### Chapter 57: The Gift of the God Fox

“The price for unraveling the secrets of the heavens? What is that? Moreover, you still haven’t directly answered my question. Where did Ming Lan go?”

The old man, known by the title of Oracle, smiled slightly. Despite his advanced age, there was an air of calm and elegance about him. For some reason, Vilyric felt a faint resemblance to a white-clad young man who called himself Wenqu from that realm of the Demon God.

But before she could ponder further, he continued speaking.

“Miss Xī is quite the impatient one… Ming Lan has temporarily returned to Lingyin Island with some of our kin to handle certain matters. Before he left, he entrusted me with the situation regarding Miss Xī and asked me to take care of it… Hehe, of course, with your abilities, I doubt you need an old man like me to look after things.”

“As for the secrets of the heavens, it’s not something that can be explained in a few words. Before we delve into that, I wonder if Miss Xī has something specific in mind for her visit to the Lingyin Merchant Association today?”

“Huh? Running off so quickly? Well, truth be told… it’s nothing important.”

Mumbling a bit in confusion, Vilyric felt it was odd, but since Ming Lan had already left, there was no way she could chase him down to Lingyin Island across the sea.

After all, during this visit to the Lingyin Merchant Association, the Priestess had no intention of necessarily finding Ming Lan. Ultimately, she just wanted to engage with this mysterious and profound force to see if she could uncover something interesting.

“Oracle, right? Um, let’s ask a little first, how old are you this year?”

Upon hearing the question, the old man’s mouth twitched slightly, his smile barely managing to surface, but he quickly regained his neutral demeanor.

“Please rest assured, Miss Xī, I am not endowed with the immortality of Lingyin; I’m just an ordinary human. This year, I’m merely sixty-two, hardly significant in front of the long-lived beings.”

“Why do I feel like you’re hinting at something… eh, never mind, since I’m here, I have some questions to ask. Is it a convenient time for you now?”

It seemed the Oracle had anticipated that the Fox Miss would say something like that, for he shook his head gently with a chuckle.

“What a coincidence, Miss Xī! As you can see, we at the Lingyin Merchant Association are preparing for our seasonal auction of rare items. Even the storefront is temporarily closed. As the president, I truly cannot step away from my duties at this time. How about you accompany me to view the event? We can chat while we look.”

“Huh…?”

A strange sense of déjà vu enveloped her, as if she were about to step into a trap, but after examining the Old Man Oracle’s gentle face for a while, she ultimately couldn’t discern anything unusual.

After all, the guy had his eyes covered with black cloth.

“A rare item auction, huh? Fine, fine… I suppose it shouldn’t be boring, attending wouldn’t hurt. But speaking of which… what sort of people will be buying things there?”

With a smile, the Oracle turned to leave.

“Visitors from all corners, all guests of the world shall gather here. This little prestige, the Lingyin Merchant Association can certainly manage, hehe… Please follow this old man, the reception room has long been prepared.”

…

Just as the two gatekeepers had mentioned earlier, the auction at the Lingyin Merchant Association began promptly over an hour later. The elderly man who called himself the Oracle arrived early at the lounge where the Miss White Fox was waiting, ready to escort her elsewhere.

Walking through the inner hall of the Merchant Association, with her thoughts now organized, Vilyric decided to pose a question to the Oracle. Of course, she wouldn’t be so blunt as to ask something like, “Who was the first president?” That’s a typical case of digging too deep; you have to take it one bite at a time.

“By the way, why didn’t those two gatekeepers recognize that thing? If you hadn’t been here today, I would have had some trouble getting into the Lingyin Merchant Association. Was Ming Lan that old rascal just messing with me?”

The old man, holding an abacus whose purpose was unclear, looked at the small fox pendant in Vilyric’s hand and smiled slightly before producing something from his wide sleeves and handing it to the girl beside him.

The Miss White Fox took it, only to realize it was a brand-new, seemingly freshly minted black gold-embossed card. The front bore a string of cryptic numbers, while the back was intricately engraved with a small fox figure that looked oddly familiar yet slightly different.

From its material, it appeared to be made of some high-grade magic crystal, a uniquely identifiable identification card. Even just holding it, she could feel its faint magical aura, clearly worth quite a bit.

Before Vilyric could ask, the Oracle’s calm explanation drifted into her ears.

“What Ming Lan gave you is an important token within the Lingyin clan. Even within the Lingyin Merchant Association, only a few high-ranking members can recognize it. The two earlier were just hired employees from outside the area; it’s quite normal for them not to know what it is.”

“Miss Xī, though Ming Lan has gifted you this token with good intentions, due to time constraints, he likely couldn’t explain the situation clearly. This Fox Pendant holds great significance within your Lingyin clan, and within the Lingyin Merchant Association, it represents a status of at least Vice President or above, allowing access to manage billions in wealth at any branch. Simply displaying it in front of certain discerning eyes might invite trouble in your life.”

“Of course, Miss Xī, being the Spiritual Fox Priestess grants you considerable power bestowed by the God Fox. Ordinary enemies are naturally beneath your notice, but to avoid unnecessary hassle, it’s sufficient to use this card for identity verification during regular times.”

“Is that so…”

Nodding in understanding, Vilyric decided not to delve further into such topics. She simply stowed this evidently freshly made identification card into her backpack and continued onward.

Since she hadn’t made a point of hiding it, when she opened her backpack, the black spatial rift naturally caught the Oracle’s attention. He couldn’t see changes because of the black cloth covering his eyes, but he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“I see, so this is one of the divine powers granted by the God Fox. Truly incredible as described. Miss Xī, let this old man ask, just how many wonders are hidden within this little space of yours? Could it really be as limitless as the legends suggest?”

“Huh?”

What does that mean? If I follow the Oracle’s implication, could the past Spiritual Fox Priestess Ming Xi really have wielded a bag of holding-like ability? That… seems a bit outrageous, doesn’t it?

A whirlwind of thoughts whirled through her mind, yet the Miss White Fox maintained a facade of calm and simply replied.

“It definitely has its limits, you can think of it as a larger storage item; it’s really nothing special.”

“I see ~”

Listening to Vilyric cleverly sidestepping the main points, the Oracle naturally understood that the girl was unwilling to discuss the matter any further. He smiled knowingly and gestured forward.

“We’ve arrived, Miss Xī. This door leads to the auction site for tonight’s Lingyin Merchant Association. Ming Lan mentioned that your memory seems to have some errors, but seeing this scene, I wonder if it feels somewhat familiar to you?”

“Mm? This is…?”

As she looked at what gradually appeared before her at the Oracle’s indication, just as the old man had anticipated, there was indeed a hint of surprise in the girl’s voice, but… the reasons they thought were perhaps not the same.

Vilyric recognized this place.

On the circular array, that beautifully glowing silver door hovering in midair emitted a familiar yet incredible magical spatial fluctuation, just like the scene she would encounter each time she used it.

This was the convenient spatial item from the Illusory World—the Invisibility Space Portal.

   

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