Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Chapter 129 – Grandmaster likes

Aiko was learning from the Jade Slip when the guest arrived.

To no one's surprise, that guest was the Grandmaster.

Aiko gulped nervously, she knew the Grandmaster's temperament and was worried that she would get dragged away by the Grandmaster for 'training' if the chair does not function properly.

Aiko stared at Mei with pleading eyes, but she was ignored. She could only hope that the Grandmaster was in a good mood.

Mei was happy inside seeing the distressed look that she was given by Aiko and smirked.

"This can relieve some of your symptoms, so Aiko will be improving this once she finishes my training, but till then please do give us feedback on what needs to be changed or improved." Mei was polite to the Grandmaster since she already had plans for her too.

The Grandmaster laughed. "I can still read your mind, you little rascal." The Grandmaster petted Mei and Mei glared at the Grandmaster.

She laughed even more and said gently. "Is that the strange chair you were talking about?" She inspected it, but could not find the 'usual features'.

"That would be correct," Mei said. "Please sit down for the time being." Mei beckoned her.

The Grandmaster smiled and let Mei lead her by the nose, she wondered what exact plans she had prepared and why would she introduce her to such a curious thing.

She sat down and the crestfallen Aiko moved to the control panel. She set it up in the first gear.

"Oh?" The Grandmaster was pleasantly surprised. "I did not think you were building something so amusing." She did not dislike the vibration coming from this chair compared to other chairs.

Aiko didn't expect such a lax reaction and turned it up to the second gear.

"Oh, it also moves?" The Grandmaster tilted her head and relaxed a bit more.

Aiko's lips twitched, she didn't expect the Grandmaster to be like this and turned it to the third gear.

She could now notice that the ambient Qi was getting sucked into the Massage Chair.

'So the third gear is the limit if we don't find a place with higher Qi density...' Aiko thought.

"Oh, this is nice." The Grandmaster could finally feel the moving parts properly and she felt a bit relieved.

Aiko was upset, the reaction from Mei might've been a bit extreme, but Aiko could tell she enjoyed it a lot more.

"Don't be sad, it's still a novel idea." The Grandmaster tried to soothe Aiko, but that made her even more upset.

"Fuck! Alright, I don't care about the training any more! I will have you acknowledge my work!" Aiko cursed loudly and pulled out a Spirit Stone.

The Grandmaster stared at her in interest, unaware that it took many, many months to build and tweak this Massage Chair.

Aiko slammed the Spirit Stone into the Massage Chair port and it got sucked.

"Oh? You can boost the inten-" Soon the Grandmaster's voice turned incoherent from the vibration.

Aiko laughed like a maniac. "HAHAHA, serves you right! I will have you know that you can use Spirit Stones and Qi Gathering Inscriptions at the same time! So the final intensity is even greater than what Mei experienced!"

If one saw this situation, they would think that it was some kind of torture device. Why? It made strange noises and it was hopping on the legs.

Surprisingly, unlike before, what happened to Mei, this time it just hopped in place.

Aiko was puzzled since this had higher intensity by around 15%, but it still wouldn't run away like previously... What was going on?

After half an hour, the Massage Chair depleted its power source and stopped wobbling.

The Grandmaster was still glued to it and she was even half asleep.

The Grandmaster yawned cutely and stood up with a slight wobble.

Aiko was beyond shocked as even her all-powerful expe-*Cough* guest, named Mei, had trouble with the lesser version, but the Grandmaster just shrugged it off.

"This was an amazing experience." It was rare for her to praise something that much. "I would definitely want to experience it again, but it seems like a few parts came loose at the end."

Aiko checked the Massage Chair. It's not like they came loose, but they were broken off! 'So much work...' Aiko cried inwardly.

The Grandmaster stretched unconsciously, as she would always do. Her body was in bad shape, but this time she was shocked.

"Huh?" The Grandmaster had a puzzled expression. She did not have this expression for decades or maybe even centuries!

"Good isn't it?" Mei smiled like a true Fox.

The Grandmaster likewise smiled like a true Fox. "Let's talk about business." She immediately knew the benefits of this thing. Not only did it alleviate the shoulder pain from practising the sword, but even certain clumps of unmoving Qi were dispersed! It was a far cry to say that it was effective on someone like the Grandmaster, but considering that this was just a prototype, it was amazing and held a lot of potential!

Mei smiled. "Let's go over there." She gestured at Grandmaster while glancing at Aiko.

Aiko had a sobbing expression as she was collecting the broken pieces and both of them felt inwardly guilty about it.

*Cough* "Yeah, let's do that." The Grandmaster nodded awkwardly.

...

"It's simple, you provide protection and we will provide the Massage Chair for you." Mei cut to the case, since her mind could be read anyway.

The Grandmaster nodded. "This is indeed something I would like to do again, it eased my muscles a bit more than other things and the Heavenly Massage Parlour is not even half as effective as this prototype." She commented.

"Would you like to check my body?" Mei smiled.

"Oh? Are you saying it has an even more amazing effect?" The Grandmaster narrowed her eyes.

Mei didn't say anything and stretched her wrist towards the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster took it and slowly probed her body. She was confused.

"I did not know you had a technique that kept your body from building up Qi clumps..." The Grandmaster frowned, but she was interested in such a technique.

"I do not have." Mei smiled at the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster paused to think and then her eyes widened. "Don't tell me."

"That is correct. It was that 'Massage Chair'." Mei smiled from ear to ear.

