Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko prepared most of the things that she needed. She also included one Massage Chair, just in case.

Demonic Foxes. Check.

Pills from Mei. Check.

Talismans that she hasn't used yet. Check.

Jade Slips from Mei. Check.

Aiko didn't know if she required anything more than that, but she was satisfied with this.

All that was left was something from Mei.

Well, Mei told her to visit once she had everything prepared.

...

Arriving at their business, Mei was managing it well. It felt like she was doing this for some kind of reason, but Aiko would ask.

As long as Mei was happy and not bothered, everything was fine.

Seeing that Aiko arrived, Mei smiled slightly.

"I thought you would take forever." Mei teased.

"There are only a few days before we have to depart, so I wanted to prepare everything that I needed." Aiko raised her hand.

"Keep in mind that you can go inside only when you are under Holy Beast Rank." Mei nudged Aiko.

"I won't Evolve again... I think." Aiko whistled innocently.

Mei sighed. "If you Evolve inside the Sacred Realm, you will be kicked out, so just in case you want to Evolve, store everyone inside your tails first!" She warned Aiko about the possible dangers.

"Gotcha. I will do my best and not Evolve until everyone is away." Aiko saluted happily.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mei tilted her head at the silly Aiko.

"I don't know, I just felt like doing it." Aiko shrugged.

"But I do not recommend Evolving this time." Mei sighed.

"Why not?" Aiko tilted her head. It was rare for Mei to look like this. Her complexion also looked quite bad.

"The Elders are plotting something. There is also a certain Fox that is trying to make fun of me, so be careful while you are inside." Mei ruffled Aiko's hair.

"Stop it." Aiko ducked and rolled away from Mei. It was not like she minded Mei's affection, but ruffling her hair was a no-no.

Her hair was hard to maintain due to her speed. It would get entangled with branches and leaves, making her look quite miserable.

"I have also prepared some food you can take with you and rations for the Demonic Foxes." Mei sighed. She felt like a cook.

Mei wished that Old Lei joined them soon so that she didn't need to maintain that hungry army.

"Thank you so much~!" Aiko hugged Mei and nuzzled into her bosom.

The 'customers' coughed at that impressive bounce and recoil, but with one sharp glare, Mei pacified most of them. The rest shrunk back once Mei tapped the sign called 'blacklist'.

"Can you not do that in public?" Mei pinched Aiko's cheeks.

"It's not like I'm doing anything to you?" Aiko tilted her head. She might be a head and some smaller than Mei, but that didn't mean she was THAT small!

Mei sighed. She didn't know how to explain this to Aiko, so she just gave up and indulged her.

Who knows how much time Aiko will spend inside the Sacred Realm-

"Right! The most important part." Mei suddenly realised that Aiko might be missing important pieces of information, so she would share it right now.

"What's wrong?" Aiko tilted her head while being smothered by Mei's ample bosom.

"You must exit the Sacred Realm before 5 years are up!" Mei warned Aiko. "If you stay there for longer than that, the place will bind your Soul, and you will become an inhabitant of that place. Never able to return back."

"Can I not go?" Considering how much time Aiko's Evolution took, it was not impossible that it would take more than 5 years...

"I wish, but I don't have a way to transport you to the mainland, and this time, they got Elder at the Divine Beast Rank..." Mei sighed. If she could, she would just beat up the delegation so that they would be able to join the mainland without doing troublesome things, but Divine Beast was a whole different issue...

"Whoa, it's the first time I hear Rank like that." Aiko was fascinated by how powerful they might be.

"They are strong, but Divine Beasts also have a protective 'barrier' around their body, nullifying most attacks under a certain threshold. What's even more outrageous is that those attacks do not consume any kind of energy, and in some cases, they can even give you energy!" Mei clicked her tongue.

If it was just Sacred Beasts, there was a possibility that she would be able to deal with them, but her Beast Core was too small to be able to deal with Divine Beast.

"Ohhhhhh." Aiko's eyes shone. She was really curious about that Fox.

"They are not friendly, so don't even think about it." Mei shook her head. She would not let Aiko approach them since it could spell doom.

"Are they hostile?" Aiko tilted her head again, thinking how she could scam such an individual.

"Not quite, but they have a certain troublesome agenda." Mei sighed.

"Is it that bad?" Aiko frowned, concerned about Mei.

"A bit. They are just too old to see reason, so do your best inside the Sacred Realm and come back stronger than ever!" Mei nudged Aiko a few times.

"I will do my best!" Aiko proudly said.

"Good, now let's go inside and finish the preparations." Mei smiled.

"More Pills?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.

"You will see~." Mei giggled mischievously. 'Aiko will be happy about this one~.'

