Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”We will have to make it up there.” Mei proclaimed, attracting a lot of attention.

”That’s not too far?” Aiko tilted her head as Gale wrapped around her.

Aiko easily jumped on the deck, looking over all the Foxes.

”It’s really not that high...” Aiko was confused about the non-existent challenge.

”I expected you would make it up here, but I didn’t think it would be in one jump.” A certain Fox adjusted his glasses.

”Why not? It’s not that-” Aiko was confused, but when she heard a crash behind her, she turned around.

”...” Aiko speechlessly stared at the Foxes crashing into the ship or not making it the whole way.

”Do you understand now?” Ru adjusted his glasses as he glanced below. ”Most Foxes are not skilled enough to jump so high.”

”Are we decreasing altitude?” Aiko tilted her head when she noticed that the ground was getting closer.

Ru’s lips twitched slightly. The Vicious Jade Fox was always strange, but this side of her was even stranger.

’I can’t feel the vigour she previously had, but this Technique she just showed, the Gale Steps, were much more polished than before.’ Ru couldn’t believe it.

This was definitely not the work of Evolution that she experienced, which meant that her current ’form’ allowed her a higher degree of control over her body.

Ru was slightly fascinated, especially since there were rumours floating around that the Vicious Jade Fox broke the taboo about Evolving inside the Secret Realm.

’Unfounded rumours, you can’t Evolve so quickly back to back, or your Beast Core won’t be able to manage it. Moreover, it would cost so much that even a small Sect would go bankrupt.’ Ru clicked his tongue at those useless gossips and straightened his back.

”We are lowering the ship and rating the skills of the Fox seedlings.” Ru explained to the Vicious Jade Fox since she more than deserved it.

”Why?” Aiko pressed him for answers.

”The delegation is not unanimous. We have our own group, and we were tasked to gather the best seedlings and get their rating.” Suddenly, Mei appeared next to Aiko, and so was the rest of the team.

Most of them only learned Wind Steps, but that was enough to reach this high if they twisted their bodies slightly.

Expect the Blood Fox, who easily used Gale Steps.

Ru gently bowed before continuing. ”We get resources depending on how many Foxes we can attract, but if the Elders find out that we have cheated them, they would be punished.” The other delegation groups approached Aiko’s group since they were the only ones who managed to get here at this altitude.

”But doesn’t that mean that as long as they won’t find out... you can do whatever you want?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

’The rules changed again...’ Mei was convinced from this brief exchange that the mainland was not in good shape either.

”That is correct. It’s to encourage our nature and develop our skills.” Ru proclaimed, but his face said it all. He was not too happy about this whole situation and would rather compare skill against skill.

”What a sh-” Nightmare Aiko came out for a talk, but Mei was quick enough to silence her lips with her hand.

It would not be a good idea to insult the delegation when she hadn’t yet entered the Sacred Realm.

It was important that Aiko robbed it blind before they realised how special she was.

Aiko looked back at Mei, but she just made a shushing motion, and Aiko rolled her eyes.

Even when the other groups approached, Aiko and her team only conversed with Ru.

It was not because they gave them the best benefits but because Aiko was more proactive towards the glasses Fox.

Since they were pretty much her servants, they would follow her lead and nudge her if something was going awry.

The Blood Fox assessed that this situation was for the best, since the competition between them would become even fiercer as they noticed that they missed on good seedlings.

This would help Aiko to expand her chaos inside the Sacred Realm without too much pressure or external interference.

’There is only so much that our opponents can do.’ The Blood Fox licked her lips discreetly.

...

More and more Foxes managed to get on board, but around 30% still didn’t manage to reach the top, even as the huge flying ship lowered to the lowest possible point.

”It seems we will be losing a few of them.” Ru adjusted his glasses as he snapped his fingers.

A translucent yet shiny stairs appeared from the side of the ship.

”Anyone who was picked by us or the Elders can climb these stars. Do it quickly, as we will be departing in a few moments.” Ru’s commanding voice spread throughout the plaza.

”That is Sound Communication.” Mei immediately explained to Aiko.

”Doesn’t sound all that appealing.” Aiko didn’t like the name at all.

Mei then added. ”It’s a prerequisite for Whispering Technique.” Mei added.

”Why use that when we have something better?” Aiko felt a bit speechless.

”Because you can’t use it in Human Form?” Mei felt a bit speechless from such a strong rejection.

”But don’t we have-” Aiko wanted to say the Karmic connection, but Mei stopped her.

”Yeah, but what about the others?” Mei rolled her eyes.

