Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

After calmly impaling the assailants, Aiko returned to the group.

It was quite funny since everyone behind her was now silent like mosquitoes and didn't dare to make a sound.

Aiko's nickname was further solidified, unbeknown to Aiko.

The walk was quite long, but now even the other assailants didn't dare to go against her. They saw the first group being ruthlessly impaled and what was even worse... they were still alive!

They would be scarred till the end of their life since that damned Fox didn't finish them off!

Moreover, the other groups swore to help each other to protect their shared interest, so they had to use healing remedies on them! This was the worst kind of situation that could happen!

When it came to them, they would always be killed and never left alive, so their consumption of Pills was quite low.

With the Fox keeping them alive they wouldn't be able to turn any profit and the Beast Sect was also guarding their disciples closely, so they wouldn't be able to make a move at all!

They silently chewed on that shit as they moved away from this place. They wouldn't be able to do anything in their current state.

...

They walked in silence, quietly approaching the middle part of the mountain.

Some Foxes were panting quite a lot, since the pressure on them was quite high, but not on Aiko and her team.

They were doing fine, since they had already experienced the pressure of Immortals and Auspicious Beasts. This kind of pressure was nothing for them.

The best one at it was Mei. She didn't even flinch as she climbed the mountain.

Even if the Elders were suspicious about her, no one dared to raise any objection. They realised that the Jade Fox was favoured by too many Elders and it would not be good for them if they raised a fuss. They would however contact the Sect Leader about this.

She was the only one that could do anything about the Jade Fox, since even the Grandmaster was on her side!

The group walked up the mountain, until they arrived in front of large gates.

"Gates? Here?" Aiko was curious and looked around.

"If it isn't the little Fox that always causes troubles." A certain lion laughed loudly. He looked quite different.

"What happened to you?" Aiko trotted around him to observe him.

"Don't look at me." The snake tail said gently as he shrunk back.

"It can talk!" Aiko's eyes shined as she observed him even more closely.

The Lion laughed and picked up Aiko. "You can call me Jun when no one is around." He whispered to the little Fox.

"Got it!" Aiko smiled smugly, now she was higher than everyone else.

"So what is this place?" Aiko asked him.

"Oh, first place in the Heavenly Mountain City?" Jun chuckled. "I will guide you around while your Elders try to find any inns. The Human Cultivators went crazy about booking everything." He shook his head.

"It's better to explore than to sleep." Aiko nodded, not minding that.

"No, stop." Jun suddenly stiffened.

"What?" Aiko tilted her head.

"No stealing, no fighting, no messing around." Jun immediately made rules for the small Fox.

Aiko stiffened because of that call-out and clicked her tongue.

"Don't click your tongue at me. It's in your own interest to stay put." Jun declared, and Aiko's team nodded with him.

"Boooo-" Aiko wanted to boo him, but was silenced by quite the juicy meat.

After tasting that meat her attitude quickly changed. "I will stay put for the time being."

Her team's lips twitched. It seems like Aiko will always be Aiko, especially when she is in this small form.

"Anything interesting inside?" Aiko asked Jun.

"Not quite." Jun shook his head. "Most attractions are for Human Cultivators, so Beasts don't quite fit."

"That is true, only Foxes have a somewhat Human body." Aiko nodded gently.

Jun stared blankly at the little Fox. "No messing around."

Aiko turned away from him, pretending like she didn't listen to him.

"You will keep her in check, right?" Jun looked at the Jade Fox.

"No promises." Mei smiled, enjoying his suffering.

"Nono, promise, it would be bad if something happened." Jun almost cried out.

"Nothing bad will happen, I'm stealthy." Aiko rubbed her hands.

"That's not-" Jun rubbed his fur-covered face and sighed. "Whatever, I don't know you if something happens." He would just ignore them once they angered the Mahayana Cultivator inside.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Mahayana Cultivator was from the Upper Mortal World, so he was far stronger than other Mahayana Cultivators!

'Let's hope nothing happens.' He nodded his head gently.

Aiko looked around. "So why is there a city on this mountain and embedded into the mountain?" She asked him with curiosity.

"This cave-like city was built in order to settle down the Cultivators that would fight on the peak of this mountain." Jun answered the little Fox.

The city was embedded into the mountain, where Body Cultivators clashed and turned the insides out. Mortal Humans then climbed this mountain to establish this lucrative city.

