Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”I never like it when you plan something.” Yue shook her head.

”I’m not doing anything, yet.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes.

”See? See that ’yet’? That’s the scary part!” Yue crossed her arms.

Moon Aiko rolled her eyes again. ”Can you build inside?”

”Right, I wanted to test that.” Yue nodded her head.

”...” Yue paused her steps since she was unable to do anything in here. ”Will you give me permission?”

”You need that?” Moon Aiko was pleasantly surprised.

”Yeah...” Yue blushed. She didn’t expect to be this limited.

”Don’t tell me you wanted to make toys behind my back?” Moon Aiko said seriously.

”Shush!” Yue glared at Aiko.

”You should’ve let Chen Shi become Ghost.” Moon Aiko shrugged.

”No! I will not tolerate a frozen dick!” Yue stomped her feet. ”It was enough when he courted me the first time.” Her body shuddered, signifying how bad it was.

Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. ”Anyway. You can build yourself a nice house.”

”I can’t.” Yue sighed. ”There is no Ghost Qi. I can only move a bit of the dirt around to make a dirt house.”

”Déjà vu...” Moon Aiko scratched her head.

”You probably made burrows when you were little.” Yue shrugged.

”Probably.” Moon Aiko nodded her head seriously, but it felt like there was more to it.

”Anyway. This place is nice, even if I can’t have my own home.” Yue marvelled as she looked at the endless plains.

”Cool, I will invite the others inside.” Moon Aiko hummed and didn’t wait for Yue’s permission.

”W-wait! I need a home if you want to invite others!” Yue cried out, but Aiko ignored it...

...

”So...” Chen Shi observed the abnormal Treasure. ”I’m shocked it works.”

”Anyway. The other Ghosts are inside, but Yue is sulking since they are inside. Give me some locations in the Nightmare Forest, so I can gather some Yin saplings and flowers.” Moon Aiko gestured.

”It feels like it’s more spacious than it meets the eye.” Chin Shi stroked his chin while handing over a simple map.

”This is...” Moon Aiko blinked a few times, looking over the simple map.

”Amazing, right?” Chen Shi smirked.

”Primitive...” Moon Aiko sighed, while Chen Shi felt like he was being stabbed by a dagger.

”You didn’t have to say it like that.” Chen Shi protested.

”What? Am I wrong?” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes.

”Well...” Chen Shi rubbed his head. ”It’s really difficult to explore the Nightmare Forest due to the old monsters.” He sighed lightly, but it was obvious he was bothered by it.

”Even for you?” Moon Aiko was startled.

”Yeah.” Chen Shi crossed his arms. ”Those Founding Beasts are no joke. While they are under Contract to never leave that place, they can still fuck over anyone that visits the Nightmare Forest.”

”Wouldn’t that mean that the Nightmare Forest is completely off limits?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”They are lazy, so unless someone powerful shows up, or they hurt their children, they wouldn’t move much.” Chen Shi shrugged.

”Doesn’t that mean that if someone can hide well, they would be able to live inside the Nightmare Forest?” Moon Aiko scrunched her face. She really didn’t like the feeling of missing knowledge about the topic.

”You are seriously underestimating them.” Chen Shi snorted. ”Nobody can hide from them, since they are as powerful as the Mortal World allows them to be.”

”So if they pushed it, they would ascend?” Moon Aiko was startled.

”Yeah.” Chen Shi nodded. ”That’s what makes that place so dangerous. Even Mahayana Stage Cultivators would lose their lives inside.”

”Scary...” Moon Aiko shuddered. ”But it seems so...”

”Peaceful?” Chen Shi chuckled. ”As I said, they won’t move unless you have the strength.”

”While you are powerful, in terms of Beasts, you are very weak, so at best they would send their Leaders, instead of Founders.” Chen Shi shook his head. ”Those guys are scary, but not impossible to deal with.”

”That’s fascinating.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

”It is, isn’t it?” Chen Shi smiled. ”That’s why that place is the most mysterious place in the Lower Mortal World. Well, at least in this continent.”

”So you won’t find anything better than that?” Moon Aiko was surprised.

”Yeah. You can find Secret and Sacred Realms, but they won’t be able to beat the Nightmare Forest.” Chen Shi nodded his head.

”Well, we talked long enough. You are here for the Treasure, right?” Chen Shi smirked at her.

”Yeah, I wanted to test it out, so we could adjust it if possible.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

”Here it is, already made.” Chen Shi handed over the disc. ”You called it a Demonic Disc, so we will stick with it.”

”I thought you would mind that kind of name...” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”There are times in your life when it’s better to give up.” Chen Shi said while slowly nodding his head, as if he had said something deep.

”...” Moon Aiko questioned if she was really that bad, but that couldn’t be further from the truth, right?

[Demonic Disc]

[Rarity: Unique Treasure]

[Restriction: -]

[Effects;

Circulates Internal Energies: Anything under ”Immortal”

Replaces Internal Energies at rate: Foundation Establishment

Qi Isolation: Perfect

]

[Owner: -]

The effects were very simple and straightforward. It allowed one to replace their energies and circulate them at the same time.

