Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

As they descended, the ruined city slowly spread before them. It was quite a large city, but it was simply too close to the Nightmare Forest with not enough defences to protect itself.

One could say that their defeat was inevitable, not just because someone caused a stampede.

The main reason being their aforementioned lack of defences. This city relied on the fact that there were many powerful Cultivators walking around.

This unfounded safety slowly turned into poison. The mayor of this city slowly decreased the funding for the normal defences, believing that the Cultivators were omnipotent.

And the consequences of that spread before them.

The flying boat with the other ships descended in the middle of the city, where town square was previously located.

This place was usually full of laughter and peddlers, since everyone wanted to profit from the endless troves of the Nightmare Forest, but not everyone wanted to actually go inside.

Thus, the main market was supposed to be located here, filled with all kinds of people, yet only dust, ash and bones remained.

The ruined buildings surrounding this place added to that unsettling feeling that Aiko was currently experiencing.

She knew that there would be consequences to her actions, but actually seeing them hit differently.

That is not to say that she cared too much. She never saw this city bustling around, the only thing she saw were ruins and bones.

”This place was cleaned nicely.” Mei had no pity for these Humans. If they prioritised safety, like the other cities close to the Nightmare Forest, they wouldn’t end up like this. Dead and abandoned.

”Is that so?” Moon Aiko didn’t know what to say. She now understood the importance of having a safe base.

That meant she couldn’t just tell anyone to manage said place, but carefully choose one that would be able to bring her wishes to fruition.

The other Foxes also disembarked and stretched their bodies. Being huddled up like that wasn’t good for them, but nobody complained. They knew that it was important to leave and do it quickly, but also safely enough so that everyone could preserve their lives.

”The Elders will set up a perimeter to camouflage and protect this place. If there are humans walking around, only kill them if you believe they noticed the oddity or if they get too close.” Mei ordered and everyone was doing their duty.

The Foxes played around, but also moved the rubble out of the way to use the limited remaining building for shelter.

There were... a lot of them, but this was one of the biggest cities, so it easily fit everyone.

Moon Aiko realised that not every Fox cleared the rubble. Some were setting up cloth to keep the rain away, others were scavenging for anything they could burn to warm up something tasty to eat.

There was a clear, but also very subtle hierarchy.

However, the most important part was the fact that nobody looked down on each other, which Moon Aiko loved to see.

Just because someone was gathering timber, didn’t mean they were less intelligent than those that were setting up the cloth.

Moon Aiko walked around to observe them a bit more, slowly coming to realise that if you gave a person something they liked, they would be a lot more productive than those that don’t like it or do it out of necessity.

Unfortunately, ’passion’ came with demerits, the main and most vicious one was exploitation from others.

They would like to trample upon those with ’passion’ since those guys had none to begin with. Their envy clouded their judgement making everyone suffer.

”What are you looking at?” Mei walked next to Aiko and asked softly.

”Just wondering what I would do to build the perfect Sect...” Moon Aiko knew that her ideals were far from realistic, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try and test things out.

”Hmmmm...” Mei pondered, but then abruptly paused. ”You are not planning to set up your own Sect, right?” She was quite suspicious and wished that was not the case.

Every Sect needed legacy and connections. Without those they would be invaded by the other Sects and make them subservient, exploited and abused.

While Mei had a lot of the so-called ’legacy’, the issue was that it was too well known by the powerful, and they might question or straight up declare war against them.

”Not for the time being.” Moon Aiko would just bide her time and see if there was a need to create her own Sect.

There were a lot of problems with it, from management to resource distribution. Moon Aiko just didn’t have enough knowledge to understand what she needed, what she didn’t need, how much she would need and so on.

This uncertainty would breed restlessness and restlessness would breed bad decision-making.

Moon Aiko didn’t want others to suffer just because she was ignorant.

”That’s... for the better.” Mei was startled that Moon Aiko didn’t dive straight into it, but this was a good sign that Aiko was growing.

”But that doesn’t mean we can’t set up a few businesses.” Moon Aiko smirked, making Mei shudder.

”You are not thinking about challenging the other powerhouses, right...?” Mei gulped nervously. They already have enough on their plate, but Aiko would add even more?! No!

