Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko shook her head and looked at her entourage. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a pair of horns that she almost forgot about.

”How are you doing, Feifei?” Aiko suddenly asked, and the Twins trained her eyes on her.

”It would be better if you prepared more food inside your tails.” Feifei pouted.

”So you were the one who ate my snacks.” Aiko pouted back at her.

”You were the one who almost starved us.” Feifei shot back.

There was a slight tension between them, but it was mostly a friendly banter, with nothing underlyingly hostile.

The Blood Fox observed them. Mei liked Feifei more than others, be it her innocent nature or cute sensual nature.

Feifei liked to watch others and portray their relationships.

’I bet she would cry if I told her that she missed an event.’ The Blood Fox giggled.

”What are you up to?” Aiko asked the Blood Fox.

”Cooking, since they will go through all our reserve food, and we can’t really take them outside if you want to keep them secret.” The Blood Fox shrugged.

”Sorry.” Aiko was genuinely sorry about this, since she didn’t expect this kind of thing to happen.

There were only a dozen or so Demonic Foxes that she stole from that prison, so she thought that it would be all right to keep them inside her tails.

Unfortunately, Aiko didn’t expect to fall asleep like that, so she wasn’t prepared for the consequences...

...

With the Demonic Foxes and Feifei fed, Aiko sat nearby, looking over them.

”What do you think?” Aiko asked the Blood Fox, since the Twins were useless when it came to this thing. Their playful nature could easily derail things.

”They are fine. There are no obvious diseases or injuries that would hinder them other than a few strained muscles and bruised skin here and there.” The Blood Fox nodded that these were top-notch helpers.

”How did you even get inside the Secret Realm?” The Blood Fox wondered about this part.

”We were sold by the Fox Village for resources from the Apes.” One Demonic Fox answered.

”Seriously?” The Blood Fox’s expression distorted.

Aiko tilted her head. ’There weren’t all that good resources to begin with. Sure, they got plenty of Beast Cores and a few Treasures, but that’s about it.’

While Blood Fox was upset, Aiko was puzzled. Both of their worldviews were vastly different.

”And you want to follow the Vicious Cub now?” The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes.

”If possible?” The Demonic Foxes never heard of the Vicious Cub, but it should be alright, right?

Aiko almost dozed to sleep, since she was still not fully recovered, but for the time being, she endured it. ”That would be me.”

The Demonic Foxes wondered about why she was called the Vicious Cub, but they didn’t dwell on it for too long.

”We would like to follow her.” The Demonic Foxes bowed towards the Blood Fox, since it felt like she had more say over these things.

The Blood Fox sighed. ”You will make your own food.” She couldn’t just be a cook. She wanted to get stronger too, so it was important to make them cook for themselves.

”We mostly know how, but we could use some help in the beginning.” The most outspoken Demonic Fox bowed towards the Blood Fox.

”That can be arranged, but I will not slow down my teaching just because you can’t keep up, so it will be important to help each other out.” The Blood Fox pursed her lips. It was impossible for Demonic Foxes to cooperate, yet...

”We will do that.” The outspoken Demonic Fox nodded.

”What is your name?” The Blood Fox took an interest in this Fox.

”Brave Passion...” Her expression wasn’t quite right, but the Blood Fox ignored it.

”What about your name?” The Blood Fox didn’t like her nickname either, so she would not use their nicknames if they didn’t like it.

”Yu.” Demonic Fox Yu pursed her lips. She didn’t think they would ask for her actual name.

”Nice name.” The Blood Fox nodded. ”So Yu in private and Brave Passion outside.” She nodded slowly and nudged Aiko.

”I heard it, I heard it...” Aiko pouted like she was being made fun of.

”Good.” The Blood Fox smiled. ”I will talk with them later about their Element/s and other things, so we can give them resources.”

Aiko nodded happily.

”But they won’t participate straight away.” The Blood Fox added with a smirk.

Aiko clicked her tongue. Now, even her little helpers were banned from looting with her.

”You need to understand that under their current condition, they would be captured again. It’s better to train them- It’s better for them to be trained by Twins, since they fight well.” The Blood Fox corrected her statement to include the Twins, since they had too much free time on their hands. ”They can also teach them how to fight dirty when they are against someone of similar strength or stronger. Of course, that has a limit, but every tool has its purpose.” She chuckled gently when she saw the pair’s sparkling expression.

Wanshu was happy that more Demonic Foxes were rescued, while Yuxi wondered if they were as passionate as Wanshu.

”And it’s up to you to strengthen their Divine Sense.” The Blood Fox chuckled when she saw Aiko’s startled expression.

”Why me?” Aiko couldn’t understand why she was targeted like this.

”That’s because your Divine Sense is powerful, and you have too much free time.” The Blood Fox smirked.

”But I will be doing blueprints later. How am I supposed to train them?” Aiko tilted her head.

”That’s the thing, you won’t.” The Blood Fox chuckled, confusing Aiko.

”???” Aiko was left speechless, questioning her intelligence.

”You will just activate your Divine Sense and let them bash it with their own. Oh, and try not to retaliate, vegetable Foxes would be useless for us.” The Blood Fox added.

”Huuuh? Wait, does that mean I will be bullied, and I can’t retaliate?!” Aiko looked angrily at the Blood Fox.

