Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko woke up when the flying ship was already high up in the sky.

At first, she was puzzled, but then she remembered that the Princess was kidnapping her.

Aiko yawned slowly. ’It’s not like I can’t escape since I have that ’compass’.’ She was not concerned at all.

”You woke up early.” Fang Jia rubbed her eyes.

”Yeah, I can’t sleep without proper bedding.” Aiko shrugged. She did recover a bit, but next time she would definitely lie on the Spirit Crystals.

”You too, huh?” Fang Jia was still half asleep and soon passed out on the bed.

Aiko stood up slowly, so that Fang Jia would not wake up.

’What am I going to do now that my host is asleep?’ Aiko gently touched her cheek.

’Let’s explore.’ Aiko stretched before leaving the room.

’The boundary is incredible.’ Aiko could not feel the insides once she was outside.

”You are finally awake.” Fang Jie narrowed her eyes as she stood some ways away with her retainers.

”I wouldn’t say that.” Aiko yawned. ”Do you need something from me?” She noticed long ago that Fang Jie had a high interest in her, which made her wonder what she might want.

Fang Jie narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything for quite a long time.

”How about tea?” When she finally spoke, those were the words she uttered, but with pursed lips. She was never able to clearly speak her mind when it came to the happiness of her daughter.

Fang Jie even rejected the Patriarch many times, out of fear that her daughter might dislike her...

”Sure. I also don’t mind poisons, since I’m researching them.” Aiko added when she noticed the retainers glaring at her.

”That won’t happen around me.” Fang Jie was a Pill Refiner, so she would be able to spot any kind of poisoning.

”Sure, sure.” Aiko rolled her eyes. She didn’t believe in the skill of others, since they were questionable at best.

”How disrespectful.” Fang Jie clicked her tongue.

”That goes both ways.” Aiko shrugged before yawning again. The retainers were clearly glaring more, thanks to her constant yawning.

’It’s not my fault, alright.’ Aiko glared back.

Fang Jie shrugged, leading Aiko to the guest room.

”This feels like some kind of private villa.” Aiko was looking around somewhat curiously.

”Because it is. This ship cost a fortune, since it’s not the classic flying ship for transportation of Disciples.” Fang Jie briefly explained, but she had quite a weird feeling about the Vicious Jade Fox.

”Are herbal teas alright?” Fang Jie narrowed her eyes.

”Sure.” Aiko wasn’t picky about tea, but she would be picky about meat.

”Snacks?” Fang Jie narrowed her eyes.

”Jerkies.” Aiko immediately answered.

Fang Jie chuckled. ”My daughter likes sweets.”

”Good.” Aiko nodded approvingly.

”Why?” Fang Jie raised her eyebrow.

”We won’t steal each other’s snacks that way.” Aiko shrugged.

Fang Jie opened her mouth speechlessly. ”You know that usually partners like to like the same things.”

”That’s only for the first 6 months to a year. Once that first euphoria vanishes, you will realise that they like the same things and you have to eat less of your favourite thing.” Aiko rolled her eyes. She felt like she was talking to an odd person.

Fang Jie paused. She vastly underestimated this Fox.

’She was not your usual Fox who would look for temporary pleasure and would seek long-term investment.’ Fang Jie narrowed her eyes.

Of course, that was a misconception on her part, since Nightmare Aiko melded with Moon Aiko for this occasion.

”Here.” Fang Jie served the tea and sat down, unlike the low table Aiko was used to. This place had full-fledged tables with chairs.

Aiko sipped the tea slowly. A prompt from the system startled her.

[You have been afflicted by low-grade truth poison.]

The system didn’t even bother capitalising that poison, that’s how weak it was.

Aiko was not surprised at all, since she didn’t expect some kind of subtle jab from this Fox, but this...

”This is underwhelming. Why low-grade truth poison?” Aiko tilted her head, and Fang Jie flinched.

’You call this low-grade?! What have you been eating till now?!’ She was completely speechless since this poison was not low-grade.

This was high-middle grade poison, at around 4th Grade, but since it was not used, this poison was not ranked.

”You could’ve just asked me what you wanted to know. As long as it’s not too personal, I wouldn’t mind answering.” Aiko shrugged.

”How did you get ’that’ thing?” Fang Jie immediately put that to use.

[Low-grade truth poison was neutralised.]

”I can’t tell you that one, since that’s too closely related to me.” Aiko shook her head.

”I understand.” Fang Jie nodded. There were plenty of hidden inheritances, and most Cultivators wanted to hide those places, so that no one else could find them.

”Do you know how to use it?” Fang Jie narrowed her eyes.

”Mostly, but I only created the makeshift version. I don’t know much about forging, so I didn’t really want to finish it haphazardly.” Aiko paused. Her hair slowly turned white, startling Fang Jie.

”To begin with, the Pill part is above the Forging part, maybe because Pills need more even and controlled heat. If it were under, the Pills would definitely burn. The whole thing is huge and burdensome, but that’s also probably why it has an additional function for defence. Moreover, it also feels like that thing has a deeper meaning, but my understanding of Pill Refining and Forging is too shallow, I can’t understand it.” Moon Aiko was notorious for her rants, but Fang Jie quite liked this side.

”Yes, it is as you say. There are certain parts about this thing that are strange. For example, the middle channel.” Fang Jie liked the nerdy Vicious Jade Fox.

