Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko enjoyed the brushing while still looking around. Other than that strange lamp, there was nothing else in here that Aiko could see.

”Do you live there?” Aiko asked the Old Grandma.

”Yes, I do live there.” She nodded slowly with an air of melancholy.

”Do you like it?” Aiko asked. Her Darkness told her that it was Treasure, so Aiko would like to confiscate it, but she was hesitating. Stealing a home from an old person would be too rude to her.

”No.” The Old Grandma answered without hesitation. ”It’s like an ugly Jail...” She shook her head and scoffed towards the Ghost Lamp.

”Oh...” Aiko didn’t expect that kind of answer, but she still asked the important question.

”Can I take the Lamp-” Aiko didn’t finish her question, as another person appeared.

He was breathing heavily and he was messy. His hair was unkempt and everything about him reeked of poverty.

”Did you-” That Old pile of stinky trash spoke, but Aiko interrupted him.

”Ew. A homeless person.” Aiko pinched her nose since that smell was truly revolting.

The Old Fossil choked up and almost stumbled. He stared speechlessly at the small Fox who was pinching her nose.

”I’m not homeless!” He yelled at the small Fox.

”Bullshit! You stink like you have not washed for hundreds of years!” Aiko scoffed at him.

He raised his finger trying to refute her, but he realised that she was not entirely wrong...

”See?!” Aiko pointed at him. ”You can’t even refute that, you stinky poo!” Aiko shivered as she accidentally breathed in that rotten smell. She held back her puke, well... there was not much to puke out, but it would not be good if she puked in this strange place, okay?!

The Old Fossil looked like he was really hurt. He couldn’t say anything against it, since every time he tried to take a bath something would break and he would have to fix it, that would repeat pretty much endlessly until he just gave up altogether...

”Anyway! You can’t release this hag from that Lamp!” He scolded the little Fox.

”I want that Lamp!” Aiko retorted with similar vigour and he choked up again.

”What?! You want that Lamp?! What for??” He was genuinely confused. Did the outside world change so much that everyone would try to collect the strangest things???

Seeing his confusion, Aiko scoffed at him. ”See? You can’t even imagine what I would use it for, yet you are trying to stop me!” Aiko pouted, she met yet another unreasonable person.

He stared at her speechlessly. ”You can’t just take this cursed hag with you! She will doom you and you will lose the ability to Cultivate!” The Old Fossil tried to convince Aiko and change her mind.

”Why are you dragging me into this?!” The Old Grandma yelled at me. ”If you want to die, go die somewhere else with your shitty Dao! But don’t drag me into this! I don’t want to die!” She scolded him again and again, but his confusion only deepened.

”You are not trying to control her or take over her body?” He was genuinely confused once again. The Old Fossil’s steady heart faltered slightly from the confusion...

”I don’t want to die, you useless bastard!” She kept yelling at him like it was her job.

He sat down, deep in thought. This whole situation didn’t make any sense.

A Fox found a secret place where an old monster was sealed. Not only was she not tempted or taken over, but she even wanted to take the Lamp with her? And the old Grandma was using ghost combs to comb her hair?!

He had never experienced such a heavy hit to his understanding.

”Anyway! I will be taking that Lamp since it’s a Treasure!” Aiko pouted and gave her the final piece.

”She can’t leave this place.” The Old Fossil said sternly.

”I can’t leave this place.” The Grandma said hastily.

”Huh?” Aiko was confused. ”What does that have to do with you two?” Aiko tilted her head cutely. ”She doesn’t want to be inside and I want that Lamp, so either she comes with me or she will leave that place.” Aiko shrugged.

”Oh, right. Of course, if she refuses to leave I will just kick her out.” Aiko hummed innocently.

”The Ghost Lamp will lose all its effects if it leaves this place.” The Grandma said hastily, but Aiko couldn’t detect any negative emotions, which meant that she either was telling the truth or she didn’t want to leave this place.

”Well... That’s fine, I suppose.” Aiko said lightly. ”We can always restore the Inscriptions on it.” She shrugged.

Aiko already noticed that many Inscriptions were faded and not working properly, while she couldn’t completely recreate it just yet, there should be no problem for her to just patch those Inscriptions up, so that they work somewhat well.

””You can do that!?”” They all look at her like she was a disobedient child that was lying.

”Of course I can...” Aiko paused. ”Somewhat.”

”I knew it.” The Old Fossil smacked his lips, he knew that this little Fox was lying.

