"Bea... beat what? Is Lingren digging a hole?"
Ansheng froze for a second, not quite able to believe what came out of Momo's mouth.
Among the group of Fox Ladies, Lin Ying was the most orthodox one.
Momo carried the Aphrodite Gene, a pure, iron‑headed brute‑type Fox Lady. Tang You's Spiritualization direction was unclear, but judging from the changes to her body, she probably had some kind of "built to take a beating" talent.
Under the catalysis of the Spirit Particle Potion, the Spiritual Particles of Master Fuli in their bodies combined with their own traits, pushing them to Spiritualize into Fox Ladies of different specialties.
But Lingren... how did she end up "digging holes"? You'd better really be digging in the dirt! Ansheng's expression was all kinds of weird.
Under Momo's guidance, Ansheng finally saw Lingren who had run into the woods.
"Ying ying..."
After Spiritualization, Lingren's originally black long hair had shifted toward grayish white, and a pair of gray fox ears sat on top of her head. She was lying on an anti‑corrosion wooden bench in a park pavilion, holding something that looked like a toothbrush, picking at her fox ears.
Under Ansheng's dumbfounded gaze, Lingren lazily rolled over, revealing a blissful expression. The pure, standard "ying‑speak" flowing from her mouth made even Ansheng feel ashamed of his own skills.
"Eh? Why are you all here?"
Having rolled over, Lingren saw her good big sisters walking into the grove through the gap between the bench and the backrest.
"That toothbrush in your hand..."
The scene in front of her was so bizarre that Ansheng automatically canceled his scarf form, standing on Ah Qing's shoulder to get a better look, wanting to see what kind of nonsense Lingren was up to in the pavilion.
"You mean this?"
Lingren rolled out of the pavilion, grinning like a rascal as she held up the "electric toothbrush" in her hand, and said, "This is one of the greatest modern inventions—the Electric Feather Duster!"
"Although it can't fully replace professional ear‑picking, for us drifters far from home, it's a tool to soothe homesickness!"
Lingren showed a proud expression, then sidled up to Ah Qing with a sneaky look and said:
"I just discovered while picking my ears that the fox ears on my head are actually a pair of auxiliary ears. My human ears are still there. That means our ear‑picking business is going to boom in the future—you pay silver for one pair of ears but get service for two pairs..."
"...Aren't you afraid they'll poke you deaf." Ansheng complained, black lines all over his face.
"Deaf? 'Deaf' sounds like 'dragon'—that's the mark of emperors!" Tang You immediately jumped in laughing, turning it into a meme.
After foxification, the dorm‑sister squad was clearly a bit more subtly harmonious than back when they were all on polite terms.
After they finished joking around with each other, Momo smiled at Ah Qing and took out a Spirit Particle Potion for her.
"Come on, it's your turn. Let the little fox see just how OP our Ah Qing becomes after Spiritualization!"
"Mmm..." Ah Qing's cheeks instantly reddened, the color spreading from her face to her ears and neck, as if she'd recalled something unspeakably embarrassing.
"Hm?"
Ansheng wore a strange expression, looking back and forth between Momo and Ah Qing.
Counting tonight's Fox Lady gathering, Ah Qing had a total of two prior Spiritualization experiences. One was during Mid‑Autumn Festival, when she was in a dazed state of consciousness yet demonstrated an extremely high level of martial arts—every punch and kick had the bearing of a grandmaster as she stomped Jin Long.
The other was just yesterday, when, in a drunk‑on‑Spiritual‑Particles state, Ah Qing revealed her Beast Taming Ability.
The will fluctuations she emitted, according to Unos, possessed a "calling nature"—basically a "call in backup" type ability.
"Ah Qing, don't be shy, hurry up~" Momo patted Ah Qing's butt encouragingly.
"Then you're not allowed to laugh at me!" Ah Qing said in a soft, sticky voice, face flushed, especially sneaking a glance at the little fox.
Tonight, they had all come out together specifically to test the Spiritualization Wang Qiqi had talked about, and to experience Superpowers again.
They covered everything from basic speed and strength to dynamic vision, night vision, and resistance to hits.
In this process, they helped each other record data and observe how everyone's Spiritualization differed.
Tang You had excellent dynamic vision and speed far surpassing the rest of the Fox Ladies.
Momo was the strongest in terms of raw strength, and she seemed to never get tired.
Lingren's five senses were the most outrageous. Even in pitch‑black darkness where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, she could use hearing alone to build a three‑dimensional image in her mind, practically on par with X‑ray vision.
Ah Qing's Spiritualization was the strangest. She showed no Fox Lady traits at all. While her strength had increased, it still lagged far behind the group's average, and her speed was the same.
Just when they were starting to feel something was off, Ah Qing revealed a special ability during the "taking hits" segment.
When Ah Qing used a wooden stick to smack her own arm, she might have accidentally used too much force and hurt herself. Unable to hold it in, she let out an "wah" of pain.
At the very moment her cry of pain came out, Momo immediately felt her body fall into a kind of rigid state.
That sluggish condition lasted for several seconds.
"Momo... help me out a bit."
Ah Qing jabbed the Spirit Particle Potion into her thigh. She glanced at her own arm, a subtle look flashing across her face, and turned to Momo beside her to ask for help.
"No problem!"
Momo responded, then with a wicked grin stretched out her hand and slapped Ah Qing on the butt with lightning speed.
Instantly, from the pain, Ah Qing couldn't help but let out a cry.
"Waaah—"
A ripple without form spread out from Ah Qing as the center, expanding toward the surroundings.
"Tsss..."
Ansheng, who was closest to Ah Qing, felt all his fur stand on end the moment he heard her cry of pain. He stared in shock at Ah Qing clutching her butt.
Ah Qing's cry wasn't especially shrill, but under the amplification of that will fluctuation, it really was a bit ear‑piercing.
Moreover, Ansheng keenly noticed that the will fluctuation was trying to seep into his Physique.
It was just too weak, simply unable to truly penetrate his body.
But it was different for Momo and the others. The instant that will fluctuation washed over them, their movements started to slow, and even their thoughts visibly lagged.
As the will fluctuation faded, it took them several seconds to recover before their minds returned to normal.
"Pretty OP, right?"
Momo looked smug, showing off her bestie's Superpower to the little fox.
"..."
Ah Qing buried her head deep into her down jacket, the blush on her face deepening several shades, like it could start dripping water any second.
Back then... Chen Peipei had already said that Ah Qing's crying was the loudest in the whole village.
And now, Ah Qing felt like her cries of pain were probably the loudest in all of Xia Country.
If she had a choice... Ah Qing would rather hang a pair of fox ears on her head and go wandering the streets with the little fox at night going "ying ying ying."
She really didn't want this trait of "crying the loudest."
"It is kind of something..." The shock on the little fox face of Ansheng gradually faded as he said:
"But your trigger condition is... honestly a bit ridiculous, isn't it? You actually have to hurt yourself for it to work."
"It doesn't have to be pain. It's about a certain feeling, and I can't really get a good grasp of that feeling yet."
Ah Qing explained in a soft voice, describing to the little fox how she felt when she activated her trait.
Pain wasn't an on/off switch, more like a stimulus that made the "little dumpling" hidden in her body erupt.
Stimulate it with pain, and that dumpling would bounce all over the place.
Ah Qing described it in as much detail as she could, hoping to get some guidance from the little fox on this front.
The dumpling wasn't a physical thing—just a vague, ethereal sensation that even Ah Qing couldn't accurately put into words.