Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko stepped inside humming. ’It seems like the [Pseudo-Human Body(Prototype)] has reduced its consumption and the same goes for the [Heavenly Suppression Technique(Prototype, Incomplete)].’

Aiko nodded, pleased by this. She stretched once more testing out her new bigger body. She was pleasantly surprised by the increased flexibility.

’I could pose as those ballerinas...?’ Aiko thought. ’But with a much healthier body.’ She smirked.

’But I still don’t like the fact that I have almost a million Beauty, my senses are telling me that I will be troubled.’ She frowned.

She mixed and matched skills and got a few interesting combinations.

[Stealth] + [Camouflage] + [Enhanced Climbing] = [Shadow Climb] for 2,000

But when she touched her titles it became:

[Stealth] + [Camouflage] + [Enhanced Climbing] + [Shadow Thief] = [Shadow Walk] for 0

Then there was:

[Lunar Bath] + [Meditation] + [Nurture] = [Lunar Nurturing Meditation] for 500

’This is the weirdest name, but...’ Aiko stared at the description.

[Lunar Nurturing Meditation]

[Ability]

[Depending on your meditation place you will get the following Effects:

1st Effect: Beast Core Energy regeneration (Anywhere)

2nd Effect: Moonlight Qi generation (Under Moonlight)(Can Boost other Effects)

3rd Effect: Nurturing your body (Dense vegetation)]

’This stuff is seriously amazing...’ Aiko thought, while she already had the [Sleeping] Skill, most of the time the upgrade would come with an increase of the effect or significant gain.

[Prehensile Tail] + [Lacerate] = [Sword Prehensile Tail] for 5,000

’Ew...’ Aiko didn’t like that.

[Crushing Bite] + [Prehensile Tail] = [Crushing Prehensile Tail] for 2,000

There were also, interesting skill restrictions...

[[Laceration] - Locked due to not having Sword Aptitude]

Aiko stared through the whole thing, because of her advancement into Juvenile form she had 10,000 points so she would upgrade a few. Her Elemental Affinity also improved, giving her more chances to gain interesting abilities and the possibility for Divine Abilities.

[Your Elemental Affinity with [Moon] has reached its Peak, your body now can contain Moon Attribute or Spirit!]

’Interesting...’ Aiko thought. ’What are the uses?’

[Your Elemental Affinity becomes stronger for that type of Element, but if the Spirit or Attribute is too powerful it will lock the opposite Element.]

[You can contract different Attributes even when you have not reached the Peak, but at that moment the Attribute or Spirit would constantly drain your reserves of Beast Core Energy.]

[Those Attributes can strengthen Abilities or have their unique Abilities. Meanwhile, Spirits can act as your Companions.]

’Why would they do that?’ Aiko asked out of curiosity.

[Because Attributes need Energy to nurture, but without the Peak of Elemental Affinity, your body is not hospitable for the Attribute/Spirit, as such you have to pay them to stay, but it is different when you have Elemental Body or high enough Affinity.]

’Elemental Body?’ Aiko asked again since this thing was not in the [Introduction to the Mortal Realm].

[Elemental Body is an extremely rare body that can be obtained from Human Bloodlines or Birthmarks.]

’How do they differ from Beast Bloodlines?’ She wanted to know as much as possible since the system seemed helpful for once.

[Human physique or Elemental Body do not necessarily make them stronger but have different effects. Yang Bodies are perfect for vanquishing Ghosts and beings alike, it is also the perfect body for Body Cultivators. Meanwhile, the Yin body is great for cold Cultivation and ghost Cultivation. It is also a great source for Human furnaces or Pill Refining. The Fire Body is a physique that revolves around Fire, the User would have extremely fast Cultivation in Fire-based places and their Fire-based Techniques would have a significant boost, but they would be weak against the Water Body.]

’Rock, paper, scissors, huh?’ Aiko nodded.

She thought about these things and then suddenly asked. ”What would my body be when I become Human?” Aiko suddenly asked.

[Without considering Bloodlines, Extreme Yin Body.]

