Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”This is amazing.” Wanshu and Yuxi were handling the tool well and their eyes sparkled quite a lot.

Moon Aiko felt like this whole thing was going the wrong way.

”This is the perfect torture tool.” Yuxi nodded her head seriously.

Moon Aiko blankly gazed at Wanshu and Yuxi respectively. She didn’t believe that they were serious.

”Yes, the severe vibration can make the blood all wobbly and without enough blood they will lose their limbs.” Wanshu nodded her head agreeing with her partner.

They also wanted to mess with Aiko, but they didn’t expect this tool to be so good.

”...” Moon Aiko blinked a few times. She breathed in and out trying to calm herself down.

She wouldn’t jump them just because she failed her prank.

”I wonder if we can make it even more severe...” Yuxi smiled from ear to ear.

*crack*

Moon Aiko broke the metal that she was holding.

”Rawr!” Moon Aiko chased them because not only did her prank not work, but they were even making fun of her!

”Run away!” Wanshu immediately grabbed Yuxi and they started running.

”Come back!” Moon Aiko roared at them.

”We are being serious!” Yuxi cried out. She didn’t expect Aiko to take it so badly. Sure, they did want to tease her a bit, but this was a seriously good tool!

”I’m too! And I intend to bite you!” Moon Aiko chased after them until they were completely tired.

Why did she not bite them? Because something felt off.

”Do you have the same stamina?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. ’No, that’s not it. If they had the same stamina then Wanshu would tire out first since she started the chase by carrying Yuxi.’

”En.” Yuxi was tired out of her mind, even Grandmaster didn’t chase them around so much!

”That’s impossible.” Moon Aiko didn’t believe it.

”We can share resources between each other.” Wanshu explained while trying to catch her breath.

They were both lying on the ground and only their chests moved.

”Hmmmmm...” Moon Aiko thought about it for a while and figured out another prank that she could do later, but for that she needed more knowledge.

”You can rest. I will return~” Moon Aiko hummed happily while the Twins shivered.

”She won’t bite us when she comes back, right?” Yuxi was slightly looking forward to that, but also not, since it might be painful.

”I think that’s the last of our worries...” Wanshu saw that smile and humming. What Aiko was thinking might be even worse than a simple ’bite’.

”Well, it’s not like we can outrun her.” Yuxi shrugged.

”Don’t mention it. I’m still shocked that she didn’t even start to pant.” Wanshu groaned unhappily. They trained really hard, but they still couldn’t match Aiko.

Aiko could be said to have endless stamina in their eyes.

”No wonder Mei was grumbling.” Wanshu said seriously. She was quite happy about her easygoing partner.

”You will have to match it.” Yuxi proclaimed before meditating to recover her energies. ”You should do this too.” She glared at Wanshu.

”You are better at this.” Wanshu lazily and sexily laid on her side.

”Tsk.” Yuxi clicked her tongue, but once she recovered she would definitely scold her!

-----

Moon Aiko found the only building that was somewhat intact and barged in.

”I have a few questions-” Moon Aiko paused, seeing Chen Shi and Chen Yanqi going at it.

”...” Moon Aiko sighed as she closed those doors. It was the middle of the day, so she didn’t really expect that kind of sight.

’Fortunately, Mei is small.’ Moon Aiko touched her chest. She was quite happy with her size and Mei’s size.

’But then where is Mei?’ Moon Aiko felt like her energy was inside, but Mei was nowhere to be seen.

’Maybe underground?’ She tilted her head as she went around the building.

As expected there was some kind of cellar that Moon Aiko entered in order to find Mei.

This place looked quite old. There was moss here and there, while some places were even damp. The walls were made out of some kind of faintly light-blue rock, while the floor was made out of black rocks.

It was not marble as it was not as pretty. It probably served some kind of different purpose.

With her nose and perception through their connection it didn’t take all that long.

She arrived at the first large room and it was definitely a wine cellar.

There were wine barrels and bottles and Mei and Grandmaster were going through it and marking them down.

”Did I miss something?” Moon Aiko looked around.

”No, we are just trying to figure out what we have inside the Fox Village. For example, this place was not mentioned in any papers at all, so we have to record everything by hand.” Mei sighed, but then she suddenly paused when she noticed it was actually Aiko.

”Why not leave it to someone else?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”Because that would mean Mei would have to find hidden stashes.” Grandmaster chuckled, exposing Mei.

”Hey!” Mei groaned unhappily.

”Right, how about asking those Souls?” Moon Aiko smiled.

”You think they will tell us?” Mei rolled her eyes.

”They are undergoing persuasion training.” Moon Aiko gave her a thumbs up.

”Right...” Mei didn’t believe Aiko at all.

Moon Aiko touched her pendant and transformed it into a lamp. She then pulled out a Soul out of it, which turned into pseudo-Ghost almost immediately.

”What is this place?” Moon Aiko asked the Soul, while Mei was panicking.

”They will try to escape, what are you doing?!” Mei yelped at Aiko, since she didn’t believe the Souls would stay put.

