The delicate cannon fodder is stunning, saving the male supporting role but getting teased instead

Upon hearing this, the little fox's ears immediately drooped, and its claws nervously scratched at his clothes. "It...it was given to me by my mother..." Her voice became smaller and smaller, like a child who had done something wrong. "She said it was an heirloom from our ancestors and asked me to carry it close to my body... I, I didn't know that touching it would be like this..."

Before she finished her words, she suddenly began to tremble violently. Chu Mo could sense the small body in his arms undergoing a startling transformation—the little girl, who had once only reached his waist, was now growing at a visible speed. A pale golden light seeped out of her body, forming a thin layer of light cocoon around her.

"Senior!" The little fox looked down at himself in surprise, his voice full of joy, "I've grown bigger!"

Her limbs grew slender, her fiery red hair fell to her waist, and her once round, baby-like face gradually took on the outlines of a young girl. Most strikingly, three fluffy fox tails loomed behind her, swaying gently in the morning light.

Chu Mo, however, looked solemn.

He clearly felt that the "Nine-Aperture Golden Pill" in the little fox's body was spinning wildly, devouring the surrounding spiritual energy like a bottomless pit.

Even the nine-tailed fox, which was born with a spiritual body, could not withstand such a rapid increase in cultivation.

"Rou Rou," his voice lowered, "look at me."

The little fox raised her face, her amber eyes filled with pure trust. Even in this painful transformation, her gaze towards Chu Mo was still clear and transparent, without a trace of doubt.

Chu Mo's heart trembled slightly. He remembered the little fellow collecting herbs for him, his claws scratched by gravel until they bled without a cry of pain; he remembered her insisting on sleeping by the door every night, saying she was keeping watch for him; he remembered her panic-stricken expression when she discovered he was coughing up blood, yet she forced herself to remain calm...

"It might hurt a little." He said softly, a ray of green light gathering at his fingertips.

The little fox nodded without hesitation and even took the initiative to move forward: "Senior, please be gentle..."

Chu Mo's fingers, like swords, tapped three vital acupoints: between her eyebrows, her heart, and her dantian. Each strike carried pure spiritual energy, like three gates, temporarily blocking the surge of her cultivation. The little fox trembled in pain, biting its lip and saying nothing, only the tip of its tail unconsciously wrapped around Chu Mo's wrist.

By the time the final seal was complete, the little fox's form had stabilized into that of a young girl. Though considerably taller than before, she still retained a touch of childishness, looking about fourteen. Curiously, she stroked her longer hair, then looked down at her visibly enlarged limbs. Suddenly, she cried out, "Wow!"

"What's wrong?" Chu Mo's heart tightened, "Where does it hurt?"

The little fox sobbed and shook her head, tears falling down her face: "If... if I had grown up earlier... mother wouldn't..." She choked with sobs and buried her face in Chu Mo's shoulder.

Chu Mo then understood that in her naive mind, she had always blamed her mother's experience on her own lack of strength.

He sighed softly and rubbed the top of her head like he usually did, but found that he needed to raise his arm.

"Increasing your cultivation too quickly will damage your foundation," he explained, giving it a rare opportunity. "It's like a sapling. If it grows too fast, it's more likely to be blown away by the wind."

The little fox raised his tearful face and said, "Then...then when will I really grow up?"

"Wait until you learn this." Chu Mo tapped his fingertips, drawing a complex golden rune in the air. The rune sometimes resembled flowing water, sometimes like flames, changing unpredictably but implying the ultimate truth of heaven.

The little fox was so engrossed in watching that she unconsciously reached out to touch the rune. The moment she touched the rune, the "Nine Apertures Golden Pill" in her body suddenly trembled slightly, and a golden thread flowed out from her fingertips, completing most of the rune.

Chu Mo's eyes flickered slightly. This "Taixu Concentration Technique" was the Xuantian Sect's core technique, requiring ordinary cultivators three years to master it. Yet, the little fox had mastered it purely by instinct. The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox's talent was truly extraordinary.

"Senior, teach me!" The little fox's eyes lit up, and the sadness she had just felt was swept away. She eagerly grabbed Chu Mo's sleeve, but because she was not familiar with the strength of her new body, she almost tore off the entire outer robe.

Chu Mo helplessly pressed his collar against his shirt as he suddenly noticed the evening primrose outside the window was rapidly withering. The "Star Moon Bodhi" had vanished, replaced by a single, glittering seed, lying quietly among the dry grass leaves.

With a thought, he retrieved the seed. The surface of the seed was covered in fine golden lines, vaguely forming the image of a nine-tailed fox with its eyes closed—this was the "bloodline mark" of the Qingqiu fox clan.

"Keep it." Chu Mo strung the seeds into a pendant and gently hung it around the little fox's neck. "When you fully master the Taixu Concentration Technique, it will tell you the way home."

The little fox solemnly placed the seed against her heart. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she transformed back into her original form and tried again. As expected, as her mind shifted, she could now freely switch between the three forms of a fox cub, a girl, and a young woman.

"Senior is the best!" She cheered and threw herself into Chu Mo's arms without hesitation, rubbing her furry head against his neck, completely unaware that her current body shape made this action a little awkward.

Chu Mo caught her a little stiffly, and suddenly realized that it would be difficult to treat this little girl as an ignorant little fox in the future.

The sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting the figures of the two people hugging each other on the wall. There was an indescribable harmony and a hint of ambiguity that neither of them noticed.

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In the Qionghua Garden behind Xuantian Peak's main hall, Gong Xueying stared blankly at a pond full of koi. The fish food she was holding had already been crushed to dust, and the tiny particles fell through her fingers, startling the fish and sending them scattering.

"Who is Junior Sister angry with?"

A gentle voice came from behind. Chen Xuan had already stood in the corridor without him noticing. He was wearing a dark-colored robe today, its gold-embroidered cloud pattern gleaming in the sunlight, making him look even more handsome. Seeing that Gong Xueying didn't answer, he chuckled and walked closer, pulling out a freshly picked white jade flower from his sleeve like a magic trick.

"I heard that you went to Guoyun Peak?" Chen Xuan asked casually while pinning the Qionghua on her temples.