Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko rested while going periodically outside. She was looking for any kind of poison she could find to supercharge her Essence in the same way to what happened to her Solar Essence.

Unfortunately, this place was pretty much poison free, because of the intense heat and ash. Not to mention the butler was quite picky about this, so he probably cleaned the rest.

Not all was lost though as she got a few % in Witch’s Essence from preparing a lot of Herbs. Unfortunately that was not enough to cover the whole ordeal, so that would have to still wait.

Moon Aiko was always curious about what was in the middle of the main room, since her system was pretty much screaming: WHY ARE YOU NOT TAKING IT?!

Moon Aiko sometimes questioned if she got her grubby ways from the system...

[No...]

’What no?’ Moon Aiko rolled her eyes.

[It’s the other way around Princess...]

’...’ Moon Aiko just blinked her eyes and ignored the last sentence.

”Are you still curious about what is in the middle?” The bird lady came over, since she had some free time. She had to figure out what the stupid elephant was doing, so that idiot wouldn’t endanger these guests.

Although once she voiced her worries the other Clans sent some guards for the Foxes in the meadow.

”Yeah.” Moon Aiko nodded her head a few times. While her Bloodline stopped at 1%, the energy out of it still drew her closer to it.

Moon Aiko slowly turned into Sun Aiko who trotted towards it.

”W-wait!” The bird lady was startled by the sudden change of demeanour, reminding her of her reckless tomboyish daughter. The same daughter that almost killed this precious Fox!

’I swear I’m the last one with a brain in here...’ The bird lady groaned before quickly following after the little Foxy.

Sun Aiko tilted her head wondering why this was so much fun~.

”You should wait!” The bird lady finally caught up to her, but to her shock she was already next to her Treasure!

”It’s...” Sun Aiko was excited, but that excitement didn’t last for long.

[Wolf-Rayet Dust]

[Rayet Dust]

[Dust]

[DUST]

[DUST!]

”Nnnnnnnnnnn-” Sun Aiko was quite unhappy with this which caused her body to turn into a bridge position.

”N?” The bird lady tilted her head.

”NOOOOOOOO IT’S JUST DUST!” Sun Aiko wanted to play, but how was she supposed to play with this?!

”D-dust?!” The bird lady expected many things. From praise to admiration, but to think that someone would call her Treasure a dust?!

”That’s not true, this is priceless!” The bird lady denied her words.

”As much worth as my fart. My fart could probably heat up this place more.” Sun Aiko nodded her head repeatedly. Farts were nice and cool since they drove others mad~!

”F-fart?!” The bird lady found this situation more and more bizarre.

”Alright.” Sun Aiko nodded her head. Since the bird lady didn’t understand her power, she would rip one right out!

”My lady.” The butler came over when Sun Aiko was ready to rip it.

*FFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRRT*

”Ugh.” The butler’s ear drums burst and he was blinded by the light.

The bird lady flinched from that noise, but she was also blinded by that sudden light.

”Phew.” Sun Aiko breathed out happily as she slowly turned into Moon Aiko. Her Solar Essence was depleted by single fart, causing her to revert into her base, and most stable, form.

The bird lady gazed at the Fox strangely.

Moon Aiko was so embarrassed about this that she wanted to dig a hole for herself and hide in it.

”Let’s not mention this.” Moon Aiko nodded her head seriously, trying to convince one stunned bird and one injured bird.

”...” The bird lady was silent. Her mind couldn’t comprehend that a fart could be more blinding than her Treasure, not to mention the temperature actually rose!

Moon Aiko slowly stepped back, like she was trying to maintain eye contact with a predator while retreating.

Once she was at a safe enough distance she immediately booked it.

”...” The bird lady sighed.

The butler took a few Pills to fix his ear drums, so that he could hear again, and then fix his eyes since he was still blinded.

”Does... does my Treasure really amount to only a fart?” The bird lady was questioning her life decisions.

”That’s unlikely, my lady.” Unlike the bird lady, the butler was much more grounded. He noticed that the fart carried more than just a smelly air, it contained Essence that far surpassed what this Treasure could output.

”...?” The bird lady looked at him.

”The Fox is far stranger than what your daughters suggested.” The butler spoke simply, but it was obvious he was connecting dots inside his mind.

”There shouldn’t be anyone who can easily cancel Contracts, but that Fox is much more terrifying than that.” The butler concluded after a few days of observation.

