Seeing that Yaoyao had woken up, I didn't bother about the priest and quickly turned to Yaoyao's side. I squatted down and rubbed the white fur on the little fox's head. I asked softly, "Yaoyao, how are you feeling? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Yaoyao was still in her fox form. Although we were familiar with each other, I had never talked to a little fox like that before. I felt slightly awkward.
Yaoyao's gaze was still a little dazed. She lifted her head weakly and looked at me for a while before she seemed to understand something. She didn't make a sound and buried her head into the praying mat. She even used her two meaty paws to hug her head.
I was stunned and thought that something had happened to her. However, I immediately came back to my senses. This little fellow seemed to be shy.
As expected, Yaoyao's delicate voice spread out. "I … I'm fine. Big Brother Zhou, can you … can you bring my clothes … over so that I can turn back into my human form."
Hearing her say that, I couldn't help but be curious. I thought that the fox race would turn their fur into clothes when they turned into humans. I didn't expect that they would have to find their own clothes to wear.
Since that was the case, I couldn't blame Yaoyao for being shy. She had lived in the human world since young and had cultivated to the realm of Knowledge Transformation. She was used to clothes. Although she was in her fox form, it was no different from being naked to her.
I turned to ask the priest where Yaoyao's clothes were.
Although the priest insisted on sacrificing Yaoyao, he knew that he wouldn't be able to change my mind. After staying silent for a while, he sighed and didn't say anything. He stood up and went to look for Yaoyao's clothes.
While waiting for him to return, I asked Yaoyao about the Fox race's transformation and clothing. Although Yaoyao was shy, she still told me that after the Fox race reached the Sky Shi realm, they could refine their own fur and turn it into something similar to a magical artifact. When they transformed, they could directly turn it into clothing, so they wouldn't have to worry about this problem anymore. Currently, she was still a step away from the Sky Shi realm, so she didn't have this ability.
After chatting for a while, the priest came back with Yao Yao's clothes. Yao Yao struggled to get up. She wanted to find a place to hide from people and transform. However, since her body was weak, she staggered when she stood up. I felt sorry for her, so I picked her up and brought her to the back of the statue. After putting her clothes and shoes in a safe place, I left the statue.
Not long after, Yao Yao put on her clothes and walked out. Her complexion and gait were much better than before. I let her sit on the praying mat and asked her about her body's condition. After knowing that she had consumed too much of her monster power, I felt relieved. I let her sit there and cultivate by herself for a while to recover her monster power first.
Since Yaoyao was fine, my hatred towards the QingQiu clan had dissipated a lot. Moreover, the priest's attitude towards me and the fatty had been very respectful. I couldn't do anything else. After thinking for a while, I told the priest that I had come here to ask for the Seven Star Mugwort. Since I had already obtained it, I couldn't stay here any longer.
As for Yaoyao, after what had happened, I couldn't let her stay here. I decided to take her away and go to Hong Kong to send her to her parents' side.
Although Yaoyao's mother was worried that Yaoyao wouldn't be safe with her by her side, she begged me to send Yaoyao here. However, in this situation, I could only choose the lesser of two evils.
I made my decision. Although the priest wasn't happy, he couldn't do anything about it. He sighed and nodded, not saying anything.
After that, I asked the fatty to release the QingQiu clan leader. As soon as he came out, the hot-tempered QingQiu clan leader wanted to attack me again. However, the priest stopped her. After introducing us, the QingQiu clan leader's beautiful face was filled with disbelief. However, it didn't matter if she believed it or not. The priest's position in the QingQiu clan was much higher than hers, so she couldn't do anything about it.
After dealing with these matters, I couldn't wake Yaoyao up because she was still cultivating. I could only sit cross-legged and wait for her to wake up.
Just like that, an entire day passed. During this time, Chief Qingqiu and the black-robed priest called people over to clean up the temple. They even sent food to the fatty and me. Their attitude was very respectful, and we got along well with each other.
