Chapter 388 – Aiko is ready for a new scam!
There was quite a ruckus after the 100th fight. The Elders also started to sweat at the loss of resources and Treasures.
Mei naturally protected those resources and Treasures, since some Fox Elders were eyeing them closely.
Fortunately, Mei was not stupid enough to give them anything other than 1 Pill from the Human side. The Fox Elders would protest, but she could always say that she already gave them their share.
This event was organised and maintained by the Jade Fox and Vicious Cub. So they were completely excluded from the occasion.
Moreover, some Human Elders saw the Vicious Fox favourably and would insult the Fox Elders who were trying to cause trouble.
The Beast Elders were quite jealous that the Fox Village nurtured such wonderful seedlings. Some Beast Elders were discussing how to poach them, but since delegations would soon arrive, they would have to offer them a place on the mainland, which was more difficult.
Aiko was completely oblivious to this, since she was observing the Twins which were dancing together. Their evolution was startling everyone as their movements and attack became more graceful and sharper.
Most Cultivators with mediocre and average talents were no longer their match and could not lay their fingers on them.
Cultivators with talent were still able to injure them, but the Twins would be able to beat them due to their impeccable cooperation.
Cultivators that were hailed as prodigies did not approach the Twins, since most of them worked alone and it would not be beneficial for them if they lost this fight.
There was more to lose than to win. Those resources were certainly nice, but if they lost. They would also lose a large number of their followers.
While the early stages could be completed alone, it was always better to be with a group, so that you could use them as meat shields.
That was the true nature of Sects. To protect and nurture prodigies, average Cultivators should be used as scapegoats.
The Twins finished their fights since they were too tired. They fought 100+ times which was an incredible feat.
'Next up would be Mei, but the Elders are not moving.' Aiko clicked her tongue. She was unhappy that they hesitated so much.
Sure, this whole thing was a scam, but they already bit the hook and all that Aiko had to do was pull on the rod.
"Next opponent will be a unique one!" Aiko proclaimed through her paper megaphone.
Everyone paid attention to her, since she was the one who started this whole thing and made them lose so many of their resources.
Aiko didn't mind those piercing gazes and kept going. "Everyone must be tired from seeing constant fight- Who am I kidding? We all loved it." She chuckled.
"But I believe it's time to adjust the premise. Since fights were won and most of you gained a lot of experience then how about Alchemy?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"There is a lot to learn through Alchemy and your fighting instinct can't be compared to your Pill Sense. How well you can craft those delicious Pill Can-" Aiko was interrupted by Mei's cough.
Aiko coughed to clear her throat. "Those wonderful Pills!
''She wanted to say Pill Candies, right?'' The Elders glanced at each other, since they had heard some rumours about the Vicious Cub.
Those rumours were very mild compared to the real deal.
The Elders wondered if they should take this opportunity to show the Beasts they had superior Alchemy since Humans had a much greater repertoire of Pills.
Humans were also more skilled in Pill Refining, since they had hands, unlike Beasts.
The Foxes were slightly different as they had Human form, but that didn't mean their Human form could be compared to true Humans.
Their fingers were still clumsy even after years in that form. Moreover, the number of Foxes skilled in Alchemy was very low.
If you combined those two numbers, the theoretical number of Foxes that would be able to beat Human Cultivators... was pretty much non-existent.
While there was always the possibility that a Fox could beat them. The likelihood of that happening in this place was pretty much zero.
This should allow them to take most of the resources that they lost during the fights.
"Do we have to create Beast Pills?" One Human Elder asked. He wished to bait the Beasts into giving out their Pill recipes.
"No." Aiko immediately denied it. "You would make excuses for not being able to defeat us if we did it like that." She mercilessly scratched at his ego, so much so that he coughed up blood.
"We will be doing Human Pills. Of course, you have to say the Pill in advance and possibly provide the Herbs since we might not have them.
Beast Pills and Human Pills were different. Only the process was the same.
The likelihood that a Beast has materials for Human Pills was pretty low and so that's why Aiko set up that rule.
The Elders who favoured Aiko saw her in clear light. She yielded their advantage in order to demonstrate the might of her group. That is... if the Jade Fox would be able to pull out a win.
The Elders nodded at each other. This 'battle' would not be as difficult for Humans, since there was Divine Sense involved and a very delicate process that took a long time.
Most Foxes would have minded staying still for hours to end just to refine a few Pills.
