Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

{Before reunion with Aiko}

”So Aiko is alive, huh?” Dai Lu clicked her tongue. ”She should’ve contacted us sooner.

”It seems like she was in bad shape, so you shouldn’t blame her.” Mei wiped her eyes and quietly lay in bed.

”You say that, but you were the one who was hurt the most.” Dai Lu sighed, but left Mei alone so she could collect her thoughts.

...

”The Elders made a move.” Dai Lu reported to Mei.

”What are they up to this time?” Mei narrowed her eyes. Knowing that Aiko was alright helped her greatly.

”It seems like they are trying to ’move’ the Demonic Foxes.” Dai Lu licked her lips. She was looking for a fight, and she would make it bloody!

”You are itching real bad, huh?” Mei chuckled. ”Sure, sure, go ahead, but clean the bodies and don’t make it too loud.”

”You want me to pretend I’m still injured and sickly?” Dai Lu raised her eyebrow.

”You ARE injured and sickly!” Mei slapped the table. ”Your tails have not recovered, and the heat inside your body hasn’t settled yet. We have a lot of work to do!” She frowned at her with concern.

”Oh my~” Dai Lu giggled. ”What have I done to deserve Mei’s worry~” She teased Mei while also escaping from the books that flew her way.

”Out! Go play with someone else!” Mei snorted unhappily.

It was definitely good that the Grandmaster was so energetic, but Mei would appreciate it more if she were not the recipient of this teasing!

Mei sighed softly.

”The business is still ongoing. We lost most of Aiko’s Massage Chairs, but some are still somewhat operational. This will probably drop quickly soon, since we will interfere with the Elders.” Mei shook her head.

”How foolish. To believe they can get away with this.” Mei clicked her tongue.

”They will feel the wrath of Immortal~” Mei hummed softly.

The interception would allow her to move the Demonic Foxes over, or rather, the Grandmaster would use an excuse to move them over.

And under the effects of the Twins and calm atmosphere, they would be able to settle down and calm down.

The latter part was more important, since they would be able to actually exchange information.

What most might not know is that while Demonic Foxes ’lost’ their minds, they still remembered what they did, and that includes the voices and sounds around them.

This would allow Mei to extract some precious information and even possibly blackmail the ’Sect Leader’ to take her side.

Well, she was powerful for a ’Sect Leader’, but the Delegation pretty much replaced her.

She still had to do all the work and paperwork, but she had no decision-making power.

A puppet leader.

Mei was not concerned about that part, since they were only close business-wise. She would eventually move onto the mainland, and everyone would stay here, trying to keep this place running.

’The mainland seems to be gathering materials.’ Mei narrowed her eyes.

”Sealing this place, eh?” Mei licked her lips. She didn’t do anything to cause this to pop up during the meeting, but it seemed like they were concerned about her escaping from here.

’I’m a one-in-billion talent, so it’s only natural.’ Mei chuckled sinisterly. She would give them a good reason for this sealing!

...

”There are around 7,000 Demonic Foxes.” Dai Lu breathed out like she was out of breath.

”That many?!” Mei was startled. Sure, there were hundreds of thousands of Foxes, but that didn’t mean there were THAT many Demonic Foxes.

How one would become a Demonic Fox was a mystery. Nobody was able to figure it out since the Demonic Foxes were unable to hold a conversation.

And those who could hold a conversation talked about sinister black stones, and that was about it.

”The Sect Leader’s reports only highlight about 2,000 Foxes.” Mei crossed her arms.

Dai Lu looked away like she was guilty.

”What did you do?” Mei didn’t miss that movement and immediately interrogated her.

”It’s not my fault, alright! They should’ve been stronger!” Dai Lu pouted unhappily.

”What did you do?” Mei glared at her.

”I may or may not have stormed their headquarters.” Dai Lu whistled innocently.

Mei groaned painfully. Another headache-inducing person, and it was not even Aiko!

She even made this person join her side!

”How do you plan to house the Foxes?” Mei crossed her arms. There was only enough space for about 2,600 of them.

”Dig a cave.” Dai Lu gave Mei a thumbs-up.

”Did Aiko infect you or something?!” Mei was staring at her speechlessly.

”Infect? This is my normal personality when I’m not hurt.” Dai Lu tilted her head.

She had a very headstrong personality, but since she was injured and in almost constant pain, that personality was repressed in order to make room for more ’pain-relievers’.

”Gosh, what have I done...” Mei unhappily rolled onto her bed.

”Well, at least you talked with Aiko.” Dai Lu shrugged. ”How is she?”

”She is causing problems in the South.” Mei rolled her eyes.

”South, eh?” Dai Lu smiled. ”They like Beasts, so maybe she won’t return~?” She once again teased Mei.

”Oh, shut up, would you?” Mei rolled her eyes in annoyance. ”You think that Aiko will let herself be tamed?”

”...” Dai Lu had no comeback to that, since she knew what kind of walking disaster she was.

”See?” Mei pointed out the exact cause of her headaches.

”Let’s not talk about that.” Dai Lu grumbled.

