Chapter 54 – New Den
Aiko rested in Queen's arms and let her carry her. The Grandmaster was guiding them towards their new homes and afterwards, they would be meeting Harem Kings and their possible Masters.
They left the cave following Grandmaster, now that everyone had their Sect Tokens they would be able to come and leave from this 'Fox Village'. Meaning they had the freedom to come and go without encountering those traps and illusions surrounding the 'Fox Village' and wouldn't be stopped by the Defensive Array.
Not every Defensive Array as some parts of this 'Village' were off limits even to Elders.
The road was well paved and smooth, maybe a bit too smooth considering that Foxes built it and not Humans.
This 'Fox Village' was on plains thus there were no mountains and you could see all the residences from afar, as they were mounds of earth. There was also a large circular building that looked a bit like the Colosseum.
"That building is where you will live for now as a newcomer. When you raise your Rank in this Village and progress from Outer Disciple to Inner Disciple. You will obtain more resources and gain greater access to Beast Cultivations."
She walked further. "After the Inner Disciple is the Core Disciple, those are the most important disciples as they are very powerful and can be used in wars as commanders. You will get almost all the resources from the Sect and the Cultivation Pavilion will be almost completely open to you."
"The last position you should be aiming for would be True Disciple. Those are directly under the Sect Leader and have a possibility to run the Sect once the current Sect Leader withdraws, they have the greatest power when the Sect Leader is not here to take care of affairs, but Elders can intercept decisions that they see are wrong as long as they get the majority of votes."
"You will have the entire Cultivation Pavilion open and resources will be pouring all around you, your only worry is to strengthen yourself as soon as possible so that we have greater weight in our World."
They walked on the well-paved and well-decorated pavement and arrived at the Colosseum. It was a truly huge building and there were thousands of doors next to each other to conserve space.
"This place can hold around a million newcomers." The Grandmaster said seeing their curiosity.
The Grandmaster left those Foxes there and moved with Jade Fox and Aiko somewhere else.
Aiko was still half asleep blinking.
"Cubs need a lot of sleep, unless she advances in her life stage. You should not pressure her too much." The Grandmaster said gently.
"I will listen to Grandmaster." It was rare that the Queen would listen to someone, but she had to agree that she had no experience with cubs, most Foxes would not be able to make it here in their first life stage.
They would mostly arrive as either Juvenile or Adult Foxes and that's why it was so shocking to see such a small 'Doll' when Aiko returned from that cave.
"Good, give her plenty of food so she can grow well, once she advances to the juvenile stage she will be allowed to leave this place, it is too dangerous to go anywhere in this stage." The Grandmaster explained, but her lips twitched soon after.
"I understand you want to get her some combat experience, but you can't rush it, Jade Fox." The Grandmaster smiled at the wary Jade Fox.
"Let's leave the troublesome things behind and discuss the resources for this little one." The Grandmaster sighed.
"Her Beast Core is bad so I will have to prepare some Medicine Baths for her." The Queen said.
"How bad are we talking?" The Grandmaster asked since she would be teaching this little one it was important to know that, probing would be too painful.
"I estimated around 10%." The Queen said.
"10% impurities is not that bad, you can feed her something delicious." The Grandmaster laughed but soon froze. "T-ten percent purity?!" She was greatly shocked and the Queen gently smiled.
The Grandmaster pinched her nose. "Can you solve that and get it to at least 50%?"
"Is it that important?" The Queen didn't understand this rush.
"At the end of this year, we are holding purity contests, if they reach below 40% purity they would be forcibly purified to 50%, but we are thinking about changing that to 50%..." Grandmaster explained.
"I see." The Queen clicked her tongue.
"I have plenty of Purifications Pill with different Grades, but..." The Grandmaster didn't continue as she knew that this Jade Fox was incredibly knowledgeable.
"She can only use 1 for the best effect in each category and tier." The Queen clicked her tongue again.
The Grandmaster nodded. "I can't postpone it as it's a rule left by the Founder, so we can't change it."
"I understand." The Queen nodded. "Do you have any Heavenly Graded Pills?"
The Grandmaster frowned. "I have only 1 in the 1st Grade."
"That is enough." The Jade Fox nodded, she would have to boost the Medicine Bath efficacy and if she used the pill with the Blessing from Heaven and Earth she would be able to increase it substantially.
The Grandmaster narrowed her eyes. "Will you keep her in your Den?"
"It would be too cumbersome so we will take over your place." The Queen stuck out her tongue towards the Grandmaster.
The Grandmaster laughed. "No." Immediate rejection.
The Queen narrowed her eyes. "I will let you pet Aiko whenever it relapses." The Queen licked her lips.
The Grandmaster stopped and bloodlust oozed out of her. The Queen chuckled and used her Soul power to defend against it.
"I will also include some painkillers." The Queen didn't budge and the Grandmaster was secretly surprised.
"Deal, but if either one of those things doesn't work I will be kicking you out." The Grandmaster snorted.
"Sure." The Queen knew her skills and while she wasn't exceptional in pills, Arrays were a completely different subject.
