Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko rested her tired body, before dragging it outside for some sun.

She was ’locked’ in that place for quite some time, so she kind of felt like the sun was more hostile towards her than before.

”I don’t wanna do anything...” Moon Aiko groaned and went back to bed without doing anything.

She would just rest and pass on the visitors, guests or whatever they were.

-----

”I didn’t think this place could ever become so cosy.” The Grandmaster from the Southern Sect laughed happily.

”It’s all thanks to the hard work that everyone is putting in.” Mei chuckled, but she was also impressed by how much the air changed.

They even banished some Foxes that were deemed hostile to their cause.

”How is that small twerp doing? I hope she is alright.” The Grandmaster already tried to handle that brat once, but he didn’t expect that this whole situation and the situations before were orchestrated by her.

”She is resting.” Mei shook her head. If Aiko didn’t work so much, she would be able to meet them too, but alas.

Mei had to do it for now and that was fine. It didn’t seem like they would pressure her into dragging Aiko here.

”That’s good. She was kind of eccentric, so I worry something might happen to her.” The Grandmaster shook his head. It was quite bothersome if that happened, since their Saintess was fond of that little cute vixen.

”If something does happen, it’s probably better to worry about her surroundings...” Mei laughed awkwardly.

”En... you had it rough.” The Grandmaster sipped his tea.

”You have no idea.” Mei sighed, but then she noticed a strange tension between the Grandmaster from the Southern Sect and Dai Lu.

”You seem to be doing well.” The Grandmaster pursed his lips.

”Not because of you.” Dai Lu snorted at him.

”I already apologised and tried to make it up to you. It was foolish of me to do that and I still regret it.” The Grandmaster shook his head.

”Is that why you are stuck in the same stage as before?” Dai Lu rolled her eyes.

”En...” The Grandmaster sighed.

Dai Lu was startled. ”Seriously...?”

”Yeah, it’s quite the nasty Heart Demon, my sword no longer progresses like before.” The Grandmaster shook his head.

”That’s why you sent those lotuses back then...” Dai Lu narrowed her eyes.

Mei let them duke it out, since it would be better if the Southern Sect allied with them, even on the mainland.

”...” The Grandmaster rubbed his head, not saying anything, but it was obvious that he was the main culprit behind sending those lotuses.

”...”

The silence was deafening.

”Seriously... can’t you duke it somewhere else? I thought we were discussing something serious, but you are having lovers quarrel.” Mei rolled her eyes at them. This situation was so awkward that they wouldn’t be able to move with this conversation any time soon.

Just then an explosion happened, startling them.

”?” They all looked towards the Jade Fox, but the sudden sense of danger made them jump out of the building.

*BOOOOM*

The building was flattened by what seemed to be a lid...

-----

Moon Aiko woke up refreshed. Her mind was completely clear, so she immediately pulled out her blueprints and got to work on her Cauldron.

To make it usable even without the upper part, she thought of something.

She could simply create a special lid that she could use, so that she wouldn’t need to warm multiple layers of the Cauldron, allowing her to melt things even faster.

Of course, this could be considered a temporary solution. It would never be able to match the might of the perfect [The Ever Shaping Cauldron], but for now it would do.

The bottom part was already done, the walls were also reinforced by her and Grandpa Flame, making them extra sturdy.

The only thing she had to do now was to make the lid and test it.

How much energy a Cauldron could hold depended on too many variables, so Moon Aiko was unable to calculate it for the time being.

As such she would have to probably destroy a few Cauldrons before she got the feel about it.

The lid was finished. It was nothing fancy, just something that fit on the top and was well insulated to keep the heat inside.

”Are you really going to test it...?” Grandpa Flame had a really bad feeling about this.

”We need to know if we can even use it...” Moon Aiko shook her head.

”That might be true, but I have a bad feeling about this.” Grandpa Flame groaned.

”Nothing will happen.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes as she poured her energy into the Cauldron.

This was the easiest way to do this, since normal non-fire-based energy would make a lot more mess than fire-based energy.

As such she was able to pack the Cauldron to the brim and even beyond.

If one had to describe what she was doing, the closest thing would probably be a pressure cooker or gas tank.

”You should stop now. It works well.” Grandpa Flame warned Aiko.

”We need to know its limits.” Moon Aiko disagreed and kept pouring her energy.

”It will blow up if you keep going!” Grandpa Flame was quite anxious.

Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. ”I have you and a sturdy body, it will be fin-”

*BOOOOM*

The Cauldron’s lid blew up and flew into the distance disappearing.

”... Oops?” Moon Aiko awkwardly rubbed her head.

