Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko rolled on the bed. There are only a few days left till they can leave this ship and explore the capital.

Her team was drinking tea and chatting about something, but Aiko was not interested enough to eavesdrop on them.

She yawned a few times, still slightly upset that she couldn't battle it out with that bastard.

Aiko got up slowly. She would sneak onto the deck since Lady Liu would be currently reprimanding him.

...

It was easier than Aiko expected.

The fresh air and light breeze caressed her body and she felt alive yet again.

It was too stuffy down inside, but now that she breathed that fresh air, she felt a lot less restless and bored.

If she knew that this was all it took to get rid of her boredom, she would do it sooner.

She gazed at the endless scenery, on her back was that familiar Primordial Soul Wood.

"Master?" The Ghost finally popped out again.

"What is it?" Aiko yawned, she didn't want to listen to him.

'How mean...' Slave 1 sobbed inside his mind. "Are we heading towards Human settlement?" He suddenly asked.

"Yeah?" Aiko didn't know where he was going with this.

"There are many Beast Energies inside that settlement, you should be careful." Slave 1 warned her.

Aiko nodded slowly. It was not that strange that Beasts were inside the settlement since she also went on missions into the cities.

That meant that Foxes might inhabit this settlement... which would be interesting.

'Only one person can take the same mission.' Aiko tilted her head. 'I wonder what kind of mission they are on.'

She was curious but that curiosity could wait. Even if she had a sudden surge of interest to act on that information, she still lack the methods to contact and ask them, nor did she know who to look for.

Aiko leaned against the railing, watching as the hills and mountains passed by.

"There are not many rivers." Aiko pondered a bit.

"Most rivers were dried up when Mahayana Cultivators fought some way from here." He explained.

Aiko nodded slowly.

How amazing and powerful do they have to be to permanently change the landscape?

Aiko wanted to see them fight, but since they caused such large-scale destruction... there was no way she would be able to survive that, which saddened her.

She rolled on the railing.

Aiko would have to capture some Human Cultivators for Soul Fluid, but even before that, she would have to make the relic which extracted that Soul Fluid. That meant she would have to learn Forging.

Aiko hoped that it was easier than Alchemy, she also hoped that she would finally be able to utilize the [The Ever Shaping Cauldron] for it's intended purpose. That would save her a lot of trouble since she would be able to carry it within her.

"What are you doing here?" A stern voice asked her.

Aiko's ears perked up. "Were you bullied enough?" Aiko asked flatly.

The Inscription Saint glared at her. "Lady Liu wants to see you."

"Oh... you have been demoted." Aiko nodded with a smile, several veins popped on his forehead, but he didn't do anything and hmpfed away from her, lest she said anything more and he would be demoted to complete stranger...

Aiko stood up from her lazy rolling and slowly walked towards Lady Liu's door.

*Knock Knock*

Aiko knocked softly, but loudly enough that she would be heard.

"Come in." A nice voice welcomed her inside.

"Lady Liu." Aiko bowed elegantly and Liu Zhi nodded gently.

"You are improving well." She praised Aiko softly. She would have to adjust a few of her movements, but other than that, it was almost a perfect greeting.

Of course, Cultivators had a different kind of greeting, but seeing Aiko's aversion to general Cultivators, she hadn't taught her yet.

"We are almost at the Capital." She said slowly. "There is a council that will discuss the incoming Stampede." She said with concern. "We will be joining, but I will be mostly a third wheel, so if you wish to keep me company, you can come with us."

Aiko furrowed her small brows. "I'm not sure..." She hesitated, since the only other Beast and Cultivators she met were all weirdos. She didn't want to attract the attention of yet another weirdo.

"I knew you might not want to go, so I asked Chen Shi to get you a map of the Capital." She smiled gently. "This will help you during your exploration." She gently caressed Aiko's head.

Aiko nodded. "That would be great, we wouldn't need to sneak around to find the important facilities." Aiko smiled back and hugged Lady Liu.

"Now!" Lady Liu clapped her hands. "It's time for grooming!" She smiled with different hair brushes in each hand and others littered around her.

Aiko stared blankly, they were not there when she came inside. 'Where did they appear from??'

Aiko couldn't understand what happened nor how she was already sitting on her lap.

Lady Liu was happily humming while grooming her hair and tail with a blissful expression.

Aiko was puzzled, but she didn't shy away. Lady Liu was happy and didn't scold her, so that was all that mattered to her...

...

The remaining days were peaceful and Aiko was even allowed back on deck.

That didn't last long, since they arrived at the Capital the next day.

Aiko pouted. She wanted to fly a bit more and enjoy the breeze, but the Inscription Saint looked like he was in a hurry, so she didn't press him on.

She shook her head in disappointment when they landed outside.

