Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Unfortunately, that sipping didn’t last long, as the Emperor moved them to his study.

Aiko pouted along the way. She enjoyed that tea quite a bit since that was the only thing that was not poisoned.

Naturally, the Inscription Saint had an unsightly expression since he stole a piece of Aiko’s food to bully her, only to realise that it was poisoned. He wouldn’t raise an issue for the time being since Aiko was not affected, but if they tried to pull something else… he would teach them a lesson.

The Palace was lavish beyond belief. Almost everything was sprinkled with gold or made out of gold.

Aiko found this ridiculous. While the golden decorations looked nice, the finale of the scenery was disastrous. It felt like they were trying to demonstrate their wealth a bit too much, and all those things clashed with each other.

Aiko noted down in her mind about decorating, so that she would be careful about it and not make it overly lavish, lest she wants it to end up like this.

Aiko truly thought that this was the problem of too many lavish things, but it was simply a foolish decoration from a foolish Emperor. If it was rearranged properly, then the already glorious Palace would become even more mesmerising.

Aiko sneezed. There was light pollen in the air when they were travelling to the study.

At first, she didn’t think much about it, but the vial in her hidden pocket hummed gently. This meant that this pollen had something to do with the vial.

She didn’t try to find out why for the time being. They will be meeting the duo soon, so she didn’t need to.

The only thing she had to care about is:

How to extract the treasure from her.

The Attitude of the emperor towards his sons.

She already knew that with a bit of speech and some reassurance from the Chen boy, she would be able to extract it without much issue.

The thing she didn’t know, would be his attitude. It seemed like he treasured his sons who were at the banquet, but at the same time, he didn’t treasure them the same way. As such, Aiko hoped that he didn’t treasure this maggot too much so that the extraction would go without a hitch.

Aiko was prompted by the Emperor to sit down. He pointed somewhere isolated, but Aiko would never listen to him, so she sat down near the Inscription Saint.

She could see the Emperor’s lips twitch for a moment, but he didn’t raise any issues with Aiko. It seemed like the Emperor couldn’t truly go against the Inscription Saint.

Aiko noted this down, too, so she could use him to her advantage. Of course, if he tried to bully her she would tell on him and Lady Liu would be able to deal with him.

Aiko was quite astonished by Lady Liu’s might, since she was able to scold a Saint, even when she was a mortal.

This was very funny to her. The Inscription Saint was pretty much a destructive force to be reckoned with, but in Lady Liu’s hands, the Inscription Saint was just a pitiful boy being scolded...

Now that Aiko thought about it, there was something amiss with their relationship.

She had already heard from Lady Liu that most Cultivators are vain in nature, yet this Chen boy was obsessed with Lady Liu and was willing to do anything for her...

Moreover, his age didn’t fit his achievements and from what she heard, the Inscription Association was quite the new force, yet none of the other Sects or groups dared to offend it.

Aiko was lost in thought when the duo finally arrived.

She could feel a burning gaze on her, so she lifted her head. The prince was looking at her like he was obsessed with something.

Aiko didn’t like that kind of gaze and her face turned ugly, but before she could say anything, the Emperor spoke.

”Sit down.” It was a stern voice, without much love, but Aiko could tell it was just a facade.

’Take the treasure, take it.’

’Extraction seems possible, but you will have to fight.’

Aiko thought about it, she was unaware that Chen boy was looking at her strangely. It felt like he was able to hear those voices...

Aiko stared at the princess next to the prince.

She was truly a beauty, but there was something odd about her beauty.

She glanced at the Emperor one more time. He was still looking at the prince with his own expression. Aiko thought that they might be talking through eyes, but that would be ridiculous…

”Please inspect my foolish son.” The Emperor said sternly, yet gently.

Aiko was confused about their relationship, but she didn’t ask, nor was she interested in hearing it. The prince was not her target, but she would still humour the Emperor until the prince had done something unsavoury.

It had to be said that because of the Recognition Inhibition Bracelets, it was hard to gauge Aiko’s Cultivation or strength. Normally, Immortals would have a strange air about them that pretty much sang, ”I’m an Immortal.” but that was not the case for Aiko.

She felt more down to earth, similar to other mortals. That was also why the Emperor thought he could pair her with his sons.

Aiko came closer to the prince, who was already glancing at her with blatant lust in his eyes.

Once she came to reach for his hand, his hand slithered towards her, but...

*Slap*

Aiko slapped him without any resistance, but what was more incredible was that it didn’t look like Aiko slapped him. There was just the sound of slapping, his cheeks reddening, but Aiko didn’t move.

She placed her hand on his hand to take a pulse. There were no clear abnormalities that Aiko could spot.