’Well fuck.’ Aiko frowned. ’Good thing it’s without Bloodlines, I would like to enjoy my life without being hunted for Furnace purposes...’

Aiko fiddled some more with the system and concluded.

[Lunar Bath] + [Meditation] + [Nurture] = [Lunar Nurturing Meditation] for 500

[Stealth] + [Camouflage] + [Sprint] + [Shadow Thief] = [Assimilation (Shadows)] for 500

[Assimilate (Shadows)]

[Ability]

[User can assimilate into given element possibly ignoring physical/psychical damage and get different bonuses.]

[Current Bonus: Physical Resistance, Reduced Presence, Increased Speed]

[Prehensile Tail] -> [Prehensile Mastery] for 500

[Prehensile Mastery]

[Allows one to master any part of the body, including organs.]

’Other Skills/Abilities need something more to upgrade, are locked or can’t be upgraded.’ Aiko browsed. ’For the time being.’

’I will have to raise my Bloodline further and increase my Beast Rank. What do I need for that?’ Aiko asked the system.

[Your Beast Core must be full, your Bloodlines need to be at least Awakened, but preferably Peaked, your Species needs to have some resemblance of power, Species from Lower Beast Ranks won’t count towards this, as such [Shadow Fennec Fox] is required to Evolve before you can step into another Beast Rank.]

’But [Moon Fennec Fox] is fine?’ Aiko asked.

[[Moon Fennec Fox] was obtained during the crossing of Ranks, as such is already considered appropriate for advancement.]

’So difficult...’ Aiko frowned. ’What do I need to advance [Shadow Fennec Fox]?’

[Level.]

’...’ Aiko sighed, she was just Level 90 and most meat no longer gave her any experience, like it did previously. ’What kind of meat do I need to eat to Level up? Like inside the Village that boosted me so much.’

[At least meat of a Sacred Beast.]

’Never mind, I’m not even a Spirit Beast I won’t be picking fights with them...’

’Can I Evolve my Species without advancing a Rank?’ Aiko suddenly asked.

[It is possible at higher Ranks, as there will be more requirements to fulfil.]

’But I can Evolve even now without advancing.’ Aiko narrowed her eyes feeling like she caught a loophole.

[That is possible because the other Species is not powerful enough.]

’Which means as long as I Evolve the [Moon Fennec Fox] and not the [Shadow Fiend Fox] I can keep my current Rank?’ Aiko smiled. She noticed that with each Rank it was harder to Level up, but what if she stayed in the current Rank without advancing and just farmed Evolutions getting stronger and stronger?

[...]

The system no longer replied, Aiko was not upset since she got most of the information. ’Like this, I can farm Stat Points and Skill Points, but I will have to be careful with my Evolutions and Bloodlines. If I Evolve too much I might not be able to gather enough Spiritual Qi from the atmosphere for my Evolution. Thus I should build some kind of portable structure that can store Spiritual Energy and then that will be drained by me during the Evolution.’

Aiko made plans, completely forgetting about the massage chair as Mei was still somewhat distant and she now had new shiny toys to play with.

’The question is if I can get Evolution that will fit me...’ Aiko frowned. She got a powerful Moon Bloodline, which might mean that one needed a higher level to increase it... or maybe she was just overthinking and the required Level was tied to the number of Evolutions.

’I will need to do more tests, but since now I’m allowed to leave I should explore the Forests around and maybe pick up a few missions.’ Aiko thought.

*Knock Knock*

Aiko went and opened the doors, Mei stood there with clothes in her hands.

Aiko stepped aside letting Mei enter. Aiko smirked and proudly displayed her new body. She noticed a faint blush from Mei, but that must have been her imagination.

Mei gave her the clothes, but Aiko found it too difficult to get into them, it had too many parts, it might be just a robe, but the belts and accessories that are tied to the robe make it quite difficult to get inside.

Mei felt amused by the struggling Aiko and chuckled.

”Stop laughing at me and help me!” Aiko cried out.