The Grandmaster laughed. "Alright, tell me the terms."

...

They returned to Aiko, both smiling.

Aiko glared at them, but they just chuckled.

"I believe that your main customer will be the Foxes from the Muscle Peak. They might even worship you for this novel 'Relaxer'." The Grandmaster chuckled.

"We will be in your care, Grandmaster." Mei smiled like a true Fox. So what if that muscle peak would worship them? Could they compare to the Grandmaster's might? No. So there was no need to cater to them.

The Grandmaster chuckled again, reading her mind. "Sure, sure, but keep in mind that I will be going away quite often so I can't keep you under protection all the time."

"That is alright, we are only open when Grandmaster is around~" Mei hummed mischievously.

The Grandmaster shook her head and left. She was itching to train as some of those stiff muscles were too relaxed.

Mei turned towards the sobbing Aiko and came close to her.

She gently hugged Aiko, nuzzling her head into her neck.

Aiko's muscles stiffened and she tried to get away from Mei, but Mei wouldn't let her.

"You did an exceptional job." Mei whispered. It was rare for her to acknowledge others.

"Hmpf." Aiko was happy that she had her craft acknowledged, but at the same time upset that it was destroyed so soon.

Mei rested on Aiko for a while. "Tell me what parts are broken and I will get another Forging Cultivator to create the pieces." Mei said gently.

Aiko gave her the parts that were broken, since they could be reused once you burned away the Inscription Ink. This was only possible since the Inscription Ink was there for a short period of time, otherwise, it would be impossible to remake it without needing purification and other things.

Mei gently caressed Aiko's head. She got the Grandmaster in her pockets and she could improve their relationship further, allowing her to get, yet another loyal sla-*Cough* guardian for them.

...

Mei returned to the Forging 'Novice'.

"Forging Adept." Mei finally acknowledged his rank.

He smiled tiredly. He dodged the cannonball with his exceptional craftsmanship last time.

He was barely able to please this devil the last time and he felt like today would be even harder than before...

"What can I do for you, Jade Fox?" The Metal Fox asked.

"I need you to redo these parts." Mei placed the parts in front of him.

"Anything else?" He didn't believe that was it...

"Nothing." Mei shook her head.

"Okay, come back tomorrow and it will be done." He nodded slowly, he could push the other works back since it would be bad if he let the Jade Fox wait.

Mei lifted her eyebrow when she heard the time, but she didn't voice her inner thoughts. She nodded gently and left the place.

The Metal Fox sighed. He never had such a difficult customer before, but he could also feel he was improving at his craft much faster than before, so he wouldn't complain about it.

...

"Alright." The Grandmaster stretched and smiled at the haggard duo. "You are improving splendidly."

"Thank you, Grandmaster." The Umbra Fox bowed, while Blood Fox only nodded.

They had their fair share of troubles, but they could only voice one thing in their minds.

'Aiko is a monster!'

The Blood Fox at first thought that Aiko was just a harmless cutie, but she never came back as haggard as they did, from what Mei told them. They already knew that the Grandmaster didn't pull her punches, which meant she was just that strong.

They both were slightly upset at her strength as they were both much older than Aiko, yet Aiko was much, much stronger than the duo combined.

"There is no need to feel like that, when it comes to technique you are leagues ahead of the Vicious Cub." The Grandmaster smiled and comforted them.

"Does it matter when she can just overwhelm us with strength?" The Blood Fox scoffed lightly, but she was still happy that the Grandmaster tried to comfort them.

The Umbra Fox shook her head. The Passion Fox would always pick a beef with the Grandmaster, making their training even more difficult than it already was...

Did she hate the Passion Fox for it? Not really, she could feel her improvements much more clearly, so in a way, she was thankful towards the Passion Fox. She could not afford to antagonize her idol...

"You still have energy? Good." The Grandmaster snickered. "In position, we will continue fighting till you collapse."

The Blood Fox didn't wait for the signal and rushed at the Grandmaster with her fists coated in Blood Armour.

This was the new technique that allowed her to protect her fists and even deliver fatal blows by injecting her opponents with her blood and then solidifying it to cause some disastrous damage.

The Umbra Fox reduced her presence and emptied her mind. She scurried around looking for an opening to strike the Grandmaster.

She waited patiently in the shadows of nearby trees, ready to strike.

She saw her opening when Passion Fox used multiple Blood Spears in close quarters with the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster parried the spears, but the Umbra Fox was already behind her.

She struck at the Grandmaster's back with the intent to pierce.

Unfortunately, she was blocked by the wooden scabbard. She was not discouraged as she previously set up a trap with flying daggers.

It was anticipated by the Grandmaster when she blocked that strike, but the Grandmaster was much quicker than the slow-moving daggers.

She dodged them with ease, only for her to meet up with the Passion Fox fist.

The Grandmaster narrowed her eyes. The Passion Fox used her Blood Armour to endure the trap in order to get a hit on her.

She praised her decisive nature, but this was not enough on the battlefield.

The Grandmaster kicked the Passion Fox away and struck the Umbra Fox with the hilt of her wooden sword.

"This will be all for today." The Grandmaster smiled happily.

The Blood Fox laughed. "You have finally used your legs."

For them, this was a great accomplishment as the Grandmaster had barely moved since the beginning, but over time she was forced to use more and more parts of her body to fight them. This pleased them greatly as they fell asleep with newfound accomplishment and pride.

The Grandmaster shook her head and used her Divine Sense to move them away, back into her abode...