Chapter 65: Hostility

At the Mu family residence, the courtyard was calm. Kyrian breathed deeply, sitting cross-legged.

He was absorbing the energy of yet another spirit stone. The flow of Qi passed through his eyes, being refined and slowly expanding his dantian with steady consistency.

Everything seemed normal until a low sound made him stop.

It was the scrape of claws on the ground.

Kyrian turned his head toward the corner of the room. Two eyes shone in the darkness.

But they were not ordinary eyes. Both pupils were gray, while the irises… were crossed. Like two feline slits, two cuts meeting at the center.

One vertical, the other horizontal. Forming a cross. Their glow was cold, filled with pure hostility.

The fox had finally awakened.

Its small body, covered in white fur that reflected the moonlight, seemed ordinary at first glance.

But what leaked from it was different. It was not the same darkness that once dominated it in the forest. It was only hatred. Pure, raw, direct.

Kyrian had never seen something that radiated so much hostility, except, of course, for that black form.

Kyrian remained silent. He stood slowly, his body upright, his blue eyes fixed on the fox’s eyes.

The beast growled. A low, harsh sound. Its claws scraped the stone floor, leaving deep marks despite its small stature.

Kyrian did not retreat and stepped forward.

The fox lunged at that moment.

Its body shot forth like a white arrow. A blur crossed the room toward Kyrian’s chest.

He moved his arm at the last instant, blocking with his forearm. A thin layer of ice appeared at the moment of impact.

The clash echoed through the room, sharp and dry.

Kyrian slid two steps back. The fox landed on the ground, growling, its cross-shaped eyes fixed on him.

It attacked again. A swift bite aimed at his shoulder.

Kyrian shifted his body sideways. His hand grabbed the fox’s fur and pulled it down. But the small body twisted with agility, using its hind legs to claw at his arm. Four gashes opened, blood beginning to flow.

Kyrian breathed deeply, but his expression did not change.

“Looks like you won’t calm down so easily…” he murmured.

The fox growled louder, its fangs gleaming in the moonlight. It lunged again. It was nothing but brute force, direct violence, without any thought. Only instinct and hostility.

Kyrian dodged, his left hand rising to grab the fox by the neck mid-air. The small body thrashed, claws seeking to tear, teeth snapping to bite.

Its strength was surprising for its size, each shake forcing Kyrian to use a good amount of Qi to keep it restrained.

He did not squeeze the fox. But he held firmly.

The fox continued thrashing until, with a twist, it sank its teeth into his hand.

Kyrian felt his flesh pierced. Blood gushed hot.

He did not let go. His blue pupils stared closely into the cross-shaped eyes.

And then, behind all that violence, he could see. There truly was no strange darkness anymore.

Only pain. A deep pain that birthed an intense, cold hatred, born from the heart of that small beast.

Kyrian breathed deeply, and even with the fox’s fangs embedded in his hand, he spoke.

“If you want to bite until you tear my hand off, then bite. Be my guest. But I won’t let you go so easily.”

The fox kept biting. Its jaw muscles trembled from the effort. But its body also began trembling little by little.

Slowly, its strength waned. The hostile gaze wavered slightly.

Kyrian did not look away, his eyes remained fixed, steady. Despite the faint pain in his arm and hand. His breathing was calm and constant.

And then, slowly, the fox, after losing its strength, released his hand. Blood dripped, but Kyrian did not mind.

He lowered his arm and placed the fox on the ground.

It did not attack again. It stayed there, breathing rapidly, its eyes still full of hatred but unmoving.

Kyrian sat down, bringing himself almost to the fox’s level. His bloody hand extended slowly, without force.

The fox growled low but did not lunge. It only watched Kyrian, its cross-shaped eyes reflecting the moonlight streaming through the window.

Kyrian kept his hand still. Time passed in silence as the blood dripped.

Then, finally, the fox moved its snout and brushed lightly against his palm. The touch was quick, almost imperceptible.

Then, it turned its back, returning to the cushion where it had slept before.

It lay down but did not close its eyes. It kept staring at him, hostile, but lying still. Its body was exhausted.

Kyrian withdrew his hand, looked at the blood on his fingers, and sighed.

“Better than nothing, I suppose.” he murmured to himself.

Kyrian then sat on his bed, leaning back against the wall. His eyes stared back at the fox. The room was now divided.

On one side, the snowflake-like irises and the cold silence of Kyrian. On the other, the shining cross-shaped eyes, filled with contained violence.

The cut on his hand throbbed, but the pain was too faint to bother him.

What mattered was what he had seen.

That fox was no longer controlled by anything else. It was only itself. Pure hatred. A small vessel, but brimming with pain.

Kyrian knew what had happened to the fox was not simple.

He would have to make the fox calm down and accept him, and it seemed complicated if things continued this way.

He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. In the darkness of his mind, Kyrian once more sought the book. As always, he found nothing.

So, he turned his attention back to his cultivation.

The stones appeared again in front of him. When this happened, Kyrian heard a movement.

He looked to the corner and saw the fox gazing at the stones and then at him. It seemed to have a fleeting desire but returned to hostility.

Kyrian pondered for a moment.

Then, he picked up one of the spirit stones and tossed it toward the fox. The stone landed in front of where it lay.

But it did not move to take the stone. It only looked at Kyrian.

’Proud… aren’t you?’ Kyrian gave a faint smile in his mind.

He then forgot about the fox and focused on his cultivation. Slowly, his dantian expanded.

He only stopped when he felt the limit. And then, the increase of strength came.

“5° stage of the Qi Accumulation Realm.”

It was already late at night when he finished, so he looked toward the corner. The fox was still staring at him. Its eyes nearly pierced him like blades.

Kyrian sighed but did the same. Two gazes clashed in silence.

The spirit stone was still in the same place.

Kyrian knew that taming this fox would be a challenge.

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