Jasmine was confident. She was over five hundred years old and every bit as clever and powerful as she believed herself to be. She had watched generations of immortals grow up from little kids, seen them at the worst and at their best. She herself had also been an immortal for fifteen years and fully grasped her power. There was no Spirit Lord past or present in Beast God Sanctum that could beat her. Chen Wentian was impressive, his beetle's sword attack was one the best and his tricks with phantoms was strange and fascinating. But it was only a few party tricks in front of true power!

Jasmine's first attack used speed. She dashed around him, trying to find an opening, and finally took a swipe at his head with her front paw. Her speed was fast and her attack power was strong but Chen Wentian was able to block it with his bare hands. He was still forced back another ten meters. He shook his right arm to ease the pain.

"You're quite talented, you'll make an excellent disciple!" He mocked.

"You!"

They both only used physical attacks as each tried to understand the other. Jasmine held the edge in raw speed and power due to her divine beast physique but Chen Wentian had the Nineteen Demon Subduing Palms. The superiority in martial arts soon allowed Chen Wentian to weave counterattacks into his defense. 

Jasmine cried out in frustration at the latest exchange where she suffered a hit to her shoulder, "Don't you know you should never hit a little girl!"

Jasmine stamped her feet in anger. She then bared her fangs and brought out her sharp claws, adding deadly weapons to her strikes. Chen Wentian couldn't take those attacks head on since he couldn’t use weapons so he dodged as best as he could. The barren wasteland was soon met with an even worse fate as Jasmine's attacks cut apart the surrounding rocks and turned it into dust. Chen Wentian could not dodge some of the attacks and was forced block using sword energy. The air around them soon sang with a deadly symphony as supremely sharp attacks clashed against each other. 

Finally, Jasmine pulled back and stuck a paw in her mouth, "Mmmm, ow, ow, ow! You cheater, who said you could use sword energy!"

It looked like her claws weren't trained and suffered under the harsh impacts against his sword energy created from Dugu's 10th Sword. Chen Wentian withstood the onslaught but did not unscathed. He had suffered several wayward cuts and slices and was slightly bleeding. 

"Don't cry when you're losing. Aren't you a divine beast?" He taunted.

"Bastard! I'll show you divine beast!"

Jasmine's fur bristled and her two fluffy tails became rigid and upright. Mysterious energy gathered in her tails and two miniature spheres of energy gathered above her tails, like two miniature moons. Jasmine then opened her mouth, and a beam of pure white energy shot forth. It was beautiful and mesmerizing but Chen Wentian didn't feel like taking such an attack head on and quickly dodged away.

It was a good thing he did as everything behind where he had been standing for an entire mile was instantly vaporized.

"Hey, are you trying to kill me?"

"Haha, if you don't want to die then just surrender!"

Chen Wentian finally figured out from her last attack that she was not a plain Nine Tailed Fox but a special breed called the Nine Tailed Moonlight Fox. Her snow-white fur was a big clue but he still had to witness her moonbeam attack to be sure.

"Fine, if you want it that way..." Chen Wentian muttered and fully encased himself in blue dragon flames.

The ground beneath his feet started to steam from the intense heat and eventually melted into a puddle of lava. Jasmine let him show off for a bit before launching another attack. The second beam, even larger than the first, shot straight at Chen Wentian but this time he didn't move and countered with his flames.

Boom!

A wall of blue flame met the moonbeam and erupted in a massive explosion. The beam was still superior in power and drilled through the flame wall, only to be met with a second flame wall created by Chen Wentian. Eventually the beam ran out of energy and Chen Wentian emerged completely unscathed.

"Impossible! What kind of flame is that?" Jasmine had met many flame immortals before but Chen Wentian's flames were strange and way more profound. Her moonbeam was infused with the heavenly energy of the moon. Normal immortals couldn't block attacks from a divine beast!

"I'll give you a hint." Chen Wentian chuckled and leaped into the air.

His flame aura expanded in an instant and it seemed to cover the sky. It then contracted into a phantom and Jasmine could see the outline of massive wings, a huge body with four legs, a spiky head, and a long waving tail.

Roar!!

"Crazy..." Jasmine muttered as she started up in shock.

She finally understood his title; Immortal Blue Dragon, one who wielded the flames of the Blue Dragon, a divine beast!

There were many immortals who took their names after powerful origin beasts or divine beasts but not once were they able to transform like that. The best had only a trace of the beast's aura. She could tell this was completely different from his other soul phantoms, it felt like it was real, complete, and truly a part of him. She realized with a jolt that this was the main reason she had trusted him so easily. The shadow fox was cute but it was still a subordinate beast. Her trust came from an instinctual respect and recognition between divine beasts. She wondered, just how long had his aura been affecting her?

Chen Wentian finished showing off and the Blue Dragon phantom opened its massive mouth and shot a jet of blue flame towards Jasmine. She dodged away, that attack was seriously bad news and her abilities could not block it. She looked back at where she stood and found it was completed glassed and left a smoldering pool of lava.

He was strong! But this only made her want to beat him even more. While there was mutual respect between divine beasts, there was a fierce innate competitiveness. She had to show him who was boss! She flew into the air as well, charging up another attack and throwing it at him. At the same time, her twin tales also emitted moonlight and launched two smaller beams toward him. He dodged two of them while blocking the third with another wall of flames.

The two of them fought in the air for some time. Any observer would have thought it was a beautiful scene as jets of blue flame clashed against beams of moonlight. They dodged and attacked, blocked and countered. Both of them were absolute powers within the Spirit Lord Realm and this was a sight rarely seen in the world. They were like a pair of dancers performing a deadly duet...

But eventually, the winner became clear. While Jasmine always had to dodge Chen Wentian's flames, the opposite was not true as he could effectively block her moonbeams. At first, she was in denial and refused to believe he was stronger than her. Then she got angry and doubled her efforts but it only expended her own energy faster.

Various emotions raced through her, as she realized her inevitable defeat. She wondered if she really had to become his disciple or if she could just run away. But in her heart, she truly did wish to find a home and a family once again. She knew Chen Wentian was different, his eyes did not carry the greedy glints that all other human immortals had when looking at her. Even her adopted father would look at her weirdly from time to time even though he tried his best. She felt a bond with Chen Wentian from the first moment she met the little shadow fox. His body carried so many secrets. His future potential was unfathomable. Just like her, he was destined to soar through the immortal realms. She considered everything and decided it wouldn't be too bad… and she finally accepted him.

"Stop, stop!" Jasmine cried and reverted back to her human form. "I give up! You win."

Chen Wentian pulled back his flames and flew to her, the widest smile on his face. He looked at her expectantly, "So?"

Jasmine's lips quivered but she finally gathered her courage. She gave a small bow and muttered, "Disciple Jasmine, greets master."

"Jasmine!" Chen Wentian immediately pulled her into his arms.

"You pervert, don't hug me so intimately!" She complained but she still hugged him back, glad to finally escape from her loneliness. She was content, his embrace was warm and it felt safe. 

Chen Wentian on the other hand simply felt like he had died and ascended to heaven. He was simply bursting with happiness. She was so astonishingly beautiful, like an angel. He would never let her go. He would treasure her forever. Her body felt small in his embrace. He felt her petite breasts pressed against him, held her delicate waist tight, and savored every second of their first tender moment of affection. And for the first time, he felt a familiar stirring in his heart.

Kirbyisgreen

End of Volume 3. There will be some side stories as I plan out the next arc.

I had always planned to include a fox girl ever since the beginning but how to actually do it went through several iterations. The goal of volume 3 has always been Jasmine. :)