”What do you mean ’oops’?! Didn’t I warn you?!” Grandpa Flame scolded Aiko, but he was happy the Cauldron didn’t blow up-

”Wait, this is in perfect condition?” Grandpa Flame was confused, since that amount of energy should’ve exploded the lower part!

”Yeah, just the lid disappeared.” Moon Aiko could not see where the lid went.

”This is... weird.” Grandpa Flame never heard of a Cauldron that was unbroken even with that kind of ridiculous energy intake!

”I’m tired...” Moon Aiko groaned and went to bed again.

”Without a roof?” Grandpa Flame sighed at her.

”Roof be damned, I’m too tired to move.” Moon Aiko didn’t want to hear anything from anyone.

”Obviously, since you blew all the energy in your Beast Core into it!” Grandpa Flame didn’t know if he should scold her, or praise her. This was a seriously robust Cauldron, so much so that even he wanted it!

...

A day later, Moon Aiko woke up. She stretched her tired body before looking over.

[The Ever Shaping Cauldron: Divine Meteorite (-); {Resonance}/100% (Unfinished)]

[Rarity: What even is this...?]

[Restriction: Aiko’s Body]

[Effects;

Qi conductivity: 100%

Durability: +500%

Shielding effectiveness: 100%]

[Owner: Aiko]

[Description: Even if this is unfinished, it’s a work of art never seen before. The energies inside are perfectly balanced through special lines engraved into the walls. The material was used to its full potential, raising its durability and protective effectiveness further!]

[Special: Protection]

[Protects you from a fatal strike!]

[Qi: Breakthrough Mahayana Stage (Once)]

[Force: Breakthrough Body Integrity Stage (Five Times)]

”This is incredible...” Moon Aiko nodded her head. While the temporary lid didn’t count as part of this, it was still impressive what she achieved.

When it came to Qi, nobody in the Mortal World would be able to kill her in one hit. Her Treasure would be able to block a single strike, no matter how big it would be.

The problem came with physical force. The Divine Meteorite was simply too soft to contend with its conductivity effectiveness.

But that was still fine. This was the perfect lifeline that Moon Aiko would be able to use.

’Although the activation still depends on my Cultivation Stage, so I will have to work hard once I get a Human Body...’ Moon Aiko groaned since she realised that it cost her quite a lot to maintain this behemoth.

’While I won’t be able to summon it’s maximum potential, it should still be good enough to block many strikes.’ Moon Aiko was convinced that this would come in handy.

She paused a few times and then decided something important.

’Let’s create a small compartment too, so that when I’m in the Human Body, I don’t have to warm the whole ass Cauldron.’ She nodded her head a few times.

’But first, let’s find the lid.’ Moon Aiko groaned unhappily, but she should be able to find where the lid went if she looked seriously.

...

Moon Aiko went towards where the rumours dragged her.

The Demonic Foxes were quietly giggling at her, making her quite uneasy about the situation.

Moon Aiko arrived at the foot of a ruined building.

There, Mei and others were enjoying tea, but what attracted the most attention was definitely-

’The lid...!’ Moon Aiko groaned when she saw it.

The others already noticed her, and were waiting for her. Not for her to apologise, but to sit down and enjoy the tea with them.

Moon Aiko met eyes with Mei and she immediately caved in.

”I’m sorry...” Moon Aiko apologised sincerely since she didn’t expect the Cauldron lid to fly all the way here!

Everyone was startled, but they just chuckled.

”It’s fine, come over.” Mei laughed at her cute side.

”I wonder what caused it to fly all the way over here.” The Grandmaster was curious, but he wouldn’t press this little Fox for answers.

Meanwhile, only Dai Lu was letting the tea flow out of her mouth...

Why you might ask? Since she saw the whole process of what happened from Aiko’s mind.

”Are you alright?” Mei was startled when she saw Dai Lu spilling her tea.

”Haha...” Dai Lu was low on energy, but that was only natural. Who would’ve guessed Aiko would do something crazy again! ”You should really teach her the limits of Cauldrons before she blows this place up.”

”?” Mei tilted her head and then she realised what that ’thing’ was. ”Did you try to test the durability of your Cauldron?!” She was ready to scold Aiko, but she couldn’t.

She didn’t tell Aiko about all the dangers since they were working with very easy stuff and robust Cauldrons.

Once she started to refine 4th Grade Pills in larger batches, then Mei intended to explain another part to Aiko.

However, Mei didn’t expect that Aiko would be very active, almost killing herself in the process.

”I will have a word with you later.” Mei said seriously.

”En...” Moon Aiko sniffled, since she was not looking forward to that...