Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox
Chapter 353 – Aiko’s Chase

Aiko kept observing Mei, but soon got bored. Feifei was waiting outside with the others, so that she wouldn't burn through too many Warming Pills, unlike Mei.

Mei needed to set up Arrays, so it was natural for her to stay inside for longer.

Looking around. This was sort of a strange 'cave'-like structure.

The cold pond had erected walls of ice around itself, almost completely encompassing it. Only a small hole in the ceiling opening it up to the outside world and a cave that was created by that strange 'turtle'.

Or maybe that turtle did this whole thing, which would have been a pretty impressive feat.

With this kind of 'cave' the only things you had to defend were the hole in the ceiling and the cave leading outside. It was also not see-through ice and it was hard to crack.

This place was pretty much a natural fortress thanks to the cold pond strengthening it.

Surprisingly, the only slippery parts were the walls themselves, but not the ground, even if it was also made out of ice.

Aiko found this odd, but she did not have the right mind to test anything. She was looking for some kind of hidden den or anything that was not nailed down and interesting enough to take away with her.

She also didn't have enough energy for her Moon Form, since Mei depleted it all, so Aiko would have to gather all that later so that she could use it again.

The next thing would be to try to cultivate in here. She wanted to know if anything inside her body would change if she did that.

"I'm finished. I will go get Feifei and meditate with her here." Mei said gently. Feifei was the only other member who would be able to cultivate whilst staying in here.

Aiko waited inside, since there was no danger along the way and she was still looking for that hidden den.

*Rustle*

Aiko perked her ears when she heard something.

High up on the slippery, smooth wall was some kind of strange distortion.

Suddenly, a large shadow jumped out of it with a large bag filled with what Aiko assumed were Treasures.

She sharpened her eyes in order to see who that was.

"Monkey...?" Aiko tilted her head and stared at it.

The Monkey grabbed the ledge and swung himself above the 'cave'-like structure. He now stood on the roof of this place and glanced at Aiko.

The Monkey suddenly snapped his eyes at Aiko and drooled from his mouth with a lustful expression.

Aiko's eyes lit up at that disgusting gaze, immediately charging at the stupid monkey!

She used her [Wind Jump], which was slowly levelling up from the usage of the Ability. If Aiko kept chasing others with such vigour for a bit more, it would definitely master itself in no time!

The Monkey was shocked out of its horny stupor by the sight of the small Fox jumping through the sky and immediately started to run away from her.

Aiko would naturally not allow that Monkey to leave with all her Treasures! She would not get robbed again, a pretty princess that helped her was fine, she was willing to let slide but a perverse monkey just No!

-----

Mei returned with Feifei, but Aiko was nowhere to be seen. There were some questionable cracks in the wall, but Mei didn't pay much attention to them, since Aiko's connection was strong and vigorous.

"Where is Aiko?" Feifei asked gently. She was looking forward to cultivating whilst getting to observe both beauties, but one beauty ran away...

"She went out to play with something." Mei had judged that some fool entered this place and Aiko chased after them, but that was just her educated guess. The only evidence were the large footprints on the wall and ceiling.

"Awwwww." Feifei was saddened, but she would still follow Mei's lead without questions.

-----

Aiko chased that stupid Monkey, who kept throwing rocks at her.

At first, Aiko was angry at the Monkey for doing that, but that soon turned into deep rage.

She suddenly recalled her entrance into this Secret Realm and how she was bombarded by those huge rocks and other objects. Aiko now remembered that those stone tossing bastards sounded a lot like monkeys!

Aiko found a new objective and determination to exterminate all the monkeys!

She didn't try to catch up to the Monkey, but waited for it to guide her to their nest. She would then exterminate every monkey she came across!

...

The Forest was not thinning at all, it felt like it was getting thicker and thicker by the minute.

The Monkey was also getting faster and faster, like he had some kind of Ability that allowed him to move faster in this kind of environment.

Aiko had quite a hard time catching up, since the vegetation was getting denser and denser.

Sure, she could use her [Wind Jump] again to close the distance, but that would burn too much energy from her Beast Core and as such was not viable to use.

Whilst her Nightmare form was not the most smartest when it came to most things. Her instinct for combat exceeded even her Moon Form's intelligence, turning her into a truly fearsome adversary in nearly all forms of combat. Her senses were especially sharp for the smallest ripples or behaviour that the Monkey did.

She figured out that it was trying to call for reinforcements whilst avoiding returning to its nest.

This upset Aiko and she used a few rocks from her Storage Pouch in order to hit him.

Aiko right now really missed her old Assassination Uniform, since it allowed her to hide the Storage Pouches and not fumble them around her belt.

