Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Yue calmed down when Aiko started to talk about the Lamp.

”So you want to make a new one, but better, but we need materials.” Yue knew about this part already, but this Aiko was making it into a bigger deal than it seemed.

”I know, I know...” Moon Aiko nodded her head, so she pulled out some [Divine Meteorite] from her tails.

”I don’t have much of it, but we can use this as the main skeleton of the Lamp.” Moon Aiko slapped it on the table, making everyone strain their eyes on it.

Chen Shi was once again impressed. ”I didn’t think you would have something so precious.” He nodded his head. ”With ’resonance’ we will be able to construct a more harmonious Treasure, not bad.”

But Moon Aiko didn’t stop there. She then pulled out the [Divine Steel], making Chen Shi choke violently.

”Why do you have this?!” Chen Shi glared at Aiko.

”I acquired it when raiding Secret Realm... I think.” When Moon Aiko saw their expression, she was unsure herself if it was really a Secret Realm.

”That is impossible, but let’s skip this.” Chen Shi ruffled his hair as he wiped a trickle of blood from his shock.

”Right, we need something homely. Do you have anyone who can work with this?” Moon Aiko then pulled out her greatest treasure! The [Primordial Soul Wood]!

Chen Shi violently choked as he coughed up rivers of blood before fainting. He had a vague recollection about this, but he didn’t expect it to be the real deal and not degraded Soul Wood!

Yue tilted her head.

”How did you get something that is supposed to only be in the Immortal World?” She was curious.

”I don’t know... I just found it.” Moon Aiko pursed her lips.

Yue had the most incredulous expression ever, having a hard time believing it was THAT easy to find it.

”Seriously...” Yue sighed, shaking her head.

”Why are you acting like I did this on purpose?” Moon Aiko felt wronged.

Yue just shook her head again and waited for Chen Shi to wake up.

...

For the first time in a long time, Moon Aiko looked at Chen Shi with a serious expression.

”What are you thinking about?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”I’m thinking about hanging myself, so you can’t scare me to death.” Chen Shi rolled his eyes.

”I think I get what you are after, but the Millennial Soul Wood is too precious to be used like this.” Chen Shi vehemently shook his head.

”It’s not Millennial Soul Wood, so we can use it.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

”It’s not? It clearly has the energy of that wood...?” Chen Shi felt like he was missing something, but he had trouble remembering.

”It’s Primordial Soul Wood.” Moon Aiko nodded seriously.

Chen Shi blanked for a moment before he turned into a blood fountain and fainted. This damned Fox would be the end of him, and much sooner than he expected!

”...” Yue stared at Aiko incredulously again, but this time she seemed worried.

”You didn’t steal it, right? Did you truly find it?” Yue cautiously asked.

”Do you know its origin?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. It was strange that Yue, a Ghost, acted so carefully.

”I think I know.” Yue nodded her head. ”In the Immortal World, there is a Soul Palace, which uses the Soul Wood as its building foundation.

”It traps all Fiends and Criminals, not allowing them to reincarnate...” Yue gulped nervously.

”If you have found this in the Mortal World, then that means something terribly wrong went on in the Immortal-” Yue stiffened. ”Have you ever found someone who had exceptional or suspicious luck...?”

”No, not really?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”Yes, yes, we did.” Danji giggled. It was obvious that Aiko’s luck overshadowed theirs, so she had to step in.

”Ugh...” Yue groaned. ”Be careful about those that have high luck, they are dangerous and often protected.” She seriously warned Aiko about this issue.

”So they are criminals?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”Well, the Soul Palace was not quite righteous, so you could put someone in if you paid enough ’fees’.” Yue shook her head.

”...” Moon Aiko nodded her head slowly, deep in thought. She was curious why she was supposed to challenge those with luck, but she didn’t really care for now.

Nothing was concrete, and Yue was working with baseless assumptions, so it would be hard to say if she was right or wrong...

”We will look out for them.” Danji nodded her head. Unlike Aiko, they had limited luck, so those guys would stand out much more to Aiko’s team than to Aiko herself.

”And try to keep Aiko away from them, since they can see her as a ’trophy’.” Yue warned her again.

”I will do so.” Danji nodded her head. Nobody was allowed to come close to Aiko if they wanted to keep their poor lives!

Moon Aiko just watched this exchange with a puzzled expression.

’I should probably hunt a few lucky ones.’ Moon Aiko decided, contrary to what the two of them tried to accomplish...

...

Chen Shi woke up a few days later.

He was not completely recovered, but he wanted to get this over with, so he barged into Aiko’s temporary courtyard.

*Yawn*

Moon Aiko yawned. She didn’t like how she had to sit around, but it couldn’t be helped since Chen Shi was knocked out cold.

”We need to talk.” Chen Shi said seriously.

