Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”So, the moral of the story. Don’t piss off women.” Aiko nodded her head slowly.

”Yes- No, wait yes. No, that’s not the point!” Old Lei groaned at the absurd conclusion Aiko came to.

”Then what?” Aiko tilted her head.

Lei An was holding in her laughter since she had never seen her father struggle like that.

”Never mind...” Old Lei groaned again. It was better forging than engaging with women. Of course, his wife was an exception.

...

Aiko went around with Lei An, who shared her knowledge about smithing and forging.

They walked around until the talk slowly shifted and Aiko couldn’t help but ask.

”Where is your mother now?” Aiko was really curious about that since both of them loved her so much.

”I don’t know...” Lei An shook her head. ”She was taken to the mainland by a large Sect.”

”Do you think this poison has to do something with that?” Aiko raised her eyebrow, and Lei An paused.

”I have to talk with my father.” It felt like Lei An realised something and rushed away.

”...” Nightingale watched this from the sidelines, but didn’t enter immediately. Well... at least that’s what she intended to do.

”Will you come out already? It’s really bothersome when someone is watching over me.” Aiko ruthlessly and immediately called her out.

”Your senses are too sharp.” Nightingale clicked her tongue. This young Fox made it exceptionally difficult to do her job.

”Or your stealth is just that bad.” Aiko shrugged without caring about her. Old Lei was teaching Fang Jia and Lei An also ran away, so Aiko was slightly bored.

She was not allowed to use the smithy, and she also was not allowed to explore too much around.

”The Patriarch has allowed you to meet the other Demonic Foxes.” Nightingale suddenly said.

”Gotcha.” Aiko ruffled her Tails and pulled out Brave Passion.

”Mistress?” Brave Passion was currently eating as she was pulled outside by Aiko.

”There are more Demonic Foxes you can talk to. Do what you like.” Aiko said gently before patting her head. ’I wonder what they are to me...’ She was confused about why she was collecting so many Demonic Foxes, but those reasons would show up eventually. At least that’s what Aiko believed.

”En.” Brave Passion munched on her food while Nightingale was questioning what she had just seen.

’That’s... a Demonic Fox? No, wait, that’s not important, was she always in her tails!?’ Nightingale observed the young Fox with a keen eye and then the Demonic Fox.

’Why does it feel like this Demonic Fox is different...?’ Nightingale tilted her head.

”Still enough food?” Aiko asked her.

”Plenty.” Brave Passion replied briefly. They rationed their food, just in case something happened to Aiko.

”You don’t have to save that much, I will send more food later.” Aiko was concerned about their well-being.

”Thank you, Mistress.” Brave Passion bowed slowly.

”???” Nightingale was more and more confused as time went on. Demonic Foxes were known for everything, but being gentle.

Yet in front of her was an absurdly gentle Demonic Fox. How did that make any sense?!

”The Patriarch only allowed-” Nightingale tried to pressure the young Fox, but was dismissed immediately.

”Yeah, yeah, I will just borrow something to read while I accompany you with Brave Passion.” Aiko shrugged like it was not that big of a deal.

Nightingale’s body stiffened. ”Brave Passion?”

”That would be my nickname, yes.” Brave Passion nodded slowly.

Nightingale alternated her sight between the two of them, trying to spot a lie.

’Wasn’t she one of the Foxes that were being sold? What is she doing here? I have to report this to my Mistress!’ Nightingale panicked slightly, but her demeanour didn’t change. ”I-”

”Sure, sure. Go, I will look around more.” Aiko dismissed her since there was more to the body language than met the eye.

Nightingale disappeared from there.

”Is it alright for you to show us openly like this?” Brave Passion was concerned.

’Is this the making of another Blood Fox?’ Aiko narrowed her eyes, but she quite welcomed it. ’The smarter they are, the less work I will have to do.’

”I’m still converting Human Techniques, but I will have something for you a bit later.” Aiko also noticed something very special about Demonic Foxes from observing the Blood Fox.

’They don’t have stagnant Qi.’ It was not like they didn’t have it at all, but it felt like they had a way to deal with it on their own, meaning their potential was exceptional.

Of course, at the time of picking these Foxes, Aiko had no idea. She only figured it out soon after coming in contact with higher stage Cultivators.

’The amount of stagnant Qi is proportional to the time one has cultivated.’ Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Thank you, Mistress.” Brave Passion nodded happily.

”How are you doing inside, by the way?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”We are doing good.” Brave Passion nodded, she was maintaining everyone’s mental health and improving their condition.

”Good, it’s good that you are their leader.” Aiko nodded in appreciation.

”Pardon?” Brave Passion was confused by Aiko’s words.

”What? You are the leader.” Aiko tilted her head.

”Thank you so much, Mistress!” Brave Passion almost cried.