At noon on the second day, Yaoyao, who was sitting cross-legged on the praying mat, suddenly opened her eyes. Seeing that she had woken up, I wanted to greet her. However, before I could open my mouth, an indescribable aura suddenly rose from Yaoyao's body. Immediately after, a white light flashed and her clothes fell to the ground. Her body returned to her fox form.
At the same time, there was a faint sound of thunder in the sky above the temple.
I immediately stopped talking, and my expression changed.
Logically speaking, after Yaoyao cultivated for a day, her body should have completely recovered after her body was filled with monster power. Why did such a change happen?
Before I could understand what was going on, Chief Qing Qiu and the black-clothed priest, who were standing behind me, simultaneously exclaimed, "Monster King Tribulation!"
Monster King Tribulation?
I didn't react at first, but I quickly realized that Monster King was the Monster race's Heaven's Master realm. Monster King Tribulation … Was Yaoyao about to advance to Heaven's Master realm?
Thinking about it, the sound of thunder seemed to be similar to the 'Three Lightning Strikes' when I advanced to Heaven's Master realm. Yaoyao was really about to advance to Monster King!
Although it was sudden, it was actually reasonable. Yaoyao was already in Glory of Knowledge realm, and she had obtained a breakthrough in the Monster Refining Gourd. Her power was already at the complete stage of Glory of Knowledge.
Compared to humans, the barrier to advance to Heaven's Master realm was much smaller. With Yaoyao's cultivation at that stage, advancing was just a matter of time.
After coming back to my senses, I quickly sat cross-legged at the side to protect Yaoyao. At the same time, I instructed the fatty to be careful and hold the Monster Refining Gourd in his hand. If anything happened, he had to react immediately.
No matter if it was a monster or a human, advancing to Heaven's Master was a huge milestone on the path of cultivation. This matter couldn't be careless no matter what.
After all, we were still in the Fox King Palace. I purposely instructed the fatty to use the Monster Refining Gourd to intimidate the Qingqiu tribe leader and the black-robed priest so that they wouldn't take the opportunity to cause trouble.
It was different from what I had imagined. Not only did the two of them not have the intention to cause trouble, they even ordered that no one from the Qingqiu tribe was allowed to enter the Fox King Palace without permission. The two of them followed me and sat cross-legged next to Yaoyao in an attempt to protect her.
If the black-robed priest knew that he couldn't go against my wishes, and he respected the fatty and my status as God Envoys, it wouldn't be strange for him to do something to please us. However, ever since the Qingqiu tribe leader had come out of the Monster Refining Gourd, he had been indignant. Now that he was willing to protect Yaoyao, it was really strange.
I turned and frowned at the two of them. The black-robed priest seemed to have noticed my confusion, and he said to me with a bitter expression, "God Envoy, you don't have to be surprised. Although the Qingqiu tribe uses the Tushan girl as a sacrifice to the Fox King, there are two rules during the sacrifice. The first is that the sacrifice must be a virgin, and the second is that the sacrifice's cultivation cannot reach Monster King realm … Now that Yaoyao has advanced to Monster King, in my eyes, she is no longer a sacrifice, but a member of the Qingqiu tribe."
There was actually such a rule … Although it sounded strange, it explained their actions.
I thought back to when Yaoyao's mother had returned to the Qingqiu tribe, it was probably because of such a rule that she wasn't used as a sacrifice and escaped the calamity.
I nodded in acknowledgment of what he had said.
Even so, I kept my guard up and didn't ask the fatty to put away the Monster Refining Gourd. No matter whether what they said was true or not, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
The thunder above the temple hadn't stopped since it had appeared. It had already rumbled three times, but the Monster race was different from humans after all. There was no such thing as' three lightning strikes'. I saw that Yaoyao's expression was still calm and she didn't interfere.
After around fifteen minutes, the thunder in the sky finally stopped. I heaved a sigh of relief as I thought that I had passed the first trial. I didn't expect that when the thunder stopped, countless lightning bolts suddenly appeared in the Divine Hall. They gathered from all directions and surged towards Yao Yao's body.
The lightning contained strong lightning power. Although Yaoyao had the power of Glory of Knowledge, she definitely wouldn't be able to block it!