After Xiao Mo left Hundred Flowers Alley, he and Tushan Jingci moved together to Moon Spring Peak.
Not long after moving in, Xiao Mo gradually noticed that the naming of the various peaks throughout Tushan was not arbitrary at all.
In Tushan, every peak of the greatest importance carried the character for "moon" somewhere in its name.
And with Moon Spirit Mountain at the center, the closer a peak was to it, the richer and more concentrated the spiritual energy of heaven and earth became.
Correspondingly, those of higher standing lived closer to Moon Spirit Mountain.
The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan, for instance, was gathered almost entirely on the ring of peaks closest to Moon Spirit Mountain.
The Moon Spring Peak where Tushan Jingci had moved was no different.
In fact, this considerable mountain in its entirety belonged to Tushan Jingci alone.
Within all of Tushan, only the clan leader and the Holy Woman had the standing to hold an entire peak for their exclusive use.
To speak honestly, Xiao Mo found himself rather surprised that Jingci had agreed to become Holy Woman.
Though the status of Tushan's Holy Woman was exceptionally honored, and there was not a single person in the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan who would not have wanted it, while other fox clan members would not even dare to dream of such an opportunity, Xiao Mo also knew clearly that Jingci was not someone who placed great weight on status and position.
Because she had no wish to take on such responsibilities.
If she had now agreed to become Holy Woman, there was likely more to it than showed on the surface.
Xiao Mo had tried to ask a few times, circling around the question, but Jingci always became evasive, deflecting to one side or another rather than answering directly.
Seeing her like that, Xiao Mo could not press any further.
As for Xiao Mo himself, as Tushan Jingci's personal guard, he benefited from her arrangement and was permitted to take up residence halfway up Moon Spring Peak.
Beyond that, Yueshi and the other attendants also moved into Tushan Jingci's courtyard together.
When word spread that Tushan Jingci was to become Holy Woman, it stirred considerable waves throughout all of Tushan.
For the vast majority of the Tushan fox clan, they had not even heard the name "Tushan Jingci" before.
For a long time, everyone within Tushan had assumed that the one who would one day claim the Holy Woman position would certainly be the Second Elder's daughter, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox named Tushan Chencheng.
No one had expected a Tushan Jingci to emerge from nowhere and take the position of Holy Woman outright.
Naturally the Second Elder, whose own "Holy Woman" had been snatched from under her, was deeply dissatisfied but with the Grand Elder Tushan Meng's reputation carrying such immense weight, and Tushan Meng herself being an Ascension-realm cultivator, no amount of opposition from the Second Elder would ultimately make any difference.
At this time, a rumor had begun to circulate quietly throughout Tushan, suggesting that Tushan Jingci's true identity was actually that of Tushan Meng's illegitimate daughter.
Otherwise, on what basis would Tushan Meng show such exceptional favor to a newcomer from outside?
As for these rumors, Tushan Meng paid them no attention, and Tushan Jingci did not give them a moment's thought.
Besides, with the Holy Woman ceremony approaching, Tushan Jingci genuinely had no time to spare for idle gossip.
In these days, she went daily to the Grand Elder, familiarizing herself with the various affairs of the Tushan clan on one hand and earnestly studying the various ceremonial protocols on the other but Xiao Mo had a quiet sense that this Holy Woman ceremony would not go smoothly.
After all, Jingci was at this point only a "prospective Holy Woman." Only once the Holy Woman ceremony was formally held would she have a legitimate and recognized standing and Xiao Mo could see that within Tushan there was no shortage of internal division, with every faction pursuing its own interests and calculations.
Even with the Grand Elder holding things steady from above, there would almost certainly be those working against them in the shadows but none of that was something Xiao Mo could influence.
About a month after moving to Moon Spring Peak, the Tushan Elder Council passed a resolution to engage Xiao Mo as a Tushan retainer.
Though Xiao Mo was human, his talent was simply too exceptional, having entered the Golden Core realm before reaching twenty years of age, his prospects clearly without limit. Engaging him as a retainer was therefore entirely reasonable.
Xiao Mo naturally did not refuse.
Once he became a Tushan retainer, Xiao Mo gained access to the Tushan clan's library pavilion.
The library pavilion of the Tushan clan was divided into nine levels.
As a retainer, Xiao Mo was originally only permitted to access the sixth level but because of Tushan Jingci, using her jade pendant, he could go as high as the eighth level.
And the Tushan library pavilion, which claimed to have gathered books from throughout the world, was second in its collection only to the Sky Mechanism City of the Ten Thousand Laws Realm.
And so, when Xiao Mo had time to spare, he would make his way into the library pavilion and browse through texts on Daoist arts.
Beyond Daoist texts, he also wanted to learn more about the fox clan's mysterious and difficult to comprehend path of "love."
On one particular day, Xiao Mo came to the eighth level as he usually did.
His gaze was suddenly caught by a book with the title A Record of Proving Through Love.
Xiao Mo drew the book from the shelf and read through it carefully.
