William Grant's eyes sparkled with delight—no one had ever called him by such an affectionate name before. Although Little Sarah was a fox, her spirit had left her body, making her no different from a human—a cute little girl.

"You still haven't told me how you managed to leave your body so quickly. Were you practicing the Pagoda Visualization Technique just now? When I practiced it, it took me a whole month before I could leave my body." Little Sarah fiddled with her own head.

"This method isn't anything strange. It's just about seizing the thought of leaping after climbing high. When people climb mountains and jump off cliffs, they die before hitting the ground—their souls have already left their bodies. Practicing this visualization is just imagining yourself jumping from a high place, and your spirit leaves its shell."

William Grant pondered, "I just read in the Daoist scriptures about 'focusing the mind, leaving the shell, roaming at night, roaming by day, controlling objects, manifesting form, possession, seizing bodies, thunder tribulation, and the yang spirit.' The Daoist methods for cultivating the spirit are simple in principle, but hard to master. Luckily, I'm a scholar and can calm my mind. Most people are restless—how could they possibly focus their spirit? If you can't focus, don't even talk about leaving your body. Truly, the Great Dao is simple. Cultivating these immortal arts is much easier than martial arts."

"Little Sarah, what are these things to eat? Why have I never seen them before? Are they for foxes?" William Grant pointed at the two items on the ground.

"These are seeds the monks from the Great Zen Temple brought back from overseas. The red-coated ones are called luohuasheng, also known as peanuts, and the roasted, fragrant, and soft one is called sweet potato. After the Great Zen Temple was burned down, we brought some seeds with us and planted them ourselves in the mountains. These two things are easy to grow, yield a lot, and taste great." Little Sarah giggled.

"Peanuts, sweet potatoes?" William Grant looked at them and reached out to pick one up, but grasped only air.

"Giggle, giggle, Big Brother William, how can you be so silly? Spirits can't pick things up, and people can't see them either. Only when you reach the level of controlling objects can you pick things up. But since you could cultivate to leave your body so quickly, you should be able to control objects soon. Truly, humans are the spirit of all things and cultivate much faster than us foxes."

"Little Faith, Little Susan, come here quickly! Big Brother William can actually leave his body and talk to us!" Little Sarah suddenly shouted.

At that moment, two little white foxes entered through the door. Seeing the sandalwood burning in the stone chamber, they both made chirping sounds and crouched motionless on the ground. At the same time, William Grant saw two little girls, still dressed in plain white.

"This is really fun. Staying in the mountains every day is so boring. It's a pity Sister Carter said we can't go outside, or people would kill us."

"Last time, Sister Carter brought a few scholars here, saying she wanted to teach us to read, speak, and write, but as soon as they saw us, they fainted dead away."

"I really don't get it. What's so scary about us foxes? Those people want to kill us, but they're also afraid of us. So strange."

"Big Brother William, is your name Big Brother William? It's so nice to have a person here. We can play together from now on. I've wanted to leave the mountains and find someone to play with for a long time."

The two little girls chattered away, circling around William Grant non-stop, making him realize just how adorable little girls could be. They were nothing like the maids in the Marquis Wu Wen's residence—even the young ones there were all shrewd and scheming, always trying to climb higher.

"People always say foxes are cunning, but they don't know that human cunning surpasses foxes by ten thousand times," William Grant sighed.

"By the way, what level have you three reached in your cultivation?"

"Little Sarah and I have only reached the stage of leaving the body. Little Susan is a bit more advanced and can roam far at night, but not yet by day. She can't stray too far from her body. Sister Carter said that unless we reach the yin spirit level of controlling objects, we can't use flying needles or swords, and can't go outside. Otherwise, the people outside the mountain, with their strong blood and energy, can't be confused by us and could easily harm us." Little Faith shook her head.

"Flying swords and needles?" William Grant asked in confusion.

"Yes, after reaching the level of controlling objects, you can drive swords and needles to attack, and even hurl stones at people. That way, you can protect yourself," said Little Sarah.

"Then, before reaching the level of controlling objects, what abilities do you have for self-defense?" William Grant asked.

"Before our spirits reach the level of controlling objects, we can only confuse others to protect ourselves. But if we encounter someone strong and determined, it's hard to confuse them. For someone as clear-minded as Brother William, we can't confuse you at all. Last time, a group of hunters came into the mountains, and a few of them were especially strong. My spirit saw them from afar—their blood and energy were blazing like fire, so we didn't dare go near. Luckily, we hid and they didn't find us."

Among the three girls, Little Susan seemed a bit more mature and spoke clearly and logically.

"Hmm? For demons to confuse people, the person's heart must first be unrighteous, or their body weak and blood energy low," William Grant recalled some things recorded in the Cottage Notes.

For demons to confuse people, first, the person's heart must be unrighteous and full of doubts, making their spirit weak. Second, their body must be weak and blood energy low, which also allows demons to take advantage. That's why people near death often see demons and ghosts.