Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

[You have obtained 8,451 Cultivation Points.]

”Hm?” Witch Aiko tilted her head. This kind of thing happened a long time ago, but to get it now? Was that Holy Deer somehow different?

Witch Aiko would have to investigate, but for now, she would keep going with this experiment/training.

Next up was tough Holy Deer, that was because Witch Aiko wanted to test her weapons.

She didn’t really like swords and those kinds of things, poles were fine, but also not something she wanted to use.

If she were to describe it, she would be a mid-range type of Cultivator. It was not to the point where she got the plague when she went melee, but she liked to have some distance between herself and whatever she was stoni- Ahem, whatever she was damaging.

Her main weapon was anything that laid around, be it rocks or rocks or rocks.

However, even with her Qi imbuing, it was hard to penetrate harder skins.

The Holy Deer in front of her could not compare to an Earthen Elephant, but even then she had trouble piercing it with rocks. However, Spirit Stones were something completely different...

*BOOM*

The Holy Deer was blasted away due to the explosive nature of the Spirit Stone. Well, they are by no means explosive, but thanks to her imbuing it crosses a certain threshold making it quite volatile.

The degree of explosion depends on how much Qi you are able to pour into it and while Witch Aiko doesn’t have complete control over it, that also means the explosions are more predictable.

However, once again, due to those explosions, she no longer is a mid-range harasser, but a long-ranged one. The explosions are quite nasty and would affect Witch Aiko negatively, so it was impossible to let them blow up so close to her.

And that’s where her weapons come in. At that kind of distance the force within the Spirit Stones makes it easy to dodge, making it not really viable.

There were also no techniques that allowed you to levitate the Spirit Stone, if you don’t count Divine Sense, since who would in their right mind try to hurl Spirit Stones at their enemies...

As such, Witch Aiko was limited to a sling, slingshot and those kinds of things. She might even come up with some kind of crossbow, but then that would limit her firing rate, since the Spirit Stones were still uneven rocks.

First, a simple sling. You could further enhance it with Runes, but let’s not do that right now as it might skew the research material.

The sling needed at least 2 full rotations to be hurled at the enemies and the more rotations you did, the greater the force. It was also less predictable, since you are swinging it around, making it difficult to follow with eyes.

This proved quite fatal to the Holy Deer that was previously easily dodging the Spirit Stone. He was now unable to predict the trajectory, making him more susceptible to the explosions or direct impact.

This was all fine and good, but once again, this had limitations, those 2 full rotations were quite fatal if she needed to quickly hurl those Spirit Stones. Moreover, you also needed a certain space around you, be it to the sides or to the sky, the best hurling angle was around 45 degree downward from horizontal swing.

That’s where slingshot came in. While it lacked the brutal force of the sling, it didn’t need any big motions and-

*Ratatatatatatata*

”Gosh... I feel kind of bad for that Deer...” Dai Lu suddenly felt like she should teach Aiko some battle manners, but...

”She won’t listen and if something happened to her, I would hold you accountable.” Mei narrowed her eyes. She didn’t mind Aiko being a ruffian and disgrace when it came to fights, since it meant she would be able to win easier and with fewer injuries.

All that mattered for Mei was that Aiko would be safe.

”But don’t you feel bad for him...?” Dai Lu saw what Mei was imagining and pursed her lips. She shouldn’t have asked that question.

”Why would I?” Mei blinked at her. ”You already know it, but they shouldn’t have tried to attack us in the first place. We are not the instigators, nor antagonists. We don’t need to feel sorry for them as that’s what they brought upon themselves.”

”That’s... interesting way to look at it.” Dai Lu rubbed her head awkwardly.

”You will get used to it.” Mei shrugged.

”I don’t know if I want to.” Dai Lu replied honestly.

”But I won’t allow you to put us in danger just because you believe in some kind of ’creed’.” Mei warned Dai Lu in advance, since she would be livid if someone got injured just because of some kind of shitty pride or conviction.

Dai Lu didn’t say anything more and they just watched how the poor deer was showered by explosive Spirit Stones.

”You know what?” Mei was taken aback seeing that fight in front of her. ”I do feel kind of bad for him, since those Spirit Stones are not enough to kill him.”

”That’s what I’m saying.” Dai Lu immediately nodded her head.

Witch Aiko kept slinging those Spirit Stones for a while, but it was obvious that the slingshot was better for silent takedown, since it was not as noisy as the sling.

However, without the force of the sling, it was impossible to kill tougher Beasts.

’That’s why everyone likes sharp things...’ Witch Aiko nodded her head, but that still didn’t mean she would be convinced to use swords!

She finished this fight by letting that Holy Deer leave, since she didn’t need him any more. And since she couldn’t kill him this way, it felt kind of wrong to switch to something else to finish him.

