Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko stared at Grandpa Lin. "Seriously..." She had gained quite a few benefits from this exchange.

"But I will still run away if anything goes downhill." Aiko gestured towards Grandpa Lin.

"That is alright." He nodded, any help was appreciated, so there was no problem if she left later on.

"It's almost morning." Aiko turned around, while this place was quite dark, the sun rays still pierced here and there.

"Do you wish to leave for the time being? Recharge your energy and such?" Grandpa Lin asked.

"But if I don't do the Assassination Training soon, they can grab her away." Aiko pointed at the Umbra Fox.

Before the Umbra Fox could say anything, Grandpa Lin said gently. "It's fine, she is also under me, so I will train her during the time you are away, thus nobody will be able to get her under their 'ownership'."

"Still, it's strange that you call it like that." Aiko sighed.

"Well, considering that they do this through contract it should be obvious that they would call it strangely." Grandpa Lin shrugged.

"Seriously, their brains turned into mush." Aiko sighed.

Grandpa Lin didn't say anything. Just then, a very haggard assassin walked by.

Aiko turned around as he was quite loud. "Oh! It's the Shadow Elder."

Shadow Elder shivered when he heard that voice and immediately ran away.

"..." Aiko was left speechless.

"No wonder you have that nickname." Grandpa Lin stared at the retreating Fox Elder.

Aiko snapped her head at him, but from the corner of her eyes, she could see the Umbra Fox was also nodding.

"Why?!" Aiko felt wronged.

...

Aiko grumpily returned to the Grandmaster's place. There, Mei was in a much better mood than previously.

"Mei..." Aiko sniffled, which startled Mei.

'What did those bastards do to her?!' She went back to her 'demon' form, oozing bloodlust.

"They are calling me a Vicious Cub." Aiko sniffled again.

Mei almost laughed out loud, but she gulped down that laughter and beckoned Aiko.

Aiko came close, hugging Mei.

"There, there." Mei soothed Aiko.

"They are so mean..." Aiko sniffled, at this point, Mei had to use her internal Qi to stop herself from laughing. She didn't want to upset her little(?) sweetie.

"How was your stay at Assassination Peak?" Mei asked gently.

"I met a kind yet strange, Grandpa..." Aiko kicked her legs so she could hug Mei harder. She really liked Mei's waist, as she felt nice and gentle energy drifting there.

"Grandpa?" Mei asked, narrowing her eyes. That brainless bastard was an old fool, she didn't remember him being kind.

"He is a Human." Aiko nuzzled into Mei's stomach, tickling her with her nose.

Mei giggled. "Stop~"

Aiko pouted but stopped.

"Is he alright?" Mei asked, smiling, but that smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Yeah, I got some benefits if I happen to 'accidentally' kill a few Elders." Aiko smiled with a similar smile to that of Mei.

"Which ones?" Mei asked, slightly startled.

"Those that are still from the Old Village." Aiko confessed. "I get 60% of their wealth~" Aiko hummed softly.

"Those guys are dangerous..." Mei said with a worried voice.

"It's fiiine~" Aiko giggled. "I will be the first one to run if something goes awry~" Aiko hummed with a sinister tune.

"Good, good." Mei was happy that Aiko placed her life before this... questionable Village. Then she paused.

'How did she manage to last in the heart trial so long?' Mei was confused. With her current standing, shouldn't she last only around 5 minutes?

Mei was distracted, which made Aiko upset. She traced Mei's supple thigh, smirking to herself.

*Bite~*

"Ah!" Mei let out a strange noise, which startled even Aiko. So much so, in fact, that she recoiled with a guilty expression.

Mei glared at Aiko with a red face, but she couldn't bear to hit her. She pinched Aiko's soft cheeks.

"Don't do that again!" Mei threatened, but her voice was still soft.

"Oway."(Okay.) Aiko agreed in her slurred voice and Mei let her go.

Aiko rubbed her warm cheek, while Mei slowly rubbed her thigh.

'If it leaves marks...' She glared at Aiko again and Aiko turned away from her eyes.

Mei clicked her tongue. 'So cowardly.'

Aiko stood up, leaving the room. She would let Mei cool down before returning.

Mei rubbed her thigh again, but it would just not calm down, so she lifted her skirt part of the dress, revealing very noticeable bite marks.

She glared towards the way where Aiko left. 'She really left marks on me! That rascal! Nobody ever left a single mark on my body!' She was confused, as she was supposed to be angry, but she just couldn't direct her anger at Aiko.

'It's all because of that shitty Mystic Fox!' Mei roared in her mind. 'I will definitely enslave her in one way or another and use her as a Pill Tester!' Mei decided in her mind and she felt like something heavy had fallen from her body. She felt much lighter than before.

'Strange...' Mei clicked her tongue.

...

Aiko walked around, encountering the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster smiled at Aiko. "How was the Shadows Peak?" She gently asked.

"Bunch of horny bastards." Aiko didn't soften her words.

Grandmaster nodded. "It's good you are aware of that, so be careful, if anything happens just run here and you will be safe."

Aiko nodded, walking into the forest. She really liked this new body, but she also felt like she couldn't control it properly. There was a strange sense of disconnect.

This was a completely natural thing, which Aiko didn't know. As this was only a pseudo-transformation Technique, it would never let her display her full potential, but this was also a good thing.

Once she became a true human and later full-fledged Kitsune, she would be much more powerful than if she hadn't experienced this restriction.

