Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

 

Aiko looked around to see if she could spot Lady Liu whom she separated from.

Unfortunately, she could not see her, but fortunately, her ears were still sharp.

Aiko guided her team around the alleys until they found them.

"Lady Liu." Aiko smiled and ran up to her, but froze when she saw a certain someone.

"Agh! You little-!" Aiko raged, but was quickly covered by Blood Fox's hand.

"You little-!" Likewise, that brat was shut by his mother.

Aiko’s team's lips twitched. The Great Roc Mother's lips twitched.

Lady Liu giggled. "Do you know each other?" She asked gently, but she was enjoying the sight of two children trying to duke it out and their 'parents' trying to stop them.

"You are enjoying yourself a bit too much, Lady Liu." The Great Roc Mother in her Human form smiled.

"You are imagining things." Liu Zhi giggled.

The Inscription Saint was holding his forehead. He didn't want to deal with the fallout of this thing...

"What did you need?" Liu Zhi gently patted Aiko to calm her down.

Aiko stiffened. 'Right... I was here to join Lady Liu.' Aiko nodded and spoke, but Blood Fox still covered her mouth.

"Passion?" Lady Liu laughed.

The Blood Fox blushed and released Aiko, she was still thinking about how they would survive this meeting and she completely ignored her surroundings.

"Can I join you, Liu Zhi?" Aiko hugged her with cute fox eyes and droopy ears.

The Great Roc Mother raised her eyebrows. She didn't believe that Lady Liu would be this close to other Beasts and to a Fox no less.

Lady Liu pinched Aiko's cheeks. "Why do you want to join us?" Naturally, this cutesy act didn't completely work on her.

The Great Roc Mother was apprehensive about this Fox, since Foxes liked to mess with people, which might cause trouble during the council. This council was important for both Beasts and Humans, but not Foxes.

Foxes had their Grand Defensive Formation that was hard to decipher. It was powerful enough to stop the Stampede, which meant they had no need to attend this event...

"I want to see their decoration sense and if I like it I hope to learn it." Aiko didn't conceal it, since she knew Lady Liu didn't like beating around the bush... at least for certain things.

The Great Roc Mother almost face-planted when she heard Aiko's reason. 'There is no way this is the real reason...' She narrowed her eyes, while she held her son tightly so he wouldn't cause trouble.

Lady Liu laughed. "Alright, but don't wander around, okay?" Lady Liu readily agreed and petted Aiko again.

'She agreed?!' The Great Roc Mother was shocked. She couldn't understand why Lady Liu would endanger this council just so she could indulge a stupid lustful Fox...

Liu Zhi felt that gaze and smiled. "You will understand soon." She liked this Fox since she was different.

Aiko smiled from ear to ear and stuck close to Lady Liu. She smirked towards Chen Shi.

His veins bulged and he wanted to slap this rascal, but he couldn't. After all, he was still a dignified Inscription Saint! Or so he thought...

The Great Roc Mother glanced at this strange triangle. 'Well... this definitely will be fun.' She smiled slightly.

'She is smirking at me!' Chen Shi cried in his mind when he saw the always expressionless Great Roc Mother smile slightly.

"We are first going to our residence to prepare." Lady Liu said while caressing Aiko's hair, the silkiness of it was truly addicting.

The Great Roc Mother followed them, mostly because she wanted to visit Lady Liu again. The last time she visited her was not that long, only around 40 years ago, but the strain of time could be seen on Lady Liu...

'I should've visited sooner.' The Great Roc Mother liked Lady Liu and Chen Shi, so she hoped that she would be able to become closer to them.

...

They arrived at the Cloud Seeking Manor. It was a huge and glorious Manor with a moat in front of the main wall.

They crossed a well-decorated bridge.

Aiko was already restless since this place was simply breathtaking!

When they entered, there were gardens in front of them. Ponds with fishes swimming inside and Cherry Blossoms trees planted here and there.

It was a peaceful and tranquil courtyard.

Lady Liu was likewise surprised, as she didn't see all that many places. While Cultivators could cross thousands upon thousands of Li, that was not the case for Mortals. They could barely cross 200 Li before they were eaten by wild Beasts.

Liu Zhi knew about Aiko's restlessness and surprise. She was a very intelligent person.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to enjoy and browse with Aiko around.

"Go." Liu Shi nudged Aiko inside, letting her free.

"Really?!" Aiko was shocked, but Lady Liu smiled gently.

"En. Now go before you are called back again-" Before she could even finish her words, Aiko had already darted inside. "And she is gone." Lady Liu laughed.

"Shall we?" She smiled at the confused duo.

"She will destroy things..." Chen Shi swallowed the rest of his words because of her glare.

"I... don't understand?" The Great Roc Mother was confused.

"They are not here to seduce Humans." She more or less understood the Fox's backstories when she taught them back on the flying ship and Capital City.