”They will manage?” Aiko said innocently.

At this time, Ru kind of understood why there were certain rumours about them. Their conversation was hard to follow, and it made you want to facepalm hard...

Mei played with Aiko’s cheeks for a bit before others arrived.

’We aren’t going to any rooms?’ Aiko tilted her head.

’No, this place is where we will stay...’ Mei chuckled. It was rare that you were allowed to have your own room on a flying ship. Most of the time, you would spend outside on the deck or in a shared room.

’Cheapskate...’ Aiko clicked her tongue.

’That’s just how Cultivators are...’ Mei shook her head.

...

They seated themselves in a place with enough sun and shade that they could both sunbath or rest. Most Foxes didn’t approach them so they were not disturbed.

A lot of Elders were explaining about the Sacred Realm, but Aiko was snoozing on Mei’s shoulder.

Due to that, other Foxes also didn’t listen as they tried to burn that cute image into their minds.

”Do you think she would sleep on me too?”

”Keep dreaming. So far, she only hanged around girls.”

”So what? I have soft muscles.”

”But you have baggage hanging.”

The Foxes laughed and chuckled as they ridiculed the impossible dreamers.

Getting close to the Vicious Jade Fox was almost impossible. Not only was she protected by Demonic Foxes, but even after getting through that, the Vicious Jade Fox in question was very picky about interaction.

The main point being... how she ignored the other delegation groups and only chatted with the glasses Fox.

If she was so picky that she would even reject powerhouses, what could common Foxes do to approach her?!

Like this, the huge flying ship flew towards the direction of the Sacred Realm...

...

......

Aiko stretched her body as she felt that they were losing altitude.

”We are already there?” Aiko rubbed her eyes, making other Foxes squeal from happiness.

”Yes, we have arrived.” Mei nodded. It was quite quick, which would suggest they burned quite a lot of energy.

”Quick.” Aiko yawned before standing up.

Looking down, she could already see two other ships. From the symbols, those were probably the Northern Sects and Southern Sects.

”I meant to ask, but why did you say Sects and not Sect?” Aiko nudged Mei.

”Because, unlike the Secret Realm that is monopolised, the Sacred Realm is open to all Sects. Of course, they were limited. How many Disciples they could send depended on their size, but all of them could participate.” Mei explained as she caressed Aiko’s hair.

”Is that so?” Aiko didn’t believe that giving small Sects opportunities would change things.

”Don’t underestimate them, lest you end up like last time.” Mei warned Aiko.

”Wasn’t it your fault that I ended up like that last time?” Aiko shot back.

Mei pinched Aiko’s cheek again. ”Don’t get cheeky with me. You need to stay safe.”

”Yesh.” Aiko slurred her speech since her cheeks were pulled.

The flying ship landed. It was the largest ship so far.

”The Elder will be upset...” Ru popped out of nowhere.

”Why?” Aiko couldn’t understand why since their ship was the biggest. Wasn’t that a good thing?

”Look.” Ru nudged everyone to look at the horizon.

Over there was something that looked like a flying city.

”I’m not dreaming, right?” Aiko rubbed her eyes, but soon, ideas flooded her about her own flying city.

”You are not.” Mei shook her head. She didn’t expect the Western Sects to be so lavish... Well, they did capture a Dragon, but that was beside the point.

Aiko wanted to observe the city closely, but something told her that was not a good idea.

There was a subtle pressure coming from that flying city.

”That is Dragon’s pressure. Unlike the kid you have met before.” The Blood Fox explained to the confused Aiko.

”Didn’t he sound like an old grandpa?” Aiko was confused about how that old-sounding dragon was a kid.

”While Dragons mature very quickly. Their Elders’ thought process is that you should reach at least 100 years to be considered a teenager and 1,000 to be considered an adult. Of course, most young Dragons don’t care about that thing and mingle immediately as their bodies mature.” The Blood Fox explained. ”That’s also why so many young Dragons get captured since they don’t understand the world clearly just yet...” She shook her head slowly.

”Things are so complex...” Aiko shook her head, but she didn’t think it was strange.

Most Foxes would arrive at the steps of the Fox Village somewhere around double, but most likely triple digits when it came to their age.

As such, most of them were already mature enough to consume the information and make their decisions.

In this, Aiko was a rarity never seen before as she joined when she was just a tiny fluffball.

Most Elders believed that she was that tall, but only some figured out the truth later on.

Of course, there were questionable fanatics and other ’beings’, but that couldn’t be helped... That’s the nature of the world, where the weak are eaten...