Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox
Chapter 451 – Human regress

The Sacred Realm Demonic Foxes were running around once again.

This news spread to the surrounding settlements, making them wonder what those dumb Foxes were up to.

They were completely unaware that the Foxes achieved what Humans couldn't, and that was to repair and merge the Table Maps.

This was the turning point for the Foxes since instead of the general view, which showed you the terrain and Qi dense points, they could now see almost everything!

They already knew that there were spies positioned around their palace, all thanks to the Lifeform Seeking Function.

Thanks to the Communication Stone and that function, they were quickly wiped out, alerting the Humans.

"The Foxes moved..." The first shadowy figure said.

"They will go to sleep in a few days. Ignore it." The second shadowy figure scoffed.

"But they did clear our spies..." The third shadowy figure shook his head.

They pondered on it, but the majority still voted to discuss the marriage with the Beast tribes instead of Foxes...

...

"They are not doing anything...?" Aiko couldn't understand how the Humans were so stupid.

"Because we haven't moved in over a century, so it's only natural that the Humans' senses are dulled." The Demonic Saintess chuckled.

"Nononono, you can't say that." Aiko vehemently shook her head. It was impossible for them not to act. "We even killed their spies!" She didn't believe that the Humans wouldn't move when the Demonic Foxes made such a fuss.

"But they won't unless we attack their cities." The Demonic Saintess smugly grinned. After having to fight Humans over a millennium, it was exceptionally easy to gauge their reaction.

"I can't believe it..." Aiko still shook her head. She still believed that the Humans would move and counter their progress.

"They really won't. At least not until a few of their cities fall." The Demonic Saintess chuckled.

Aiko rolled her eyes. "I think they will counter you soon."

"They really won't..." The Demonic Saintess sighed. While Humans would usually be active while acting against Beasts, they had their own Defensive Arrays that made them feel confident about defence.

As such, they grew stale in their thoughts, making them easy targets for offence.

Aiko didn't want to talk about this any more, so she nudged the Demonic Saintess. "How about teaching me some Techniques now?" She pleaded with her large eyes and cute ears.

The Demonic Saintess narrowed their eyes. "Not now. We need to work."

"Tsk." Aiko clicked her tongue. It was not like she couldn't give her that technique, and Aiko learning it alone. This was just being petty since she argued with her!

"Fine." Aiko went to her couch and ruffled her tails. Techniques were not an option for the time being. So, she would touch upon the 'books' in her tails.

Not all books, just a few of them. Aiko believed that her Demonic Foxes were so skilled in doting because of them.

The first book was about taking care of her tails. It described some impressive feats that Aiko could do with them.

'Portable bed...' Aiko narrowed her eyes. If she fluffed her tails enough, she would be able to lay on them without being uncomfortable.

This would, in turn, allow her to ditch her companions for the sake of speed.

'If I explore faster than everyone else, I will be able to obtain more Treasures, and with that, I will be able to share them with my team, making them more secure.' Aiko nodded inside her mind at her genius.

She kept reading while her team kept glancing at her.

"What is it?" Aiko tilted her head.

"Would you mind if we continued?" Yu narrowed her eyes.

"You want to do something to me again?" Moon Aiko didn't really care about her wording since it's true that they did something to Aiko which caused her storage to increase.

"It's unlikely that we will be able to do the same thing." Yu shook her head.

"Well... fine." Moon Aiko couldn't really refuse them. She quite liked the attention and the fact that she didn't need to take care of her tails herself.

'What am I going to do once I reach 18 tails...' Aiko dreaded that thought and vowed to herself to find a technique that would allow her to utilise her Qi for the protection of her tails.

She already knew that it was possible since she obtained protection for her tail against water thanks to that kind grandpa teacher.

Aiko read through the book as the Foxes took good care of her...

-----

The Demonic Saintess was managing many Communications Stones at once.

Thanks to the help from Aiko, she understood the Table Maps much better than before, causing a significant jump in her leadership ability.

They were able to scour what they needed a lot quicker.

'There are places that Aiko can visit without us, so I will assign a small team to her. That way, she can explore to her heart's content and get back to using it once she is finished.' The Demonic Saintess narrowed her eyes. It would be good if Aiko would be able to obtain her own little inheritance. That way, she would grow stronger even without their help.

-----

Somewhere far away, a certain Fox, which smelled of blood, walked through the Forest.

