Chapter 7: Transform, Vixen, Hurry Up and Transform!

Faced with Bai Li’s question, Chu Huaizhou touched his nose, his gaze darting aside.
Hah, Bai Li, your words are a bit too sharp.

“Uh, well, nothing happened, you know. I didn’t do anything—just talked.”
“You think I smell like her? Uh… we were just close earlier, that’s all.”

Even with a lie-detection spell or artifact, Chu Huaizhou could say this confidently.
It was the truth—he didn’t do anything. He only spoke a few words; Leng Qingqiu did all the rest.

Admitting his eldest disciple had turned into a rebellious, master-defying menace? No way he could say that.
And telling Bai Li, who seemed so naive, would probably be pointless.
He’d have to solve this himself.

After all, Chu Huaizhou had mastered the game’s first playthrough before transmigrating here.
From an ordinary mortal with average talent, he rose to join the Heavenly Origin Sword Sect, one of the seven top immortal sects of the Heavenly Star Continent.
That took some talent, effort, and a touch of game knowledge.
He’d explored countless secret realms and worked hard to improve his physique.
After reaching Golden Core, his long-dormant system finally activated.

“Oh, okay, meow. I’ll believe you, meow.”
Trusting Chu Huaizhou, Bai Li didn’t press further, chalking it up to a fluke.
After all, she occasionally entered “special periods” due to her nature—an instinct she couldn’t control, meow.
As a near-perfect being from a rare fox race, even she had flaws. Humans, frail and numerous, must have all sorts of quirks, meow.

More importantly, she often read mortal romance novels.
They described love in countless ways—starting passionately, unfolding thrillingly, ending in tragedy or joy.
But from her observations, there was no such spark between the human and his eldest disciple. No way they had romantic feelings, meow.
This was the firm belief of Bai Li, self-proclaimed romance novel expert.

Nodding lightly, she nudged Chu Huaizhou’s arms apart with her head, snuggling into his chest.
She guided his hands to her back with her paws.
For now, she’d get the human to give her a long-overdue fur-brushing.

As he brushed, Chu Huaizhou thought about his system.
If nothing went wrong, his “Disciple Cultivation Stage Ten-Thousand-Fold Return” system should still be active.
Bound to his three disciples, it granted him massive returns whenever they gained insights or progressed, accumulating to a certain point for a ten-thousand-fold boost!

That was already amazing—a true idle system.
Now, it was even better. His three disciples were all Great Vehicle stage. Any random insight could hit the cap, skyrocketing his cultivation back to its peak.
That’d be incredible.

With that thought, Chu Huaizhou didn’t hesitate, calling out in his mind:
System? Big Bro System? System Daddy!

But… dreams were sweet, reality bitter.
No matter how he called, the system didn’t respond.
It couldn’t have been zapped away by the tribulation, right? That’d be too unlucky.
Heavenly tribulation, I curse your—

Boom!

As he cursed the tribulation in his heart, a clear sky roared with thunder.
A purple lightning bolt, thick as a bucket, crashed toward Heavenly Sword Peak.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Luckily, Leng Qingqiu and Xia Baiqian were nearby.
As the bolt descended, their figures blurred, moving so fast they left fading afterimages.

The lightning was met midair by two distinct forces.
Leng Qingqiu flicked her finger, conjuring a crystalline ice pillar. Its chilling aura froze the lightning into purple crystals, shattering inch by inch.
Xia Baiqian waved her sleeve, releasing a gu insect with eerie patterns. It swelled, transforming into a black maw that devoured the lightning whole.

Crackle—

The seemingly endless lightning vanished under the two powerhouses’ intervention, the world returning to silence.
Lifespan: 0.01 seconds.

Both returned to their spots before their afterimages faded.
To Chu Huaizhou’s Golden Core eyes, they flickered, the sky flashed with phenomena, and the lightning was gone.

That… was probably heaven’s lightning, right?
Just because he cursed it in his head? Talk about petty.
But what shocked him more was how casually they neutralized a heavenly tribulation.
Just how strong was Great Vehicle stage?

If he remembered right, from rumors in this world and the game’s late stages, Great Vehicle cultivators were rare.
Only sect leaders of the seven top immortal sects or emperors most aligned with the people reached this level.
And… he had four such powerhouses around him!

One downside: one of them, likely the strongest, Leng Qingqiu, was after his body.
And probably a yandere.

Gulp!

Chu Huaizhou swallowed hard, clutching Bai Li tightly.
At the thunder’s sound, she’d jumped in fright, reflexively leaping from his arms to his collar, her four paws gripping his clothes, nine tails puffing up.
“Human, did you do something, meow? If I’m not wrong, that tribulation lightning was aimed at you.”

As the lightning dissipated, Bai Li’s paws loosened, sliding back to his chest, her nine tails swaying as if nothing happened.
“It was pretty strong, like one of the 999 tribulations I faced becoming a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.”

Chu Huaizhou didn’t reply, only nodding and pressing a finger to his lips, signaling silence.
Lesson learned. Even with powerful disciples protecting him, he’d avoid badmouthing the heavens in his head.
Time to think of something else to distract himself. Right—Bai Li mentioned tribulations.
He’d almost forgotten the clingy, adorable fox in his arms was a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox. Logically, she could transform into a human by now…
Hmm, he kinda wanted to see Bai Li’s human form.

Chu Huaizhou was a man of action—when a thought struck, he acted.
“Hey, Bai Li, uh… could you transform into a human form for me to see?”

Bai Li: “Meow meow meow?”