Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

They came back to the Inscription Palace in a hurry.

The Chen boy immediately barged into the study room, because he was worried about Lady Liu.

Fortunately, Lady Liu was currently sleeping on the couch with a book next to her.

He sighed in relief and came closer to her.

He used his gentle Divine Sense to move her to a sleeping position and covered her up with a blanket.

The team left him to his work and came towards the open garden with a single tree in the middle.

”Let’s check the loot~.” Aiko hummed happily.

The duo shook their heads, but they didn’t reject such a motion. They were also looking forward to browsing those Storage Pouches.

The Umbra Fox had gotten the greatest number, since she was quick with her hands. She was able to loot their bodies before they hit the ground. This efficiently allowed her to collect almost 10 times more loot than the duo combined.

”You are amazing!” Aiko’s eyes shined, which burdened the Umbra Fox.

”I would not be able to do it without you, Mistress.” The Umbra Fox said gently. The killing was made way too easy because Aiko was terrorising them.

”I agree with that.” The Blood Fox nodded, this was the easiest bloodbath ever, they didn’t even get injured all that much.

Aiko sighed, she liked the nimbleness of the Umbra Fox.

Umbra Fox coughed. ”Mistress...?” She was hesitant about something.

Aiko liked this cute side of the Umbra Fox and she hoped it would last for a long time.

”When will you change back into your Assassination Uniform?” The Umbra Fox asked carefully.

Never mind... Aiko no longer liked Umbra Fox.

She was currently in her Human Form, but dressed with the Sect Token.

Aiko glared at the Umbra Fox and she avoided Aiko’s gaze.

No matter how long she stared, the Umbra Fox would avoid her gaze with trained precision.

Aiko snorted, the Umbra Fox was too free, maybe more training would fit her... Aiko smiled gently, but the Umbra Fox shivered.

”So what did we loot?” Aiko asked her team, still smiling.

The Blood Fox was happy that Aiko was smiling, since it would restrain those voices more. ”I collected 900 Spirit Stones. No treasures, since all of them were destroyed with a clean strike.” She suddenly stared at Aiko.

Aiko choked. Yeah... that might’ve been her during her ’conquest of the flags’ period, but can you blame her? This was the simplest and easiest way to defeat her opponent!

Now Aiko was the one who couldn’t meet the Blood Fox’s eyes.

”It’s fine, isn’t it?” The Umbra Fox stood up for her Mistress. ”We wouldn’t use it anyway.” She shook her head.

”But we could sell it.” The Blood Fox pointed at the obvious.

”Do you believe that those treasures weren’t cursed, considering the amount of negative energy that they had on their bodies?” The Umbra Fox retorted. She was no longer worried about being harmed by the duo, since they were just two harmless sweethearts.

”Hmmm...” The Blood Fox paused. ”I have trouble detecting that kind of energy.” She sighed and looked at the Umbra Fox in amazement.

”That’s because you are a Demonic Beast, with sanity. It’s completely normal to not be able to detect it.” The Umbra Fox smiled at the Blood Fox, but this made her wonder... ”Are you good enough that you couldn’t detect any of the negative energy?” She wanted to know if the Blood Fox was lying or if she was truly all right in her mind.

”Yeah... I almost got injured because I couldn’t detect the assailant, but fortunately, Aiko stabbed-” The Blood Fox awkwardly coughed and blushed. ”You know.”

The Umbra Fox blushed, but nodded in understanding. They couldn’t really openly talk about strategies with their Mistress... since she was a bit unique with her combat style...

”I know.” The Umbra Fox nodded again. ”But wow... how could the Elders not release you completely?” She didn’t understand.

”Because it’s only a temporary thing?” The Blood Fox tilted her head, but she didn’t quite understand either.

”No, no. That can’t be the reason.” The Umbra Fox shook her head. ”You might be the first Demonic Fox I came into contact with, but I heard many rumours about Demonic Beasts.” She stared at her.

”As long as you can keep your sanity for 1/3 of the day, you would be able to leave the Exclusion Zone or whatever they call it and be free.” The Umbra Fox narrowed her eyes. ”But for some reason, they wanted to keep you inside...”

This was suspicious and the more time they spent outside the Fox Village. The more suspicious things got.

”If you think about it, it’s strange...” The Umbra Fox said.

”Maybe because I have spent time inside the Grandmaster’s abode?” The Blood Fox theorised.

She didn’t know this for sure, but it felt like other Elders were terrified of approaching Grandmaster’s place. Like they feared something.

’But that can’t be it. Grandmaster is incredibly nice to us and caring. I can’t imagine her as someone who would beat-... No, I can definitely imagine her beating someone...’ She rubbed the back of her head, remembering that it was the Grandmaster’s favorite target during practice.

”We can investigate it later.” The Umbra Fox spoke softly.

While they were chatting, Aiko went through all the loot. She didn’t want to interrupt their bonding experience and only listened, but as the Umbra Fox said, there were too many strange things about the Fox Village.

Fortunately for her, it will still take some time before they can return. They still have to visit the other princesses.

’And mothers~.’

’Don’t forget their mothers...’

The Darkness said disapprovingly, like Aiko had forgotten this fact.

‘Right... Their mothers, if their daughters had this miraculous liquid inside their bodies, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the mothers have it too.’ Aiko wished to collect everything she could find, especially if it came to treasures.

