Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko exchanged looks with her. ”It’s unfortunate that I can’t call you old hag.” She clicked her tongue.

The beautiful Fox stiffened, but before she could reprimand the Demonic Fox. The Princess asked a question.

”Why not?” Fang Jia tilted her head, which almost made her Auntie choke.

”She had not seen the wider world yet.” Aiko shook her Fox head like she was some kind of all-knowing sage.

Fang Jia’s aunt suppressed her rising blood, but it was obvious from her facial expression that she was not happy.

”And you are just a stupid Demonic Fox.” The Auntie never faced this kind of opponent, and since that Fox was stuck to the Princess; she couldn’t make rash moves.

”You know that it’s better to stay quiet, so that you don’t appear like a fool.” Aiko yawned and stretched her front paws.

Fang Jia loved the little beans on cats and other animals, but Aiko’s furry paws had a completely different charm. She gently caressed that fur, since it was soft and pleasant.

”You should get away from that Demonic Fox, Princess. They are unstable creatures and can attack you at any time.” The Auntie warned Fang Jia.

”Now you are starting to act like an old hag.” Aiko clicked her tongue. ”Not even your appearance could change your shallow nature, but I bet plenty of dogs bark at you when you walk around.” She shook her head.

Auntie Fang glared at the little Fox.

Fang Jia laughed at this. ”Auntie Fang, I have never seen you lose so badly.” She giggled happily, since her Auntie was too stern at her.

Auntie Fang was enraged and slashed at Aiko to remove her from the princess’s lap.

*Boom*

She was caught off-guard and sent flying into a nearby hill.

’If I didn’t shroud my Soul I would be badly injured.’ Auntie Fang narrowed her eyes. It seems like she underestimated that little demon!

”Old and jealous hags are the worst. They ruin all the fun.” Aiko sighed.

”Auntie Fang isn’t all that bad... most of the time... some of the time... never mind.” Fang Jia had a slightly blank expression, since she couldn’t remember when was the last time that her Auntie was nice to her.

”And I’m a bad Fox.” Aiko snorted unhappily.

”Of course, you are not~” Fang Jia was happily enjoying Aiko’s silky smooth fur.

”But I can’t sleep here when a certain hag doesn’t know how to control her urges.” Aiko shook her head.

At this moment, every Fox was sweating. They felt that brief pressure that the tiny Fox exuded. It could easily threaten them, so they no longer poked their noses into Fang Jia’s behaviour.

Moreover, even when Auntie Fang can’t match this Fox strength, they would definitely be slaughtered.

”By the way, what’s this?” Fang Jia touched the morphed tail. It was hard, like it was made out of bumpy rocks.

”My friends!” Aiko proclaimed happily. ”My team got them and I liked them a bit too much, so I just Evolved them myself.

*Shiver*

Every Fox shivered, since everyone knew that it was impossible to control Evolution, but by this little Fox’s words... It appears that she was able to do the impossible!

The Fox that was cooking redoubled her efforts, since she didn’t want to become the feed for those terrifying beasts.

She served the little Fox the soup with a side dish of meat while Auntie Fang was recovering.

Aiko liked both of them. Those foods were not exceptional, but they were tasty enough that they sated Aiko’s needs.

”You are not welcome here!” Auntie Fang proclaimed as she glared at the tiny Fox.

”’You are not welcome here!’” Aiko mimicked her voice in a mocking manner. ”Waaah, waaah, I’m a big baby that lost the fight, so I will cause a scene, waaah!”

*Pfft*

A few nearby Foxes almost laughed, since the expression of Auntie Fang was almost perfect.

”You think I can’t deal with your pitiful single tail?!” Auntie Fang roared.

”Do delusions run in your family? I hope not?” Aiko innocently blinked at Fang Jia as Auntie Fang charged at her.

”I’m not sure...” Fang Jia’s father was back and he was incredibly docile and caring, so much so that she found it creepy.

Meanwhile, her mother was being wooed by a strange Fox Ruler, yet she was forbidden from dating Foxes!

Auntie Fang slapped that single tail away and prepared to attack the little Fox.

Aiko whipped out another [Little Nightmare] and slammed her away.

She understood a few things about her tails and their main ability.

’Most Foxes would spend Souls to nurture their tails and as such they don’t have as powerful Souls as Soul Beasts.’ Aiko laid her head on Fang Jia’s lap and yawned cutely.

’Moreover, these tails ignore all defences and go straight up for someone’s Souls.’ What it meant was that if they didn’t have a Treasure protecting their Souls or powerful Souls themselves, they wouldn’t be able to defend against Aiko.

What’s more, even if they are powerful and can suppress one of her tails, there is a second one and a third one. She had 8 Tails and thus she had 8 [Little Nightmares].

