Young Master Bai — Chapter 6
Chapter 6: You’ve Been Dropped to Bronze
The first master of the Great Snow Mountain was the Fox Immortal, son of the Yao King. After the Yao King’s defeat, the Fox Immortal led the remaining troops to recuperate in this land.
However, due to the Yao King’s romantic debts in his youth, the Bai family line was cursed such that all male yaos would become cut-sleeves. Since then, they could only reproduce through marriages between female yaos and outsiders.
Yao power is inherited through bloodline. As the Bai family’s blood was diluted over time, their divine abilities waned. Ever since Bai Chen’s fall, not a single White Fox had been born again. In terms of bloodline, the Nine-tailed White Fox was effectively extinct.
Bai Chen knew well this curse would only weaken the Great Snow Mountain further. Five hundred years ago, he asked his Fox Immortal Grandfather about its origin. But the old Fox Immortal merely replied, "Sins of the father are paid by the sons," and said nothing more.
Bai Chen could only speculate the curse was tied to the Yao King’s romantic entanglements. But the Yao King had lived a thousand years ago, and since then, the world had suffered calamities like the Demon Venerable's massacre and the Blood War of Chang’an [Chang'an Uprising]. Neither humans nor yaos had preserved any records, so discovering the one who cast the curse was nearly impossible.
With no way to address the root cause, Bai Chen could only stabilize the Great Snow Mountain for now. Led by Bai Chenzui, they arrived at Pearl Peak, residence of the current Fox King. As they entered, a black shadow lunged at them, wailing, “Little Martial Uncle! It’s been five hundred years! I even carved eighty-one spirit tablets for you, and you’ve finally woken up!”
After years of seclusion, kinship ties among the yaos of the Great Snow Mountain were long entangled. The Bai family addressed one another by the rank of their teachers. By seniority, this Fox King, Bai Yunce, was Bai Chen’s martial nephew.
In Bai Chen’s memory, Yunce had been a bit of a fool. Once, swayed by a few sweet words from the Demon Lord, he foolishly left the mountain seeking a cut-sleeve Dao companion. As a result, nearly everyone’s sleeves were cut, yet he remained clueless, munching melon seeds and watching the drama. He never fell for anyone, nor did anyone ever even catch his eye.
The Bai family was especially prone to being ensnared by love. Bai Chen chose Yunce to be Fox King precisely because of his oblivious nature. Sure enough, even as the little fool became a bigger fool, he stayed uninvolved in affairs of love. Handsome as he was, blessed with the innate charm of an eight-tailed Black Fox, Yunce managed to dodge all of Yue Lao’s [god of romance] red threads. Five centuries later, he was still a carefree bachelor, carving spirit tablets as a hobby.
The human saying went: “The Black Fox is superior to the sable.” The Black Fox’s fur was sleek black tipped with white — exceptionally beautiful. In human form, the eight-tailed Black Fox looked like a jade tree in the wind, brimming with heroic grace. But even the most handsome face couldn’t redeem a big idiot who dragged his martial uncle over to admire a row of "Spirit Tablets for Martial Uncle Bai Chen.” Bai Chen looked at the neatly stored tablets with a stiff smile. “How filial of you,” he said, his face devoid of expression.
Yunce was of no use in strategy, and Chenzui was too young to shoulder responsibility. Bai Chen knew the Great Snow Mountain would have to rely on himself. He stopped fooling around with his nephew and got straight to the point. “Where is Fox Immortal Grandfather?”
At the question, Yunce — who had been overjoyed by his elder’s resurrection — hesitated. He glanced at Bai Chen’s face and said quietly, “Little Martial Uncle, the Ancestor has already passed away.”
“Well, the Fox Immortal lived from the time of the Yao King to now. Even as a Wandering Immortal, his lifespan had to end eventually.”
Bai Chen had been raised by the Fox Immortal since childhood, taken from his birth parents to be groomed as the yao race’s hope — the Nine-tailed White Fox. The Fox Immortal had been his only family. Yet upon awakening, the only elder he could rely on was gone, and he hadn’t even been able to bid him farewell.
Bai Chen silently clenched his wrist. The Fox Immortal was gone. He was now the only emotional pillar left for the Bai family. He mustn’t show sorrow and alarm the two juniors. Despite the turmoil within, he continued calmly, “Did the Fox Immortal leave any parting words?”
“The Ancestor presided over your wedding. That night, he passed peacefully. He didn’t say anything else.”
Bai Chen had assumed Li Wuming’s mock wedding with a spirit tablet had been a joke. He hadn’t realized a proper ceremony had been held with the elder’s blessing. “Li Wuming was assigned as my Dao companion by Fox Immortal Grandfather?”
