Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Sun Aiko dashed towards the familiar Forest. She might check ’that’ Village again if she had the chance, but it was more important to rob them first and seek Mei again as soon as possible.

Aiko was looking forward to how Mei would look when she saw her forms.

’I will see if you will still dare to bully Moon Aiko.’ Sun Aiko snorted. As expected, she was followed.

However, her pursuers were too weak, so Sun Aiko didn’t kill them. Hiding was very easy, and losing them even easier since Captivating Aiko was a shadowy Fox!

’I’m Witch Aiko.’ Captivating Aiko changed her nickname due to her usage of poison. She was no longer the captivating beauty she had been before!

Well... she was, but now she was even more deadly, captivating beauty! But since that was too long, a Witch sounded nice, and it was in her Bloodline and Species too, so there was no need to use something like captivating.

Witch Aiko hid in the shadows as her pursuers passed by her.

Only if you stared directly at Aiko would you be able to find her, and since they lost sight of her, it was impossible for them to find her.

”What the hell?! She was just here!” One shadowy figure was annoyed.

”She will be somewhere here, just search the surroundings, as she might be asleep.” Another shadowy figure, who seemed like the boss, ordered everyone around him.

Witch Aiko didn’t care about them. They were too weak and would allow her to mess around while she explored for the Banished Elders.

’Oh, Herb.’ Witch Aiko noticed a Herb nearby and immediately swooped it into her tails.

’I also have that scent, but let’s not use it just yet.’ Witch Aiko licked her lips. She had quite the plans with her dangerously intoxicating scent~!

...

Moving into the forest, everything was quiet. Even crickets didn’t dare to cause a ruckus, as they would be eaten by predators or just straight-up blasted for being annoying.

It was eerily quiet, but Aiko kept going. She had to find those Banished Elders, but in this huge forest, it would be difficult.

’I shouldn’t overexert myself.’ Witch Aiko was still limited in what she could do. Well, it was a lot less than before, but she was still affected.

Witch Aiko shook her head as she found a small hole where she could hide without being noticed.

She didn’t need to be picky about where she slept, but that also meant she would have to groom her tails.

’I have to figure out where my strength lies in this forest.’ Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes. Without more information, it was dangerous to do anything.

...

A good night of sleep allowed Aiko to restore herself, and thanks to the abundant Witch’s Essence, she was able to recover even more.

This allowed her to immediately work on tracking the Banished Elders!

*growl*

A Beast nearby growled, but it couldn’t find Aiko. It seemed like it was guarding some kind of flower, which was very strange to Aiko. The flower didn’t seem all that precious.

Sure, the amount of cold Qi was not insignificant, but that flower couldn’t even change her surroundings, so it was kind of meh.

Looking into the Jade Slip that Mei gave her. This flower was useful for the Grandmaster.

Witch Aiko sneaked before picking the block of dirt with the flower into her tails and walking away.

The Beast cried out, but as it was not intelligent enough to understand what happened, it was unable to find Aiko.

During the day, her stealth abilities might be weakened, but that didn’t mean that stupid Beast with so little intelligence would be able to find her, much less track her.

Aiko sneaked around more. There were Herbs here and there, and then there were holes here and there.

Thanks to all of that, she progressed quite well!

[Soil Excavation: Lv.8->Mastered]

[Gardening: Lv.8->Mastered]

Mastered meant that she could purchase something better, but Aiko had no points.

She did notice a black tiger nearby, but killing it only rewarded her 10 Cultivation Points!

That was simply too little. The forest where she was might be lush, but that didn’t mean there were a lot of Beasts.

From Aiko’s understanding, each Beast would try to secure their own little territory where they would nurture Herbs for future use.

This drove the other Beasts out, causing the population in certain areas to drop.

Aiko was unfortunately one of these areas, so she was unable to benefit from her hunting as much.

Witch Aiko, that is, Sun Aiko, was more than capable of attracting a lot of attention. Especially from Beasts that underestimated her!

She was like a beacon that attracted them, which caused Aiko to earn a lot of points.

”And here I wondered what kind of intruder was slaughtering my livestock.” A Thunderbird, which was able to pressure Aiko, appeared.

It was not Bloodline pressure, but the pressure from the bigger Beast Core.

Aiko might have 3 of them, but her total Beast core was still 2/3rds smaller than Beast at her Rank.

What was worse, most of those Beasts would abandon the human body by forsaking their humanity, making them into simple, yet bloodthirsty Beasts.

