Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”Does it have something to do with Immortal Qi?” Moon Aiko tilted her head, since he was talking about being unable to open the book, then it must’ve been tied to that.

’Not quite.’

The being’s Runes shrugged.

”So you are just a lazybones who does not want to work.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

The bottom of the Runes was dirtied with blood colour, like that being just coughed up blood.

’What are you talking about!?’

It seemed like it was upset.

’You first need to learn to work around space yourself, that’s the first requirement!’

”Why is that?” Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow. There was no chance that she needed just that, and there might be more to it, but she didn’t have enough information again.

’You need first-class Qi manipulation abilities. Without those, you wouldn’t be able to weave something as difficult as Realm.’

The being shrugged, like that was obvious.

”What’s so special about Secret and Sacred Realms?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

’Let’s skip the real reason and talk about WHAT are Realms.’

The being shifted the text to create a painting.

’Everything is located inside an endless void. Immortal World, Mortal World, you name it.’

’In order to protect the World from the ”corrosion”, it needs to create a protective bubble.’

”World boundary?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

’Interesting.’

’You are right. The World needs a special barrier or boundary that will protect it from outside forces.’

’However, as you might expect, it’s impossible for someone at the Nascent Soul to achieve that.’

”Because those ’outsiders’ are too powerful, and impossible to be stopped by the measly power of the Nascent Soul.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

’Hoho, intriguing. It’s not often that there is such a special gem rolling around.’

’You are correct. The ”outsiders” might be simple-minded, but their strength can’t compare to even the Immortal World. They are the force that destroys Worlds, much fewer Realms.’

”What is the special thing about it, then?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

’Have you noticed that the stars in the night sky are not moving?’

”What are you implying?” Moon Aiko was confused.

’”Anchor”’

”Anchor?” Moon Aiko was even more confused.

’You have never worked with space. I see.’

’You can use certain ”rules” or ”laws” to strengthen certain things.’

’The more limiting the ”rule” or ”law” is, the more power you can give to objects.’

”And you use those to strengthen the bubble?” Moon Aiko felt like this might cause issues in the long run.

’Rule that limits the Cultivation Stage. A law that limits the movement of the World. There are many ”cheap” ways you can strengthen objects without incurring loss.’

”But wouldn’t that degrade the World?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

’Spot on, impressive.’

The being nodded with the Runes, making Aiko slightly dizzy.

’Depending on the size of the bubble and its overall internal ”Space”, you will be able to assign different Qis to it.’

’The bigger the space, the ”heftier” the Qis.’

”So I need to understand space in order to create the first bubble, and then I need to understand Rules and Laws to apply effects to it.” Moon Aiko frowned. ”That’s quite a lot for something you can’t use.”

’Why do you think Immortals are so hard to kill?’

The being wrote slowly.

”Because they are bastards that like to run away?” Moon Aiko snorted unhappily.

’...’

’Harsh, but not completely wrong.’

’The main reason is Providence.’

’It’s a resource that’s hard to get, but if you create something that benefits others...’

”The World becomes the Providence of the person who created it...” Moon Aiko paled slightly. Wouldn’t that mean that Immortals had millions or maybe even billions of Providence?!

’You understand it well. It’s the cheapest way to reap benefits, without actually controlling anything. You could say it’s passive income with no risks attached.’

”What if others tried to destroy it?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

’As long as you are not stupid enough to make your whole Providence around Worlds, you will be fine. You might get weaker, but if you can create Worlds, then you will naturally have the means to recover them.’

Moon Aiko suddenly widened her eyes. ”Do Cultivation Manuals count into it?”

’Huh? How did you figure that out?’

”Because it’s ’helping’ others.” Moon Aiko groaned, but then she narrowed her eyes. ”I wonder if I could harvest some free Providence...”

’Not possible.’

’You think it’s so easy to create a Cultivation Manual? Even the oldest manuals have issues, not to mention the new ones!’

”What do you need to consider it a Cultivation Manual?” Moon Aiko licked her lips.

’I have never seen someone as outrageous as you...’

The being ’sighed’.

’Very well, since you are interesting, and I will be gone soon either way. I will indulge you for a bit.’

’For the Cultivation Manual, there are several things that are important.’

’First, you need to consider Spiritual Roots. What kind of elements do you want to include and exclude? The more elements you include, the more difficult it will become for those who want to learn it.’