Aiko waited for them to finish and then said. ”We have collected 9863 Spirit Stones.”

The duo smiled from ear to ear. That was a lot more than what they would be able to obtain in the Fox Village. Maybe they should hunt a few more Cultivators...?

”Each of you will get 4932.” Aiko snapped them out of their silly thoughts. ”Do you have anything against it, Umbra Fox?” The Umbra Fox collected the most, so Aiko was a bit worried.

”Just one, Mistress.” She blushed gently.

”Tell me.” Aiko was all ears, ready to explain herself.

”We have collected 9863 Spirit Stones.” The Umbra Fox said and Aiko nodded. ”And you have split it to 4932...” Aiko nodded again. ”Mistress, that’s one short you know...?” The Umbra Fox didn’t want to say that her Mistress couldn’t count properly. Moreover, there were only 2 piles, who would get them? Mistress and the Blood Fox? Or her?

Aiko was momentarily stunned. ”I just placed one Spirit Stone from my Storage Ring to split it evenly?” She tilted her head.

”Then... who will get those piles?” The Umbra Fox asked for clarification.

”You two.” Aiko didn’t understand what the Umbra Fox was hinting at.

The duo was surprised.

”What will you get then?” The Blood Fox was trying to be gentle with her voice, but it still quivered.

”Nothing.” Aiko said, puzzled by their reaction.

”I can’t agree to that.” The Umbra Fox immediately said. She would not agree to this kind of reward if her Mistress didn’t get anything.

”We all need Spirit Stone to buy things, so I can’t agree that the Mistress would not have her share.” The Umbra Fox tried to reason with Aiko.

”I have 177,000 Spirit Stones.” Aiko replied flatly.

The Umbra Fox choked at that number and stared at Aiko in wonder.

Aiko took the two Storage Pouches with the Spirit Stones and placed them in front of the duo, the meaning was clear Aiko wouldn’t take no for an answer.

The Umbra Fox blushed, but received her share. Normally the Mistress or Master of the team would get 80% and they would get the rest, but Aiko was truly a strange Fox, showering them with familial affection and spoiling them with loot.

She... didn’t dislike her at all and vowed to find out who was the one that spread those bad rumours about Aiko!

Aiko nodded gently, she was satisfied that the duo received the Spirit Stones without checking them.

Trust had been established which meant that they would have a much easier and smoother time during missions.

Just then, the Inscription Saint visited them.

”Are you done with the sorting?” He didn’t really want to ask, but entertained the thought anyway.

”Yeah.” Aiko stared at his oddity. ”Are we leaving already?” She tilted her head.

The Chen boy was pleasantly surprised. ”Yeah, the moment Lady Liu wakes up, we are taking my ship to another country. I do not wish to burden her with current affairs.” He said gently, but with a hint of tenderness in his voice.

”Sure.” Aiko nodded readily. ”How long will it take?” She asked about the travel time.

”About a month?” He thought about it. ”We are in no rush towards the next Capital, I want Lady Liu to see the world a bit more...” He couldn’t bring himself to ask this little fox about the vial again and explain his reasoning. He would find another way that would not rely on others, so they wouldn’t end up like this again...

Aiko nodded slowly. This would be a good experience for the duo, since Umbra Fox didn’t go to the Inscription Association with them, meaning she likely never got to experience flight on a flying ship.

Meanwhile, the Blood Fox from what she heard was locked in her room all the time, so she also didn’t get to see the outside world from above the clouds.

”Will there be any danger? Should we prepare?” Aiko asked him.

”We will be moving slowly for safety, as I will be able to activate and maintain more Arrays on the warship.” He smiled sinisterly.

”Warship?” Aiko picked up a new word.

”It’s similar to the ship that you boarded during your visit to the Inscription Association, but it has denser Arrays, more Protective Arrays and Qi Cannons.” He summarised his warship. ”It’s slower than your ship, because the Spirit Stone requirements are also higher. If we went with the normal speed, we would burn around 10 million Spirit Stones and we wouldn’t be able to activate all the Defensive Arrays.” He sighed.

Aiko gulped at the cost of moving that thing. She never expected it to be so high. She wanted to have her own little ship, so she could fly anywhere in the future, but it seemed like the requirements were much higher than she expected...

...

{BACK IN THE FOX VILLAGE}

”Grandmaster.” The Jade Fox nodded.

”They are moving.” The Grandmaster spoke.

She nibbled on another sweet apple dessert, a noble air was leaking from her. ”How long will it take and what they might cause?”

”They sent a group of Foxes after Aiko.” The Grandmaster paused. ”It’s pretty bad, since the leader likes to manipulate the Mind and Soul...” She sighed.

”I see...” She nodded slowly, but she didn’t look worried at all. ”Is that all?”

”That’s very concerning, you know?” The Grandmaster chuckled, shaking her head. ”If it goes by their rules, Aiko will be under their control...” She sighed.

”You have nothing to worry about.” Mei smiled alluringly. ”She is not as weak as you might expect.

”Did she get stronger again...?” The Grandmaster felt like it was possible.

”You will see~” Mei stuck out her tongue, but the Grandmaster only laughed, not minding her antics. It seemed like Aiko rubbed off on her and she didn’t dislike that.