Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”You are evil...” The not-so-Evil Deer shuddered when he heard what that little Fox did.

”What? It’s not like we could use that Spirit Stone Mine, so it’s better to give it away.” Witch Aiko said that completely innocently, but the implication was more than just mortifying.

”I... am glad that I have not crossed you.” The Flustered Deer scratched his head awkwardly.

”But seriously... to think you would try to stir the hornets’ nest...” Mei was both impressed and afraid of what Dark Aiko was capable of.

”You don’t have to praise me so much~” Witch Aiko sheepishly laughed. She was quite happy that everyone acknowledged her plans.

”No I’m serious, I’m glad you are on my side.” Mei once had to deal with a person similar to what Aiko was, but even that person wasn’t as unhinged and spiteful as she was!

”You don’t have to be so serious~” Witch Aiko giggled happily, her soft body tempting everyone around her.

[Suggestion: Make ’Holy Deer’ into ’Holy Deeress’]

”Ah?” Witch Aiko eyed the ’Holy’ Deer up and down.

”W-what?” The ’Holy’ Deer sensed a concerning emotion from that little Fox, making him shudder all over.

”Hmmmm...” Witch Aiko playfully smiled. She was considering the system’s suggestion, since females were nicer to look at and wouldn’t get boners just from being around her.

Not that the ’Holy’ Deer had one, it seemed like he was acting like a sheep ready to be slaughtered at any moment.

’No, it’s definitely good that he doesn’t have that kind of kink.’ Witch Aiko nodded her head.

”What about your daughter, aren’t you concerned?” Witch Aiko pointed at the obvious.

”Ah, since we are allies I can tell you, but she is not my daughter, but sister.” The ’Holy’ Deer shook his head.

”Huh?” The Nightmare Owl that just came over almost face-planted when he heard that. ”Wait, she is not your daughter?!”

”Yeah.” The ’Holy’ Deer didn’t even question why this ’bastard’ was here.

”No way...” The Nightmare Owl shifted awkwardly.

”Wait, but how can she be your-” Witch Aiko felt like there was a more serious issue to address than just being a ’sister’.

”My father didn’t allow her to cultivate properly, but she is as old as I’m.” The ’Holy’ Deer shrugged.

”...” Witch Aiko stared at him like she was staring at some kind of freak.

”Whoa... Your father must think he is some hot shit, huh?” The Nightmare Owl patted the ’Holy’ Deer’s shoulder.

”Since when we were so buddy buddy?” The ’Holy’ Deer’s lips twitched unsightly, he was ready to bash his head in.

”Come on, don’t be like that~” The Nightmare Owl cackled at him.

The ’Holy’ Deer was obviously fed up with him, so he poked his sore side. ”How is that ’Treasure’ working out for you?”

The Nightmare Owl immediately stiffened. ”HAHAHA, we are just joking, you don’t have to take this seriously.”

The Nightmare Owl did say that, but everyone saw how panicked he was.

”... Anyway.” Witch Aiko turned towards the Crow Clan. ”How is the instigation going?”

”Allow me.” The Nightmare Owl cackled again.

”Why is it you again?” Witch Aiko didn’t like him too much since he was quite promiscuous, with his chest out all the time.

”Why is it me? We are called a ’Nightmare’ for a reason, you know?” The Nightmare Owl said proudly.

”The instigation went really well, both the Ancestral Beast of the Earthen Elephant Clan and Holy Deer Clan lost their mind and are going towards the suggested Spirit Stone Mine at full speed.” The Nightmare Owl gestured at the pretty table map.

”However, while the whole Earthen Elephant Clan is going, the Holy Deer Clan only sent the Ancestor and elites their way. So normal Holy Deer are still inside their domain.” The Nightmare Owl frowned, but this was still better than the Ancestral Holy Deer not going.

”That’s not too bad.” Witch Aiko nodded her head. She was quite happy that at least the Ancestors went that way, since ’that’ was quite terrifying.

”What are the chances that ’that’ would try to take revenge on everyone?” Witch Aiko stared at Mei, since she knew the most about this.

”If I assume the worst case scenario, the ’thing’ would occupy the Nightmare Forest, but even if we consider the fastest conquest, it should still give us enough time to leave this place.” Mei nodded her head slowly. She even considered the fastest conquest speed, but even that would barely miss them.

”Are you sure?” Witch Aiko didn’t want to leave it to chance, so she wanted to make sure they would really be able to escape this place.

”Aiko, you seem to be misunderstanding something. All Beasts are limited in what they can do once they reach a certain stage. If you are not willing to ascend, then the Mortal World would forcibly impose restrictions on you. The more power above that restriction you use, the less time you will live in the Mortal World.” Mei explained on the map, but even the greatest power would get reduced thanks to the Mortal World rules and Stagnant Qi.

”I see... then, what if we assume that the ’thing’ would use all its power?” Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes at Mei.

