Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

They walked out of the Prison, since the Delegation was already dealt with.

”We will borrow those Souls to guide us to their Treasures.” Mei licked her lips.

”Sure.” Moon Aiko handed over her [#### Ghost Harmony Kitsune Vessel (Paper Lantern)(???)].

”...” Mei groaned softly. Why was Aiko like this? Just handing over something as priceless as this.

”Here they are.” Fang Yue popped out with those Souls in her hands.

”... Weren’t they supposed to be strong?” Mei looked at her speechlessly.

”I huffed some Ghost Essence.” Fang Yue said proudly, while the Souls didn’t even dare to move.

”They look lifeless...” Mei was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to guide her well.

”You should ask her about that...” Fang Yue wordlessly looked at Aiko.

”I have some nice spices for next time.” Moon Aiko smiled at those Souls.

”It’s this way.” The Souls immediately pointed towards where they are keeping their Treasures.

”...” Everyone wordlessly looked at Aiko again. They believed she was some kind of Fiendish Cultivator because of how easily she manipulated those Souls.

”What?” Moon Aiko tilted her head at them. ”It’s easier if they are cooperative.” She smiled gently.

”Let’s go...” Mei walked towards where the Ghost was pointing.

...

”...” Mei sighed. ”You are seriously hiding Treasures by burying them? What are you, a dog?” She rolled her eyes, but the Foxes still dug it up.

”A Spiritual Armour...” Mei looked at them, shaking her head. ”You are seriously hiding something so exceptional like this, aren’t you worried that the Spirit inside would die?”

”That was the plan...” The Soul answered weakly while crying, since that damned Vicious Jade Fox was still around.

”What...?” Mei glared at him.

”We made a deal with Fiendish Cultivators for more Treasures...” The Soul murmured while still crying.

”...” Mei pinched her nose-bridge.

”It’s expected from them, isn’t it?” Aiko tiptoed around the Soul while poking it.

”No, even if you say that, that’s insane! Craftsmen spend years if not decades to create just one Spiritual Treasure, but these bastards...” Mei really wanted to choke this bastard, but she couldn’t; otherwise, those Treasures would be lost.

”But isn’t it strange that we can’t find those Treasures by tracing the Qi density?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”The Fox Village Defensive Array is making it hard for us, and we can’t really take it down right now.” Mei sighed. She had quite the headache, since that Array burned so many Spirit Stones that her heart was bleeding!

”We should hurry...” Moon Aiko said that, but she knew that was impossible, since they still had to create the Pills for Demonic Foxes, sort through the Foxes, and save the Foxes that could be saved. Tend to the Muscle Foxes and sort the Treasures.

Then she had to go into the Nightmare Forest with everyone-

’That’s not a bad idea.’ Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”How about taking everyone into the Nightmare Forest?” Moon Aiko suggested.

”Are you crazy?” Mei immediately turned towards Aiko, looking at her like she was some kind of dummy.

”Why not? I’m expected to visit them, so we can just fly there, and thus we can take this place apart.” Moon Aiko gestured, since there was no need to return.

”We will have to spend a year or so here...” Mei shook her head.

”Why?” Moon Aiko looked puzzled.

”If we want to visit the Nightmare Forest, then we need to fix Dai Lu’s tails.” Mei gestured towards the resting space where Dai Lu was located.

”Oh, right...” Moon Aiko planned to do that, but for some reason, she forgot.

”In that case, I will create more Massage Chairs.” She smirked at Mei.

”You really want to get everyone addicted, huh?” Mei shook her head, but still laughed at that idea. ”I think we will become enemies with the Heavenly Massage Parlour.”

”We are already enemies with most Sects, so this is not unexpected.” Moon Aiko shrugged.

”That might be true, but-” Mei suddenly paused. ”No, that’s not a bad idea.”

”?” Moon Aiko was startled that Mei readily agreed with her.

”What?” Mei chuckled. ”If you create your own Massage Parlour, everyone will try to protect us.” She chuckled again, but this time sinisterly. ”After all, we can’t allow them to bully us.”

”You will blacklist those who will try to hurt us, right?” Moon Aiko thought she understood what Mei was doing.

”Not just that, their associates too.” Mei laughed, making the Soul shudder.

’They are the same!’ The Soul cried again, no longer daring to get any ideas.

”I see that would certainly bloom some animosity, not to mention it would prevent the bigger Sect using smaller Sects to bully us.” Moon Aiko nodded her head.

”We also have to sort Beast Cores and develop everyone.” Mei gestured.

”Why not use some of the Demonic Foxes as masseurs?” Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow.

”Demonic Foxes are known to be very violent, but soft in beds, so they are more likely to be harassed or ’reported’.” Mei shook her head.

”Hmmmmmm...” Moon Aiko knew that the Massage Chair had limitations, so she needed hands-on experience for the really powerful Cultivators.

”We will think of something later.” Mei chuckled.

...

”They had a lot of Treasures.” Mei looked over the pile, impressed by their hoarding abilities.

”And most of them are old.” Moon Aiko knew that since she didn’t see any unsightly seams.

”Which means they are quite worn out.” Mei sighed.

