Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Unfortunately, Moon Aiko was unable to taste any food since she met up with a certain person.

”I have the Treasures.” Chen Shi spoke awkwardly before guiding them into a side hall.

There, Treasures were lined up and Lady Liu and the other Ghosts were sitting on them, nourishing their Souls.

”This is interesting...” Moon Aiko observed them closely.

Fortunately, Lady Liu seemed to be asleep, so the scolding wouldn’t come her way.

”It’s not that interesting. It’s more of a stabiliser.” Chen Shi explained.

”We don’t have the means to truly nourish the Souls. What is currently happening is that the energies inside their bodies get filtered to make it more pure and usable. Meanwhile, the Treasure does bring a bit more energy in, but that’s only to keep their Souls stable. The conversion greatly damages the Treasure, so it had to be limited.” Chen Shi sighed.

”Because the Treasure is no longer balanced but leans heavily into yin, right?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”Not quite, the Ghost Qi can be quite corrosive for most materials, and while these Treasures are reinforced, there is only so much you can do.” Chen Shi sighed.

Aiko activated her skills to observe the Treasures more closely.

’That’s weird... The Treasures keep a lot of energy inside them, allowing some materials to increase in grade-’ Moon Aiko suddenly blinked. ’Does that mean the Treasure is not actually crumbling, but because some materials get more powerful, it introduces instabilities that were never there before, making it less usable over time as the effect itself is no longer stable?’ She tilted her head, observing it even more closely.

’In other words, these are growth Treasures!’ Moon Aiko’s eyes shone. While these were not true growth Treasures, it was still a good prototype.

This would allow her to observe how to make her own growth Treasures!

’What if I could make a Spirit Boat as a growth Treasure?’ Moon Aiko salivated at that idea.

”A... Aiko...?” Yue woke up to see Aiko salivating at her, and while she was flattered, she didn’t really want to have that kind of relationship with her.

Aiko choked when she noticed that Lady Liu was awake. ”I haven’t done anything!” She sniffled gently like she was being wronged without actually being wronged.

Yue was startled at how apprehensive Aiko was, but could only shake her head and smile.

”I know. Little Shi was probably trying to explain this to you, right?” Yue chuckled.

”Yeah. It’s quite fascinating.” Moon Aiko obediently nodded her head.

Yue pinched her cheek. ”We will talk later, once I’m better.”

Moon Aiko gulped nervously. ”Okay...”

Yue sighed, but she had to close her eyes. The energies inside her body were becoming more stable and pure, so she had to guide them around to nourish her Soul.

Moon Aiko observed the whole process.

[You have glimpsed the natural rivers inside one’s Soul.]

[You will be able to earn more Souls from plundering.]

Moon Aiko blinked. So she was not imagining it when she saw those moving things inside Lady Liu’s Soul.

But it was strange, those ’rivers’ didn’t move naturally and would often be blocked.

Moon Aiko touched Lady Liu, startling both Chen Shi and Danji.

They both frowned at her, but didn’t try to stop her.

-----

Yue flinched from the sudden intrusion, but her body got warmer and more peaceful as those hands did something with her Soul.

They were not altering anything and just helped her to circulate the energies more smoothly...

-----

”Ew.” Moon Aiko pulled out her hands as they were soaked in black, putrid liquid.

She then waved her hands to clean them.

”It’s like you are cleaning the sewage.” Moon Aiko shuddered, but she had no intention of stopping, since she wondered what would happen if she ’unclogged’ everything.

Fortunately for her, Yue was unable to hear anything. Otherwise, Aiko would definitely get a good whack on her head!

”What are you staring at?” Moon Aiko’s beautiful face was all scrunched up like she was really touching a shit.

Chen Shi awkwardly rubbed his head, while Danji snorted unhappily, looking away.

”???” Moon Aiko didn’t understand what they were all about. She was just cleaning those blockages inside Lady Liu’s Soul!

Sure, it was very straining on her Divine Sense, and she used her hands to lessen that burden, but that didn’t mean it was easy!

Moon Aiko focused on her task. It took her a few days, but when she was finished, not only was Lady Liu more beautiful, but she also seemed less see-through!

Moon Aiko happily nodded her head as she yawned. Her mind was reaching its limits, so she would have to stop for now.

Yue opened her eyes. Seeing her solid body, she was startled.

Looking around and seeing Aiko tired. She guessed that it had something to do with her, and the black liquid splashed around the room.

”It smells quite bad.” Yue’s face scrunched up.

”That’s what was inside you.” Moon Aiko replied instinctively, but then coughed awkwardly.

”So the warm sensation was you.” Yue narrowed her eyes.

”I have no idea what you are talking about.” Moon Aiko abruptly stood up. ”I will have to go now, bye!” And booked it out of the room.

”Am I that scary?” Yue tilted her head. Sure, her Mortal ’form’ was quite scary when it came to etiquette, but that was not completely the same as her current self.

