Just as Lu Jingming began to question his very existence, something even worse occurred.
Because the City Lord, Lu Jingming's father, had died in battle, several noble factions in the city, who had grievances with the Lu family, attempted to hijack the credit for defending Haiyuan City against the sea soul beast invasion. At the same time, they coveted the Lu family's position as City Lord.
Several ill-intentioned noble factions joined forces, simultaneously attacking the Lu family and their allies, the Zhang family. Due to the defense against the sea soul beast invasion, the City Lord's Manor's forces had been significantly weakened, and the Zhang family's elite had suffered more than half their casualties, leading to a precarious situation.
As the City Lord's Manor was about to fall and the enemies were about to break in, Lu Jingming finally understood the grim situation before him.
Although his start was catastrophic, he wasn't without a trump card.
The moment he had a stroke of luck in his previous life, he fortuitously acquired a "True Authority."
It was precisely this True Authority that granted him the chance to be reborn.
Even though his reincarnation had a terrible start, losing his father in this life right after birth, and immediately facing the desperate situation of being completely eradicated, he didn't panic. Instead, he decisively used all the remaining True Power he had after his reincarnation.
With this power, Lu Jingming broke the boundary between illusion and reality, successfully materializing a character from his previous life's game.
Accompanied by a dazzling light, a female swordswoman with silver hair fluttering in the wind and wielding an ice sword appeared before him, who was still an infant.
The moment this swordswoman appeared, she remained silent for a moment. Without any explanation from Lu Jingming, she seemed to comprehend everything.
Then, she gently picked up the infant Lu Jingming and calmly walked out of the City Lord's Manor.
Her figure flickered, and the ice sword in her hand gleamed coldly. Each swing released a chilling sword aura.
Under her sword, the Soul Masters who participated in the rebellion and invaded the City Lord's Manor fell like ants.
Everyone witnessed what it truly meant to be "cut down an enemy with a single strike."
Even the Soul Saint patriarch, leader of the noble families, couldn't withstand a casual swing of the female swordswoman's blade.
After this thrilling rebellion, those ambitious noble families were completely annihilated, disappearing from the stage of Haiyuan City's history.
As Lu Jingming passed by the City Lord's Manor kitchen, a pink figure shot out of the kitchen like lightning, a "whoosh" directly onto Lu Jingming.
Immediately after, this figure deftly climbed onto Lu Jingming's head in a few quick movements, settling firmly there. Lu Jingming's body suddenly stiffened, and he instinctively reached up to grab the audacious little fellow from his head.
In his hand, he held a soft, adorable pink-furred fox, whose appearance was utterly charming.
Perhaps Lu Jingming's grab was too rough, for the pink-furred fox let out dissatisfied "ying-ying" cries, its two fluffy little paws continuously grasping at the air. Its fierce yet cute demeanor made it hard not to laugh.
"Miko, how many times have I told you, no running wild on top of this City Lord's head, hear me? Hm? Did you go to the kitchen to steal fried tofu again?" Lu Jingming feigned a serious tone, reprimanding the pink-furred fox, while looking closely. He suddenly noticed a trace of oil still clinging to the corner of the little fox's mouth.
Instantly, he understood. This greedy pink-furred fox must have snuck into the kitchen for a snack again.
After all, as the pet of their young City Lord, the chefs in the kitchen wouldn't dare easily offend this mischievous little fox.
Every time the little fox waltzed into the kitchen, the chefs would be all smiles, respectfully offering its favorite delicacy—fried tofu.
"Ying-ying." The little fox seemed to understand Lu Jingming's words. It waved its tiny paw, raised its fluffy little head, and gazed expectantly at Lu Jingming, clearly signaling for him to help clean the oil from the corner of its mouth.
Seeing this, Lu Jingming couldn't help but roll his eyes, muttering to himself, Am I the master, or is this pink-furred fox the master? Why does it feel like everything's upside down?
However, thanks to the little fox's sudden antics, Lu Jingming's previously flustered and anxious mood gradually calmed down.
He then remembered that there was still at least half an hour until the martial soul awakening.
Moreover, the Awakening Hall was within the City Lord's Manor, and at his speed, it would only take a few minutes to get there.
Thinking this, he suddenly understood. Zhang Lexuan had clearly been trying to scare him just now, and he had panicked simply because he was too afraid of being punished by Jingliu.
With his mood settled, Lu Jingming was no longer in a hurry. He calmly took out an exquisite handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped the oil from the pink-furred fox's mouth, his movements gentle and meticulous.
Then, he gently picked up the little fox, buried his face into its fur, and took two deep sniffs.
This soft, adorable little fox, no bigger than a palm, was soft and warm in his hands, making it a perfect hand warmer, and utterly irresistible.
However, whenever he thought of this pink-furred fox's scummy and cunning personality once it grew up, Lu Jingming couldn't help but get a headache. He remembered that originally, he had intended to use the True Power to summon that vibrant, alluring, elegant, and gentle pink-haired shrine maiden to help him manage the vast City Lord's Manor.
Who would have thought that while the illusion-to-reality conversion was successful, due to insufficient True Power and depleted energy, the pink-haired shrine maiden had dramatically undergone an on-the-spot size transformation.
The originally graceful figure suddenly turned into this tiny pink-furred fox, and even its intelligence regressed to infancy.
He wondered when it would be able to transform back into the cunning and elegant Guuji-sama that Lu Jingming was familiar with.
That's right, this adorable little fox was an existence materialized by Lu Jingming using his True Power.
Its prototype came from a popular mobile game in his previous life—"Genshin Impact"—the highly-regarded Guuji-sama of the Grand Narukami Shrine—Yae Miko.
Holding the soft and adorable Miko in his arms, Lu Jingming walked into the Awakening Chamber with unhurried steps.
As soon as he stepped into this rune-engraved room, a faint, pleasant fragrance wafted towards him, instantly enveloping his senses and refreshing his mind.
His gaze instinctively sought the source of the scent, and he saw several ancient-looking stone pillars standing in the Awakening Chamber.
These seemingly ordinary stone pillars should not be underestimated; each one was incredibly valuable, worth thousands of gold spirit coins.
These pillars were crafted from a very special ore—Spirit Condensing Stone.