They might not be powerful right now and consumed a lot of her Beast Core Energy in order to regenerate from the damage. Over time once they ate more hearts, they would be able to grow stronger and more powerful!

Aiko nodded gently.

”So, what are you doing here?” Aiko asked the Princess.

”I was fighting against the Cultivators over Treasure, so I could finish my Forging Cauldron.” Fang Jia answered even when others were telling her not to.

”Oh?!” Aiko’s eyes widened. ”And what else did you do in here?” She was curious about her journey.

”I was fortunate to find a nest of one of the Disaster Beasts and since it was empty I looted it.” Fang Jia said happily and Aiko stiffened.

”What kind of Beast was that?” Aiko’s voice quivered. She possibly found her mortal thief!

”I’m not sure, since I could not find its body, but it was high up on the mountain.” Fang Jia giggled, seeing the little Fox’s expression.

”Dammit!” Aiko slapped her paws against Fang Jia’s thighs. They quivered nicely, but Aiko didn’t care.

”That was my loot. That damn chicken!” Aiko cried out and Fang Jia blinked her eyes innocently.

”Did you defeat it?” Fang Jia asked gently.

”That is impossible. She is not powerful enough to do that.” Auntie Fang returned with an unsightly expression. She was powerful enough to beat this Fox, BUT! Those tails were a big issue.

If she was not careful, she would suffer greatly and she could even lose her Soul altogether!

”Of course, I didn’t.” Aiko tilted her head and Fang Jia was confused.

”First I stole its garden to drive it mad and then I led it to the Grandpa Dragon. The roasted chicken was nice.” Aiko licked her mouth.

Auntie Fang blinked. ”How dare you call such a majestic Beast a Grandpa!” She was furious. This exact type of Fox was why other races hated them. You can’t casually address them like that!

Aiko rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to kill her just in case Fang Jia would no longer pet her, so she looked around.

She spotted a shovel and used her [Little Nightmare] to take it.

”Here, now go play over there with sand and don’t bother adults when they talk.” Aiko gave Auntie Fang a shovel and she was completely livid.

Auntie Fang was ready to attack again, but then she flinched. ’W-what?! How is that possible?!’

In front of her were 8 [Little Nightmares], 8! She would be able to deal with up to 3 [Little Nightmares], but it was impossible with this kind of number!

Auntie Fang gripped the shovel harshly. She would have to contact Fang Jie about this, so the Patriarch Fox could deal with this!

”Was the loot at least good?” Aiko groaned unhappily.

”Yes~!” Fang Jia giggled at this sight. She never saw Auntie Fang suffer as much as she did just now!

”Good for you.” Aiko inflated her cheeks. She made a mental memo to always loot things first.

”Don’t be so sad, I will share the material for Cauldron with you.” Fang Jia gently petted Aiko.

”What kind of material even is it?” Aiko asked gently.

”It’s Heavenly Metal. It purifies the ingredients gently without degrading them. It’s sort of passive [Clean].” Fang Jia said gently.

”You know [Clean]?” Aiko blinked a few times.

”I know the Human version, so don’t even think about it.” Fang Jia ruffled Aiko’s ears.

”Tsk.” Aiko clicked her tongue. She really needed someone to show an improper use of [Clean], but Mei and everyone else were just too perfect in its usage!

”So where is this precious Metal?” Aiko asked her.

”I wanted Auntie Fang to help me.” Fang Jia sighed.

”I can’t help you with everything, Princess. You will grow dependent on me, and that is not good for your growth.” Auntie Fang said.

”But if I can’t obtain it, you will take it before we leave.” Fang Jia spent a lot of time locating it, but nobody was willing to help her even if she would share part of it.

Everyone was aiming for it once she left, so that they could say that they found it and obtained it, but not on her watch!

”So where is it? Why is it so difficult to obtain that not even the hag can do it?” Aiko asked gently, but shot a glare at the Auntie thing, so that she would stay silent.

”It’s deep inside a cave system.” Fang Jia said gently.

”Mhm.” Aiko nodded.

”Deep down it’s dark, but there is this very shiny, but sinister blood river.” Fang Jia continued.

”...?” Aiko blinked a few times. This sounded familiar.

”The problem is that the island that it’s located on is in the middle of that river, so I can’t obtain it.” Fang Jia sighed.

”...” Aiko was silent, but Fang Jia noticed this abnormality.

”What is it?” Fang Jia tilted her head.

”It wouldn’t happen to be on an island where light shines, right?” Aiko blinked innocently.

”Yeah?” Fang Jia blinked innocently with her.

”And there is that mean skeleton talking bullshit about some kind of trial?” Aiko was speechless when she saw her nod her head.

”Oh, I have slurped that river. I also got the strange metal.” Aiko said nonchalantly.