While it was good to ’act’ at times, it didn’t mean someone had to reshape their whole personality to make it happen.

Chen Shi shrugged, like he didn’t understand it either, while Danji followed Aiko out.

...

The next day, everyone met up awkwardly around the table.

Moon Aiko wanted to test the food, but she didn’t expect Lady Liu to be here either.

”You should try those funny-looking shrimps. They are really tasty with this sauce.” Yue explained while observing the not-so-little glutton.

Moon Aiko was very awkward, but that didn’t last too long. It only took her a few nibbles, and she no longer cared about who was around her, as long as she could taste more delicious food.

Yue sighed. It seemed like Aiko would still be Aiko, no matter the age or size. Sure, she might be more ’apprehensive’ when bigger, but it didn’t change any of her inclinations and eccentric behaviours.

Danji tasted a bit of everything, just to figure out how to cook it, while Chen Shi just ate normally, picking his food.

Chen Yanqi was similar to Aiko in that she devoured the food like her life depended on it.

”No wonder you are so big.” Yue stared at Chen Yanqi’s bosom without restraint.

”I have no idea what you mean.” Chen Yanqi shrugged, making them jiggle just for Yue.

But of course, Chen Shi choked on his food when he saw those jelly-like jiggles.

”It’s not for you.” Chen Yanqi pouted at him, turning towards Yue. ”How are you feeling now?”

”Startlingly well.” Yue then glanced at Aiko.

”En, en.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. ”I will do the same with others.”

”Thank you.” Yue smiled, propping her chin with both hands.

She now looked like quite a young, but ravishingly beautiful girl.

”But how do you feel?” Moon Aiko never asked before, but she wondered if those chains caused any kind of damage.

”What do you mean?” Yue was not sure what Aiko was hinting at.

”The chains?” Moon Aiko said cautiously.

”No damage. No strange feeling. Well, actually, I feel quite free right now.” Yue smiled from ear to ear.

”Oh.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. ”But you don’t have a body.”

”I know.” Yue snorted unhappily. ”I had to blow it up, just in case those perverts wanted to defile it while I was in chains.” They kept her Soul attached to the body, so she would still feel everything that happened to the body, but that same connection allowed her to blow it up.

She almost injured one Sage, but most of their inheritors perished thanks to her previously insanely high Providence~!

”Oh...” Moon Aiko nodded, not quite understanding the implications, but she had her own ideas. ”How about becoming a Ghost Cultivator?”

”You need a powerful Cultivation Manual that can be used on Ghosts.” Yue sighed unhappily.

Moon Aiko looked through her [Primordial Shop], finding quite a few Ghost Cultivation Manuals.

”I can get one.” Moon Aiko nodded her head. ”Wait, never mind, I’m broke.” It would cost her all of her organs just to buy it.

”Can you obtain one?” Yue was startled.

”Yeah, but I need special money.” Moon Aiko sighed as she stuffed her cheeks with fish.

’So I didn’t imagine things.’ Yue narrowed her eyes. At times, she saw some kind of silhouette behind Aiko, giving her some kind of booklet to browse through.

It was such an abnormal situation that it made Yue uncomfortable, but it didn’t seem like the silhouette was interested in anything other than Aiko.

’Should I warn her?’ Yue didn’t know anything about the silhouette, but it didn’t seem like it wanted to hurt Aiko. What’s more, it also seemed like Aiko was already used to it, like she expected something like that to happen.

”How do you get that kind of money?” Yue asked cautiously.

”Defeating powerful Beasts or Cultivators.” Moon Aiko said with stuffed cheeks. That was the fastest way to earn the [Cultivation Points].

”We can do something about that.” Yue nodded her head. While she was weak, she could still ’restrain’ a Beast or two to make it easier for Aiko to defeat.

At this point, Chen Shi looked over. ”Were you the one who caused the stampede?”

Yue was visibly disturbed, trying to defend Aiko, but before she could say anything...

”Yeah.” Moon Aiko openly admitted it. ”Danji was captured and contracted, so I had to do something to get back at them.” She shrugged like she didn’t care.

”A lot of Mortal Humans died.” Chen Shi narrowed his eyes.

”Mortals die every moment that we speak, walk, or sleep. Their rulers decided to screw over Foxes, so it’s natural someone would screw them over too.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes.

Chen Shi tried to retort it, but Aiko didn’t allow it.

”Don’t try to preach to me when you were a waste of space just a few days ago.” Moon Aiko scoffed at him.

Everyone was speechless at her ruthless words.

”I think that’s going a bit too far.” Yue frowned.

”No, she is right.” However, Chen Yanqi was the one to back up Aiko. ”Now, he looks more like the first time he ate me out, but just a few days earlier, he looked like a walking corpse without a soul.” She shrugged like she didn’t care about what she was saying.

Chen Shi smiled bitterly but didn’t try to defend himself, since he was quite ashamed and embarrassed about how he had acted before.