Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”Alright, let’s start with you.” Aiko pointed at the Three-Legged Crow.

”Yes, ma’am!” The Three-Legged Crow nodded obediently. It was not a good idea to mess with a Fox in a ’Ghost’ form, much less with a Fox with ’that’ origin.

”I have a few Treasures that allow you to harness the power of the Fire Element.” The Three-Legged Crow introduced the Treasures that he could part with and that were tied to his Soul.

The first Treasure, allowed to harness the Fire Element, speeding up the Cultivation of Fire Cultivators, but it also allowed Fire-type Beasts to nurture their fire-based Bloodlines.

’How does that even work?’ Aiko had some questions, but she waited for the rest of the Treasures.

The second Treasure will protect you against the Fire Element up to the Spirit Beast rank. Above that rank, it would only reduce the incoming damage.

’Useful, protection is always welcome.’ Aiko rubbed her foot, the one that was burned, and the Three-Legged Crow gulped nervously.

The third Treasure was able to gather Fire Element to create a small Fire Jade.

”Ohhhhhhhhh.” Aiko was most interested in this one, since it acted like a passive income of shiny jade.

”It takes a lot of time to form one, but it’s a pure Fire Jade, which has astronomical value for Forging Cultivators.” The Three-Legged Crow tried his best to sell his Treasures, since he still wished to live and get revenge.

”I suddenly like crows.” Aiko nodded happily and the Three-Legged Crow sighed in relief.

”But I can’t use the Fire gathering Treasure, since I don’t have that Element.” Aiko sighed.

”There is no problem.” The Three-Legged Crow smiled happily. ”I’m the embodiment of a Sun, sharing a bit of the Fire Element with you won’t hurt me at all and you would be able to obtain the Fire Affinity, which would also allow you to nurture the Fire Jade quicker!” He proudly patted his chest with his wing.

”Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Aiko’s eyes shined, now she didn’t need to think about Mei’s Fire Shard that she was hiding from her!

The Three-Legged Crow turned around and smirked at his colleagues. They glared at him back, but that was especially so for the Black Tortoise, since he didn’t think of giving the small Fox his element!

”Can I also get a Spiritual Flame?” Aiko asked the Three-Legged Crow.

”That one would be difficult, I don’t have a body to nurture a Spiritual Flame, but if the Azure Dragon helped me, we should be able to prepare something.” The Three-Legged Crow immediately dragged the Azure Dragon into this mess. ”But even with that, we can’t give you a powerful flame. It wouldn’t be able to burn through everything like my Suns.” The Three-Legged Crow shook his head.

”Oh...” Aiko was saddened by it, but as long as she got that flame, she should be able to create the [The Ever Shaping Cauldron].

”But! This flame would also be indomitable!” The Three-Legged Crow spoke haughtily.

”What does that mean?” Aiko tilted her head. While she did have the books, she just couldn’t whip them out and search for these things. It would be bad if she got exposed for having something so transcendental.

”It means that even if in the future you find another Spiritual Flame, it would not be able to consume the one that I gave you. I will make it especially gentle so it doesn’t devour others, but at the same time I will make it so you can learn how to treat and control Spiritual Flames in the future!” The Three-Legged Crow was enthusiastic about anything that was fire-related, so he was especially eager to fulfil this impossible task!

”Then how do I get the Fire Affinity?” Aiko asked another thing she wished to know. She was now less interested in the Treasures and more interested in something more permanent, like buffs.

”I will condense a bead. It will work similarly to a Fire Shard, it will just have a much higher chance of success if you consume it, but if you Evolve around it, it will give you Affinity for sure!” The Three-Legged Crow proudly lifted his beak. ’Now praise me! I even sacrificed a bit of True Essence for you!’ His ego was reaching sky-high numbers.

”You are amazing!” Aiko was happy to oblige and butter this one up. It would be so useful if she could collect all the Elemental Affinities! She would not be limited by Elements and she would be able to Cultivate anything she wanted! ’Outside of the Pure Yang Techniques...’ Aiko clicked her tongue inwardly.

”It won’t change her race or anything like that?” Mei narrowed her eyes at him.

”Of course not, I’m not like you who likes to attach di-AGH!” The Three-Legged Crow was kicked by Mei for her dirty little secret.

Mei liked to experiment with Pills, so it sometimes happened that she temporarily turned someone into a Human, animal, or attached some things to their bodies...

She was not happy about this history, so she would definitely erase anyone that mentioned him.

Aiko hugged Mei and dragged her away. Mei was still angry, but now for a different reason. ’Why are they so damn soft!?’ She cursed inwardly.

