Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko was carried by that strange lady. She didn't know where they were going, but what she did know was that they were going towards the Treasure.

This put Aiko at ease, moreover, her [Intention Perception] was also not picking anything up, so she took her time to look around.

She was slightly interested in this place, since it was simply too strange.

They were underground, yet there was grass and Aiko could also see some kind of light at the end of this road.

"This isn't the afterlife, right?" Aiko joked, she trusted the Darkness and her senses.

The strange lady laughed. "No, this is not the afterlife. This is my abode that I use when I'm tired." She replied with a smile.

Aiko really liked that voice, so if this test won't be harsh, she would definitely kidnap her for some bedtime stories~!

It felt like the strange lady lived for a very long time. This meant that she would have plenty of stories to tell and entertain her.

Aiko already made plans in her head, when a sudden question interrupted her.

"What are you thinking about?" The strange lady asked.

"How to kidnap you." Aiko accidentally leaked her inner thoughts.

The strange lady choked and laughed. She didn't expect this kind of response.

"I really like your voice." Aiko tried to defend herself. "And since you feel old, that means you have plenty of stories that you can tell me before bed."

While Aiko didn't believe she was young enough for them, she would still enjoy that soothing voice helping her to drift to the dreamland.

The strange lady laughed even more, almost spilling a few tears from how hard she laughed.

Aiko pouted. "I changed my mind." She didn't like when others laughed at her words.

"How cute~" The strange lady hummed and gently pinched the little Fox's cheek.

Aiko inflated like a balloon and looked away. The strange lady was greatly amused by her.

"Well, if you succeed, I don't mind telling you a few stories, but at that point, you won't need to sleep." She shrugged.

"Sleep is eternal!" Aiko proclaimed. Even if she didn't need to sleep, she would still sleep here and there.

She had no idea why, but she felt like it was an important part of her being. It felt like she would lose something if she didn't sleep.

The strange lady raised her eyebrow. She didn't understand this little Fox, but she definitely was amusing, so she would keep watch over here.

"How about visiting me later?" The strange lady asked.

"I will think about it." Aiko didn't want to travel too far from Mei.

The strange lady laughed. "This would be the first time someone didn't give me a straight, yes, answer."

"That's because you don't have a nice tail I can sleep on." Aiko proclaimed, swaying her own tail.

The strange lady burst laughing again. The more she got to know this strange Fox the cuter she became.

"Are we there, strange lady?" Aiko asked. She really didn't like the fact that she was laughing so much at her...

"Almost, almost." The strange lady chuckled.

She was guiding the little Fox to her inheritance ground and wondered what she would do with it.

This would be the last time someone could use the inheritance ground. Afterwards, this place would vanish.

The previous 'rewards' didn't turn out all that well, most of them either died or were killed by their harems. She wondered if this little Fox would be different.

She could faintly smell multiple females on her, which was natural for a Fox, but also not.

Foxes would usually have a ton of smells on them, both male and female, as they didn't really care about the gender for the most part.

Yet this little Fox had only a faint smell of male, which was almost completely faded on her cheek, the rest were females!

Fox females at that! Not human females!

The strange lady smiled as they walked into a clearance.

The damp town cave turned into a small paradise.

"Whoa..." Aiko's eyes widened. She liked this kind of effect so much that she would definitely try to recreate it for her place.

Imagine this. You walk through a damp dark cave, but once you go deep enough you walk into a clearing with trees, flowers, grass, and houses.

How magical would that be?!

In this clearance, there were mostly maidenhair trees, but also a few tallow trees.

Aiko liked the contrast of orange with the soft green from the grass.

"I'm definitely stealing this." Aiko rubbed her hands. "But how do you create something like this underground?" Aiko knew this was still underground. Even with all the light and clouds, there was a strange sense of 'I'm in enclosed space'.

The strange lady chuckled. "You are too young to know these secrets. Get stronger first and I will reward you."

Aiko's eyes burned at the word 'reward'. So much so that the strange lady felt strangely about it, it felt like she would lose quite a lot...

Aiko rubbed her hands like some sleazy trader ready to rob everyone blind.

The strange lady shook her head. She was wealthy enough to indulge in her hobbies, so it should not be a problem to observe and reward one little greedy Fox.

Aiko looked around. She really wanted to inspect everything about this place, but she should probably get the Treasure first, before this strange lady changes her mind.

"So, what's the test?" Aiko narrowed her eyes at the strange lady.

"Let us converse." The strange lady smiled and Aiko tilted her head.

Aiko was guided to a small pagoda with a table and tea set.

"Do you know anything about the tea ceremony?" The strange lady suddenly asked.

"I'm not sure..." Aiko was taught by Lady Liu, but she was a mortal and not a Cultivator, so Aiko didn't know if the same rules applied.