”Take a shovel and go dig.” Mei rolled her eyes.

”No help, huh?” Dai Lu’s lips twitched.

”Obviously, you made a mess, so you will also clean it!” Mei slapped the table and kicked Dai Lu out.

”What a harsh mistress.” Dai Lu shook her head.

...

”Some of the Elders are moving into the Nightmare Forest. It seems that they have multiple bases and are conducting some kind of experiment over there.” Dai Lu reported yet another disaster from the Elders’ side.

”I will let Aiko know. The more disaster she causes, the more leeway we will have.” Mei nodded her head.

”You are going to the mountain obliterating option, huh?” Dai Lu was kind of scared of Mei when she was like this.

”You think the scale will be so small?” Mei rolled her eyes.

”What? You think she will cause a stampede?” Dai Lu laughed at her thoughts.

”Right? As if that would happen.” Mei laughed back.

...

”It seems that the Nightmare Forest was a distraction, or they cut their losses.” Dai Lu grimaced at the news that she had to report.

”That’s...” Mei’s face twitched.

”Move the Blood Fox, since she knows how to get information out of someone, and she is not watched, unlike the Twins.” Mei commanded.

”Are you sure? She is the weakest out of the team.” Dai Lu narrowed her eyes.

”There won’t be any fights for now.” Mei nodded her head.

...

”Blood Fox was captured...” Dai Lu didn’t want to report this news, but it couldn’t be helped.

”What went wrong...” Mei had yet another painful headache.

She did purchase some so-called ’painkillers’ from a strange raccoon, but she was unable to replicate them.

”The Elders contacted the outside world and even shared the location of the Fox Village, but nobody is making a move due to our Array.” Dai Lu reported more information.

”Did they lose their minds?!” Mei was enraged. ”Just because I have been ruining their plans left and right, they chose to sabotage everyone in this place?!”

”To be real... You did sabotage them for a long time, so I believe they did lose their minds...” Dai Lu coughed awkwardly.

Mei could only glare at her. ”What happened to the Nightmare Forest?”

”Aiko caused a disaster, ruining all bases over there.” Dai Lu was impressed at how quick Aiko was.

”... Seriously? It wasn’t even that long...” Mei was shocked.

”That’s Aiko for you.” Dai Lu nodded her head like she was some kind of Sage.

”Aiko effect, huh?” Mei could accept that. ”But what do we do now?”

”Report it to Aiko, maybe she can cause another disaster?” Dai Lu pursed her lips.

”That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Mei smirked, but deep down, she was concerned about the Blood Fox.

...

”...” Dai Lu was looking seriously at Mei.

”...” Mei was seriously looking at her back.

”So...” Dai Lu scratched her head.

”That happened, huh?” Mei was honestly both impressed and fearful.

”So you have the same opinion, huh?” Dai Lu didn’t want to believe it, but Aiko was probably the only one who would be able to move the old Beasts from the Nightmare Forest.

”What do we do now, though?” Mei was honestly unsure how to handle the situation.

”It’s quite simple~” Dai Lu chuckled.

”Don’t leave me hanging and tell me!” Mei glared at her again.

”We just ignore it.” Dai Lu said with a straight face.

That day, Dai Lu was kicked out of her own ’Peak’, not allowing her to return until there was more news about Aiko...

...

”Aiko is going to the Inscription Association.” Dai Lu reported.

”Withdraw the Foxes so they don’t attract attention.” Mei nodded her head.

”There is a notion that the Shadows Peak did not get annihilated by the Elders.” Dai Lu made another report.

”Is that possible? That ’Peak’ was pretty much done thanks to the ’technique’.” Mei raised her eyebrow.

”That’s because some Foxes were always outside doing missions, so not everyone was affected.” Dai Lu was quite impressed by their perseverance.

”Huh, I never heard that workaholism could save you...” Mei’s widened eyes were a sight to behold.

”This is probably the exception.” Dai Lu shrugged.

”So you still think I’m a bad workaholic, huh?” Mei kicked her out of this place again.

...

”So you told her to contact the Rune Saint or whatever that guy calls himself now?” Dai Lu’s eyes were slightly widened.

”Yeah, any hand would come in handy.” Mei shrugged.

”The Elders are holed up in their little fortress. As long as they have Spirit Stones, we won’t be able to break it.” Dai Lu reported more about the Elders. ”They are also making some deals with The Delegation.”

”Again? Didn’t we take almost all resources, places, bases, Demonic Foxes, normal Foxes, abused-” Mei paused. ”I won’t name them all, so tell me what’s up.” She flipped the pages. The reports were kept coming in more and more.

”They want to seal the deal with the ’technique’.” Dai Lu reported cautiously.

”Anyway, can we intercept it?” Mei frowned.

”Unlikely.” Dai Lu shook her head. ”I have already spread Foxes around, but we don’t even know how it looks.”

”So they one-upped us again, huh?” Mei frowned. This was not the first time she failed, but she didn’t expect those Elders to be so desperate.

”We can only hope that something goes wrong.” Dai Lu shook her head, and both of them sighed tiredly...