”You can’t kill him, I still need those Treasures!” Aiko pouted at Mei.

”But-” Mei tried to retort, but Aiko wouldn’t let her.

”No buts! Just because you have a strange kink of attaching dicks to others, doesn’t mean you can just silence others whenever you wish!” Aiko proclaimed and Mei’s face was dyed red.

”I never attached anything like that!” Mei screamed with a completely red face.

”Uhuh.” Aiko narrowed her eyes. ”Can you swear on your love for me that you never did those things?” She teased Mei and didn’t really mean it.

Mei blushed even more and turned around. The Mythical Beasts curiously looked towards the couple.

”How can I do that...” Mei murmured with an embarrassed expression.

”???” Aiko expected some witty retort, but Mei was completely sheepish!

”You dunce, she loves you.” The White Tiger proclaimed, but everyone else was slowly distancing from him.

”Huh?” Aiko could not figure out the true meaning of that sentence and she would be unable to even ask, since...

”Taste this move that I learned from someone. The Grand Suplex!” Mei suplexed the White Tiger three times before she stopped. The White Tiger’s body was twitching and it also was half buried into the ground.

Mei then shot a glare at the others, but everyone, including Feifei, were playing dead. Feifei only joined them since she wanted to be part of this drama and she found it funny that Aiko was scolding everyone, while Mei was blushing like a girl in spring.

Aiko had so many questions, but chose to ask them later when they were alone.

Aiko coughed to get their attention. ”We can skip the Grandpa, since he is already helping me with my Evolution, next would be White-...” She turned to look at the White Tiger, but the only response from him was his twitching body. ”Never mind, let’s just skip the next step and make a turtle stew.” Aiko sighed.

”Why?!” The Black Tortoise cried out. He could not understand why he got the shortest stick.

”Your Treasures are basically an: Over-glorified water barrier; a thing that attracts more lighting; and a thing that allows you to gather Water Qi!” Aiko retorted. ”Well fine, the last one is somewhat useful, but I don’t have Water Qi to begin with!” She glared at him. ”The only useful thing about you is the ability to remove stench!”

Mei listened attentively until she heard the last part. ”What stench?”

”Ack!” Aiko flinched. ”No stench! Nothing happened!” She immediately got defensive, since she didn’t want to get scolded by Mei.

Mei narrowed her eyes as Aiko tried her best to avoid her gaze.

”I can offer you more things!” The Black Tortoise chose to help the small Fox in order to curry favour with her.

”What can you offer?” Aiko immediately asked, while cheering in her mind for this somewhat quick-witted turtle.

”I can offer you a Water Spiritual Water, it’s not Water imbued with Qi, but similar to Spiritual Flame, it has its own conscience and can help you Cultivate!” The Black Tortoise proclaimed.

”I will make it in a similar fashion, that the Crow would do, so they don’t clash together. It can help you cool things, but it can also help you nurture any Water-based Bloodlines!” The Black Tortoise explained his intentions.

”Talking about Bloodlines. I can offer you a drop of the Ancient Black Tortoise Bloodline. I’m not sure if you will gain a Bloodline from it, but at worst, it should greatly improve the Water Affinity that is inside your body.” The Black Tortoise smiled.

”Fine, you pass.” Aiko pouted. She believed that Spiritual Water would be as useful as the Spiritual Flame. ’I believe that it’s important to know when to cool things and at certain rates, if it can help me cool the outer side of the Cauldron, maybe we can get an even better yield?’ Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Can you not use me as a breeding place for your Elemental Spirits?!” The Dragon cried out.

”It’s fine, isn’t it?” The Black Tortoise narrowed its eyes and used telepathy for every Mythical Beast. ’We can nurture you into an Elemental Spirit, so you can escape this place. You don’t have much time to live, so your Essence would be easier to condense and transfer. If everything goes well, it should be possible to preserve your Beast Core by reinforcing it with your body.’ The Black Tortoise explained.

’Everything would be easier if that damn Phoenix Clan did their part!’ The Three-Legged Crow snorted disdainfully.

’You are still bitter about not getting that birdie from the Phoenix Clan, huh...’ The Azure Dragon shook his head.

’Shut it or I will burn you!’ The Three-Legged Crow’s feathers stood on his head threateningly.

’Tell me that once you have a body.’ The Dragon snorted disdainfully, blowing a gentle wind towards the Three-Legged Crow, but it turned into a powerful gust, blowing him away.

”Are you finished?” Aiko tilted her head. ”How long will everything take?”

”About a year.” The Azure Dragon stretched the schedule a bit, so that he had enough time to prepare all the ingredients for this little glutton...