Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”Not right now?” Aiko smiled.

”What is that supposed to mean?” The Demonic Saintess was more and more flabbergasted.

”She is more or less a human, but not really.” Aiko shrugged. She didn’t know how she should explain Feifei’s transformation without causing everyone a headache and making herself a target.

”In that case, I will be the judge.” The Demonic Saintess rolled her eyes at this uncooperative Aiko.

”Sure.” Aiko shrugged and ruffled her tails.

The Demonic Saintess was confused, but once Aiko pulled out a dragon girl, she almost fainted.

”Meet Feifei. Feifei, this is somebody.” Aiko didn’t know her name, so she just called her as she saw fit.

”Hello, somebody.” Feifei smiled, unaware that she was not called like that.

The Demonic Saintess had a headache for the first time in a long time, but looking at the girl... she was not quite a Human or Beast.

Parts of her body were covered with scales, and she had horns and a draconic tail.

”She can stay.” The Demonic Saintess didn’t feel the unusual greetings from this creature, so she didn’t mind.

Aiko smiled from ear to ear and ruffled her tails again.

”What a gloomy place...” Feifei commented. ”At least there are cute older sisters.” She smiled happily.

At first, the Foxes didn’t like this newcomer, but after she called them older sisters, they softened greatly.

They were old grannies at this point, but someone called them young? Of course, they would like that person!

Aiko paused her ruffling as she saw Feifei already incorporated herself into the group of Foxes.

”How does she do that...” Aiko was flabbergasted, and the Demonic Saintess was the same.

”You are so strange...” The Demonic Saintess had never met such an odd group.

Aiko pulled out another Demonic Fox from her tails, making the Demonic Saintess wonder if her Innate Ability was endless.

’No, to begin with, I have never heard about an Ability that would allow you to keep things inside your tails...’ The Demonic Saintess shook her head and sighed.

Once she opened them, there were already 20 new Demonic Foxes in front of her.

”...” The Demonic Saintess blinked a few times, then rubbed her eyes before yelping loudly. ”Where are they coming from?!” She was dumbstruck by the current abnormal situation.

Only once there were over 70 Foxes did Aiko pause her actions.

”Everyone outside?” Aiko yelled out.

””Yeah~!”” Everyone shouted at once, making the once peaceful palace very rowdy.

”Gosh, why is everyone so rowdy!?” Another Fox came from a different hallway.

Her body immediately stiffened when she noticed many, many new Demonic Foxes.

She looked around and spotted her Mistress. ”W-what is happening? Invasion?” She was confused more and more, the more the new Demonic Foxes mingled with their own group.

Everyone was chatting happily, and nobody cared about the strange Beast mingling with them.

”Don’t ask me...” The Demonic Saintess gave up understanding the situation.

She thought that Aiko was normal and unimpressive, but not only was she abnormal, but she was also chaotic!

’Did I make a mistake by letting them use this as a base?’ The Demonic Saintess sighed. It seemed like age was getting to her...

”...” The newcomer looked around. With her beautiful purple hair, it was like she was announcing that she was a Lightning Fox.

Her friends, and colleagues were already taken in by the group. Some of them even pulled out their instruments and started playing and singing.

Her speechlessness was apparent, and her gaze kept questioning the Demonic Saintess about what was happening in front of her.

-----

The Blood Fox slaughtered yet another wave of Humans. Some of them had special energy around them, which meant they were being observed.

’What a bother...’ She wanted to find Aiko so she could step onto another stage with her help.

Unlike normal Foxes, Evolution for Demonic Foxes was not based on Beast Core and Bloodlines but also on knowledge.

The Blood Fox did her best to gather as much knowledge as possible, and she felt like it should be possible to Evolve now.

’I can feel her far away, but the pressure coming from that place is no joke...’ She narrowed her eyes as she formed yet another Blood Spear and pierced another assailant.

Her control over her Blood Abilities was incomparable to before. She was easily manipulating, and slaughtering the fodder without using too much energy.

’This will take a while...’ The Blood Fox suddenly felt a nudge on her mind. It was beckoning her. It was the same place where Aiko was located.

-----

”You feel it?” Yuxi slew another Human Cultivator.

”Yep.” Wanshu didn’t lag behind, as her body was different from when she met Yuxi. It was incomparably more powerful and faster.

”Should we?” Yuxi paused as her partner sensually fluttered her eyebrows.

”But we can’t spend time together...” Wanshu licked her lips.

”M-maybe later then...” Yuxi stuttered, gulping nervously. Her partner’s sex drive was no joke.

