He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 100 "The Song of Silk"

Ai Yi has been very busy lately.

Having crossed the climbing ladder, the fox's stats are exploding—not only in terms of strength, but also in the rapidly expanding realm of mystical subjects, and his mastery of knowledge-based skills is advancing by leaps and bounds.

The underlying principle is similar to how hardware must keep up for software to function: the elevation of one's spiritual realm brings about multi-dimensional improvements, such as intellect, comprehension, breadth of vision, height of perspective, and way of thinking, among others.

The Great Gift Pool is divided into five layers, ranging from depth 0 to depth 4. The deeper one goes, the more one touches the root of the world. The mysterious realm is also layered, corresponding to the depth of the Red Pool. The degree of mystery serves as the ladder for climbing, representing the spiritual sinking and the material rising.

Using a latitudinal analogy: ordinary people are like paper cutouts, while those with qualifications are like ants on a blank sheet of paper; both can only comprehend flat, unmarked objects. But emerging mystical scholars can begin to glimpse the "invisible Z-axis," a realm that transcends the material world and leans towards the spiritual.

In mystical terms, it could be described as "spiritual ascension" or "overflowing inspiration"—and some mystical realms even have strict requirements for ascending to higher levels, such as "The Construction and Configuration of Mystic Modules".

After all, only after it sprouts can one begin to "glimpse and understand" the form of the secret substance, and this ability is essential for in-depth research.

Many learning activities that were previously impossible to pursue can now be continued in greater depth.

"Not bad—you're in great shape."

Finally, Ai Yi flicked the tip of Mia's tail. Seeing that the little snake was completely stiff as if it had been frozen, with sweat seeping from its scales, Ai Yi finally stopped and let the little snake go for the time being.

"Can you still stand up?"

"Ugh————"

Looking at Miya, who was curled up in a ball looking aggrieved, he understood the lovers of exotic pets a little better—if a snake attacked in the form of a beautiful girl, its destructive power would indeed be too great. Her cool scales, whether you touched them along the texture or pressed them directly against her, were so sensual that you couldn't resist them.

The texture of the patterns on the fingertips, combined with the feedback from the fingertips as they brushed against the girl's delicate body—one could clearly perceive that every inch of skin beneath the small snake scales was taut with each movement, only to gradually soften again after the hand had passed over it.

The cutest part is when Ai's gaze falls on her, the hard pieces of fabric that she looks at fall down in groups as her gaze moves, like a hedgehog being soothed and becoming docile.

"What exactly is the principle behind this?

Ai said softly, finding the reaction quite amusing—although he had created the body, he had only sculpted its form—such a "house" was not yet habitable for a soul, so the subsequent adjustments were completed in collaboration with the little snake.

The most troublesome part is the nervous system.

Although she is a mysterious life form, Mia's own level of ascension has not reached the point where she can abandon her physical body to survive in the real world. Therefore, after leaving Ai's vessel, she must have everything that a human body should have.

In the first two days, Aiina successfully created a beautiful girl figure using the Principle of Metamorphosis, exactly like Mia's previous body—however, the subsequent adjustment process was incredibly grueling—for example, sensory disturbances, disorientation, and hypersensitivity of the nerves—

At its worst, Ai only lightly touched Miya, and the little snake collapsed to the ground, its eyes rolling back and it started spitting out stars.

Of course, it might only be torturous for the little snake, but the fox himself quite enjoyed it. Through creating a human from scratch, he made a new step in his study of the principles of transformation—and then slowly watching Miya recover her health, this process of creation was quite fulfilling.

Ai was secretly pleased.

—That's the joy of being a model kit enthusiast!

No wonder Gray was also obsessed with making his own figurines back then: but what he did was much more extravagant than Ai Yi's. Not only did he use Philosopher's Stone as material, but he also hand-wrapped the soul. He only created Ruri and Nirvana later on. The former was a defective product, and the latter was a half-finished product.

"Creating life" is the pinnacle of alchemy's power, and Ai is striving for it.

"Alright, alright, inspection complete—you can go back now, I'll pack up and come over."

Like a scumbag who's just pulled up his pants, Ai waved her hand without even helping Miara with her clothes.

So the limp little snake could only shrink into the corner, tidying itself up and straightening its almost knotted tail. After doing all this, the girl's face was an unnatural cherry pink, and the blood red in her vertical pupils was so vivid it seemed to drip—her lips moved for a long time, and in the end she could only pitifully utter a "hmm".

Watching Miya sway and wander around, Ai narrowed her eyes, turned around and went back to her lab table. She took out a pen from her front pocket, signed and filed today's lab log, and then clapped her hands.