"Among the women of the Tushan clan was one named Miguo, who by nature was quiet and reticent, disliking laughter and playfulness, her face habitually serene, rarely showing joy or sorrow outwardly, the seven emotions and six desires seldom taking hold in her heart.
Later, Tushan Miguo by chance encountered a young man of the Azure Dragon clan. The two were immediately drawn to each other and became companions on the Dao, vowing to grow old together in faithful partnership.
But fate was unpredictable. One day, Miguo suffered grave injuries, her vital energy shattered, her life hanging by a thread, on the verge of death at any moment.
Her cultivation partner then harbored ill intent, intending to take advantage of her desperate condition to steal her demon core and original source, to refine it for himself and advance to the Ascension realm.
When Tushan Miguo learned of his scheme and understood that the one who slept at her side harbored such a treacherous heart, her very organs felt as though they were being cut apart, her grief beyond expression.
Yet she neither raged nor struggled, nor put up any defense, but feigned ignorance and allowed him to take what he would.
In the midst of this extremity of pain and darkness, Miguo's heart stilled entirely, and she broke through, entering the Immortal realm.
In the end, events reversed themselves. The Azure Dragon man in the end could not bring himself to follow through, and did not refine her for a pill. Instead he shattered his own demon core and channeled his own original source back into Miguo.
The energy of the pill circulated, and Miguo's wounds were fully healed, but he, his vital essence entirely spent, his soul and spirit scattered, died at last.
After her partner's death, Miguo held his body and wept until her heart broke. Yet in the boundless depths of her grief, she arrived at a sudden and total understanding, and advanced directly into the Ascension realm."
"Among the women of Tushan was one named Xing'er, who in her early years fell deeply in love with a human man. Their hearts were joined, and they vowed to live and die as one.
But this man was fickle by nature, and before long transferred his affection to another woman, betraying the vows they had made.
When Xing'er learned of it, her heart was torn apart, her grief beyond bearing. Yet in that extremity of pain, her mind was suddenly illuminated, and she broke through to the Immortal realm in a single day.
Afterward, Xing'er was consumed with fury and sought to kill the faithless man.
The man fell to the ground in terror, weeping and begging for mercy, and Xing'er, her tender heart not yet cold, in the end could not bring herself to kill him, and sought to reconcile.
But the man's old nature did not change, and before long he fell in love with yet another woman. This happened three times in succession.
After being abandoned so repeatedly, Xing'er's heart grew cold and her hope was exhausted, her despair cutting to the bone. She no longer showed mercy, and killed him with her own hand.
In the very instant she killed the faithless one, Xing'er's state of mind broke open entirely, and she stepped directly into the Ascension realm."
"Among the women of Tushan was a remarkable woman named Cha, exceptionally gifted from childhood, her natural talents beyond the ordinary. Born with a constitution of frost and ice, she was especially suited to the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan's innate divine abilities, advancing rapidly.
At twenty she formed her Golden Core, at thirty-five she achieved nascent soul, and at fifty she reached the Upper Three Realms, but thereafter she was trapped at the Jade Simplicity realm for a hundred years without any progress.
At the age of one hundred and fifty, Tushan Cha by chance encountered a young man of the White Tiger clan. They fell deeply in love with each other, and the bottleneck of a hundred years suddenly and completely loosened, and she advanced to the Immortal realm.
But the White Tiger and fox clans had been hereditary enemies for ages, unable to coexist.
When the two clans heard of it, they rose in unified opposition, forbidding the marriage.
The two had no choice and fled together through the Demon Realm.
Both clans sent powerful cultivators in pursuit, giving chase without relenting.
In the final battle, the White Tiger man, to protect Tushan Cha, was gravely wounded and bled out, dying in her arms.
After her partner died, Tushan Cha held his body and wept until her heart shattered. Yet in the midst of utter desolation, she attained sudden understanding of the meaning of love, and broke through directly into the Ascension realm."
"Tushan Wei, born with an allure in her bones..."
Xiao Mo looked through the Record of Proving Through Love, reading about the lives of one Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox woman after another, and noticed that all of them were Ascension-realm cultivators.
In other words, they were all cultivators who had attained the Dao through love within the Tushan clan.
Xiao Mo continued reading, and turning to the final pages, found the author's reflections.
"The women of our Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan have always attained the Dao through love. But what, precisely, is this 'love' of which we speak?"
"To be always at each other's side, to grow old together in faithful companionship, this is of course a form of love. But in all the ages past and present, how many women of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan have truly found a partner who remained faithful to them until the end? And how many have reached the Ascension realm by this path?"
"On the contrary, it is those women who have experienced the full range of gain and loss, who have tasted betrayal and abandonment to the fullest, who have lived through all the sweetness, bitterness, joy, and sorrow of love, who have most often broken through to the Dao precisely in the moments of their most piercing heartbreak, stepping directly into the Ascension realm."
"In this one's observation, what our clan calls attaining the Dao through love holds no other truth than this, that the feeling must be of the greatest possible intensity. Among all the emotions in the world, only the path of 'romantic love' cuts most deeply into the heart and soul, and therefore most powerfully drives one to break through."
