Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko watched Yue leave before turning around. She had to make a plan on how to wipe the rest quickly, and she already had some ideas.

”RPG, the different kind can be useful, but its AOE pales compared to magic.” Aiko nodded her head slowly. The same could be said about siege engines. They were large, cumbersome and not very devastating to individuals.

Magic solved all of her problems, but using it was both difficult and limited by her Mana.

However, there were things she could use.

[Goblin Lure]

[Explanation: Allows you to lure Goblins to this lure, gathering them together to wipe them out. (Can be stacked.)]

[(Can be stacked.)]

Aiko smirked. If she could stack this, then how many would she need to lure all the villages into one place?

’I have a lot of marbles, but I don’t want to use too many.’ Aiko frowned. These small nasty balls might be easy to carry by pieces, but what if she bought a thousand of them?

Suddenly it turned into quite a cumbersome thing, since she would have to make something that would be able to contain this.

Her caravan... was not big enough.

She could fit a couple of hundred lures, but there was an additional problem.

’These things are activated the moment you touch them, so to keep them inactive they need to be inside water.’ Aiko nodded her head seriously.

Her caravan might be sturdy and powerful, but she didn’t have anyone to pull the caravan.

Aiko was sure that she wouldn’t be able to move the caravan if she filled it to the brim with barrels filled with water and [Goblin Lure]s.

Then what was she supposed to do?

’Teleportation.’ Aiko narrowed her eyes. If she could visit the final village just once, she would be able to get the coordinates and thus be able to move there.

Then she would have to pick another supporting spell, for transporting goods, and she should be able to start this madness.

A few issues though.

The main village was both far and surrounded by other villages.

The goblin density increased so much that Aiko didn’t want to go there by foot, but she also couldn’t fly over there as she had limited Mana.

’A new set...’ Aiko narrowed her eyes. She didn’t dislike the mage set, but the skirt was too short to her liking. Moreover, this set didn’t include any underwear, which kept bothering her.

’Assassin set?’ Aiko tilted her head. She was trying to figure out which set she should take.

When she looked just at the effects, the [Ranger Set] had the best effects, but it didn’t include stealth which was the only detrimental thing about it.

Another was the [Assassin Set], which had a lot of stealth buffs, but it didn’t have more advanced survival buffs.

There were sub-sets, [Kunoichi Set], [Nightingale Set], [Shadowy Canary Set] and so on, but they all lacked any advanced survival buffs which would make the journey more pleasant for Aiko.

[For a price, you can combine Sets together for a completely new one.]

’Hm?’ Aiko narrowed her eyes. The system really felt like it was trying to milk her of everything she had...

[That is your imagination. It’s better to spend resources to get stronger and experience more things. That way you have experience backing your every action which would lead to fewer problems down the line.]

’Plausible explanation.’ Aiko nodded her head. She did appreciate the system, but the prices were still ridiculous.

’I want to get more tails, but for that I will need more money.’ Aiko clicked her tongue gently. She was in a pickle since she really wanted more tails.

The author’s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

”You seem troubled.” Yue came over.

”Hm? You are back?” Aiko thought that Yue would go do her thing and not come back, but she was mistaken.

”Are you not happy to see me?” Yue pouted at her. ”I already explored my new home. It’s not too bad, and the furnishing is nice too, but I can’t get used to being surrounded by stone when I’m not dead yet.” She shook her head. She didn’t like the whole stone thing, since that’s how she died for the second time.

”But Human Cultivators like to live in caves...” Aiko raised her eyebrow.

”Call me eccentric, but I do not like caves.” Yue shrugged.

Looking closely, Aiko still couldn’t see her face. However, at least her body was still there.

She had a slightly strange hourglass, it seemed like she made her bosom smaller than when Aiko saw her in her Ghost form.

However, her hips were still wide while her stomach was narrow. Her clothes were pretty much free-flowing, but they still hugged her body closely.

”I’m surprised that you are not wearing anything under such risqué clothing.” Aiko shook her head at her disapprovingly.

”Hey! I can’t help it. I haven’t found any comfortable underwear since my first death.” Yue murmured the last part under her breath since it was making her upset.

”Then how about trying something on you?” Aiko tilted her head.

”You think anything will fit me? And I don’t have money.” Yue shrugged.

