Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Mei was avoiding Aiko for a few days. Aiko didn’t know why, so she went to the Grandmaster, but she got a similar reaction from her.

Stunned expression and lack of movement.

All of them reacted like that until Aiko turned small. Then they acted completely normal.

Aiko was flabbergasted by their reactions. She spent her days with the Grandmaster, who helped her with Divine Sense.

”Your Divine Sense is very strange and rough.” Dai Lu commented.

”I know.” Aiko wasn’t interested in knowing that. She wanted to control this Divine Sense or make some progress to attract Mei’s attention.

”How about you battle against your team?” Dai Lu asked.

”I will pass.” Aiko was not interested in getting her butt spanked by her own team. She already knew that they were much faster and had cooler Abilities, so she didn’t want to subject herself to that pain.

Dai Lu shook her head. ”You will have to train eventually.”

”We are doing that just now.” Aiko blinked with a strange expression at the Grandmaster.

Dai Lu’s lips twitched. ”We are just training Divine Sense, but not your movement or anything else!”

”Divine Sense is the most powerful and concealed power.” Aiko pointed at this very obvious fact. ”If I can master it I can pretty much mow everyone down.” She shrugged.

The Grandmaster was speechless, but Aiko was not completely wrong. In a battle of normal Divine Senses, usually, the one with the more potent Divine Sense wins. There are some strategies, like making your Divine Sense into a needle and crippling your opponents, but that’s a very difficult thing to do.

It’s hard to control your Divine Sense THAT much, you would often reach a Nascent Soul before you could shape your Divine Sense with accuracy.

”But you should still train your body.” The Grandmaster was adamant on this part.

”That is easy to say, but that big form is too nerfed for any training to make a difference.” Aiko shrugged. She realised that her big form was very cumbersome and hard to control, so she would have a hard time outside the Fox Village.

”However, if I increase my levels, I should be in a much safer spot.” Aiko suddenly said.

”That strange ’system’ of yours...” Dai Lu shook her head. She was quite upset that Aiko got stronger just by existing.

Aiko shrugged like it was not her issue and the Grandmaster’s lips twitched.

”Alright, I have decided!” Dai Lu nodded to herself and Aiko tilted her head.

”We are going to awaken your Bloodlines!” Dai Lu nodded to herself with glee.

”Right... I’m supposed to help my team with their-” Aiko finally remembered the contract.

”Stop! Don’t do anything!” Dai Lu immediately stopped Aiko. She already had a hard time with the Twins if even the Blood Fox evolved...

*Shiver*

”Don’t do anything to your team. They are in a good place currently.” Dai Lu immediately tried to stop all of Aiko’s thoughts about Evolving or helping her team further.

”Okay...?” Aiko didn’t understand why the Grandmaster overreacted so much.

*Cough*

Dai Lu awkwardly coughed. It was obvious that Aiko would stare at her with that kind of gaze, considering what she just did, but that couldn’t be helped! She didn’t want another overpowered Disciple that was hard to manage and train!

”So about the development of Bloodlines,” Aiko suddenly spoke, startling the Grandmaster. ”I know that you need Beast Cores of the same affinity in order to advance them.” She narrowed her eyes.

Mei banned anyone from her team from accessing the Fox Village’s Treasure Pavilion, because they tried to fuck Mei’s team over.

Mei was upset and thus banned everyone from using it.

”That is not the only way to achieve awakening.” The Grandmaster suddenly said. ”It is the easiest way, but not the only way.”

”Another way would be just gathering the given Qi inside your body which can stimulate the Bloodline into awakening.” Dai Lu smiled. ”But this one has a problem with pain. If you can’t collect enough Qi inside your body, your body will be drained of Vitality in order to replace that missing energy.”

Aiko nodded. She understood so far.

”But that is not an issue with you. Unlike others, for some reason, you can regenerate Vitality very quickly and even if it goes into negatives, you won’t cease to exist.” Dai Lu narrowed her eyes.

”Of course, it’s a bit bad, since you might die, but here it’s safe.” Dai Lu pointed at her abode. ”As such, you should not worry about getting harmed.” Dai Lu proudly smiled.

”Moreover, since the Secret Realm is about to open, I won’t be leaving any time soon, which means nobody would dare to invade my place~” Dai Lu smiled. She hoped that someone would invade, so that she could ’stretch’ her muscles.

It’s been a while since she swung her sword in battle and she already missed that feeling...

Aiko nodded. ”That is true, I don’t need to raise my level for the time being as it would attract too much attention, but Bloodlines... everyone has them, so it’s less suspicious.” She understood what the Grandmaster thought, or at least that’s what she thought...

”Wrong. You are anything but normal! At most, you would have 2 Bloodlines, there is a low chance that you will be born with one and you will obtain the other thanks to our Fox Village’s ’Shrine’.” Dai Lu explained. ”But tell me, how many Bloodlines do you have?!”

Each time the Grandmaster spoke about Bloodlines, her heart ached. It was because she worked so hard to achieve third Bloodline in her late years, but this little brat...!

