Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”You believe everyone would go against us?” Mei was slightly confused why Aiko was like this.

”Didn’t you say we would make a lot of enemies if we did what I said?” Moon Aiko also couldn’t understand where Mei was coming from.

They both paused for a moment before giggling.

”Then what do you intend to do? Have our base on a flying ship?” Mei laughed. She still couldn’t believe how carefree she was able to be, all thanks to Aiko.

”That’s not a bad idea.” Moon Aiko smirked. ”But I don’t think flying ships are big enough that they can fit all of us.”

”Wait, that was just a joke, you shouldn’t take it seriously.” Mei was both flustered and panicking, since she knew that Aiko just might be able to pull it off with enough time.

”Nono.” Moon Aiko wiggling her finger. ”It was a good idea, I think we can expand on it.” Since even Mei was able to joke about it, it was not outside of the realm of possibilities.

”But flying ships are too... pre-made, for that to work.” Moon Aiko frowned. Flying ships were too complex for her right now, the best she could do is to just tweak them.

”Indeed...” Mei nodded her head seriously. ”I have also noticed that all flying ships became too ’safe’ with their design, like everyone lost their marbles and are unable to create the old glorious vessels.”

”On that note...” Mei glanced at Aiko. ”What you own right now is close to how they would do it in the old times, even the materials pretty much fit.” She smiled ambiguously, but it was obvious she was hinting at something.

”Wait, those materials are quite cheap, no?” Moon Aiko blinked blankly at Mei, she didn’t believe that was their best craftsmanship.

”It actually is.” Mei smiled even more. ”But you have to take it from their position.”

”?” Moon Aiko was confused and just tilted her head.

”In the olden times, humans were not as powerful or widespread. They had only their little mountains, if they were able to drive out the Beasts, but that was about it.” Mei chuckled. ”With that, only limited resources and materials were available.”

”Speaking of which, the hull of your little boat is very precious and sturdy, if they had more time it would be even more beautiful, but alas.” Mei lamented, but that didn’t mean what Aiko currently had was bad, quite the opposite.

”Is there a time limit to the things you can create?” Moon Aiko was confused why they couldn’t take their time.

”Yes and no. Unlike flying ships, flying boats had to be finished in one sitting.” Mei gestured before drawing into the dirt once again. She noticed that Aiko liked this kind of learning, so she would indulge her here and there.

”As such, the real limit was your Qi, the amount of Qi replenishing Pills, and perseverance of your mind.” Mei circled those things and into the middle drew a small boat.

”If you reach the limit of your Qi, you won’t be able to finish the creation. If you consume too many Pills, the Pill impurities will affect the stability and quality of the creation. If your mind can’t hold on, then the creation can become twisted and cursed.” Mei kept adding between and inside each of the circles, making Aiko curious for more.

”As such, there is no hard limit and it depends on the craftsman, but that’s where another issue pops in.” Mei chuckled with some sadness. ”Once you have reached a certain stage, everyone will try to seek you out. They will want you to create their things and pay you handsomely for it, but ultimately you have only two hands and one Cauldron. If you take too much time on one thing, they might call you obsessed and you will lose your standing.” She shook her head.

”Have you ever experienced it?” Moon Aiko innocently asked. She never intended to call Mei out if she did experience it, but...

choke

Mei coughed awkwardly. ”W-well...”

”I feel sorry for you...” Moon Aiko pursed her lips. ”You are an amazing person, but even you can’t escape the judgment of the shitty humans...”

”Yeah...” It was enough for Mei to be acknowledged like this, but that didn’t mean she intended to get in contact with Human Cultivators. Sure, some of them were not too bad, but Mei didn’t want to associate with them too much.

”How cumbersome...” Moon Aiko thought that if they threw at least half of their pride away, the world would become a better place... probably... Well, at least their craftsmanship wouldn’t be so shitty!

”So take your time to explore what you want to do and everything surrounding it. You shouldn’t need to care about what others think, as long as you are satisfied with the outcome.” Mei smiled gently, patting Aiko.

”This has definitely become a habit.” Moon Aiko fixed her hair that Mei messed up.

”Hey! It’s not often I get to do this.” Mei sulked, since she enjoyed Aiko’s hair the most.

”Sure, sure.” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes, but she was quite happy that they were both doing well.

Moon Aiko smiled softly and they stayed like that for a while.

The Foxes around them let them have their moment, since they were currently playing a strategy scavenging city builder game.

They were enjoying themselves a lot, some even wore costumes to better blend in!