”How about some pure melee?” Dai Lu suggested she would pick some strong and tough Deer for her to pummel.

Witch Aiko stared at her blankly.

”What?” Dai Lu felt weird since she Aiko didn’t think of anything, but that judging gaze made her feel unsettled.

Mei pursed her lips. She knew that gaze, Aiko was plotting something as revenge for making her do something she didn’t like.

And she was right!

*Poof*

”I’m back~!” Sun Aiko popped up ready to play.

”...” Dai Lu sighed. She should’ve expected this, she definitely should! But who would’ve thought that Aiko would cheat like this!

Dai Lu looked at the Holy Deer she picked and gazed at her in pity for a brief moment.

Outside the shock of seeing a different kind of Fox in front of them, the Holy Deer were just confused why everyone was looking at them.

They were the invaders! Stop pitting us!

The Holy Deer dashed at the ’new’ Fox.

Sun Aiko dashed at her. Well, it was more of a skipping run than actual dash, but since she was the brawns of the party...

Sun Aiko dodged her fist before using her own tiny fist to bash her. However, as was her nature, her fist was wrapped in Solar Essence.

She was unable to store any Solar Essence in her body, so most of it just hung around her body and utilising it was... well, she didn’t utilise it as the Solar Essence naturally wanted to rush outwards.

*Tssssss*

”It buuuuurns!” The Holy Deer cried out as she started to run around being chased by that diabolical Fox.

”Hahahaha~” Sun Aiko was laughing happily.

”...” Both Mei and Dai Lu looked at the scene blankly.

”This is worse than before...” Dai Lu groaned, at times she wondered if Aiko was not actually a Fiendish Cultivator because of how she acted.

”It’s painful to watch since it’s hard to challenge this kind of Aiko.” Mei understood that, since she only saw that much Solar Essence on special Peaks or Immortal World.

”Do you think my sword would melt?” Dai Lu didn’t really care about the materials her sword was made out of, as long as it was able to endure her training and battles.

”You would be able to protect it with your energy.” Mei nodded her head.

”No, that would mean that Solar energy would invade my body.” Dai Lu frowned at Mei for even trying to suggest something as ridiculous as trying to protect the sword.

”But aren’t all Sword Cultivators obsessed with their swords?” Mei questioned if Dai Lu was even a Sword Cultivator.

”Hey! I’m not a freak, I will ditch my sword the second I see it will hinder me.” Dai Lu clicked her tongue. Liking one’s sword was fine, but staking your life over it was not! So many wonderful Sword Cultivators died just because they didn’t want to ditch their swords!

And sure, it’s different if we talk about Natal or Innate Swords, but those are as rare as they can get and almost impossible to make without a lot of help!

”Hahahaha~” Sun Aiko ran after the Holy Deer that transformed into her Beast Form. She really wanted to ride her and see how it would feel.

If it felt bad, then she would do something about the Holy Deer that followed her through the [Jaws of ####]. He might be a portable healer, but that didn’t mean she had to like him!

”Get away from meeee!” The Holy Deer cried and sobbed. This tiny Fox was even worse than the previous one. You could shield against those explosions and just wait until she ran out, but there was no protection against that vicious Solar energy that invaded and ravaged the body!

”Caught you~” Sun Aiko wrapped her body around the Holy Deer’s neck, giggling sinisterly.

”Eeeeek!” The Holy Deer cried rivers of tears, since she knew that her life was over...

Sun Aiko sat on the Holy Deer’s back and commanded.

”Onwards!” Sun Aiko would try riding first.

However, her current Holy Deer was... quite pathetic.

”Saw... Can I still leave...?” The not-so-Evil Deer gulped nervously. He did give her those Treasures, but now it felt like he was entering the jaws of something he wouldn’t be able to defend against.

”What do you think?” Mei chuckled. She didn’t mind him staying, but it was better for him to leave.

*Sob* ”As I thought...” The not-so-Evil Deer sobbed, which confused Mei.

Dai Lu was holding in her laughter over this misunderstanding.

Sun Aiko... got bored. And as you might expect, that’s never a good thing, especially when it comes to Sun Aiko.

”Now run!” Sun Aiko was kicking her legs against the Holy Deer, trying to make her run faster, but she just didn’t want to.

Sun Aiko puffed up her cheeks.

*Slap slap slap*

She started slapping that huge horse behind.

”Now fly!”

The Holy Deer screamed as her ass was lit aflame thanks to the abundant Solar energy, making her fly high into the sky!

”YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!” Sun Aiko laughed happily as this kind of traversing was much more fun than her Flying Boat!

Needless to say, keep your Aiko’s happy, or you might find yourself in a pickle...