”Did you just call me flat?” Aiko’s lips twitched. Fine, she might be a bit flat in this place, but that didn’t mean anything! ”I can sponsor you.” She would make sure to guide Yue to the slime clothes and see how she would act then!

”Oh, I love me some shopping~” Yue spoke in an unfamiliar way and tone, grabbing Aiko’s hand and dragging her away...

...

”There are too many things I have never seen.” Yue was looking around the common shops because they caught her interest.

”Yeah, they are nice. A lot of weapons too.” Aiko nodded her head. ”What weapons did you use?”

”A pen or brush.” Yue looked around. Unlike most Cultivators, using either sword or energy, she used the power of paintings and words.

If combined, it would make some formidable techniques, which was probably why they tried to marry her off like that.

”Hm? That’s an option?” Aiko blinked her eyes. She did hear about both of them, but those were never mentioned with the word ’combat’.

”Yeah, they are a bit... unique... but you can definitely use them once you get used to them.” Yue nodded her head browsing the different brushes.

”You can test them out if you would like to.” Aiko’s eyes sparkled, she really wanted to see what would happen.

”Sheeesh.” Yue sighed as she shook her head. She hadn’t seen Aiko so excited in a long time, making her a bit embarrassed.

”Fine then.” Yue picked a few brushes and pens before leaving the shop with Aiko.

”There is Training/Testing Grounds, you can use it there.” Aiko guided her to her favourite place before waiting nearby to see what Yue would do.

”Why are you so far away?” Yue raised her eyebrow.

”This might be a safe area, but I have some experience with... self-inflicting spells.” Aiko coughed awkwardly. She would never admit that she choked, drowned, or anything in between!

”Hmmm~” Yue smelled a juicy story, but she would press Aiko for now. It was time to show her.

Yue picked up the brush first, she would paint a tiger into the air slowly and carefully.

The ink would be held in place by her Divine Sense, or whatever this place had as an alternative. The strokes had to be graceful, but fluid and even, otherwise the tiger might end up crooked.

The legs had to be strong and nimble, so that the tiger would be quick, but the claws had to be sharp, and thin, so that they could sink into anything at will.

The tail was a great way to balance oneself, so she had to make it a bit bushy to increase the size and thus weight.

The head would be reinforced with fangs that could chew through anything.

”Whoa!” Aiko’s eyes sparkled when the air painting started to move.

It soon gained a more dimensional shape, making it no longer flat, but the natural living shape.

”What do you think?” Yue said proudly. You would usually use ink instead of colours, because you wouldn’t have enough time to do those things during combat, but maybe she should play around with it for Aiko?

”It’s really cool!” Aiko jumped and came over. ”What determines the strength of the painting?” She wanted to know a bit more about this, maybe she should use more than just one weapon?

”The ink is important, but to breathe life into it, you need a lot of Qi and a good brush that would allow you to imbue it with Qi fluidly and without hiccups.” Yue explained the process while also quickly showing what would happen if Aiko didn’t have steady hands.

”Whoa...” The botched animals turned all crooked, but that was not all. They would even try to attack Yue for how bad they looked!

”You can’t control something incomplete or uneven. It will only listen to you if you appreciate it.” Yue sighed gently.

Aiko tilted her head. ”But can’t you just...”

”No. You can’t just pour your heart into it and call it a day. Your mind might want to think it’s perfect, but your heart might have a different idea.” Yue carefully explained the dangers and what should Aiko do if she encountered them. ”Only when all 3 things are aligned, will you be able to breathe life into it.”

”Qi, mind and heart?” Aiko tilted her head.

”En.” Yue smiled at her and patted her. This Aiko was small and cute, but her eyes told a different story. Those large eyes that peered straight through you. Eyes that saw you as nothing but a prey.

”Can you make them stronger when you finish?” Aiko knew that there was still the ’word’ part left, but maybe there were more ways to go about it?

”There is.” Yue nodded her head. ”Adding colours would make it lifelike and the better you are at painting, the more powerful the creation. However, at that point you have to be careful to use as high quality materials as possible.”

”Is it the same as Inscription Ink?” Aiko asked her cautiously.

”En. If you choose poor materials, they will quickly burn out, leaving you exposed.” Yue was glad that Aiko understood the basics, that made everything so much simpler. ”The better the materials the better the creation.” She gently smiled at Aiko before picking up a pen. It was time for her to show Aiko what it meant to be a Confucian!