"Why do I feel like there's something off about you..."
Master Fuli's face showed a puzzled expression as he looked at the table, where the only, and newly developing, large tail of the Nine-tailed Fox lay.
Just a moment ago, when he was counting, it was hidden. Now that it's found, Ansheng wanted to shake the newly grown tail, but he could clearly feel the sluggishness.
The feeling it gave Ansheng, though it might sound very strange when described this way, was that it was very clumsy....
Master Fuli made a snide remark, wanting to stretch out his paw to pinch the tail, to examine the ninth tail and any other changes on his body.
Suddenly, an unexpected change occurred.
Just as Master Fuli's little fox paw touched his new tail, the ninth tail shivered violently, much like a King Cobra intimidating and warning its enemy, standing upright before Master Fuli, making a "huffing" sound.
Master Fuli, caught off guard, didn't notice that his tail had a rebellious side and was slightly pulled forward with his body leaning a bit.
"Hiss——"
The tip of Master Fuli's ninth tail swayed rapidly, the fluffy white fur rubbing against the air, producing a sound reminiscent of a snake flicking its tongue.
"???"
Master Fuli stared at his newly unsealed tail, slowly forming a question mark, his face full of stunned disbelief.
"Hiss——"
The ninth tail did not respond. It seemed not to possess wisdom, but rather some instinct, being extremely sensitive and irritable to the touch of unfamiliar creatures.
"Hey, why do you even have the nerve to snub me?" As soon as Master Fuli snapped back to reality, he was immediately displeased and lifted his fox paw to poke the new tail hard.
The newly born tail was very sensitive, swaying left and right, swiftly dodging Master Fuli's touch.
Until.
When Master Fuli's paw smacked it again, the new tail bristled, using its hardened fur to stubbornly resist Master Fuli's paw.
The tip of the ninth tail curled into a ball, and with a mighty shove, it pushed up against Master Fuli's paw.
"Whoosh——"
In an instant, the sound of breaking air echoed, the curled ninth tail swung rapidly, executing an uppercut straight toward Master Fuli's jaw.
"Crack——"
Master Fuli tilted his head, with a slightly dazed look in his eyes, dodging the fox tail punch that came straight for him but only grazed past.
The ninth tail was evidently unusually long, brushing past Master Fuli's cheek and even stretching out over a meter before starting to retract.
"Whoa! You think you're a Reversed Celestial Spirit or something?!"
"Take my iron tail strike!"
Master Fuli widened his eyes, gathering all eight of his other tails into his arms, leaping up with all his might. His body spun in mid-air, using centrifugal force and the potential energy of his descent to slam the extraordinarily unruly new tail heavily onto the ground.
"Boom——"
The ninth tail pounded heavily onto the ground, shaking the entire courtyard momentarily. The tiles on the grand hall made a "shuffling" sound amidst the tremors.
The curled tail tip, like a meteor hammer, created a small crater on the ground.
Hugging his tails, Master Fuli strangely didn't feel any pain, nor did he feel the impact of his tail hitting the ground.
But he didn't mind for now because that tail was still exuding an aura of defiance.
Master Fuli looked around, using his other well-behaved tails to pick up bricks, hammers, and benches.
Under Master Fuli's control, the eight tails picked up various implements and surrounded the ninth tail, giving it a good thrashing.
"Boom——"
"Clang——"
The constant sound of "pitter-patter" filled the courtyard, as if a group of people were brawling inside, only missing the battle cries.
And then something even more bizarre happened.
The tail, beaten from white to gray, detached itself from Master Fuli's body, like a long snake, quickly wriggling and winding its way around the courtyard.
It was clear.
Just after the thrashing, it was very painful, and it couldn't resist Master Fuli's beating anymore.
"Damn it!"
Master Fuli's eyes widened as he watched his tail escape in the courtyard, instinctively turning his eyes to the base where the ninth tail had originally extended.
The tail was severed at the base, but soon another tail began to grow from the tail base.
Master Fuli was still a Nine-tailed Fox, but that extremely rebellious tail on the ground still belonged to him.
"Unbelievable! Not only do we have iron will, now even tails can grow legs and run away!"
Master Fuli looked around, casually picking up a hoe and chasing after the escaping tail.
The speed of the ninth tail was very fast, but Master Fuli swung the hoe densely, every swing landing firmly on the base of the tail, leaving the ninth tail crooked and bent.
After a brief pursuit.
The ninth tail began to extend in length, curled into a ball, the tip standing upright, swaying toward Master Fuli like a multicolored rattlesnake, emitting a dangerous vibe.
"Damn it all!"
