Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Sitting around the low table, Moon Aiko leaned back into the half-chair.

”Such a peculiar chair...” Moon Aiko only saw these a few times, so she believed that these were quite exotic furniture.

”You have not even seen half of it.” Chen Shi said proudly before getting serious. ”How much do you know about Runes? I need to know where to start from.”

Moon Aiko briefly nodded and had a talk with him about Runes...

...

”You didn’t create anything crazy, right?” Chen Shi ’glared’ at Aiko, believing that she had definitely already made something crazy.

”Not really.” Moon Aiko shrugged.

Chen Shi sighed gently and pulled out the bathrobe that was located in the inner zone.

”Let’s go over this one first.” Chen Shi believed she would understand more if she were shown it directly.

”You have these Runes, which handle the general shape of objects. It’s not really important since we are not doing sculptures, but if we want to make paintings, we need the shapes to create ’depth’.” Chen Shi explained slowly so that Aiko could get the hang of it.

”So you handle shapes, the general bounciness, the overall firmness, but those are just side-products, right?” Moon Aiko was able to see all the Runes clearly thanks to him.

”Indeed. All the things you have just mentioned are just the connection of Runes that were not completely ’locked’. Well, that is not important right now, but you have probably noticed it when you have entered the hot spring.” Chen Shi smiled.

”It’s definitely not a normal hot spring, since Danji didn’t feel anything.” Moon Aiko nodded.

”This place is called Scorching Sky Courtyard for a reason. The ’Scorching’ part comes from the Hot Spring. Without these bathrobes, you would melt alive due to the overabundance of Fire Qi.” Chen Shi explained while pointing at the relevant Runes.

”What about Cultivators that specialise in Fire Qi?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes. In theory, Sun Aiko would be fine.

”That is impossible. Everyone would suffer, and that was because this Fire Qi has the element of Chaos.” Chen Shi paused. He didn’t think he should talk about Chaos so soon, but he had to teach Aiko, so he might as well do that.

”Chaos is... peculiar, in that it bypasses common sense.” Chen Shi sighed painfully.

”I feel like we will get along.” Moon Aiko shamelessly nodded her head.

”What...?” Chen Shi stared at her in disbelief.

”Nothing, please continue.” Moon Aiko smiled innocently, but Chen Shi felt there was something wrong with this.

”Anyway. Chaos bypasses everything that is known, but that doesn’t mean that Chaos is necessarily bad. What you need to avoid is ’Stagnation’ or ’Indifference’. Void can be as bad, but they are mostly neutral in their natural habitat.” Chen Shi gestured towards Aiko and conjured a few mighty Beasts from Runes.

”Whoa...” Moon Aiko nodded. She didn’t think one could use Runes like this, and she was greatly impressed by Chen Shi’s skills.

”Chaos is the most basic element that we try to avoid during Cultivation, since it can destroy you from the inside. It’s unusually found in the most extreme environments.” Chen Shi tapped the table slightly, and they suddenly appeared on a mountain.

”We are in the same place?” Moon Aiko could feel that the space didn’t distort completely, but the scenery was just adjusted.

”That is correct, this is the Scorching Sky Courtyard right before the Seal was established.” Chen Shi looked around. While there was some grass around them, most of it was completely burned down to ash or turned into a bubbling hot liquid.

”It’s... kind of scary?” Moon Aiko frowned.

”That’s nothing to what it was before.” Chen Shi tapped the table again, and the somewhat green scenery turned black and orange-red.

Hot liquid flew around all of them. They were at what appeared to be the top of an active volcano.

”This place is hostile.” Moon Aiko didn’t need to transmit the feeling from the surroundings onto her skin to know that even she would have a hard time surviving in this place.

”I have never encountered such a hostile environment.” Moon Aiko was speechless.

”That’s obvious. All extreme environments were turned into Heaven Grottos.” Chen Shi shrugged.

”So this place is considered Heavenly Grotto?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. She didn’t feel that way.

Sure, the Runes were plentiful, but this place was far from impressive...

”That’s not quite right, most of the Qi that would be in this place is used to reinforce the Seal, so that it doesn’t break by accident.” Chen Shi sighed. This could only be called a pseudo-Heavenly Grotto and not the real deal.

”The floating Runes?” Moon Aiko pursed her lips.

”Sharp. You are correct.” Chen Shi nodded his head. ”This place is still considered a Heavenly Grotto, even though incomplete, thanks to all the floating Runes around.” He made a motion with his hands, and Runes appeared all around them.

”You can call them, study them and even combine them. Although the last part is quite dangerous, I would prefer it if you didn’t try to combine them haphazardly.” Chen Shi warned Aiko.

”I don’t intend to combine them without understanding them, and even then, I would rather use wood that would just burn if something went wrong.” Moon Aiko shook her head.

