Chapter 384 – The Game was rigged from the start
"I'm telling you, that little Fox is much smarter than your stupid Disciple!" One Elder roared and Aiko noticed that it was the same Elder that listened to her stories.
"Whose Disciple are you calling stupid?! She can't even fight and you say that she is smarter?!" The other Elder bellowed.
"Just because you have arbitrarily kicked her out of the competition doesn't mean she can't fight!" The first Elder roared back.
"It was not arbitrarily! She was not here during the start and she Evolved inside the Secret Realm!" The second Elder spat saliva all around him.
"It was arbitrarily decided! Do you even have any evidence that she Evolved inside?! You don't, so shut up you stupid prick!" The first Elder roared once again.
Moon Aiko glanced between them. "I don't mind fighting, but I have no interest in this Tournament." She shook her head. "It's pointless for me to attend something that doesn't give me a return on investment."
A lot of Elders glared at her, since the ones most benefiting from this were Humans.
"What? You have something to say?" Aiko raised her eyebrow. "It doesn't feel like you can refute my words, though. You can keep glaring like children if that makes you happy." She gently smiled at them.
A few veins appeared on their foreheads and they glared at the shameless Fox.
"We are not against fighting Humans, but we see no reason to attend this event." Mei suddenly spoke with quite a dignified voice.
The Elders paused for a moment since they already heard about this Fox. The Jade Fox could create both Beast and Human Pills which was a rare talent.
She was a multitalented prodigy who was found only once in a millennium if even that.
"What do you suggest, Jade Fox?" The Elder who favoured the Vicious Cub softly asked.
"Let's make it into a betting game. We will put forth a prize for defeating the Vicious Cub and you put forth a prize for her defeating the challengers." Mei proposed, but she kept whispering additional rules to all Elders.
...
This discussion went on for quite some time before they made up their mind.
'We can rob the Beasts of their Pills and enhance our Contracted Beasts.' Everyone thought this, so there was no reason to reject this.
None were against this idea and Aiko felt that she could scam them quite well.
Mei also nodded, since now Aiko would be able to experience Human Cultivation and think about it even before she attained Human Form.
That will give her an advantage over her peers and it will lessen the danger she will have to face.
"Since we have agreed on these simple rules and no killing rule..." Mei narrowed her eyes. "We will start with 3 2nd Grade Beast Nurturing Pills." She suggested, and everyone stiffened.
It was not a high bet, but it was also not low either. The most troubling thing was that every Human Elder wanted those Pills, so there would be a fight over it.
The Human Elders started to bicker, and the Beast Elders kept glancing at Mei.
Normally it was taboo to use Beast Pills like this, but it seems like the Jade Fox had some kind of plan, so they would keep quiet for the time being.
The Human Elders kept going on and on until one of them won the brawl and challenged The Vicious Cub with 5 3rd Grade Revitalising Pills. It was worth about the same as those 2nd Grade Pills, so everything was alright.
Mei nodded gently and was satisfied with this bounty. This would allow her to extract even more resources out of them.
"My Disciple will challenge the Vicious Cub." The Elder rubbed his hands. He didn't believe that Fox, who had that strange knowledge, would be able to fight too.
Aiko jumped down from Li Xiu's lap, and Ah Cy narrowed her eyes. 'It seems like our Sect will lose a lot of resources.' She sighed, yet she had no intention to interfere in this little game.
Ah Cy was happy that Li Xiu was finally interested in a Beast and it also didn't seem like the little Fox minded the attention.
'Once Li Xiu matures, she should understand that Contracting her would be a good thing for both of them.' Ah Cy didn't teach Li Xiu the classic enslavement Technique that the Contract used, but a special one.
It still allowed the Beast to retain their autonomy and grow stronger, but only her Peak was allowed to use that Technique.
Li Xiu was concerned for Aiko, since she didn't know how powerful she was.
It was cute seeing her fret over things like that, but Aiko's natural expression allowed her to ease up.
"Who do you think will win, Master?" Li Xiu was interested in knowing if Aiko had any chance against them.
"What do you think?" Ah Cy narrowed her eyes. This could be a good opportunity to teach Li Xiu that Beasts are not as weak as they look.
"I think it will be difficult to win, since she is still a Beast. Humans have too many enhancing Techniques..." Li Xiu sighed. There were Techniques that would allow you to temporarily increase our speed 5 times! It was nothing the Beast could match, since Humans had their Dantian and pathways that enabled them to use this.
"Shall we play this game too then?" Ah Cy pursed her lips.
"What game?" Li Xiu tilted her head.
"For each loss, you will wear clothing which I choose for you." Ah Cy smiled.