"Little Grey, help me clean and reset the instruments—as usual, don't touch anything that's been turned upside down."

"Yes, sir."

A blurry human face emerged from the marble bricks. The next moment, the omnipresent gray mist surged in from all directions, carefully snatching the white research robe from Ai's hand, folding it neatly, and then wrapping up the scattered experimental equipment around it, dissolving all the mysterious impurities that had settled within it.

Meanwhile, Ai was silently pondering the situation.

During this period, taking advantage of the rapid development that comes with leveling up, besides learning about the metamorphosis while helping the little snake develop its new body, the fox is also undertaking some mysterious lessons that can be roughly divided into several directions.

First is Alchemy, which serves as Ay's core "intellectual skill." As a doctrine of "transformation," alchemy, to some extent, is to a series of mystical fields related to "manufacturing or production" what "mathematics" is to STEM courses.

More specialized subjects, such as "The Making of Ritual Implements," "Higher Ritual Studies," "The Construction of Mystic Circuits," and "Module Assembly," all rely on the "Principle of Transformation" in alchemy.

He devoted the most energy and time to this, and with the added benefit of relying on his parents, the results were quite remarkable.

Current Knowledge Proficiency: "Crimson Alchemy (Mastery)"

The fox can now independently transform and reshape mystical materials, and even extend to higher-level practical operations, such as the fusion and enhancement of sexuality.

The "source matter" we just obtained was an unexpected product, and in other aspects, Ai also obtained many finished products.

The most successful one of them —

He drew the gun from his waist and placed it in front of him: "Ritual Vessel - Tranquility / Already Condensed."

++Firearms/Weapons/Ember 3 (Criterion)/Silver/The Law of Silence/Loading Mystic Module/Night Watcher/Silk Song++Ammo Capacity: 12

"Alchemy Bullet (Touch of the Night Watcher), (Demon Slayer), (Extreme Speed)"

++Secret Capacity: 50/50

The original terms "Snake Kiss" and "Silver Elegance" have been specialized, and all effects have been enhanced and inherited.

++Trait·【Song of Silk】: They are dead, yet they never stop writhing—when I cover my eardrums, they tighten around my neck like thin threads, wrapping around my heart and chest; that is their song. A gap is a channel, and crawling is the unchanging answer.

"The silver-threaded gun is more like a work of art than a weapon: it is silent, and the muzzle is as sharp and black as a snake's snout—but if you listen closely, you can hear a strange sound as if something is crawling inside it."

Compared to before, "Tranquility" is lighter—as if it has no weight. The gun structure that was still visible before has been completely covered by intertwined silver threads.

Strangely, the threads that wove this gun together twisted and wriggled like slender worms—

Because when Ai was making it, she added her own personal touch: the worm that had previously separated from the main group and been captured.

Source: Night Watcher

This is the larva of a worm, an incompletely developed form—although it still possesses terrifying abilities and vitality, for Ai, using it as material is already an insurmountable difficulty.

After a long time, the fox used the secret knowledge it gained when it first entered the realm of the unseen: "dissecting the slug's sacrum." This technique, obtained from "moth hair" and "the principle of ashes," seemed to have a special effect on worms—

Ai easily extracted a stream of murky black pus from the living night watchworm using dissolution techniques. This liquid evaporated instantly under the glow of the light.

Then it died, leaving only a twisted, curled-up corpse: Aizo used the Ash Criterion "Ashes" flowing from [Feather], which is also the power of worm fear, to suppress the activity of the Night Watcher, and finally created this new Tranquility.

This thing—

Ai stroked its cold barrel, then silently holstered it—tainted with the power of the worms, its bullets struck the soul directly, penetrating everywhere, making everything a silent passageway.

As for the remaining corpses of the Night Watchers, Ai also casually crafted 1, 3, and 5—a total of seven bullets, any one of which could poison a Tiltist to death.

In this way, even in PvP, the fox possesses something that can be considered a trump card —

Although given his current overpowered level, he might not even need to use this skill in battles of the same level.

"Haa~"

Yawning, Ai Yi finished her night of study, slowly walked up the steps, and left the basement.

A fox's den.

According to Ai's living habits, Gray Court has undergone a major renovation. The original eerie fog doors have been covered with a layer of disguise and turned into normal wooden doors. Of course, every time Ai approaches, some mischievous gray fog will quietly brush against the fox—this is a sign of getting close to the radiance.

Ai Yi went back to her room first and found that Xiao Liuli had already cleaned it. After thinking it over for a moment, she didn't dare to touch the neatly folded bedding and blankets. Instead, she went straight to take a shower.