The Thunderbird zapped past Aiko, injuring her, but since she had the [The Ever Shaping Cauldron], most of the damage was offset by it.

-2.2M HP

Seeing that Sun Aiko couldn’t win, they didn’t try to fight it head-on.

Sun Aiko’s fur darkened until it was jet black.

”What a delicious smell.” The Thunderbird was too stupid to realise that Aiko spread poison around it. Killing it quietly.

’I know I should start using Talismans, but I need to know what my limit is.’ Witch Aiko sighed. It was better to know what she could and couldn’t challenge.

She had problems with speed type Beasts at the same Beast Rank, but she should be able to deal with anything as long as it was not immune to poison.

Now, if it were immune to poison, as long as it was not too destructive or fast, she still had ways to deal with them.

However, that was not her goal for now. She would now start using Talismans as Mei asked her to.

’I have 5th Grade Thunder Talisman, 5th Grade Iron Skin Talisman...’ Witch Aiko went through them and picked a few that could be used from her stealth.

That way, she didn’t need to appear at all and would be able to kill others without being seen!

Witch Aiko nodded her head. This plan was quite nice, not perfect, but still good enough to help her go through this mess!

Aiko disappeared here and there before reappearing with zapped Beasts. They were still alive and twitching, but Aiko didn’t need to worry about them.

Like this, she was able to farm 2,460 Cultivation Points!

Nodding her head. She found a quiet cave. She wanted to check on her tails and how they were doing!

...

The cave was not too big, so Aiko would be able to pull out only some of them at a time.

That was fine, since she didn’t intend to use their help for the time being!

Witch Aiko whitened, turning into Moon Aiko as she ruffled her tails.

”Spidey~” Moon Aiko smiled sinisterly. ”I wonder who was the one to dirty my tails~” Part of it was done by Ah Cy, but most of it was apparently by this rascal!

The Spidey played cute, and with her large eyes, it was quite effective.

”Fine, I will leave you for now.” Aiko snorted unhappily, but still hugged her Spidey.

She ruffled her tails again, pulling out Feifei.

”Aiko~!” Feifei hugged Aiko.

”Feifei.” Moon Aiko smiled gently.

”More are softer than before.” Feifei indulged in that soft sensation while she could.

”How are others faring?” Moon Aiko asked gently. She would let Feifei indulge, since it had been quite some time since she was outside.

”I’m not sure, but they don’t seem well.” Feifei shook her head.

Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow and pulled the Demonic Saintess.

”Ugh.” The Demonic Saintess immediately groaned when she came into contact with the outside.

”What’s wrong?” Aiko tilted her head, but when she checked her condition, she was shocked.

Her body was breaking down because of insufficient Qi; her cultivation had regressed greatly.

But how was that possible? They cultivated that Qi inside the Sacred Realm, and now they are losing it.

Moon Aiko used her specialised eyes to peer deeper.

It was not that she had insufficient Qi, but that Qi didn’t mingle well with the Qi around her and was constantly attacking her.

’Could it be that Beasts can leave the Sacred Realm, but they would be destroyed from within?’ Moon Aiko had some theories, but none of them held any meaning.

That was because Moon Aiko also noticed that while her cultivation regressed, the same couldn’t be said for her body or lifespan.

What was cultivated with hard work was not taken away? No, that was also not right. A Beast had a longer lifespan thanks to the Qi that their bodies absorbed. If the Qi clashed and decreased, she should drop her Beast Rank.

’No, maybe it’s tied to the size of Beast Core?’ Aiko groaned unhappily. She didn’t have enough resources to test all of her theories.

”Do you feel better inside?” Aiko asked gently.

The Demonic Saintess nodded her head.

Aiko immediately stashed her away.

”How are you feeling, Feifei?” Aiko blinked at her carefully, checking her body.

”I’m feeling fine, but Yuqi is not doing well...” Feifei sighed. It seemed like she grew attached to her.

Moon Aiko nodded her head. It seemed like everyone was attacked by the Mortal World Qi, but inside her tails it would be a lot slower.

This would buy time for Aiko to deal with this, but thinking again...

’I can just give them my own Beast Core.’ Aiko could create Beast Cores and give them the right Qi forcibly, which might allow her to remedy this condition.

However, as with everything, that was just her guess. What would happen with the Qi already inside her body? Would it just disperse? Or cling to her for dear life? How much damage would that cause?

Moon Aiko shook her head. She didn’t want to experiment on them, as she felt really close and intimate with them.

’I will have to figure out a different way.’ It was not impossible since she already had a few ideas inside her head!