared to lead his army to attack Stellar City. They are also planning to put the whole Aasmany Clan branch in the Blood River City under house arrest.”
Just as he finished speaking, a loud voice came from outside of the gates.
“Aasmany Clan’s Blood River City Branch, the Blood River City’s governor has hand out the verdict, please come out and acknowledge!”
Staring out through the window, Yvette saw a soldier standing right outside the clan’s gates.
Right at that time, one of the higher members of the branch clan came out with a calm look.
Handing the letter to him, the soldier continued, “The governor has announced that due to a need for an inspection, all the members of the Aasmany Clan will be under house arrest and are forbidden to leave the residence.”
Saying thus, the soldier then did a military salute before walking away with large strides.
Meanwhile, the expression of the branch member who received the mandate turned serious as he swiftly rushed back into the building.
By the time he arrived in Casper’s office, all the high ranking members of the branch, Yvette, her guards, and Hain had all already arrived there.
Without saying anything, the member who had just arrived placed the letter on Casper’s desk before moving to his position.
When Casper picked up the letter, he did not open it and instead extended it towards Yvette, “Miss Yvette? If you would please do the honors.”
Without saying anything, Yvette took the letter from Casper and read the contents.
The contents were exactly the same, only that it contained the details regarding when the inspection and house arrest would begin accompanied by the seal of the governor at the bottom right of the letter.
Placing the opened letter back to Casper’s table, Yvette spoke.
“Using my authority as the daughter of the patriarch, I command all members of the Aasmany Clan Blood River City Branch to look into any information relating to the general of Blood River City.”
Hearing the words filled with unquestionable authority coming from the 6-year-old Yvette, everyone inside the room excluding Casper, the two female guards, Daiyu, and Yvette herself were filled with astonishment.
Without giving a chance for anyone to question her words, Casper stood up and bowed towards Yvette, “As you command, young mistress.”
Advertisement
Nodding, Yvette then turned towards Hain and inquired, “What is the name of the general and when will he lead his army to attack?”
Though filled with doubt, Hain answered, “His name is Henric. Unfortunately, I did not find any detailed information regarding the plan.”
“I understand. Your information has benefitted the clan greatly, should sir be in need of anything, please do tell.” Said Yvette with her usual impassive voice.
“No, no, as a merchant who is in a business relationship with the Aasmany Clan, I would naturally not want to see anything bad to befall them.” Replied Hain hurriedly.
Of course, Yvette did not truly believe his words and thought that he wished to gain a closer relationship with the clan, believing that this would be nothing but a small tribulation for the clan and gaining a bit of merit from this would make him become increasingly close to his goals.
Though she thought such, Yvette only said, “If that is the case, I thank sir Hain for his assistance on behalf of my clan.”
She then turned towards Casper, saying, “Then I entrust the search of information regarding general Henric to sir Casper.”
“Rest assured, I will put my full effort into this.” Replied Casper.
Then, without another word, Yvette left for her room while Casper had someone see Hain out.
In such a way, a few more days passed.
And finally, a wave of energy turbulence appeared with Yvette at the center of it, causing all the furniture within the room to shake and creak, as if about to break. Fortunately, the wave of energy only appeared once and did not leave the room she resides in.
But Yvette who was the cause of it could not be bothered to pay attention to this. Instead, she focused her mind to the Yin-Yang Seed inside her dantian. The seed had long become solid, as if it had turned from an energy entity into a solid matter. Not only that, but with the extra nourishment of Yin and Yang energy, the Yin-Yang Seed started to shake, which is the source of the energy wave, as if the seed was preparing to sprout.
Even so, Yvette did not stop gathering Yin and Yang energy and instead sped up her gathering speed.
And then finally, when the finally shred of chaotic energy ran out, a crack appeared on the surface of the seed, followed by the appearance of a sprout with two leaves bursting with boundless life force.
Unlike a normal sprout, the sprout which appeared from the Yin-Yang Seed was colored black and white, with one leaf being white and the other black.
But soon after its appearance, the sprout rapidly drained the remnants of energy from what is left of the Yin-Yang Seed.
Even then, the sprout did not seem to find it to be enough and its roots quickly latched into the nearest source of energy, Yvette’s dantian.
With swift motion, the sprout extended its roots into the bottom of Yvette’s dantian. Yvette who noticed all these did not stop the sprout and instead focused her mind, changing the rhythm of her breathing.
Then, the moment the sprout took root in her dantian, Yvette felt a massive drain of energy from her body, causing her body to sway and her face to become pale.
But she did not lose her calmness. Instead, she quickly stabilized her body and kept it upright. Following that, she proceeded to regulate her breathing and followed the vitality recovering breathing technique she found in the acupuncture book from before.
Advertisement
As she breath in, she could feel life force entering her body, stopping the drain in her vitality. Yet even then, her vitality did not quickly recover and the leftover life force she breath in dissipated.
Fortunately, she had already familiarized herself with the breathing technique and could already use it unconsciously.
Now, seeing that her state had stabilized, Yvette proceeded to check her current cultivation, the black and white sprout.