She would create pain lessening Array and give her a very simple painkiller Pill to reduce the effects of her relapses, Aiko's fur would be the final nail in the coffin as it would boost the efficacy of the painkilling Pill and allow her mind to stay at ease boosting the efficiency of the Array.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you." The Queen spoke gently and the Grandmaster snorted feeling cheated.
But soon she asked. "Do you need anything else?"
"You wouldn't happen to have infused chalk?" The Queen asked as she would need this to construct the rough outlines of the Array, she could then create her precious chalk and fill in the rest.
"I don't have as much as I'm not Array Cultivator." The Grandmaster said gently.
"That is alright, I don't need that much to fulfil our end of the deal." The Queen smiled, she realized her thoughts were read and she was very interested in her.
"I'm not interested in younglings." The Grandmaster said.
"I'm not interested in weaklings." The Queen stuck out her tongue when the Grandmaster glared at her.
"You have a sharp tongue for being below me in power." The Grandmaster smirked.
"That is only a matter of time." The Queen Fox jabbed back knowing that the Grandmaster didn't have all that much time left.
"Auch." The Grandmaster pretended to be hurt, but the Queen ignored her.
"When is the next relapse?" She asked gently.
"About a month from now on." The Grandmaster said with a barely audible voice.
"That is enough time, I will be prepared. You are strong." The Queen praised her mental strength.
They no longer talked and the Grandmaster guided them. Towards her abode.
As Grandmaster, she had the second largest home and the Founder had the largest place.
It was a lush small hill with a meadow, brimming with life.
"Beautiful." The Queen praised as there were not many places that were so full of soothing energy.
"My friend gave it to me after the war." The Grandmaster smiled gently.
The Queen nodded and heard a snore.
They both were startled, but Aiko was finally out cold no longer blinking around.
"Let her sleep till tomorrow, there will be the Harem Kings and she will need enough strength to confront them." The Grandmaster didn't have all that nice voice when saying that.
"They won't be able to sway her... it's just..." The Queen hesitated as her little furball can be very... destructive.
"You are worried that something will happen to the Harem Kings?" The Grandmaster couldn't endure it and laughed out loud. "I can't believe that someone is worried about those bimbos."
"Eh? I'm not worried about them, I don't want my little one to be penalized for messing them up." The Queen corrected the Grandmaster's misunderstanding immediately as the Harem Kings were giving her creeps.
She had to smash a few of them into the pavement, but even then they were completely insane.
"Please, Queen hurt me more! Hurt this insignificant worm!" The Harem King had an ecstatic expression.
The Queen shivered remembering that, she should've ripped his head off directly.
The Grandmaster froze. "My apologies."
The Queen nodded and they settled Aiko in a nest, unfortunately, she would kick around so the Queen had to carry her.
The Grandmaster didn't say anything and only shook her head.
...
The next morning Aiko woke up in an unfamiliar place on a familiar fluff.
'Fluffy bed.' She sank back into the fluffy tails.
"How about waking up, we need to leave soon." A human hand gently petted her only inducing more sleep.
The Queen sighed when she saw this lazy little furball.
'Cubs need enough rest.' She sighed and moved Aiko into her arms.
"You can let her sleep more, we only need her human form in public spaces. She needs to learn about human nature so she can blend better once she obtains proper human form." The Grandmaster beckoned.
"So that they won't try to Contract her?" The Queen giggled. Remembering those at the Auction House.
"Oho... how curious." The Grandmaster nodded towards Jade Fox.
They moved through the place. It was quite far away and they were not in a hurry. Some Foxes were already there and some were coming in.
This place was used to pick your Mates, naturally, the Harem Kings would have the first picks as they were the Core Disciples and Elders wanted to cater to them.
There was also Blood Fox's brother, but he didn't allow anyone to approach him.
"We need her Human form now, so there are no hiccups." The Grandmaster said gently.
The Queen nodded waking Aiko up.
...
Aiko opened her eyes she was in front of a large space.
"We need you to transform, then you are free to do whatever you want to." The Queen spoke gently.
Aiko didn't like the Human form since it attracted too much attention and it would make her weak, but seeing the mean Fox urging her she changed.
"Use that Token too, you can't go in undressed." It was strange to see this Doll.
"She is still cub so protections were placed until she matures, that way she won't have a rough time with the Harem Kings if they become a bit too lustful." The Grandmaster spat towards the Harem Kings.
Aiko touched the Token and clothes wrapped around her. She was so used to the Fox form that she didn't like the clothes but still had some sense of decency to keep them on.
They moved together onto that large gathering. The Queen moved with Aiko as she was her 'Mate', thus there was no need to question her actions. She would just play overprotective if Aiko did something... unusual.
...
The Elder smiled seeing others come here. He almost salivated when he saw the Blood Fox, but a bit of murderous intent froze this place when her Brother stared at him and nobody dared to imagine anything indecent towards his Sister.
A Doll came in with the Queen and the Grandmaster, immediately eyes strained on her and there was a desire to cuddle with this little cutie.
Aiko didn't like that...