Standing wet in the bathroom, wagging your tail is one of the skills that a canine must master, as it is a must.

With a series of crackling sounds, Ai's large, wet tail swung at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye for a mere instant. As a series of dense water droplets exploded on the glass, a fluffy, clean gray tail was newly created.

Then, wrapped in a bath towel, he went to the wardrobe.

Open the closet door: the entire closet is filled with pajamas featuring cute fox patterns, and most of them are in strange colors—such as girly pink, candy red, and cake yellow.

Ai Yi's lips twitched as she watched.

-never mind.

Since she was at home anyway, the fox didn't think too much about it, casually put on some clothes, and walked out of the room to the living room.

"————?"

Upon seeing the scene in the living room, Ai tilted her head, seemingly a little confused by what she was seeing.

"What brings you two here?"

Ignoring Lin, who was sprawled on the sofa watching TV, and Nie Yi Ai Yi, who was about to headbutt her, looked awkwardly toward the dining table, raised her hand, and waved gently.

"A rare guest indeed."

—Those two pure deer people.

Ronan and Mia.

"Haha—you didn't even tell me you had guests."

He chuckled awkwardly, glancing down silently—a pair of fluffy animal slippers and a candy-pink cartoon pajama set, his expression visibly crumbling.

—Can I go back and change my clothes first?

"Boss————"

It was the antlered girl with high emotional intelligence who broke the fox's awkward silence. She rested her chin on her hand and smiled sweetly, "Boss, you look so cute today~"

"Huh————"

Ai looked disgusted, somewhat regretting that he had become too familiar with these two guys. After taking the two deer-men back to the outskirts, he had considered what method to use to negotiate—a tough stance was one solution, since these two had nowhere to run after falling into his hands, but their loyalty would be questionable.

The above method is generally only used to recruit underlings; using it to deal with two high-quality colleagues would be a waste.

Besides, deception is also a method, but after careful consideration, I felt there was nothing to hide. I was upright and honest, while these two colleagues—it was obvious that they had never been beaten down by society, and their experience was obviously lacking. Their clear eyes were full of things like "dreams," "hopes," and "love."

For comrades whose ideals have not been extinguished, deception is a partnership that is destined to be short-lived.

It's better to exchange sincerity for sincerity.

Of course, given the low credibility of words spoken from a "taboo position," Ai also took precautions: he had Xiao Qi take the two pure deer people to familiarize themselves with the environment and situation in the outskirts, while simultaneously showing them the bottom line that Gray Court adhered to—

With the facts laid bare, and the adorable fox who was so pleasant to look at always gossiping around, the two managed to put aside their hostility in just three days. Although they didn't explicitly pledge allegiance to Gray Court, Ai had bound them tightly together with their emotional bond.

But Ai still had a trick up his sleeve. For example, the persona he created for himself was the all-powerful representative of "Mr. Gray" in the mortal world, that is, an "apostle" walking among mortals. As for Gray, he was a holy being sitting high at the source of radiance, a living god who had sunk his spirituality to the bottom of the pool.

Anyway, no one is going to disprove these word choices.

Ai Yi has selectively given up on saving her image and instead focused on preserving her online persona.

Moreover, what he said—in a sense—is true.

Ending her reminiscence, Ai wagged her tail, somewhat helpless at the scene before her: After the first week, because the fox, the apparent boss, was really down-to-earth, they quickly became friends. The good news was that they soon joined Gray Court's efforts to unify the suburbs.

The bad news is that we've become too familiar with each other, which has made Ai Yi lose all her authority and even come here to freeload meals every now and then.

How can this be considered dignified!

She stomped to the dining table, pulled out a chair, plopped down, and stared at Ronan with dead fish eyes. Knowing this tactic wouldn't work on Mia next to her, she gritted her teeth and put pressure on Ronan.

"No—" Ronan raised his hands in surrender. The thin-skinned young man was also a little embarrassed, but he quickly put on a serious face. "We're actually here on important business."

"Oh?"

Ai, expressionless, chewed on her milk straw, her two slender white legs swinging back and forth under the chair. Hearing this, she raised an eyebrow. "Is there any trouble you two can't handle?"

—An apprentice from the Foundation, one of whom even sprouted and awakened divine power, should be able to walk sideways in this remote corner of the suburbs.

"It's not really a problem—"

Ronan hesitated, but Mia chimed in, "Recently, while we were subduing a small faction, we captured a group of strange guys, and according to the interrogation results—"

She stuck a fork into a fried egg and said seriously, "They might be from the bottom nest."