Nine Astra Skies

Ye Chen quickly attracted everyone's attention as he passed by the training ground, especially when there was a new furry pet perching on his shoulder this time.

"Big Brother Ye Chen!" A few of the girls were quick to surround him. "Aww, is that a tanuki? I want to see it!" They cooed and studied the little critter with affectionate delight with their arms already reaching out eagerly to pet the creature's soft, fluffy fur.

Little Tanuki's fur instantly stood straight on end as it uttered a pelt of menacing squeaks, even baring its fangs to the girls' horror. They flinched, clearly dismayed at its hostility.

"What an irritable little thing," they muttered among themselves as they gloomily walked away.

Ye Chen could only pat the tanuki's head and chortled. "Don't be like that! You're already scaring people away."

Just then, Ye Rou's smooth voice played into Ye Chen's ear. "Ah, good morning, Big Brother Ye Chen! Oh, what an adorable little tanuki!"

Despite her obvious affection, Ye Rou knew better than to try pet the animal. Instead, she just looked at it with her beautiful eyes as they widened in glee.

Unlike its previous reaction, Little Tanuki sat up straight and its own clear eyes scanned Ye Rou just as intently as Ye Rou stared at it.

Ever since Ye Chen gained the power of astral projection, his senses seemed to have sharpened. It only took a second for him to notice the very subtle changes in Ye Rou's presence.

"Incredible! Little Rou, you've already reached the peak of the Sixth Stage, haven't you?" Ye Chen exclaimed in amazement. Just a few days ago Ye Rou was still at the Fifth Stage and now here she was, already at the peak of the Sixth Stage! Ye Chen had a suspicion that Ye Rou herself may have received help from a mysterious origin—that jade pendant around her neck radiated an aura of gentle and pure energy.

"Mm!" Ye Rou nodded, her heart swelled in happiness at the fact that Ye Chen noticed her progress so easily. Her Big Brother Ye Chen may still be at the Mid-Sixth Stage, but she instinctively knew that his true capabilities were way beyond hers. That was the only answer to why Ye Chen could immediately determine her Celestial Chi Stage just by detecting the very minute changes in her Celestial Chi!

Just at the thought of Ye Chen's prowess that had improved to such a degree instantly lightened Ye Rou's mood. She felt happier for him than her own success in advancing a Stage.

Little Tanuki studied Ye Rou's contented expression and fell silent.

Just like that, Ye Chen went into the canteen shortly after accompanied by Little Tanuki and Ye Rou. For lunch, the little critter happily nibbled on small chunks of meat with its small front paws that Ye Chen had especially obtained for his new furry friend.

To the critter's credit, Little Tanuki looked just as elegant even when it chowed down on its meal in ravenous hunger. In fact, the way it ate was quite a pleasant sight to see.

"Chen, when did you find this tanuki?" On his way to the more exclusive chamber in the canteen where the upper-echelon have their meals, Ye Zhantian stopped in his track as soon as he noticed the creature standing next to his son. Intrigued, he approached Ye Chen.

"Hello, Father. I didn't look for it… It technically came to me on its own," Ye Chen replied and flashed a cheery smile as he turned to look at Little Tanuki.

As if interested in their conversation, Little Tanuki stopped eating and its ears perked up as well.

"I don't think I've ever come across a tanuki with three tails. In fact, most tanukis are common beasts, aren't they? So common, that they wouldn't even be classified as mystical beasts," Ye Zhantian wondered out loud. "Could it be that this was one of the rare, mystical variants that had already attained its own First or Second Celestial Chi Stage?"

"I don't know," Ye Chen replied simply. However, after hearing his father's question, his own interest in Little Tanuki's past was piqued too.

"I'll see if there is any record in our clan scriptures about this when I get back. You go ahead." Ye Zhantian left after eyeing Little Tanuki one last time.

It did surprise Ye Chen that despite his father's vast knowledge, the man was baffled at Little Tanuki's background. 'But then again, I doubt that Little Tanuki's dangerous,' Ye Chen added in his mind. 'That's enough for me. Who needs to know everything about someone's past?'

Overhearing their conversation, Ye Rou could not stop herself from shooting a curious glance at the creature. Little Tanuki, in return, did not show her any sign of the aggressiveness it displayed to the girls earlier, although it was not friendly enough to let her touch its fur either.

