Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko patched up her Cauldron and figured out a few things about how her stats worked.

Her toughness could be considered close to defence. It’s not quite like that since the toughness is not uniform, but let’s roll with it.

Then you have her Cauldron, which also has defence, but this one could be considered a true defence. What it means is that, unlike normal defence, you can’t bypass this one.

You could do internal damage to Aiko with her normal defence, but since she has her Cauldron, her body becomes the Cauldron, so it’s impossible to deal any damage to the real Aiko.

That’s also why the description states that it will block a lethal attack, and not that it COULD block it. This was very important since she had absolute protection that one had to go through in order to harm her.

The Slaughter Formation bypassed your skin and shredded you, so even Body Cultivators would have trouble with it.

If you had a Treasure that could offset that damage, you would be able to protect yourself for a bit, but your Treasure would suffer.

Moon Aiko nodded her head gently.

”Why are you so cold in this form?” Nüwa raised an objection to Aiko’s body.

”Because I don’t want you to bother me.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. She wanted to patch up her Cauldron and not be bothered by this lazy snake.

”You-!” Nüwa couldn’t believe that Aiko really said that and that she used such tricks to keep her away.

Nüwa snorted at Aiko. ”But when it suits you, then you tease me?!”

”That’s obvious, your reactions are cute, and I should not be the only one to get out of bed.” Moon Aiko shrugged at her.

”Hey! You are not supposed to say the latter part! Keep your thoughts to yourself, it ruins the mood!” Nüwa whined. It was impossible to fall in love with Aiko since she was just a bully!

”I should say it so that you don’t get any ideas.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes as she finished her Cauldron completely. It would require more resources to advance its defence, but Aiko was not in a hurry.

”Hey!” Nüwa almost coughed up blood from how much honesty poured from Aiko.

”What? I’m working.” Moon Aiko pouted.

Nüwa was flabbergasted. ”So, what happened in the North?” She changed the topic to interest this damned Fox!

”Beasts surrounding the nest with something delicious smelling inside.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. She still could remember that delicious smell, and she really wanted to have a taste of it!

”Yeah...” Nüwa nodded slowly. It seemed like she was quite sad as she curled up inside the bedsheets. ”I have rescued them from the Immortal World, but at this pace they won’t survive for long...”

Moon Aiko observed the serpent lady. She saw many emotions from them, but this would be the first time Aiko saw her actually sad.

”You want to keep them alive?” Moon Aiko was not against indulging this lazy Beast.

”That is impossible.” Nüwa shook her head. ”You would have to first get their trust, but even then, they would still die.” The divination already told her about this inevitable fate.

Moon Aiko brushed her clothes. ”You’d better reward me properly when we meet in the Immortal World.”

Nüwa was confused. ”You won’t be able to- Aaand she is gone...” She sighed gently. It was impossible to save the mother, as she would inevitably die, and her young would be eaten by a powerful Beast.

...

Moon Aiko transformed into a Fox and Witch Aiko.

She would use her stealth to assess what was happening with those Beasts surrounding that nest and see what was actually inside.

Taking her time to get there, she only agitated a few Beasts to make things a bit messier, so that it was easier to slip in.

Some Beasts noticed her, but they didn’t move. Everyone was waiting for ’something’ to happen, and Witch Aiko wanted to figure out what.

She would then adjust and mess the situation, causing a lot of chaos that would then help her deal with this place in one swoop.

Nodding her head, Witch Aiko arrived at the base of that ridiculous nest.

It felt a bit like an old paper, well, at least the outside. She would have to find a way in somehow.

Scouting around, most entrances were high above the ground, making it difficult to approach.

There were no guards around them, but Witch Aiko still had an uneasy feeling about it.

Scouting around once more, she could hear some kind of buzzing around.

’Bees?’ Witch Aiko tilted her head. She was not really into sweets, much less honey, but this one smelled too delicious? How strange...

Witch Aiko decided to get there through her skills.

...

The entrance was somewhat narrow, but since Witch Aiko in her Fox Form was tiny, she was able to sneak in with slight difficulty.

The insides were strangely sticky, but nothing actually got stuck to her legs. It was just difficult to move around, and it would also make strange sounds, making any kind of stealth near impossible.

Fortunately, Witch Aiko could also reduce her presence. This made it less difficult to sneak around, but those sticky smacks still attracted the attention of the warrior bees.

