Chapter 1185: Nine Lives Art
Bai Xue remained silent, as she was inwardly considering whether to ask Yang Haoran to help her find the Charm Art.
Meng Ma, perhaps caught up in the excitement of her words or simply wishing to deepen her bond with Bai Xue through conversation, spoke as if a floodgate had opened, her mouth not closing despite Bai Xue's silence.
"Among the three great fox clans, the Yellow Fox Clan has the largest population, while the Green Fox Clan has slightly fewer. However, in terms of overall strength, the Yellow Fox Clan is far more powerful than the Green Fox Clan, which is precisely why the Green Fox Clan was annihilated by the Yellow Fox Clan. As for our White Fox Clan, although we have the smallest population among the three great fox clans, our strength is by no means weak. In my opinion, our White Fox Clan's power far surpasses that of the Green Fox Clan, so the Yellow Fox Clan wouldn't dare to make a move against us!"
Bai Xue had originally been wavering, unsure whether to trouble Yang Haoran with finding the Charm Art for her. Hearing Meng Ma's words now, she simply set the matter aside for the time being. She decided to wait until returning to the Guardian District to see Yang Haoran's reaction to her trip before making a decision, thus her attention refocused on Meng Ma.
Whether the White Fox Clan's strength surpassed that of the Green Fox Clan was something Bai Xue didn't know for certain. However, one thing she did know: a definite reason why the Yellow Fox Clan hadn't attacked the White Fox Clan back then was likely that the White Fox Clan possessed nothing the Yellow Fox Clan desired.
Besides this reason, perhaps there were other factors, or perhaps there were no other reasons at all. Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether the White Fox Clan would still exist on Snow Fox Mountain today.
Of course, Bai Xue could only keep such thoughts to herself; she couldn't voice them openly here. After all, this was the White Fox Clan's territory, and speaking ill of them here would be a blatant provocation, surely inciting their displeasure, and perhaps even leading to a brawl.
"Heh heh, the White Fox Clan may have the smallest population, yet they possess a strength that even the Yellow Fox Clan dares not challenge. I imagine the White Fox Clan must have something truly unique."
"Heh, you really hit the nail on the head, President Bai. Our White Fox Clan truly possesses special techniques that the other two clans lack!"
Meng Ma spoke with a smile, her facial expression and tone of voice brimming with unconcealed pride.
Seeing this, Meng Ba seemed to guess what Meng Ma was about to say. His expression immediately changed, and he quickly spoke in a low voice to warn her.
"Wife, don't be such a blabbermouth!"
Meng Ba's sudden warning made Meng Ma pause her words. Her gaze then turned to Meng Ba, and she shot him an unhappily disdainful look.
"What blabbermouth? President Bai isn't an outsider. She's our Jiu Meng's friend, and President Bai undoubtedly contributed to our Jiu Meng successfully breaking through to the Demon King realm. Since she's not an outsider, there's no need to hide anything. Besides, this isn't some great secret; our entire White Fox Clan knows about it, so what's the harm in telling President Bai?"
Meng Ba had originally intended to stop Meng Ma further, but she had already sealed the deal with her words. If he continued to object in front of Bai Xue, he would surely offend her.
If it had been before, offending Bai Xue would have been no big deal; Meng Ba wouldn't have cared. But now, the situation was different. His attitude towards Bai Xue had undergone a massive change, and he had no desire to offend her in the slightest.
Thus, even though he felt his wife's actions were a bit improper, having no retreat, he ultimately had no choice but to silently concede.
Seeing that Meng Ba had no intention of speaking further, Meng Ma let out a cold snort before turning her gaze back to Bai Xue, a smile blossoming on her face once more.
"Heh heh, President Bai, please don't take offense. My husband is just too sensitive, getting unnecessarily nervous over something that's not even a secret in our White Fox Clan. Everyone knows that the fox race possesses the Charm Art and the Enchantment Art as their two great demonic arts, but few outsiders know that our fox race also has a heaven-defying demonic art, one that completely transcends both the Enchantment Art and the Charm Art, and this demonic art resides within our White Fox Clan!"
Bai Xue's heart jolted. Meng Ma's words had brought her no small shock. Before this, she had indeed only known of the two great fox demonic arts. That there was an even more powerful demonic art above these two was something she had been completely ignorant of, let alone knowing that this art was with the White Fox Clan. For a moment, she was too stunned by Meng Ma's revelation to speak.
Seeing Bai Xue's silence, Meng Ma instinctively assumed that Bai Xue didn't believe what she had said. So, she continued speaking, afraid that if she explained too slowly, Bai Xue would grow even more skeptical.
"This demonic art is called the Nine Lives Art. It is a truly heaven-defying demonic art, but only our White Fox Clan can cultivate it. Without the bloodline of our White Fox Clan, even if one obtains this art, they cannot cultivate it."
Originally, Bai Xue had indeed been somewhat skeptical of Meng Ma's earlier words. However, after hearing Meng Ma's explanation, she believed it a little more, though only by a few points; she wasn't entirely convinced.