”I don’t think they can even move you with their current strength.” The Blood Fox shook her head. She felt it the first time she experienced Aiko’s aura, but once you tasted it... your Demonic Nature would repress, causing you to weaken greatly.

”Really?” Aiko felt suspicious, but she could always bully the Blood Fox later if she was scammed like this.

”Really.” The Blood Fox said seriously, and the Demonic Foxes wondered if her Divine Sense was that powerful.

One had to know that while Divine Sense was powerful, it could also cripple you if someone more powerful used it against you.

As such, most wouldn’t usually use Divine Sense as a training tool, and everyone had to rely on their experience to improve their Divine Sense individually.

Aiko glanced at the group of Foxes. They were of many different colours, but most were around the Blood Fox beauty.

This made Aiko question how unfair this world was, since one group got all the beauty, but no brains, while others got brains, but no beauty.

”Can I go to sleep?” Aiko suddenly asked. This kind of thing exhausted her if she was not in her Moon Form. It was surprising that she lasted this long without throwing a tantrum or creating mischief.

”Yes, but before that, summon your Divine Sense.” The Blood Fox nudged Aiko.

Aiko groaned. ”Do I have to?”

”Yes.” The Blood Fox smiled.

Aiko released her Divine Sense in the form of a wolf, making everyone inside the room shiver.

They were no longer the predators of mischief but weak meat on the table, about to be consumed.

Aiko yawned. ”Be nice to them. They are friends.”

The wolf snorted unhappily, but listened to her.

The oppressive nature had withdrawn, and they could breathe again.

’Aiko got even more powerful.’ The Blood Fox smiled bitterly. She regretted more and more that she didn’t play nice previously during Evolution.

’But in Divine Sense, Mei is the true monster.’ The Blood Fox clicked her tongue.

She once startled Mei, and her Divine Sense threw her through the forest with such ease that the Blood Fox questioned if Mei was a true Immortal.

Aiko lay on the bed, catching the Blood Fox’s tails.

The Blood Fox stiffened, but ultimately sighed. She would indulge Aiko once in a while, but bed tails were designated to the Twins, since they still had too much energy.

”You can practise your Divine Sense against this wolf. You don’t have to worry about it getting hurt, since you won’t be able to make a dent into it.” The Blood Fox chuckled.

Yu raised her hand.

”What is it?” The Blood Fox tilted her head.

”Can you make a dent into it?” Demonic Fox Yu gazed at the Passion Fox. She was notorious for her strength and beauty.

”Nope.” The Blood Fox shrugged like it was not a big deal, and the Demonic Foxes were startled.

They started to whisper between each other, but eventually settled.

They tried to control their Divine Sense, but it was quite difficult.

Just then, Mei returned with Herbs inside a special basket.

”Did Aiko sulk?” Mei asked her, seeing the huge wolf protecting the sleeping Aiko that was wrapped in the Blood Fox tails.

”No, she is just tired.” The Blood Fox shook her head.

”Then why?” Mei pointed at the wolf. She held a grudge against it, since she was unable to harm it in any way before.

Now, she could see herself making a dent into it, but that made her even more speechless.

’Just how powerful is that wolf for me to feel that way...?’ Mei sighed.

”Divine Sense training. We will be getting Beast Techniques soon.” The Blood Fox nudged Mei to finally give them the Techniques.

”Ah, right.” Mei completely forgot about that. ”But you are fine, so you are doing this for them?” She glanced at the group of Demonic Foxes.

”Yeah, they need to grow stronger if we want to use them.” The Blood Fox shrugged.

”True, but they first need a better understanding of their Divine Sense.” Mei questioned what the Blood Fox meant.

”The first thing was to unfurl their Divine Sense, no?” The Blood Fox tilted her head, and Mei’s lips twitched.

’That’s only for prodigies! Weak Foxes need tender care!’ Mei angrily proclaimed inside her mind, but she was unwilling to call the Blood Fox a prodigy.

”I will help them with this. You can train on Aiko’s wolf.” Mei sighed. There was even more work for her...

”Are you sure? You seem busy?” The Blood Fox tilted her head.

’It’s better than having a group of Foxes go vegetable on us!’ Mei glared at the Blood Fox, but didn’t say anything.

This puzzled the Blood Fox, but she didn’t question it. She was already behind everyone, so she had to do her best to catch up and make peace with Aiko.

As such, she would train fervently, until she was as powerful as everyone else.

...

Mei trained the Demonic Foxes while Aiko was asleep.

It took Aiko a few weeks to wake up, which startled everyone.

”Enough?” Mei narrowed her eyes when Aiko finally stood up.

”I think?” Aiko felt completely refreshed.

”Good...” Mei had a small headache. ’How is she able to keep her Divine Sense constantly on?!’ She didn’t believe that Aiko would be able to keep that wolf out forever and would eventually tire out.

’Not only did she not get tired, but her mental capacity also recovered?! How does that make sense?!’ Mei questioned everything she knew, so she had yet another headache.

”Is something wrong?” Aiko sat next to Mei, looking at her.

Suddenly, she could feel many pairs of eyes on them.

”Keep practising!” Aiko growled at them. They were too weak yet so easily distracted.

The group of Demonic Foxes closed their eyes obediently, but their ears still perked up, waiting for what would happen next...