Witch Aiko would always stay still and let them pass near her. It didn’t seem like they had all that high intelligence, so Witch Aiko was safe as long as she didn’t move when she was around bees.

However, the further in she got, the stickier the floor became, and the more bees were around, making it really difficult to advance.

Witch Aiko had to wait a long time at each step in order not to attract the attention of too many Beasts.

It was impossible to raid this place without attracting attention, but...

*lick*

’It’s delicious!’ Near Aiko was a pond with bright red, sticky liquid. The scent was the same as what Aiko encountered outside and what almost bewitched her.

Licking her paw, the taste was simply divine, caressing her body and mind.

[You have recovered 1,200 Vitality.]

”!” Witch Aiko was shocked at that notification, and she couldn’t believe it!

Over a thousand Vitality from just a lick!? That’s simply impossible from normal sources! This was so packed with Vitality that Aiko would never run out!

However, that single lick attracted a lot of attention.

Witch Aiko knew that they noticed her.

”I’m not a bad Fox...?” Witch Aiko said nervously.

*Swish*

All the bees stuck their ends at her, revealing those sharp, pointy stingers.

”I’m really not a bad Fox!” Witch Aiko yelped as she tried to run away from this place.

*stab stab stab*

Bees swarmed her and kept stabbing her with their stingers.

[Jaws of ####]

Moon Aiko already set up the point for [Jaws of ####]. It was not too far from here, so it should not cost her too many resources.

Witch Aiko used that ability to get out of this place before she was turned into cheese!

...

Witch Aiko rolled around the Goddess of the Moon’s base. Her Cauldron turned into cheese, but it did protect her well, not allowing her to drop the HP.

Witch Aiko pondered about why her Cauldron didn’t activate when she was attacked by that birdie? Or did it activate, and she didn’t notice? How about when Nüwa squeezed her?

There was something strange about the Cauldron, but neither Witch Aiko nor Moon Aiko could figure it out...

’Am I lacking experience?’ Witch Aiko pondered on it, but it was difficult to say for sure.

Shaking her head gently, she was immediately wrapped by that lazy serpent.

”You smell like honey.” Nüwa licked Aiko’s fur where there was a bit of honey residue left.

”You will get hurt if you go in too deep.” Nüwa warned Aiko.

Witch Aiko transformed into her pseudo-Human Form. ”You should’ve told me sooner!”

”I tried, but you ran away!” Nüwa glared at the wilful Fox before wrapping her inside her tail and going to sleep.

”I gotta work on the Cauldron.” Witch Aiko said sternly.

”You will do it after resting, it has already been 3 days since you left.” Nüwa shook her head.

”3?” Witch Aiko didn’t believe it took her that long!

”Yeah, now rest.” Nüwa hugged Aiko like a plushie and went to sleep.

...

The next day, Moon Aiko worked on the half-broken Cauldron again. Of course, Grandpa Flame grumbled again, but what could he do?! He was now a Spiritual Flame, so this was his job!

Moon Aiko finished fixing it, since most of the holes were round and easy to fix. It only took her two days, which was fantastic, and that was also thanks to-

[Restoration R-2->3]

Thanks to this, she was able to handle restorations more easily as long as she was the one to make the Treasure.

It was a somewhat special effect where she could remember how it originally looked, and she would then use her Divine Sense with Grandpa Flame to shape it back into its former state!

This would save her a lot of time in the long run~!

Having finished that, she would return to that nest to explore more!

For some reason, that nest was like this hidden place, unable to be mapped correctly, so Witch Aiko had to map it manually.

-----

{Somewhere deep inside the nest, two pairs of eyes squinted slowly}

’That Fox returned.’ The Empress rolled her body around. She was in her final stage soon, and then it would be over, but this daring Fox would always come around and snoot.

Not actually fighting or damaging anything, which made the Empress even more upset.

She felt guilty of attacking the Fox, since she only stole a bit of her honey, and it was even the low-quality garbage that was thrown aside!

Her wings were broken, so she could no longer fly. She was just waiting for that last stage of her life, and then be done with this.

She naturally didn’t want to die, but it was impossible to avoid it...

’Let’s just scare her one more time. She won’t return again.’ The poor Empress believed that the Fox would easily give up on this place, but this would turn her nest upside down soon...

’She is eating the poor honey again...’ The Empress sighed. ’Fine, just eat your fill, and then I will scare you away.’ She shook her head. This Fox was too strange and passive compared to the other invaders...