Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

On the way back, Aiko was sulking at the Demonic Foxes.

Why would they clap like they were making some kind of comedy?! That was serious business!

Of course, most of the Demonic Foxes didn’t think like that, as Aiko was sometimes too cute to take seriously.

...

Arriving at the palace, there seemed to be some kind of disturbance.

The Demonic Foxes ran all over the place, and most of them had their faces plastered on the windows, trying to look inside.

’What’s happening?’ Aiko tilted her head.

She slowly walked inside with the other Foxes and made her way to the main hall.

”The Demonic Saintess told me about more places you can visit in the meantime.” A Demonic Fox suddenly approached Aiko.

”Right hand?” Aiko tilted her head.

”I... don’t like the fact that that nickname sticks with you...” The Demonic Fox groaned unhappily, but it was true that she was the right hand of the Demonic Saintess.

”So, what’s happening inside?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”There is a delegation from the Chameleon Beast Tribe. They are discussing ways to assault 9 main cities.” The Demonic Fox didn’t conceal anything since she believed that it would be easier to deal with the white Aiko.

”Oho~” Aiko was curious about how the visitor looked but not curious enough to approach them. ”So what are those places about?” She narrowed her eyes.

”We have located some structures with beast-like energies. We are thinking that it might be related to Beasts, but we are not entirely sure.” The Demonic Fox chuckled lightly.

”That sounds interesting, and I’m guessing I should go now so that nobody else sees me here?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Indeed. As long as they won’t see you being associated with us, there will be less danger coming your way.” The Demonic Fox smiled at the smart little Fox.

”And I’m guessing that the Demonic Saintess picked these sites so that they take time?” Aiko narrowed her eyes even more.

”More or less, she didn’t want to give you useless places or places with very little Qi, so she was only able to find 3 of them.” The Demonic Fox sighed slightly.

”But that is not enough time for you to finish everything with them, right?” Aiko rolled her eyes. She just wanted to sit down and do some projects now that she got more things to work on.

”My apologies.” The Demonic Fox knew that Aiko was not too happy, but it couldn’t be helped. This way, she would be able to earn some Treasures and be safe instead of in the middle of the war.

”How is it going?” Aiko sighed as she gave up on going inside.

”It’s working well for now. Thanks to the numerous Table Maps, we were able to disable many cities, and Humans are now more alert than ever. It seems like this thing will reach a climax soon.” The Demonic Fox narrowed her eyes.

”That was quick...” Aiko raised her eyebrow.

”We have a lot of information on them.” The Demonic Fox licked her lips.

”Fine, we will be going then.” Aiko sighed again and turned around with her team. ”You do know where to go, right?” She asked the Demonic Foxes that followed her.

”I’m going too!” The Flower Demon, who was silent this whole time so as not to anger the little Fox, was now happily following her once again.

”Ugh...” Aiko groaned. ”My Treasures.” She narrowed her eyes.

”I’m not going to take anything. Most Treasures are useless since I’m not considered a Beast.” The Flower Demon giggled happily.

”But you are getting all the benefits of being one.” The Demonic Fox clicked her tongue.

”Yeah~” The Flower Demon liked to upset others since she found joy in seeing them squirm in front of her.

”Stop.” Aiko stopped everyone. She then pointed at the Demonic Foxes that followed her. ”You know the way.”

”En.” The Demonic Foxes bowed respectfully.

Aiko then pointed at the Flower Demon. ”You are not going to steal my Treasures.”

The Flower Demon nodded. It was fine just being near her. She would be able to gain more energy and find out just how powerful this little Fox was.

”Okay, you can communicate, right?” Aiko glanced back at the Demonic Foxes.

”En.” The Demonic Foxes nodded happily.

”Keep us updated.” Aiko turned towards the right-hand Fox before leaving.

”She is almost like a storm.” The Demonic Fox giggled as she went back inside the main hall.

The headache was just starting...

...

”What are the locations, and how far are they?” Aiko yawned as they went back into that damned dry forest.

”They are not too far, but the Demonic Saintess said that the complex is rather large.” The Demonic Foxes nudged each other.

”There also seems to be Humans around it.” Another Demonic Fox said.

”I already don’t like it.” Aiko rolled her eyes. More Humans equalled more trouble for her.

”I’m here too. Everything will be alright.” Yuqi chuckled.

”But you are all blurred. Does everyone have that shitty concealment technique or something?” Aiko rolled her eyes.

”The Flower Demon was contesting against our Demonic Saintess, so she does have the same technique.” The Demonic Foxes chuckled.

”...” Aiko stopped. ”Alright, everyone will stop using that technique or whatever, so that I can see your faces!” She commanded all of them, but she only got giggles from them.

”Sure~” Yuqi giggled, startling the Demonic Foxes.

”You never turned it off...” The Demonic Foxes questioned her reasoning.