The Emperor was still stunned by the sound and he was trying to figure out what had just happened. Meanwhile, the Chen Boy was suppressing his laughter with Qi.

Aiko, the little rascal, was truly out of his league when it came to causing trouble, but this time he had to hand it to her for such an amazing and clean slap that he wanted her to repeat it.

Aiko moved towards the princess, but the princess shrunk back. Aiko tilted her head.

”Hand.” Aiko said passively, but there was something chilling about her voice, like she was not playing around her silly games.

The princess refused, so Aiko glanced at the Emperor. That inept Emperor was still stunned and useless since he was trying to figure out why his son’s cheek reddened.

”I won’t say it twice.” Aiko extended her hand.

The princess ignored her.

Aiko was not angry, not yet. Humans were stupid creatures, so she would take her time... it was just that she didn’t like her arrogance.

A bit of bloodlust leaked from Aiko, shocking everyone present. Her bloodlust was very crude, like she came straight from a bloody battlefield. She also couldn’t control it well, so it hit everyone.

The Emperor was shocked silly by this pressure. The secret guards wanted to rush in, but they found out that the Emperor’s study was completely separated from the outside world.

The Princess was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

The now-conscious Emperor said gravely. ”Let her take your pulse.”

He was shocked by this little girl and any ideas about marriage were quickly extinguished. He would also make sure that his son wouldn’t play any more tricks or pranks on her. Although it already seemed a bit too late for that.

’That idiot probably already poisoned them.’ He clicked his tongue gently.

The princess was swaying, but she extended her hand. Aiko moved close to her and slowly took her pulse.

Her pulse... was alive? It felt strange since there were 2 heartbeats instead of one and a powerful Vital energy was coursing through her veins.

But before she could investigate further, that same Vital energy rushed towards her fingers.

*Stab*

[-1 Vitality]

Aiko’s fingers bled. It felt like she was prickled with thorns.

The Chen boy was surprised, but a flash of greed passed through his eyes. He was incredibly sad he wouldn’t get this treasure...

Aiko returned to her place and massaged her fingers.

The Emperor was stunned once again, but he recovered quickly.

”What was that?” He asked, completely confused.

”That was the thing that charmed the prince.” Aiko replied passively. Her fingers were covered with blood, yet there were no cuts or any kind of injury. This confused her, but she didn’t dwell on it too much.

”This is a very precious and dangerous thing.” The Inscription Saint suddenly said and the Emperor looked at him. ”Once you taste it, it will be hard to taste something else.” His meaning was obvious, once the prince tasted the taste of someone who had that strange thing in their body, they would reject anyone else.

The Emperor turned sombre. ”Can we remove it?” He cursed in his mind as he also almost laid his hands on her and then he would’ve been as helpless as his stupid son.

Moreover, that desire for want and longing was increasing day by day, so much so that his own concubines looked so unappetizing...

”It is possible, but it will take a while.” The Inscription Saint said slowly, the meaning was clear. ’We will need a room with some peace and quiet to remove it.’

The Emperor understood this time, but only because he didn’t want to end up like his son. If it was harmless, he would just drive them away with his authority.

Aiko still massaged her fingers with the blood, inspecting the non-existent injury. The Darkness told her a bit about it, but for Aiko, it still felt out of this world.

A Vital energy that would not only be able to suppress all negative conditions of the body, but also easily charm people to do her bidding. Paired this with what Lady Liu taught her...

’Weaponized voice.’ Aiko thought.

She stood up with the Inscription Saint and they were guided towards a quiet room.

The secret guards immediately went to their Emperor once that restriction was removed and inspected him. Excluding the sweat, he was unharmed and they breathed a sigh of relief.

Aiko sat down inside the room and the worried duo stormed to her.

They inspected her fingers, cheeks, face and body. Anything they could do without undressing her. They were worried about Aiko since they already knew she could take the Grandmaster’s blows with little injuries, yet a mortal was able to injure her without leaving any actual marks?!

This was shocking to them and hatred built inside their hearts. There would be no problem if she accidentally died... right?

The Blood Fox thought sinisterly, her nature almost leaking through.

The Inscription Saint was creating Runes out of thin air and soon the room was isolated from the outside.

”The Dew of the Legendary Dew Beast.” He suddenly said and his eyes shined with greed.

”And that’s my treasure.” Aiko said flatly.

He choked before he could say anything else. ”It’s very useful to me.”

”So is to me.” Aiko lied with a straight face.

”Not even in exchange for another treasure?” He asked, just to make sure. The Chen boy wanted to use this for Lady Liu, but he wouldn’t say that out loud.

”No.” Aiko flatly denied it. She wanted to collect that strange life liquid for herself.