Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Ming Xiuying guided everyone around the city.

While it was a large and beautiful city, most buildings were houses maintained by the Mortals. There were not that many attractions in this city or at least that's what Aiko thought.

"Why do you need 50 clothes shops?" Aiko blinked with confused eyes.

"Because each shop handles different materials and clothing types." Ming Xiuying tried to explain, but Aiko shot back.

"What? Are they incapable of handling different materials?" Aiko was confused.

"Well..." Ming Xiuying couldn't really say yes to that since that would mean she would upset the craftsman in this city.

"You don't have to hold back. You won't be living here for long." Aiko said flatly.

Ming Xiuying was taken aback and nudged herself closer to Mei. "Is this what you meant by different Aiko...?"

"This is still mild." Mei chuckled. Moon Aiko was a true savage when it came to work, so much so that Mei had to kick Aiko out of her room since her suggestions bothered her.

What was even more irritating was the fact she was right about those things and they definitely eased Mei's work!

"But if they are so incompetent why do they have shops? I smell bribery." Aiko sniffed the air. "And it doesn't smell well." She gently pinched her nose.

"We never accepted bribes!" Ming Xiuying protested against Aiko's accusations.

"Is that so?" Aiko blinked innocently. "Then why are there so many useless shops? There are no great craftsmen to take their place? I bet you would find plenty of amazing craftsmen that could do things much better than them." She stared at Ming Xiuying attentively.

"It's because the large Sects set up those shops." Ming Xiuying explained.

"And you can't ban them from doing it?" Aiko tilted her head.

"Not really since they help us with resources." Ming Xiuying sighed.

"You do realize that this is just elaborate bribery, right?" Aiko blinked innocently.

Ming Xiuying choked. "Mei..." She immediately whined to Mei, since this kind of Aiko was too scary.

"You will get used to it." Mei laughed happily. She finally was not the only one getting 'corrected' like that.

"But she is really scary..." Ming Xiuying whined.

"I'm not scary..." Aiko couldn't keep up with her thought process.

"I would say that Aiko is right." The Blood Fox stepped forward. "You have to go around too many shops just to get basic supplies, their clothing system also doesn't make sense. One shop can have only 1 clothing you want, but they make you buy two to get discounts." She shook her head.

"The prices are inflated because they don't have competition, so everyone who visits this place due to the Tournament gets scammed." The Blood Fox didn't mind this system, but it was a chore to get anything, so she would never engage in this.

"I know right? And they don't even offer better quality. If we make prices we account for everything during it, so that nobody can call us out, but these stupid bastards ruin everything." Aiko clicked her tongue.

What scared Ming Xiuying the most about this Aiko was not her way of speech or the way she presented facts. She was scared of her because she lacked expressions.

The Moon Aiko would not change expressions until the given emotion was powerful enough. So most of the time Aiko looked like an emotionless, but beautiful doll.

"You can't say that Aiko." Mei chuckled. "We also raise prices above their intended margin."

"That is because we account for rarity, unlike the other businesses you can't find what you offer elsewhere, so it's only natural that the 'rarity' tax would apply." Aiko proclaimed.

Mei's lips twitch slightly. "I can't win against you." She stepped closer to Moon Aiko.

Aiko took a step back.

"..." Mei was shocked by that movement. "Why?"

"Because you would bully me." Aiko proclaimed, accusing Mei.

"I would be gentle." Mei didn't deny those accusations.

Aiko rolled her eyes. "Let's go somewhere else, somewhere where we can buy things at good prices."

"I spotted some nice shops nearby, so let's grab a snack." The Blood Fox took the lead, since Ming Xiuying was too scared to do so.

"They won't rip us off, right?" Aiko's mood soured.

"Just a bit, but the smell was nice, so we can test it." The Blood Fox gestured.

"Not a bad idea. If it's good enough we can come here whenever we want to rest." Aiko gave a thumbs-up of appreciation to the Blood Fox.

"And if we don't like it we can find different places during explorations." The Blood Fox was considering taking Aiko to the tea houses, but she was worried that if Aiko turned to her black form it would cause trouble.

"There is also this neutral, but slightly sweet smell in the air." Aiko took a whiff of the strange air.

"That's coming from the tea house." The Blood Fox gestured. "But those are difficult to choose from." She shook her head, trying to dissuade Aiko.

"How come?" Aiko tilted her head.

