Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko lay on the half-broken table. It was still somewhat comfortable and pieces of her scribbles were still visible, but those same pieces bothered her greatly.

Because the grooves were quite deep, it was not comfortable to lie on top of it.

This made Aiko quite restless and slightly upset.

She checked her system.

Her Level increased once again, quite nicely this time.

Maybe because the assassins were drugged to increase their power, they gave out more experience?

Unfortunately, she had no way to test this since she didn't know what kind of drug that guy used.

'I could ask that Ghost, but she is asleep.' Aiko frowned even more.

'Even a Ghost has a nicer place to live in!' Aiko was really upset.

Her profession also advanced, but she couldn't tell if it was a bad thing or a good thing.

Her wealth didn't change much since she didn't really buy anything, but her titles changed quite a lot.

[Cruel Slaughterer]
[The User will be less affected by bad karma.]

This was quite dubious. She could see her providence, but not Karma. She didn't know how significant this would be and if it was a good thing or not.

Aiko was a Fox, so the normal good and bad karma might not apply to her. Furthermore, she can't be considered to be on the 'good' spectrum, considering she plays with Souls.

That was not necessarily a bad thing, since if she went against the tide, she wouldn't be where she is currently... No, scratch that. Because of her abnormal behaviour, she attracted so much attention and ended up like this!

Aiko considered this to be good; she skipped so many stages of her life where she would have to struggle by just being cute. This was a great benefit, but that begs another question.

How bad will this whole thing turn once she becomes breathtakingly beautiful...?

Aiko shivered at that thought, she would definitely search for some kind of way to stay cute to avoid unnecessary problems.

[Plague Master]
[The User knows more about plagues and the User is somewhat immune to diseases.]

This was a good thing, no questions asked; it didn't consume any energy and she didn't need to activate it.

That meant that as long as this title existed, she would be somewhat safe from diseases...

'But how much is that?' Aiko already understood the difference between 'Mortal' and 'Immortal' stuff.

She might be immune to 'Mortal' disease, but not 'Immortal'.

'I can't even ask...' Aiko frowned. The system was silent for quite a long time and she was not talking about the notifications.

Aiko wondered what happened, but even if she thought about it hard, there were just too many possibilities...

'The important thing is that the system is still working.' Aiko nodded her head gently, which made her a bit more sleepy.

[Daylight Robber]
[The User is more successful in stealing attempts while in daylight.]

The rest she already knew about, but to quickly recap it...

[Gruesome Craftsman]
[Allows the User to strengthen gruesome creations with Qi!]

[Godly Gruesome Pitcher]
[Whenever the User tries to throw something gruesome, everything about the throw will be enhanced!]

[Poison Taster]
[The User can judge the quality of the poison!]

[Idol of Fear]
[The User naturally inflicts fear upon others. (Can be turned off)]

Aiko hated most of these since that meant she would have to carry rotting heads around to throw, but at the same time, there was a possibility that if she used a rock she wouldn't burn through her Beast Core Energy so fast.

She liked that possibility, which made this whole thing much better.

Her beauty was returning... but fortunately, due to her display, it didn't have any negative effect on her.

Most Sect Leaders either hated her or feared her, which was the best possible outcome considering her insane Beauty.

Other things didn't change, outside the fact that some of her blessings were a shade of grey instead of white.

Aiko could not understand why it changed like that, as all of her blessings changed like that.

'Ah right.' Aiko suddenly remembered the poor little Umbra Fox.

Aiko looked around, but she couldn't see the Umbra Fox. This puzzled her since most bodies were dragged-

'Ah, right...' Aiko rubbed the back of her head.

There needs to be someone who will clean this mess, which leaves either the Prince and his guards or Umbra Fox.

'I should peek inside.' Aiko narrowed her eyes. Everyone was gone and none returned, so she would just make sure that everything was alright inside.

She sneaked a peek through a cracked wall. Her senses spread inside.

The Blood Fox was frowning with beads of sweat? Aiko has never sweated before, so it must be something serious... Wait, can they even sweat?

Aiko would always get dirty, but she couldn't remember if she ever sweated... how strange.

Her senses didn't pick up anything; even her Divine Sense which liked to play around was calm. The Blood Fox was with the princess inside and there was nothing wrong with it.

Aiko immediately straightened her body and went to look for the Umbra Fox.

She had to use her sense of smell, even if she disliked this overscented place. But, the more she focused on finding the smell that mattered, the faster she would find her.

