Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

A day of rest was all that they needed to recover from the chaotic digging.

Pretty much everyone was ready to explore the Spirit Stone Mine, since only few ever managed to see it in person.

”The Elders will come with us first to secure the area. There is a high likelihood that there might be Beasts settled inside, so we have to be careful.” Mei assigned work to everyone, while keeping the core team intact.

This was for only one reason. The core team was the only team she believed wouldn’t do anything stupid.

”I wonder how it looks inside.” Moon Aiko already wanted to jump in, but she was waiting for others to join them. Power in numbers or something like that...

With everything carefully planned, Moon Aiko and others went down the hole into the Spirit Stone Mine.

...

It was a not-so-dark irregular cave, with shiny light-blue walls, but dark middles. So as long as you stick to the sides, you would be able to see about half a metre to a metre.

It was quite a warm cave with very little moisture, but you also couldn’t say that it felt dry. It was an odd sensation for sure.

Since Moon Aiko had a skill that allowed her to see in the dark, she was able to make out what was hard to see.

”Light.” Mei commanded. From here on out they would have to explore slowly.

’Right...’ Moon Aiko completely forgot that she was the only one that could see in complete darkness, so she would have to be careful about this in the future.

The cave was irregular, probably because of the Spirit Stones and how they formed. However, since Moon Aiko had very little knowledge about how Spirit Stones are naturally created, that was just her guess.

The core team moved further slowly, while being followed by the Elders.

They would have a bit more time to react if something happened since the core team was good. That was mostly because of their cooperation, which made them on par or slightly stronger than most Fox Elders.

Using this cooperation they would be able to block Beasts temporarily before the Fox Elders would swoop in and deal with it or buy more time.

The cave led into an opening with 3 paths. It seemed like this was the centre of this Spirit Stone Mine.

What was weird is that the Spirit Stone Mine didn’t have any Beasts guarding it or the Beasts were concealed and ready to pounce on them.

Mei assumed the latter, so she told everyone to keep the formation going and slowly make their way into one of the paths.

This was not how usually one would explore the Spirit Stone Mine, but since this place was clearly abnormal it was better to approach it cautiously.

Moon Aiko noticed some kind of black wisp in the middle of the previous opening, but since she couldn’t understand what she was seeing, she nudged Mei.

”What is it?” Mei was quite startled by Aiko, but she kept her brave front to keep everyone calm.

”There was something black in the previous ’room’.” Moon Aiko nudged Mei a few times.

”What...?” Mei couldn’t see anything, so she was quite startled that Aiko was able to see something that she couldn’t.

”It was like black Soul, or something similar.” Moon Aiko mimicked the movement with her body, wiggling like a worm.

Her companions almost laughed aloud, but seeing Aiko’s serious expression they held it in.

”...” Mei stopped to think about this. She did read something about ’black smoke’ being found in some Spirit Stone Mines, but those reports were dubious at best. She didn’t believe them, but since Aiko saw something that shouldn’t exist, it was a better idea to try to look for it.

’Hey, system-’ Moon Aiko was lost for words, since Mei didn’t immediately share information with her, but even before she could finish the sentence, the system was already helping her.

[What you have seen is the source of the Spirit Stone Mine. You could call it a manifestation of conversion technique that allows you to slowly create Spirit Stones over time.]

’Ooooo.’ Moon Aiko nodded her head. ’Can I take it?’ Her eyes ’shined’ like she was looking at a new toy.

[...]

[It might be possible if you have good enough handling with Souls.]

’That’s a no.’ Moon Aiko didn’t believe she was skilled enough for that, but she would still try it! Getting something that produces Spirit Stones would be a great boon.

If she could set it up on the floating thingy, wouldn’t that mean it could float forever?!

They arrived back at the opening. The Fox Elders spread out with light to illuminate everything in this place, but no matter how much light they used, they couldn’t see anything.

Even Mei with her techniques was unable to see what Aiko was seeing.

”It’s here?” Mei asked Aiko again.

”It’s there.” Moon Aiko pointed at it, but nobody could see anything.

Of course her team believed her, since Aiko was all kinds of crazy, but the Fox Elders were not on the same page. They didn’t believe that there was anything worth it in this room.

’Hmmmm...’ Moon Aiko tried to touch it, but her hand just passed through it. ’I wonder if this one is too weak so it requires a lot of skill?’

[Close enough, Princess.]

