Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

They arrived in front of Liu Zhi's room, but this time Aiko didn't forget to knock on the door.

"Come in." Liu Zhi's voice drifted from inside.

Aiko and her team entered and Liu Zhi was reading a book on the sofa lazily.

Liu Zhi lifted her head and smiled. "Here for lessons?"

Aiko nodded slowly, she would learn from her and laze around when not learning, since this was a good opportunity to gain some weight and levels from the food.

Liu Zhi stood and began her lessons.

...

[Happy Birthday!]
[You are now 10 years old!]
[Please choose a gift:]
[1. Meat - 2,000]
[2. Book of Providence*]
[3. Stat and Skill Points - 2,000]
[4. Surprise - Surprise]

Aiko salivated at those 2,000 pieces of meat, but she didn't immediately pick it, since her sight was attracted to the Book of Providence.

'Maybe I should take it...' It had that asterisk, which meant if she didn't choose it now, she would never be able to obtain it again.

Aiko frowned, this was a bad dilemma to fall into.

On one side there were 3 Evolutions worth of meat, but on the other, there was a precious book containing knowledge...

'Ugh. I have this!' Aiko cried out as she cursed about her indecisiveness and unfairness.

Aiko scrunched her face a few times. 'Ugh! Fine!'

Aiko clicked on the second option.

[You have obtained [Book of Providence]!]

Aiko nodded slowly. She went into the bathroom and took out the book.

[Your current Providence: 10,000 (####)]

That was all that was written in the book.

"FUCK!" Aiko cursed loudly. She was scammed once again!

"Are you alright?" Lady Liu asked with concern.

"Yeah, I just stubbed my toe, everything is alright!" Aiko lied through her teeth and turned the page. There had to be something more about this book!

[Mei's Providence: 100,000]

'Oh! It shows the providence of others!' Aiko's eyes shined.

[####'s (Blood Fox) Providence: 1 (Declined from 10,000,000)]

'What the fuck?!' Aiko choked at that huge number, but she tilted her head. 'What do you mean declined? Can that happen?' Aiko couldn't understand quite well.

She looked through it more.

[Umbra Fox's Providence: 100 (Climbing)]

'At least someone has lower Providence than I do!' Aiko was somewhat happy that she wasn't a bottom feeder! But she still didn't know what providence was...

She sighed and scrolled the book. There were many empty pages, but then the Inscription Saint appeared.

[Chen Shi's Providence (In this life): 1,000,000]

'Fuck that's high!' Aiko's eyes rolled around. 'No wonder he is how he is...'

She turned another page and when she saw the number, she almost choked to death.

[Liu Zhi's Providence: 1 (Declined from 1,000,000,000)]

'It's declined, but that's still too many 0s!' Aiko's mind spun around, she did not understand what Providence was, but she did understand that those numbers were not common!

Aiko rolled a few more pages, but those names were blurred and she could not read them nor see their Providence, so she soon gave up.

'It's not really interesting, since I don't understand what I should be looking for...

Aiko closed the book and stored it inside her inventory.

She came out of the bathroom and Lady Liu was staring at her with a strange glint in her eyes.

Aiko didn't understand why Liu Zhi looked at her like that, but it was not a hostile gaze, so she didn't mind.

"This will be it for now." Lady Liu smiled gently.

The team breathed a sigh of relief, since Aiko was banned from doing almost anything fun, they were coming and going to Lady Liu for lessons each day and sometimes even multiple times a day.

At first, they were having fun, but the harder it got, the less gentle Lady Liu became.

Aiko didn't mind it as much, since there was nothing to do, but her team didn't agree. They really wanted to run away, but they also believed their spirits weren't any weaker than Aiko's, so they refused to give in.

This delighted Lady Liu, since most Cultivators would leave after the basic course, but Aiko and her team were now on the advanced course and approaching the expert course.

"You have been doing wonderfully." Lady Liu praised them with a gentle smile.

The team sighed. They didn't expect that Aiko would still have so much energy.

"We are approaching the Capital, so our lessons will temporarily come to an end." She sighed sadly. "But worry not, we will switch future lessons from etiquette to beauty and beauty treatments." Lady Liu giggled when she saw the shine in their eyes.

They nodded enthusiastically.

"Good, now go." Lady Liu escorted them away, but it looked like she was shooing them away.

The team was puzzled, but they didn't dwell on it too much.

...

They returned to their room. Aiko still didn't have anything to do, but wait.

She sighed out of boredom. "I will visit Lady Liu again." She stood up. "You don't have to come with me." Aiko stared at the tired duo that was trying to get up.

They breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't need to follow her.

Aiko marched towards Liu Zhi's room. She knocked again, but nobody answered. She waited for a bit, her ears were picking up strange sounds, which meant she was inside.

Aiko waited a bit more before she entered. She was slightly worried about Lady Liu.

That was a mistake...

Once Aiko entered, she saw the pair of lovebirds making out on the sofa.

Aiko once again froze stiff, but this time she didn't wait and slowly made her exit.

'Let's leave them some room to finish...' Aiko nodded slowly.

She closed the doors behind her and browsed her storage ring.

She took a sheet of paper and pen to write down:

My apologies for disturbing you, I wish to visit you again and play with you Lady Liu, but I will wait till you are finished with your 'work'.