”Elaborate.” The bird lady was not around often, since she was preparing herself and Treasures for when her Souls would be injured from cancelling the Contract.

”To start, she has a Treasure that can rival yours. It also has an air that Dragons exude, meaning it might be crafted from scales or... well, Reverse Scale.” The butler explained his first reasoning.

”Don’t say such silly things.” The bird lady waved at the last part. It was impossible for a Fox to get a Reverse Dragon scale, since all Dragon Clans had a tight drip over the distribution. They would even punish younglings that used up their Reverse Scales!

”Another part was Ghosts and well... Souls.” The butler paused, since he didn’t dig enough to that part.

”From that Treasure?” The bird lady narrowed her eyes.

”En.” The butler nodded.

”How precious?” The bird lady didn’t think much of it, but she was slightly curious since this matter was related to that abnormal Fox.

”Immortal Stage...” The butler uttered those words and the bird lady almost keeled over.

”W-what?” The bird lady didn’t expect that and it was impossible to obtain Immortal Souls or Ghosts unless you either visited the Immortal World or if they descended.

Of course the latter was impossible, since even if they descended their Cultivation Foundation was much more refined compared to what one could achieve in the Mortal World...

”And there are several of them.” The butler said seriously, completely unaware that most of that pressure came from a single Ghost...

The bird lady almost spat out blood the same way the butler’s ears bled when that Fox did ’that’.

”I will be more careful.” The bird lady waved at him to help her and escort her to her room.

-----

”I hope they won’t pursue me...” Moon Aiko breathed a sigh of relief when she was outside. She really... couldn’t believe that Sun Aiko did that.

Well, the only good thing about that whole thing was that her energies were much more balanced now, so she was more focused than before.

Moon Aiko went back to the fishery to rest. She would ask around if she could try fishing and maybe obtain a few precious resources.

”Oh, it’s the Foxy.” The fisher greeted her enthusiastically.

There were not that many beauties around them, so they appreciated anyone who was pretty.

”Ummm...” Moon Aiko was a bit awkward since she didn’t expect this kind of welcome. She was also concerned that they might reject her, so her tongue was tied.

”Hm?” The others tilted her head when they saw her unable to talk.

”You are scaring her bastards. Start fishing!” One old birdie scoffed at them.

”Yes, sir!” The other birdies immediately saluted and went over.

’Don’t mind them. They are clumsy bastards, but they mean well.” The old birdie didn’t mention their inclinations so that it wouldn’t make things worse.

”Can I also... like fish?” Moon Aiko was quite awkward. ’Can this even be considered fishing...?’

”Sure.” The old birdie gave her one of the spare fishing poles.

”It’s heavy...” Moon Aiko was startled at how heavy this thing was.

”There are only a few materials that don’t immediately melt when in contact with this heat, so we have to make sure it’s sturdy. Of course, that comes at the cost of weight, but...” The old birdie paused when he saw the others flex their muscles.

Moon Aiko was startled when she looked at them, since only their faces were slightly different. Their hair, eyes, build, everything was the same!

”Enough muscle solves everything.” The old birdie nodded his head.

”So it’s the same as Muscle Foxes.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. She understood what they meant thanks to her own Foxes.

”Muscle Foxes?” The old birdie narrowed his eyes and sharpened his gaze. Anything ’muscle’ related was important to them, so hearing about Foxes, the weakest race in terms of Beast Core, having muscles was laughable.

Of course, they didn’t laugh, since they believed they were called like that for a reason!

”Come, come. Let’s fish.” The old birdie was more enthusiastic than before.

”What do I do first?” Moon Aiko noticed that he was interested, so she used this opportunity to learn as much as possible!

”First throw that blob into the wa-lava.” The old birdie guided her through the process and as expected, this was nothing like fishing!

The end of the string didn’t have fancy hooks but something that looked like a slimy creature.

It was very squishy, but once you used force on it, it would harden and expand, making it difficult to take off.

’Wait, those were hooks before, no?’ Moon Aiko suddenly realised that there might be distorted or concealed reality, but why was she able to see everything now...?

”You then place the-”

The next step would be to place some kind of precious metal inside the slime before using your muscles to throw it into the lava.

The distance was not as important as the place. Not every place had fish, so you had to be careful.

The best place would be right in the middle, where the lava flew freely the most as it would carry most of the metals

Moon Aiko followed his advice, but it was hard to guess the distance with how heavy this thing was.

The only thing she could do is to slowly learn...!