Chapter 273 – Zhi and Preparations
After that slight mishap, they were sitting inside. Aiko was hugging the Blood Fox, since she was nicer and warmer than Mei.
Zhi was looking at the duo with a dumbfounded gaze, he still could not wrap his head around the fact that this was the Vicious Cub.
"The naming ceremony?" Zhi suddenly glanced at Mei.
"I would rather skip that..." Mei said. She felt like it would be a bad idea to introduce the current Aiko to anyone.
The rumours that emerged after her return only reinforced that fact. Everyone who saw her was now looking around in a tight outfit...
The Blood Fox didn't move much and Aiko likewise calmed down. She didn't feel satisfied with using males as warmth providers. Why? Because their physiques were too hard. Aiko didn't like their muscles and how tough they were. She was much happier to nuzzle to someone who was soft or bouncy.
Zhi couldn't keep his eyes off of Aiko, but eventually gave in. "So... no need for the other Herbs?" Zhi asked Mei.
"We will settle the Spirit Stone, thank you for your work." Mei said softly, glancing at Aiko.
She was somewhat upset that Aiko ran away and is now hugging her team.
"Okay." Zhi nodded. "But I still plan to visit my sister often." Now that he didn't need to hunt for Herbs; he would have more time for his sister.
"That is fine, just don't disturb us." Mei wasn't against it since he was polite and offered great help.
The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything. She would advise her brother later when she was not glued to Aiko.
Meanwhile, Aiko was dozing off on the Blood Fox's bosom. It was softer than others and had a good elasticity as a pillow.
"Don't drool." The Blood Fox tickled Aiko.
"Ack." Aiko snapped out of her dreamland and pouted.
"Why are you pouting? Just don't drool on me." The Blood Fox had limited clothing pieces, so it was unwise to dirty them or make them wet.
Zhi was somewhat upset as his sister didn't pay any attention to him.
"How is the Jade Slip?" Mei smiled gently and Aiko shrunk back.
"I don't like it!" Aiko proclaimed, but she would still read it later. It was important to get knowledge from it, so that she could loot more things from others.
...
Aiko got her first class in mature etiquette from the Blood Fox and later from Mei, she would learn how to act in her large form.
Aiko found it very exhausting. There were so many unnecessary rules and limitations, but she still had to listen to them. They would not allow her to eat yummy food if she didn't listen.
She moved and acted as she was told, but it was simply too exhausting...
"I want to build more Massage Chairs." Aiko proclaimed to Mei who was still drilling her for her behaviour.
"Okay." Mei readily agreed. While halting Aiko's lessons was annoying, she welcomed her idea as she was quite low on Spirit Stones herself. She also wondered if she should let Aiko adjust the Sect Token again, but she dismissed that.
It would be troublesome if the small Aiko wanted to get quickly clothed. Plus, the big Aiko already knew how to put a Kimono on, which was good enough for the most part.
Mei moved to the special Peak where craftsmen resided. Her destination was the familiar Bronze Fox. He was promoted a little while ago and almost reached the qualifications to be nicknamed as Forging Fox.
"Long time no see." The Bronze Fox greeted Mei enthusiastically, since her ideas made him a breakthrough in Forging. "And here I thought something happened to you, since you didn't visit for quite some time." He shook his head.
"Skip it. I have work for you." Mei said not really enthusiastically.
"Show me." The Bronze Fox extended an arm and Mei gave him a jade slip that Aiko drew.
The Bronze Fox took it and looked inside, almost fainting right after reading just a tiny part.
His hands were sweating profusely and his ears twitched uncontrollably. The content of this Jade Slip was dangerous to Forging Foxes...
"Create as many of the parts as you can. I would prefer all of the individual parts, but seeing your expression, that appears to be impossible." Mei chuckled.
The Bronze Fox shook his head. "Impossible indeed, whoever created this was truly a lunatic..." He sighed. Even if he was already used to the strangeness that Mei brought each time, this time it was just complex on a whole other level.
"So, can you do it?" Mei narrowed her eyes.
"Of course Mistress." He bowed contemplating. "About 30%, a little better than what I could do previously."
Mei frowned. "You are not really good at this Forging thing..." She sighed and took back the jade slip.
The Bronze Fox already knew the previous parts, so he just added a few more to his memory. He would be able to readily make it a bit later once he got more materials.
"Anything else?" The Bronze Fox asked, hoping for something easier.
"Can you make it so that the Sect Token has two forms? Two different outfits with different sizes?" Mei asked.
"That is impossible." The Bronze Fox shook his head. "You would need to alter the design greatly, but since this is Ancient Treasure..." He sighed. There was no one left who could alter the function readily.