All of these would help Humans easily beat the Foxes and regain their pride!
Aiko saw how fired up they were. "I believe that every challenger has their own Cauldron, right?" She looked around carefully.
"That is natural." One Elder smirked, it was unlikely that Foxes would be able to produce a good Cauldron, so everything was in their favour! It was their turn to robbing the Beasts!
Aiko nodded. "How about the Herbs?"
"We can provide some of them." One Beast Elder puffed smoke out of his nostrils.
"We can provide if something is missing." The Alchemy Pill Peak Elder didn't mind this, since most burden would be on the Beast Elders.
"That is fine. And protective Arrays, so that they can't be affected by outside interferences?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"I will do the Fox side." One of the Human Elders who favoured the little Fox volunteered.
"I can do that by myself." Mei chuckled. "But thank you for your kind intentions."
The Human Elder blushed and sat down. They all noticed how beautiful the Jade Fox was.
'It would be fun to bring her over, but it was unlikely to be that easy.' One Elder thought.
"Then I will do our side." Another Human Elder stood up. They pretty much looked all the same, so Aiko had a hard time distinguishing them.
"That is fine. Please prepare it, so that we can move onto the stage." Aiko nodded.
"Can multiple Disciples challenge her at the same time?" One lousy Elder asked.
"That would amplify the bet. So if there were 2 Disciples challenging. You would need to stake twice as much as we would." Aiko licked her lips.
"What?!" The Elder was outraged.
"There is no need to make this game into a boring gang game." Aiko rolled her eyes. "If you want to bully someone, choose someone else, or my 8th-legged friend will visit you during the night!" She threatened and a 'small' spider raised one of its legs to wave at the Elders.
The Elders raised their eyebrows, but shivered the moment 4 out of the 8 legs were holding huge stakes.
The Elder who was previously impaled was not saved yet. Yet the little spider had even more of those sinister stakes prepared.
What was worse, the Elders could not call them out or seek help, since the other Sects would laugh at them. They had to hold in and get revenge during the Pill Refining!
"How will we judge the Pills?" Aiko asked, while they were preparing the Arrays to make it difficult for cheaters.
"How about the price of the Pill?" One Beast Elder suggested. "If we are talking just quality, it won't really get us anywhere, but if we put it into a number and selling price. We can determine the winner."
The Human Elders narrowed their eyes.
"What about Cultivators that would never buy Beast Pills?" The Human Elder glared at the Beasts.
"31% of Pills on the market are made by Beasts. Try that bullshit on someone else." A large Snake Elder slapped the chair next to him, completely obliterating it.
The Human Elder kept glaring, but he couldn't really refute it without drawing ire from other Sects.
Aiko observed their exchange and chuckled. She didn't think so many Elders would be on her side.
'This will make it so easy to scam them more.' Aiko glanced at Mei and they gave each other a discreet thumbs up.
Mei was currently swimming in resources and they would be gone pretty quickly once everyone reached Human Cultivation. It still should be enough to give them a good boost.
It's unlikely that they would be allowed to Evolve in the Secret Realm again without attracting more attention. So their Cultivation places would be very limited.
'That's where Feifei would come in.' Mei narrowed her eyes.
There were not enough Blessed Lands in the Immortal World, so Immortals started to create them through agriculture. They would plant special Herbs and weeds that would thicken the ambient Immortal Qi, allowing them to create a pseudo-Blessed Land.
'Nobody says you can't do this in Mortal World.' Mei smiled sinisterly. She would create a beautiful grotto that would allow them to quickly pass Human Cultivation.
'The main issue would be Aiko.' Mei narrowed her eyes as she drew the Array with special chalk.
'She will definitely have problems in the Human Stage.' Mei was sure of it. That was one of the reasons why she 'rushed' her Evolution, so that she could support Aiko when the time came.
'My Cultivation would be higher and I would be able to keep everyone away from Aiko until she stabilised.' Mei knew that it was a very shocking experience for all Beasts to 'lose' their Beast Core. Moreover, for proper Human Form, you are supposed to shatter it, but Mei didn't need to do that, since she already experienced it.
'Aiko will have to undergo it, so I will have to watch out for that time and be with her.' Mei nodded gently, preparing for the future as she kept drawing the Array.
Her skill could not be compared to anyone else, she could let her mind wander, while not decreasing the effects of the Array!