Though it seemed as if the sprout is an independent entity, she could feel a connection with the sprout, as if it was an extension of her limb, meaning that their state could affect one another.
As Yvette examined the sprout, she noticed that flows of Yin and Yang energy kept on being naturally absorbed by the sprout and refined into Yin-Yang Qi of the highest quality. Seeing this, Yvette was not surprised as the memory from the bracelet already has this information. But others who saw this would all be in astonishment, as cultivation techniques who could allow one to cultivate and gather Qi automatically are extremely rare, especially those for the lower stages. And another thing was that the Qi that was produced was of the highest quality, meaning that the foundation would also be extremely solid, causing one to be far stronger than those of the same stage.
Of course, this came at a price.
After she finished examining the sprout, Yvette moved her focus to her body.
Though her body was already quite weak in the first place from the lack of body refining, the current state of her body was even worse after the sprout absorbed some of her vitality.
Even when she had used the breathing technique to reduce the damage to her vitality, it did not stop her vital life force from being permanently damaged.
But from the first time as used this cultivation technique, she knew that she had to give up on her bodily strength. Even so, she willingly gave up on it all so that she could use this technique which came from her parents and ancestor. Whether she did it for its redeeming qualities or for the sentimental feelings it held, only she knew.
After stabilizing her condition, Yvette stood up and tried tapping into the Yin-Yang Sprout.
Feeling her will tapping into it, the sprout swayed and released Yin-Yang Qi which flowed throughout her body, just like any other Qi Condensing Stage cultivator.
Following that, Yvette took out her pair of war fans. Then, using her Qi and spiritual will, she controlled the blade pieces to fly out of the war fans.
At first, all the blades flew together in a circle, but after a moment, Yvette divided the group into two and had the second group fly in a square path.
Next, she tried to send out a few of the blades from the second group to form another group. But when she tried to do so, she could feel her Qi and spiritual will reaching their limits, causing her to feel light headed while white spots started to appear in her vision.
In the end, she managed to force herself to form another group of blades to fly in a different path for ten breaths of time before her Qi and spiritual will reached their limit, causing her body to stagger followed by the sound of the blade pieces falling down.
“My lady, is everything alright?”
Hearing Daiyu’s voice from outside the room, Yvette replied whilst hiding the fatigue in her voice.
“Yes, do not worry.”
“…Understood.” Replied Daiyu with a hesitant voice.
Following that, Yvette sat down onto the center of the Yin-Yang Field Array.
Having ran out of Chaos Stones, Yvette should not be able to use the array any longer. But that would only apply should she had not broken through.
With the Yin-Yang Sprout as the center, Yvette spread her Qi through its roots and into the formation rods to act as guiding lines.
And then, using her Qi, Yvette activated the formation, causing it to emit a soft glow.
As the formation was activated, the surrounding energy started to move towards the rods. But unlike when she used the Chaos Stones to activate the formation, the attraction did not hold a tyrannical feeling. Even then, the gathering speed was still comparable, as if the surrounding energies themselves moved willingly towards the formation points.
When the energies reached the formation points, they followed the guiding lines made by Yvette’s Qi and were refined by the Yin-Yang Sprout into Yin-Yang Qi.
Soon enough, her Qi was quickly restored followed by the recovery of her spiritual will.
Opening her eyes, Yvette glanced out through the windows of the room and saw the night sky covered by dark clouds, as if it was a warning of ill omen.
Standing up, she put on her veil and walked out of the room.
Outside, she saw Daiyu and her two female guards standing there prepared.
When they saw Yvette walking out of the room, the three of them simultaneously bowed.
“My Lady.” “Young Mistress.” They greeted respectfully.
Seeing this, Yvette nodded and motioned them to rise.
“Has the preparation been completed?” She inquired.
One of the female guards then stepped forward.
“Yes, four sets of camouflage clothing and a set of illusion formation made by the clan.” She answered while taking out the said items.
Seeing those items, Yvette went quiet for a few moments before she nodded her head and looked at them.
At that moment, one of the guard made a hesitant face before slowly asking, “Young mistress, must you participate? It would be better if only the two of us went as your safety is still of utmost priority.”
Hearing her words, Yvette merely shook her head without saying anything. Seeing this, the female guard could only give up on persuading her as she still had to consider her young mistress’s words as the highest authority. For her to not be punished nor berated is already kind of her.
Meanwhile, Yvette who was still looking at the three opened her mouth, preparing to say something. But then, she suddenly hesitated and her eyes drooped.
Moments later, she looked towards the two female guards.
“It is quite late for me to ask, but what are your names?” Asked Yvette.
Hearing the unexpected question, it was the two guards’ turn to be hesitant. But in the end, they finally answered.
“My name is Avaleigh, we are twins.”
“And I am Avaley, the younger one.”
When they identified themselves, Yvette finally realized that the features of her two guards resembles one another very closely. Not only that, they were actually also not very old, seemingly around 15 years old, their teenage years.
Coming to this realization, Yvette suddenly noticed that she had actually never paid much attention to others around her, causing her to feel despondent towards herself.
