Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko observed their expressions. ”What’s up?”

”Don’t, what’s up, us!” Yue had quite the headache.

”So you didn’t steal it, but Dragon offered it... Do you know what that means?” Yue asked with narrowed eyes.

”That I got another lover.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. ”And a cute one at that.”

Both Danji and Yue almost fainted.

’She can’t be that cute, right?’ Danji narrowed her eyes.

’Why is she not treating this seriously?’ Yue furrowed her eyebrows.

”You are the spouse of a Dragon. And Dragons can only have one partner.” Yue explained.

”Oh...” Moon Aiko nodded her head, but it was obvious she didn’t take it too seriously. ”But why only one?”

Yue sighed, but still explained. ”Dragons have a lot more energy compared to peers. Anywhere between 2-50 times. Of course, I’m excluding Foxes, since they are 10 times weaker than normal Beasts.” She pulled out some comparisons, making Aiko nod her head.

”That means balancing is that much more complex and dangerous, making them a very... solitary race.” Yue shook her head. ”You will be hunted if others realise you have it.”

”Eh.” Moon Aiko shrugged. ”I can just make it into some kind of Treasure, making it perfect for hiding, or just never take it out.”

”You-” Yue facepalmed her face.

”What?” Witch Aiko came out and tilted her head, since Moon Aiko was tired of this conversation.

”If you do that, your fate will be sealed for life...” Yue warned Aiko.

”Okay, where is the sex part?” Witch Aiko rubbed her hands like a greedy merchant would.

Yue struck Aiko’s head. ”This is not a laughing matter.”

”Then tell me.” Witch Aiko pouted. ”Did you ever notice I had something like that?!” She pointed at everyone.

”...” Only silence was left after that question, and for obvious reasons.

If Moon Aiko wasn’t so clumsy, nobody would be aware that Aiko had something that precious.

”So special storage space, huh?” Yue nodded her head, but still pinched Aiko’s ear.

”That hurts.” Witch Aiko protested.

”It’s supposed to hurt, considering how reckless you are!” Yue snorted unhappily.

”So what?! Am I supposed to reject a gift?!” Witch Aiko pouted.

”If it might cause your downfall, obviously!” Yue said sternly.

”Do remind me. How did you fall?” Witch Aiko raised her eyebrow. She didn’t believe that Yue was a Saint.

”Ugh.” Yue pinched Aiko’s cheeks. ”So what? I learned from my experience!”

”And?! I’m young, so I can afford mistakes!” Witch Aiko snorted unhappily, slipping away from Yue.

”Brat!” Yue immediately chased her.

-----

”I can explain, Grandpa.” Yueying said seriously, somewhere inside a large mountain.

”I’m listening.” Her grandpa folded his arms. ”The reason why you gave someone your reverse scale.”

His sheer presence was no joke, making even Yueying unsettled, but she would never give this up!

”So, I met-” Yueying explained the origin of this curiosity that ended up giving her scale to a Fox.

At first, it was just that, a curiosity over a Fox that would not be scammed.

However, as time progressed, Yueying realised how special the little Fox was.

She was quite endearing and cute, with limitless potential that was supposed to be for only Dragons.

Over time, this curiosity bloomed into unexpected emotions that progressed as Yueying spent more time with Aiko.

The final blow was her beating heart, which was so easily restored that she even questioned if Aiko was a Sage.

”That’s indeed abnormal...” Her grandpa nodded his head slowly. ”But that doesn’t mean you are allowed to give your reverse scale.”

”I understand.” Yueying nodded her head. ”However, this was my decision and I stand by it.” She said resolutely, without a room for retortion.

It was obvious that he was startled. He never expected Yueying to have such firm eyes.

”It won’t be easy to convince others, not to mention the Fox might injure you through it.” He shook his head slowly.

”I’m not here to convince others.” Yueying already had something others didn’t have, so there was no point in abiding by normal rules.

”You are reckless.” He was quite displeased. It took a lot of effort to get that heart back, but now there were two of them!

”I might be reckless, but I know that she won’t hurt me.” Yueying said firmly.

He was flabbergasted. ”Yanyan.”

”Yes, Elder?” Yanyan bowed her body.

Just then, he noticed that Yanyan had already sworn her heart to Yueying.

”What the hell is wrong with all of you?” He was dumbfounded.

”One is an idiot who steals hearts. Another mingles with Foxes. The third one doesn’t consider her position and starts a rough journey.” He had quite a painful headache.

”Whatever, whatever...” He didn’t believe that Yueying was less appealing just because she had two hearts, but others might see it differently.

”What do you think about that thing?” He asked Yanyan.

”Pardon?” Yanyan was startled since she was confused about who he was talking about.

