Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”It’s already been 3 days.” Li Xiu crossed her arms.

”Yes, I like this bed too.” Sun Aiko was a lot happier than before, as her Vitality was recovering slowly thanks to the [Dawn Dew Absorption].

She also unlocked the first stage of the [Melody of Healing], allowing her to restore most of her Health with the help of Li Xiu’s Pills.

However, as all of her Bloodlines were either sealed or suppressed, she lost a lot of stats.

She could still compensate with her Beast Core, which was still not completely filled, not to mention that its purity was also not the greatest.

With each %, the bonus to her stats would be incomparable to before and would allow her to rival her previous strength easily.

Li Xiu sighed. ”Fine, fine.” She didn’t mind Aiko being lazy, as she was still weak, but Li Xiu was a bit sad that Aiko didn’t pay much attention to her.

Shaking her head, she had to go outside and deal with that perverted tree before those dumbasses would try to whip it again.

Shaking her head, she left Aiko to rest.

[Origin is more stable than before.]

[Bloodlines are being adjusted to their original values. You will no longer be able to obtain balanced Bloodlines.]

[There is an imbalance in the strength distribution: Yang - 7 Points, Yin 2 Points, Yin 1 Point]

[In order to ensure perfect balance, you have to achieve either: Yang - 5 Points, Yin 5 Points, Yin 10 Points]

[Or: Yang 10 Points, Yin 5 Points, Yin 5 Points]

Sun Aiko gave up thinking, as that was the skill of her Oldest Sister.

Her hair changed to that moonlight silver, and Moon Aiko immediately got to work.

’Elaborate.’ Moon Aiko commanded.

[Due to instability and ’danger’ that you might experience, the system adjusted a more balanced way to receive Bloodlines.]

[You are now in a safe place and have recovered greatly, so there is no longer the need to use Providence to adjust the Bloodlines.]

[Time before the system runs out of Providence: ~500 years -> ~24,000 years]

[As the system secures more resources without you plundering anything, you will be able to receive more missions from the system to speed up your growth.]

’Greater rewards?’ Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes. It was not quite midnight outside, but the Sun had already gone down, so she could stay in this form with the permission of both of her Sisters.

[Correct.]

’The other thing?’ Moon Aiko lay lazily as she enjoyed the fluffy bed.

[The first distribution of balance would allow you to combine your Species and Bloodlines together with some difficulty.]

[The latter one would allow you to make greater decisions when it comes to individual development.]

’Which one do you suggest?’ Moon Aiko believed the first one would be better.

[As your Bloodlines are currently sealed, you don’t really need to achieve balance yet. Once they are unsealed and their full might is displayed, that would be the time when you would decide the right order.]

’Then why tell me?’ Moon Aiko slightly rolled her eyes. She was dealing with a lot already, but the system dumped even more on her!

[You deserve more decisions over your future.]

’... I want to develop-’ Moon Aiko didn’t even complete her request, and the system already worked its magic.

[In order to develop Bloodlines, you need to obtain Beast Cores. Thanks to the Evolved Spiritual Flame, you won’t suffer from any impurities. This would also allow you to improve your Elemental Affinities, but you would have to practise all of them in order not to degrade those that are not used.]

[ [Metal’s Affection] would degrade to [Metal - 1] and so on.]

[You can only stop the degradation from using techniques that revolve around that element.]

[You currently have: Wind, Illusion, Moon, Dreams, Water, Darkness, Dew, Sun]

’Restrict affinities from degrading.’ Moon Aiko commanded.

[...]

[Calculating.]

[Time before the system runs out of Providence: ~24,000 years -> ~10,000 years]

Aiko nodded her head slowly. This would degrade her rewards, but it would not make her all that weaker.

[Suggestion to gather poisonous Herbs in order to appease the [Captivating Witch of Illusive Dreams].]

[A special internal stat was created. Each poison will slightly improve the strength of your Bloodline/Body. It will also allow you to integrate the poisons into your body and make it completely immune to the given poison and its lesser variants.]

[New Special Mission:]

[Poison Empress]

[Special Mission]

[Collect 11,111 unique poisons to trigger special Ascension*.]

[Reward: #### body will be strengthened]

[*This is not Ascension that leads to the Immortal World!]

’More missions...’ Moon Aiko nodded her head. There were too many already, but that was not bad. She could slowly take care of them as it came to her. The most important mission right now would be the [Suppress the Heat] mission.

Everything was secondary, as that one would allow her to release her First Seal on command.

A necessary step that would make her a lot stronger.