In the end, she shook off such feelings and said towards the three.
“It is almost time, let us prepare.”
Advertisement
- In Serial8 Chapters
The Last Druid
Flora was hiking when her best friend, Cassie, after her friend went through a rough breakup from a long term relationship when their entire world was turned upside down. Now, Flora has to find Cassie in a foreign realm all while realizing it wasn't coincidental that she ended up there. Caught between surging tensions, Flora finds herself chasing her friend and being pulled back by her first true lover who isn't willing to share.
8 205 - In Serial34 Chapters
Rise of a Scarlet Devil (Regular+Draft Version)
A young girl slain during a war was brought back to life by some unknown force millennia later. She could only remember a vague face within her memories, uncertain as to who it was but there was one thing she did know. She needed to kill that person. But she was too weak, she needed to hide, to grow. She needed to flee from the battlefield her enemy reigns over. And to do so, she needed to run eastward, towards Helios, a safe haven for those who have lost their homes in the war. And where she would grow to become the strongest Hunter under her own strength. What was it that brought her back? Only time will tell. #Author's Note The novel is organized like this:Regular Chapters (Act, Title, Part (ranging from 1 to 9))Draft Chapter DisclaimerDraft Chapters (Entry Number, Perspective, Title, Part (ranging from i to ii)) Regular chapters are edited chapters that reflect the story aspect more while Draft chapters reflect plot progression more. An occasional interactive chapter will appear in the drafts but nowhere in the regular chapters. Expect changes when reading between Regular and Draft chapters as some events in the story may change in length or entirely removed/changed. Only read the draft version if you want a future view and/or opinion on the story and design elements. The main character is a human from a fantasy world reincarnated as a devil. The story possesses Reincarnators, Transmigrators, and Summoned Persons. though mainly focusing on Magic and other abilities such as Aura and Skills. Wizards (those who prepare arcane spells) and Mages (those who use elemental magic) are separate but seen as the same by common inhabitants of the world but clearly defined as different by more influential persons and by the circles themselves. The main character WILL not be a Mage or Wizard but will incorporate mana into her attacks to aid her as does any high-rank combatants. The system in the novel quantifies a person's abilities and keeps record of them but does not define natural ability, occasionally granting special abilities as skills to a person once prerequisites are met. There is no leveling system and no occupational systems in the novel featuring only a stat based and skill based system. Also, this novel is my first and will most likely be trash.
8 221 - In Serial13 Chapters
The Beta Test
Our nameless narrator participates in a beta test for an early VRMMO game Meridian 60. That's not the real name but it captures the spirit of the adventure given the chronological and contextual era of the game. His character is unique and special but purely for mundane reasons and not because of any inherent or social significance. The first chapter which is mandatory to submit a story on RR serves as a bit of a prologue with some exposition, although I limited that to a reasonble level. I plan to begin releasing additional chapters starting Thursday, to align with the 48 hour submission approval process and also because I have something to do Wednesday. I haven't written anything but the summary and first chapter, nor have I plotted anything out. This is because my plan is to release roughly 34000 words a day, 10 chapters of ~12.5 pages each, for 3 days at which point the story will be complete. I'd have liked to plan for more but handling the interface tables and so forth needed for a data heavy litrpg slows down the writing process. 100k words is a bit short, a standard pre epic fantasy 300 page spec fic novel, but this is mostly a writing exercise and I am considering a longer project if I can maintain the pace. Probably do a different concept, maybe a dungeon core, over 5 days, since a 500 page novel is more common these days. Slight subversion of VRMMO stories Stat heavy/crunchy No paying your bills by gaming No out of game conspiracies No angst, interpersonal drama, or damsels/dudes in distress Schedule is 30000 words a day excepting the first chapter, a limitation of RRs fiction submission system Fantasy, high magic, male lead, no party, guild, or harem No gore, some profanity, no sexual content, and no current plans for anything traumatic
8 97 - In Serial27 Chapters
RELEASE ME
Me the writer, who is a five foot eight (5.8ft), twenty (20) year old young man has be going through battles in the spirit from age eighteen (18) after he has left high school. His relationship with the Lord and saviour Jesus has grown day by day as he experiences these battles. My mission is simply getting all human being to the Lord. Only God knows what is happening throughout the globe today. Heaven cannot be too crowded for heaven is truly our home.
8 211 - In Serial4 Chapters
Wolfwalkers (Mebh X Robyn Oneshots)
I have no idea what to do with this so it will be a collection of Mebh X Robyn oneshots some based in the modern world and some in the time line of the film
8 139 - In Serial99 Chapters
Behind the mask
High School student Hiccup is a bad boy, in with the wrong crowd and a pest to those around him. Astrid Hofferson is Class President, cheerleading Captain and most popular girl in school. But neither are what they seem: Astrid's popularity hides a determined but very insecure young woman battling against impossible expectations while Hiccup struggles in an abusive home he endures for the sake of his ailing mother. Both wear masks at school-but can they see behind the other's facade and help each other through? Modern AU, Hiccstrid.
8 186

