It was a lot longer than two hours.

Aiko spent 8 hours on top of the Phoenix, cooling herself down.

Eventually, the Phoenix had to recuperate inside Li Xiu; otherwise, it would have suffered heat trauma for a long time.

"You are warm again." Li Xiu pursed her lips.

"It was fun while it lasted." Sun Aiko was still half melted from the nice and cool ice bird. She didn't want to let him go, but it couldn't be helped.

That poor bastard was Li Xiu's pet, and Aiko didn't want to destroy that.

Now, if she had her own Phoenix, she would feed it enough that she could hug it to sleep!

Li Xiu shook her head. "The Sect Leader returned, so we can visit them now."

"Ugh..." While Sun Aiko was energetic, she was currently happy with her cool fur.

If she started to move more than she already did, that cool feeling would fade away.

"I heard that the Sect Leader has a very 'cool' Beast." Li Xiu baited the small Foxie.

"When are we going?" Sun Aiko's eyes immediately lit up, and she was looking forward to meeting that Beast.

"You..." Li Xiu laughed. She couldn't believe that Aiko was so willing to terrorise yet another Beast.

"Let's go, we can't let them wait." Sun Aiko jumped down and wanted to run away, but...

"Should I change forms?" Sun Aiko raised her eyebrow.

"Not for the time being." It would be troublesome for her if Aiko just transformed and paraded inside the Sect in her human form.

"You do know that I don't have any clothes, right?" Sun Aiko didn't mind not wearing clothes at home, but she would hate it if someone gave her judgmental looks for something she couldn't control.

"..." Li Xiu didn't think of that, but it was still fine. Their Sect Leader just wouldn't see Aiko in her human form.

"What?" Sun Aiko tilted her head. She was fine in this form, since she would be able to cool down quicker than in her bigger form.

"6 tails?" Li Xiu couldn't figure out where Aiko tucked away the other tails.

"Right." Sun Aiko further reduced her tail count to 3 tails.

"..." Li Xiu was slightly speechless. Before, she wondered where Aiko's tails went, but it seemed like she had a special technique to hide them.

If she didn't see it with her own eyes, she would believe that Aiko never had more than 3 tails.

She quietly scooped up Aiko and rode her flying sword. This would allow her to get to the Sect Leader quicker.

She was obliged to get there as quickly as possible, but the same couldn't be said about Aiko.

In theory, she was a guest of the Southern Sect, and while most Foxes were not welcome, her Sect was already entangled with Aiko the moment they helped her guard the evolution.

The Peaks slowly passed around. Each Peak had a different 'theme' about it.

One, you had muscular dudes flexing their muscles. In another, there were many explosions happening, and in other places, many ripped-up Cauldrons.

On another, they tried to train Beasts and so on.

It was quite the sight when they flew between the different Peaks.

"What is your Peak about?" Aiko curiously asked.

"Our Peak doesn't really have a speciality." Li Xiu shook her head. "Well, if you take into account our Qi density, then that might be it." Their Peak had the densest amount of Neutral Qi, so everyone could cultivate over there, not just special elements.

Thanks to this, there were quite a few Disciples hogging the spots under their mountain. Trying to slurp up at least a bit of that abundant Qi.

Aiko tilted her head. She didn't really feel like the Qi was that abundant, but that might be her imagination.

"Where are the clouds?" Oddly enough, Aiko could not see any clouds the moment they entered the Sect via the flying boat.

"One angry Elder couldn't bask in their gardens, so they blasted away all the clouds. They also created a special Array around the Sect, limiting the amount of clouds that could get in." Li Xiu didn't want to tell this story, since that Elder caused too many troubles, but it was Aiko who was asking.

If you didn't answer her or take your eyes off of her, then she would appear somewhere else with an even more ridiculous story.

It was better to share what she was curious about before some kind of disaster appeared.

"Can't it be dismantled?" Sun Aiko believed that there were too many dry fields. If no more clouds appeared, it would only worsen over time.

"That Elder integrated it into the Array, making it impossible to remove unless we took down the Sect Barrier." Li Xiu shook her head.

"He was prepared." Aiko was really curious about how that looked, but she would be satisfied with this, for the time being.

...

The main Peak was as glorious as it would get. Not only was there a beautiful pavement, but there were many statues and other decorations.

It went something like this:

The main road towards the main Peak was paved with large stones that created 'stairs to heaven'. On the side was a lush forest with birds and other animals. It seemed like the Sect prohibited hunting them, since they didn't feel threatened by humans.

At the bottom of the mountain, there were two large statues of some kind of wild wolf. That was followed by similar wolves until it ended at the peak, where 2 huge, threatening wolves were sculpted right into the mountain.

