The Ancestral Awakening Hall remained silent.
Nobody seemed willing to be the first person to speak.
The enormous image of the Nine-Tailed Divine Fox had already disappeared, leaving only faint traces of Elyra drifting through the air.
Nagisa stood in the center of the formation.
Her two tails moved slowly behind her.
She could feel every pair of eyes in the hall fixed on her.
Some were filled with shock.
Others with curiosity.
A few looked almost reverent.
Nagisa wasn’t sure how she was supposed to react to any of it.
She looked down at her paws.
Then behind herself.
One tail moved.
The other followed.
She stared at them.
“They’re really there…”
Celeste knelt beside her.
“Yes.”
Nagisa turned toward her mother.
“Mother…”
Celeste smiled.
“You did well.”
Nagisa’s expression softened.
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
“I thought nothing would happen.”
Celeste gently placed a hand on her head.
“But something did.”
Nagisa looked back at her tails.
“Two.”
Celeste nodded.
“Two.”
Nagisa was still trying to understand what that meant.
She had spent years reading about bloodlines and cultivation.
She knew that some foxfolk possessed unusual bloodlines.
She knew powerful bloodlines could influence someone’s future.
But she had never expected something like this.
The Nine-Tailed Divine Fox.
That name alone had caused the entire hall to fall silent.
Nagisa looked toward the enormous ancestral statue.
“Mother…”
“Yes?”
“Why is everyone so shocked?”
Celeste hesitated.
Before she could answer, the Awakening official stepped forward.
“Because your bloodline is not merely rare.”
His voice carried through the hall.
“It is legendary.”
Nagisa looked at him.
The elderly foxfolk man slowly approached the formation.
He stopped several steps away from her.
“I have performed awakenings for many years,” he said.
“I have seen excellent spiritual roots. I have seen rare affinities. I have even witnessed unusual bloodlines.”
He looked at Nagisa’s two tails.
“But I have never personally witnessed the awakening of the Nine-Tailed Divine Fox.”
The crowd began whispering again.
Nagisa glanced around.
The official raised his staff.
“Silence.”
The hall quieted.
He continued.
“The Nine-Tailed Divine Fox is one of the most ancient bloodlines recorded in our clan’s history.”
Nagisa listened carefully.
“The records describe it as a bloodline capable of reaching an extraordinary level of power.”
Someone in the crowd whispered,
“How extraordinary?”
The official looked toward them.
“Enough that the ancient records rarely describe its limits.”
That caused another wave of murmurs.
Nagisa’s ears twitched.
They don’t even know how strong it can become?
The official continued.
“But there is something more important.”
His gaze moved toward Nagisa.
“Her manifestation.”
Nagisa looked behind herself.
The two tails swayed gently.
“Two tails,” the official said.
“At the moment of Awakening.”
He sounded almost amazed.
“The bloodline has not fully matured. What you witnessed was only the beginning.”
The hall became noisy again.
Nagisa frowned.
“Only the beginning?”
The official nodded.
“The legendary bloodline possesses stages of development. The number of tails represents one aspect of that development.”
Nagisa looked at her tails again.
“So eventually…”
“You may manifest more.”
Nagisa’s eyes widened.
“How many?”
The official looked at the ancestral statue.
“That is something nobody can answer.”
Nagisa didn’t know whether to be excited or nervous.
Two tails already felt strange.
Nine seemed almost impossible.
Sato suddenly stepped forward.
“Can she really get nine?”
The official looked at him.
“Perhaps.”
Sato’s eyes widened.
Hirata immediately moved beside him.
“Then she’s going to be ridiculously strong.”
Ren nodded.
“Probably.”
Airi looked at Nagisa.
“I think two already looks pretty.”
Nagisa smiled.
“Thanks.”
Sato pointed at Nagisa’s tails.
“Can I touch them?”
Nagisa immediately moved them away.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re mine.”
Sato frowned.
“I just want to see.”
“You can look.”
He sighed.
“Fine.”
Hirata laughed.
“You got rejected.”
“Nobody asked you.”
For the first time since the Awakening began, Nagisa laughed.
The tension in her chest loosened slightly.
Even after something this extraordinary had happened, her siblings were still acting like themselves.
That helped.
The official turned toward the Awakening Crystal.
What remained of it was scattered across the stone platform.
He crouched and picked up one of the fragments.
“Elyra saturation.”
He examined it closely.
Then another.
His expression became increasingly serious.
“The crystal couldn’t contain her Awakening.”
One of the elders approached.
“Are you certain?”
The official nodded.
“I’ve seen damaged crystals before. This wasn’t ordinary damage.”
He held up the fragment.
“The formation attempted to draw in the surrounding Elyra, but the amount produced by the Awakening exceeded what the crystal could safely contain.”
The elder’s expression changed.
“That much?”
“Yes.”
Nagisa listened.
She hadn’t realized any of that had happened.
She had only felt an overwhelming rush of energy.
The official looked toward Celeste.
“Lady Celeste.”
Celeste turned.
“Yes?”
“Did Nagisa display any unusual signs before today?”
Celeste thought for a moment.
“Nothing obvious.”
She glanced at Nagisa.
“She could sense Elyra earlier than some children, but she never demonstrated an awakened ability.”
The official nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Nagisa raised her paw.
“Excuse me.”
Several adults looked at her.
The official smiled.
“Yes?”
“Does having this bloodline mean I’m automatically strong?”
The hall became quiet again.
The question seemed to surprise some of the adults.
The official considered his answer carefully.
“No.”
