Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko met with her Twins, who tackled her to the ground.

”She looks fine.” Wanshu narrowed her eyes.

”Mistress would always be fine!” Yuxi defended Aiko.

Aiko took them in, but they didn’t seem injured or anything.

”How are you doing?” Aiko smiled lightly.

”We are doing well, but there are a few things that we would like to request.” Wanshu licked her lips.

”Not now!” Yuxi immediately dragged Wanshu away and whispered something to her.

Aiko narrowed her eyes, but didn’t interrupt them. It didn’t feel like they wanted to stay here for too long, so this would be just a brief reunion.

”Did you meet the Blood Fox?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”No.” The Twins shook their heads. Neither of them met up with the Blood Fox.

”Shame. I was wondering how she was doing...” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”It’s difficult to meet up with others since this place is so huge.” Yuxi shook her head. ”The connection is still there, but she was always too far away for us to seek her.”

”Oh...” Aiko nodded her head.

”We also got this.” Wanshu showed Aiko the odd black stone that they found in the temple. It was not a Shadow Stone, but something very similar to it.

”This looks nice.” Aiko narrowed her eyes. ’I wonder what this is...’

[Demonic Heritage 1/9]

Aiko blinked a few times. ”Do you perhaps have more of these?”

The Twins were looking in front of them, since this was the first time ’that’ appeared in front of them.

”So it’s Demonic?” Yuxi tilted her head.

”Seems like it.” Wanshu nodded her head.

”Is that why you acted like that?” Yuxi narrowed her eyes.

”I will smack you.” Wanshu said seriously and rubbed her palm. She was ready to smack Yuxi’s ass.

”No.” Yuxi immediately stopped her. ”Do we know where to find the rest?” She narrowed her eyes.

”It might be possible, but I believe it would be difficult.” Wanshu shook her head. She had already experienced Stagnant Qi, but that didn’t mean she would be able to find all of the places with it.

”We can try, right?” Yuxi licked her lips.

”And what will I get in return~?” Wanshu wrapped her hand around Yuxi’s waist.

”You can get the request from me then.” Aiko didn’t mind since she didn’t feel it would be anything abnormal.

”That’s a deal!” Wanshu’s eyes shone in a strange light before she dragged Yuxi away.

”We will try to find those pieces, but be careful, there is war inside, so try not to join it, Mistress!” As she was dragged away by Wanshu, Yuxi tried to warn Aiko not to join the war.

She knew that Aiko was very lively and that it might happen, but they wished to avoid that if possible.

”I got it.” Aiko breathed out. Those Twins were slowly turning into one big storm.

Aiko didn’t really dislike that, but she worried that they would bother others when it came to it.

Well, she was still happy that both Yuxi and Wanshu were lively. It was much better than when she met them, so all was good.

”This makes me want to explore more...” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”More Inheritance Sites?” The Demonic Foxes from the Sacred Realm popped their heads into the room.

”Absolutely not!” Aiko proclaimed like her life depended on it.

”Then maybe some Herbs or natural formations?” Yu smiled gently.

”Not a bad idea, I want to experience more of that.” Aiko smiled. ”By the way...” She narrowed her eyes. ”I thought you mingled with the Demonic Saintess. What are you doing here?”

”The war is almost over. For some reason, there was a spider causing so much chaos that everything went more smoothly than expected.” Yu smiled from ear to ear.

”Spider?” Aiko tilted her head. She touched just below her shoulder, but her Spidey was nowhere to be found.

’Don’t tell me...’ Aiko’s lips twitched. Surely it was not her Spidey right? It was still too weak to participate in that!

”How much longer?” Aiko groaned.

”Only a few days, but the Demonic Foxes that returned are already packing their things.” Yu explained.

”Anything else?” Aiko felt like there was more to this than met the eye.

”The Chameleon Tribe wished to leave with the Demonic Foxes, but the Demonic Saintess rejected that motion for the time being.” Yu kept explaining. ”She didn’t wish to reveal your ability, since the Chameleon Tribe only knows about the ability to leave this place, but not what it actually is or who it has.”

”So I’m still in the clear, but what can the Chameleon Tribe give us?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Information network. They are the perfect spies, and even Cultivators with 1 or 2 Stage differences had a harder time finding them.” Yu explained what they can do for Aiko.

”What is your opinion?” Aiko didn’t really mind taking them in, since her Tails Storage increased in size significantly, but the question was if it was worth it to show her Abilities.

”I believe it might not be a bad idea. We are very limited in information, and they can also find Inheritance Sites, Secret Realms, among other things.” Yu understood that the Chameleon reconnoitre was top of the notch.

”Hmmmm... I will leave that to the Demonic Saintess then, and of course, you. If you don’t like them or there is some kind of strife anywhere, we won’t take them along.” Aiko decided to listen to their wishes. They will be part of her team soon, so it was important to make them happy.

”Thank you, Mistress.” Yu bowed happily before leaving the room.

’Now my mission is to finish the Cauldron, so that all parts have at least a basic function.’ Aiko nodded her head slowly.

...