The Great Roc Mother's mind was confused. She met many Foxes, but one thing was unanimous, their love for sex and seduction.

"You wouldn't believe how clumsy she is." Lady Liu sighed. "She is more of a tomboy than an actual Fox." She shook her head.

The Great Roc Mother's lips tightened. She didn't believe it, all she could see was a refined young lady, albeit with an air of immaturity around her.

"Fortunately, they learned well..." Lady Liu laughed when she remembered their first classes. They couldn't even maintain a straight back...

"You..." The Great Roc Mother didn't want to admit it, but she had to be the 'adult' here. "Really like them..."

"En. They are cuties with their own lives and fates." She nodded, but the Great Roc Mother’s face hardened.

She looked at Chen Zhi, but he shook his head, saying that it was useless to try to stop her...

Her heart ached, but she couldn't do anything about it. 'If she were a Cultivator I could feed her some Herbs to improve her constitution, but she is a Mortal, it would be bad if something happened to her just because of my negligence...' She sighed and came closer to Lady Liu, placing her Human hand on her.

She was old and wise, but it still pained her to see her interest slowly destroy herself...

"I'm alright." Lady Liu smiled gently. "Lives come and go. This wouldn't be the first nor the last time I will experience this."

As her end was drawing near, emotions and memories from previous lives slowly resurfaced.

The Great Roc Mother choked. "You will be tormented by the Buddhists again!" She hated those bald bastards that chanted their fart scriptures!

"That is something that I can't avoid..." But there was a strange smile on her lips.

"Don't cry." She wiped the Great Roc Mother's tear that was about to slip.

Chen Shi realised something and his muscles tightened, it seemed that he was not the only one trying to pursue Lady Liu.

'Not to mention there was one annoying brat trying to stick to her.' He glared towards the direction where Aiko and her team disappeared...

...

Aiko ran around the gardens. There were a few bridges over the ponds. Everything was extremely well decorated, like it was a singing orchestra of colours and sounds.

There were even a few coloured birds flying around.

Fortunately, Aiko ate enough or they might've become good fried chickens.

She loved the sense of stability and equilibrium this place provided.

'I want to recreate this feeling!' Aiko thought.

Suddenly she spotted a few noises and sneaked towards them.

They were Human Cultivators in black clothing with weapons that smelled bad.

They communicated through signs and Aiko didn't like that.

She couldn't translate what they were saying, which upset her and concerned her.

This place smelled wonderful, so there was no way that perfectionist Chen Shi would allow them to wear such smelly weapons.

Aiko stretched gently and dashed towards them.

They looked shocked and took a defensive stance, but they were easily defeated by Aiko's left hand.

Those who wanted to run away were subjugated by Umbra Fox's nimbleness.

"You are amazing." Aiko's eyes shined on the Umbra Fox's body.

Umbra Fox blushed red since this kind of gaze reminded her of- Ahem, it was not good for her lus- fragile heart.

The Umbra Fox asked like a servant. "What should we do with them, Mistress?"

"Strip them, tie them tightly and we will hand them over to the Inscription Saint." Aiko commanded and her group got to work.

While she felt much better, she didn't want to burden her right and dominant hand if she didn't need to.

She had to admit that having servants was a really nice thing sometimes...

...

"This is an amazing pebble." The Great Roc Mother was touching the Artefact that Aiko created. "I only have a few treasures with similar effects, but none that wouldn't affect your lifespan..."

She noticed that this Artefact was powerful, but it was not as Qi-hungry as her artefacts.

"This is a replica of a very old Artefact." Chen Shi commented. "In those times, people were obsessed about efficiency. If it affected their Cultivation even slightly, they considered it a failure." He gave them some background about it.

"Amazing!" The Great Roc Mother nodded like a child who found an interesting toy. Moreover, Aiko's image improved greatly in her mind.

"Do you think she can recreate some of my Treasures and Artefacts?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Treasures? Sure. Artefact? That would depend." Chen Shi didn't like to praise that rascal, but he had to admit that her ability in Inscriptions would surpass his, one day.

She nodded. "That's good, that's good." She needed a few Artefacts to leave this realm and she needed to do it as soon as possible.

If she could speed up the process, she didn't mind sacrificing a few Treasures for this, since they were unusable in higher Realms/Worlds.

Suddenly the window opened and Aiko jumped inside.

"We found some smelly bastards!" Aiko giggled and they threw them on the ground in front of them.

They looked messed up, some of their teeth were missing and their faces and bodies were covered with bruises.

"I have stored the weapons for the time being, but I will hand them over once we are alone." Aiko said to the Inscription Saint.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why not now?"

"Because they poison the air." Aiko looked towards Lady Liu and the Inscription Saint understood.

"Fine." He didn't want to go along with this rascal's suggestions, but he also didn't want to endanger Lady Liu's life.