Chapter 26: Qingqiu, Yousu, Chunhu, and Tushan

Useless Prophet: "As expected of the Immortal! Look at that aura."

Snake Queen: "I say, Prophet, you keep going on about how powerful the Immortal is, but what about yourself? How many points do you have now? By the time I scrape together a hundred points, the shop will probably be closed."

Old Celestial Master: "It is a pity that I am still short of quite a few points myself."

Useless Prophet: "@Snake Queen, don't even get me started, I'm still short over a hundred points! This Hu Liena is ridiculous, getting a hundred points every single day just by checking in. Did she use her Martial Soul to charm the core of the chat group?"

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "It's all about skill! Is there a problem with that?"

Snake Queen: "Look at you being all smug. I've said it before: the upper limit of your world is just that—no matter how hard you try, you can't get any stronger, understand?"

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "I improve a little every day. As long as I know who I am, that's enough! I don't care about anything else."

Snake Queen: "Oh, look at you, quite self-aware, aren't you?"

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "Hmph, I have already accumulated five Spirit Stones! Once I have five more, I will immediately exchange them for an immortal elixir from the Immortal to spite you all."

Old Celestial Master: "There is no need for such hostility, you two. Didn't the chat group announcement say that as more members join, many new features will be unlocked? If a duel arena feature appears later, couldn't you just settle it with a match then?"

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "I'm not fighting her. Once I eat that immortal elixir, they'll just say I'm bullying the weak."

Snake Queen: "I am older than you, that is beyond doubt."

Useless Prophet: "No, no, no. If we are only talking about 'size,' you two are about the same!"

Little Spider: "@Useless Prophet, isn't there something wrong with that sentence? It feels a bit strange."

Useless Prophet: "Kids, move along, you don't understand."

The Mosquito's Natural Enemy: "Another day of watching you all bicker."

Guard of the Southern Heaven Gate: "@Golden Generation of Spirit Hall, Hu Liena, right? You still haven't said what type of elixir you want to customize. Speak up, so I can study it in advance."

Jiang Wang had no interest in their squabbling. The upper limit of Hu Liena's world was just too low! It was so weak that Jiang Wang didn't even want to comment on it. That place was a literal valley of existence. If an ordinary person drove a small car over there, they could probably run over those so-called "Douluo" masters.

Medusa, the Snake Queen, was a different story; she had some real strength, and the upper limit of her world wasn't low either—at least it reached the concept of "powerhouses." Unlike Hu Liena’s world, which completely lacked the concept of true power.

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "Immortal, could you please take a look at my situation and offer me some advice?"

Useless Prophet: "You're so demanding! Just shut up and take whatever elixir the Immortal gives you."

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "Hmph, I think you're just jealous that I'm the one getting the elixir."

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "Immortal, can you? Can you?"

Guard of the Southern Heaven Gate: "I can, but I cannot guarantee that my advice will be perfectly suited to you."

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "Thank you, Immortal!"

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "I am a Spirit Master. My Martial Soul is an Enchanting Fox, and my current skills are mainly based on charm..."

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "My master told me to focus solely on training my charm abilities and not to worry about anything else. Immortal, do you have any suggestions?"

Guard of the Southern Heaven Gate: "Wait a moment."

Outside the Southern Heaven Gate, Jiang Wang stared blankly into the distance, deep in thought. A Spirit Master's power came from their Martial Soul. The more powerful the Martial Soul, the greater the foundation, and the higher the probability of obtaining powerful Spirit Rings.

Take the "protagonist" of Hu Liena’s world, for instance—a guy who was hypocritical to the core. His two Martial Souls were quite powerful. It was precisely because of those two overwhelming Souls, combined with his cultivation techniques, that he was able to navigate the world of Spirit Masters with such ease. Yet, that "protagonist" was a total hypocrite. Even with two incredibly powerful Martial Souls, he constantly spouted nonsense like, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Spirit Masters."

Therefore, the root of a Spirit Master remained the Martial Soul. If the Soul was strong, everything else would follow.

Hu Liena's Martial Soul was an Enchanting Fox. The fox race was quite famous in the Primordial and Journey to the West worlds. The most famous, of course, was Daji, the Nine-Tailed Fox from the Investiture of the Gods era. However, Daji didn't represent the truly powerful fox clans. The real power resided in the four great fox clans: Qingqiu, Yosu, Tushan, and Chunhu.

Daji hailed from Yosu. The Chunhu foxes were seductive and charming but physically weak, relying only on schemes. The Yosu foxes were also relatively weak; while their charm was potent, they lacked real power and often fell victim to their own charms. For example, with Daji, it was unclear in the end whether she had charmed King Zhou or if King Zhou had conquered her.

The Tushan foxes were unique. They had connections to every successive Human Emperor, carrying the aura of the Emperor, and were always held in high regard. When Great Yu controlled the floods, he received help from a Tushan Nine-Tailed Fox. Thus, the Tushan clan was inextricably linked to the destiny of the human race. With the current rise of humanity, the fortune of the Tushan clan was steadily increasing; even as demons, they were the elite among the demon kind.

Then there was Qingqiu, the orthodox fox clan. Qingqiu was vast and inclusive; to this day, there were still Fox Immortal Academies in the mortal world, overseen by Qingqiu to select fox immortals from across the land.

If he were to refine an elixir to enhance Hu Liena’s strength, he would certainly have to draw from the essence of these four great clans. Jiang Wang pondered, still deciding how to refine the perfect elixir for her. In the Heavenly Court, there were many fox immortals, though few were high-ranking deities; most were merely heavenly officials or celestial maidens. But that didn't mean there weren't powerful ones. Under the Queen Mother of the West sat a Qingqiu fox whose strength was rumored to rival that of certain major deities.

Since Hu Liena was the first to provide ten Spirit Stones, Jiang Wang decided to put in a little extra effort. As the saying goes, "pay a thousand gold for a horse's bones"—if he let the group members witness his prowess, he wouldn't need to ask for more; they would naturally offer him their Spirit Stones. This was why he had bothered to analyze the four great clans.

Guard of the Southern Heaven Gate: "@Golden Generation of Spirit Hall, I have four plans here. Why don't you take a look and pick one?"

Golden Generation of Spirit Hall: "Four types?! Thank you, Immortal! You are so thoughtful!"

Useless Prophet: "Envious."

Snake Queen: "Envious +1."

Little Spider: "Is Hu Liena’s Martial Soul energy innate to her body? How do you even improve something like that?"

Old Celestial Master: "The Immortal surely has his own ideas; why should Parker worry?"