”???” Aiko was confused by this sight, but she didn’t know how to properly ask about this, so she just gave up and patted Brave Passion.

-----

”That young Fox is getting more interesting by the day.” Lian chuckled. ”How is the ’research’ going?” She changed the topic.

”The research is going well. It seems one needs between 2 and 3 Pills a day to reach the perfect detoxification, but the Alchemy Peak Elder suggests two.” Nightingale added to the report.

”Because we will spend less resources on nourishing them back.” Lian nodded, understanding the intentions. ”How is the time required for it to be detoxified?” She asked slowly. She wanted yet another weapon to use against Chen Shi.

”It depends on the time someone was poisoned, how much poison they were inflicted with and how high their cultivation is.” Nightingale summed up her review.

”Foxes from tails.” Lian chuckled again. ”That is definitely a new one.” She smacked her lips.

”Should I?” Nightingale paused her words, not wanting to insinuate anything.

”Allow them to meet the Demonic Foxes. I wonder what they will do...” Lian narrowed her eyes. ”Even our medicine is not perfect, so it’s only natural there will be a fight. Help out the Vicious Jade Fox and... Brave Passion? If something happened.”

’Mistress remembered their names?’ Nightingale was slightly bitter about that part. ”Yes, Mistress.” But she would not do anything that might hurt her Mistress.

-----

”Most of us love meat, but we are fine with vegetables from time to time, so we can clean our system.” Brave Passion explained their eating habits.

”We have too many carnivores...” Aiko groaned unhappily. Her meat reserves would dwindle greatly if even more Demonic Foxes joined.

”Change of plans, try not to invite them too openly.” Aiko gave her thumbs up, fearing for her meat.

Brave Passion was a ’young’ member of Aiko’s religion, but that didn’t mean she was that naive. ”We can hunt our own meat.” She murmured under her breath.

Meanwhile, Nightingale speechlessly slapped her forehead. She couldn’t believe what kind of carefree conversation they were having. ’You are going into the battlefield and you act like that?’

”The Patriarch allowed you to visit them.” Nightingale appeared out of nowhere, but Aiko already knew about her.

”Cool, and the books?” Aiko asked her.

”?” Nightingale tilted her head.

”We have made a book out of our experiences and knowledge. If you would like to see it, Mistress?” Brave Passion presented a Jade Slip to Aiko.

”Where did this appear from?” Aiko tilted her head.

Brave Passion wanted to say from the loot horde inside that strange space but paused herself. ”We have collectively written what we knew and experienced.” She presented it in front of Aiko.

Aiko took the Jade Slip from her hands with some confusion written on her face. ”Well, it’s not a book, but it will do.” She nodded before following Nightingale away.

”Don’t even try to steal it.” Aiko suddenly kicked Nightingale.

Nightingale was quite upset, not for the fact she was kicked, but because she couldn’t sense it coming. ”I wouldn’t!”

”Bullshit.” Nightmare Aiko called it out immediately. ”I saw your sparkling eyes when Brave Passion introduced it!” She snorted unhappily at that blatant lie.

”...” Nightingale felt like this young Fox was getting more and more outrageous with each passing moment.

First, she found a cure for the poison that was impossible to cure, then she mastered smithing and now she could even read minds?!

Nightingale silently guided them, no longer coveting that Jade Slip, but she would still report it to her Mistress later.

...

”It’s like a ball of wool...” Nightingale had a headache. She expected that the young Fox and Brave Passion would be jumped and injured, but this was still outside her expectations!

The moment the young Fox entered the place with the Demonic Foxes, all of them trained their eyes on her.

It got to the point that even Nightingale feared for her life, but what happened next made her completely flabbergasted.

The Demonic Foxes swarmed Aiko and immediately made a huge ball that looked like cotton.

”As expected.” Brave Passion nodded. She already noticed that Aiko’s ’energy’ got stronger from the last time, but this was still an incredible difference!

”As expected?” Nightingale almost fainted. ’Couldn’t you warn me in advance?! How am I supposed to deal with this?!’

Suddenly, Aiko’s head popped out of the yarn ball.

”A little help, please?” Aiko was almost drowned by the overenthusiastic Foxes and called for help from Brave Passion.

Brave Passion opened her fan before closing it right after. It made a very distinct noise and the yarn ball collapsed.

Aiko jumped outside, looking around all puzzled. ”What happened?”

”Sound Cultivation?!” Nightingale was even more speechless as that one was one of the rarest Cultivation Paths one could walk.

”I have temporarily put them to sleep. Since they are also Demonic Foxes, it will work only briefly, but that’s enough time to hide behind me.” Brave Passion smiled happily, completely ignoring the Shadow Fox next to her.

It felt like some kind of new rivalry...