Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko was looking for Mei for a while, since she was not around the Grandmaster’s Abode and considering how spread out this place was, it was quite some time before she found her.

”Mei!” Moon Aiko barged into the Treasury, seemingly rubbing her hands.

”You can take things later. We are almost finished.” Mei chuckled, seeing Aiko like that.

Moon Aiko wiped her saliva. ”Wait, that’s not what I wanted to talk about!” She immediately came next to Mei.

”Were those starting tests really a scam?” Moon Aiko looked Mei up and down, trying to figure out anything she could.

”En.” Mei laughed. These tests changed a lot, from the usual tests to this abomination.

”How were you able to skip it?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”I didn’t try to skip it.” Mei laughed, confusing Aiko. ”Well, let’s just say I called them out on their bullshit, and they let me bypass it before I could tell anyone.”

”Why didn’t you tell me?” Moon Aiko pouted at her.

”You need some experience with malicious individuals.” Mei chuckled at Aiko.

Moon Aiko tried to kick her shin. ”I really believed those were actual tests!” She was obviously upset about being tricked like that.

”There, there.” Mei patted Aiko until she calmed down.

”What about the human part?” Moon Aiko looked at Mei with full of grievances.

”Some of the Evil Elders used humans as toys, so they ran out of humans for tests and experiments.” Mei explained.

”Like ripping the Souls?” Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”Indeed.” Mei was startled that Aiko was able to figure that part out.

”So the whole thing was either an illusion, or a simple; Will they be captured/tortured by humans?” Moon Aiko really disliked being tricked like this.

”Yeah. The real tests look different. Well, they are in a similar fashion, just testing different things.” Mei chuckled.

”Oh, I’m curious.” Moon Aiko’s eyes sparkled.

”I will tell you about them later, but you can also find them in Human Sects.” Mei shrugged.

”Why?” Moon Aiko didn’t believe that they were on good enough terms to exchange knowledge like that.

Mei saw Aiko’s expression and, as if reading her mind, explained. ”That’s when Foxes were still welcomed and not abused.”

”So, very old, but can it still be used?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”It’s very... difficult, but allows you to weed out the weak very easily.” Mei nodded her head.

”I wonder if we will have to do it too...” Moon Aiko was curious if she would come across something like that.

”Maybe, but probably only in the Immortal World.” Mei shook her head.

”Huh? Does the Immortal World have the same tests?” Moon Aiko didn’t believe that. ”Doesn’t that mean that someone can just train to pass it if they have the information-”

Mei just gave Aiko a meaningful smile.

Moon Aiko’s face distorted from the realisation, and she was quite upset.

”Pole all of them!” Moon Aiko was upset that someone was able to ’buy’ their way in, instead of doing the actual tests.

”There, there.” Mei patted Aiko again until she calmed down.

”So what do we do now?” Moon Aiko was upset that there was no cold river or anything that could easily give her an advantage.

”I have prepared a ritual that will allow you to adjust both Bloodline and Species. This is usually done only once since it could compromise your foundation, but it’s currently needed.” Mei smiled at Aiko.

[The 3rd inner circle second symbol is wrong and the-]

Moon Aiko repeated what system told her, making Mei almost faint right where she stood.

”You are not supposed to perfect this ritual!” Mei shook with Aiko’s body, as if trying to scream, ’Stop it! Stop it right now!’.

[Only the best for Princess.]

”What do you mean, only the best?! Do you know what happens if you perfect this ritual?!” Mei almost fainted when she saw those floating words near Aiko.

[More chaos for Aiko to play with.]

It felt like Mei was shot in the head. That’s how much her body tilted backwards.

”WHAT DO YOU MEAN TO PLAY WITH?! THERE IS ENOUGH BULLSHIT FLOATING AROUND ALREADY!” Mei was obviously yelling at the system, but since she was still holding Aiko, she took most of the blunt force.

...

It took a lot of time before Mei calmed down.

”Do not try to recreate this in front of others, you will always require permission from me, this is more important than that [The Ever Shaping Cauldron] or [Shapeless Cauldron], okay?” Mei shook Aiko’s body again.

”Okay.” Moon Aiko’s eyes spun at this point, since she never knew Mei was able to spit so many words in a single breath.

”Good, good.” Mei dusted her clothes, feeling relieved.

”Seriously...” She tapped her feet with annoyance. It took her a lot of time to get her hands on that ritual and improve it enough so that it wouldn’t cause too many side effects, yet that system...!

Mei tilted her body backwards and gnashed her teeth. The system was such a ridiculous existence that she wanted to bash it with a pan!

”Are you alright?” Moon Aiko was concerned, since Mei seemed... almost possessed.

”I’m fine.” So many veins appeared on Mei’s face. She was clearly upset by how easily the system was able to improve it.

”Then I will go now?” Moon Aiko turned around, but Mei grabbed her.

”The ritual is finished, so just pick the ingredients you like.” Mei spoke hastily, but seemingly softly.