"But if this is so, then does it not mean that those of our fox clan who seek to reach the Ascension realm must first suffer the pain of 'loss'? Must they first pass through the shattering of feeling and the breaking of the heart before they can attain full understanding?"
"And is the price of such 'loss' worth bearing? Or is it not?"
"This one has lingered over this question and in the end could not resolve it. Should any later clansmen by chance encounter this incomplete record, let each one reflect upon it for themselves. It cannot easily be put into words."
The book had no name written for its author.
Xiao Mo guessed it was likely written by some clan leader of the Tushan clan from years past.
"To gain, one must first lose?"
Xiao Mo ran his fingers slowly over the pages in his hand, the passages he had just read turning over and over in his mind.
His brow furrowed slightly, and he fell into deep thought.
Gradually, the look in Xiao Mo's eyes seemed to grow more and more certain, as though a thought that had until now remained hesitant and uncertain was slowly taking shape inside him, becoming clearer and more fixed with each passing moment.
Half an hour later, Xiao Mo walked out of the library pavilion.
The summer sun hung high at the center of the sky, blazing light pouring down, wrapping the whole of Tushan in a brilliant and scorching brightness.
Cicadas cried endlessly from the branches, loud and fervent, and even when a breeze occasionally drifted through, it carried the particular warmth of summer days.
In Tushan, most things seemed fine, save for the summer heat, which was truly more intense than was comfortable.
Just as Xiao Mo was making his way back toward Moon Spring Peak, Xiangniang suddenly flew to his side, gave him a gracious bow, and curved her lips into an enticing smile. "Sir, it has been quite a while."
"Indeed, over a month." Xiao Mo returned the bow with a clasping of his hands, his tone even. "I wonder what has brought Xiangniang here?"
"Sir, really. Must there always be a matter to come and find sir? Sir is truly heartless."
Xiangniang pushed out her lips, her expression carrying a note of sweet complaint while somewhere within her voice a barely perceptible wistfulness was tucked away.
With that, Xiangniang stepped forward, a small hand resting lightly on Xiao Mo's chest, her eyes moving with a bewitching quality. "These days, without this one by sir's side, does sir perhaps feel a little lonely in the evenings?"
Xiao Mo did not answer, and only took a quiet step back, gave a faint smile, and looked at her with a calm gaze.
"Hmph. Sir is still as uninteresting as before. Such a fine appearance truly wasted, and I wonder who could ever come to like someone like you."
Xiangniang gave a huff and turned her head away, and without further words she got straight to the point.
"The Grand Elder would like to speak with sir about something."
"The Grand Elder wants to see me?" A thread of wariness rose involuntarily in Xiao Mo's heart.
Under ordinary circumstances, the Grand Elder Tushan Meng making a specific point of summoning someone like himself, a person of human origin, was unlikely to bode well.
"Yes. Please follow me, sir." Xiangniang turned, swaying her waist, and led Xiao Mo in the direction of Crescent Moon Mountain.
Before long, both of them had arrived at the top of Crescent Moon Mountain.
Tushan Meng was in the courtyard watering some spirit flowers and spirit grasses, her manner unhurried and at ease.
"Grand Elder, Xiangniang has brought Xiao Mo." Outside the courtyard, Xiangniang gave a respectful bow.
"Tushan retainer Xiao Mo pays his respects to the Grand Elder." Xiao Mo also gave a formal bow.
"Mm." Tushan Meng straightened, looked at the two of them outside the courtyard, and nodded with a smile. "Xiangniang, you may go first."
"Yes, Grand Elder."
Xiangniang glanced at Xiao Mo, a flicker of worry passing quietly through her eyes, but she withdrew with full deference.
"No need to stand outside. Come in and have a cup of tea." Tushan Meng said to Xiao Mo with a warm smile, her tone carrying no particular emotion.
"Yes, Grand Elder."
Xiao Mo stepped into the courtyard as instructed.
Tushan Meng set down the watering can in her hand and personally poured Xiao Mo a cup of tea.
Xiao Mo quickly rose, accepting the cup with both hands.
"Can you guess why I have called you here today?" Tushan Meng asked with a smile.
"I am too unwise to guess at the Grand Elder's deeper meaning." Xiao Mo answered honestly.
"Ha ha ha."
Tushan Meng clasped her hands behind her back and looked at Xiao Mo with a sincere expression.
"Xiao Mo, I know that you and Jingci are fond of each other. Though the elders of our clan, and indeed all of the Demon Realm, hold prejudices against the human race, I myself do not think in that way."
"What happened with Jingci's mother in years past caused me great pain. I truly do not wish to see that kind of tragedy play out again for Jingci."
"But Jingci is about to become our Tushan Holy Woman. If you remain only a retainer, wishing to be with her would bring endless opposition and criticism, and at that point it would be difficult even for me to speak in your favor."
"And so, after much deliberation, I have thought of a method that might perhaps allow you and Jingci to be properly united."
"I wonder whether you would be willing to hear it?"