It was quite burdensome, but Aiko had grown too big for those small clothes...

*Boom*

The rocks that Aiko threw turned into explosive cannonballs that obliterated anything and everything in its path.

She was using a bit of her Beast Core Energy, but it was not enough to sap much of her strength, since most of it came from her Bloodlines.

*Rustle*

Aiko could hear reinforcements coming from the side, so she slid through the foliage. This would naturally soak her clothes in water, since everything was quite moist.

Unfortunately for her opponents, Aiko didn't mind getting dirty.

Those reinforcements crashed into each other, since they didn't expect the Fox to dodge like that.

Aiko took out more of her rocks and threw them at them, obliterating them.

She then turned her tails into [Little Nightmares] and her little cuties immediately collected the Beast Cores of her fallen foes.

While monkeys were not that useful, since they were able to be this strong, they definitely had some kind of Beast Core in their bodies.

And Aiko was right, while those Beast Cores were small, they still held a bit of Earth and Nature Element inside them.

Aiko gently nodded as she kept pursuing the Treasure Monkey.

At this moment, the Treasure Monkey was panicking, not knowing what to do. While it couldn't speak, it was considered an intelligent Beast.

That is also the reason why his boss told him to collect these Treasures! But now the same Foxes that killed that damned turtle were chasing after him!

Obviously, his mind overexaggerated what was happening since this was pretty much something straight out of a nightmare.

Worst of all he kept hearing whispers whenever he went through shadows of any kind, and what they said made him loose his shit, literally.

...

Aiko kept chasing him until she was guided to the front of a strange stronghold. She paused her steps to take a good look at it.

Most of the fortress was made out of huge rocks that were familiar to Aiko since she almost died in their hands.

There were no doors or anything like that. Those monkeys would just climb the walls in order to get inside. This also helped those monkeys to keep this fortress safe inside, since not many Beasts were able to use their paws as skilfully as the monkeys could.

Some monkeys even had swords and bows!

Aiko was slightly startled by the scale, but she still intended to wipe them out. It would just... take a bit of time since there were too many monkeys.

"Who is trespassing in my Fortress!?" A booming voice startled Aiko.

It was a huge Golden Monkey staring at her from the top of the walls made out of huge rocks.

"If you submit your Treasures I will just burn your bodies, but if you resist..." Aiko narrowed her eyes. "I will make sure that not even a drop of Blood is wasted when I create my Pills." She licked her lips.

"What can a tiny whore do to us? Your kind is great at warming beds, but you are not that strong." The Golden Monkey laughed. "Maybe if you join me for a few nights I wouldn't mind sharing some-"

"Listen you bald-ass piece of stinking shit!" Aiko suddenly had an outburst since she was not here to play. They already hurt her, so there were only 2 acceptable outcomes for her either:

They give her all their Treasures and let them burn her alive.

Or

They don't give her the Treasures and she will skin them alive before dragging them all to Mei to make sure she slowly extracts every last drop of value out of them!

"Your head looks like an apple, just without the skin. You are like a shrivelled old sack of balls. You have a dick instead of a nose and your eyes looked like someone pissed into them- No, someone pissed on you since your fur is an ugly yellow colour, ew. I can feel that smell all the way over here!" Aiko shivered and pinched her nose like she was truly suffering from a bad smell.

The Golden Monkey was completely livid and roared at the top of his lungs. He has completely forsaken his intelligence and commanded all the other monkeys to attack that stupid wench!

"Since the harlot enjoys insulting us, we will have our fun with her whilst crushing her Beast Core!" The Golden Monkey roared.

"I'm not insulting them, I'm insulting you! Did you eat so much shit that it has replaced your brains?! What's wrong with you?! Why would you insult your fellow brethren?!" Aiko roared back. "Oh, I see. You have the piss fetish, right? You perverted disgusting piece of shit! You like it when someone pisses on you, right?!" She recoiled in disgust, completely ignoring all the incoming monkeys.

The [Little Nightmares] suddenly moved, piercing the approaching Beasts. Since they were not very intelligent, they didn't realise how strong this weak-looking Fox was. Moreover, they also couldn't rely on their senses, since Aiko was suppressing her presence almost completely.

She caught them completely off-guard.

The Golden Monkey plucked a huge rock out of the walls and threw it at Aiko.

The [Little Nightmares] tried to stop it, but they couldn't break it entirely. Aiko had to use her own strength to divert that power away.

The problem was the fact that she couldn't use her other Incarnate Forms while she had her [Little Nightmares] active. She could only use the Abilities from the [Nightmare Fox Incarnate], but unfortunately, that form didn't have any defensive Abilities!

Nightmare Aiko would need to rely solely on herself in this battle!