Endlessly falling, Sun Aiko finally crashed onto something hard.

She felt incredibly weak, like life had been sucked out of her body and then some.

The Rune on her hand still shone gently, the connection was still there, albeit weak.

'I hope this didn't injure Mei...' Aiko sniffled as her body ached.

'Ugh.' Aiko couldn't move at all, and when she looked at her system, she knew why.

[HP: 1|276.5M]

[Vitality: 0|29.2M]

'No passive regeneration...' Aiko sniffled, but she believed there would be a Cultivation Manual about that too!

She immediately clicked the [Primordial Shop].

[What do you wish to search for?]

'Healing.' Aiko groaned inside her mind. 'Where even am I?' She looked around, but she only had vague memories of this place.

[You are at the starting point, where everything began.]

[It's still the safest place thanks to individual 'Mei'.]

'Oh...' That meant Aiko was in that Forest, quite close to the very first Village.

[Phoenix Rebirth (Cultivation Manual - Divine)] - [Nine Revolving Energies (Cultivation Manual - Ancient)] - [Melody of Healing (Cultivation Manual - High Heaven)]

[Usable both in Human Form and Beast Form. Includes various effects.]

[Phoenix Rebirth]

[Requires burning alive.]

[Nine Revolving Energies]

[Soul will be bathed and bombarded by energies.]

[Melody of Healing]

[Tasked with either singing or playing.]

'Don't know how to play, and it hurts too much to sing.' Sun Aiko sniffled.

[System recommends [Melody of Healing] due to the current situation.]

'But...' Aiko coughed.

[Humming is considered melody.]

'...' Sun Aiko didn't mind singing, so...

[Melody of Healing] - 1,000,000 Skill Points

Sun Aiko couldn't even hum, but she did like the idea of healing through humming.

'So I'm back in the beginning... what am I supposed to do now?' Sun Aiko whined.

[Completed! Leave Sacred Realm]

[Issuing the reward.]

"I heard something over here." A very unfamiliar voice drifted into Aiko's ears.

'Not Humans now...' Aiko groaned unhappily.

"Yes, let's have a look at it." A very familiar voice startled Aiko.

'What is she doing here??' Aiko was confused. Wasn't she supposed to explore the Sacred Realm? What would take her here?

"Huh?" Li Xiu was startled by that sight. 'This feels...'

'It's the Fox...' Glacial Phoenix scoffed, but then sniffed. 'She doesn't have that Blessing, go, go, contract her!'

'Shut it.' Li Xiu glared at it as she crouched near the little Fox.

'So tiny and weak?' Li Xiu tilted her head as she slowly scooped her.

Her fur was slightly warm, but the breath of life was incredibly thin and weak.

"How are you?" Li Xiu asked Aiko.

Aiko just snorted in return, since she couldn't move much, but-

'Nice and warm, not bad.' Sun Aiko liked her quite a bit.

'Fine, then I will take a look at-' The Glacial Phoenix wanted to take a look inside the Fox, but a humongous Sun blocked its path.

'W-w-w-w-what?!' The Glacial Phoenix almost died when it was met with that kind of Sun. 'Is she a descendant of the Vermillion Bird or something?!' It was completely speechless.

Li Xiu naturally ignored all of that. She had no intention of contracting her, so she didn't need to care about what was inside her.

"Saintess?" The girl who 'first spotted' the little Fox was puzzled.

"A friend." Li Xiu smiled as she walked out of that cave.

She felt a familiar energy from here, so she just wanted to take a quick peek, but it turned out it was Aiko!

All of a sudden, her Spatial Ring.

"Yes, Master?" Li Xiu responded to the vibrating bracelet.

"There was an issue with the Sacred Realm..." Ah Cy hesitated to say anything about it to Li Xiu, since she knew that she liked that Fox...

"What happened?" Li Xiu was startled.

"The little Fox was sealed inside the Sacred Realm when the connection severed..." Ah Cy just said it, since they had quite a good relationship now.

"..." Li Xiu blankly glanced at the Fox in her arms. This was definitely Aiko.

[

Name: Aiko

Age: 69/?

Species: ####

Bloodline: ####

Beast Rank: Demonically Holy Beast

Beast Core: ####

...

...

]

'Only Aiko can have these stats...' Li Xiu pursed her lips.

"Okay." Li Xiu responded, but Ah Cy felt weird.

"Come back to the Southern Sect, or should we pick you up along the way?" Ah Cy didn't want Li Xiu developing Inner Demons, so she wanted to observe her and comfort her.

"Can I get a private ship?" Li Xiu didn't know why Aiko appeared here, but it was obvious that the news about this should get out. She would act stealthily until she arrived at her Master's Peak.

"..." Ah Cy felt more and more odd. "Sure..." She would naturally book a private flying ship for her Disciple, but with the condition of being on it too, naturally.

"Thank you, Master." Li Xiu tapped the connection and moved out of the Forest.

They were only in the Exterior Zone of the Nightmare Forest, but that didn't mean it was safe here. It was better to get outside!