Master Fuli leaped up, his tiny fox claws swiftly grasping the tip of his tail, swinging the tail disguised as a spicy stick fiercely against the ground.
"You freaking want to fly!"
Master Fuli slammed the tail dizzyingly, tossing it into the air, and with a spin, he delivered a powerful kick to the ninth tail.
"Whoosh—"
The ninth tail, severely damaged, bent like an arrow and shot out, spiraling and twisting as it flew out of the courtyard, sweeping away debris, stones, and walls along its path.
"Boom—"
In less than a second, following Master Fuli's forceful kick, the ninth tail traveled hundreds of meters and heavily struck the mountain, producing a thunderous noise, causing rocks and trees on the mountain to collapse and slide away.
"Hmm?"
Master Fuli quickly jumped up, intending to pursue the tail to the place where it fell.
But as he leaped onto the wall, Master Fuli sensed a premonition of [Lucky Insight].
Master Fuli paused, looking at the sky pit just created by the ninth tail.
"Boom—"
A thunderous explosion, even larger than before, erupted from the sky pit.
Without any flames, a surge from the sky pit roared outward, lifting countless dust and rocks, expanding the pit's diameter several times.
The cavity effect caused secondary structural damage, triggering a large landslide.
Separated from the body, the ninth tail exploded.
On the mountain next to the Mountain Viewing Pavilion, a visible crescent-shaped crater was blasted out, penetrating the mountain.
Master Fuli's own existence is essentially equivalent to a high-energy organism, and after compression, the instantaneous explosion generates high-energy that is difficult to calculate.
The ninth tail is part of Master Fuli, containing abundant spiritual particles internally. After Master Fuli compressed them and the collision with rock mountain caused damage, the compressed energy within exploded instantly.
"......."
Master Fuli gazed dumbfounded at the mountain that seemed to have been struck by a cloud bomb, instinctively glancing at his newly grown ninth tail.
The ninth tail showed no abnormalities, but when Master Fuli's hand touched it, it began to react.
"Retract!"
Master Fuli's fox butt swayed, and the tails above rapidly diminished, leaving no trace.
Then, with another sway, nine tails reappeared behind his butt.
"Hiss?"
Standing on the wall, Master Fuli scratched his head while looking at his tails, appearing perplexed and with black lines.
When retracted, the nine tails were obedient, or rather they were part of his body.
However.
After ascending to become a Nine-tailed Fox, from certain angles of physique, Master Fuli is already [Primeval].
Master Fuli's physique has evolved to an epic level, with bodily strength nearing that of [First Epoch] Life.
First Epoch Life drives the body with willpower.
Master Fuli's physical body has reached the pinnacle, but due to processor thread limitations, occasional "muscle cramps" occur, with the tail being one of the farthest parts from the processor, naturally leading to frequent muscle cramp phenomena.
The ninth tail is not disobedient but crashed, currently only reacting instinctively.
As [Wisdom Attribute] increases, some hidden physical powers within will gradually manifest.
"......My tail can be used as a missile." Master Fuli pondered the reason for his tail's disobedience, gazing with an odd expression at the nine tails behind him.
Master Fuli calmed his mind, focused, and exerted his full strength, causing the ninth tail to sway joyously, but when he relaxed his mind, the newly unveiled tail fell into a crash state again.
"....Nine-tailed Fox, is this science too?" Yang Bowen, sitting on the ground, looked at Monkey King and quipped:
"The science you're talking about, is it written as theology but pronounced science?"
"Hmm, hmm, hmm!" The wise Daoist clasped his hands, sitting cross-legged on the ground, nodding vigorously in agreement:
"Just now... the Fox Immortal unleashed power, blasted a mountain with a remote strike, unexpectedly, you have a chubby, honest face, but here you are, spouting nonsense to us elders..."
"....." Monkey King remained silent, glancing at the locals who doubted him, and then at Master Fuli standing on the wall, now with an extra tail.
Monkey King bowed to Master Fuli and took out his Security Bureau phone to call Engineer Wang.
"Hello? Is this Engineer Wang?"
"Are you done over there? Master Fuli's large tail has already grown to the ninth one...."
"Whether or not the tail grows is Master Fuli's freedom, but Master Fuli has evolved to be able to launch energy shockwaves remotely..."
"No, no, no, he didn't hit me, it's just that the locals are scolding me for being a big liar, I'm tired, I might need to take two days off to re-read material history."
Monkey King let out a long sigh, momentarily unsure whether he was doing ideological work for the locals, or if Master Fuli was hammering his worldview.
Clearly, what's written in books is correct.
Yet, it feels like Master Fuli is pressing down on his head, telling him the books are wrong.
Who the heck can you reason with?