The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

As the moonlight began to slant, Da Liu exhaled a breath of stale air, shook its body, and scattered fine scales, which covered the ground in a shallow layer.

The queen bee looked up at the sky and bowed to the fox: "Immortal, it's getting late. The food and wine are ready. Why don't we move inside the palace?"

The shrew family had been waiting for this, so they dropped the fruit they were holding and happily climbed towards the hive. The fox, who had been busy all night and was also a little hungry, nodded in agreement.

Seeing the fox take a step, Da Liu hurriedly followed, and a rubbing sound rang out, and the scene suddenly fell silent.

The queen bee frowned, and the female shrew exclaimed, "You're going to come along with this plague-infected snake?"

As soon as she said it, she realized her mistake. Seeing Da Liu looking at her, she quickly added, "We were just telling the truth, and look what happened! Besides, how big is that beehive? There's no room for a snake."

Da Liu hissed twice, and the fox helped translate: "It said it's not going to the banquet, it's just going to follow the fox to find Erlang."

The fox looked at the snake: "Why are you following the fox?"

"The fox smells like a human." Da Liu clung close to him, afraid that the fox wouldn't take him with it.

The queen bee cast a questioning glance at the fox, who remained noncommittal.

The dead bee was one of the queen bee's own kind, and even if the fox had been kind to the queen bee, it wouldn't interfere with the queen bee's decision.

The queen bee pondered for a few moments, sighed, and slowly said, "In that case, please join me at the banquet, fellow Daoist Snake."

"But I have three things to clarify." She looked at Da Liu. "First, you were controlled by Yin Sha and acted against your will, killing my people. I will temporarily forgive this debt because you were also a victim."

"Secondly, no seat has been set up for you at the banquet. Just stay put and don't cause any trouble."

"Third, you must leave this mountain immediately after the banquet. From now on, you must never set foot here again. If you break this agreement, you will suffer the agony of being pierced by a thousand needles."

After hearing this, Da Liu lowered his head, hissed a few times, and spoke in a low, slow voice.

"It said that although it doesn't remember, it will definitely atone for its sins," the fox translated.

The queen bee smiled bitterly and did not answer. If the giant, ferocious serpent before her was still the same one, she would do everything in her power to avenge her daughters, even if it displeased the fox spirit.

But this snake is innocent by nature, and its violence is not intentional. If it insists on revenge, countless children will be killed by its stings. The queen bee really doesn't want the remaining children to fight this foolish snake to the death.

Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. The Queen Bee sighed inwardly, suppressing these thoughts, and respectfully said, "Please come with me, Immortal. I also ask that you restrain your magical power and allow your spirit to leave your body."

The fox, without any hesitation, frankly replied, "The fox doesn't know how to do that."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, but the mother shrew was the first to react. She patted her chest loudly, her eyes filled with joy, not disdain: "Our chance to repay your kindness has come! Let me teach... uh, um, let's exchange experiences."

"The fox spirit thinks, your soul lives inside your body, right?" She gestured, "If you want to get out now, just exert your strength. With a little effort, your soul will pop out!"

"If the soul leaves, a person will fall into a coma or become mentally impaired; if the spirit scatters, a person will be injured or die," the fox repeated the teachings in its voice.

The mother shrew was stumped by the question, scratching her head with her paws: "Um, I don't really know how to describe it, anyway, it's that thing."

The queen bee interrupted the shrew, bowing slightly: "If the fox spirit doesn't mind, please allow me to explain a few things."

"It is not the soul, but the consciousness." Her teachings were much more detailed. "Although my spiritual practice is shallow, I have some family knowledge. I have heard my mother say that the consciousness is attached to the soul, but there is a difference..."

The queen bee's explanation was replaced by another voice: "The primordial spirit is the innate true nature, the origin of the infinite. When it enters the Qian Palace of the physical body, it is divided into the Yang soul and the Yin spirit, forming the basis of form, spirit, Yin and Yang."