...

At first, Aiko was suspicious, but seeing Mei in such a happy mood, she dismissed her thoughts.

"What will you give me?" Aiko curiously asked Mei.

"Do you remember the Rune way back that I gave you?" Mei smirked.

"You mean that one that allowed me to maintain my [Pseudo-Human Body]?" Aiko didn't remember anything else.

"En." Mei nodded happily when Aiko remembered.

"I have made a new powdered Ink that I can apply to you. I also researched a more advanced Rune, so now we will share both Stamina, Beast Core energy and Vitality." Mei explained. "That way, even if you are hunted by some kind of accident... you will never run out of energy!" She said proudly.

"But you will run out of energy." Aiko frowned. She didn't want to harm Mei.

During those previous times, it couldn't be helped, but now she could help it, but Mei was too adamant...

"It's fine. My meditation can gather more than enough Beast Core, and if you don't overdo it, nothing bad will happen." Mei smiled. Aiko's safety was a priority, and since she was already watched over by the Grandmaster and a few delegations, she should be safe even if someone attacked her.

'If she can find some nice Herbs inside, it should be possible to restore the Grandmaster to her prime.' Mei smirked. Everything would easily fall in place if it was Aiko!

"Are you sure?" Aiko was still concerned about Mei. "What about that Fox?"

"She won't be able to do anything." Mei laughed sinisterly. She had already prepared a juicy Forbidden Technique just for her.

'I always wanted to experience with puppets, so this would be the perfect target for it.' Mei hated that hateful Mystic Fox and would do everything to wreck her mind.

'And because the Forbidden Technique was already prepared. I can't be affected by Charms or anything like that.' Mei smirked sinisterly like she was creating some kind of evil ploy.

"Who are you, and what have you done to Mei?" Aiko recoiled, observing the Fox in front of her.

Mei coughed up awkwardly. "I'm still me." Seeing Aiko's concerned and slightly frowning expression, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Everything will be alright." Mei laughed happily. These days, she is in a much better mood than before.

There was nothing she really had to take care of. The business would run even without her and everything that fit into her plans.

Sure, Aiko's shenanigans might derail some things, but since the old fogeys were pushing so hard, Mei's faction was able to identify most of them and their bases.

There were only a few individuals left to find, and when that happened, the grand finale would manifest!

Mei cackled like a witch, and Aiko took some distance.

'Where is my Mei...' Aiko sobbed inside her mind.

...

Mei coughed awkwardly once again.

"Are you back?" Aiko asked the Fox, who looked like Mei, with some suspicion.

"I'm always here." Mei choked when she saw Aiko's distorted expression.

"I can't look like that?" Mei slapped the table with some anger. She was enjoying herself so much, so why was Aiko looking like that?

"You look ugly." Aiko suddenly proclaimed.

Mei choked on her words, which she wanted to use as a retort. "W-what?" She was speechlessly staring at Aiko.

"Not to mention, it looked like a Fox and a turd had a baby." Aiko recoiled once again.

Mei choked from the severe emotional damage that she was inflicted by Aiko's ruthless words.

"I didn't look like that..." Mei sniffed.

"No, you just looked like Blood Fox when I first met her." Saying it like sage, Aiko delivered that finishing blow.

Mei was knocked out due to the absurd emotional damage.

"That's more like Mei." Aiko nodded approvingly as she saw that familiar shocked expression.

...

"You are a bully..." Mei sniffled after she woke up.

"..." Nightmare Aiko didn't know what to say to Mei since she only said what she thought...

"You will comfort me now." Mei made a hugging motion.

Aiko approached her, but Mei stopped her. "Only Moon Aiko is allowed." Mei snorted unhappily.

Nightmare Aiko was flabbergasted, but if it would make Mei feel better, she would indulge her for a bit.

'But if she bullies Moon Aiko...' Nightmare Aiko narrowed her eyes.

Her hair slowly changed, and in front of Mei was a beautiful girl with a less intimidating bosom.

Mei squealed as she jumped at Aiko.

Aiko squealed back from the sudden tackle.

"I have missed you quite a bit..." Mei confessed without a care in the world. She got her hands on Moon Aiko. She would cuddle her to her heart's content!

"Ummmm... uh..." Moon Aiko didn't know what to do since she was not used to these kinds of things.

"Shush." Mei shushed Aiko with a nuzzle. "You are my comforter because of Nightmare Aiko." She found those nicknames quite fitting.

'I wonder if there will be active Aiko too...' Mei suddenly paused, thinking about how Aiko would look like if she was hyperactive.

'Dear lord, let's hope that doesn't happen.' Mei's body stiffened from her imagination...