”So it’s easier to make one element at a time.” That was kind of weird, but Moon Aiko would still run her own tests.

’Another thing you have to consider is the width of Meridians and the capacity of Dantian.’

’If you create a Cultivation Manual that has a higher capacity than the given Cultivation Stage, they will naturally be unable to practise them.’

’On the other side, if you make it light, but hard on Meridians, you might also cripple them.’

”So you need some kind of middle ground between those two.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. This was a very useful situation, especially-

[You have gained Immortal Knowledge.]x4

[You will be able to further tweak your Cultivation Manuals.]

’The system woke up.’ Moon Aiko licked her lips.

’If you take the middle ground, you will be screwed. It needs to be gentle enough and easy enough for anyone to practise it, otherwise those spiteful Elders would just throw it away.’

The being angrily flipped the Runes.

”Right, there is another power at play, and without those old geezers it won’t spread.” Moon Aiko felt like that made a lot of sense.

’Especially if it’s too good or too easy. Those Elders would be too suspicious and try to hide it.’

”I feel your pain.” Moon Aiko nodded her head, agreeing with the floating Runes.

’It’s been a while since there was someone so understanding.’

The being’s Runes almost cried.

’You will be my second Inheritor, so be careful with your steps.’

The being warned the Fox.

’Although I never imagined a Fox would get it, since I’m human.’

”You have something against me?” Moon Aiko snorted.

”Considering how smart you are, you will definitely be pursued, and I don’t mean that in just a romantic way.’

”I feel like I’m already used to that kind of thing.” Moon Aiko shrugged.

’...’

The being was once again speechless.

’Must be rough outside.’

”Tell me about it.” Moon Aiko said tiredly.

’...’

’I will allow you to peek into the book, but only certain pages. It’s not good if you learn too much without actually experiencing it. It would make you too vulnerable and conceited.’

”I will be fine.” Moon Aiko shrugged. She was already creating quite a few things, so one more wouldn’t hurt.

’Wait, hold on.’ Moon Aiko paused. ’I forgot to ask Chen Shi to join the battle.’

’...’ Moon Aiko’s stiff expression was a sight to behold.

She was so occupied with her personal stuff that she put that on the back of her head, somehow completely forgetting to ask about it.

’I wonder if I can get in touch with him later.’ Moon Aiko groaned softly.

”You can lock the book.” Moon Aiko DEFINITELY didn’t need more projects to take care of!

’Huh? I thought you were interested in this.’

”No, not any more.” Moon Aiko shook her head. If it were opened, she would definitely take that opportunity, which would be really bad on her already tight schedule!

’That’s fine. I will just create some rules around it, and it will open once you are ready. I will also include those pages I told you about, so once your mind is- Why the fuck did the book just open?’

The being was starting to question his own craftsmanship.

’Sure, I did include a rule that if you could absorb all that information, it would open but-’

The being was obviously flustered, since those Runes were even more slurred than before.

’...’

’Let’s just lock it.’

The being didn’t have enough energy to investigate everything, so it just changed the rules around.

”Thank you.” Moon Aiko breathed a sigh of relief, since it would be really bad if it really opened.

She would definitely spend years on it for possibly pointless things...

’Hold on.’ Moon Aiko paused. ’If I can control space, does that mean I would be able to improve the Demonic Discs...’

Moon Aiko quickly shook her head. ’Nonononono, I’m already doing a lot, let’s not do more stuff!’

She quickly banished that idea, since it might take her more than just a few years!

’...’

The being observed the Fox with amusement.

”What if I meet the other Inheritor?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

’Then you can become a Dao Couple and create another Immortal World.’

The being’s Runes shrugged.

”...” Moon Aiko almost facepalmed. ”How about I castrate them before they do anything? She murmured gently, but the Runes still shuddered.

’You are too scary. You won’t be able to find a good and kind partner that way.’

”I already have partners.” Moon Aiko smiled happily.

’So you swing that way, huh...’

The being was not all that surprised.

’Let me warn you. If you drag your wives into the Immortal World, do not let them be captured by different factions. They are experts at wearing down others, and they would quickly cave in.’

”Personal experience?” Moon Aiko was curious why it said it like that.

’I will use my right to remain silent.’

”That bad, huh?” Moon Aiko was slightly startled.

’Please, let’s talk about something else...’

The being was clearly uncomfortable about this topic...