Chapter 438 – Familiar Faces
Everyone disembarked from the flying ship.
There was a subtle tension between the Northern and Southern Sects, but Aiko didn't care about it for the time being.
She was more curious about a certain flying ship that concealed itself into its surroundings.
"If it isn't the curious Fox that our Senior Sister talked about." A certain panther appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh, it's the kitty." Aiko's eyes shined. It was the same familiar black panther that tried to eat her when she was little.
"I'm a panther!" The Black Kitty groaned unhappily. "You should call me Nightmare Claw." He said proudly as he liked his new cringy nickname.
"Nightmare Kitty." Aiko nodded as she teased him.
"That's not- Ugh..." The Black Panther rolled his eyes as his head hurt. He could never win against this little-not-so-little Fox.
"Junior Brother, where did you go?" A soft voice attracted Aiko's attention.
"It's the Dragoness." Aiko's ears perked as she observed her. She looked thinner than before and less vigorous too, making Aiko wonder what was wrong with her.
"Be gentle with my Senior Sister. She is not feeling well..." The Black Panther whispered to Aiko.
"Gotcha." Aiko was not ignorant and noticed that there was something wrong with the dragon girl. Aiko liked her quite a bit, but her first mission was to plunder. She would care about things later on-
"Why are the others in Human Forms?" Aiko whispered back to the Black Panther.
"They found some kind of Technique inside a Secret Realm, so they were able to become Human temporarily. It's similar to what you Foxes have." The Black Panther whispered back.
"Are you joining this exploration?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"I am?" The Black Panther felt like something would go terribly wrong...
"Good, nab that Technique for me and I will reward you." Aiko smiled innocently.
"Why would I rob my fello-" The Black Panther tried to play it off, but...
"10,000 Spirit Stones just for that Technique. If you bring anything else, I will reward you accordingly."
"Your wish is my command, Mistress." The Black Panther immediately became subservient to her since he was only earning around 100 Spirit Stones a month...
10,000 Spirit Stones would cover his expenses for Beast Armour, which could protect him, and maybe even for some claw weapons for his paws.
"Good, just make sure it's not obvious and I will reward you even more." Aiko smiled from ear to ear.
"I will overthrow the heavens for you, Mistress." The Black Panther prostrated even more since stealth was his bread and butter.
Aiko was happy about this and trotted towards the Dragoness.
"Are you joining too?" Aiko smiled innocently like she was genuinely asking, but she was observing her closely to find what was wrong with her.
"What are you doing here?" Yueying petted the small Aiko. Her own height decreased, but she was still taller than her.
"Nothing~" Aiko hummed innocently.
"Don't try to plot anything, and just find some nice Treasures inside." Yueying was oozing elder sister vibes, which Aiko quite liked. It was very different to everyone in her team.
"I'm not plotting anything." Aiko pouted.
"Then why are you observing me?" Yueying raised her eyebrow.
"You got smaller." Aiko proclaimed as she jumped, almost matching the Dragoness's height.
"Or you just got taller." Yueying's face stiffened. It was obvious she didn't want to talk about this, but she also felt like this small Fox wouldn't press her on.
That was the only reason that she actually answered and didn't just brush it away.
It was true that Aiko got ever-so-slightly taller, but Yueying lost a lot of height and weight in recent months.
'It seems like they are almost finished with my heart...' Yueying's gloomy expression startled Aiko.
Aiko ruffled her tails and pulled out a piece of meat. "Here, eat some. It's good for you."
"I'm fine." Yueying smiled gently.
"Eat some." Aiko repeated, since she was already sharing her meat, she would not take a no for an answer.
"But-" Yueying was startled at her determination.
"It's delicious." Aiko nudged her with her words.
"I'm-" Yueying found it hard to go against this kind of person.
"It's good for you." Aiko repeated her words, not backing out.
"Thank you." Yueying planned to store it away, but her natural gaze made her eat it in place.
A warm energy spread throughout her body, and she was very confused.
"Yummy, right? Blood Fox knows how to pick meat." Aiko almost salivated. She had quite the trouble holding herself back from taking it back.
Yueying smiled genuinely for the first time in a while. "It was indeed delicious." Her complexion also seemed to improve...
Aiko's tail waggled happily before she ran away.
...
"What did you do?" The Black Panther questioned Aiko.
"Nothing, I just gave her some meat-" Aiko looked into her inventory, thinking that she would offer him a small piece too, but...
'Huh...? All the meat is here...? Then what did I give her...?' Aiko blinked many times, but no matter how much she counted, the number didn't change.
'Don't tell me...' Aiko's face stiffened. 'My XP meat...' She sniffled quietly.
