Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

After food, they all went back towards the Treasure in the side hall.

”I will just ’clean’ the others out over time, since they are probably dirtier than you are.” Moon Aiko explained to Yue.

”That is fine. As long as they can be ’saved’, everything is secondary, so just take your time.” Yue floated behind Aiko, hugging her around the neck.

”You are not as cold as before.” Moon Aiko commented.

”But you are warm and very nice~” Yue rubbed her cheek against Aiko’s.

”And you are more corporeal, too.” Moon Aiko assessed Lady Liu’s state.

”Just call me Yue. I’m now Immortal.” Fang Yue giggled.

”Okay.” Moon Aiko was less apprehensive, since she had not been scolded yet.

That was also because Danji, in the background, explained what happened, making Yue understand why Aiko acted like that.

Of course, Danji slightly exaggerated the whole event in order to make Aiko be more in the right, but Yue was not aware of that.

Thanks to all of that, Yue was kinder to Aiko, while also explaining to Chen Shi that he should take better care of his guests.

Was Danji in the wrong? Maybe a little bit, but she didn’t care. It was not ’right’ to scold Aiko over this, so she made it so she wouldn’t get scolded.

Moon Aiko observed the room. ”The Treasures are on their last legs.” She commented gently, but that still made Chen Shi groan.

”Yeah, because of that black liquid, we have a harder time purifying the energies inside us, causing the Treasure to work even harder.” Yue explained. She had quite a few Treasures like this in her Immortal Abode.

”Is that so?” Moon Aiko nodded her head gently. ”I will do my best to clear them.”

”Please do, but I would suggest doing a little bit of each of them, so that the Treasures are not as burdened.” Yue nudged Aiko.

”Not a bad idea.” Moon Aiko nodded.

Danji was observing everything. She wouldn’t step in unless someone tried to take advantage of Aiko.

”I would also appreciate it.” Chen Shi cupped his fist.

”You would.” Yue giggled. ”But we will be able to get more Treasures later.”

”Oh...” Chen Shi awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. ”I plan to dissolve and move this Association onto the mainland.”

Yue was surprised. ”So you really did this only to gather money to treat me, huh?” She was shocked at how far he would go for her.

Chen Shi coughed awkwardly. Having it said to his face like this was quite embarrassing.

”I will start working now.” Moon Aiko really didn’t want to be between ’that’.

Yue giggled. ”For what you ’take’ with you. You are even more prude than my Mortal ’form’.”

”Shush.” Moon Aiko waved her finger around like she was trying to scold Yue, but at the same time, not.

Yue giggled even more as Moon Aiko approached her sister.

”Be gentle with her. She is definitely more ’polluted’.” Yue said with an awkward smile.

”Naturally.” Moon Aiko already noticed how bad it was, and she didn’t really look forward to it.

Fortunately, she already had an experience with this, so it wouldn’t be too bad doing it again, and it might even be faster than before, which would allow her to complete it quicker.

This was good news for her, since she didn’t like the feeling or even how oddly warm it was. Like a warm pile of shit with a stronger smell on top!

Moon Aiko groaned as she started to clean Liu Ru.

It was the same process, more or less, just dirtier. Aiko pulled out piles of stinking, black, gooey liquid, making everyone frown and scrunch their faces.

”Hehe, it tickles~” Liu Ru suddenly spoke, but it didn’t seem like she would open her eyes any time soon.

Moon Aiko was in a... questionable position, since she was practically and literally sinking her hands into her boobs.

But the close ’caress’ allowed her to pull that filth out of her Soul without actually injuring her.

The Soul still had 3 layers, even for Ghosts, but the third layer was bleeding out a lot.

And that was because of that black liquid. Was it polluted Qi, or just something they gathered when they still had human bodies? It was hard to say, but Aiko would clean that, nevertheless.

...

Moving on to her last Ghost, dubbed ’slave 1’. He was a guy, which Aiko didn’t like, but she would still clean his Soul.

He might become useful later on, for managing something or that sort of thing.

His handsomeness didn’t work on Aiko, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work on others!

Moon Aiko nodded her head as her hands sank into his body.

”Blegh.” Moon Aiko almost vomited, since his whole soul was one big piece of stinking shit that she had to clean!

Pulling it out, it was a long, steaming, smelly noodle that looked and smelled just horrible!

Even Yue winced back, hiding behind Chen Shi, just in case it splashed on her.

Danji wrapped herself in a blood shield, just in case, too, making Yue move behind her.

”Really?” Chen Shi was quite hurt that she would rather hide behind a Fox than him.

”It’s safer.” Yue shrugged.

Danji was also much warmer than Chen Shi, which made Yue happier.

”Don’t get so touchy.” Danji warned her.

”En, en.” Yue pouted, but it was not like she wanted to push her down, so just a bit of nuzzling was fine, no?

Danji rolled her eyes, but let her go, since Yue didn’t scold Aiko.

”I wonder where Aiko comes from.” Yue vaguely knew about Aiko’s Origin, but now it depended on what kind of branch Aiko was from!