”Challenging them?” Moon Aiko blinked innocently. ”Is it challenging them when you can’t even compare those two things together?” She asked that question since she didn’t believe that her Massage Chair could be easily copied.

Moreover, she also had that massage technique and other techniques. What if she combined all of them into VIP service where Foxes would relieve the Cultivators of their Stagnant Qi?

Those old children would jump on any opportunity, but there was no one who provided such service.

The main point was the Muscle Foxes, who pretty much worshipped Aiko for allowing them to use the Massage Chair.

”...” Mei was very concerned, but she would hear Aiko out for the time being.

”What are you planning?” Mei leaned against a nearby broken wall, making it creak from the light weight.

”Massage Chair business.” Moon Aiko said bluntly, since that was the best attraction one could give.

”There is the Heavenly Massage Parlour. Do you think they will just leave you alone?” Mei snorted at that naivety.

”If they try something, we can just ban them. And then we will ban those that are allied to them and those that would help them and so on.” Moon Aiko shrugged, looking at nearby Foxes massaging each other’s backs. ”Do you believe that those prideful Cultivators will let the chance of getting stronger for Spirit Stones pass by?”

”...” Mei thought about it seriously and while what Aiko suggested was very extreme, she had something that nobody had, something that she was willing to share for an appropriate price.

That something could not match the standard of the Heavenly Massage Parlour, since they only serve low stage Cultivators.

However, Aiko’s creation could be used by both Humans and Beasts, making this the perfect thing for everyone who wished to get stronger without rigorous training.

”That is plausible, but they will try to steal your creation.” Mei frowned. She didn’t want Aiko to suffer from this.

”I have read about some seriously amazing Runes.” Moon Aiko chuckled. ”It is said that if you arrange Runes in a certain way, you can trap someone’s mind into objects.” Her sinister smile made the surrounding Foxes wonder what she was plotting.

”I see... a condition where their mind is trapped if they try to recreate what you created.” Mei nodded her head slowly. ”Plausible, but that will introduce a lot of backlash.”

”If they dislike it so much, they can just come up with their own version, it’s not like I’m forcing them.” Moon Aiko breathed out air and shrugged.

Mei’s lips twitched. For someone who wished to establish such a grand business, she didn’t treat it seriously at all.

”I also want to enjoy nice food, so I was thinking about setting up a restaurant.” Moon Aiko smirked even more.

”Gosh... food won’t cut it, you need at least Spiritual Food.” Mei shook her head.

”That’s it.” Moon Aiko snapped her fingers in agreement. She wanted to taste all the delicious food and share it with the other Foxes, but it was not realistic to teach everyone such skills.

Those who would be interested in learning that kind of craft would be able to step up and try it. If they had skill, they could become the official cooks for Moon Aiko’s Sect!

Moon Aiko explained her plan, startling Mei.

”So ruined products would be sold to the Human Cultivators, since it’s Spiritual Food, even if ruined, they would still pay a lot for it...” Mei blinked a few times. ”That means the resources that we would need to spend in order to nurture a Spiritual Cook would be cut at least in half!” That was... incredible.

Sure you might think that someone else might’ve come up with that, but the problem was that there were already established restaurants serving such delicacies, making your own business to be left in dust.

But... but what if someone introduced a restaurant right next to the business of the Massage Chairs?

Most wouldn’t just eat outside, but go into that restaurant to wait their turn.

”I’m starting to believe that the Foxes on the mainland had nothing on you.” Mei measured Moon Aiko again and smacked her lips. Not only was she stunning, but cunning too!

”We could then introduce more products and special services to keep them on their toes.” Moon Aiko nodded her head seriously. ”Those services would be only granted to VIP individuals.”

”So like other businesses you would be giving out a small plaque that would allow them to get those benefits.” Mei nodded her head. That was not a bad idea as it was quite widely used.

”Right.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. ”And everything would be able to give us things. For example the highest quality Spiritual Food could be only purchased by Herbs or other resources.”

”This would ensure a steady supply of limited resources, so we would never run out.” Mei marvelled at this idea, but there were some caveats to it.

However, those would never outshine this ingenuity!

”We should do that as soon as possible.” Mei nodded her head.

”Impossible.” Moon Aiko denied it immediately. ”We can’t settle down, as targeting us would become too easy.”

Moon Aiko shook her head several times. She didn’t believe that was a wise choice.