"The consciousness arises from the yin spirit and belongs to the acquired deluded mind; the yin spirit leaving the body is not only the soul, spirit, consciousness, and primordial essence leaving the body, but also the primordial spirit when it first appears, the yin essence is not exhausted, and it carries the yang soul, the unrefined yin spirit, and the remaining consciousness, forming a spiritual body of mixed yin and yang that leaves the body."

The voice was unusually complex this time, but fortunately the fox was the most clever.

"Leaving the body..." The experience of living inside the statue of the god Hu came to mind, and the feeling of being separated from the statue reappeared.

Following this feeling, the fox exerted a little force and heard a soft sound in its ears. The fox felt its body lighten, and it had transformed into a small fox the size of a palm, floating above its physical head.

Looking down, the fox's body lay limp on the ground. The fox suddenly felt dazed; without realizing it, it had grown taller and stronger than its mother had been back then.

"Your Highness is so insightful! Before I could even finish speaking, you, the Fox Fairy, had already achieved enlightenment. Unlike those shrews, who spend thirty years cultivating before even stepping into the realm of enlightenment," the Bee Queen said with heartfelt admiration, interrupting the Fox's thoughts.

"You!" The mother shrew immediately bristled.

Ignoring their bickering, the fox curiously controlled its body, slowly drifting towards the queen bee, gradually shrinking along the way until it became as big as a bee.

Looking at the queen bee dressed as a young girl in palace attire, and then at the large willow tree behind her, whose ghostly form was also a small snake, the fox suddenly sensed something was amiss:

"Why are you all human, or foxes?"

The Queen Bee chuckled, "Whether one can transform into human form depends on one's cultivation level, but even more so on one's mindset. Fellow Daoist Snake cannot transform into human form because his cultivation is still shallow."

She paused, then said gently, "It's not that the immortals are incapable of transforming into humans, it's just that they subconsciously don't want to."

The fox paused, taken aback. It had never considered this question before. In that sense, the fox had never envied human form, nor had it ever wished to become human. A fox is simply a fox.

That's fine too.

The fox stopped hesitating and followed the queen bee's lead into the hive.

Layer upon layer of buildings and pavilions, one after another, with countless pavilions and towers extending outwards in layers.

The vermilion pavilions and ornate doors are arranged in a staggered pattern, and countless women walk lightly through them, all wearing pale yellow long dresses with black belts, carrying honey cups and flower cakes.

As figures passed by, a mingled floral fragrance wafted over. These complex floral scents, when mixed together, did not smell bad, but rather formed a unique, complex, and harmonious aroma.

As they walked along, and everyone seemed to be covered in the fragrance of flowers, an archway appeared.

"arrive."

The queen bee raised her hand and gently pushed, and the door slid open silently.

The banquet hall was circular with a high dome, and light from an unknown source shone down, making the whole hall glow with gold.

The seats were made of some unknown, crystal-clear material. The queen bee led the fox to the main seat and then led everyone to sit down in turn.

"Today is rushed, and I have only prepared a small feast to express my gratitude. I hope that the immortal and fellow Daoists will forgive me."

She clapped her hands, and immediately several pretty girls dressed as maids filed out from behind the door, carrying small bowls and presenting them to everyone.

It contained a pale golden liquid, slightly viscous. The fox brought its nose close and was immediately enveloped in a honey-like fragrance that seemed almost tangible.

"This is what I saved when I first received the royal jelly offering the year I ascended to the throne," the queen bee said calmly. "Every year since then, once the royal jelly is brewed, I take out the most mellow part and mix it into this bottle."

"New brew is fresh and strong, while old brew is warm and mellow. Every year it is mixed in, and the taste is different every year. Now, even I, the one who brewed it by hand, do not know what it tastes like."

The queen bee turned her gaze to the fox: "The palace is impoverished; only this can nourish the spirit and offer some benefit. I hope the immortal will be satisfied."

The fox held the small cup in its paws and drank it all in one gulp.

The liquid, smooth and not thick, glides gently down the throat. The rich, honey-like aroma warmly envelops the tongue, leaving no astringent sensation, only a sweet aftertaste.

The small cup was drunk up in an instant, but the taste lingered on the lips and teeth for a long time.