Moulding the Cauldron inside her body was now much easier. Was it perhaps because her Grandpa had better focus? Or maybe something changed with her? She was able to finish and separate those two parts, making it possible for her to Refine Pills and Forge Treasures.

Aiko wouldn’t do either of them for the time being, but there was a significant change.

[Toughness: 4,856,211] -> [Toughness: 5,856,211]

A whopping 1 million increase in her Toughness thanks to finishing that Cauldron.

This would help her greatly in the coming days, since she would be exploring a lot.

Aiko nodded to herself happily. She was satisfied with this increase, but she didn’t think that the current [The Ever Shaping Cauldron] could endure too many hits, so this was only a ’temporary’ buff.

’About 5 hits until it breaks, or 1 lethal hit.’ Moon Aiko did the calculation, but those were still satisfactory numbers.

*knock knock*

”Come in.” Aiko absent-mindedly answered, and Yu walked in.

For some reason, her face turned red, and she immediately closed the doors.

”You should dress up before beckoning someone in.” Yu expressed her words awkwardly, which made Aiko tilt her head.

Aiko looked down, and for some reason, she was completely naked, not even the sheets below her were charred black.

”Huh?!” Aiko was shocked. ”How did this happen...?” Could it be that because she refined the Cauldron inside her body, it turned like this?

Aiko shook her head. ”Are there any clothes that would fit me?”

”En.” Yu served Aiko with a flushed expression.

They didn’t utter a word during this time, and even when Yu guided her into the main hall.

...

”You seem well.” The Demonic Saintess smiled happily, but Aiko was confused.

This place was pretty much stripped bare, and even some bricks were taken away!

The Demonic Saintess saw Aiko’s expression and coughed. ”We didn’t know when you would finish, and since the war was already over, we were packing our things.

”It’s over?” Aiko blinked her eyes. It’s been only a day since she started to work on her Cauldron.

”Yeah, it’s been over for 2 months...” The Demonic Saintess licked her lips.

”What...?” Aiko speechlessly stared at her.

”En.” The Demonic Saintess just smiled. ”Oh my~, why are you blushing so much~? Is Aiko that pretty~?”

”Yesh...” Yu coughed awkwardly, stunning the Demonic Saintess.

”...?” The Demonic Saintess blinked a few times. ”Prettier than-”

”Yes.” Yu coughed even more strangely, and the Demonic Saintess almost fainted.

”This won’t do! You need to learn my Beast Technique!” Yu slapped the chair, almost breaking it.

She dragged Aiko away while the Demonic Foxes swarmed Yu, trying to interrogate her about Aiko.

...

”Are we in such a hurry?” Aiko tilted her head.

”Not really. We have around one month before this place is swarmed by Humans, so we have enough time for you to learn it, but we shouldn’t push our luck.” The Demonic Saintess shook her head.

”First thing, you will learn my Beast Technique [Moonless Mist Shroud].” The Demonic Saintess said seriously. ”Depending on your attainment in it, it can even make you ugly!” She said proudly.

She then glanced towards a certain direction. ”Then you will need to refine a certain Relic that will help you greatly, but that takes a lot of time, so you will have to take it with you and refine it elsewhere. Keep in mind that nobody should see you with it!” The Demonic Saintess said sternly, since that Relic would cause uproar.

It was found during this war under one city, but since it was tainted, the Saintess had to damage it in order to get rid of the bad karma.

Now that there was no karma attached to it, the only way to take it with her would be to refine it and repair it with her own Soul.

Well, Aiko would understand what to do with it once the refinement was completed.

”Okay, difficult stuff.” Aiko nodded her head a few times, but she was not against it. She liked Treasures, and if something was able to subdue her beauty, it would be just perfect!

”Also, hide your tails, I can feel that those 8 tails are odd, very odd, keep the suspicion away from you.” The Demonic Saintess added this too, since she was concerned about Aiko.

”Then let’s start.” Aiko smiled.

...

2 weeks later. Aiko learned the [Moonless Mist Shroud].

”This was difficult.” Aiko breathed out slowly. She was quite tired from learning this technique.

”Your Moon Affinity is greater than I expected. My apologies.” The Demonic Saintess had to force the knowledge into Aiko’s mind. Otherwise, Aiko would not be able to learn it at all.

Her Moon Bloodline was too strong, which limited her understanding of the Moonless Techniques.

This caused other issues, but luckily, Aiko’s Insight was good enough that she understood how it worked.

”I don’t want to learn anything for a while.” Aiko groaned unhappily.

”We got scouts telling us that Humans will be coming in about a week. So we don’t have much time.” The Demonic Saintess stood up slowly. Her head hurt from trying to share the information, but she could always rest inside Aiko’s tails.

Now was not the time to stop, since Aiko must receive that Relic.

”Follow me, please.” The Demonic Saintess was more polite than before, which startled Aiko.

”You are not doing well.” Aiko followed her.

”Yeah, but I can rest later, it’s important right now to get you out of here and for us to hide.” The Demonic Saintess glanced at Aiko’s tails.

”Don’t worry, the size has increased, so we can store all of them easily.” Aiko smiled.

”Good.” The Demonic Saintess smiled happily.