After their lunch, the girl bid Ye Chen farewell before returning to her own quarters to resume training.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen brought Little Tanuki with him when he visited the Ye Castle's in-house forge.

"Uncle Moyuan? Do you think you can make some of these?" Ye Chen asked as he produced his blueprint for the resident blacksmith.

Ye Moyuan, aged forty. He was a buff, towering man who, due to being from the Zhang cohort, could be considered as Ye Chen's clan-uncle. He was not talented in martial arts cultivation, which resulted in his skills to long be stuck on the plateau of the Second or Third Stage. Yet, regardless of his status as one of the normal, non-combative clansmen, he was incredibly adept in the art of smithing; The main contribution of his expertise could be seen in the weapons of the House of Ye such as their bows and crossbows. In his spare time, he forged farming tools too.

After studying Ye Chen's blueprint, he fell into a thoughtful silence. "Seems doable," he mumbled. "There's a caveat that I need to remind you of, though due to how complicated this design looked, I might need about a week or more just to make one."

"Please make as much as you can for these few days, Uncle Moyuan," Ye Chen said earnestly.

Ye Moyuan studied the young man before him questioningly, a little puzzled at his insistence. From the looks of it, it was just a nondescript black, metallic ball. What could it possibly be used for? In fact, according to Ye Chen's description, it was only going to be about the size of an egg…

Of course, now that Ye Chen was the Successor Chief of the clan, his station backed his request with a sense of authority. Besides, the young man might just be passing a request directed by the Chief himself.

Convinced by that thought, the blacksmith nodded. "I'll try my best."

"Much thanks, Uncle," Ye Chen replied with genuine gratitude.

"Oh, don't mention it." Ye Moyuan found himself warming up to the Successor Chief after the exchange. Apparently, the kid was quite convivial with his clansmen.

Pretty soon, the blacksmith read the blueprint more meticulously.

Ever since exiting from the forge, Little Tanuki had been staring at Ye Chen's face the whole time, its eyes widened in curiosity. It was probably wondering what the purpose of that paper was.

Back in his own quarters, Ye Chen decided to resume his training.

"Little Tanuki? I'm going to meditate now. Don't frolic around when I'm training, okay?" Ye Chen murmured as he patted the creature's head.

The Little Tanuki nodded, to Ye Chen's surprise as if it understood him.

Ye Chen sat cross-legged and started to revolve his Celestial Chi. Every time he triggered the Flying Dagger in his head, a large tidal wave of Celestial Chi poured into him, effectively eliminating any need for him to gather scattering eddies of Celestial Chi found in nature. Due to that, his cultivation speed was ten times more than, or possibly beyond a normal person's.

Little Tanuki, laid lazily next to him then suddenly stood up as a glint flashed in its eyes, almost as if it realized what was going on. Then, it suddenly lowered its eyelids, as if entering its own absorptive trance as well.

Ye Chen sensed that the surplus Celestial Chi that oozed out of his body was being partially absorbed by the little creature by his side. He opened his eyes a little and eyed Little Tanuki in shock, surprised that it knew how to cultivate its own chi.

However, he overcame his initial shock very soon and returned to his meditative state. After all, Little Tanuki was only absorbing the Celestial Chi that he had not been able to take in. It had no effect on his actual cultivation.

Two hours had passed. Ye Chen could feel that his Celestial Chi had become more fortified than before and so he stopped and opened his eyes. Little Tanuki, who had been standing quietly at a side, opened its eyes as soon as it sensed its partner taking a break.

Ye Chen's attention fell to its bottom. After he lifted its three bushy tails up, he discovered that the tanuki's fourth tail had grown a little longer as well.

"Little Tanuki, check this out! Your tail's grown a little!" Ye Chen exclaimed in bewilderment. Since this happened after Little Tanuki had cultivated its chi, did it entail that the higher its cultivation base was, the more tails it would gradually possess?

Little Tanuki was once again quite embarrassed at Ye Chen's action. Yet, unlike previous incidents, it did not react as violently as before. The only reaction it had now was its fur turning scarlet out of bashfulness.

Perhaps the creature had gotten accustomed to the human's antics.