A few hours earlier….

“Ancestor, are you sure?” Elder Eijiro asked, his face pale. He was standing in front of a red, intricately carved door with depictions of foxes on it.

“Mmm… I have detected over three hundred moving this way. Our time…." The old ancient voice sighed. "Little Eijiro, call Yuki here and teach her how to hide her features. Of everyone in the clan, we must protect that girl. She is the only descendant in over five thousand years that has had the purest form of our bloodline. She is our clan's only hope for a future.

“If she is able to survive out there disguised as a human, then she can join a sect and cultivate. As long as she can gain the strength to survive, she can carry on and continue her path. Of all the children, only she has ever shown so much talent. And all we can do as her clan is protect her from the fires that are to come. Little Eijiro, when the time comes, help her escape….” An old ancient voice came from the other side of the door. A long deep sigh could be heard. “My time is short. If they attack, I can only hold the barrier for a short time…. I will need to use my own life force to give you enough time. They will be here in a few hours….”

“Understood….” Elder Eijiro lowered his head and closed his eyes. He knew this day would come, but he never thought it would be now. He had thought the barrier was something that was put into place by their great, great ancestor but now…. It seemed it had been weakening for many years. And the ancestor was the one keeping it in place.

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Present time….

“Yuki, you do not understand. I would not have gotten up early if it was not for the fact that my father literally dragged me out of bed and said, ‘what good is beauty sleep when you are not as beautiful as Yuki!’ Can you believe it!? How am I supposed to compare to the prettiest girl of my generation!? So unfair! So I am now here.” Chi grinned as she hugged Yuki’s arm, rubbing her face on it. “Maybe if I do this, I can gain some of that beauty.”

“Okay! Enough!” Yuki shrugged her arm, tossing Chi off, who pursed her lips and stuck her tongue out at Yuki. “Let’s go. Elder Eijiro wanted to speak with me.”

“Ah! I just so happened to have something to do. I forgot to, umm… feed my fish, yeah! Bye!” Chi quickly ran away. Elder Eijiro was someone who always forced Chi to do sword swings because she was not good at them, so she always ran away when things concerning Elder Eijiro came up.

Yuki saw the young fox girl running away at lightning speed and chuckled as she walked into the small pavilion. “Yuki, you are here.”

“Elder Eijiro….You called for me?” Yuki asked as she stood in front of Elder Eijiro and bowed slightly.

“I am going to give you something today and also teach you two things.” Elder Eijiro held out a tattered book. He had to go and take it back from Yuki’s parents in order to give it to her today. Of course, he also had to explain the situation. After all, Yuki had to survive no matter what. With them in the know, they would be able to force Yuki to leave while he did his best to hold back what was to come. “Here…. This is for you to use once you reach the full circle stage. With this, your path will not stop….”

Yuki’s eyes widened when she saw the tattered book. Her heart began to palpate. She knew exactly what this was! With shaky hands, she took the tattered cultivation method and pressed it against her chest before bowing deeply. “Thank you! Elder Eijiro, thank you!”

“Child, there is no need to thank me. You are the future of our clan.” Eijiro forced a smile before lifting his hand and pointing it at Yuki’s forehead. Before Yuki could ask what he was doing, many images and words appeared in her mind.

“This….” Yuki looked up at Elder Eijiro in confusion.

“One is an ancient method that will allow you to hide the cultivation manual and other belongings in a space within your mind. Quickly use it now. Just do as it says.” Elder Eijiro urged Yuki to use the new technique. He made sure to give her a bit of comprehension of how it works as well when he sent the information into her mind. Luckily it was enough. In seconds a white light shot out from between her brow and wrapped around the tattered book in her hands. It shrank down to the size of a pea and shot into her mind, where it hovered in a dark empty space.

“Like this?” Yuki asked. She could sense the tattered cultivation method in her mind. She could even open it and read it if she wished without ever needing to take it out again.

“Yes. That method has every section of the cultivation path all the way up to your 12th Fate Star. From there, you will need to find a better cultivation method to continue improving. Now the second technique that I placed into your mind will turn you into a human. Please follow how I did it and check to make sure you can do it.” Elder Eijiro was rushing, but he was also trying to stay calm. He knew it was only a matter of time before they arrived.

Yuki was confused about why she would need such a thing but quickly did as she was told. Because Elder Eijiro also gave her his own comprehension of this technique, she was easily able to do it. In seconds, her features completely changed. She now looked like a normal human girl with long black hair. There were no signs of her fox ears or tail. But what was strange to Yuki was she could still feel them even if they were not there…..