”I can’t recreate it just yet, but I can patch it up.” Aiko said lightly like it was the most natural thing to do.

”Pardon?” The Old Fossil paused and cleaned his ears. His nail broke inside his ear, but fortunately, he was still powerful enough that it didn’t injure him.

”I can patch it up.” Aiko repeated her words.

”Huh?” He stared at the little Fox blankly.

”I can patch it up.” Aiko repeated it again.

”No, I heard you well the first time...” But he was still staring at her like he was just told that there was not 1 Hell, but 18...

”I can patch it up.” Aiko smiled mischievously.

”I call bullshit on that one!” He immediately retorted. ”Do you know how old this thing is?! It’s supposed to house criminals! It was crafted with longevity in mind, but that doesn’t mean we can recover it so easily, since it’s a lost artefact! We don’t have blueprints and we don’t have any kind of writings that could tell us how to repair it!” He immediately spilled his frustration.

The Old Grandma was nodding. For the first time in her long life, she finally agreed with this bastard on something.

”So?” Aiko tilted her head. ”Why do you need books when you can just read the Runes?” Aiko stared at them like they were idiots.

Both of them were in complete disbelief, like they were talking to some kind of mythical creature from legends. They didn’t believe it was possible to read Runes, as that was yet another lost legacy.

Most Inscriptions nowadays are carefully crafted by top-notch Inscription Cultivators who somewhat understand the Runes. They couldn’t read those Runes, but they crafted so many Inscriptions that they got a feel for what each Rune did.

It was not perfect, but it was close to it. They could create somewhat accurate Inscriptions that were working well, their consumption was on the higher side when compared to the original Inscriptions, but that couldn’t be helped.

Aiko stared at them like they were the biggest idiots in the room. She could not believe that someone so old would be so far behind in basic literature.

”This Rune...” Aiko pointed at certain Runes and explained their effects. She also pointed at some connections that were made incorrectly, but since she couldn’t read all that many of these Runes, mostly because the person who created the Runes was an incredibly messy writer.

This made the whole translation thing much more difficult and Aiko struggled quite a bit to piece the information together...

”Which means that if I fix those things, I will be able to take it.” Aiko proudly said. ”Now, shooshoo you garbage bin, I want to focus on my work.” Aiko shooed him away, because he just stank too much...

The Old Fossil’s brain was completely overloaded. He couldn’t understand what the little Fox was saying, but he knew some of those Runes from colleagues and even they weren’t as confident as this little twerp.

It was a lot to take in for him, but it wouldn’t be all that bad if he made her his apprentice, there was just a slight issue.

It was too troublesome.

His Dao would mess up everything that he touched, he already had a few students, but they all died due to his negligence. This shook his Dao Heart, which almost made him develop Inner Demons.

The Old Fossil fortunately saved himself from that by simply temporarily cutting away his emotions, but because of his attitude, most of his colleagues left him.

He wasn’t resentful towards them, since he completely understood what they hated about him, but he wasn’t willing to give up his Immortality for others, they were not worth it!

”But you still can’t take away the Lamp!” He still dissuaded the little Fox from executing her plans.

”You are still here?” Aiko dismissed him like he was air.

The Old Fossil choked up. He was ignored quite often by his colleagues, but that was only because they were stronger than he was, anyone weaker would pretty much worship him, since he was knowledgeable and handso- well maybe not that one, but knowledgeable nonetheless.

Yet this little Fox completely disregarded his presence?! How dare she!

Unfortunately for Aiko, he didn’t do anything to her, she wouldn’t be able to collect his Treasures just yet.

He was still in there observing Aiko despite being told to leave, normally Aiko wouldn’t mind that, but he just stank so much that she couldn’t focus properly.

”Can you fucking disappear, you pile of shit!?” Aiko cursed him openly, and while she could feel he was more powerful, his confusion and meekness allowed Aiko to curse him like this without repercussions. It almost felt natural for her...

He stared blankly at the little Fox and when he saw her picking up a long shaft, he had an awful feeling about it and moved from his place.

He didn’t know exactly what he felt, but he knew that if he didn’t move, it wouldn’t end up well for him.

Aiko sat down and prepared her tool. The Inscription Carving Pen, but she realised she didn’t have any Ink. She didn’t buy any, and all of the Ink that she used was left on the flying ship, since she stol- borrowed it from Chen Shi.

Aiko shook her head, what an awful situation. Only now did she realise why she wanted to go shopping so soon, she wanted to buy more Inscription Ink so she wouldn’t be dependent on her grubby little hands...