”You have to let me go if you want me to pick something.” Moon Aiko was hugged like a plushie, which made it difficult to walk anywhere she wanted.

”Let’s go.” Mei didn’t want to let go, because Aiko was soft enough that it was calming her nerves.

”At least don’t sniff me!” Moon Aiko protested as she was strung around with Mei’s whims.

”It’s fine, you don’t smell.” Mei chuckled teasingly.

”Bullshit!” Moon Aiko called this pervert out immediately.

Mei just chuckled again, carrying Aiko to the materials.

...

”Check them out.” Mei gestured towards the materials on the pillows.

”They feel bone-chilling.” Moon Aiko was impressed.

[Essence of the Yellow River]

[Core of a Winter Beast]

[Stalk of the Winter Rose]

[Petals of the Frozen Lotus]

[...]

[...]

[...]

Moon Aiko was impressed and taken aback by how many Treasures Mei collected.

”I’m not sure what to pick.” Moon Aiko pondered on it.

[It’s better to pick-]

The system was quite talkative this time, giving Aiko tips and ideas on what she should pick and what she shouldn’t take.

Mei was startled by this, since Aiko didn’t pick the most expensive materials that she had.

”Why not take this [Core of a Winter Beast]?” Mei was curious.

[The Core of Winter Beast might be good material, but that is only for a Fox that doesn’t already have a special {Body Trait}.]

”The strange [Hollow Moon Physique]?” Mei nodded her head slowly.

[Indeed. The rest are for reinforcing both Species, Bloodline, and physical traits.]

”You are trying to do everything at once, but is that a good idea?” Mei raised her eyebrow.

[By our calculations, you should start harvesting Herbs before they all die.]

”So you are just making it as catastrophic as possible without destroying everything, huh.” Mei rolled her eyes. It felt like the system was way too intelligent and plotting something.

[Indeed.]

Mei sighed and ordered them to harvest the Herbs while they kept going with the ritual.

[Place-]

The system once again explained where those materials should be placed.

”I don’t like this.” Moon Aiko felt too cold, so it was difficult to like this situation.

[It’s for your stability.]

”It’s so that you are not limited by what you can eat.” Mei sighed.

The system meaningfully ’glanced’ at this Fox, and Mei did the same.

It was as if they came to a silent agreement.

”Let’s start this.” Mei lit up the Ritual Array, making everything float around Aiko.

Moon Aiko likewise floated, and she didn’t like the feeling of weightlessness.

”Just take your time and absorb everything.” Mei shouted before getting out of the Treasury.

...

”Now what?” Moon Aiko floated around in a lotus position and crossed arms. She spun and whirled against her will, making her quite upset.

[Your Bloodlines are unstable, due to [Primordial Devouring Wolf-Rayet Kitsune] eating away on [Blooming Moon Deity Kitsune] as it’s only a {Deity-grade} Bloodline.]

[Moreover, your [Divine Solar Physique] is too active compared to your [Hollow Moon Physique (Incomplete)], making it difficult to develop properly.]

[To top it off, your species are in disharmony, since one devours while the other provides food. [Devouring Sun & Blooming Moon Fennec Fox].]

[In order to remedy that, we will freeze the {Moon} over, protecting the {Blooming} part with {Coldness}.]

”So, just an elaborate way of saying that I fucked up and everything needs to be redone.” Moon Aiko knew that she was not in a good state, but to think it was THAT bad!

[...]

The system felt silent as if agreeing with her.

”Alright, what do I do first...?” Moon Aiko sighed, but she would listen since this system helped her many times already.

-----

The Demonic Foxes were sniffing around Mei and Aiko.

They wanted to help them get closer so that their Demonic Fox friend had more troubles on her hands.

The first part was to investigate the Comprehension Tree.

It was obvious someone was trying to build something romantic over there, but they failed due to the environment.

The Demonic Foxes, especially Earth-based Demonic Foxes, started to procure a large quantity of soil. They would rebuild this place, but make it more magical and magnificent!

The Comprehension Tree will be ditched for an artificially enlarged Cherry Blossom Tree. The lake will be redone, but with lotuses and Cherry Blossom leaves on top.

The scenery would be nicely mixed if they cultivated those flowers well.

Then they would add picking cloth, so that they could enjoy a nice rest under the tree.

Of course, they didn’t forget to include a hidden bed, ’just in case’.

The Demonic Foxes kept sneaking and sniffing around until they figured out how Mei and Aiko behaved and what they usually used.

Some simple Herbs could be used as grass around the tree and the lake. Then they could include paper lanterns for a good ambience.

Some of the Demonic Foxes also prepared other things, especially those that used the ’Black Powder’ for boom boom.

It was pretty useless for Cultivators, since they could easily gouge the earth and overturn the skies, but the delicate control that could cause colourful lights was more difficult to accomplish...

With this plan in mind, now they just had to hide it so that nobody would bother them!