Aiko wanted to see the Capital from the air when they flew over, but unfortunately, they couldn't.

And for a good reason.

Each city has a Defensive Array that protects it from most common harm, but most of these Arrays, including this one are mass-produced, they have many flaws. One of which is that they don't take large amounts of Qi kindly and flying ships were more or less oversized lumps of Qi that could easily mess up the Array, making the city defenceless.

The Inscription Saint was aware of that and that's why he landed outside, not that he would explain any of this to Aiko and her team.

He was still sulking from the fact that Lady Liu scolded him so much, he felt wronged by that. As such, he would take it out on Aiko and her team without Lady Liu's knowledge.

That allowed him to vent and at the same time not worsen his relationship.

Unfortunately, The Venerable Inscription Saint had left out one fatal flaw, his target was brimming with as much if not more immaturity than him. As such, he would later find out that this silly plan of his would not be very effective...

'I will have to build everything from scratch...' He cried in his mind.

While Lady Liu held a very prudent image, she didn't mind engaging in those kinds of activities as long as nobody found out.

But they were found out by the worst person, which was Aiko.

Lady Liu was not aware of what was happening inside the Fox Village, so she thought that Aiko was a simple child who went outside to explore the world and do some Sect missions.

She was half-right, but Aiko was no child. Her eyes were already tainted by the Fox Village in addition to the Human side when she visited the Inscription Association.

If Lady Liu knew this, she wouldn't scold Chen Shi as harshly as she did, but unfortunately, she couldn't ask Aiko what kind of experience she has.

...

Aiko jumped down with her team, while Lady Liu waited for the descending stairs to form so she could go down slowly and safely.

They met down on the ground after 10 minutes, Lady Liu told them about their accommodation inside the Capital and bid them farewell, since Chen Shi was a very busy person.

Aiko didn't mind this abrupt goodbye, since they agreed to meet later and have their small classes with her.

Aiko was not concerned about what might happen to Liu Zhi, since Chen Shi would protect her.

Aiko could go inside the City with peace of mind and explore it to her heart's content.

She even got a map from that sulking guy!

Aiko opened the map and many other maps fell from it.

The main map was simple, it showed and labelled on the main districts.

The smaller maps were of those districts, with detailed buildings and their names, so Aiko could figure out where she wanted to go.

Aiko nodded gently. They would first visit the manufacturing district.

She was interested in Forging, so she could create that thing.

Aiko nodded and walked towards that district, but first, they had to pass the main gate.

She sneaked back to Lady Liu and Chen Shi, since she didn't want to wait.

"How dare you skip the lane!" One angry lady wanted to grab the pipsqueak that was cutting the waiting line, but Aiko was too nimble for her.

"Mind your business, stinky hag!" Aiko was upset that some random old hag tried to grab her.

"You-!" She wanted to continue this battle with this brat, but unfortunately, that pipsqueak got away.

"You are causing trouble again..." Chen Shi wanted to reprimand her, but was stopped by Lady Liu.

"It's fine, since they want to cause trouble, it's only natural that they would pick someone that looks small and weak." Lady Liu shook her head at Chen Shi, like she was trying to teach an unruly child.

Chen Shi choked when he saw her expression and his expression changed to a crestfallen one...

"If someone bothers you, don't hesitate to strike back. You are part of the Cultivation World." Lady Liu sighed. "That's like a wolf's world, if you don't bite, they might eat you alive." She gestured to the unsavoury world that they lived in.

Aiko had a Recognition Inhibition bracelet on her, both of them, which allowed her to reduce her presence greatly. Paired with her Assassination Uniform, which slightly dampened her presence, most mortals would not be able to notice her...

"I know, don't worry." Aiko knew about this, but she didn't want to kill indiscriminately... She didn't know how to extract the Souls and how to keep them.

It would be a waste to kill them now... unless they would be individuals that would cause troubles in the future, then Aiko would not hesitate to cleanly cut them by the stem. If she knew that those behind the person she killed might cause trouble, then she would definitely pull them by their roots!

...

They passed by that huge and glorious gate. It was much smaller from a distance, but after seeing it up close, it... it could easily reach 40 metres in height! Aiko was tiny compared to it!

The Capital inside those walls was similarly glorious and wealthy.

All the roads were from some kind of precious stone, side roads were included.

Lamps were everywhere, illuminating everything, which greatly put the residents at ease and reduced the crime rate.

Soldiers were making patrols here and there, even more enforcing the safety feeling that the huge walls and lamps provided.

Aiko was impressed by their wealth. She would be able to learn about those kinds of things. She also hoped that the Imperial family was dignified and knew how to decorate things...

Now, Aiko was slightly saddened that she hadn't taken Lady Liu on her offer before...