The main branch would be a disaster for everyone, while the side branches were concerning, but manageable...

...

Moon Aiko finished. It was not completely clean, but good enough for now.

She was quite exhausted from this, so it would take a few days to finish.

”I have prepared the re-evaluation. It’s more or less just about showing up, telling us what you can do, and we will give you the card.” Chen Shi shrugged.

”That’s fine by me.” Moon Aiko nodded.

”More visitors will come in later, so be careful about that.” Chen Shi added.

Moon Aiko didn’t really care about that, since it seemed like everyone believed that she was dead.

”I wonder what we will do next...” Moon Aiko pondered. She wanted to disassemble the Treasures for the Ghosts to see what she could gather from them.

She also wanted to visit that ’temple’ to pole that Ghost. Forge a pole that would affect Ghosts. Forge a few other Treasures...

’Too much...’ Moon Aiko groaned. She had more and more plans the higher she moved...

...

Over the next few days, she repeated the cleaning until everyone was cleaned.

”Thank you, Mistress.” Yong Zhiqiang bowed towards Aiko in his Ghost form.

”This is better.” Moon Aiko marvelled at his handsomeness. This would be a good selling point.

”I heard there is something called a Breeze Pavilion.” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Please, anything but that!” Yong Zhiqiang shuddered.

Breeze Pavilion was a brothel about men for men... He didn’t really want to experience that kind of dread!

”Then what are you good at, other than a pretty face?” Moon Aiko frowned at him.

”I’m good at managing things! Be it business or personal!” Yong Zhiqiang prostrated in front of Aiko.

”Not quite what I had in mind, but will have to do.” Moon Aiko nodded. ”But Yong Zhiqiang, huh...” It was a bit of a strange name, but she couldn’t really talk about it.

She didn’t have a family name, and her name was not even in this dialect, so...

’Whatever, just keep him inside the lamp for the time being.’ Moon Aiko snorted, nodding her head.

”Just go back inside. I will see what I will do with you later.” Moon Aiko gestured to him.

”Mistress, I believe it’s a good idea to repair it further.” Yong Zhiqiang was aware of where they were, so he came up with a plan.

”Elaborate.” Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow.

”We are currently in the Inscription Association, right?” Yong Zhiqiang smiled devilishly.

”En.” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”That means we can repair the lamp with precious Inscription Ink!” Yong Zhiqiang chuckled.

”That is not a bad idea.” Chen Shi nodded. If his Yue had nicer accommodations, he wouldn’t mind giving this Fox some Inscription Ink.

”And!” Yong Zhiqiang laughed. ”We can also use this as a test for your Inscription Card!”

Chen Shi’s eyes widened. ”That is not a bad idea. The other Elders follow me completely, so they won’t leak anything out, and with concrete evidence about her skill, they won’t be able to say anything against it.” This was truly a good idea.

”Not bad.” Moon Aiko decided to give the Breeze Pavilion management to him, but exclude him from the actual acts.

”Thank you.” Unaware of his fortunate misfortune, Yong Zhiqiang bowed happily.

”What kind of Inscription Ink should we use?” Chen Shi picked up the lamp to observe it.

”Deep Crimson Ink?” Chen Shi tilted his head.

”That’s too harsh. It would make the energies inside more chaotic.” Moon Aiko shook her head, ”Lunar Spring Ink should be better.”

”You know how pricey that thing is?!” Chen Shi was flabbergasted that Aiko didn’t hold back at all.

”That’s not a bad idea.” Yue nodded her head.

”E-even you?!” Chen Shi felt like he was ambushed.

”Why not?” Yue frowned. ”Do you know that Immortal Ghost Flags are made out of Lunar Spring Ink? Well, it’s a superior version of that ink, but that’s still in the same bracket.” She explained her reasoning.

Chen Shi paused. ”Does that mean it would enhance the effects of this lamp?”

”No.” Moon Aiko stopped him. ”I will be redoing the lamp from scratch.”

”... what?” Both Chen Shi and Fang Yue were speechless.

”Where will you get the materials from?” Chen Shi frowned. Some of these materials were impossible to get through Spirit Stones.

”I will disassemble this lamp and those Treasures.” Moon Aiko pointed at the Treasures that the Ghosts used to nourish their Souls.

Chen Shi stiffened. ”Those are expensive and still usable.” He didn’t want to experiment on something that was still fully functional.

”Then, can you repair this lamp enough so that their Souls wouldn’t be tainted?” Moon Aiko crossed her arms, making her not-so-ample chest squish.

Danji was not as impressed as she was with Witch Aiko, but Moon Aiko had... different qualities.

Looking at it again, Chen Shi frowned. ”It would be impossible to fix enough so that it doesn’t taint them.” The lamp was much more damaged than he expected.

”Which means I will have to disassemble it.” Moon Aiko snorted unhappily.

”Can you even do it?” Yue was cautious. ”The re-using of Treasures is already a lost art to time...”

Yue was very apprehensive about this topic, since only a few Restoration Cultivators still lived, and they charged ridiculous prices because it was THAT difficult...