Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

The gathering of resources sped up, all thanks to Mei, since she had more experience with this.

Unfortunately, even when they were able to gather most resources, like the strange wood, the quantity was far from satisfying, considering this place was the Clan’s base.

Witch Aiko groaned gently wondering what kind of idiot the Ancestral Beast was. After all, there should be a limit to one’s stupidity, but no matter how much she thought about it, this whole place was a mess.

”That reminds me, do you think they really ate outside, or did they eat inside?” Witch Aiko had so many questions about this place, especially about the illusions.

”They probably ate inside.” Mei answered briefly, but even she didn’t like that idea.

”Huh? But wouldn’t that make the food decay?” Witch Aiko suddenly had a terrible feeling about this.

”Well, it doesn’t really hurt them as long as they don’t overdo it, after all, most Beasts don’t need to eat after a certain point, so there was no need for them to seek food.

”But wait, if they don’t have to eat, why set up a meat farm??” Witch Aiko wondered if this place was alright, but no matter how much she thought about it once again, it all felt really stupid.

”Everyone would like to indulge in something once in a while, meat was just easily accessible.” Mei shrugged like this was pretty common knowledge.

”No, I would understand if you would snack on something once in a while, but a farm for snacks...?” Witch Aiko felt like this was both a dangerous and ingenious idea.

”Don’t even think about it, we are currently moving.” Of course Mei realised it a step too late and Aiko was already cackling about it.

”We really can’t do it right now.” Mei kept convincing Aiko, since they would have to spend a lot of time over here for Aiko to accomplish what she wanted to do with snack farms.

”I will set it up once we have a base, deal?” Witch Aiko smiled from ear to ear. If she could make snacks for everyone, then she would do it~!

”Fine, fine.” Mei rolled her eyes, but she wasn’t against that kind of idea. Aiko would have to eventually get to the Human Body Stage and in that stage it would take everything a while to accomplish, so having small hobbies like this was perfect.

”How strange...” Witch Aiko tilted her head.

”What is strange?” Mei packed up the last wood pile, so it was easier to transport and exchange.

”You would normally try to bargain with me a bit more before settling on something I didn’t even intend.” Witch Aiko was trying to figure out what was wrong with Mei.

”What? I can’t indulge you once in a while?” Mei was slightly speechless, but it seemed like Aiko rubbed her the wrong way once in a while.

”I mean, you can. It’s just strange, that’s all I’m saying.” Witch Aiko shrugged like she didn’t mind this at all, but she was really looking forward to what she could create.

”Oh, we also have to visit the ’Holy’ Deer Clan, since there should be a way to decontaminate those carcasses.” Mei added this part, but she would definitely check on the construction, just in case something was wrong with it.

”That doesn’t sound like too much fun...” Witch Aiko believed that the Treasures would be missing from this place too!

Mei packed everything into her Spatial Ring before moving with others out of this place.

Almost all the Foxes were working on the continental flying ship and its scale was now much bigger than before.

Hosting all the Foxes inside? It was possible, but most of them would spend their time inside their rooms.

”Why not add windows?” Witch Aiko tilted her head.

”Windows are a liability unless you can find a nice material for it.” Chen Shi appeared out of nowhere, adjusting his glasses. Wait, he had glasses?!

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”Who are you?” Witch Aiko felt like she was still inside the illusion, since things were very bizarre!

Chen Shi’s lips twitched. ”This allows me to see the whole Inscription inside my mind.”

”Just say it’s a Treasure or Relic or whatever, no need to explain something I can’t steal.” Witch Aiko was only interested in description if she could take those Treasures for herself.

”That’s... unique way to look at it.” Chen Shi always had trouble following this Fox, mostly because her attention and thoughts were too sporadic.

”Did you need something?” Seeing everyone distracted, Mei asked the important questions.

”Ah, yes.” Chen Shi rubbed his head. He was having trouble keeping his thoughts in check when Aiko was around. ”The construction is undergoing well. Thanks to Danji, all the Foxes listen closely and there are almost no mishaps. The final continental flying ship will be about 11% bigger, but it shouldn’t affect the Floating Stones.”

”But what about the capacity? With an additional 11% it must be a lot heavier.” Mei narrowed her eyes. She needed a lot of room for cargo, but also enough lift to avoid crashing into the ocean!