The same happened to her Soul. Her Soul was restricted, but because of it, her Soul tried its best to wiggle out of it, causing it to grow more accustomed to its 'body'. When the restriction was lifted the Soul could expand again, but because now the Soul knew its 'body' and how it worked, that expanse was not like building a thatched hut, but a sturdy, brick building.

Thus, she earned the Soul Affinity.

Aiko walked around the forest. She loved walking with her bare feet, but... she didn't know why. There was a strange feeling whenever she wore shoes and she just couldn't shake off that... incompatibility.

'I also noticed that other Foxes loved their well-designed shoes...' Aiko didn't have much reaction to it, but she knew that when the Foxes looked at her strangely, it was because she didn't wear any shoes.

Which was completely false. Those Foxes simply adored Aiko and wanted to dress her up, but they just couldn't find the proper clothing, which made them look strangely, unsatisfied...

...

Aiko walked around and around before returning to Mei.

Mei glanced at her, but Aiko could still feel that piercing gaze.

"Sorry..." Aiko apologized, as she didn't want Mei upset like before.

Mei sighed, lifting part of her skirt. "This doesn't feel all that sorry." She pointed at the still-present bite mark.

Aiko stared at it, dumbfounded. "That wasn't me!" 'No way, that was me, right?' Aiko frowned.

Mei enjoyed that reaction and covered her thigh. "Don't bite next time!" She glared at Aiko, but it was not really a glare, as she was laughing inside.

"That wasn't me!" Aiko felt wronged, as she didn't believe she would be able to inflict something like that upon Mei.

"You should sleep, you will be returning to Assassination Peak soon." Mei spoke gently.

Aiko pouted but didn't reject it as she felt a bit bad about everything that happened.

She plopped on her bed but kept staring at Mei's tails.

Aiko kept counting, but no matter how many times she counted, something felt wrong...

"1... 2... 3...?" Aiko felt puzzled and sneaked behind Mei.

Aiko caressed two of Mei's tails and Mei straightened her back. "What are you doing?!"

"I feel like I'm seeing things..." Aiko said gently as she rubbed those tails. "There are really- Auch Auch!" Aiko's cheeks were pulled by Mei.

"We need to have a talk about your behaviour so you don't confuse other Foxes." Mei huffed angrily.

"buf you haf only fwo fails."(But you had only two tails.) Aiko slurred her speech, feeling wronged.

"What does that have to do with you?" Mei glared at Aiko.

"Mowe sleefing sface."(More sleeping space.) Aiko's eyes twinkled.

"Ugh." Mei hated those eyes, since she was weak to them.

"Lef me!"(Let me!) Aiko smiled goofily.

Mei let go of Aiko and she plopped down, rubbing her cheeks.

"Right..." Mei just realized something. "I will give you a Soul tomorrow morning and teach you about it." Mei nodded to herself. 'It would be bad if they found out she had two tails without consuming her Soul, or any other Souls to gain it. This way even if she is exhausted or loses control over her Heavenly Suppression Technique, there is no danger in her getting outed for having too many tails.' Mei nodded to herself again.

"Okay..." Aiko felt wronged but used this situation to transform and hop on the newly formed tail.

'Soft~' Aiko slowly sank into them and before Mei could even protest Aiko was already sleeping.

"This..." Mei was completely speechless, she didn't know what to do with this little rascal.

'Let's leave it, let's leave it.' Mei chanted. 'She is still young, so there is no problem for her to sleep like this for the time being.' She convinced herself and returned to refining Herbs.

...

Aiko woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. Aiko yawned gently and stretched herself.

"You are finally awake." Mei said with narrowed eyes and Aiko recoiled.

Mei sighed. "Transform and come here." Mei beckoned Aiko.

Aiko listened, she didn't want Mei to be upset.

Aiko came close and Mei pulled out something translucent out of her body.

"Ah." The translucent creature made a strange yet ecstatic expression.

"Agh!" Aiko screamed at that distorted face.

"What are you doing?" Mei said sternly, but deep inside. 'Yes! Revenge~!' She giggled to her heart's content in her mind.

"It's ugly!" Aiko didn't want to approach it.

"Too bad, since you will be eating it!" Mei glared at Aiko playfully.

"I know I was wrong!" Aiko plead.

"That won't help you, we will be talking about Souls!" Mei teased.

"I don't want to!" Aiko cried out.

Mei waited until Aiko calmed down.

"There are 3 parts to any kind of Soul-"

The innermost part is where the being is stored, if this part is destroyed that being will cease to exist.

The middle part, where experience and abilities are stored, gets washed away by the soup of Yellow spring (forgetfulness), before the Soul enters the river of Reincarnation.

The outermost part is a bit special, since it doesn't store or contain anything. It's a protective filter that protects from invaders that wish to harm the Soul. Its thickness depends on the person's Cultivation.

"Do you understand?" Mei asked and Aiko nodded.

"Now, which part should you eat?" Mei gave her a simple question.

"Innermost?" Aiko tilted her head.

"Why?" Mei asked gently, not reprimanding her immediately.

"Because it sounds like it will give you the most?" Aiko stared at Mei.

Mei blinked a few times. "You are correct in that, but you can't eat that part."

"Why?" Aiko tilted her head.

"Because Heavenly Dao would not leave you alone, so only eat the outermost part." Mei gently explained, but left out things. 'If she knows too much, it would be bad for her.'

Aiko nodded a bit reluctantly.

"Good." Mei placed the Soul in front of Aiko, it still had that strange expression on it.