”Oho?” Mei seemed to understand what Aiko meant and pondered upon that question. ”In that case not only would one of the Ancestors die, but we might be able to kill both the other Ancestor and ’it’.”

”So we would be able to harvest materials that wouldn’t be easily obtained in the Mortal World.” Witch Aiko nodded her head.

”But you also wouldn’t be able to process them, probably, since you need Immortal World materials to make tools for the processing.” Mei shook her head, but this was still good since they could bargain with those materials.

Even if they couldn’t be used, they could still be displayed as a relic that spread your ’prowess’, attracting all kinds of attention.

”So it’s just a trinket.” Witch Aiko sighed. She was not looking forward to finishing them.

”But since the Beasts will be injured, the likelihood of ’it’ going around causing damage is... low.” Mei nodded her head seriously.

”Why is that?” Witch Aiko was startled.

”Why do you think ’it’ is sleeping or staying inside that place?” Mei smirked at the map, thinking about the possibilities.

”Hmmm...” Witch Aiko thought about it, but she couldn’t figure it out.

”The likelihood of injury is negligible, but the limited Cultivation Base is highly likely.” Mei chuckled.

”How do they differ?” Witch Aiko tilted her head.

”One would mean you are highly alert, since you are trying to tend to your wounds, while the other means you are in deep sleep trying to improve what you have messed up.” Mei drew two pictures, which attracted Witch Aiko’s attention.

”Since it’s trying to improve its strength, it’s unlikely it would pay us any mind as long as we didn’t take anything. If it was injured, it would try to threaten us the moment we found that place.” Mei tapped the map and gestured towards the red dots that were approaching the Spirit Stone Mine.

”I noticed that, but why is there no dot inside the Spirit Stone Mine?” Witch Aiko was able to find its presence by accident when air brushed past her inside the Spirit Stone Mine. Well, previously Spirit Crystal Mine.

”Hibernation is the highest possibility.” Mei explained it briefly, but it was pretty much a state of a body when almost all bodily functions stopped.

”Isn’t that dangerous?” Witch Aiko tilted her head.

”Considering its strength, no.” Mei shook her head.

”Oh, they are almost there~” Witch Aiko was looking forward to what would happen.

*RUMBLE*

Even the temporary Fox Village shook from the awakening of the Beast sleeping inside that place.

”Holy shit...” Witch Aiko gasped when she saw 70% of the red dots suddenly vanish.

”That’s... wow.” Mei was impressed by how reckless that Beast was. It didn’t care about the Mortal Rules and went all in on anything in the vicinity.

”The size of the dot signifies their Rank and power, right?” Witch Aiko had to ask, since that new dot was 5 times the size of the Ancestral ’Holy’ Deer!

”It’s worse than I thought...” Mei frowned, but considering how much strength it used, the Mortal Rules should kick in.

And as expected, the Beast was starting to shrink fast until the dot was only about 1.4 times the size of the Ancestral ’Holy’ Deer.

”That’s still bad.” Witch Aiko frowned.

”Not really, look.” Mei chuckled, this was truly the best case scenario!

”What? It’s not pursuing them?” Witch Aiko was confused.

”The Beast was probably trying to improve its Cultivation Base beyond the normal limit of the Mortal World. So that once it ascended, it wouldn’t be at such a big disadvantage.” Mei gestured how the dot went back inside the Spirit Stone Mine without doing anything else.

”That’s a thing?” Witch Aiko felt like the Mortal Rules were too loose, since such bizarre things could happen.

”There are many things that you will never know until someone tells you, that’s how rare those things are.” Mei shook her head. She was similarly shocked when she heard something like that was possible.

”How about using Seals on your body to achieve the same?” Witch Aiko tilted her head.

”You could do that... but then your Soul would suffer since the ’container’ would be much smaller than what you are used to.” Mei shook her head slowly, while it was possible, she wouldn’t allow Aiko to use it, unless she found a way to circumvent that weakness.

”The ’Holy’ Deer is returning, is that the dot of the bird lady?” Witch Aiko gestured at the Table Map.

”It seems like it.” Mei nodded her head. She was startled that the Crow Clan took it into her own hands. ”Look there are even more strange dots appearing, interfering with both the outside and inside Holy Deer Clan.”

”I wonder who they are...” Witch Aiko was curious why the Crow Clan was so zealous.

”You never know what they think. Well, since they are suffering, we should retrieve a few of their corpses and have a feast!” Mei proclaimed. She didn’t expect this war to turn out so... underwhelmingly easy, but if Aiko didn’t instigate that Spirit Stone Mine, it might’ve been a really bad battle.

However, with her wits, she was able to lure the worst enemies away, injure them and leave enough bodies behind to even profit from it!

”I think we will have to designate all of this as a forbidden zone.” Witch Aiko pointed to the area around the Spirit Stone Mine and even some further away.

”No, let’s make it longer, just in case.” Mei agreed with Aiko’s plan, but she would push the border further, just in case the Beast was overly sensitive and waiting for more invaders...