Chapter 286 – A Welcomed Change

The next day Aiko returned, but for some reason, Mei kept her distance.

That was not to say that she was not diligently teaching Aiko, but it did feel like she created some sort of wall around herself.

Aiko... didn't like that.

While she didn't like the overly touchy Mei, she liked the overly cautious Mei even less.

Aiko tried a few ways to attract Mei's attention, but none of them worked. She was concerned that something might've happened to Mei, but those thoughts were unneeded.

"That's right. You adjust the strength of the Fire Shard by pouring the Energy from your Beast Core into it." Mei was overly close to Aiko when she was teaching her.

"But it's really hard..." Aiko complained to occupy Mei's mind so that she wouldn't realise it.

"You have two Beast Cores, so it's only natural that you would have more Beast Core Energy, but for some reason, you somehow have even more than you should have with those cores..." Mei sighed. She didn't understand how high Aiko's Beast Core Energy could reach.

This was quite troubling since Aiko had vastly more Beast Core Energy and thus had a harder time control it. Beasts would usually have one Beast Core, which would naturally limit their output.

But Aiko was not like that. She had two Beast Cores, both of which could store even more than normal Beast Cores. These unnatural cores made her energy far more difficult to control, but it mean she would be able to create more Higher-Grade Pills, once she does gain control.

Unlike normal Human Qi, Beast Qi had its own attributes. As such, you first need to purify the Beast Qi before it can be used on the Fire Shard. Meaning it would take more Beast Qi to achieve the same effect as when using Human Qi.

On the other hand, Foxes' Divine Sense was much more powerful and refined than the Humans' own, so they were able to tackle harder and more complex Pills sooner and easier. Most Humans being unaware of the fact that most top-ranking Pill Cultivators are Foxes.

Unfortunately due to the influence of the Fox Village, far too few are creating Pills that are being sold or auctioned to others.

Most Humans were also fed up with the fact that Foxes would go to auctions, cause small disasters with their rampant seduction and teasing, and then leave without consequences. That once the flow of pills started to dry, a ban was imposed banning all Beasts to restore order to the auction houses.

This naturally enraged the Beast Sect and they had to throw their weight around to make an exception for their Disciples.

Foxes were naturally hated and loved, but the hatred was bigger than the love, as Foxes caused too many disasters.

Their beauty was only rivalled by the other Heavenly Beasts. Beings like the Phoenixes, Qilins, Dragons, and so on. They were the undisputed 'Kings' of beauty.

Yet most would still choose a Fox when given the chance thanks to their soft and cuddly tails.

...

"You can't be so close to the flame." Mei took her hand and wrapped it around Aiko's waist, pulling her back further.

Aiko almost squealed inside her mind, but she suppressed that motion. She can't scare away Mei, now that she approached her willingly.

It was obvious to Aiko that Mei was a hardcore Pill Maker who would ignore most things that were happening around her as long as she could share Alchemy with others.

Mei soon snapped out of her daze, but the current Aiko was different to what she was previously. She learned a lot during the year when she kept re-reading the stories from her companions. She learned so much that it was quite scary...

Just because one had the ability to remember everything, didn't mean that they understood what they remembered. Thanks to the fact that Aiko had to read it again and again, she found out that there was a lot more to the stories than what her eye could catch on the first read.

The more she read, the more sophisticated those stories became.

"B-but it's harder if I'm further away." Aiko used those stories as a baseline for her growth to con everyone.

Mei paused. The motion of taking her hand back and stepping away from Aiko was pushed back into her mind as she was trying her best to teach Aiko so that she could learn properly.

Aiko smiled at this. This is considered manipulation, but this one is a harmless one, right? Right??!

"Mei..." Aiko suddenly noticed something.

"What is it?" Mei was still deep in thought, wrapped around Aiko.

"The table is burning..." Aiko said sheepishly. She didn't expect that the Fire Shard would be able to burn through the Array that Mei created and seeing Mei's startled expression... It seems like she didn't expect it either.

Mei waved her hand and extinguished the flame with a wave of water. She had to sigh right after, since she didn't expect Aiko to just burn through 3rd Grade Arrays so easily.

"I will prepare a new table." Mei sighed, but Aiko stopped her.

"Could you dry me first..." Aiko coughed awkwardly. She didn't expect Mei to also douse her in water.

Mei looked back. Aiko looked like a poor wet Fox, but what was more concerning...

'She doesn't wear underwear?!' Mei was speechless, so much so that she almost fainted.

She dried Aiko with her Water Affinity. 'I will have to scold the Blood Fox about this! What if she gets wet outside!? Everyone will see her naked body!' Mei glared in a certain direction.

Aiko was happy, but then she added. "It would be easier if I knew the cleaning spell!" She pouted unhappily.