”Yeah. I worry that without proper care and a powerful Divine Sense, it will leak into the lower compartment, but then I believe maybe that’s part of the hidden meaning? Something combining the medical properties of Herbs with the longevity of metal? But then what would you do if the Herbs weren’t compatible?” Aiko shook her head. This whole thing was not simple at all!

”That is only if you look at surface level Forging. You can also forge wood.” Fang Jie chuckled.

”Huh? What?” Aiko had so many questions.

”Not every wood is as you might expect. Certain woods are filled with Elements, making them closer to a metal than actual wood.” Fang Jie explained and giggled, seeing her expression.

Moon Aiko had the dumbest expression so far. Her mouth hung open, and she just stared at her speechlessly.

”What kind of bullshit is that?” Moon Aiko communicated her dissatisfaction.

”It’s true.” Fang Jie pulled one of the resources that could be forged. It was a special metallic wood that you could meld together with other materials.

Aiko immediately trained her eyes on that material.

*Clang Clang*

She tested her hands against it, but she was immediately shocked.

The wood sounded exactly like metal! Moreover, it was also tough as one!

And if not to make matters worse, it still looked like wood!

”What the fuck?” Aiko spat out her normal curse sentence.

Fang Jie laughed. This place was under the boundary, so nobody would listen to them or see them. She was free to laugh to her heart’s content.

”I had the same reaction when I first saw it.” Fang Jie giggled at Aiko.

”No wonder.” Aiko nodded, investigating the metallic wood.

”But you can’t use this as base material for that.” Fang Jie shook her head.

”Obviously.” Aiko rolled her eyes. ”At best, you would need a few more materials before you could do something about this.” She summoned her little flame.

Fang Jie narrowed her eyes. She didn’t know about this kind of flame.

”Can you meld this, Grandpa?” Aiko asked slowly.

”I wondered what was up...” The little flame sighed. ”Don’t call me for such trivial things, I’m still trying to research how to purify Beast Cores.” Mellow Azure Spiritual Flame rolled his eyes.

Fang Jie’s eyes widened. Not only was this a Spiritual Flame, but it also had a clear consciousness! This flame would be coveted by all Forgers and Pill Refiners!

’Moreover, that little flame has a clear tinge of Dragon’s Might.’ Fang Jie felt confused, since that had never happened before. Even in the ancient texts, nobody wrote about a Dragon Spiritual Flame.

Yet right in front of her was one such flame. A Spiritual Flame with a weak Divine Sense, which used it to mould the metallic wood into a perfect sphere.

”How is this?” Grandpa Flame proudly presented his work.

”Incredible! You have improved so much!” Aiko’s eyes widened. She didn’t expect the weak Spiritual Flame to grow so much while she was not looking.

”Anyway. You can feed me that grass later. I will go practice control over these flames till then.” Grandpa huffed a bit before going back inside Aiko’s body.

”It has very clear intelligence. Moreover, it sounds old and wise.” Fang Jie was confused about what kind of flame this was.

”Yeah. He is my cute Grandpa.” Aiko nodded happily. This was one of her most useful companions.

’Speaking of, where is that little spidey?’ Aiko wondered where her Spider went.

”I have never heard or seen such a flame, but my partner might know more about it.” Fang Jie nodded slowly. She was more used to calling the Patriarch her partner now, but it still felt quite strange.

”Is that so?” Aiko didn’t really need that information, but it might be useful for the future, so she didn’t say anything.

”Anyway. I can’t believe you see that as low-grade poison.” Fang Jie was still flabbergasted about that part.

”Don’t look at me like that, it’s not my fault.” Aiko shrugged. She believed that because of her Skills and Abilities. The poison’s effectiveness was reduced so much that the system attributed it to the ’low-grade’ category.

Fang Jie shook her head. ”What are you planning with my daughter?” She would be asking quite an important question from here on out.

”She is cute and cuddly. She is also a Forging Cultivator.” Aiko didn’t feel the need to conceal things. ”She is very agreeable and has a similar cadence to mine, so I just like her.”

”So no love?” Fang Jie narrowed her eyes.

”I’m not sure what that means or how it feels.” Aiko was unsure of such emotions. She liked to fool around with her companions, and she definitely had something special with Mei, but could that be called love? She was not sure.

”Oh?” Fang Jie narrowed her eyes. Her opinions about the Vicious Jade Fox changed greatly.

At first, she thought that the Vicious Jade Fox was an exploitative Fox, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

”But why do they call her Vicious Fox then...” Fang Jie muttered her inner thoughts.

”Because I skewered the Harem Kings.” Aiko paused. ’Right, Harem Kings. Where are they now?’ She wondered how they were doing.

”Skewered?” Fang Jie tilted her head.

”Impaled.” Aiko made a fisting motion into a hole, and Fang Jie instinctively recoiled.

”You don’t have those kinds of sexual tendencies, right?” Fang Jie was really worried about her daughter.

”Obviously not.” Aiko rolled her eyes. ”Wouldn’t that mean I liked my enemies that tried to kill me if I liked it?” She felt a bit speechless by those jumps in logic.

Fang Jie coughed awkwardly. ”You never know what kind of kink one might have.” She couldn’t meet Aiko’s piercing eyes.