Chapter 5: The Talent Show Segment
Following the direction the blue-haired girl pointed, a pink flower bud swayed gently, glistening dewdrops clinging to its petals.
Seeing this, the ponytailed woman who had approached frowned, then suddenly cried out as if she had understood something.
The sight of a flower growing in the snowy Ice Plains was already extremely incongruous, let alone a single flower within a radius of several miles. It was as if it had appeared out of thin air, a blatant anomaly in a game of spot-the-difference.
“This is a Three-Tailed Fox that has mastered the Transformation battle technique!!”
When it came to the fox species, people naturally thought of skills like transformation and charm.
The three of them were overjoyed. A spirit beast that had mastered a battle technique was dozens of times more valuable than a blank slate one. Finding one was like striking gold. They carefully formed a circle around the pink flower bud.
I wonder what that poor little fox is thinking right now. It must be completely despairing… Gong Lianyue silently mourned.
According to Spirit Master tradition, what followed should be the talent show and courtship segment.
The two women and one man surrounded the small pink flower. One of them, a cute girl with medium-long, smooth black hair, squatted down and beckoned gently.
“Little fox, will you come with big sister? I’ll give you delicious food every day, and you can play as much as you want.”
“Oh, and I’ll definitely never force you to fight dangerous enemies. How about it?”
After finishing, the black-haired girl gave a classic anime-style smile, her soft hair falling over her shoulder, perfectly setting the scene.
Any ordinary otaku would have already fallen head over heels, but the pink flower transformed from the Three-Tailed Fox remained motionless, as if deaf.
After waiting silently for more than ten seconds, the black-haired girl’s expression gradually stiffened, her lips twitching.
“You guys try,” she said, standing up with a hint of reluctance, noticing the impatient looks of her two companions.
The next contestant in the talent show was the male, a plain-looking and somewhat thin young man who seemed to have no redeeming qualities.
Gong Lianyue glanced at him casually and lost interest. Miraculous encounters in real life weren’t so frequent. Without protagonist aura, he was destined for disappointment.
“Um, I received a blue rating in the Sea Concubine Palace entrance selection. I was third in my cohort. In the future, I have the potential to break through to Level 4 Spirit Master, which should allow you to reach your full potential.”
“…”
Looking at the hint of boastfulness hidden within the young man’s shy expression, Gong Lianyue’s lips parted slightly, her gaze drifting away.
Shocking Saintess-level statements.
Thanks, I’m cringing.
As expected, the pink flower remained indifferent, showing no reaction whatsoever.
“My turn!!”
After the failure of her two companions, the ponytailed girl breathed a deep sigh of relief, squatted down, and said confidently,
“Little fox, if you don’t sign a contract with me, I’ll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!!”
“!!!”
The other two were startled. They had never known their friend could be so ferocious.
Gong Lianyue didn’t react much. She even felt this was more normal than the previous guy. Threats and inducements were common practice when Spirit Masters formed contracts with spirit beasts.
However, threats would cause intense resentment in spirit beasts. If it failed, there would be no second chance. Even if there was a minuscule chance of accidental success, the spirit beast would be very likely to rebel in the future.
As expected, all three attempts failed, leaving them with gloomy expressions.
“It seems we can only sell it,” the black-haired girl suggested.
“Mm, agreed.”
They quickly reached a consensus. The ponytailed girl reached out and poked the top of the pink flower bud.
Most spirit beasts’ transformation techniques were very realistic, but they couldn’t withstand scrutiny, often breaking with a single touch.
The pink flower wobbled from the poking, but it didn’t revert back to its Three-Tailed Fox form. The three of them exchanged puzzled looks.
“Little sister, are you sure this is what the Three-Tailed Fox transformed into?” the ponytailed girl couldn’t help but ask, turning her head.
Gong Lianyue, who had been watching the show, was speechless. A Three-Tailed Fox wasn’t a real flower that would wilt with a touch. How could such gentle poking break its transformation?
Her forcefully rolled-back eyes were starting to hurt. She needed to resolve this situation quickly and get them to leave. This was dragging on for far too long…
The blue-haired girl lightly jumped down from the ice rock, her delicate, bare feet landing on the cold snow as she walked towards the pink flower.
“Look, you have to do it like this to break its transformation!”
With a confident tone, under their bewildered gazes, Gong Lianyue grabbed the base of the pink flower and pulled it out forcefully.
Snap!
The stem broke. The delicate little flower lay forlornly in Gong Lianyue’s hand, her confident expression slowly turning blank, a look of disbelief on her face.
The three of them stared, speechless, at the stunned blue-haired girl.
How was this possible? She had clearly seen it transform into a flower!
Could it be that the Three-Tailed Fox hadn’t used a transformation technique, but some other kind of technique that created an illusion?
A few minutes later, Gong Lianyue stood in the snow, on the verge of tears, rolling her dry and sore eyes back to their normal position.
The resentful and suspicious looks the three of them had given her as they left clearly suggested they suspected her of hiding the Three-Tailed Fox, or of deliberately deceiving and toying with them, making them waste their time on a flower… This was so humiliating and infuriating!!
“Sigh~~~”
Life is hard, the Saintess sighs.
It didn’t matter if she had made enemies of three ordinary apprentices of the Sea Concubine Palace. She hoped this farce wouldn’t spread any further.
As her mood gradually calmed, Gong Lianyue was about to resume her cultivation when the discarded pink flower suddenly began to tremble violently.
Poof!
A burst of water vapor and shimmering blue dust sprayed everywhere, and a beautiful little fox with azure fur appeared.
It limped over to Gong Lianyue’s feet and, with a ferocious expression, bit down on her soft, pink toe, clearly holding a grudge.
“Chirp!!”
The blue fox gnawed angrily at the blue-haired girl’s toe, letting out ferocious growls.
“Ouch! …Huh? I don’t feel anything?”
Gong Lianyue blinked, staring in astonishment at the blue fox. What was going on?
Wasn’t its fur pink before? How had it changed color so quickly?
Wait a minute!!
Her ice-blue, teardrop-shaped eyes narrowed. Gong Lianyue stared incredulously at the blue fox’s rear. Its tail… why was there only one?
Not only had its fur color changed, but even its tail and species were completely different, as if it were a different creature altogether.
But, judging by its resentful and vengeful behavior, it was clearly the same fox.
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