Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”Do you think they are upset?” Aiko groaned unhappily. They were supposed to lock the door!

”I don’t think so.” Fang Jia shook her head. They had to return to the hall for something, but to think they would see ’that’.

”Good thinking for dragging me away, maybe they will think it was a different Fox!” Aiko gave Fang Jia a thumbs up for her quick thinking.

”Thank you~, but we should do some forging now.” Fang Jia was happy, but she was still waiting for Nightmare Aiko to come out.

”Sure thing, show me what you got.” Aiko smiled and nodded.

Fang Jia pulled her huge Cauldron, and the whole room shook.

Aiko even did a small jump from the tremor and was startled by the size.

”...” Aiko was left speechless again. This was not a Cauldron!

”This is the supposed full size, but I only use the lower half, so I have no idea if the upper half is quite right. Mum said it was fine for the time being, but you couldn’t go above 4th Grade with it.” Fang Jia sighed.

Aiko observed it closely. If you were to stack Aiko’s on top of each other, it would take about 2 adult-sized Aiko’s with one small-sized Aiko to reach the top.

The lower part was the biggest one.

”Can I go inside?” Aiko’s Divine Sense was unable to penetrate it for some reason.

”Sure, just be careful as there were quite a few sharp things.” Fang Jia didn’t mind, but warned Aiko about the potential dangers.

Aiko nodded gently and got inside.

The inside was not as big as the outside, as the thickness of the Cauldron was significant.

The usual Cauldron that Aiko was used to was just like a witch’s cauldron with a lid, but this one was a humongous Cauldron that she only saw on some art from Mei.

There were different compartments made out of different materials. Everything seemed quite precious, so Aiko was careful with it.

One compartment was chillingly cold, while another had a strange sense of warmth.

Each compartment was very different, which caused Aiko to wonder.

She went back outside, and Fang Jia smiled at her.

”Each compartment can be taken out and adjusted if you have any kind of special material. I have it like that so that I’m not limited by the size of the Cauldron, but it has its own demerits.” Fang Jia sighed.

”The compartments have different temperatures compared to the middle, so it’s harder to adjust their temperature?” Aiko tried to guess the reason, but she barely missed it.

”Yes and no. The different materials clash with their energies, making the whole thing that much harder to maintain. Ah, but don’t get me wrong. It’s not like the Cauldron is being damaged by it, the compartment just gets ’contaminated’ since they are not properly attached to it.” Fang Jia sighed unhappily. She was pretty much burning through her mother’s resources trying to make things with this thing.

Aiko nodded and went for the upper part. If one were to compare it, the lower part took about 2/3 of the Cauldron, and the rest was the upper part and fancy tip above the Cauldron.

The upper part was smaller and a bit poorly made, but that was obvious since Fang Jia didn’t dabble in Pill Refining.

But even then, there were some notable changes. For once, there were multiple openings, so you could stuff more Herbs at the same time, but in a controlled manner. You could do that with the usual Cauldron, but that had limits.

Because of the size of this thing, you could stuff a lot more materials inside and possibly make bigger batches of Pills.

Aiko was already looking to test those, but it would be a pain to make this whole thing.

”Impressive, right?” Fang Jia smiled proudly. The upper part was not as functional as the lower part, but that didn’t mean it was useless.

”Since I’m not using the upper part, I have used tough materials to raise its defence to the max!” She giggled happily. It would be difficult for her to die with this thing inside her body.

”You can definitely do that.” Aiko nodded. ”But couldn’t you just fill the whole upper part to make it even more ridiculous?” She tilted her head.

”No, I need the heat circulation, which comes from the upper part, in order to maintain stable heat in the lower part.” Fang Jia shook her head.

”I see...” Aiko nodded her head. There was a lot more going on than she expected.

Aiko groaned slightly, since this thing had to be carefully thought out.

She couldn’t use the same materials for the bottom and top part, since the bottom part had to endure more heat, and that would be too cold for the upper part material, while using the upper material would melt the bottom part-

Aiko had a headache.

”Anything that can help solve this?” Aiko glanced at her.

”The Divine Steel can be used for both, but then the defence would drop, since it doesn’t mix well with certain important materials.” Fang Jia had access to rare materials thanks to the Patriarch’s doting.

”Force them?” Aiko tilted her head.

”Causes instability that will make it easier to blow up, and that’s the best case scenario; at worst, it corrupts each other, making both materials useless.” Fang Jia shook her head.

”Different base material?” Aiko kept going with her research.

”It’s possible, but the best material in my possession that I can freely experiment with is the Divine Steel.” Fang Jia groaned unhappily.

She did have access to rare materials, but that didn’t mean she could splurge on them.

She had to carefully consider everything about it, before using such precious materials.