He could just adjust the size and shape, but that's about it.
The Jade Fox left his place and he got to work. He would always seal this place while working, since he noticed that he was observed whenever the Jade Fox visited him...
...
Mei returned and looked around for Aiko. She would resume their lessons on refining Pills. Her Divine Sense was still not ready, but she should be able to create Grade 1 and Grade 2 Pills.
It will be a lot more difficult, but that allows her to grow.
Mei found Aiko sleeping on the Blood Fox's tails. Unfortunately, Aiko was in her small form once again, so the lessons would have to resume on another day...
...
The next day, Mei started to advise Aiko about things. She once again explained how to use everything except the Cauldron, as that could still wait.
"The most important thing to know is Herbs. Their affinities and what certain combinations might cause." Pill Refining was all about mixing and matching Herbs, Mei knew that and she wanted to teach that to Aiko.
The most important thing about this was simple: Never use certain Herb combinations unless you have either a powerful Divine Sense or protection from a Treasure. This was such due to the fact that certain combinations can cause damage to one's Soul and even possibly kill the Pill Refiner.
Mei advised until Aiko reverted to her small form...
This went on for several days until Aiko was familiar with most of the dangerous combinations and how they came to be.
Aiko listened carefully and to Mei's surprise; she remembered everything.
This was kind of shocking to Mei, since she expected Aiko not to remember most... This felt a bit odd, but it was certainly a welcomed surprise.
At this time, the parts arrived. Aiko was able to stay somewhat awake in her small form too, but she would still sleep.
...
Days passed... weeks passed...
Aiko was finally able to stay awake in her small form and was working on the Massage Chair, version X.
There were a couple of previous versions which were rejected either by Aiko or by Mei, since they were not sustainable or hard to repair.
Aiko still worked on the Special Massage Chair just for her group use, but that was beside the point.
Aiko turned 31, but there was no message from the system. No matter how long she waited...
Soon she gave up and returned to tinkering with the Massage Chairs...
At this time, Aiko was only taught about how to act and behave, not about Pill Refining.
Mei believed she needed more time to get familiar with the Jade Slip and the Herbs inside, so she only gave a few passing questions here and there for Aiko.
Sometimes she passed, sometimes she didn't, but the progress was overall quick.
Mei was sometimes shocked at Aiko's progress, it was a bit too quick from what she was used to...
Aiko also learned how to behave in front of them, so they were less tempted. At that time, Mei also finished the Array that would block the strange air inside the Fox Village. It naturally only spanned the Grandmaster's abode, so it wouldn't raise suspicion.
They required more materials or things before they could openly denounce the Elders hidden in the Shadows. It was not yet time, but that didn't mean Mei would leave them alone.
She also set up a special boundary that would block people from entering this place.
It was not something omnipotent, it was good enough to notify them if someone broke through the boundary. She also set up a few alarms and an Array that would allow her to track anyone inside.
This allowed her to keep track of everyone around and see if there were some hidden elements in this place.
The Grandmaster was powerful, but she would also run around handling the Sect's needs often, even more so now that her health was improving.
This meant that this place was guarded only by her infamy and the Abode Array, which was not really all that good.
The place was nice, but it was difficult to inlay most Arrays. Most Array Cultivators would just give up for a more profitable job with the excuse that nobody would invade the Grandmaster's Abode and that the Grandmaster was the most powerful person in the Sect.
They weren't entirely wrong. The Grandmaster was truly strong, but that didn't mean there were no insane individuals who were willing to steal things from the Grandmaster.
As such, Mei had to create more Arrays for protection, especially now that Aiko was exceptionally weak at times. She needed a safe place to stay until she completely recovered.
The place should also be safe because Pill Refining was difficult. You had to focus only on it, counting breaths, adjusting flames, and so on.
If you are interrupted, failure is guaranteed. At worse, even the possibility of death is likely.
It's kind of similar to when the Formation Cultivators have their flags tinkered with; the effect is just much greater in scale.
Mei returned. Aiko was still tinkering with the Massage Chair and Mei encouraged it.
Foxes had a lot of wealth that they used to sate their libido, but it was a different story for the Muscle Peak. Those guys had a lot of wealth that they spent on massages and Pills that could improve their muscles. As such, they would go feral once the Massage Chairs was reintroduced.
Thanks to the Grandmaster's cheerfulness, Mei also figured out that some Elders would keep a close eye on it and protect it if needed.
The Massage Chair was a very sought after commodity. It was also easy to replicate if you had Forging and Inscription Cultivators with enough imagination and Rank.
As such, Mei was very careful about leaking the blueprint outside, but considering how many changes Aiko made each iteration... those were possibly unfounded worries.