”I just have 4...” Aiko whined and Dai Lu almost fainted.

’J-just 4?! Should I spank you, you brat!?’ Dai Lu was angry that Aiko took those for granted.

”I mean... I can gain another one, you know...” Aiko avoided Dai Lu’s gaze, but...

*Plop*

Aiko heard a strange sound, so she looked towards the Grandmaster.

’She... fainted?’ Aiko’s mind was in turmoil. ’Why did she faint?!’

Aiko could not understand what was such a big deal about this. After all, Yuxi and Wanshu have 2 combined Bloodlines and 1 unknown Bloodline.

’Even Mei should have a few, right?’ Aiko didn’t believe that Mei didn’t have more than 2 Bloodlines.

’But what do I do now?’ Aiko gazed at the unconscious Grandmaster. Maybe she should move the Grandmaster into her bed for the time being?

...

The Grandmaster woke up on her bed.

”I had a really bad dream...” Dai Lu frowned.

”What kind?” A voice that sounded similar to Aiko’s asked her curiously.

”I heard that the little brat can gain Bloodlines whenever she wishes...” Dai Lu sighed.

”But that’s the truth...” Aiko tilted her head and the Grandmaster almost fainted again.

”What are you doing here?!” Dai Lu was startled that Aiko was in her room.

”I carried you here, since you fainted outside?” Aiko tilted her head. It’s not like she did something bad.

”...” Dai Lu was speechless and massaged her temples.

”Your next mission is to meditate and gather as much of the special Qi as possible. While you still have a low Beast Rank for Cultivation Manuals. It still should be possible if you have a special Ability that can gather it for you.” Dai Lu didn’t want to rely on the system, but it was better that Aiko strengthened in the ’natural’ way, before she had to enter the Secret Realm.

”Okay, but I can only do that during the night.” Aiko nodded.

[You have accepted a Mission from Dai Lu!]

[Training Mission]

[Awaken: [Moon Goddess Kitsune(Dormant)]->[Moon Goddess Kitsune(Awakened)]]

[Reward: You will be able to see what each Bloodline Strengthens.]

[Failure: The difficulty of the Secret Realm will increase.]

Aiko didn’t like missions with a failure option.

’At least show me the progress!’ Aiko frowned.

[Training Mission]

[Progress: 89% completed]

Aiko was startled. ’How did I already complete 89%?’

[You have been meditating during the night thanks to the [Sleeping] Skill.]

’But I did not activate it?’ Aiko knew that she had to activate it, but most of the time she was so tired that she forgot.

[The skill has a passive option that is working over time. It’s not as powerful as when you activate it, but powerful enough that it was able to slowly advance your Bloodline.]

’Oh, I see...’ Aiko nodded. ’Can I get other Abilities that would allow me to gather different types of Qi?’ Aiko asked the system since she was curious.

[Your Beast Rank is too low.]

’Fuck you!’ Aiko pouted.

[That is impossible. I don’t have a body.]

’...’ Aiko blinked.

[] The system was silent.

’Never mind.’ Aiko was upset that she could no longer take the piss out of the system, but she was happier this way. The system was much more useful and barked at her a lot less.

”I can do that.” Aiko nodded towards Dai Lu. ”I should be able to awaken it soon-”

”...” Aiko blinked a few times. ’She fainted again, but why?’

The Grandmaster could ’hear’ the conversation between the system and Aiko, but it was too shocking for her, so she fainted.

Aiko shook her head and stood up. She would occupy the Blood Fox’s tails while sleeping and bask in the rays of the Moon in order to awaken that Bloodline!

...

A week later.

[Progress: 90% completed]

’Just one percent...’ Aiko whined. She didn’t forget to activate the [Sleeping] Skill, but even that would reward her only 1% after a week!

Moreover, for some reason, Mei was glaring at the Blood Fox, who was nonchalantly eating! Why?!

This was too strange for Aiko and she would never be able to imagine that it was because Mei was jealous of the Blood Fox!

”I need more missions...” Aiko sighed.

[Collection Mission]

[Collect Herbs for the Fox Village]

[Rewa-]

’Not those kinds of missions!’ For some reason, Aiko felt repulsed by these missions, but she didn’t know why.

[Harem Mission]

[Collect more harem members.]

[Rewa-]

’Do I have to smack you?’ Aiko glared at the hateful system window.

[...]

’Give me something normal.’ Aiko snorted.

[There is not enough Providence to give you different missions. It would be possible if you plundered someone’s Providence.]

The system replied with an indifferent voice, but Aiko could barely grasp a hint of excitement from it.

’More mission if I plunder Providence?’ Aiko narrowed her eyes.

[Or you can use your personal Providence as currency for more Missions.]

’Now that sounds interesting!’ Aiko nodded.

[...] The system was silent for a moment. [I do not advise you to use your own Providence.]

’Why not?’ Aiko tilted her head. It was a useless stat for her.

[Providence protects you from being instantly killed or face-slapped.]

’Oh...’ Aiko nodded. If she lost too much Providence in her current form...

’I would definitely die when I enter the Secret Realm.’

[Correct.]