"Here, have some..." Aiko gave the Black Panther normal meat as she sniffled quietly from losing her precious source of power.
"Huh... are you sure?" Seeing her expression, the Black Panther felt like she would eat him alive later, but the meat also smelled too delicious to be left alone...
...
Aiko returned to her group with her sulking expression and sat down.
"I need to be more careful..." Said Aiko, as her Soul was leaving her body.
The team was considering asking about what happened, but seeing Aiko's expression, they chose not to...
"When will we start?" Aiko asked Mei.
"In a few hours. They are giving the Eastern Sects time to get here, but if they can't manage..." Mei chuckled. "Then less competition for us~" She was quite happy since she already pulled a few strings to cause as much chaos inside the Sacred Realm as possible.
That would make moving and everything else easier.
"And you too, you should also watch over Aiko from time to time." Mei narrowed her eyes.
"That is only natural." The Blood Fox stiffly replied. It felt like Mei was overstepping her bounds.
There was a subtle cracking going between them, but they finished it each with 'hmph' and everything calmed down.
"We can find Aiko with our connection, so we can help her if the time arises." Yuxi said happily.
"Indeed." Wanshu was more and more interested in Aiko since she noticed that her creativity was quite bottomless. 'Moon Aiko is also cute. It reminds me of Yuxi when I met her...' She took quite a liking to that side of Aiko.
...
Time passed like a flowing river.
It was time to go into the Sacred Realm.
Aiko's mood recovered, and she was ready for it.
"So you will be watching from there." Aiko glanced towards the half-stadium-like structure.
"Yeah." Mei nodded, but she had a special place with Arrays and other things arranged for her by the Grandmaster.
Of course, she would redo it to her liking and strengthen it just in case someone wanted to interrupt her. With that, she would be safe and able to protect Aiko by giving her Beast Core Energy.
"But the time inside this time is not sped up?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"It is." Mei blinked innocently.
"You will run out of energy." Aiko sighed like she was a criminal.
"I will be fine. I even have Pills to boost my Beast Core energy, and keep in mind that my Purity is much, much higher than yours." Mei snorted unhappily because Aiko was underestimating her.
"I hope nothing will happen." Everything went well, so Aiko was worried something might happen.
"Don't jinx it now and go to the 'starting' line." Mei shooed the overly worried Aiko, but inside she felt warm and fuzzy.
It was a nice feeling when someone worried like this about you, and Mei was very happy about it!
...
The group of Cultivators arrived in front of the Sacred Realm. It didn't look like a tear in space, but more like a lake, just tilted to the side.
When someone touched it, it would send ripples to the edges and then back.
That sight mesmerised Aiko, and she wondered if she could recreate something like that.
In theory, it should be possible if she tweaked it a little bit, but it would still be difficult.
The resources this would require would be too immense-
'Wait, who is taking care of the business when Mei and Grandmaster are here?' Aiko suddenly realised something, but now it was too late to ask about it...
"You will be entering a Sacred Realm for the first time. It's very different from a Secret Realm, and you will understand that once you go past that ripple." One Human Elder explained briefly. "You will explore and find Techniques and resources. You have 5 years until there is a point of no return." He added to warn them. It would be bad if they lost these good seedlings.
Well, every Elder was aware that many Disciples would lose their lives there, and it would be their duty to avenge them and scam the other Sects.
Many Elders gave their treasured Disciples a Recording Stone, which would allow them to record who slighted them or harmed them.
Then those Disciples would take it to their Elders, and those Elders would see justice for them!
It was quite an unsightly move, but those Elders didn't care. If they could suppress prodigies, then they would do so and with no shame whatsoever!
"After you enter the Sacred Realm, you will be teleported into an unknown place. I suggest that you use that time to quickly join with others as Sacred Realm is more perilous than simple Secret Realm." Another Elder added more parting words.
"Beasts are more intelligent, and their average strength is also incomparable, so you should watch out and not approach their domains." More and more worried Elders butted in.
It soon turned into a whole parting debate. Such a long debate that the Eastern Sect finally arrived!
"We are not late!" The Sect Leader happily jumped down and into his seat.
"Don't mind me, don't mind me, just continue whatever you are doing." The Sect Leader laughed. He looked like a ruffian looking for a fight.
His flying ship also landed, and his Sect's Disciples quickly joined the group.
"I'm surprised that you were willing to appear here." One Sect Leader haughtily said.
"Unlike you, I'm pretty handsome. I'm here to pick up some Foxie wifey. Don't bother me, old hag." The Eastern Sect Leader dismissed her. Of course, he had no plan to look for a wife since he already had one, and it was a handful one at that.
As such, he would just ridicule them to buy time for his Disciples to properly prepare for this and calm down!