”This is a hidden cellar.” The Soul immediately explained. ”While it’s not mine, I know that there is also a cheese cellar inside here. Some Elders liked to eat the cheese with wine, but most Elders would just frown at it.”

Both Mei and Dai Lu were stupefied by how polite and attentive the Soul was.

”What the hell...” Mei observed the Soul, but not only did it not want to escape, it also tried to butter Aiko up!

”Are there any papers about this place?” Moon Aiko asked.

”Yes, it’s behind that rock.” The Soul pointed at a wall made out of rocks.

”I don’t feel anything.” Dai Lu shook her head. She couldn’t feel any Qi or anything wrong with the wall.

”Most secrets are built with Human Cultivators in mind. So we do not use Qi as a means of hiding.” The Soul explained politely. ”Just carefully break this rock and you will get all the papers.”

Both Mei and Dai Lu were silent. If everything was hidden like that, then it would be nigh impossible to find.

The Elders might’ve been stupid at times, but their hiding spots were seriously incredible.

Dai Lu used her hand to crush the rock and to her shock there were some papers hiding behind it.

”They don’t have any Qi and are completely ordinary.” Dai Lu concluded before handing it over to Mei.

Mei looked through it with wide eyes. It contained everything that she needed to know, down to a cup.

This saved her a lot of time, since they didn’t need to go through everything.

”There are hidden Spirit Stones too...” Mei shook her head.

By the end of her investigation they will probably have around 350 million Spirit Stones!

That was enough Spirit Stones to fund your own Beast Sect! But the legacy would be more difficult to obtain, so other plans didn’t change at all.

”Should I pull out the others?” Moon Aiko asked them. The more Souls she pulled out, the more accurate information.

”What did you do to them?” Mei asked Aiko softly, feeling quite intimidated.

”I just... bathed them.” Moon Aiko smiled innocently, while Dai Lu almost choked on what she saw in her mind.

”Let’s not ask.” Dai Lu coughed awkwardly, nudging Mei.

”Is it that shocking?” Mei widened her eyes again. She didn’t believe that she would get that surprised.

”She is making a soup out of those Souls.” Dai Lu patted her shoulder.

”...” Mei just blinked at Dai Lu a few times, not saying anything.

”Ah, right. I wanted to collect some information about materials and techniques.” Moon Aiko suddenly proclaimed.

”This Fox Village is limited, but you can get them in the building above us.” Mei explained.

”I don’t want to return there...” Moon Aiko shifted her body uncomfortably.

”They are going at it, huh...” Dai Lu immediately read her mind.

”I told him to get lost if he did that...” Mei groaned unhappily. It seemed like this was not the first time that Chen Shi was caught.

”Is he some kind of exhibitionist?” Moon Aiko was startled.

”...” Neither of them said anything, as if trying to avoid that question.

”...” Moon Aiko groaned. ”Anyway, I would also like some more materials, so I can try to combine them.”

”You don’t have enough from the broken Treasures?” Mei was startled, since she knew what kind of huge pile that was.

”I do, but it takes a lot of time and energy to melt...” Moon Aiko shook her head.

”You are probably one of the few people that are actually willing to do that.” Dai Lu sighed. ”Most would just throw their Treasures away or sell them, instead of reusing them.”

”There are too many Forging Cultivators.” Moon Aiko said seriously.

”At least of the low grades.” Dai Lu shrugged.

”You can get materials too, but it would be better if we didn’t lose too many.” Mei was worried that there would not be enough bargain chips.

”I will do my best to not use too many.” Moon Aiko was planning to make toys that can share senses, thanks to the idea that she got from the Twins.

They would also be the perfect experimental subjects since they already shared senses.

’I wonder if it will blow their mind.’ This was both punishment and reward from Aiko to them if they keep helping her.

Dai Lu just stared at Aiko, not believing what she just witnessed in her mind.

”Okay, I will be going, just pull them out if you need them.” Moon Aiko left the paper lamp in Mei’s hands, since she still had a lot of work to do.

She then turned around and left.

”Should I ask why you look like that?” Mei glanced at the still stunned Dai Lu.

”It’s better that you don’t ask...” Dai Lu scratched her head awkwardly. She didn’t know how she would even explain that.

She knew that the Twins were interested in Aiko, but she didn’t think it would go both ways. Or was ’that’ just some kind of prank? Dai Lu was not completely sure, but she was sure as hell that she would not be the one to explain this whole situation!

”How suspicious...” Mei narrowed her eyes, but since now she had papers and very submissive Souls, she would be able to accomplish a lot more.

”I think it’s time to dig out all of those hidden Treasures and tally the count.” Dai Lu suggested to Mei to get some rest and go outside.

”Good idea, you are coming with me.” Mei smiled, but that smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

”What are you planning?” Dai Lu shrunk back.

”I will now bestow you the honorary job of being a digger~” Mei giggled while walking outside.

”... Dammit...” Dai Lu cursed under her breath, but this Mei was still better than the one before...