”Hmmmm...” Aiko thought about it, but it was possible that her Divine Meteorite could solve that problem.

”So, how about it? Do you want to see Forging, or would you like to finish your Cauldron? I have some rare materials I can share with you.” Fang Jia squirmed slightly. Mother always told her to trap others with kindness.

”I’m fine for now, I can’t finish something I don’t understand.” Unfortunately, Moon Aiko was far from average. She was seeking the best possible solution, and the upper part of the Cauldron was a good hint for Aiko.

’I can’t properly make the bottom part since I have no experience in Forging.’ She clicked her tongue before turning to the suddenly sad Fang Jia.

”What’s wrong? You don’t want to forge?” Aiko tilted her head, puzzled about this sudden change of emotions.

Fang Jia was startled that her emotions leaked so much, and she shook her head. ’There will be another opportunity!’ She vowed that she would attract Aiko with her wits!

”I’m fine.” Fang Jia smiled innocently, but Aiko knew she was plotting something.

’Since it’s not a black signal, I will let it go.’ Her [Intention Perception] was constantly changing, depending on how many emotions someone had. Before, it was easy to guess, but the more time she spent with someone, the more complex those intentions and emotions would get.

Eventually, it would be such a ball of yarn that Aiko would have a hard time guessing if the endgame was good or bad.

”Are you sure?” Aiko asked again. She didn’t necessarily have to see Forging. She could just ask someone else.

”I’m really fine. I just miss the Dark Aiko.” Fang Jia shyly fidgeted.

”...” Moon Aiko felt hurt, but it would obviously not appear on her face.

”I-I will do the Forging now!” Fang Jia noticed that deadpan expression and immediately moved to show Aiko her Forging Skills.

...

”Aren’t you supposed to hit here?”

”Why are you dosing it in water?”

”The heat is uneven over here”

Aiko constantly barraged Fang Jia with questions. The worst thing about it was that Aiko was right each time!

Fang Jia wanted to cry that Aiko had such superb observation Skills, it took her many months to just get a basic grasp, yet Aiko just waltzes in and corrects her like it was nothing!

”I can’t do this!” Fang Jia cried out, startling Aiko.

”You are too much! Why are you so observant!” Fang Jia wanted to boast in front of Aiko, who didn’t know much about Forging, but it turned around and bit her into her ass.

Fang Jia suddenly turned towards Aiko and laughed sinisterly. ”You are coming with me! We will suffer together!”

She grabbed the confused Moon Aiko and dragged her away somewhere.

...

”So... you want me to teach this Fox my Forging Skills?” An old, small guy snorted at them. ”Impossible.” He immediately dismissed Fang Jia.

”Old Lei, don’t be like that...” Fang Jia pleaded. ”Just once!” She wanted Aiko to suffer like she did for all these years!

Old Lei snorted unhappily. ”I’m only teaching you because the Patriarch asked me to!”

”Then let us watch you forge!” Fang Jia didn’t compromise. She wanted to see if this stubborn bloke would be able to endure Aiko’s barrage!

”Do you have any technique-stealing abilities?” Old Lei felt suspicious, so he asked the young Fox.

”Not that I know of.” Aiko shook her head before tilting it. ”Why?”

”This feels suspicious.” Old Lei snorted again. ”Why would she want you to watch me?”

”Hmmmm... It’s because her Technique is not polished, and she couldn’t endure my questions?” Aiko had her own research, but that didn’t mean she was unaware of other people’s feelings.

She was aware that Fang Jia suffered, but for some reason, she liked it. It felt like Nightmare Aiko’s sadistic side was leaking through.

”...” Old Lei paused. If even a novice like her could guess that...

”Just once.” Old Lei suddenly said, curious about this Fox’s origins.

”By the way...” Aiko trained her eyes on his body.

He was short. Shorter than small Aiko, almost like he was some kind of dwarf.

However, contrary to his small body, his muscles were ripped and bulging with power. He felt like a small bull packed with power, but the most striking thing about his body was the pair of antlers on his bald head.

There were no other notable features that stood out like those two.

”They are real, now come inside.” Old Lei knew what she would ask, so he just dragged them inside after a short response.

”This place is stuffy.” Aiko didn’t like it.

”That’s what Forging is all about.” Old Lei smirked. He liked to make others suffer.

”Then I’d better redefine what Forging means later.” Aiko was looking around as she muttered that, but she couldn’t see those bulging veins on Old Lei’s head.

”Hoho, that’s quite a big talk.” Old Lei snorted.

”I already redefined Pill Refining. I can just do it again.” Aiko shrugged, like she would not be outdone by an old, stubborn Forging Cultivator.

”I will hold you to your words.” He raised his small hand with a ridiculously large hammer compared to his body.