The fox's ears twitched faintly.
From across the room, waves of unstable energy pulsed outward—subtle, yet heavy. The lizard's body lay curled in the corner, occasionally twitching as arcs of faint lightning crawled along its scales before fading.
The fox observed quietly.
"…It's getting stronger."
It could feel it—the energy from the seven cores, the seventeen corpses, the wind-lightning fluctuations. All of it was being refined within that small, evolving body.
Its gaze lingered a moment longer.
Then it clicked its tongue softly.
"Can't let you leave me behind."
Turning away, it refocused on itself.
With a flick of its paw, several bottles and wooden boxes floated out from its storage pouch, hovering neatly before it.
High-grade pills.
Refined herbs.
Qi-stabilizing leaves.
Meridian-warming roots.
The fox sighed lightly.
"There isn't any formation here to assist cultivation… no spirit-gathering array, no amplification field."
Its eyes narrowed slightly.
"So I'll just have to pull my own weight."
One of the boxes opened.
A dense herbal fragrance filled the room instantly—thick, rich, spiritual energy condensed within dried crimson leaves.
The fox lifted a piece toward its mouth and swallowed it whole. Heat spread through its meridians almost immediately.
Without hesitation, it uncorked a pill bottle, letting a pale-gold pellet roll into its paw before tossing it into its mouth.
The pill dissolved on contact.
A surge of refined qi burst outward within its dantian.
The fox inhaled slowly, then curled its body, tail wrapping around itself, posture steady and composed. Its breathing slowed.
The room fell quiet again.
Outside the defensive formation, night deepened over River M.
Inside, two beasts cultivated in silence.
The fox guided the medicinal energy carefully, circulating it through its meridians with practiced precision. Unlike the lizard's violent evolution, its cultivation was controlled, deliberate.
Refine.
Compress.
Stabilize.
Expand.
Its spiritual energy swelled, then compressed again, becoming denser, sharper.
The earlier battle had drained it down to a mere fraction. Now, the pill's essence flooded in like a rising tide. Herbal energy intertwined with it, strengthening flesh and stabilizing qi pathways strained from excessive weapon control and illusion casting.
Minutes passed. Then more.
The fox's aura subtly thickened.
But the fox was meticulous. Not a drop of medicinal essence was wasted.
Across the room, the lizard's body convulsed faintly once more.
The fox did not open its eyes. It simply continued circulating energy.
Two predators. One evolving violently through the system. The other strengthening itself through discipline and preparation.
The night stretched on.
Golden light from the setting sun slipped through the cracks of the window lattice, stretching across the quiet room. The defensive formation still hummed faintly in the air.
On the bed, the fox lay curled in a loose spiral, fur slightly dull from exhaustion. Empty pill bottles rolled lazily with the faint circulation of qi. Wooden herb boxes sat overturned, scraped clean. Powder residue clung to the sheets.
Slowly, its ears twitched.
Its eyes opened.
The fox uncurled and rose to its paws, joints popping softly. It looked down at the scattered empties surrounding it.
Silence. Then a quiet exhale.
"…Not a single step forward."
Its spiritual energy was stable. Refined. Even denser than before.
But its cultivation realm had not advanced. Not even a fraction.
It already knew this would happen. Even if it swallowed ten more pills… twenty more boxes of herbs… the result would remain the same.
The fox stared at its paw.
"This is the limit of a common bloodline," it said calmly, matter-of-factly.
"No matter how refined the qi… no matter how stable the foundation… bloodline sets the ceiling."
A faint, humorless chuckle escaped it.
"For a bloodline like mine, reaching mid-stage Foundation Establishment is already considered extraordinary."
Its gaze drifted to the fading sunlight.
"It took me… what? A century? Two?"
The fox paused.
"I stopped counting after the first hundred years."
Back then, there had been no resources, no backing, no rare cores, no high-grade pills. Only scraps. Coincidences. Opportunistic scavenging. Narrow escapes.
And still—
It climbed. Step by step. Claw by claw.
"To reach this point with a bloodline like mine…"
It shook its head faintly.
"That alone is something."
But its eyes sharpened slowly.
"This may be where the bloodline's path ends."
A pause.
"But it is not where mine does."
The air in the room shifted subtly.
"When I had nothing, I cultivated."
"When I had to scrape together stray spirit stones just to survive, I cultivated."
"When I had no backing and was hunted like prey, I cultivated."
Its tail lifted slowly behind it.
"And now?"
Now it had storage pouches full of wealth. Credits. Spirit stones. Tools. Cores. Knowledge. A partner growing stronger by the hour.
Its eyes gleamed.
"And now I'm supposed to stop because my bloodline says so?"
A quiet scoff.
"No."
It stepped down from the bed, empty bottles rolling aside.
"I didn't come this far to bow to fate."
Its gaze flicked toward the corner of the room, where the lizard lay—still evolving, radiating a dangerous, deepening presence.
The fox's expression softened slightly.
"If bloodline is the limit… then I'll break it."
It looked back at the empty containers.
"These weren't wasted." They stabilized it. Strengthened its foundation. Refined its meridians. Prepared it.
"I'll use them as stepping stones. Not miracles."
Its eyes glowed faintly with determination.
"If pills and herbs aren't enough… then I'll find something that is."
Bloodline refinement.
The fox turned toward the floating half-refined flying tool still suspended midair. Sunlight caught the lightning-infused metal, casting fractured reflections across the walls.
It smiled faintly.
"We're not stopping here."
Outside, the sun dipped below the horizon.
Inside the formation, ambition burned brighter than ever.