“Don’t undo it! Stay like that!” Elder Eijiro yelled out when he saw that Yuki was about to cancel the transformation. Yuki had become even more confused. To have Elder Eijiro suddenly give her all these things, she felt something was about to happen. Especially now that he was telling her to stay looking like a human. It felt weird, she could still feel her ears and tail, but they were no longer there. But at the same time, she was not unused to a human form either due to her past life.

“Okay….” Yuki could only obediently nod her head and do as she was told.

“Alright, I will escort you back to your house. But before that….” Elder Eijiro turned and pulled out a long sword. It was about the same height as Yuki, but it was sheathed in a black sheath. It had a black hilt with a golden tassel hanging off the end. “Put this in your space as well. It may be too big for you now, but in the future, you will be able to use it.”

Yuki nodded and took the sword, and sent it into her space. She was really unsure about what to make of this situation. Before she knew it, she was being pushed along by Elder Eijiro. After thinking it over as they walked, Yuki finally asked: “Is something going on? Why all the rush, and why are you giving me all these things all of a sudden?”

Elder Eijiro paused his steps and placed his hand on Yuki’s head. His old wrinkled face smiled as he said: “Yuki, you only need to know one thing. In this clan, you are our hope. You hold all of our futures in your hands. You must grow stronger and stronger so that no matter what, no one can harm you. You must rely on yourself to grow stronger from this mome….. They are here….”

*Boom!*

A loud explosion was heard, and the barrier above shook and began cracking. Elder Eijiro frowned. He thought he would have more time! He quickly picked Yuki up by her waist and ran as fast as he could toward the forest. He did not stop even when the barrier above shattered.

“Haha! We found it! It really was here!” A loud roar filled the sky. With these words, hundreds of human cultivators rushed into the village and began attacking. Burning the houses, trying to force those in hiding out.

Yuki, who was being carried by Elder Eijiro, eyes opened wide as she saw the human cultivators swarming into the village. She did not understand what was going on at first, but now she suddenly realized that Elder Eijiro knew this was going to happen, which was why he was taking her away. Soon they were joined by her parents, who were running a little farther behind due to Elder Eijiro being faster.

“Look! Some are trying to run! Capture them!” A voice rang out, and two men came flying after them on their flying swords.

Akihito looked over at his wife and nodded his head as the two stopped and drew their swords. He then turned his head and smiled at Yuki, who now had tears in her eyes. The village she had grown up in the past twelve years was now up in flames. She knew that by her parents stopping, that they would most likely be killed or taken away! “Yuki! Live long and grow stronger. Never show your true self!”

After these words, Akihito charged forward. Fuka only took a glance at Yuki and, with tears in her eyes, also rushed forward. Time seemed to stop for Yuki as she watched the ashes fall from the sky from the fires that were consuming her village. She reached out with her hand as she yelled out desperately to her parents: “Mother! Father! Elder Eijiro! Please, we need to go back!”

“Child, we can’t! You have to live even if everyone in the village were to die today. You have to live. You have to grow in power and survive. Grow strong enough so that no one in this world can ever bring harm to you. You are our clan’s only hope….” Elder Eijiro’s words were full of sadness but also a hint of determination to bring Yuki away.

The cries and screams could be heard echoing through the air. Yuki, before entering the woods, watched as Chi was dragged away by some male cultivator, kicking and screaming while calling out her name. Yuki's eyes burned. She did not understand what her clan did to deserve any of this. She did not know why these people would suddenly attack such a peace loving clan.

“Why! Why are they doing this!” Yuki cried out as she tried to reach towards the village once more but being held under Elder Eijiro’s arm, she could not grab hold of anything. All she heard as her view of the village became blocked by the trees of the forest was an old ancient voice yelling out in rage. “You all came to my Heavenly Fox Clan. You can all stay here and join us in eternal rest….”

“Shit! He’s going to detonate himself!” Someone yelled out as a massive explosion was heard. A white light engulfed the sky masking out the sun as the entirety of the village was turned into a huge crater.

Up in the skies, a group of human cultivators stood there, looking down at the huge crater with sour expressions. “We only got ten of them?”

“Elder Tobei, I think I saw two running off into the forest.” A young man on a flying sword reported.

“Go see if you can catch up to them. We lost a lot of people today, and the Heavenly Fox Clan seems to be willing to sacrifice the entire clan rather than be captured.” Elder Tobei replied.

“Shit! This little girl just bit me!” A young man yelled out.

“Let me go! You dirty being!” Chi yelled out. The man’s hand was on her chest!

“Hey! Don’t hold her that way! If I see any of you taking designs on our precious resources, I will kill you myself. Their bloodline is already diluted enough!” Elder Tobei yelled out, causing the young man to quickly pass the fox girl in his hands to a female disciple next to him. He really did not mean to do anything! Each one of them had been lectured about the importance of this mission.

Elder Tobei scanned the group before saying: “Return to the sect! From this day forward, our Pill Valley will rise even higher!”