"Just because the mixture smells good, doesn't mean it will taste good after you seep it into water." The Blood Fox didn't have a good explanation for this phenomenon, so she just simply gestured for Aiko.

"Oh? Is that why a tea ceremony is a thing?" Aiko blinked curiously.

"Yes, it's quite the skill to prepare tea, but it's even more important to choose the ingredients for it. You can't just pick the most expensive ingredients and expect it to taste good." The Blood Fox chuckled. She made this mistake when she prepared tea for her brother.

"Oh... so you can mix cheap and expensive?" Aiko was even more curious now.

"Not quite. Cheap and low quality are two different things. If you pick something of low quality, then the tea will turn murky and chaotic in taste. You have to be careful about what you choose." The Blood Fox smiled innocently, but there was a clearly hidden meaning behind her words.

"Oho." Aiko nodded. "Is it hard to learn?"

"Not hard to learn, but mastering is quite different." The Blood Fox smiled at Aiko's curiosity.

"Well, mastering is always hard, so that's to be expected." Aiko nodded, but then some kind of mellow scent entered her nostrils.

"Stings." Aiko massaged her nose.

"That is low-quality wine that has been warmed up." The Blood Fox explained, pinching her own nose.

"Why warming something up like that?" Aiko couldn't understand it.

"Because it makes the wine softer and it goes down easier down your throat." The Blood Fox knew little about wine, since she was not a good drunk in certain situations.

"So many strange things." Aiko shook her head. "I will definitely postpone my Human Evolution. Everything gets too complex." She snorted unhappily.

"That's not something you can affect." The Blood Fox sighed. If it was so easy to ignore the Human Form, then most Beasts would go for it. It would remove one of the weakest stages of their life and would help them survive for longer.

"I would like two plum noodles and..." The Blood Fox bought something for everyone from her observations.

She would naturally buy the same as what Aiko would eat, so that they would be able to complain together and bring their relationship closer.

'It's good to hang around her, especially after she got angry at me.' Thought the Blood Fox.

They sat down at a nearby table, attracting quite a lot of attention, but none dared to approach them.

There was something just unnatural about the moon-like beauty that everyone from the group paid attention to.

"So, how long will we spend on the Tournament?" Aiko suddenly asked.

"At most a few weeks, it depends on how long those fights last and how much oppression we will get from Humans." Mei shook her head.

"There are more rules to it, huh?" Aiko rolled her eyes. She would do her own little Tournament, since Human ones were too bothersome.

"Of course. Humans are too weak, but there are too many of them and have Techniques to suppress us, so it's a pretty bad stalemate." Mei sighed softly. Everything would change once she got onto the main continent, but till then she should enjoy this foolish simplicity.

"Is it that bad?" Aiko couldn't understand how those stupid Humans could do so many things.

"Heavenly Dao." Mei answered simply.

"Ah..." Aiko flicked her own forehead. "Forgot about that bastard since he is not acting up any more." She shook her head.

"It's been oddly quiet, yeah." Mei nodded gently, even though her Evolution was not as chaotic as she had expected it to be, even with that unexpected interference from Aiko.

It was of a more restrained Evolution than anything.

'Could it be that Dao has reset since Heavenly Dao doesn't interfere again?' Mei narrowed her eyes. That was both a good and a bad thing.

Humans would not grow as strong, but Beasts would still have to endure the same treatment, or at least this group of abnormal Foxes.

Mei frowned. She would have to adjust her plans and make plenty of Pills for Breakthroughs once they all have Human Forms.

"How are you holding up?" Aiko suddenly asked Mei and she could feel those underlying intentions.

"I'm doing fine." Mei's Human Form didn't degrade or cause any issues to her Fox Form, so it seems like the Forbidden Technique was successful.

There were certain parts that didn't make as much sense to Mei, but she would not complain. She was not restricted by time now, since her Human Form was stable and would not degrade.

"Oh, I always wanted to ask, but what would happen if you lost your Human Form?" Aiko didn't really want to go through that part, since she already had her pseudo-form.

"It's hard to say. There were instances of Beast being able to acquire it again, but also instances of Beasts going feral over it." Mei shook her head. "It's difficult to say what would happen to you or Beasts close to you." Aiko was already abnormal as it was, so Mei was unsure how it would affect this part. Moreover, there was also her issue with the Human Form and how it behaved.

Mei just couldn't give a clear answer to Aiko...