Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

The continental flying ship landed and everyone disembarked. The Foxes were quite spread out, but most of them were interested in what was below them.

As such they immediately created tree houses, since they wanted to experience something different, while Muscle Foxes started to dig.

”We will hide this place with illusion, so we can extract it later or exchange it for something.” Mei gestured where to put the wet soil, so that it wouldn’t be too conspicuous.

They landed inside a forest, but the continental flying ships toppled a few dozen trees from their weight.

The flying ships were now ’secured’ between trees, but it was obvious this was just a temporary stop as some of those flying ships wanted to tilt already.

”Take some logs and secure the flying ships.” Yuan commanded, being followed by her partner that handled the muscle part.

Moon Aiko was impressed by everyone’s efficiency, but she was interested in how the Spirit Stone Mine looked and felt. Maybe she would be able to locate more of them in the future, so this would be a good experience for her.

Dai Lu and the Grandmaster still chatted, but they already knew what was happening outside, so they drank less alcohol now.

That was to ensure they would be able to deal with enemies if they come.

Moon Aiko joined the Muscle Foxes in digging, since she had this strange feeling.

The ambient Qi was quite strange. It could not be said the air was filled with Qi, it was quite the opposite. The ambient Qi was lower than what she was used to.

Moon Aiko wondered if all Spirit Stone Mines were the same or if there were any significant differences.

”I wonder how long we will have to dig...” One Muscle Fox murmured, since it didn’t seem like they were doing any progress.

”About 10 times this.” One of the Fox Elders said while looking at the mystical Table Map.

”Ugh...” The Muscle Foxes groaned. While it was fine if they had to dig, it was quite discouraging since it was very slow.

Moon Aiko didn’t want to spend THAT much time on it, so she decided to take a shortcut.

[Digging Site] + [Soil Excavation]

With those two she designated a square under here and-

*Whoosh*

”Eh?”

”Huh?”

The Muscle Foxes were suddenly in the air for some reason and some of them didn’t react fast enough and face planted.

”...” Moon Aiko pursed her lips. This was quite fun~!

She designated the ground again and again, peeling that ground like it was a crunchy crust.

The Muscle Foxes were confused about what was happening until they realised that one certain Fox was cackling.

”It’s her.”

”No doubt.”

The Muscle Foxes immediately adjusted their centre of gravity to be able to follow this abnormal little Fox.

”This is fun~” Moon Aiko smiled until she hit rocks. Since one of the skills were now not usable she would have to use just her [Digging Site].

But that would still allow her to dig faster than before, which she liked.

”Hm? Is this easier?” The Muscle Foxes rubbed their heads in confusion, but since ’that’ Fox was around, it was definitely because of her.

’Who needs common sense when she is around.’ The Muscle Foxes had a silent agreement before they all flexed their muscles at the same time.

They kept flexing until their muscles warmed up and bulged.

”Leave this to us.” One Muscle Fox stopped Aiko.

’Why does this work on them?’ Moon Aiko was confused why they were able to dig faster when that was her skill.

[As they are part of your faction, some skills will be able to apply to others.]

[And as you improve your influence and domain, those skills will be strengthened for free.]

’Right, I should upgrade some skills.’ Moon Aiko thought that she might do that, since she had mastered quite a few of them for a while.

[You can do that, but it will cost you.]

’Eh.’ Moon Aiko shrugged in her mind before turning towards the Muscle Foxes. ”Can you do it well?” She was curious if they were better than the eight-tailed excavator.

”Haha.” The Muscle Foxes bulged their muscles once again.

*Boom*

The pickaxes obliterated the rocks, making them loose and easily picked up. Half of the Muscle Foxes placed their pickaxes aside and picked those rocks, moving them out of the hole that the Vicious Jade Fox created.

Moon Aiko was impressed once again by how well organised everyone was.

The normal Foxes and Demonic Foxes were preparing the tents and fires for food, while the Muscle Foxes and overall Foxes that were strong, were dealing with the hole.

”The Foxes changed a lot.” The Southern Sect Grandmaster appeared next to Aiko.

”I told you.” Dai Lu giggled. ”Many changes happened when nobody was looking.”

”Not just looking. To take the whole Fox Village and move it...” He shook his head. He still couldn’t believe that was even possible.

”Don’t underestimate us.” Moon Aiko chuckled.

”And especially you.” The Southern Sect Grandmaster laughed.

”Well, you can underestimate me, I don’t mind.” Moon Aiko chuckled.

”So that I could suffer? No way.” The Grandmaster snorted unhappily.

”But that would be good for us.” Dai Lu smiled sinisterly.