[This Spirit Stone Mine is almost depleted, so the source is naturally very hard to grasp-]

”Mei, Mei.” Moon Aiko beckoned Mei to come over. If someone was skilled with Souls, it was definitely her.

[... What are you doing?]

’Getting my loot?’ Moon Aiko titled her head like she didn’t understand why the system was asking something silly.

[... You don’t-]

’Have enough skill, I know.’ Moon Aiko chuckled, but Mei had said skill!

”What is it?” Mei came over to Aiko and a weird feeling spread around her shoulders. ”Hm?”

”I knew it~” Moon Aiko hummed. ”I can’t touch it, but you can.”

”Touch what?” Mei was confused.

”It’s apparently the source of this place, if we can take it we can create another Spirit Stone Mine somewhere else~” Moon Aiko hummed happily.

”???” Mei never heard of something like this being possible.

Sure she heard about Spirit Stone Mine Worms that were able to produce Spirit Stones at the expanse of ambient Qi, but never anything that couldn’t be seen!

Mei waved her hand, trying to find that feeling again. She felt it right where Aiko was pointing, making her pause again.

’How was Aiko able to see something like this...’ Mei was confused, but still tried her best to capture that feeling.

What she was not aware of was the fact that Aiko used all her eye skills and other skills in order to make this happen, so normally it was virtually impossible to accomplish, unless that person was blind.

Mei felt it again and again. She now had a sense of the general shape, but no matter what she tried, it really felt like this shape was similar to a worm...

’Could it be that they never truly disappear and just take spiritual form?’ Mei was curious about the whole process and what decided this, but that could wait for later.

They didn’t explore this place yet, so Mei had to either take this thing or make it so it’s even harder to find for others!

There was still a possibility of a Beast ambushing them, so everyone was on guard.

...

A few minutes later, Mei was able to somewhat move it.

”Here.” Moon Aiko patted her tails.

”You really-” Mei just sighed and tried to shove that thing into Aiko’s tails, since she had abnormal storage inside them.

It took her a few minutes, but she was eventually successful.

[Spirit Crystal Source (Depleted)]

Moon Aiko looked at her Tails Storage for more information, but she was unable to get anything else other than its name.

’This is definitely precious, but I do remember Mei saying that there are no sources of Spirit Crystals in the Mortal World...’ Moon Aiko tilted her head. There was something fishy about this place.

Moon Aiko gently slammed her fist into her hand. ”Let’s leave.”

Mei was flabbergasted at how quickly Aiko wanted to leave, but seeing her not moving even when others tried to convince her, she just gave up.

”Let’s return.” Mei commanded and everyone listened.

Sure they might be quite upset that they didn’t get any Spirit Stones from this place, but they were not stupid enough to go against the abnormal group.

They all wanted to live a long life, but if they tried to go against the abnormal group, that would prove to be impossible.

...

They all returned to the surface and Moon Aiko covered the entrance with rocks and other things.

Mei wanted to ask about it, but she held back for the time being. She noticed that Aiko was less... outspoken, so it’s possible there was something wrong with that place.

Everyone covered the hole slightly, to make sure nothing leaks outside and the other piles were arranged so they seemed natural. Of course they were far from natural, and that’s why the Fox Elders were setting up an Illusion Array to keep this place hidden.

Mei and Aiko never talked and so was the same with the other members. There was this subtle tension in the air which made other Foxes more focused and vigilant.

Everyone was on their toes, trying to figure out what happened while also guarding against unknown enemies.

...

A few days passed and everyone boarded the continental flying ships. Nobody spoke a word and everything was very silent until they took off above the clouds.

”So, can you talk now?” Mei broke the silence first, since she was curious about what Aiko was doing.

”Yeah.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. ”I was worried that the one living inside might be above our pay, so I made the decision to retreat before it was too late.”

”What was inside?” Mei narrowed her eyes. She did feel something wrong with that place, but she didn’t expect to be correct.

”That place was supposedly, a Spirit Crystal Mine.” Moon Aiko dropped that bombshell, making everyone freeze.

Obviously, everyone heard about the tale of a Spirit Stone that was not like any other Spirit Stone, something more precious and coveted by the Dragons, but most of them never encountered such a thing in their lifetime, so they weren’t completely sure how it looked.

Mei also stiffened, as she didn’t expect to hear those words down in the Mortal World, making her concerned that they became a target to that ’individual’.

”We should get to our destination soon.” Mei nodded her head, since she couldn’t deal with the threat, she would just make others deal with it!