”It is not. The Crow Clan kindly provided more resources so we can finish this.” Chen Shi folded his glasses before putting them away. Since he was talking somewhat casually, there was no need to deplete his Qi because of those glasses.

”Yep, I told them to get some more nice materials for the Foxes.” The bird lady also popped up out of nowhere startling everyone.

The bird lady seemed more energetic than before, probably because Aiko didn’t haunt her in her dreams.

”So we are progressing smoothly, but are there any issues in terms of Beasts?” Mei would skip most comments, since she still had a lot of work to do.

”They are being kept in check by the Crow Clan, while the Nightmare Owl Clan is using their scouts to alert everyone.” Danji explained. She noticed that almost everyone was distracted, so she wanted to know why.

And this was a good reason, since Aiko was around~!

Danji nuzzled Aiko. She would have to become a bit bolder in front of Mei in order to establish dominance.

However, Mei didn’t bat an eye, maybe because it was a Dark Aiko or maybe because she had so much work to do that she didn’t even think about this.

”This is... unexpectedly wholesome.” Witch Aiko didn’t mind this kind of affection and while it was slightly embarrassing to do this in front of so many Foxes, she quickly noticed that the morale was increasing rapidly.

’As long as they are happy.’ Witch Aiko resigned to her fate, since a lot of them used her as either a plushie or a mascot.

”Aright, since everything is working fine, we will be going to the ’Holy’ Deer Clan.” Mei declared, since there was nothing else to do here for the time being.

”Should I guide you?” Dai Lu also popped up out of nowhere.

’Why is everyone like this...?’ Mei sighed. It seemed like Aiko rubbed on them a bit too much...

...

Dai Lu guided the small group through the minefield that was the former Holy Deer Clan’s base.

The rot pretty much consumed most of the soil, making this place highly inhospitable. Don’t mention toxic flowers or anything resistant to their surroundings. If a weed could survive in this place it would be a miracle!

”I feel like my boots are burning?” Witch Aiko was confused, since this was a completely new sensation.

”You are not imagining it. This is what this place has become.” Mei shook her head gently. You pay the price for messing with rare Bloodlines that do not belong to you.

”Wait, does that mean even breathing would injure us?” Witch Aiko was honestly both impressed and scared about this kind of defence.

If it was not so unsightly, she would consider recreating this for her future base, but alas.

Let’s not mention the unsightly part, the smell itself was unbearable!

”I’m surprised you even managed to get back.” Mei jumped onto a nearby rooftop and changed her boots for new ones. The bad Qi would have to wait, and it’s also not a pressing matter for the time being so she could leave it as is.

Aiko and others followed suit, and they immediately felt better.

”We will have to sacrifice a few pairs for us to go through this.” Mei didn’t like the idea of using her boots as expendable, but it couldn’t be helped for the time being.

She didn’t expect this place to become cursed, but without the actual cursed Qi.

As such it was incredibly difficult to get through this place, not to mention affect it.

Witch Aiko felt a bit sick, but it was not too bad after changing boots. She was really tempted to let Sun Aiko deal with this, but if she went rogue that would be a big problem...

”We will continue slowly over the rooftops to avoid the exposure, but even then we will frequently change the boots just in case.” Mei explained the next course of action, since this place was truly bizarre.

Curse that didn’t act like a curse and Qi that consumed your stamina instead of vitality or Qi...

”This place is too strange, I hope those Treasures will be worth it.” Witch Aiko was pretty much working with fumes, since her motivation was dampened once the Earthen Elephant Clan lacked the Treasures.

’There won’t be any Treasures...’ Mei sighed inside her mind as she thought about it. If the ’curse’ was able to do this much, then anything natural would be polluted and decayed, leaving behind only a husk of the Treasure.

Of course, she didn’t say it out loud since it was possible that the Treasures were somewhere hidden from this strange Qi, but that was unlikely.

However, she didn’t want to discourage Aiko, since she was already having a hard time here.

Witch Aiko breathed infrequently. ”I can’t believe you were able to run through this place...” She groaned softly as this was quite hard on her.

”It was not this bad when I was leaving.” Dai Lu had to explain that this place changed too much and not for the better.

The main tree also crumbled down, burying the house of the Ancestral Beast with everything inside.

”Seems like we will have to figure out what to do with this thing first...” Mei sighed softly, it seemed like they would have to spend some time over here to make sure they gathered enough material to properly research it...!