Looking at the slightly larger fox, who was beating her sister without much effort, a light shone in Xu Huan's eyes.
After a few moments, the tiny fox began slowly but surely emerging from her mother's fur, staring more closely at the scene in front of her.
Eventually though, after roughing her up a bit, Xu Yanmei let Xu Xiaoqing off, and stopped fighting her.
Looking at the small fox, who was on her guard, as well as the even smaller fox, who looked much less scared than before, a faint smile appeared on Xu Yanmei's face.
'This should be enough,' thought Xu Yanmei as Xu Huan approached her.
...
Looking at the three little foxes, which, after fighting for a bit, had now fallen asleep together, a faint smile appeared on Xu Yue's face.
"It looks as though they really are getting along well, I don't have to worry on that front," mumbled Xu Yue, causing Hulli Jing to slightly nod.
After playing for a bit, the three foxes, having tired themselves out, fell asleep once again.
"What, did you expect them to really not like each other?" asked Hulli Jing, a faint frown appearing on her face as she watched Xu Huan peacefully sleep, snuggled up in between her two larger sisters.
"No, but it seemed as though Huan'er and Qing'er weren't getting very well along," said Xu Yue as she watched the scene in front of her, the faint smile on her face transforming into a full one.
"That's nonsense, compared to how much I beat up my little sister back when we were young this is extremely tame," said Hulli Jing she let out a snort, causing a slightly awkward look to appear on Xu Yue's face.
"Since you say so..." mumbled Xu Yue, feeling slightly unsure about this one.
...
After taking in a deep breath, Shi Qing slowly but surely took his sword out of it's sheath, placing it in a standard position.
Slash, slash, slash.
Once every few seconds, Shi Qing swung out his sword, causing it to cut through the air, before turning to its previous position a moment later.
Time passed, and without Shi Qing even realizing it, he had been swinging his sword for two hours straight.
Finally, after two straight hours of swinging his sword out, something finally happened.
At first, the swing seemed normal, as Shi Qing placed his sword in its natural position, took in a deep breath, and used all of his strength to push it along.
Suddenly, and without any warning, it seemed as though the ground below Shi Qing's feet had become slippery, causing him to lose his footing as he placed all of his strength into the sword.
Thankfully, though, the moment Shi Qing realized he was falling to the ground, he threw his sword to the side, so that he would not accidentally stab himself whilst falling.
A moment later, Shi Qing fell to the ground, not being able to escape his face.
"That's really quite embarrassing," mumbled Shi Qing as he quickly got up from the ground and picked up his sword.
But although he had fallen to the ground, Shi Qing was determined to continue his training, causing him to once again get into position and prepare to swing his sword.
...
Staring at the sword, which was now on the ground nearby, as well as himself, who had fallen onto the ground for a second time in a row, black lines filled Shi Qing's young face.
"Did I train here for too much, causing the ground to become slippery?" mumbled Shi Qing as he got up before picking up his sword.
Though this time, Shi Qing did not immediately go and continue his training, rather, he bent down and touched the ground he had been training on, noticing that it had not, in fact, become slippery.
Seeing this, the size of the black lines on Shi Qing's forehead increased.
"I better not tell anyone in the second about this, otherwise I will become a laughingstock," mumbled Shi Qing as he moved a few meters to the side, and began his training once again.
After taking in a deep breath, Shi Qing once again swung out his sword, but suddenly, mid-way through his swing, he stopped, placing the remainder of his strength into his legs.
Even so, it still took a few seconds for Shi Qing to stabilize himself on the now extremely slippery ground.
But as he was doing that, Shi Qing caught a glimpse of something.
After making sure that he had become stable, Shi Qing raised his eyes, staring into a nearby bush, as well as at the tiny silver fox which was hiding inside of it.
Ordinarily, Shi Qing wouldn't pay much attention to a random fox, although it was an unusual colour, but two things caused it to stick out like a sore thumb.
One, the weird things which were happening to Shi Qing.
Two, the fact that random beasts couldn't possibly manage to enter the Origin Sword sect.
After thinking about his status as a preparatory disciple, as well as the unusualness of the fox, Shi Qing took action.
"Senior, forgive this junior for offending you," said Shi Qing as he slightly bowed in the direction of the fox.
As a preparatory disciple, who didn't have much power in the sect, if any at all, Shi Qing didn't want to offend anyone.
Looking at the obedient disciple, who wasn't causing any trouble, the amused look on Xu Xiaoqing's face disappeared, being replaced by a bored one.
A moment, the tiny silver fox walked out of the bush before walking away, not paying any attention to its former target.
It was only after the fox completely disappeared into the distance that Shi Qing managed to calm down, breathing a sigh of relief as he escaped one of the many calamities of cultivation.
...
Suddenly, Xu Xiaoqing stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at the figure which had appeared nearby her.
As she watched Xu Yanmei approach her with a cold look on her face, Xu Xiaoqing slightly lowered her head.