"So cumbersome..." The Blood Fox realised how cold-blooded she became, and while that was not necessarily a bad thing. It was good since she was able to make quick decisions, but also bad since this would lead to a bad end.

'I will have to find a way to deal with this...' The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes as she walked deeper into the Forest.

-----

Somewhere entirely else...

"Are you sure that we can visit these places?" Yuxi raised her eyebrow.

"What are they going to do, chase us?" Wanshu rolled her eyes as she walked through the city. "Not to mention, there are other Beasts walking around.

"They are enslaved..." Yuxi sighed. Her partner was too fearless when it came to certain things...

"Sure, but we won't be. We can always run away if trouble finds us." Wanshu smirked as she showed one of the Treasures they got from their assailants.

"Yeah, yeah, but it's a shame to use it like that..." Yuxi didn't quite like that idea since she wanted to bring that Treasure to Aiko.

"Mistress will find better things. Let's use this for ourselves." Wanshu smiled.

"But we could clone it for everyone..." Yuxi narrowed her eyes, and Wanshu paused.

"You know..." Wanshu coughed awkwardly. "I have not thought of that. Let's get out of here." She immediately grabbed Yuxi, and they left the city.

They were being observed, but since they were part of the Fox Village and not the Sacred Realm Demonic Foxes, nobody pursued them.

-----

Mei narrowed her eyes at the projection. The Elders boasted about their Disciples, but all of them were average at best.

'Those that are not average are blessed.' Mei narrowed her eyes, but even those were not comparable to Aiko's insane antics and treasure-seeking capabilities.

'We are moving along. It seems that the Elders did something to the Foxes they sent inside.' Dai Lu telepathically communicated with Mei.

'Is that so? How bad is it?' Mei frowned slightly.

'It seems like they took one of the sealing Relics.' Dai Lu had a serious expression.

'What are the chances that they catch Aiko?' Mei believed Aiko would be fine if something unexpected didn't happen.

'I think that Aiko will be fine as long as she won't Evolve...' Dai Lu coughed awkwardly.

'So we are fucked...' Mei got overly emotional over this since she knew that Aiko would definitely do something like that.

'Can we help her?' Mei raised her eyebrow. She didn't really care about Sacred Realms, but with so many eyes on her, she couldn't do much.

It would be bad if those Elders went back to hiding, so the best she could do is to send Aiko a message.

'Unlikely. No more participants are allowed to go inside the Sacred Realm.' Dai Lu shook her head.

'Which is coincidentally perfect with what they are trying to do, right?' Mei rolled her eyes.

'It seems that way. They also have many Formation Cultivator Foxes on their side, which means that Aiko will have to deal with both 'visitors' and Relics.' Dai Lu clicked her tongue. She was this close to being healed completely, and she would be able to whip their asses... unless the Elder from the mainland stepped in.

'Ugh... I will believe in Aiko.' Mei groaned unhappily. If she hadn't sold so many Pills and stayed more low-key, she would be able to easily affect this situation. Unfortunately, she went at it from the beginning, and that was now influencing her decision-making.

'And by that, you mean trying to contact Aiko with your connection, right?' Dai Lu teased Mei.

'Shut it...' Mei looked away from Dai Lu since she was not in the mood for teasing.

'The Relic creates a cube around you, which you can't break down, and the space inside is sealed...' Dai Lu described the Relic in detail for Mei.

'That's such a bothersome Relic...' Mei sighed.

-----

Aiko took a brief nap from her reading. The book was quite good at explaining things, and there weren't any unnecessary parts, which made the reading that much more pleasant for her.

"...?" Aiko woke up in a small meadow, which startled her.

"Seriously... this thing is such a pain in the ass." Aiko noticed Mei cursing loudly, but something was odd about her.

"You look like a slut." Moon Aiko spat it out since she was too startled by the abnormal look.

"You little brat, you still dare to talk like that?!" Mei immediately pinched and kneaded Aiko's face.

"Awawawa." Aiko realised this was the real Mei, but the clothes were quite...

"I know what you want to say, but I don't have time to prepare a new body in this space, so listen well!" Mei commanded Aiko.

Aiko paused and stared at Mei, but the outfit was too much...

"There are Foxes with Relic inside the Sacred Realm. They are aiming for you when you let your guard down, so be careful. It separates the space and locks you in a box. I know that you might have ways to deal with that, but still be careful!" 'Mei' said as the dream slowly melted in front of Aiko...