The whole situation became lively, which concerned the Fox Elders, but since neither of the truly powerful individuals said anything, they would just do their job.

”We should think about what we want to do too.” Moon Aiko thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if she started some grand project with Mei.

”That’s not a good idea.” Mei saw Aiko’s sparkling eyes and was immediately concerned, but this time the concern stemmed from her ’researching’ personality.

”Pretty please~?” Moon Aiko made sad eyes, trying to bait Mei into agreeing.

”Ugh...” Mei immediately groaned, her body uncomfortably squirming, trying to resist Aiko’s temptation.

”Fshhhhh... Fine.” However, that defence didn’t last all that long when it came to Aiko.

”Yay~” Moon Aiko hummed. She was quite happy.

But little did she know that she would hate the ’researching’ side of Mei and even challenge her about whose personality is worse...

...

”The Foxes are playing well.” Moon Aiko walked around. Most of those ruined buildings were adjusted by the Foxes, making them quite homely.

”But I wonder where they got so many materials?” Moon Aiko was confused, since there were furs, horns and other parts of animals.

”They probably hunted some.” Mei looked around, but since she didn’t get any messages from the Fox Elders, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

”Isn’t that dangerous?” Moon Aiko tilted her head as she walked closer to one of the ruined buildings.

The building only had two walls standing and 2nd floors barely standing.

The Foxes fixed up the flooring so that it wouldn’t immediately collapse, creating a supporting beam and slightly patching the floors.

This allowed them to stretch the flooring slightly, without it immediately collapsing.

This in turn allowed them to host more furniture and a homely atmosphere, and for some reason the rehabilitating Foxes were the most skilled at this, making everyone envious.

But unlike the cunning and hostile Fox Village who would abuse the Foxes if they had something better than their neighbours, these Foxes used bribes like food and other things to convince the rehabilitating Foxes to teach them.

”It should be fine.” Mei loved the current ’atmosphere’ of the Fox Village, but she was not holding too much hope on it.

Once Foxes learn that they have an easier time if they are cunning, they might revert to their old ways...

However, for the time being this was a stunning sight to behold.

The Foxes mingled with each other, some even formed pairs, but instead of their old ways they had... different air about them.

Even the most stubborn and abused Foxes noticed that things changed, a lot.

Moon Aiko smiled as the Foxes invited her into their ’house’.

One wall was supported by the temporary couches and other furniture, making her giggle slightly.

However, thanks to all of those fur pelts and horns, the atmosphere was truly ’homely’.

The couch was soft, made out of furs and some kind of soft material underneath. Judging by the noise it was probably dried up grass, but due to the fur pelt, you couldn’t feel it at all. The pelt was soft and dark brown, probably from some kind of predator, but since it no longer had a head, Moon Aiko was unable to figure out what it was.

The furniture was made out of simple light wood, making stark contrast between the couch and everything else. This also made those white horns stand out even more.

The fallen walls were replaced by a cloth. The cloth was like a baseline where you would hang the fur pelts to prevent the worst draft and make things feel more ’complete’ like this was not a ruined building.

The dust and everything was cleaned. It seemed like Foxes were inevitably clean-freaks since their tails would get dirty too quickly and easily.

”This is a nice place.” Moon Aiko smiled gently.

”Yay~!” The Foxes who made this place high-fived and jumped around from joy. Their noses were quite high up and pointy, definitely because they were praised by the picky Vicious Jade Fox.

”Tsk.” The other Foxes clicked their tongues, but it didn’t seem like they would fight it out, quite the opposite.

Those Foxes returned to their own homes and made them even more elaborate, making Moon Aiko look forward to what would happen next.

-----

”I... have never seen Foxes so enthusiastic before.” Yuan pursed her lips and her partner next to her was nodding her head too.

”They can feel that there is something strange about Aiko, so they are trying to make her happy.” Mei truly believed that others could feel it too, the special existence that was Aiko.

”That might be true, but just because you feel someone is special, doesn’t necessarily mean that you will want to do things for them.” Dai Lu appeared out of nowhere with wine. It was not the bottle that she got from her drinking buddy, but it was still precious enough that Cultivators would salivate over it.

Dai Lu offered everyone a cup before continuing her sentence. ”Aiko is kind and appreciates if someone puts in the effort. They also saw Aiko’s Treasure in action, making them more conscious about her, but the most important thing about this is the aforementioned kindness. Without that, most if not all Foxes would be unwilling to even leave the Fox Village.” She smiled softly, enjoying the current state of the Fox Village...