”You and your ideas...” The Grandmaster shuddered. It seemed like this was not his first encounter with such a Fox.

”Oh shush.” Dai Lu slapped his shoulder. ”You are saying it like you suffered.”

”I did.” The Grandmaster shamelessly retorted. ”My swordsmanship didn’t progress as quickly because of you.”

”You know that most Cultivators would love to have me around.” Dai Lu snorted, her 9 tails swayed gently behind her.

”Yeah, if they had dicks for brains.” The Grandmaster rolled his eyes.

”You can get back into the room while we dig.” Moon Aiko shooed them away. She didn’t need to watch this honeymoon quarrel.

”We are not married!” Dai Lu hissed at Aiko.

”Ooops.” Moon Aiko completely forgot that Dai Lu could read her mind. ’But can you blame me? You act like you would pounce at him the next moment.’ She accused her without batting an eye.

”...” Dai Lu couldn’t confirm nor deny that, so she chose to stay silent.

With those two strange lovebirds removed, the whole digging part was progressing smoothly.

”The biggest pain is dirt.” One Muscle Fox narrated to Aiko. Anything hard was good for them, since it could always be easily broken apart, but something as soft as soil had big issues.

The main one would be that it liked to slide down slopes, so the whole hole would have to be huge in order to keep things in check and prevent mud slides.

Those were both dangerous and deadly, even for Cultivators, since the Stagnant Qi would often be at the bottom of the slide, swallowing them with Void Beasts.

Moon Aiko nodded her head attentively. ”But with big enough shovels...” The mud slides were hard to solve, but speeding the soil process was possible.

”That would be difficult, since we could bend those shovels...” The Muscle Fox awkwardly scratched his head.

”Even if it’s strengthened?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”But then those costs would skyrocket.” The Muscle Foxes didn’t want to use overly expensive things, since it was difficult to replace them without losing all of their Spirit Stones.

”I see...” Moon Aiko never really thought about that. When she was creating things for her team, she could simply pick the best materials and ignore the cost, but once she scaled the process...

’It becomes a balancing act.’ Moon Aiko nodded her head slowly. Simply balancing the cost vs count. If the count was lower, she could raise the cost, and wise verse.

”As such we would rather use smaller things in order to save up for Massage Chair time!” The Muscle Fox roared, and other Muscle Foxes joined him.

’I have to make the Massage Chair free for them.’ Moon Aiko considered her losses, but if it meant she could get an immortal digging squad...

’I wonder if we could move the whole Spirit Stone Mines if they were motivated enough.’ Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow. This was quite the diabolical idea, but one that could help her a lot.

Not every Spirit Stone Mine would be close to their base and if she could just dig the Spirit Stone Mines that were further away...

’Infinite wealth~’ Moon Aiko hummed happily.

The Muscle Foxes shuddered, like someone was after their life, but since they couldn’t feel where it was coming from, they just nervously kept digging.

Moon Aiko climbed up. She was limited in distance when it came to her skill, so she couldn’t go too far.

”Bin?” Moon Aiko was startled when Bin was walking around with a huge mountain of sticks on his back.

”Vicious Jade Fox.” Bin smiled happily. He didn’t mind the weight at all and was happy that he could help around, especially when it came to his ’wife’.

”Are you helping around?” Moon Aiko was interested in their relationship and how it worked. She wanted to understand why her ground acted as they did and how she could smooth things between Mei and Danji.

”Yeah, everyone has their own skills they can do. Most Foxes aren’t really strong and focus on illusions or making Pills and stuff, so the division of labour is clear.” Bin chuckled trying to explain what he was doing, since this little Fox seemed interested in this.

”I see...” Moon Aiko nodded her head. She did somewhat expect this, but expecting and seeing were two different things.

Unfortunately she couldn’t walk around freely yet, so she would put her investigation on hold for the time being.

”They caught a lot of animals and Beasts, so the food should be good.” Bin waved as he was leaving, since the fires had to be lit and maintained.

”What an interesting guy.” Moon Aiko puffed some air.

”Miss!” The Muscle Foxes shouted towards her.

Moon Aiko turned around, only to see that the digging spot was already cleared and she would have to designate a new one.

’They are quick...’ Moon Aiko was startled, but that also meant she wouldn’t have to spend as much time around which was a good thing.

Moon Aiko slid down and designated a new spot, while looking over the overly large piles of rocks and small pile of soil.

’Right, I should ditch that soil since it’s useless.’ Moon Aiko nodded her head and threw all the useless soil out of her tails, quadrupling the size of the soil pile and making Mei panic.

Moon Aiko hummed innocently as she went to look for the Muscle Foxes and see if they needed another digging spot...