"Eugh." Aiko felt her stomach churn from the awful smell. It was very different if you breathed normally versus if you breathed deeply.

Aiko already hated this place.

She picked up a strange sound somewhat far away, so Aiko went there.

It was near that bamboo forest where she found that lamp.

There were bodies piled up by the guards and Umbra Fox.

"Your... erm... Mistress?" The Prince spoke awkwardly, since he didn't know how he should address the black fox's leader.

"Yes?" The Umbra Fox tilted her head.

"She is quite a handful..." The Prince liked this Fox too, since she was very dutiful and he could use such a good guard and worker.

His guards were all wimps compared to her.

"That is not for you to judge." The Umbra Fox said icily. She already noticed so many gazes on her that it upset her.

She lived in the shadows and next to her Mistress, so it was difficult to associate with others. More so if they were Humans...

She didn't like them. While she did not experience too many grievances against them, that didn't mean she particularly liked them.

They had the favour of Heaven and Earth, which meant that their Cultivation was much smoother and easier.

They were pretty much everywhere and were intruding everywhere.

As long as there was a Treasure, they would be there. That was not necessarily a bad thing, since Beasts did similar things, but Beasts would never group to conquer others... unlike Humans.

The Umbra Fox knew that she would gain a proper human form one day. She was... on the edge about it. On one side she would have easier Cultivation, but on another, she would have to socialise with other Humans...

"My apologies..." The Prince apologised, but frowned internally. Such loyalty was hard to find, but he didn't have the resources to poach her from the little Fox.

The conversation stopped there and the Umbra Fox threw the bodies on a pile.

Aiko felt bad after that conversation, so she was helping on the side, but because everyone's attention was on the Umbra Fox; they didn't notice her.

The Umbra Fox sighed gently, but then she heard a gentle sound on her left.

She expected that the handsome Prince would bother her again, but she found a small Fox throwing corpses on the pile.

"Mistress?!" The Umbra Fox yelled so shocked she almost jumped away.

"Quiet, it hurts." Aiko frowned and rubbed her ears. This place was strange for her ears.

"My apologies, Mistress..." The Umbra Fox blushed. She was so shocked by Aiko helping her that she raised her voice accidentally.

Aiko rubbed her ears and returned to throwing those corpses. Others found it hard, since those corpses were for some reason really heavy.

As for Aiko... She just threw them since she had plenty of throwing Titles.

That made everything easier for her, unlike for everyone else.

They cleaned very quickly, thanks to the little Fox. They were all looking at the small tails swishing from side to side, whenever she threw the corpses.

The guards tried to move the corpses too, but at best they could only drag them...

The guards wanted to burn those corpses so that they wouldn't cause some kind of epidemic.

Aiko frankly couldn't care less about that. She was only here to find the Umbra Fox.

Finished with her work, she brushed her hands, but it didn't really help. The blood was sticky and now she realised she was quite filthy...

"Should we have a bath, Mistress?" The Umbra Fox gently nudged Aiko.

The Secret Guards and Prince immediately perked their ears. Because of all the blood, the Umbra Fox had the Assassination Uniform stick to her body.

It outlined her heavenly curves that would make men roar.

They were naturally trained well, but that didn't mean they could conceal their burning desire in their eyes.

Aiko released a bit of bloodlust and half of the guards fainted. Aiko snorted at them and dragged the Umbra Fox away by hand.

The Umbra Fox had a light blush since she didn't expect for Aiko to be so territorial...

...

{Back in the Garden and near the House with Blood Fox inside}

"I can't have a bath, since I don't trust those questionable guards." Aiko said that openly.

"Oh... then we can take turns, Mistress?" The Umbra Fox didn't want to give up since she was in a sorry state, but Aiko was in a much worse state...

"Do you believe I can wash this out without help?" Aiko whirled around, looking like a wet cat.

"No..." The Umbra Fox coughed awkwardly. It was true that Aiko never really bathed alone and most of the time she was bathed by a Technique instead of the normal way...

"Then you can have a bath and I will wait for the Blood Fox to finish." Aiko nodded gently, but with all that blood she really looked like a poor miss...

"Should I wait with you, Mistress?" The Umbra Fox gently asked, looking at Aiko.

"You don't have to." Aiko shook her head, there would be no difference if they both waited or if only one waited.

Aiko just needed to recover her stamina and she would be able to fight again or deter those pathetic guards...