Aiko grumbled. 'I wanna meet Mei, but if they think I'm dead...' She narrowed her eyes. 'I should heal quickly to strengthen the connection between us, so Mei understands I'm no longer inside the Secret Realm!

-----

Mei woke up on a soft bed. She was completely drained, but nobody was around...

"I'm still here." Dai Lu popped her head. "Hey! No need to be rude! I know I'm old, but calling me an Old Hag?!" She cried out about this injustice.

Mei rolled her eyes. She did imagine that for a moment, but it seemed Dai Lu was quite sensitive about it.

"Sensitive-!" Dai Lu felt hurt.

"What is it?" Mei had a hoarse voice, like she hadn't spoken for weeks.

"The Elders went into hiding after the Delegation and Sect Leader launched an investigation. It seems like the Delegation is using this opportunity to hush it while simultaneously trying to appease you so that you would come willingly to the mainland." Dai Lu explained the situation.

Mei glanced at the Rune on her hand. Her hand was pretty badly hurt, but she didn't care.

She immediately tried to connect to the other side, but lacking energy, it only worsened her state, making her cough up blood.

"Careful." Dai Lu soothed her by circulating a bit of her energy inside Mei. "I already checked the Rune and the location of the Sacred Realm through Divination Cultivator, but..."

"But?" Mei coughed again.

"Aiko is not inside the Sacred Realm..." Dai Lu didn't know how that was possible, since Sacred Realm was a world of its own. That meant it was not 'placed' inside a Mortal World, but inside a Void and connected to the Mortal World.

As such, once the connection was severed, they shouldn't be able to estimate the location of Aiko.

"..." Mei closed her eyes for a moment.

"Have you called, Master?" Injured Mystic Garbage appeared before them.

"Garbage, report." Mei coughed slightly.

"The Elders believe the Jade Vicious Fox is dead, but they had to withdraw due to Delegation. Most of their assets were already missing from the Fox Village, but they also didn't leave the premises. The Sect Leader is trying to hunt them down for stealing the most precious Relic, but the Delegation is interfering, Master." Mystic Garbage gave her report.

"Leave." Mei commanded. Aiko was not in the Sacred Realm, which she doubted, but her energy didn't weaken further.

'Did Aiko have a movement ability that strong...?' Was the sudden suction of energy made by Aiko trying to get out?

There were so many questions, but Mei just wanted to rest.

She wouldn't let Aiko leave her side for a few decades, so that she recovers properly and- Well... she was scared.

Mei sighed gently. It was time to rest, but she was restless...

-----

"Ah, wait!" The Mighty Ancestral Phoenix was being pampered by her spouse, and soon-to-be wife, cried out.

She was a divine beauty who would make any male turn around a few times.

"What~?" The girl pouted. "You always say Wait this and Wait that. Did you like my brother that much?" She was somewhat upset.

She was likewise a beauty, but in a different sense.

Both of their bodies were shrouded for privacy, but even that could not conceal their dazzling bodies.

"No! He was a jerk- You can't change the topic! Just wait! This is seriously serious!" The Ancestral Phoenix didn't want to admit that her Blessing was broken and retrieved without any harm.

That meant the individual she gave her blessing to gained a more powerful fire-based Bloodline than she had!

'Impossible! I'm unrivalled when it comes to that aspect!' The Ancestral Phoenix was quite upset.

"Ah-!" The Ancestral Phoenix glared at her spouse. "You-!"

"Don't be mad. Don't be mad." The girl moved from that small cherry that she tasted, but she didn't feel any guilt. Those were so delicious that she would be willing to nibble on them for days on end.

The Ancestral Phoenix pinched her cheeks. "Don't disturb me. I'm serious!"

"En, en." The girl smiled happily. She was worried that her spouse wouldn't accept her because she was not her brother and... well, she was female and not male.

She heard that Beasts would pick only partners from the opposite gender to maintain their Bloodline.

The Ancestral Phoenix focused on her Blessings.

She gave out 23 Blessings, but only one was returned.

"How is that possible?!" That single Blessing drained most of her Providence, but she didn't care. As long as it annoyed the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox, everything was worth it!

But this was a serious issue!

"No! I can't accept this! I can't be outdone by yet another Fox!" The Ancestral Phoenix cried out, almost burning everything around her.

"Easy now." The girl covered her eyes and wrapped her hands around her waist.

The Ancestral Phoenix bit her by instinct due to her anger.

The girl didn't flinch or anything, and let her spouse calm down.

The Ancestral Phoenix calmed down quickly, seeing blood.

"..." The Ancestral Phoenix licked her wounds slowly and with guilt.

"Have you calmed down?" The girl didn't care about these wounds. She had much worse wounds on her body thanks to her brother's faction.

But even that stupid idiot didn't stand a chance against her.

'From the information I have gathered. It seems everyone is up in arms about a certain Fox...' The girl remembered, and she felt like this was connected to that Fox.

"Sorry..." The Ancestral Phoenix knew she had a bad temper, but this alliance needed to go through. Without it, her Phoenix Clan would go down.

Well... it was not only because of that, this girl treated her exceptionally well, even with her bad temper.

It felt like a dream she didn't want to wake up from...