"Nine Lives Art? What kind of demonic art is this, that it can actually transcend the Charm Art and the Enchantment Art, these two great fox demonic arts?"
Meng Ma had already gone this far, so she certainly wouldn't keep them in suspense.
"Our White Fox Clan's Nine Lives Art. . ."
After Meng Ma's detailed explanation, Bai Xue gained a comprehensive understanding of the Nine Lives Art.
Speaking of the Nine Lives Art, one must inevitably mention the legendary Nine-Tailed Demonic Fox. Many people know of the Nine-Tailed Demonic Fox and have heard numerous legends about it. While these legends hold some reference value, they are not entirely accurate.
According to Meng Ma, the Nine-Tailed Demonic Fox indeed existed, but not all foxes were qualified to cultivate nine tails. Only their White Fox Clan possessed the right to cultivate nine tails. Foxes from the other two clans, regardless of their strength, would only ever have one tail; they would never grow more. However, as members of the White Fox Clan advanced in cultivation realms, their tails would increase accordingly.
A White Fox at the Lesser Demon realm would only have one tail. Afterwards, with each advancement in cultivation, they would gain two more tails. If they could reach the Demon God realm, they would then grow nine tails. Such a White Fox, having entered the Demon God realm, would be the legendary Nine-Tailed Demonic Fox.
And the White Fox Clan's Nine Lives Art was precisely and deeply connected to the number of their tails. Members of the White Fox Clan could cultivate the Nine Lives Art as soon as they entered the Great Demon realm. Before reaching the Great Demon realm, having only one tail, cultivating the Nine Lives Art was not only utterly meaningless, but the demonic power within a Lesser Demon's body also couldn't sustain the successful cultivation of the Nine Lives Art. Therefore, to cultivate this demonic art, one needed to be at least at the Great Demon realm.
Once a member of the White Fox Clan successfully cultivated the Nine Lives Art, each of their tails would essentially represent a life. If they encountered a severe injury that couldn't be healed, they could preserve their life by sacrificing one tail. The cost for this would be a reduction in their cultivation realm, which would only recover once they cultivated to regrow the sacrificed tail.
Although the price was somewhat steep, being able to save one's life was worth any cost. After all, a lowered cultivation could be regained through further training, and a severed tail could regrow. But once life was lost, everything was gone. Even a three-year-old child understood this principle, and it was precisely because this principle was so easy to grasp that it further highlighted the value of the Nine Lives Art.
The Nine Lives Art possessed only this single ability, yet this ability was indeed extraordinarily heaven-defying. Looking across the entire New Beginning Realm, it would likely be difficult to find many similar heaven-defying techniques.
Upon learning that the Nine Lives Art possessed such heaven-defying capabilities, Bai Xue's heart was churned by a storm of emotions. She understood why the White Fox Clan disdained the Charm Art and Enchantment Art, the two great fox demonic arts; indeed, the White Fox Clan, possessing the Nine Lives Art, had such capital.
As for why the Yellow Fox Clan didn't attack the White Fox Clan to seize the Nine Lives Art and allow their own clansmen to cultivate it, Meng Ma had explained it very clearly: the Nine Lives Art could only be cultivated by those with the White Fox Clan's bloodline. Without it, even obtaining the demonic art would be useless. Whether this was true or false, in Bai Xue's view, the Yellow Fox Clan had likely already attempted it.
Although the Nine Lives Art was heaven-defying, it was not without its weaknesses. If a cultivator's physical body suffered a devastating blow, causing all of their tails to be forcibly destroyed, they would still instantly lose their life. As long as one's strength was sufficient, or preparations were thoroughly made, achieving this was not impossible. Therefore, the Nine Lives Art was not entirely without a method of breaking it.
Of course, Meng Ma certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal the weaknesses of the Nine Lives Art to Bai Xue. This was a conclusion Bai Xue would only reach in the future, after specifically reviewing numerous related ancient texts and materials. But that was a matter for later; at present, she was unaware of this point, thus remaining in the grip of the profound shock this art had brought her.
That the Nine Lives Art's abilities were heaven-defying was beyond doubt. However, when compared to the two great fox demonic arts, the Charm Art and the Enchantment Art, which was stronger or weaker would depend on the individual.
In some people's eyes, the Nine Lives Art would undoubtedly surpass the Charm Art and the Enchantment Art. This was because cultivating this demonic art granted corresponding chances to preserve one's life, making it an absolutely rare and heaven-defying life-saving technique.
However, there would certainly be others who believed the Enchantment Art and the Charm Art to be superior to the Nine Lives Art. Even when cultivated individually, these two demonic arts could toy with many individuals, even making them act entirely at the caster's whim, turning them into puppets. It was no exaggeration to call these two demonic arts invisible weapons that killed without a trace. If both great fox demonic arts were cultivated simultaneously, their power would naturally become even greater.
Therefore, whether the Nine Lives Art, the Charm Art, or the Enchantment Art held the upper hand depended on the individual; not everyone's opinion was the same.
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