Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko was sitting near Fang Jia, pouting.

”It’s not good to bully Spiritual Flames too much.” Fang Jia gently nudged Aiko.

”Hmpf. I only fed him good things.” Aiko pouted even more than before.

”You almost put me out with that grass!” The Grandpa roared. ”And even if those things are good, everything in moderation!” He glared at Aiko.

”Let’s start with the Cauldron.” Aiko immediately switched gears, since she didn’t want to be scolded for this.

”Okay.” Fang Jia didn’t reject this idea, since it was better than Aiko feeding her Spiritual Flame more.

”So we will first start with the formation.” Fang Jia said and explained.

Formation was the act of moulding the Cauldron, be it Forging or Pill Cauldron, they shared a lot of similarities.

The Forging Cauldron had to have several separate chambers, for cooling, heating and setting down. There were chambers for Yin, Yang and waiting.

It was quite a complex thing to explain, but she tried to do her best.

As for Aiko...

*Caress Caress*

She was gently rubbing Fang Jia’s thigh.

”Gosh, please stop!” Fang Jia didn’t dislike this, but she couldn’t focus on what she was explaining and if she explained it incorrectly, then Aiko would be in danger.

Aiko pouted. ”You don’t like me.”

”I do like you, but that can wait! We will have plenty of time later once we mould the Cauldrons!” Fang Jia protested.

”So we can later~?” Aiko’s ears perked and Fang Jia blushed.

”If you can make a proper Cauldron!” Fang Jia wanted to push it for later.

”Okay.” Aiko agreed, but there was a slight issue. Fang Jia’s body was a bit too stimulating for Aiko, so she would have to switch gears to be able to think about this whole Cauldron-touching thing.

”Hmmmmm... I have an idea.” Aiko smirked. She did recover some [Moonlight Essence] and while it was not enough to last a long time, it should be enough for the time being.

”I will try something.” Aiko hummed, startling Fang Jia.

*Poof*

A fog covered Aiko as she disappeared.

”What is that?” Fang Jia was curious.

The fog slowly dissipated, revealing a different Aiko.

Fang Jia was completely stunned.

Aiko was still of similar height as previously, but there were major changes.

Her body became a bit more petite. Her hair was the texture of the Moon. White, silver, grey, black, it had many more colours which were in harmony. The sight was breathtaking.

Her body became slimmer, which also meant that her boobs were a grade smaller around the C size. Her waist was likewise thinner, and so were her other body parts.

She was still breathtakingly beautiful, but there was now a different charm about her.

She was no longer an ’erotic’ Fox, but a cold Beauty.

Her ears were of the same colour, but the insides were of light green, which caused a stark contrast to her pale colours.

Aiko’s face was likewise smaller and more cute-like, but that is not to say that her allure decreased.

Her eyebrows were thin and gentle, and so were her small lips. Her nose was slightly more round, but it still had the previous sharpness.

Aiko’s eyelashes underwent the biggest change. They were longer and it felt like they were powdered by some kind of stardust, since it glistened gently, like small gems sprinkled on waves.

Aiko’s body was a grade smaller, which made part of her clothing slip.

Aiko’s tails were also a lot fluffier, but also shorter. They acted like some sort of throne for Aiko to sit on, so that she wouldn’t get cold. Her slender fingers and small toes were quite cute. They brought quite a different feeling to the whole image.

As her body adjusted for this first transformation, something magical happened.

In the middle of her eyebrows, a small symbol manifested.

It was a round moon-like shape, with some kind of object deep inside it.

Aiko opened her eyes. They felt quite cold and distant.

Fang Jia suddenly felt a wall between them. Aiko suddenly became unapproachable. It was an odd feeling in her heart. This distance greatly pained her.

Aiko’s eyes were like two Moons. Cold and observing, without many emotions.

”This is... nice.” Aiko felt no urge to do anything strange, but there was a strange sense of imbalance, like she was missing something.

It was also hard to stay in this form for a prolonged time, since she felt an odd sense of disconnect and that was only growing with time.

”Shall we resume our studies?” Aiko said gently. Her voice was a bit emotionless, but she could feel some kind of excitement from it.

Aiko was looking forward to their experiments!

...

”I see...” Aiko nodded. ”This certainly is complex.”

”You have the main chamber, which is the main place where you combine the materials.” Aiko repeated her newfound knowledge.

”Yes.” Fang Jia nodded repeatedly, she liked the playful Aiko more than... this Aiko.

”Then you have side chambers that act as supplements. They warm or cool down resources that are then combined inside the main chamber.” Aiko paused. ”There is no limit on side chambers, since there are too many elements and possible combinations, so I will have to make specialised Inscriptions to separate some general chambers into specialised ones.”