The Mortal Humans then carved into the mountain a bit more to make the cave more unique.

There were 'two' floors to this city, the lower floor and the upper floor.

The lower floor was for Mortals and Immortals, while the upper was Immortals-only.

The lower floor stretched deep into the mountain and had classic Chinese architecture. It was lit by Light Gems and Lamps. It was well-lit, but it could not conceal the fact that this place was completely shaded from the sun.

Meanwhile, the upper floor was very different. There were no roads or bridges between the buildings. One had to know the Flying Sword Technique or some kind of movement Technique that would allow them to move from one building to another.

Each building was built around something that looked stalactite, but this place was so dry that it was hard to say if it was really a stalactite or not.

The buildings were hoisted by Arrays and Inscriptions, so they didn't need to use ugly chains and other things to keep those buildings from falling.

The style was also more open than the building on the lower floor and it had a lot of 'balconies' so that Immortals could come and go from whichever side they wanted.

Now you might be asking, how can they fly in this place when there are restrictions against flight?

This place has a special Array that twists the natural law and allows temporary flight. The key word is temporary.

You wouldn't be able to fly from one side to another, the flight lasts for about 30 seconds for Golden Core and the higher you go, the shorter the flight for higher Cultivation Stages.

This is to prevent invasion from powerful individuals, but even then it's not a foolproof method, and that's why it was made into an Array which can be easily cut off.

Inscriptions can also be toggled on and off, but it requires Skills. Meanwhile, an Array doesn't require Skill to be turned off, you just need to find the source of the energy and interrupt it.

This allows for very easy administration and maintenance!

"Please don't cause trouble." Jun almost cried out when he saw her excited eyes.

"I haven't done anything yet!" Aiko proclaimed, seemingly hurt that she was called out like that.

"Don't say yet!" Jun scolded her.

Aiko rolled her eyes. "It's not like someone will catch me." She stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, this time they will definitely catch you." Jun laughed. "And I will laugh my ass off when that happens."

"Bull crap!" Aiko retorted. "Unless they have better Shadow Affinity, I will reign supreme!" She raised her small fist.

"They are stronger." Jun chuckled.

"They are?" Aiko perked her ears.

"Very." Jun laughed seeing her curious expression.

"How much are we talking about?" Aiko pondered upon this.

"Enough to flatten this continent." Jun laughed again.

"No way." Aiko didn't believe him.

The Elders already wanted to step in so that everyone could go inside, but they couldn't anger this Beast, since he was quite famous.

"Let's go inside." Fortunately for the Elders, Jun had enough tack to realise that he was holding them, so he promptly made way.

"I'm going with you. Let's see the super-powerful dude." Aiko rubbed her hands, since he was that powerful he should have some nice Treasures, right?

Jun was suspicious of her plotting gaze, but he also knew that she wouldn't be able to do anything against that guy.

Aiko was carried inside by Jun, and her team followed. They had a good impression of this Lion, so they didn't mind him carrying her.

Aiko was looking around. The buildings were not much different to what she encountered outside. They were just slightly bigger and nicer looking.

What attracted the most attention was the buildings on the upper floor. They were unique and open.

"Do you have wings?" Aiko asked him.

"Yes, but I don't use them." Jun shook his head. He had a great affinity to Bloodlines, so he was able to utilise more power out of them and even transform his body.

"Take them out." Aiko immediately nudged him.

Jun raised his eyebrow, but he just thought that it was her curiosity.

His wings were feathered, but there was a distinct leather feeling on them like they were not truly from feathers, but from some other material.

"Now go!" Aiko pointed at the upper floor and Jun stiffened.

"What do you mean 'go'? Am I your mount or something?!" He was shocked by her demeanour.

"That's not a bad idea." Aiko rubbed her chin. "Now onwards, noble steed!" She once again pointed at the upper floor.

"I can't fly!" Jun rejected her silly idea.

"But you have wings!" Aiko retorted.

"Just because I have wings, doesn't mean I can fly!" He retorted back.

"Why are you acting like a chicken?!" Aiko was shocked that he couldn't explain why at all!

"Because my body is too heavy!" Jun pinched Aiko's cheek.

"Then lose some of it!" Aiko pouted.

Jun laughed again. He quite missed these kinds of shenanigans.

Suddenly, Aiko perked her ears. She heard something strange, something that she never heard before.

"Oh my, was I found so quickly?" An old grandpa appeared from a nearby alley...