During meditation, one would circulate one’s energies in order to nourish one’s body. But if there were colliding energies, it would cause a lot of pain and damage to the individual.

As such, having that on the Treasure would eliminate the damage and pain part.

The ”replace part” would then slowly and over time swap their energies without letting their Beast Cores or Foundations degrade.

With higher-stage Cultivators, that was an even bigger issue, but thankfully, this Treasure covered that.

”This is nice.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. She would test it very soon.

”You can tap the middle, and it will isolate the Qi from outside. That way, the person who came from the Sacred Realm won’t immediately collapse from pain.” Chen Shi gestured to Aiko.

”Nice~” Moon Aiko hummed happily as she tapped it.

The space around the Treasure did get flushed, and only the Qi that entered the Treasure from below could be used.

”It’s... strange sensation...” Moon Aiko didn’t like it at all.

”Beasts are very sensitive when there is no Qi around. You could say that Qi is their lifeblood, and they wouldn’t exist without it. That’s why places with little to no Qi will have little to no Beasts.” Chen Shi explained.

”However, you should definitely get used to that feeling since some places in Secret and Sacred Realms can be ’hollow’.” Chen Shi smiled softly. Those were the good times for him.

”What does that mean?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”It means that place doesn’t have enough Qi in the air to use your Beast Abilities.” Chen Shi shook his head. ”It’s dangerous for Beasts since they never learned how to harness only their own Beast Core energy, and instead relied on the natural Qi in the environment to do the rest.”

”I heard something like that before, but never encountered it as much as right now.” Moon Aiko observed the reaction of her body towards the ’void’.

”Places with little to no Qi also have some Treasures, and since there are no Beasts around, they usually require solving some kind of puzzle.” Chen Shi added, so that Aiko wouldn’t misunderstand anything about those places.

”That seems convenient, but wouldn’t that make those Treasures weaker?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”Is this Treasure weak?” Chen Shi touched the Demonic Disc.

”Oh...” Moon Aiko paused. It didn’t mean the Treasure was not powerful, but she would find more unique Treasures that way.

”Which would be good for my collection.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

”It would allow you to understand Runes better, since there were many interpretations.” Chen Shi nodded his head.

”Did you do that before?” Moon Aiko was startled.

”Yeah, that’s how I obtained my current position, by simply processing many and many unique Treasures and understanding their structure.” Chen Shi chuckled.

”That’s really cool, but would it be that easy?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”You need a LOT of Treasures if you want to do the same.” Chen Shi shook his head. ”Not to mention, you should keep in mind that you will destroy those Treasures in the process, so don’t get too attached to them.”

”Because I would tinker with them, right?” Moon Aiko pursed her lips. She didn’t believe it would be THAT bad.

”Yeah, even the gentlest touch can ruin the Treasure since they work on a slightly different ’system’ than you are used to.” Chen Shi shook his head. He ruined so many Treasures just because some used a special Rune to balance everything.

”That’s inconvenient.” Moon Aiko frowned. ”Can the materials be recovered?”

”Unlikely, but it’s possible.” Chen Shi gestured. ”Unlike the newer Treasures, the old ones are not as ’tainted’, so it should be possible for you to recover something even if they get ruined.”

Moon Aiko nodded her head as she pulled the Demonic Saintess from her tails.

”Aiko?” The Demonic Saintess was startled, and so was Chen Shi.

”Do I know you?” She tilted her head.

”You have the wrong person.” Chen Shi scratched his head.

”I’m not feeling pain?” The Demonic Saintess immediately switched gears and gazed at the little Foxy.

”It’s a special Treasure that isolates Qi. It is also supposed to slowly replace and circulate it through your body.” Moon Aiko explained.

”It’s hard...” The Demonic Saintess gestured, but she didn’t protest, since this thing could help her.

”You can get some pillows and sit on them, as long as your tails touch the disc.” Moon Aiko made it with that in mind, since she knew that Demonic Foxes liked soft things.

”There is strange discomfort coursing through my body, but it no longer hurts.” The Demonic Saintess proclaimed as she observed her body.

”Feet Chin calculated that it should take a few decades to replace your Qi, but what do you think?” Moon Aiko asked softly.

”Where are you even coming up with those nicknames?” Chen Shi’s eyes widened greatly. He couldn’t believe how many creative nicknames she could come up with.

”You should add a zero behind that. In my instance, it would be around 600 to 700 years at the current pace.” The Demonic Saintess shook her head.

”That long?” Moon Aiko was startled.

”What did you expect? We spend a lot of time cultivating in the Sacred Realm in order to survive, so we have more Qi inside our bodies than our normal counterparts.” The Demonic Saintess shrugged.

”Although...” She narrowed her eyes. ”We still fall short compared to you?” She tilted her head with an uneasy feeling. ’Did she get stronger again?’

”That’s possible since I have multiple Beast Cores.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

*Pfft!*

Chen Shi spat out his drink from shock...