”There is also an issue with the cooling chamber. You are saying that there would be water inside, but I believe that water cools down things too quickly, so we should use some kind of oil, something with higher viscosity that will still cool it down, but more slowly, so that there are no cracks and degradations.” The more Aiko talked, the more shocked Fang Jia became.

The current Aiko felt completely different to the previous Aiko, like this Aiko was some kind of doppelganger!

”There is also an issue with the side chambers.” Even if you seal them away, heat will still leak inside, so I will have to remove the ’lids’ on the side chambers, so that they can be balanced more accurately. This will limit the usage of the Cauldron, since if you are in a hot environment, you would need to have a more powerful counterbalance than if you would be in a cold environment.” Aiko thought about it.

At this time Fang Jia’s mind spun. She was unable to keep up with Aiko’s thoughts and she almost fainted from the amount of information.

”No, maybe I should include the lids, but with a specific Inscription that would make them partially open to balance the elements... No, that wouldn’t work. The Inscription would be too big and it would fit on it.” Aiko frowned. ”No, wait, I’m going at it the wrong way. I just need to use different materials for each chamber. That way I will preserve their effects even if the environment changes.” Aiko nodded.

’I will need more experiments, but that’s where Fang Jia comes in. I will give her the [The Ever Shaping Cauldron]. She has powerful people around her, so they would be able to research it quicker than I would, and since we have a good rapport I would be able to obtain information from her more easily.’ Aiko nodded to herself. ’That way the Forging Cauldron part would be done by Fang Jia and the Pill Cauldron would be done by Mei.’ This was the perfect plan for Aiko.

”Fang Jia- Aand she fainted.” Aiko sighed, rubbing her forehead. She was not accustomed to this sight. ’This is definitely how Mei feels.’

Aiko’s knowledge was currently overflowing and she felt like she could make use of it much more easily.

The last part was important, since when she was in her ’Shadow’ Form, she was unable to make use of information and went around on instinct.

That was not a bad idea, but not a good one either. If she needed to counter-attack something based on knowledge, that would make her powerless in her ’Shadow’ Form.

There was a need to rectify this, but Aiko knew that she couldn’t strike a balance for the time being. She would have to first find something that would balance her ’Shadow’ Form.

’I will have to be careful, for the time being...’ Which was easier said than done, since Aiko knew that she would be definitely in danger when in her ’Shadow’ Form. The previous situation proved it.

Instead of using her Nightmare Abilities, ’Shadow’ went the easy road by using the one-time Law-shattering ’token’. Now she would always be suppressed and she would have to be careful about her actions.

Aiko nodded gently.

Now it was time to review her [The Ever Shaping Cauldron] and the system would be done right after.

The [The Ever Shaping Cauldron] was neither a Forging Cauldron nor a Pill Cauldron. It was something in between. The upper part was for the Pill Cauldron, while the bigger bottom half was for Forging.

What was more, was the fact that those two things could be connected together, so you could use Pills and instil them into her creations.

And it didn’t even end there. Since this was her part of the body, she would also be able to create Arrays and Inscriptions into her creations!

AND it STILL didn’t end there! If the Pill was Blessed by the Heavens, the Forging creation would likewise be Blessed by the Heavens! And if her Forging AND Pill creation got both Blessed, those Blessing would stack!

Aiko was flabbergasted at this. This was truly an out-of-this-world thing.

She no longer wondered why so many were after it. This was possibly unprecedented!

’Should I give it to her?’ Aiko pondered. It certainly wouldn’t be too bad, since she would be protected, but Aiko is not protected.

If Fang Jia tattled on her, Aiko would have to go into hiding with her team...

’But there are a lot of merits.’ Mei could only help with the Pill side, but Fang Jia could help with the Forging side. Moreover, she had extensive knowledge about Forging, so it was plausible she also had a powerful teacher who could help her even more!

’I will give it to her.’ Aiko decided. She had plenty of hiding Abilities in her ’Shadow’ Form, so it was not like they would have to hide at the ends of the world if something bad happened.

’Not to mention, I got plenty of Blessings to protect me.’ Aiko narrowed her eyes. While most Blessings would only work in this Secret Realm, it was still a powerful deterrent for all the intruders.

’I can also take the Beast Core of those Beasts and make them guard our squad. There is also Grandpa... that I accidentally overfed...’ Aiko groaned, what a stupid impulsive side she has...

’I will have to fix her behaviour as soon as possible!’ Aiko proclaimed, but that was easier said than done...