She felt embarrassed that she was unable to get inside the clothes since she never wore clothes by herself. She always put clothes on with the Sect Token, but now the Sect Token didn’t work.

Mei smugly enjoyed Aiko struggling for a bit more before getting up and helping her.

”Hands wide.” Mei commanded and Aiko listened as her mind was occupied by the complex clothing system.

”Hands forward.” Mei commanded again, at this point, Aiko was struggling to keep up and felt bored.

*Squish Squish*

”Hehe~” Aiko grinned with a silly smile.

*Slap*

Mei slapped her hands away, but Aiko kept her smile as it was completely different from testing it with her face.

Mei continued dressing Aiko with a mean smile. Aiko ignored that as she was daydreaming about those soft peaks.

’I wish I could sleep there...’ Aiko daydreamed.

”!”

Her mind blanked as something soft brushed her lips and shadow hung over her.

”Huh, eh?” Aiko stammered and when she looked at the smirking mean Fox she knew that it was her!

”Stop moving or it will take longer to dress you up.” Mei smiled licking her lips. ’The taste is a little bland, but that can be improved...’ Mei was dutifully dressing up Aiko, ignoring the fact that over time she was transforming into a tomato.

’W-what happened?! When, how?!’ Aiko’s mind was in turmoil. ’I’m supposed to tease you! Not the other way around!’ Aiko pouted.

*Peck*

”Stop pouting or it will make me want to tease you more~” Mei commented lightly, but Aiko was completely stunned as her lips were stolen again. ’At least I found something to stun her with, it was about time! I would run dry from giving her meat and Pills.’ Mei smiled to herself as she watched Aiko staring blankly. ’Let’s stop for today, I think I have broken her...’ Mei giggled and finished Aiko’s dress.

”Done, we can now go to the Sect Token Forger to fix your Token.” Mei smiled looking at Aiko.

She might be small at around 110cm, but with those white-blue high-waisted Ruqun and white hair, which made a nice harmony of colours, she was incredibly cute and bullyable.

Everything was covered outside of her neck and area around the neck.

’Although... that collarbone is too bite-able, should I cover that up too...?’

Mei was lost in thought unaware that Aiko’s hair changed and mischievous smile played on her lips.

Her presence was barely there and Mei who was deep in thought didn’t notice her approach.

*Squish Squish*

Aiko got her revenge by cupping her bosom.

Mei snapped out of it, but Aiko was already at the door smiling mischievously and giggling.

Before Mei could do anything Aiko ran away like a little girl.

Mei sighed. ”Seriously this rascal always takes advantage of me.” She didn’t look all that angry and had her own little mischievous smile on her lips. ’Just wait till you get close again~’

...

Mei left the room and spotted Aiko who was looking at her from behind a tree.

Aiko’s hair was back to her Moon-like colour.

Mei smiled. ”It’s time to visit the Forging Emperor.”

”Emperor?” Aiko’s curiosity was piqued.

”It’s just a title, he is no Emperor in the sights of others, if you don’t like it, you can also say he is 5th Grade Forger.” Mei wanted to pet Aiko, but Aiko gently dodged.

Mei was not angered as she noticed Aiko’s red ears, so she didn’t pursue it further.

Mei guided Aiko throughout the Sect and noticed quite a few stares at them.

Aiko was restless for some reason. She didn’t like those stares and wanted to hide behind Mei, but they were all around them and she was unable to hide.

Mei didn’t mind those stares as she noticed those people were left speechless.

”Hey, hey, who is she?” One Harem King asked as he didn’t remember beauty like her joining.

”Isn’t she comparable to the Jade Fox?” Another Harem King asked.

”Brainless Himbos.” One girl spat at them. ”You still have the gall to ask that when your ass purity was severed by her?!” She scoffed at their surprised faces.

”Well...” Those two familiar Harem Kings frowned and hid further away from this place.

...

Mei was puzzled at this point as she didn’t understand why Aiko was so shy when she was so daring just a few moments ago...

But she didn’t get time to think for long as they arrived in front of the Forger’s place.