Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko hid in their abode. There were just too many curious people outside trying to hog her for themselves.

'Scary...' Aiko thought. She didn't think she would attract so much attention for slapping some kind of stupid bird.

*Knock**Knock*

'I'm not home! Go away!' Aiko cried out in her mind, she would be as quiet as possible until those people left.

"What is it?" Mei asked through the door, trying to maintain her expression, but inside she was laughing.

She couldn't believe that her little fluffball would pick a fight with a Roc, Great Roc at that. It was good that his mother was tolerant or this whole ship would be destroyed.

"May I enter?" The Sect Leader's voice drifted inside and Mei opened the doors.

"Do you need something?" Mei smiled, blinding the Sect Leader.

"How did she pick a fight with a Great Roc?" The Sect Leader recovered this time quickly as this was a pressing issue.

The Sect Leader didn't believe the words of others and she was afraid that the Great Roc would return and destroy their ship. What was even more unfortunate was that they were already flying at full throttle and could not speed up further otherwise the flying ship wouldn't take it.

"Come inside." Mei noticed the group of admirers trying to peek inside and felt displeased.

The Sect Leader understood and stepped inside, Mei closing the door behind her.

"From what Aiko told me, that small one tried to peck her and they got into a slapping competition." Mei brushed over the whole situation. If she explained it in detail she wouldn't be able to stifle her laughter.

"So, she didn't provoke anyone?" The Sect Leader asked again in fear.

"As far as I'm aware, no." Mei shrugged seeing the witless Sect Leader.

"Fine, but don't let her leave this place until we arrive, just in case she finds some other trouble." The Sect Leader said.

"That will cost you." Mei smiled

"No. That is an order." The Sect Leader had enough of the nerves and commanded before leaving.

Mei clicked her tongue. "No fun, it's not like I would exploit you, you know."

It was a good thing that the Sect Leader was not present during that last sentence or she might jump on this opportunity.

"But what am I supposed to do now..." Mei sighed, staring towards the little scared fluffball. 'I made some brushes so let's do that.'

Mei arrived in front of the pitiful Aiko and sat down. "Come here." She patted her lap.

Aiko tilted her head but sat down there. Mei pulled several brushes and tested them on Aiko.

"This one hurts." "I don't feel this one." "This one is somewhat nice, but it is also a bit painful."

Mei's lips twitched at those simple reviews. She was slightly upset that her meticulous crafts were reduced to 'it hurts', but it couldn't be helped as Aiko didn't know the art of brushing and why it was important.

Soon Aiko leaned against Mei and drifted to sleep.

'As I thought, if you are stressed just brush it away until you fall asleep.' Mei nodded to herself clearly proud of her wisdom.

'But what am I supposed to do now? Mom never told me...' Mei tilted her head. Her mother was always able to move her without waking her up, but she didn't know the technique and waking Aiko up... was not an option.

'She is pretty grumpy if you wake her up.' Mei clicked her tongue, she was now locked in place by the sleeping sweetie.

'Good thing I have powerful Divine Sense.' Mei nodded while letting some Jade Slips fly to her. She probed them until she found the Herb Jade Slip.

She would revise this Jade Slip from the moment she realized she was lacking in basic skills. From there she also realized that her mind degraded from the special reincarnation cycle. She was slowly losing memories about her crafts so she was doing her best to maintain them at an acceptable level that would blind anyone in the Lower Worlds.

She would have to deal with the Upper Worlds when she got to it.

...

Aiko slept well. Her portable heater warmed her quite nicely and it also smelled of gentle Herbs.

Aiko woke up completely staring at Mei who was blankly staring forward, but with Jade Slip in her hands.

'I can't get used to the fact that everyone just blanks out when they look into the Jade Slips...' Aiko lamented. It was not a pretty sight.

'Note for self, always lower your head when looking through Jade Slips.'

Aiko stretched and jumped down. She turned into her Human form and went towards the table so she could scribble some Runes.

Mei stared at her, but soon returned to her Jade Slip, like this the day passed quickly and soon they arrived at their destination.

...

Aiko disembarked from the ship and immediately ran away. The Foxes wanted to brush her fluffy tail but were unable to catch up to her. They could only sadly stare at Mei.

Mei naturally ignored them and went after Aiko, she headed towards the Grandmaster's abode.

"You have grown up." The Grandmaster smiled.

"You bet!" Aiko grinned.

"My, you can now talk." The Grandmaster's smile deepened, but it was a kind of dangerous smile.

Aiko took a step back in her Human form.

"Let's start your training." The Grandmaster picked up two wooden swords.

Aiko shivered and returned to her Fox form to run away, but was caught by the Grandmaster effortlessly.

"I will be borrowing her." The Grandmaster spoke towards the Jade Fox.

"Please do." Mei was not against it, it was very important for Aiko to learn about her strength. She was not a fighter in nature, she could put up a fight, but she specialized mostly in craftsmanship like Pills and Arrays.

"Oh?" The Grandmaster smiled. "That's the first time someone looked at this so brightly."

The Grandmaster was reading her mind naturally, but she was still surprised by Jade Fox's attitude.

"While she might not be a fighter in the future, it's important to learn at least something about it, so she can protect herself in the future." Mei shrugged.