Going a bit higher on the side of the mountain, you will finally manage to join the main plaza of the main Peak.

Over there were a few trees, but many stalls stood between them.

"This is a fair that every Disciple who can climb those stairs can attend." Li Xiu explained.

"They can't fly up?" Aiko raised her eyebrow.

"It's not like they can't fly up, but nobody does it. They believe that only ascending the stairs would bring them fortune." Li Xiu had already masked her energy, so she would not be spotted.

She was too well-known, which bothered her when she was just trying to pass by.

At one time, she was trying to get from one Peak to another, and it took her a whole week! Not because she was slow, but just because she greeted so many Disciples that it slowed her down that much!

Shaking her head, Li Xiu flew towards the main building.

"That's a huge palace." Aiko commented.

"And it's made out of rare materials, too." Li Xiu added.

"Can we rob it?" Aiko believed that they were on the same page, but unfortunately...

"No, why would you do that?" Li Xiu was speechless.

"It's pretty, and it would be prettier in my hands?" Aiko tilted her head innocently.

"No stealing when you are in our Sect." Li Xiu sighed. It would be a good idea to tell Aiko what she should and shouldn't do, lest she cause trouble down the line.

"No stealing, hurting or mugging. Try to be nice to them, and if they bother you, just burn them." Li Xiu explained the basic rules before stepping down from the flying sword.

They were in front of the gate leading into the main palace.

"Then what am I supposed to do when I'm bored?" Sun Aiko blankly stared at Li Xiu.

"Run around?" Li Xiu was also bothered by this fact. There was no entertainment in this world!

Old people would play Go or some kind of similar game, while the younger ones would either fight or collect lewd paintings of their Senior Sisters...!

"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.

"..." Li Xiu realised that trouble would come her way either way.

...

They stepped into the main palace.

It was separated into many different courtyards, like it was on many other Peaks, although there was less than 1% populace over here.

Li Xiu walked towards the main building, where the Sect Leader and others were located.

They had not met many Disciples, and that was because only those who were Inner Disciples and higher could enter this place.

Anything under that would not be allowed to enter, no matter what!

Li Xiu was somewhere between Inner and Core Disciple. She was the Personal Disciple of a Peak Elder, but a very special one, so she was in a unique position.

She was also a Saintess, which could be considered a True Disciple, but she never accepted the Sect Leader as Master, so that one was not applicable.

Shaking her head before entering the main hall, she prepared herself for the storm that might happen.

...

A few steps in, and all eyes were already trained on them.

This was much more nerve-racking than she was alone.

Only a few Peak Elders ever paid attention to her, but now everyone did.

She gracefully walked forward, not exchanging any glances. She appeared like an Honoured Saintess to everyone.

Well... at least for a little bit...

"I heard there is a cool Beast in here." Sun Aiko shattered that first impression immediately. She didn't really care about these formalities and would rather seek her cool pad for sleeping.

The Sect Leader almost choked on his tea, and other Peak Elders were likewise stunned.

The Peak Elders and Elders were furious at that rude behaviour, but they couldn't really voice their opinion.

Only the Sect Leader and the Saintess were supposed to meet. They weaselled themselves in, so now if they spoke, only trouble would befall them.

The Sect Leader discreetly cleaned the tea out of his beard, but Aiko had no interest in him.

"..." The Sect Leader sighed. He already knew how the Vicious Jade Fox had a... 'special' temperament, but seeing it first-hand. It was more than that.

"In the next room." The Sect Leader beckoned towards the next room.

*Swish*

Before even saying anything, Li Xiu was left there with empty arms. Aiko was nowhere to be seen.

"..." The Sect Leader shook his head. "Saintess."

"Sect Leader." Li Xiu bowed gracefully and cupped her fist.

"Is that-" The Sect Leader didn't want to say that name, since most Foxes had quite the cringy names. Well, it was not just Foxes, but Beasts too, it was just... Foxes had their 'pseudo-human' form, so it was much worse for their mental health.

"En." Li Xiu pursed her lips. Aiko just ditched her the moment something cooler appeared.

"It's fine. It's fine." The Sect Leader shook his hand. "Be at ease. You have probably promised something to that girl in order to bring her here." He understood what was happening quite clearly.

At first glance, he appeared like an elderly Daoist with a long beard and all of that usual stuff. Yet once you glanced at his face, he was far from old. His youthful face was quite contrasting with his demeanour and way of dressing.

Fortunately, unlike his fashion sense, he was exceptionally understanding, so it could be said that Li Xiu and the Sect Leader had a good relationship.

Li Xiu might not have admitted him as a Master, but Ah Cy still was, and that was good enough for him.