Sincerely Aiko

Aiko folded that paper and placed it in between the cracks, so that it would fall down once one of them tried to leave the room.

Aiko returned to her team. They looked at her strangely, but Aiko replied simply.

"It's better to give them some time." Aiko looked away right after.

The team rolled their eyes. Aiko attracted those kind of situations, like moths do flames, so both of them vowed to only do it when they knew they either had distance, or locked doors between themselves and Aiko.

Her team sighed at her openly and Aiko flinched defensively. "It's not my fault that they decided to go at it in the middle of the day!" Aiko felt wronged.

Her team's judgemental gaze shocked her.

"You are so mean!" Aiko sobbed and stormed to her little castle made out of pillows.

Yes, that's right. Aiko was so bored that she was building castles and other buildings out of pillows.

This was a harmless game and it also allowed her to sleep better without terrorising her Blood Fox’s tails.

The castle shook gently from the impact of Aiko jumping into it, but it still stood 'strong'.

Her team giggled and shook their heads.

"One stare and our Mistress loses all reason." The Umbra Fox sighed and pouted.

"Would you be happy if we judged you for your 'luck'?" The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes and smiled dangerously.

The Umbra Fox ignored that stare and thought about it...

"No... I wouldn't..." Her lips tightened, she wouldn't like that at all. 'But... It's so fun to tease Mistress, considering what she is doing to me when I dream- What am I saying!?' The Umbra Fox shook her head. Her delusions were getting the best of her...

The Blood Fox watched the strange Umbra Fox with narrowed eyes. There was a sense of betrayal and she didn't like that.

Aiko's ears popped out of the top of the castle. This indicated that she was already asleep.

"Should we fix her little castle?" The Umbra Fox asked.

"We should, but let's wait, she will thrash around a bit more and we would have to fix it each time." The Blood Fox didn't reject that motion, they just postponed it so they didn't have to work that often.

That's right. Aiko's indestructible castle was not as indestructible as she thought. She was not aware that her team patched her castle here and there, allowing her to sleep in it without waking up to the mess.

"But it's still cute because her ears twitch." The Umbra Fox suddenly commented.

The Blood Fox nodded in agreement. "She must be dreaming something nice..."

...

Aiko was currently being chased by gigantic Chen Shi.

"You peeping tom!" Chen Shi roared and Aiko ran even faster away from him...

...

Aiko woke up the next day. She was bored, so she went on the deck.

There she stretched gently.

She looked left, there she saw a familiar bird.

She looked right. There was nothing there.

She looked up. There was nothing there.

She yawned and wanted to go inside when her brain finally caught up to her sight.

"Ah! You pecking bastard!" Aiko suddenly roared at that stupid bird.

The bird flinched in confusion.

Aiko transformed into her fox form.

"Ah! You slapping bitch!" The birdie likewise roared back.

He flew onto the deck and was ready to peck her.

Aiko was likewise ready to slap him.

""What is happening?!"" Two voices said in sync.

The Chen boy looked over the Great Roc.

The Great Roc Mother looked over him.

One pecked a small Roc, while the other pinched the Fox.

They nodded at each other in understanding and each of them returned to their places.

It took a while for both of them to understand what was happening, but Aiko soon roared.

"Let me slap that bastard!" Aiko tried to wiggle free from his pinch, but it was too powerful and she couldn't free herself...

"Let me peck her, Mom!" The Roc likewise struggled, but couldn't escape.

Both of them sighed, but didn't let them escape.

They already had enough troubles with the oncoming beast tides, they didn't need another conflict to arise.

"As an apology, let me invite you later for a tea." Chen Shi suddenly said.

"I will accept your apology, but the tea will have to wait." Great Roc Mother said gently, before she flew off.

The Inscription Saint sighed, he hoped that this wouldn't become an issue.

"And you! You rascal! What were you doing outside?!" Chen Shi reprimanded Aiko.

"I'm bored! I'm bored!" Aiko protested. Lazing around was nice, but that optimism only lasted for a few days. "Maybe if you didn't occupy Liu Zhi I wouldn't cause trouble!" Aiko spat at him.

He blushed red. "You rascal! Were you peeping at us again?!" He was upset.

"Lock the doors next time, idiot!" Aiko showed him her tongue.

A vein popped on his forehead and he ruffled Aiko's fur.

"Stop it!" Aiko bit him again and again, but a translucent barrier stopped her.

"Fuck! I can't even bite you!" Aiko cursed him openly.

The blushing Liu Zhi glared at Chen Shi.

Chen Shi flinched from her gaze.

"You didn't lock the door?" Something about her smile was off and cold sweat ran down his spine.

Aiko found the perfect counterattack. "Liu Zhi, you have to teach me how to seduce others!" Aiko's comment did not help with the situation. "It was so hot how he was all over you~!" Yes, Aiko intended to pour all the oil she could muster up into that fire so she could burn down this whole place for the grandest ever-blazing revenge~!

Liu Zhi glared at Chen Shi. This was all his fault, since he convinced her they wouldn't be found out.

She came close to him and pulled him by the ear.

"Liu Zhi..." Chen Shi felt wronged and sobbed sadly.

"Silence!" Liu Zhi was upset, since Aiko was still a child and she shouldn't have seen that kind of sight!