The Grandmaster liked the Jade Fox more and more. "Then I will get her into tiptop shape." The Grandmaster grinned.

"Right, I have prepared the Pills, the Arrays are also almost finished, so we can fulfil our part of the deal." Mei smiled, she also created many brushes and tested them on Aiko, so that she wouldn't escape from Grandmaster.

"How evil." The Grandmaster chuckled. "Very well, I will tell you when the relapse arrives." She was fine even without them, but since it was part of their deal she wouldn't refuse it.

At first, she thought it would be very disturbing to have others in her abode, but soon she realized that the quietness was not interrupted by them, but also it was not as deafeningly quiet as previously. She didn't feel as lonely as before and she even felt a sense of loss when they left.

'Must be my age...' The Grandmaster shook her head, dragging Aiko away.

...

*Whack*

"Let's do this again." The Grandmaster smiled, looking at the haggard Aiko.

She didn't expect this little cutie to be so strong, what was more her learning speed and adjustment were terrific.

"Tomorrow you will have the Beast Core test since you left without taking it." The Grandmaster spoke casually while fending off Aiko effortlessly.

"You should also be careful as it was raised from 40% to 50% purity." She advised.

"I'm at 50%." Aiko huffed angrily, she couldn't manage to get past her defences and her [Lacerate] could not even scratch that wooden sword. 'I have it at 8th Level, but it doesn't leave a scratch!'

Aiko was upset as that [Lacerate] was able to injure a Nascent Soul Cultivator, but now she wasn't able to do anything against a Stick!

The Grandmaster made a swift thrust towards Aiko, but this time Aiko anticipated it and used her [Moon's Crust] to block it.

[Moonlight Qi: 1,512 -> 1,412]

A barrier formed around Aiko, it was reminiscent of the battered Moon's surface but still see-through.

*Clang*

Aiko was blasted away, but uninjured.

"Oh! A Moon Bloodline and with Divine Ability!" The Grandmaster praised Aiko. It was rare for one to get Bloodline, but now this little one had 3!

'But she will have a rough time supplying Spiritual Energy.' The Grandmaster clicked her tongue. Just because you had many Bloodlines didn't mean you were powerful. You had to give enough Elemental Energy for the Bloodlines to awaken and Evolve, without that they were mere trinkets slowing down Aiko.

'I will have to whip her up in top form in close combat so she can hunt enough Beast Cores for her needs.' The Grandmaster made up her mind to not hold back so much.

If Aiko knew that her careless use of Divine Ability caused this she would definitely cry, but she was unaware.

'Damn! She is too strong!' Aiko cried out in her mind, each blow that she didn't block was painful, but it dealt no damage to her... at least physically.

She received plenty of emotional damage as that pain didn't translate into reduced HP.

'How can she cause so much pain without injuring me?! This doesn't make any sense!' Aiko doubted the system yet again, but this left her vulnerable to another strike.

*Thud*

'I wanna run away.' Aiko cried from the pain, but she was too slow compared to the combat-heavy and old Fox Grandmaster.

"You are doing well." The Grandmaster praised as she read Aiko's mind. She was impressed by her acute judgement, but she would have to temper her when it came to that strange thing called 'system'.

'Her focus is getting dispersed because of it.' The Grandmaster clicked her tongue and whacked Aiko again, this time Aiko barely dodged, but only because she no longer paid any attention to the 'system'.

"See? Much better when you are not getting distracted." The Grandmaster smiled and Aiko cursed in her mind.

"I will be black and blue once I turn into Human form!" Aiko cried out agitatedly.

"It's fine, since it's the pseudo form it doesn't transfer that into Human form, so unless your human form gets injured, nobody would be able to tell." The Grandmaster smiled.

*Whack*

...

Aiko was walking funnily towards the abode, finally released by the Grandmaster.

"Auch, Auch." Any kind of movement hurt Aiko. 'At least deal some damage so that I can Level up my [Universal Recovery]!' Aiko felt sad.

She managed to get near Mei.

Mei was startled at the battered Aiko, but after seeing there was no real danger or severe injury she just moved Aiko on her lap and continued to refine Pills.

Aiko was upset that Mei didn't pay any attention to her injuries, but soon that soft and gentle smell drifted into her nose and she almost immediately fell asleep.

"What are you doing?" Aiko asked. She was aching too much to do anything.

"Pills for you." Mei smiled picking up one of the finished Pills and giving it to Aiko.

"Pill Candies~!" Aiko was overjoyed, "Auch." but quickly found out that her body was still painful.

"Here." Mei moved the Pill in front of Aiko's mouth and Aiko took it from her.

"How is she?" Mei asked the Grandmaster.

"Good, very good." The Grandmaster praised. "She gets distracted a lot with the 'system' thing, but once she pays attention she is learning fast. With this speed in a few years, we can switch to training with her Human form." The Grandmaster didn't hold back and Aiko shivered.

"I see... How is she compared to her peers?" Mei asked narrowing her eyes.

"Anyone with the same Beast Rank as she is will cry, but any normal Beast will make soup out of her." The Grandmaster shook her head.

"At least she is safe inside the Village." Mei sighed. "As for outside... she will learn in due time."

They conversed a bit, while Aiko fell asleep.