Nagisa blinked.
“No?”
“Your bloodline gives you extraordinary potential. Potential and actual strength are not the same thing.”
He pointed toward the formation.
“Today, you awakened. You are still a nine-year-old child.”
Nagisa nodded.
“So I still have to train.”
“Of course.”
Nagisa smiled.
That answer actually made her feel better.
She didn’t want everyone suddenly treating her as some invincible monster.
She wanted to become strong herself.
Not simply inherit strength.
The official continued.
“A powerful bloodline can give someone an excellent foundation. It cannot replace cultivation.”
Nagisa nodded seriously.
“I understand.”
The official smiled.
“Good.”
Another elder approached.
“Check her spiritual root.”
Nagisa looked toward the crystal fragments.
“How?”
The official gestured toward a smaller stone embedded in the formation.
“Place your hand there.”
Nagisa stepped forward.
She placed her paw against the stone.
This time, the response was immediate.
Light spread across the formation.
The stone began glowing brighter.
One line appeared.
Then another.
The official’s expression changed.
“Impossible.”
The elder beside him leaned closer.
“What is it?”
The official stared at the reading.
“Perfect.”
Nagisa tilted her head.
“Perfect?”
The official slowly looked at her.
“Your spiritual root.”
He paused.
“One hundred.”
Silence.
Then someone whispered,
“The maximum?”
The official nodded.
“The maximum.”
The hall erupted.
“Perfect spiritual root!”
“At the same time as the Nine-Tailed Divine Fox?”
“This child…”
“Two legendary traits in one Awakening!”
Nagisa’s ears flattened.
There were suddenly too many voices.
Celeste noticed immediately.
She stepped closer to her daughter.
“Everyone, give her some space.”
Her voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
The crowd gradually quieted.
Nagisa took a breath.
She looked at the reading again.
One hundred.
Perfect.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
She was happy.
Obviously.
But the attention was becoming overwhelming.
She walked closer.
“Nagisa.”
Nagisa looked at her.
“Yes?”
“Don’t worry about all of them.”
Mira smiled.
“Today is your birthday. You’re allowed to enjoy it.”
Nagisa smiled.
“Thanks.”
Mira glanced at the two tails.
“They really are beautiful.”
Nagisa’s ears perked up.
“You think so?”
“I do.”
Nagisa’s tail swayed happily.
Mira laughed.
“See? They’re already giving away your emotions.”
Nagisa immediately tried to stop them.
“They’re not!”
“They are.”
Nagisa looked behind herself.
Her tails were still moving.
“…Traitors.”
Mira laughed.
Across the hall, the clan elders had gathered together.
They spoke quietly among themselves.
Nagisa couldn’t hear everything, but she caught pieces of the conversation.
“Clan leader…”
“Report…”
“Historical records…”
“Bloodline inheritance…”
“Potential…”
Celeste noticed as well.
Her expression became more serious.
Nagisa looked at her.
“Mother?”
Celeste looked down.
“Yes?”
“Are they going to do something because of my bloodline?”
Celeste was silent for a moment.
“I don’t know.”
Nagisa’s ears lowered.
Celeste immediately softened.
“But whatever happens, you won’t face it alone.”
Nagisa looked at her.
“Promise?”
Celeste smiled.
“Promise.”
Nagisa leaned against her mother.
For all the attention surrounding her, that was the only thing she really needed to hear.
Then a voice came from the entrance.
“Make way.”
The hall became quiet.
Several guards stepped aside.
A messenger entered.
He bowed toward the elders.
“The clan leader has received the report.”
Everyone waited.
“He is coming.”
Nagisa’s eyes widened.
The clan leader was coming personally?
The messenger continued.
“He has ordered that the Awakening ceremony continue normally until he arrives.”
The elders nodded.
Nagisa looked around.
The ceremony wasn’t over.
There were still children waiting.
Still families watching.
Still Awakenings that had to happen.
Her own Awakening had changed the atmosphere completely, but the others still deserved their moment.
Nagisa stepped away from the formation.
She joined her siblings again.
Sato immediately whispered,
“You’re famous now.”
Nagisa rolled her eyes.
“Don’t say that.”
Hirata smiled.
“Everyone is staring at you.”
“I noticed.”
Ren looked at her tails.
“Do they hurt?”
Nagisa thought about it.
“No.”
Airi smiled.
“Then that’s good.”
Nagisa looked at all four of them.
Despite everything that had happened, they were still standing beside her.
Her family.
Her siblings.
Her birthday companions.
Nagisa smiled.
Then she glanced down at the faint System window still hovering at the edge of her vision.
Nobody else could see it.
Nobody knew what it truly meant.
The System had awakened.
But Nagisa still hadn’t explored it.
She wasn’t going to do that here.
Not yet.
There were too many people around.
Too many questions.
Too much happening.
For now, she simply closed the window.
The Awakening Ceremony continued.
And Nagisa waited.
She didn’t know what would happen when the clan leader arrived.
She didn’t know what the System truly contained.
She didn’t know what Bai Yuexian had prepared for her.
But one thing was certain.
Her peaceful childhood had changed today.
And somewhere beyond the mortal realm, someone was watching closely.
Bai Yuexian rested her chin against one hand as she observed the scene through her celestial mirror.
Her eyes remained fixed on Nagisa.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“Two tails already…”
She chuckled softly.
“Interesting.”
Then her gaze shifted toward the System’s faint presence around Nagisa.
“And you finally woke up too.”
Her smile deepened.
“Let’s see how troublesome you become.”