”About the Lamp?” Moon Aiko yawned again, clearly bored out of her mind.

”No.” Chen Shi frowned.

”Then shoo, shoo.” Moon Aiko didn’t want to talk with him if it wasn’t about Treasures.

Chen Shi frowned even more. ”Is it safe to use it?” He was talking about the Primordial Soul Wood, since that part was important.

”It’s safe. I wouldn’t use something that would hurt Yue.” Moon Aiko breathed out towards Chen Shi, as if she was ridiculing him for that question.

Chen Shi was angered, but he calmed down quickly. ”What kind of Treasure do you intend to create?”

Moon Aiko smiled and explained her plan. ”I was quite fascinated by paper lamps, so-”

The main core of the paper lamp would be hidden inside. It would be a skeletal structure from the Divine Meteorite, reinforced by the Divine Steel. The innermost part would be seeded by the Primordial Soul Wood, making it easy to modify for the Ghosts that live inside.

The outer paper lamp would be reinforced with Runes and Talismans.

”So you intend to turn the paper around the paper lamp into Talisman Inscriptions...” Chen Shi didn’t know if he should be impressed or horrified that Aiko came up with this.

”Yes, it needs to be a growth Treasure, but one that can’t have Treasure Spirit.” Moon Aiko added.

”I thought you would want something like that?” Chen Shi raised his eyebrow.

”No.” Moon Aiko shook her head. ”If it were conscious, it might do something bad to the Ghosts, so it’s easier if we exclude Treasure Spirit.”

”Reasonable...” Chen Shi nodded his head. He finally calmed down his heart and was quite grateful that Yue would have such a cosy home.

”I would also like to reinforce this.” Moon Aiko pulled out [Primordial Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Vessel].

It didn’t take even a moment for Chen Shi to faint immediately, since he was still low on blood.

”Not again...” Moon Aiko groaned unhappily.

”This is... scary.” Yue shuddered when she saw the vessel.

”But very beneficial to me.” Moon Aiko slowly nodded her head as the Soul inside burned, providing her a small trickle of Soul Points.

”I don’t doubt it.” Yue didn’t like the vessel, so she went into hiding.

...

Another week later, Chen Shi returned.

”Hold it.” Chen Shi interrupted Aiko, who wanted to say something. ”If you want to kill me with more ridiculous things, then do them all at once; otherwise, we will be here all year.” He frowned unhappily. Who would’ve thought that the simple Fox would have so many priceless Treasures...?

”...” Moon Aiko thought about it a bit before pulling out her [Unnamed Spirit Boat]. ”I would also like to learn how to tinker with this.”

”This is... the least surprising thing so far.” Chen Shi was slightly startled.

”I also need help with this.” Moon Aiko pulled out her [The Ever Shaping Cauldron].

”...” Chen Shi stared at the very familiar shape.

”Yeah, I give up.” Chen Shi fell over, and his Soul left his body.

”Dear~! Allow me to join you~!” Chen Shi gave up on his Cultivation Body and wanted to join Yue as a Ghost.

”Get back in there!” Yue drop-kicked him with all her strength. ”I want to enjoy it while it’s warm! Not a shitty freezing stick!” She proclaimed righteously, like it was a big deal.

Moon Aiko returned to her lazy demeanour, since it would be a while before he woke up again...

...

Chen Shi returned... somewhat.

”Alright.” He sighed. ”I’m not going to ask questions. My mind is empty, so let’s just start with the first project.”

Even his Inner Demon was scared shitless and didn’t dare to talk to him while Aiko was around.

This also made the whole project a lot easier, since Chen Shi was actually able to focus without distractions.

”Let’s start with the paper lamp.” Moon Aiko nodded as she pulled out around 100 blueprints, all with different designs.

”Huh...?” Chen Shi rubbed his eyes. He didn’t believe that there were so many of them.

”I also have this and this.” Moon Aiko pulled out designs and blueprints for all the other things.

”We also have to finish the Treasure for the Sacred Realm Demonic Foxes...” Moon Aiko paused when she saw Chen Shi’s blank expression.

”Is it too late to back off?” Chen Shi blinked innocently, yet his listless expression was a sight to behold.

Moon Aiko just smiled, and Chen Shi cried out silently...

...

”Do you even have anyone to try this on?” Chen Shi tilted his head when he handed over the first Treasure.

”Yeah.” Moon Aiko casually pulled out a Demonic Saintess.

”...” Chen Shi just blinked. His mind was completely empty, impervious to outside stimul-

Moon Aiko casually pulled out even more Demonic Foxes.

”Mother fucker! What did I fucking tell you about this?!” Chen Shi slammed the table as he huffed at Aiko.

”What?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. ”It’s not that surprising, since I have another thousand or so-”

Chen Shi’s mind gave up, and he fainted once again...