Ascending the Demon Realm

Two fox tails swept toward me like living creatures, their soft bristles scrubbing me from head to toe. Bathed in morning light, Xiao Fen's focused expression resembled that of a devoted mother.  

"Xiao Fen... you're basically my fox mom now!"  

This scent-marking ritual served dual purposes: complicating my aura to confuse other demons while broadcasting that Xi Yao belonged to Yu Tu. Many primal demons retained possessive instincts, marking companions or mates to ward off rivals.  

Opening the door revealed the Taotie hunk still kneeling vigilantly. How utterly devoted.  

"Boss! Big Boss! You're awake!" The muscular man declared with fanatical loyalty.  

Big Boss? What fresh hell was this?  

"Ba," Yu Tu commanded coldly, "stop guarding doors."  

Ba? Since when did foxes adopt Taotie fathers? Did that make this glutton my grandpa?  

"Xiao Fen... is he your dad?"  

The fox stiffened.  

"Big Boss! I'm not the boss's father!" The Taotie scrambled to explain. "I'm Yan Ba, his sworn brother!"  

"Then why..." I eyed Yan Ba's subservient posture.  

"I enjoy it!" The mountain of muscle blushed. "Being ordered around... dominated... roughly treated..."  

Yu Tu kicked him mid-confession. "Stop disgusting Xiao Yao!"  

Turns out Yan Ba suffered from subservience addiction syndrome - a psychological condition requiring constant commands to feel secure.  

"Rise!" I barked experimentally.  

The Taotie's eyes sparkled as he sprang up. "Thank you for indulging me, Big Boss!"  

Watching him skip into sunlight like overgrown puppy, I marveled at demon world psychiatry. My civil service exams never covered this.  

Yu Tu massaged his temples. "Apologies. He doesn't usually imprint randomly. Did you...?"  

"I slapped him earlier for being loud."  

The fox gaped at my admission. Water rats might be calm, but we bite when provoked.  

At the departure portal, Yu Tu pressed a nearly-new phone into my hands. Emotion overwhelmed me - first my water deer parents, now this meticulous fox. How did I deserve such kindness?  

His body stiffened when I hugged him, then tentative claws patted my hair. "It's just an old device."  

"You don't understand," I murmured into his fur. Snowfall gifts can't compare to blizzard charity.  

The jade corridor to Kongtong Hall materialized. Emerging doors disgorged various demons, including a portly boar who grumbled "Move it" while adjusting his designer hoodie.  

Modern demons indeed preferred comforts over cultivation. Even the legendary Inverse Scale Sword couldn't deny our generation's decline.