"Then try." The strange lady nudged the little Fox to try. Even if she broke anything it would not be a big deal.

It might've been the most expensive tea set in the Lower World, but in the Immortal World... it was not worth much. She had many spares, there was no need to be cautious.

The strange lady was not going for the wedding tea ceremony, but the knowledge that the little Fox might hold. She wanted to know if the little Fox was worthy.

Aiko tilted her head, but got to work.

It was quite a straining and exhausting endeavour and Aiko didn't understand why, but even so, she was able to finish it without breaking anything.

The strange lady's eyes burned; her appreciation for the little Fox skyrocketed.

While she was no master, she had good fundamentals and would definitely be able to please others when it came to it.

"You have passed." The strange lady smiled and sipped the tea. It was light tea, but still tasty. She hated strong aromatic teas and preferred the mild or light ones.

Aiko also 'sipped' her tea.

*Sluuuurp*

"It's good." Aiko giggled.

The strange lady almost spilt her tea. She really liked this little Fox.

"What is your name?" The strange lady asked.

"Vicious Cub." Aiko replied. She would not give her name just yet.

The strange lady raised her eyebrow and observed the little Fox. Where does the 'Vicious' part come in...?

...

{Back over the Umbra Fox}

They walked around for quite a long time and the Umbra Fox with the Shadow Passion got to know each other a bit more.

The Shadow Passion was very shy and guarded against certain things, which confused the Umbra Fox.

"You are really slow." The Umbra Fox pouted.

The Shadow Passion was combat-oriented, but not for speed. She specialised in critical hits from the shadows, so she didn't necessarily need speed for it.

The Umbra Fox grabbed the Shadow Passion's hand. At first, the Shadow Passion wanted to dodge, but she was shocked by the Umbra Fox's speed.

The Umbra Fox then dragged her at a higher pace.

The Shadow Passion didn't mind the higher pace, but she did mind the hand-holding.

She... never held her hands with anyone. Whenever the Mirage Fox held her hand he would always drag her to bed immediately...

This was... an unfamiliar feeling to her, one that sent strange butterflies down into her stomach.

At first, she thought that she was injured as she was not familiar with this feeling.

The Umbra Fox... was quite forceful with her, but the Shadow Passion couldn't say that she disliked that.

This... gentle approach really heated up her body.

"Another dead end..." The Umbra Fox whined.

The Shadow Passion pursed her lips. She really likes the Umbra Fox's expressions. She wanted to see more, but at the same time, she knew that was impossible.

Once they got out of this place, she would be forced to get back to her team...

The Umbra Fox was exploring this dead end since it looked like it had some kind of strange pseudo doors.

The Shadow Passion observed her for a while with soft eyes, before she noticed something in the edge of her vision.

It was a strange marking. She had a basic understanding of Runes, so she could read some of them.

"Kiss...?" The Shadow Passion tilted her head before blushing.

She could not kiss the Umbra Fox with her filthy mouth... that was just impossible.

"I think we should find another- Kya!" The Shadow Passion tried to hide this marking since she didn't want to force anything on the Umbra Fox, but she didn't expect her to be standing behind her!

"Kiss?" The Umbra Fox tilted her head. She didn't understand the Runes, but she could see the small drawing of two people kissing.

The Shadow Passion froze, her mouth opened and closed. She was trying to communicate with the Umbra Fox, but no voice came out of her lips.

The Umbra Fox tilted her head. "How does that make any sense...?" She couldn't understand...

The Shadow Passion saw this as a good thing and tried to nudge the Umbra Fox to explore the rest of this place.

"I think this place is broken-Mhm." The Shadow Passion was quite close to the Umbra Fox, but she never expected her to do something like that.

The moment the Shadow Passion kept rambling, the Umbra Fox took this opportunity to steal her lips.

The Umbra Fox really liked the Shadow Passion, she was shy and cute. Her body was similar to hers and the Umbra Fox was obsessed with her own body, so naturally, she was also obsessed with the Shadow Passion's body.

She would not say it out loud, since she knew the Shadow Passion was bound to the Mirage Fox or something like that.

But since the situation called for it, The Shadow Passion couldn't blame her for the kiss.

The kiss didn't taste as good as the Umbra Fox thought, but that would be only because they didn't bathe for a while, so she was not discouraged.

The Shadow Passion was completely frozen. Her dull red eyes suddenly regained that piercing red colour, like she wanted to possess the Umbra Fox.

Umbra Fox looked around if it had opened the doors, but it didn't... she was slightly sad so she looked back only to see those piercing vivid red eyes staring at her.

"I really love your eye colour~" The Umbra Fox hummed, walking away.

The Shadow Passion's eyes shook, and a desire that was never there was starting to peek out. At this rate, she... might hurt the Umbra Fox.

She would have to curb her enthusiasm before it was too late...