They didn’t really have a concrete goal other than to enjoy their time, gather resources along their way and regroup with Aiko at least once.

-----

”What a mess...” Li Xiu sighed as she looked at the other Disciples.

They were all raring to go and enslave the Beasts so they could have them as pets or companions.

Li Xiu didn’t understand the appeal of that. Once you enslaved the Beast, they would lose the ability to improve. In other words, they would quickly become obsolete as you kept cultivating your power.

As such, the best way to get companions is to tame the Beasts and not to enslave them.

She believed it was the same with Aiko. If she enslaved them like her chicken wanted, Aiko would lose her lustre very quickly.

Meanwhile, if she was able to beckon Aiko to join her, they would be able to grow together forever. She wouldn’t need to part with her and could always help her.

’And once she reaches her Human Form, we could play in auctions.’ Li Xiu giggled to herself.

’Now, what should I do~’ Li Xiu hummed as she released a small parrot made out of flames.

’Go scout ahead and tell me anything interesting you see from the air.’ Li Xiu commanded her stupid chicken so it wouldn’t get any stupid ideas.

’Yes...’ The Glacial Phoenix sniffled as it was treated harshly.

’I wonder if I can find her.’ Li Xiu hummed to herself as she walked absent-mindedly around the Sacred Realm.

-----

Aiko was happily watching over her group, mingling with the others. It was nice that they were not hostile and got along nicely since Aiko intended to take them out of this place together with her existing team.

’But what about the hierarchy...’ Aiko frowned. The new Foxes were way too powerful to submit to the commands of weaker Foxes. ’Maybe a separate group...?’ She pondered on it for a while until the Demonic Saintess interrupted her.

”What is your plan?” The Demonic Saintess felt like her own team was being swayed by her Foxes.

”I don’t really have a plan. I want to gather resources for my team and then escort everyone out.” Aiko narrowed her eyes. ”But I don’t know anything about the Sacred Realm.” She turned towards the Demonic Saintess and pressed her for answers.

The Demonic Foxes in this place liked to mingle since everyone already knew everything about Foxes inside this place, but this new blood was different.

New stories, experiences, and techniques. The Sacred Realm Foxes could not pass on those things.

However, at the same time, they were not impressed enough with Aiko to follow her.

One needs to know that Demonic Foxes were exceptionally intelligent, and this intelligence only improved over time.

Everyone here was at least 1,000 years old. Thanks to the Sacred Realm, their life expectancy was also a lot higher, so their intellect only grew and grew.

While Aiko was abnormal and chaotic, she was still not up to the task of having them serve her. As such, one Fox stepped forward.

”Demonic Saintess, how about we let her play ’that’ game?” One Sacred Realm Fox smiled.

”That, huh...” The Demonic Saintess was surprised that someone even suggested playing that game, as their lives would be at risk...

”Does anyone have any kind of objection?” The Demonic Saintess didn’t immediately reject that suggestion, but more voices were needed if they wanted to proceed.

Another Sacred Realm Fox lifted her hand.

”Yes?” The Demonic Saintess smiled, hoping that they would reject Aiko.

”I believe we should reduce the scale of the game until she gets the hang of it.” The Sacred Realm Fox proposed.

The Demonic Saintess’s face stiffened. She didn’t expect others to be on board with this decision.

”What game are we talking about?” Moon Aiko was too curious not to ask about this. She was curious about what kind of game they could come up with.

The Demonic Saintess sighed, letting her retainer get the board for the game.

”Only bring the first board and we will expand it as we go. Include a new shard too.” The Demonic Saintess conceded, since she treasured her group.

”Thank you~!” The Sacred Realm Foxes happily jumped at the Demonic Saintess and cuddled with her.

”Stop it! We have guests...” The Demonic Saintess was snuggled, and the ’guests’ looked at them warmly, knowing that kind of feeling.

They also happily cuddled Aiko, not just because it would calm their voices but also because she was soft and cute.

Aiko was like a plushie, cute, soft and often fought over.

Aiko smirked at the Demonic Saintess, liking the expression she was making.

The Demonic Saintess blushed and kicked everyone out of the hall so that her group could be indulged without her being embarrassed.

...

She is cute.” Aiko proclaimed in the hallway, and everyone agreed. They felt like the Demonic Saintess was partially like Aiko, maybe not as abnormal and chaotic as she was, but definitely caring for her own group.

The Demonic Foxes immediately jumped at Aiko and cuddled with her since they were already roused by the Demonic Foxes in this place.

”W-wait! We need to discuss things first!” Aiko was soon drowned in the fluffy tails of the Foxes as they cuddled her for a few hours...