Chapter 1176: The Auspicious Beast White Fox

While others looked on with envy, the largest mass of white light split from the Tian Ding and Ren Ding and descended, unsurprisingly landing on Chen Xi. For some reason, Chen Xi instinctively raised his hands as if to block it.

The white light immediately split into nine beams and merged into Chen Xi's body. The already vast and pure white fortune he possessed became even more fully manifested. Surrounded by a misty seven-colored aura, a giant white fox, with nine tails elegantly swaying, appeared and wrapped itself around Chen Xi.

The ethereal glow covered the white fox, whose massive form, almost the moment it appeared, pushed everyone—except Liu Bei—outwards. Even the manifesting fortune of others was directly suppressed by its overwhelming presence.

The nine snow-white tails easily enveloped Chen Xi.

Chen Xi's entire fortune manifested in the image of a lazy nine-tailed white fox, half-asleep, wrapping itself with its own tails for comfort.

"What in the world is this?" After the fortune had fully manifested, Chen Xi finally snapped out of his daze and reflexively reached out to grab at the fluffy white fur in front of him. But in an instant, everything vanished.

"Huh?" Chen Xi looked around, bewildered. Where was the fluffy thing he had just seen?

"What are you looking for, Zichuan?" Liu Bei asked, having witnessed everything clearly. Just as Liu Bei knew the golden dragon that had appeared in the sky symbolized his own fortune, he also understood that the white fox represented Chen Xi's fortune. However, its enormous size was indeed a little surprising. Fortunately, the white fox's temperament seemed gentle, and like the dragon symbolizing the emperor’s fortune, the nine-tailed white fox was one of the four great auspicious creatures of the Han Dynasty.

Although it was indeed far larger than expected, it was still a good sign. The bigger it was, the more capable the person must be, right?

Liu Bei had seen it very clearly—the enormous nine-tailed white fox, with its fluffy, harmless appearance and lazy, half-closed eyes, was practically the spitting image of Chen Xi himself. Liu Bei couldn’t help but wonder, could a fortune manifestation change to reflect the person?

It wasn’t that an ancient divine beast chose Zichuan to manifest through, but rather that Chen Xi’s essence made it manifest this way. Li You smiled bitterly at the thought. The nine-tailed fox is a symbol of wisdom and benevolence, but also of destruction leading to rebirth and order. Its meaning aligns perfectly with Zichuan’s nature.

The image of the white fox perfectly fits Zichuan, and the people themselves are resonating with him, which is why the fox appears more virtuous than menacing. Jia Xu had already pieced together the cause and effect.

"I just saw a huge pile of fluffy stuff that looked really warm, spread all over the place, but now it’s gone," Chen Xi said, looking around with some confusion, as if his eyes had been playing tricks on him.

It was then that Chen Xi noticed the people who had been standing behind him were now quite far away. Even Li You, Qu Qi, and Zhuge Liang were several dozen steps away, when just moments ago, they had been only a step behind him.

"Why are you all standing so far away?" Chen Xi asked, confused. He vaguely saw a five-colored grain stalk around Qu Qi as he glanced at him.

There was an awkward silence. No one knew quite how to answer Chen Xi’s question. When dragons walk the earth, they do not mix with mortals; such is the lofty distance of the heavens. But compared to Chen Xi, who manifested a massive nine-tailed white fox right where he stood, this analogy didn’t quite apply.

"Ahem... Didn't you feel anything when the Ren Ding and Tian Ding infused you with something?" Li You coughed and walked back towards Chen Xi. The others also began to return to the courtyard, though their expressions were clearly a little strange as they looked at Chen Xi.

"Destiny and fate," Chen Xi replied after a brief moment of thought. "But what does that have to do with my question?"

"Destiny and fate together form what we call fortune. When the two dings revealed our fortunes, they manifested them for all to see," Jia Xu explained as he approached.

"Those of us with weaker fortunes, like myself, couldn’t fully manifest a form. But those with stronger fortunes will have their manifestations take shape, often resembling ancient fierce or auspicious beasts," Mi Zhu added with a wry smile. He recalled the refined sage-like figure that had manifested behind Li You and hesitated before continuing, "Or perhaps a sage from ancient times."

Mi Zhu was self-deprecating, as even being able to manifest a fortune at all was already a sign of immense power. But comparing oneself to others could be disheartening. After seeing the nine-tailed white fox that Chen Xi manifested, Mi Zhu’s own ambitions had completely dimmed.

"In short, your fortune manifested, and we were all pushed away," Zhang Fei said with a chuckle.

Zhang Fei’s own fortune had started to manifest as a partial shadow of a white tiger, but before it could fully form, it was completely suppressed by Chen Xi’s overwhelming fortune. In fact, everyone except Li You, who had manifested the image of a sage, and Jia Xu and Guo Jia, who had been clever enough to manipulate their fortunes, had been similarly suppressed. Only Zhuge Liang had managed to manifest his fortune, despite the pressure from Chen Xi.

Still, everyone’s fortunes were significant, and once the pressure from Chen Xi’s manifestation eased, their fortunes reappeared. Though Qu Qi’s grain stalk was particularly amusing.

"Uh... What did my fortune manifest as?" Chen Xi asked, looking around. He had been in a daze when the destiny and fate had merged into him, so he hadn’t seen what his own fortune looked like. He had only seen a lot of fur.

"An auspicious beast—the nine-tailed white fox. It’s a symbol of wisdom and benevolence, but also of the destruction of the old and the birth of a new era," Lu Su said, his expression somewhat odd.

When the fortunes had started to manifest, Lu Su had been curious if Chen Xi would manifest something like a Bai Ze or Jiao beast. After all, both creatures fit Chen Xi’s nature well—the Bai Ze with its knowledge of the past and future, and the Jiao with its symbolism of bountiful harvests.

But in the end, Chen Xi had manifested a nine-tailed white fox that seemed half-asleep, and Lu Su had been quite shocked. However, after his initial surprise, Lu Su realized it was actually the most fitting manifestation for Chen Xi. After all, Chen Xi truly was the one leading the way in dismantling the old era and bringing forth a new one.

"...," Chen Xi’s eye twitched. Although he knew the white fox was one of the four great auspicious beasts during this era, he also knew that foxes weren’t always considered purely positive symbols.

Whether it was a good omen or not didn’t matter, though. What really concerned Chen Xi was why it had to be a nine-tailed fox. He really didn’t want future generations associating him with fox spirits. And even worse, in ancient tales, nine-tailed foxes were often linked with femme fatales who brought ruin to kingdoms. Chen Xi wanted no part in that kind of legacy...

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