Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

"Anyone else that wants to steal from me?" Aiko stared around, but most of them avoided her eyes. The only ones that didn't were the peanut gallery from Herb Garden; those were shaking their heads desperately.

"Hmpf." Aiko pouted, feeling annoyed that it was over and she couldn't play any more.

Aiko pouted, but returned to shopping with the old lady.

That old lady was staring at her speechlessly.

"You will be in trouble since she is part of a Sect and I heard that they are making a deal with the shitty Herb Garden." The old lady shook her head.

"Oh..." Aiko slowly nodded, she wondered who would want to deal with that place. Fortunately, she had already robbed them through that challenge, so there was no need to return there.

Sure, she did want to buy some Herbs; so that Mei was not burdened.

But not any more, the quality was too low compared to what Mei always had around her. Not to mention, most of them were already old and not in a good way...

Aiko was happy not to visit them again.

She stared at the other things the old lady had, but nothing really attracted her attention.

"Well, if they come, I will have more people to play with." Aiko smiled gently and stood up.

The crowd immediately parted ways, like they were trying to distance themselves.

The old lady's lips twitched. This little girl was just a handful.

She looked towards the attendants that the little girl had. They were cleaning the bodies, tying them up and throwing them aside.

They had smooth movements, as if they had already experienced these thousands of times.

The old lady glanced pitifully at them before returning her attention to her store.

Aiko tilted her head, not understanding that gaze, but she just shrugged and went her own way.

Of course, she waited for her team to finish first, but she still wanted to explore this place a bit more.

...

She ventured with her team around the market, most selling some kind of Beast Cores or Herbs.

Some had even cracked Beast Cores, which were useless for her, but apparently, they were very useful for Alchemists.

They could harvest it into a powder and use that powder as an enhancement for Flames or the Pill itself.

Aiko was very interested in how this worked. Nurturing one's Flame meant that she would have a portable warmer, which was a very attractive thought.

She could use that to warm her Den or bed by simply conjuring it.

There was no need for any Skills or Abilities that would consume her Qi as this Flame, unless stoked hot, would not consume any Qi!

Aiko's gaze burned, she really wanted her own Flame, but she didn't hear how to get it...

'Maybe if I ask someone who uses flames...' Aiko narrowed her eyes and stared at the Phoenix Blessing. She could not ask the blessing, but she could ask other Phoenixes; not to mention there was also that horned girl who was most likely a dragon.

'It would make sense since she had rough scales and looked scary...' Aiko thought about it, while she did like her imposing nature... she was still scary to look at.

She also didn't understand why that horned girl would help her.

"That's her!" A Female Cultivator shouted, but Aiko completely ignored her as she was deep in thought.

Aiko was still thinking about the flame and if she should even ask others, since she could ask Mei...

Aiko suddenly raised her head and met the eyes of the scary horned girl.

"How do I get my own Flame?" Aiko blurted out. She was thinking about it a bit too hard, so it just slipped from her mind to her lips.

The horned girl's group laughed, but Aiko tightened her lips.

'That was a slip.' Aiko's lips twitched. She should not have been thinking about it so hard that she would create such a blunder.

Aiko stared at the horned girl and the horned girl smiled lightly.

She could not understand why the horned girl was smiling at her and it was even stranger since her group was laughing in her direction.

'This situation is strange.' Aiko shook her head.

"You can find natural Flames around hot environments, but that's not always the case." The horned girl replied. While she was scary, her voice was very soothing to Aiko's ears.

Aiko always thought that this girl would sound like scraping sandpaper, but that was not the case.

"There are places where abnormal or mutated Flames are born." She gently and slowly explained.

Aiko nodded.

"Senior Sister!" The Arrogant Female Cultivator yelled again. "She is the one that stole my Black Stone!" She cried out.

Aiko completely ignored her. "But if they can be found in other places... No. How do you even find them?" She really wanted that flame and if she could procure a special Flame that would make the food more delicious...

Aiko wiped her saliva and stared at the horned girl.

Yueying chuckled. "There is no real way to find them, but some had good luck through the assistance of a Spirit Seeker."

"Senior Sister!" The Arrogant Female Cultivator yelled at the top of her lungs and Aiko finally turned towards her.

"Ah, it's the abusing thief." Aiko blurted out, but this time it was not by accident.