Li Xiu blushed. "I-I'm not ready for those clothes, Master." She would be too embarrassed to wear those clothes, since they were either too revealing or difficult to wear.
"Then you just have to win." Ah Cy shrugged.
"What will I get in return?" Li Xiu narrowed her eyes.
"I will allow you to bring the Foxie into our Sect and she will be under my protection." Ah Cy smiled. This was a good bait for the naive girl.
"No taming or Contracting, Master." Li Xiu kept her gaze trained on her Master.
Ah Cy pursed her lips. "Fine." She would concede this much in order to lure her in.
"Then I agree." Li Xiu's eyes shined. This was a good opportunity to invite the little Foxie and play with her.
...
Aiko stepped onto that large podium, or whatever it was called. She was not interested in using her Nightmare Form, since she might accidentally kill them.
That left her with the Moon Form, which was mostly observation and defence.
'But I don't need to beat them up.' Moon Aiko smiled sinisterly. She had her [#### Needle Technique], so she didn't need to use her fists.
She also had the [Moon's Crust] which had ridiculous defensive potential.
"I'm-" The Disciple jumped onto the stage and tried to introduce himself, but...
"Skip." Aiko just cut him short.
"I-" He tried again, but once again.
"Skip. Skip. Skip. I will have to fight too many of you and your faces are average at best, so let's just skip the introductions." Aiko rolled her eyes when she saw his expression.
He was boiling with rage, but Aiko didn't care. "Come already, I'm bored." She didn't really care about the Tournament, but she would rob them of their Treasures.
He immediately dashed at the Fox and his hands formed a tiger's mouth.
Energy gathered around those hands and they created a real tiger's mouth.
"Ohhhh!" Aiko was taken in by the tiger. These were not those simple fireworks that she remembered! This was something more incredible than that!
"Undefeated Tiger's Death Grip!" The Disciple shouted loudly and the tiger completely formed around his hands. The Tiger roared and charged at Aiko trying to kill her.
Aiko was mesmerised for a moment, but then she pursed her lips.
"[Moon's Crust]." Aiko chanted simply, and a Moon-like crust appeared around her body. It was like a Moon descended and graced her presence.
The Elders were shocked that the little Fox wanted to receive that attack, especially when she was suppressed by the stage she was standing on.
-----
"Is she in danger?" Li Xiu's eyes widened.
"Wrong. This will be her win." Ah Cy shook her head.
"How?" Li Xiu felt strange about it.
"Because her opponent is wasting too much Qi on a flashy attack." Ah Cy sighed. She didn't expect other Disciples to be so bad. She wouldn't be able to choose another Saint for her Disciple any time soon...
-----
The Tiger bit the tiny Fox, but the [Moon's Crust] stopped it without too many issues.
"Is that it?" Aiko tilted her head. Her [Moon's Crust] was not even compressed by that bite, so it was strange that the Technique was so weak.
"Don't mock me!" The Disciple poured more Qi into the tiger due to him losing to the vixen's taunts.
...
"This is really it...?" Aiko tilted her head. No matter how long she waited, the tiger was unable to get to her.
The Disciple was also panting harshly, like he was running out of breath, so Aiko found this whole situation strange.
'... I will just put him to sleep.' Aiko sighed and used her [#### Needle Technique] to guide her in this.
She tapped a few places on his body with startling speed and the Disciple collapsed onto the ground.
"This was disappointing..." Aiko sighed with some frustration apparent in her voice.
"Who is next?" Mei asked as she collected those Pills. "We are raising the stakes with these Pills." Since she didn't need Human Pills yet, she would just use them to raise the stakes and extort the Human side even more.
"My Disciple would be next." A long-bearded Elder said softly. His Disciple was a Body Cultivator, which would make easy work of that barrier the little Fox created around her. He also had a lot more stamina, so it would not end up the same.
"What do you offer?" Mei asked softly and narrowed her eyes.
"Luminescent Pearl from the Eastern Sea." The Human Elder said.
"I see... You want more Beast Pills, right?" Mei understood the Elder's intentions and why he pulled out such a precious resource.
"Fine. 1 3rd Grade Beast Nurturing Pill." Mei said softly.
"That's not enough." The Bearded Elder narrowed his eyes, but another Elder interrupted him. "It's enough. Those Pills are all Perfect Quality."
"What?!" The Bearded Elder was shocked. He coughed awkwardly. "My apologies for my rudeness." He changed his tune really quick, since those Pills were a lot more precious than his simple Luminescent Pearl. It would not dirty the Beast's body and it would also have greater efficacy! He couldn't miss this just because he was rude!
"Apology accepted." Mei didn't mind it, since she would be able to extort even more from them.