”Because Humans are perverts, and you are no saints either.” Yuqi rolled her eyes. She was the first one to turn off her technique.

In front of Aiko was now a somewhat Human-looking girl.

She was around 165-170cm. It was hard to guess with that flower on her head. That was also her main attraction, as it was quite a colourful flower. It slowly changed colours depending on how much sunlight the flower got.

Her body was slim. It seemed like she was trying to copy the Demonic Foxes surrounding Aiko, but instinctively, Aiko understood that she didn’t have any predetermined silhouette.

She had a bountiful bosom and wide hips. It seemed she went all-in in copying the Demonic Foxes.

Her body was slightly pinkish. However, it didn’t look all that weird since her hair was green in colour. It was a nice contrast to her very limited clothing. The clothing was pretty much vines and leaves trying to desperately cover her body.

Aiko also noticed that she had a ’tail’ that was always connected to the ground and possibly leading somewhere.

Her eyes were like the flower on top of her head. Depending on how much light her body got, her eyes would change colours too.

The last most notable feature outside of her picturesque face was that she had long ears.

”How about putting on some clothing?” For some reason, Aiko was not attracted to her.

”Why? When I activate that technique, I don’t really need clothing, you know?” Yuqi seemed to lack some common sense, or maybe she was just unbothered that others might see her. One of the two.

”Pointy ears?” Aiko tilted her head.

”For hearing. Plant Demons are limited in their hearing capability, so once we reach the half-human stage, we use some of our energy to form special ears that will allow us to hear things.” Yuqi explained to the curious Fox.

”You can’t hear anything before the half-human stage?” Aiko tilted her head.

”It’s not like we can’t hear anything. We can ’perceive’ Qi in our own way, which allows us to ’hear’ Humans, but that takes a lot of energy and thus is better for us to form specialised ears instead of relying on Qi.” Yuqi explained their reasoning, but it was such an old rule that even she couldn’t remember if it was true.

”Lifespan?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Limitless as long as we don’t wilt or get sick.” The Flower Demon giggled.

”She was in this place even before us, so...” The Demonic Foxes scratched their faces.

”Were you born here?” Aiko was curious about her origin, and they had time to waste, so why not go ahead and ask her?

”No, my previous Master placed me here since he was disappointed.” Yuqi laughed, but it was obvious that she held some hatred towards her former Master.

”Why?” Aiko couldn’t understand why someone would get rid of someone with low maintenance.

”Flower Demons are supposed to collect Dews, but her leaves are unfit for that.” The Demonic Foxes explained. They were trading Dew for Treasures.

”It is as they say. My unnatural shape of leaves makes it difficult to collect Dew, so I trade anything shiny with them for Dew to stay healthy.” Yuqi snorted unhappily, but she was very grateful that they were willing to trade with her.

”Hmmmmm...” Aiko was curious if she was sick, but that could wait for later. ”The tail?”

”It’s sort of like roots getting food for me.” Yuqi smiled.

”How curious. Can you find things underground?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Are you talking about Spirit Stone Veins or Mines?” Yuqi narrowed her eyes.

”Yeah, you can never have enough of them.” Aiko nodded.

”Unfortunately, those kinds of places are poisonous to us, so we can’t find them.” Yuqi shook her head. As Plant Demons are sensitive to other types of Qi, they can only exist in certain places. Moreover, she was a Flower Demon, which was even more fragile than a common Plant Demon.

”Too bad.” Aiko shook her head. She wanted her own mine so that she could learn how to find them.

”There is a way to find them.” Yuqi suddenly said, attracting her attention.

”How?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”You need to form a Human body first.” Yuqi giggled before walking some way away into the shade.

”Tsk.” Aiko was slightly upset that she didn’t get her answer, so she turned towards the Demonic Foxes. ”Now it’s your turn.” She narrowed her eyes at them.

The Demonic Shadow Fox had a very skin-tight suit, so tight that it made Aiko wonder if it was made on purpose like that.

”Yes, it’s on purpose. I like how my butt is being squeezed...” The Demonic Shadow Fox looked away from Aiko’s judgemental gaze.

The Demonic Wind Fox had very light clothing and also very little. Aiko could see the winds dance around her skin.

”This is her kink.” The Demonic Shadow Fox suddenly said.

”Hey!” The Demonic Wind Fox glared at her.

”She is an exhibitionist.” The Demonic Shadow Fox said. ”Normal clothes for Wind Foxes are still light, but not ’that’ light.”

*Slap*

The Demonic Wind Fox slapped the Demonic Shadow Fox’s ass angrily. ”Hey! I told you not to say that to anyone, you slut!”

”Who are you calling a slut, you dirty exhibitionist?”

The two Foxes fought against each other, and Aiko ignored them. They looked very similar like they were siblings, but that might be just her imagination...