The Arrogant Female Cultivator snapped towards the little girl and glared at her.

Aiko marvelled at her work, since her face was distorted and squished from that headbutt.

The Arrogant Female Cultivator was a shorter female, although that might've been because of the headbutt... while she could not be considered breathtaking, she was still a beauty... if you exclude her squished face.

She kept glaring at the little girl and coaxing her Senior to take action.

"She stole the Black Stone, injured other Senior Brothers and then injured me!" The Arrogant Female Cultivator shouted again.

She swayed her hips and jiggled her breast to get the male Cultivators on her side.

Aiko frowned, she didn't have any jiggle physics, which upset her.

She didn't care much about the male Cultivators, since they were nobodies that couldn't threaten her.

"She is just a thief." Aiko shrugged, but it was obvious she would not talk about it.

"You can say more." Yueying chuckled.

"Eh, I don't wanna, it's no fun." Aiko pouted. While the horned girl was scary, Aiko was still more powerful... in escaping.

She didn't worry about them since the only threat was the horned girl, but that same girl was really nice.

Aiko was puzzled, but at the same time, she was happy since it seemed like she would be able to play with them.

The male Cultivators glared at her, but it was not a deathly glare, since Aiko was also quite pretty; albeit small...

Aiko was naturally repulsed by them and recoiled in disgust, which upset them.

It could be said they were handsome Seniors and nobody would ever recoil from seeing them! Yet this little thing did so as if she was looking at vile garbage, greatly damaging their ego!

They stared at the little girl in anger.

"Eugh." Aiko made a vomiting gesture and their blood boiled.

They really wanted to fight her, but they were incognito, so they couldn't cause a commotion.

Why did they hang around the Beast? Because they thought they could coax her off her treasures... and some thought that the horned girl was hot...

They were just low-lives that chased girls around.

Aiko naturally didn't like that, not to mention that they were Humans. Smelly Humans that liked to get flagged by her.

Why did they like it? Because they lined themselves in front of Aiko to do her good job of planting flags!

"Anyway, are we going to fight?" Aiko said with a straight face.

She didn't fight enough for today, since verbal fights didn't count.

Aiko was itching for a normal fight where they would try to injure her, that way she could justify stealing their things.

The whole group choked, since the only one who knew of the little girl's terror was the Arrogant Female Cultivator.

Naturally, she would not talk about what she experienced and would just twist the reality as she saw fit.

The Arrogant Female Cultivator already did it so many times that it was natural for her.

She had her weapons. Namely, her body and poses that she painstakingly practised in front of the mirror to appease Senior Brothers, who then showered her with endless affection and gifts!

Aiko cracked her small fists, ready to fight.

"What's happening here?" An elderly voice drifted into their ears.

Aiko turned towards him since that voice felt familiar.

"Oh, it's you." Aiko nodded towards him. "Do we have the date for another council?" She asked him without batting an eye.

Unbeknownst to her, this sends a clear message to the group.

This little girl was part of the prestigious council that was dealing with the incoming stampede.

*Hiss*

The group hissed and shrunk back. They could bully others normally, but they weren't allowed to interact with council members; much less bully them.

The elderly Cultivator paused. This little girl was familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Don't tell me you forgot the mess I caused, both during the first council and the banquet." Aiko's face hardened; she didn't believe that he was so stupid.

The horned girl's group was confused as they only heard that both of those events went smoothly.

The elderly Cultivator choked. "What are you doing here?! We didn't get notified that you left the Palace." He thought about it for some more, but he couldn't remember any news about this group of Foxes.

"We are shopping. Do we need your permission for something like this, old geezer?" Aiko put her hands on her hips, but since she was small... all it really did was make her look like a cute, pouty child.

The elderly Cultivator hardened, as he was not supposed to talk about the fact they would get notified if someone left...

"It's fine, it's fine. The day is not set yet, since the Emperor is taking his sweet time..." The elderly Cultivator shook his head.

He was just a white-haired old grandpa with a long beard and an even longer lifespan. He could wait a few years without worry.

That could not be said for others, as some of them had very limited lifespans and they were looking for good vessels to transfer their Souls.

Was it unethical? Yes. But that was only if others found out, they could always alter their appearance with Artefacts and other tools...