This startled Mei. 'Certainly, if she knew this spell it would be easier to dry herself and while drying is a more advanced version of the Cleaning Technique, it should be achievable thanks to Aiko's additional Beast Cores.' She narrowed her eyes.

"I will think about it." Mei nodded, but she had already decided to teach about the Cleaning Technique. It has many variants, but the effect is the same. It cleans the outer body and clothes if mastered properly.

Mei left to fetch a new table. She didn't want to store it inside her Storage Rings since it would be a waste.

Aiko waited while making the 'triumph motion' with her body and fist.

She realised that she was advancing on the path of 'negotiation' much more quickly than she expected, but that was also thanks to her team.

They were more gullible since they were used to the small Aiko. She used this fact to her advantage to learn how to 'negotiate' much more smoothly.

...

Mei returned with another table and quickly set up another Array. This time it was 4th Grade, since she didn't want to repeat the previous incident with Aiko's nipp- burning table!

Mei's head hurt. Her thoughts were muddled and she had a hard time focusing. She had to be careful when teaching Aiko, so that she wouldn't get herself injured like it happened with that poison.

It was Mei's fault since she was too used to the fact that most Foxes would reach several dozen if not a hundred years before they reach awareness.

How could that be possible? Because Foxes were still animals that ate Herbs, so it's not uncommon that they would accidentally eat Herbs which would extend their lifespan.

Mei sat down, but this time she was conscious of her distance. For some reason, she could hear a click of a tongue, but that must be her imagination since she was tired.

"Now I will teach you the hand signs, so that you can extract the Herbs without Divine Sense. I will also teach you hand signs for forming and moulding the juices of the Herbs." Mei explained. "This is very crude, but also important if your Qi or Divine Sense is sealed. You would be helpless. Moreover, if you needed to create a Detoxifying Pill, but the poison was locking your Qi or Divine Sense, you would die before seeing the sun of the next day." Mei sternly explained to Aiko.

Aiko nodded cutely. The bigger form had higher accuracy, while the smaller form was faster.

Mei taught Aiko on purpose when she was in the big form, since it's better to do everything slowly. Once Aiko had a good enough grasp, the small form would be used to have Aiko learn it on a higher tempo.

In other words, she was learning twice and sometimes four times as much as her peers thanks to her ever-changing forms.

"These hand signs are easy, but the timing is hard. Unlike the Divine Sense where you can wrap the Pills with it in order to halt its progress, you can't do that with the hand signs. As such, the timing for every Pill changes and depending on their composition, it might also be a drastic change." Mei warned Aiko.

Aiko once again nodded. "So I will have to pull them out slightly or a lot sooner, depending on the Pill."

"Correct!" Mei liked the smart Aiko the best, as it made the teaching much easier.

Aiko smiled from ear to ear, blinding Mei.

Mei clicked her tongue. "You are not allowed to smile like that outside!" It would be bad for everyone and especially for Mei if Aiko went around wooing everyone.

"But I smile like this only for you." Aiko tilted her head, like she didn't understand what was wrong with it. Of course, Aiko understood, but Mei was more used to this 'form' of Aiko.

Aiko was not quite as skilled as other Foxes and she didn't really want to be, but she wanted to be skilled enough to solve issues that might arise from other Vixens.

Mei blushed while pinching Aiko's cheeks. "You shouldn't be saying those words too, alright?!"

From her movements, it was obvious that Mei was embarrassed, but Aiko didn't mind, since this kind of pinching didn't hurt her.

"If you won't stop pinching my cheeks, I will pinch you too!" Aiko inflated her cheeks so it was harder for Mei to pinch them.

"Haha." Mei laughed. "Your hands are too short- Aiko!"

Aiko pinched Mei's thigh, since it was the closest thing to her, but Aiko also calculated that this would bring the biggest reaction.

Aiko triumphantly puffed out her chest. "See? I can also pinch back!"

"You-!" Mei completely forgot that she was supposed to keep her distance from Aiko and observe her.

That was only natural, since Aiko's 'innocence' was good at guiding others and making them forget that she was still a Fox.

Aiko wrestled with Mei, but that was a fruitless endeavour as Aiko was quickly pinned down and tickled by Mei.

The Grandmaster raised her eyebrow. She was on edge since she read Aiko's mind, but at the same time... She was quite happy that Mei let loose.

She was concerned that Aiko would turn into a manipulative Vixen, so she would have to have a talk about it later with Aiko, but for now... it was better this way for Mei.

Mei needed to open up to others in order to heal her wounds. The Grandmaster already calculated that Mei would not be able to ascend if she kept to the course she was on. As such, Aiko's manipulations were very welcome as long as they didn't go any further.

The Grandmaster made a mental memo about talking with Aiko later and left the premises in order to not disturb them. It was definitely not because she was jealous!