”She has a name.” Yueying pouted at her grandpa unhappily.

He sighed. ”You have not told me her name.”

”Isn’t that obvious why?” Yueying snorted. She learned quite a few things when she stayed in the Beast Sect.

”...” He regretted nurturing such a smart Princess.

”Just tell me what you think.” He sort of gave up. Since he still believed that Fox would either misuse it or keep it as a souvenir, which would allow him to retrieve it.

”I believe she would be fit for Princess.” Yanyan felt like their energies mingled well together, but it was mostly her Princess that was THAT interested.

”It will take time.” Yueying nodded her head. She already knew that by the time they met again, Aiko might already have a partner, but Dragons will never give up!

”What time? The other Elders will probably seek her out to kill her.” He crossed his old arms again.

”Just to get me, huh?” Yueying snorted unhappily again. She would just conceal the ’loss’ of her reverse scale for as long as possible.

”You- Seriously...” He sighed. ”Fine, fine. I will help you with this, but if I’m not satisfied, you can forget about her! I will make sure of that.”

”You shouldn’t threaten me, grandpa.” Yueying pouted. ”My mentality is already stronger several times since you have retrieved my heart.”

”That might be the case, but the gap between us is too big. So I can still alter your memories easily.” He shook his head.

”Then I just have to become mentally strong enough that you can’t affect me.” Yueying slapped the table unhappily.

Her grandpa sighed one last time, dropping the topic for the time being.

”Go rest.” He would drop this for now since he knew that Yueying would later regret it. ’She is too competitive, so it’s impossible to share partners.’ He was quite convinced about this.

-----

”It’s a failure.” Moon Aiko was quite unhappy since she looked like a squirrel due to Yue pulling on her cheeks too hard.

[Grinding Treasure]

[Rarity: Failed Treasure]

Chen Shi didn’t even say anything, since he knew that Yue was still upset.

”So?” Yue crossed her arms.

”It’s probably because the Inscriptions on each roller are not in sync.” Moon Aiko nodded her head seriously before throwing that Treasure aside.

”When one side bites into the Treasure, there are Inscriptions that prevent it from crumbling into too small pieces, but since each side has independent Inscriptions, they clash when both of them bite near each other.” Moon Aiko shook her head.

”That’s a good observation.” Chen Shi nodded her head.

Yue was quite upset at Aiko, so she went inside the bracelet on Chen Shi’s hand.

”Soul Treasure?” Moon Aiko’s eyes blinked.

”Temporary.” Chen Shi nodded his head. ”The Lamp is much better, but you want to rework it, so we can’t rely on it.”

”True.” Moon Aiko received the Lamp back, but she didn’t touch it yet.

”I will work on the Treasures, so you can go for the time being.” Moon Aiko kicked everyone out before grinding all those unnecessary Treasures...

...

”I think I get the system now.” Moon Aiko nodded her head slowly.

”What’s wrong with it?” Danji was seeking more affection from her whenever she could, so she would always hug her when Aiko was not working seriously.

Just like right now, where Danji wrapped her hands around Aiko’s slim waist.

”The powder is indeed used to control the negative effects on the Treasure.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. ”They can range from something as simple as requiring more Qi to activate, to something as deadly as halting your Qi flow for a few seconds.”

”That powder is used to make the demerit high degradation, while disallowing any other demerits to exist at the same time.” Moon Aiko pointed at the metals. ”But it comes at a cost.”

”But why don’t the old Treasures have this?” Danji was curious, since she had quite a few Treasures without any demerits.

”That’s because of technique. They know which metals to combine for a perfect combination, which allows them to control how many demerits it will have.” Moon Aiko demonstrated on some Treasures, but then one of them had the demerit of ’laziness’.

”So once we know the technique, we can bypass the negative effects?” Danji nodded her head slowly.

”Yeah, but that will require a lot of trial and error.” Moon Aiko clicked her tongue.

She was completely unaware of most metal combinations, so she would have to do everything by hand.

However, there might be problems along the way that she just won’t be able to solve.

”How about the mainland?” Danji didn’t believe it would be the same on the mainland.

”We don’t even know how it looks, so it’s better not to think about it.” Moon Aiko shook her head.

”Since we have spent a few days here, let’s call them over again so we can solve the issues with the Demonic Foxes.” Moon Aiko said seriously.

”Can they be saved?” Danji tilted her head. She already knew some information from nudging Aiko, but she didn’t believe that it could be possible to solve that.

”Not immediately, no. But with time, it will be possible.” Moon Aiko licked her lips. It was time to scam Chen Shi again.

”... What about the cannon?” Danji suddenly said, and Moon Aiko stiffened...