”Even wood can explode, but I suppose that our defences can already bypass all of that.” Chen Shi chuckled.

”But what’s up with those floating Runes?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. Her ears curiously twitched, yet her tails lay quietly on the floor.

”Those Runes were here even before the extreme environment. Or rather, this place became like that because the Runes ran rampant. Combining as they wished and causing trouble all around.” Chen Shi shook his head.

”Hmmmmmm...” Moon Aiko nodded her head slowly. This was quite a lot to take in.

”Does that mean that this World was created from Runes?” Moon Aiko felt something amiss during this discussion.

”Not quite. The Runes help us understand the World around us as long as we listen to them, but they did not create the World.” Chen Shi explained.

”But then why do Runes have so much power?” Moon Aiko didn’t think that just simple doodles could have so much power behind them.

”That is because it’s one of the paths of Dao.” Chen Shi explained, while also not explaining anything.

”Tsk.” Moon Aiko clicked her tongue. ”If you don’t wanna tell, don’t bother saying anything.” She puffed her cheeks up unhappily.

”It’s not like I don’t want to tell you, but it’s a bit tricky to explain when we are in the Mortal World.” Chen Shi sighed.

”Fine, fine.” Moon Aiko shushed him with her hand. ”What are the main differences between the different schools?”

”You mean, Inscription, Array, Formation and Talismans?” Chen Shi smiled when he saw Aiko’s puzzled expression.

”All of these use words as power, but each of them does it differently.” Chen Shi chuckled.

”Let’s start with Talismans, since they are the easiest.” Chen Shi rubbed his hands.

”You do know that you need a Beast’s blood for this, right?” Chen Shi smirked.

”I do know, and I also know that my blood is unusable.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes.

”That’s actually not true. You can use your blood, but if you wish to use it without burning the Talisman prematurely, you need better Talisman materials.” Chen Shi explained. ”However, when it comes to you. You simply have too much energy to contain in usual Talismans, so it might seem that way.” He tried soothing Aiko, but it didn’t help much.

”Then what am I supposed to do when nothing works?” Moon Aiko was speechless.

”Draw into the Void.” Chen Shi laughed darkly. ”You will become the most powerful Rune Cultivator when you get to that stage, but let’s move on.” He chuckled gently.

”Next up would be Inscriptions. Inscriptions are more like written texts connected with ’bridges’. It’s a bit more complex than that, but you already understand Inscriptions enough that you just have to find your own way now.” Chen Shi proclaimed before quickly moving on.

”The next one, and one which you love to use, are Formations. Well, not Formations by themselves, but let’s talk about the Inscriptions on the Flag before you go around using them as shit pickers.” Chen Shi snorted unhappily.

”Do you have a problem with me?” Moon Aiko snorted at him unhappily.

”No.” Chen Shi denied, but it was obvious he was vindictive towards her. ”The Formation starts with the number of Flags. They can also be called Formation Flags, but most call them just Flags.”

”These are used as ’Anchors’ so that the Formation has a steady space where it can manifest.” Chen Shi pulled out his flags, but placed them out of reach from Aiko, from worry that she might use them when he is not looking.

”A slight side note. Arrays and Formations don’t differ that much, but I will explain more about that when we finish them first.” Chen Shi stopped Aiko from asking any questions for the time being.

”Back to the Formations. The most important part is the material of your Flag, the True Inscription on it and their positions in the Formation.” Chen Shi noted these 3 things with his Runes as they floated around them.

”The material is pretty much the sturdiness of the Flags and how much abuse they can take during the battle.”

”The Inscription is how easily the energy would flow through them, thus establishing the connection between Heaven and Earth, or Heaven and Sky.”

”The last would be position. Not every Formation has the same number of Flags, position or Qi flow. Each Formation has a different number- You get what I mean.” Chen Shi rubbed his head.

”Yeah, so the Flags can be strengthened with Inscriptions too, right?” Moon Aiko was curious about this part.

”Aha!” Chen Shi chuckled. ”That is wrong.”

”Why?” Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow.

”It’s a common trap for anyone who is starting with Formations.” Chen Shi warned her.

”You see, Inscriptions that strengthen something have a ’maintenance’ fee. In other words, you have to pay Qi upkeep in order to make it work. And since Formation takes energy from your Core...” Chen Shi nudged her.

”You would deplete a lot of your energy that could be used on maintaining the Formation effects.” Moon Aiko frowned. ”But-”

”But what about Qi Gathering Arrays?” Chen Shi chuckled again. ”You see, the Formation doesn’t have a flat upkeep cost. It varies by the terrain, the amount of enemies and many other factors, so giving it a Qi Gathering Array, which also changes over time, would give you one more thing to worry about while trying to maintain it.”

”Formations are fragile in nature; a bad wind can cause you to lose due to backlash.” Chen Shi shook his head.