”I might be able to patch them, but it would be better if we recorded what they do and what materials they used before scrapping them.” Moon Aiko didn’t like that idea, since these seemed quite expensive, but it should be possible to recreate them if they knew the materials.

”I can smell Herbs on them, so it’s unlikely we will be able to get all the materials.” Mei shook her head. She didn’t want to waste these Treasures, but restoring them would be as difficult as recreating them.

”That’s... new.” Moon Aiko didn’t encounter any Treasure that would have that just yet.

”There is the Herb Sect, no idea what they are called now, but they use Herbs during the Creation of their Cauldrons, making them tougher and more stable.” Mei nodded her head slowly.

”Oh, there is such a thing?” Moon Aiko blinked at her.

”Yeah, I forgot about it, since I already mastered my skills, but with your technique, I still have room for improvement.” Mei chuckled. ”So I have been thinking about buying one for myself.”

”It’s unfortunate we can’t figure out what kind of materials they used.” Moon Aiko was against using the system for this, since she wanted to research it and figure out how they came up with such ideas.

That was because she would not only be able to recreate them, but also improve them!

”I’m surprised.” Mei suddenly gently patted Aiko.

”What?” Moon Aiko tilted her head cutely, making Mei want to hug her.

”I thought that you would try to use the system for this.” Mei gestured to her.

”We could do that, but if we want to improve, we should skip it this time.” Moon Aiko sighed. She really wanted to use it, but she shouldn’t. Improvement should be natural this time... maybe.

”Colour me impressed.” Mei giggled. ”I thought that would be the first thing you would think about.”

”Don’t get me wrong. That WAS the first thing I thought about.” Moon Aiko scratched her cheek.

”But you didn’t act on that impulse, and that is enough.” Mei smiled gently.

”Almost.” Moon Aiko pouted, but she was happy to be praised like this, and her body squirmed happily.

Mei wanted to hug Aiko and drag her somewhere, but there was still a lot of work to do...

The Foxes, and especially Demonic Foxes, saw that not-so-subtle tension and giggled at them.

”What?” Moon Aiko pouted at them like a pufferfish.

”Nothing.” The Foxes giggled before running away.

”Don’t chase them, it’s useless.” Mei stopped her, since she feared that Aiko would scare those Foxes shitless with her antics.

”Tsk.” Moon Aiko clicked her tongue before turning around. ”So, what do we do with these?” It took them several days to gather them. Those Treasure were dirty and worn out, but they couldn’t really resell them.

”Keep them for now. We can either use them later or just scrap them.” Mei also didn’t know what they should do with these.

”Then I will later take them for experimentation.” Moon Aiko stuffed everything into Storage Rings so that Mei could keep it.

”Why are you giving it to me?” Mei was confused why Aiko stuffed her hands with Storage Rings.

”Because if they stay in my possession, I will definitely experiment on them.” Moon Aiko didn’t conceal the desire to figure out how they created such fine crafts.

”I almost forgot...” Mei hid the Storage Rings from Aiko.

”Hey! It’s not like I will try to steal them from you!” She felt quite hurt by what Mei did.

”Can you blame me? You get your hands on so many things that I’m starting to think you are stealing them from large Sects!” Mei rolled her eyes and pinched Aiko’s cheek.

”Stop pinching my cheeks!” Moon Aiko pouted. ”And your idea is not bad, so I will increase my stealth abili-”

”Don’t even think about it.” Before Aiko could even finish, Mei stopped her, because if Aiko learned something like that, literally everyone would become their enemies, and that infamy would surely spread into the Immortal World, making everything difficult to do.

Moon Aiko just pouted again, like she was resenting Mei for stopping her.

”You can steal from Realms and other Worlds, but do not steal from Sects on the mainland. Word spreads too fast and far, so we would have severe issues.” Mei explained to Aiko that it was dangerous.

”Fine, fine.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. ”But if you won’t allow me to rob the Secret/Sacred Realms, then I will chomp on your booba!” She proclaimed righteously, as if it was her right to rob everything blind.

Mei first sighed, but then laughed. ”Fine, fine.” She wouldn’t stop Aiko from getting everything from the Realms, so it was safe to say that she wouldn’t have any marks on her body.

”With the Treasures done, what is next?” Moon Aiko looked around.

”Since the Fox Village Leader is not finished, we will first look over the broken Foxes and sort them.” Mei hoped that Aiko would be able to do this one, since she was unsure if she would be able to estimate the damage.

”Do I hear, please use the system to figure things out?” Moon Aiko smugly smiled at her.

Mei smushed her cheeks, but didn’t deny anything.

-----

”Can you work quicker?” The Fox Village Leader lamented, since she was worried about what was happening inside.

”Aren’t you the Fox Village Leader who is supposed to have the keys to this?” Chen Shi snorted back. He would not be ridiculed like this when he was not supposed to get inside in the first place.

The Fox Village Leader paused. ”Is it that hard?”

”Do you want to try?” Chen Shi snorted at her.

”... I’m good.” The Fox Village Leader fell silent, since she was not as skilled as someone who was dubbed the Rune Cultivator.