Yunce seemed to hold Li Wuming in high regard. He nodded. “Yes, the Ancestor said he was the Bai family’s son-in-law and half the master of the Great Snow Mountain. These years, the human realm has been turbulent. Thankfully, Brother Li helped analyze the situation, or we’d have suffered losses.”
The Great Snow Mountain had belonged to the Fox Immortal. To call Li Wuming its co-master meant the yao race’s legacy had been half entrusted to him.
It was bad enough that his heart had been captured, but even Fox Immortal Grandfather had valued Li Wuming so highly? Was this man born to counter the Bai family’s foxes?
Bai Chen couldn’t understand what made Li Wuming so special in the Fox Immortal’s eyes. For now, he set aside personal matters, sat down with his juniors, and asked, “Never mind him for now. Tell me the current situation of the Great Snow Mountain — everything.”
Though not clever, Fox King Yunce was dutiful. He dug out a scroll of yao names from behind the pile of spirit tablets and handed it to Bai Chen. “After you fell, we had no one to rely on, so everyone trained even harder, without a single day of slack. Now, over a hundred great yaos have five hundred years of cultivation, and over a thousand yaos have three hundred years. I myself have reached the realm of Wandering Immortal.”
The current Great Snow Mountain was stronger than it had been when he died — this surprised Bai Chen. “Then why are you in a rush to marry into the human race?”
At this, Yunce lost his usual spirit and gave a bitter smile. “Because in recent years, thirty humans have ascended, and there are sixteen Wandering Immortals from both righteous and demonic sects. Every renowned sect has at least one Tribulation-Stage cultivator.”
“Impossible. Back then, one Tribulation-Stage cultivator could dominate the world. It’s only been five hundred years. How could the human race grow this strong?”
“The Unknown Truth Sect refined cultivation techniques to better harness the spiritual energy of spirits and the land. They also opened schools to teach the world. The Heaven’s Way Alliance decreed that every child over three, regardless of status, must learn literacy and the Dao. The Unknown Truth Sect fronts all tuition costs. Now, the entire world cultivates. With so many people, among millions, at least one will ascend.”
Superior techniques, taught from childhood, leaving no prodigy undiscovered. A selfish race like humans had devoted such vast resources to empower their entire kind. No wonder the yao fell behind.
Bai Chen had expected hardship but hadn’t imagined things would be this dire. “Is the Hidden Wisdom Sect still head of the Heaven’s Way Alliance?”
The Great Snow Mountain had an agreement with the Hidden Wisdom Sect: humans wouldn’t harm yaos, and yaos wouldn’t harm humans. That sect prized oaths above all. As long as they existed, they would ensure no betrayal of that pact. But Yunce sighed. “They’re still one of the top ten seats, but the Unknown Truth Sect now leads the Alliance. The Hidden Wisdom Sect no longer holds the same influence.”
In other words, the human stance toward the Great Snow Mountain now depended entirely on this rising Unknown Truth Sect. The yao had no past dealings with them. No one could tell what they intended.
The yao had already begun to feel the pressure. Chenzui’s expression grew more somber as he clutched Bai Chen’s hand. “Ancestor, now we can only rely on you.”
“Internal and external troubles, nothing is lacking. What do you expect me to — ”
Bai Chen was already overwhelmed, but when he saw the hopeful eyes of the fox cubs, he swallowed his words. In the end, he bore it all and asked Yunce, “How does the Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf’s cultivation compare to yours?”
At the mention of combat, Yunce came alive, confidently displaying his eight tails. “Don’t worry, Little Martial Uncle. I may not be good at scheming, but in a fight, I have few equals. Even against the strongest human Wandering Immortal, Fu Hongye, I won't back down.”
At last, a bit of good news. Though the tailed Fox lineage had declined, it still had some ancient foundation. Relieved, Bai Chen still found today’s events suspicious. “If that’s the case, the wolf clan wouldn’t openly provoke you unless they were fools.”
“Other than our fox clan, the Heavenly Wolf clan is the strongest in the Great Snow Mountain. Someone must be trying to frame them to spark conflict and watch us fight.”
Chenzui, young and hot-tempered, didn’t think highly of humans or of the careless Fox King, but he wasn’t confused about big matters. He quickly grasped the situation and fumed, “The Great Snow Mountain has always been our Bai family’s domain. The Ancestor was merciful in sheltering those yao refugees fleeing from cultivators. But gratitude fades with time. Now that the Ancestor has passed, they think it’s their turn to claim ownership!”
Now was no time for internal discord. Bai Chen silently calculated how to clean up the mess. In the end, he decided to first stabilize the Great Snow Mountain. “Send the clan member most skilled in the Mind-stealing Technique to interrogate that wolf yao. We must uncover the truth. As for the wolf clan, once we have results, I’ll speak with them. You two, do not act rashly.”
~ Chapter End ~
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