There were more things that Moon Aiko wanted to go over, but she would first recover her Beast Core energy and explore this place.

She could ’feel’ the energy of many wondrous plants. So it wouldn’t hurt if she took a small ’sample’ of them.

Nodding her head, Moon Aiko retreated as her Youngest Sister rolled around.

”Maybe I should play with Li Xiu.” Sun Aiko blinked a few times and looked around. There was not much to do, and even as the Sun went down, she could keep this form going.

Standing up, she went outside Li Xiu’s room and into the inner courtyard.

She couldn’t find her, so she moved further and further.

”I didn’t know you liked it that much.” Sun Aiko blankly stared at Li Xiu, who was bashing the perverted tree.

Li Xiu stiffened, and she immediately turned around. ”It’s not what it looks like!” She stood next to the perverted tree with a baseball bat and kept hitting it like she had lost her senses.

”Suuure.” Sun Aiko lay nearby and observed the situation. It seemed like there were more humans around, but they never went outside their places.

Sun Aiko didn’t have anyone to play with, but she definitely didn’t want to play with this pervert!

”I’m not a pervert!” Li Xiu cried out as she kept bashing the tree. ”This bastard sucked a lot of Qi inside because he sulked!” She kept hitting him, releasing large amounts of Qi into the surroundings.

”...” Sun Aiko blankly stared. ’Never mind, it’s better to go play outside.’

She shook her head as she went out.

”Where are you going?” Li Xiu’s already sharp sense warned her of impending danger.

”I’m taking a walk.” Sun Aiko dashed away before Li Xiu came to her senses and chased her!

”Dammit! Come back!” Li Xiu’s senses alarmed her, but she was no match for Aiko when it came to speed!

Aiko darted around, trying to find anything interesting, but...

’Just this mountain is huge. Che. As if the Fox Village could compare to this, no way!’ Sun Aiko shook her head. She felt like the Fox Village was just a poor imitation run with poor administration.

...

It took her a whole day of running to get to the bottom of this mountain.

’My age might’ve frozen, but I’m really upset that it will take days, maybe even weeks, to explore this place!’ She suddenly felt appreciation towards the Fox Village as everything was quite close together!

A few more days later, she arrived at her first destination.

In front and alongside her were rows and rows of Herbs, carefully planted and taken care of.

’Interesting.’ Sun Aiko nodded her head, but her stomach growled.

’This is what I get from leaving the comfortable home...’ She sniffled, but it was not like she could eat these, right?

*sniff sniff*

Aiko sniffed something delicious in the air, so she silently followed it.

She couldn’t use her stealth abilities, but she still could use the Sun to blend into the surroundings somewhat.

Well, the heat coming out of her body would make her obvious immediately, but as long as nobody was in her vicinity, they would not be able to find her easily.

’I smell delicious meat.’ Sun Aiko almost floated towards that delicious smell.

In front of her was a small pavilion or gazebo, if you must.

It was surrounded by plains of Herbs, and two elderly individuals played games inside it.

Aiko could barely make out their silhouettes, but that was fine. She was not after them, but those plates placed near them.

She sneaked out and transformed into a tiny pseudo-Human Form.

This part was important since she had to hide and use her small hands to grab those meats.

The closer she would get to them, the easier she would be found. Maintaining distance was important, which the pseudo-Human Form could accomplish.

Sneaking ever so closely, Sun Aiko nabbed a few pieces.

*nom nom nom*

Sun Aiko munched on it, and she almost ascended to the first heaven.

Their taste was that good, and it greatly pleased her taste buds. She nabbed more without a care in the world, when suddenly something lifted her by her head.

”This cute little thing was stealing our snacks.” It was quite a huge bull, but since Aiko couldn’t feel any hostility from him, she didn’t mind him.

However, she did mind the fact that she was too far to reach her snacks!

”Let her be, she is our guest.” The Sect Leader played with the Beast Sect Leader. They visited quite frequently due to their fondness for Go.

”You don’t mind, she is stealing our- Agh! Motherf-” The Bull cursed loudly as his hand stung from the intense heat.

”Heh.” The Southern Sect Leader smirked at him.

”You should’ve warned me, dammit!” The Bull was quite angry.

”And we are finished.” The Southern Sect Leader placed the last piece on the board, and it concluded with his win.

”Motherfu-” The Bull controlled his emotions so that he wouldn’t flip the table into his damned face!

Aiko landed near a Lion, and they blinked at each other.

”The Fox!” Jun was confused why she was here.

”The scaredy Lion!” Sun Aiko shot back.