Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Yue drew a few words before slapping them into the tiger.

Lightning enshrouded the tiger, making it into a pseudo-Sacred Beast.

”White Tiger?” Aiko was startled since she knew this guy, although that guy was supposed to be a lot bigger than this little kitty.

”En.” Yue fluttered her eyelashes. She didn’t expect Aiko to know even this part, but as expected.

’She has some experience, but that won’t be enough to survive in the outside world.’ Yue would do her best to teach her inside this place, whatever it might be.

”You can grant powers upon the painting and those powers won’t actually drain our Qi.” Yue smiled.

”So if you tried painting those powers, it would constantly drain you?” Aiko somewhat understood about the upkeep, but it was kind of strange. ”Doesn’t this tiger already consume Qi?”

”En, it does.” Yue smiled. ”Every creation needs Qi to survive, even your creations need it. However, the consumption is already too severe. So usually you would already make a scroll painted with art and then just finish the last line before using it.”

”The scroll is made out of powdered Spirit Stones, so it acts as a sort of storage for energy and while it will still cost you to maintain ownership over the creation, it’s a lot less than if you would do it without it.” Yue giggled.

”However, you still run into the same problem. The more powerful the creation, the more it consumes Qi.” Yue turned seriously. ”That’s where Confucianism comes in. It allows you to grant powers in exchange for your mental strength.”

”You use your brain for a bit in order to make your creation more powerful without actually consuming Qi and since Confucians train their minds. This is much better than just using Qi.” Yue patted the big tiger who purred gently. Not quite like a cat, but it was still cute enough to make your heart melt.

Aiko patted the kitty. It was surprisingly docile, probably because of Yue.

”You cover for each other’s weaknesses.” Aiko nodded her head seriously. ’What if I used sound instruments for AOE, sling for sniping and...’ What was she supposed to use for melee?

”How about going to another shop?” The tiger slowly dissolved since Yue grabbed a random ink and not anything specialised.

It was actually a miracle that it lasted this long.

’This place is strange...’ Yue narrowed her eyes. Especially the window that was popping up in front of her.

[

Name: Fang Yue (Frail Soul Form)

Level: 1

HP: 10/10

MP: 100/100

Equipment:

-

Magic: [Living Painting], [Words of Power]

]

’Hmmmmm...’ The more she tried to do, the more this thing filled up with information, which made Yue concerned.

”Which shop?” Aiko wanted to know more, but it seemed like Yue was bothered by something.

”I would like some nice food.” Yue didn’t eat... forever, pretty much, since she didn’t remember the taste of her human body.

”Uhuh.” Aiko chuckled.

”?” Yue was slightly confused, but still followed Aiko.

...

”So... that’s why you were chuckling like that.” Yue’s lips twitched as food kept appearing in front of her like it was suddenly manifested.

”Yeah, we are almost the only things living inside this place.” Aiko nodded her head seriously.

”I did notice this place being deserted, yes.” Yue nodded her head, but she didn’t expect to be this bad.

”What can you do, I can’t invite others in just yet.” Aiko shrugged.

”No, even if you could, this place is already abnormal as is.” Yue felt flabbergasted for multiple reasons.

The main being the protective layer around her Soul that she had to make so carefully, but inside this place, there was no pressure on her Soul!

This text was taken from NovelFire. Help the author by reading the original version there.

”And this is the guy that is the only other being, being alive.” Aiko showed the slime, but...

”KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” Yue jumped away from the table like her life depended on it.

”W-w-w-w-w-why do you have that thing?!” Yue was hiding behind the counter inside the restaurant, staring at Aiko fearfully.

”Hm?” Aiko was confused. ”Isn’t this little guy lovable? Look at how jiggly and shiny it is?” She tried to appease Yue to the best of her abilities.

”Not a step closer!” But for some reason, Yue was still freaking out about the thing that Aiko was holding.

”...” Aiko was confused about what was happening.

”Where did you get it?” Yue asked Aiko cautiously.

”I... grew it? Raised it?” Aiko pondered about the right word, but she was lost for words when she saw Yue’s expression.

She had this blank expression with ”of course you did...” as if it was the most natural reaction one would have.

Yue sighed gently. ”Listen well.” She pointed at Aiko from behind the counter. ”That thing is one of the most dangerous abominations ever discovered. It consumes everything, not because it’s hungry like Taotie but just because. It doesn’t discriminate or distinguish between friend and foe!”

”Okay.” Aiko nodded her head seriously, hugging her Spirit Slime.

Yue had an expression like she would faint soon. ”Are you not listening?! Why are you hugging it?!”

”I’m listening. I’m listening well.” Aiko smiled, but she still played with the slime in her hands.

”Ugh.” Yue grabbed her neck from frustration, making an unsightly expression.

”Here, greet our companion that will help us clean this place~” Aiko raised the Spirit Slime above her head proudly.

”...” Yue just stared blankly at Aiko for a while before eventually giving up.

*Sigh*

”What am I supposed to do with you?” Yue kept her distance, but she was no longer hidden behind the counter.

”Play with me?” Aiko smiled innocently, just as the slime jumped at Yue.

Yue freaked out, almost dying right then and there, but the abomination didn’t do anything to her.

It took her some time before Yue calmed down.

”Can’t you not scare me?” Yue sniffled, like she was just about to cry.

”I also didn’t expect it, but it does like soft and squishy places so-” Aiko suddenly glanced at Yue’s body, which made her audibly click her tongue with ’Tsk’ following.

”?” Yue was confused, so she looked down. ”S-s-surely not?!”

”You are in charge of this guy.” Aiko smiled at her and Yue could only sniffle back.

...

”The texture is not bad, but I do not approve.” The no longer scared Yue was caressing the Spirit Slime after hearing the whole backstory. ’It’s still too unbelievable...’

”That’s too bad, but if you don’t mind collecting tens of thousands of small marbles, including on the bottom of the lake, then we can negotiate.” Aiko smiled like an angel, but those words were closer to a devil.

’Blood’ trickled on the edge of Yue’s lips. It seemed like she didn’t expect that kind of answer, so she was seriously considering it.

”Oh, each village closer to us has around 2000 enemies, if you go deeper that number grows, so we have around 50,000+ enemies to go through, but it’s probably closer to 100,000+.” Aiko smiled at her and Yue almost fainted.

”F-fine...” Yue gulped nervously. This creature was one of the calamities that almost wiped out the Immortal World. It was being kept by a Prin-

*Faints*

”Huh...?” Aiko blinked at Yue who just fainted. ”What happened?” She was completely unaware that Yue connected the dots and her brain fried because of the realisation.

”I hope she is fine...” Aiko picked up Yue and brought her to her home and into the bed.

...

”Ngh...” Yue groaned as she woke up. ”Haaahaaaa...” She laughed strangely. ’Better to shut my brain...’ She decided that she shouldn’t care about certain things if she wanted to maintain her sanity.

”Are you alright?” Aiko walked into the room.

Yue shifted her body to the edge of the bed. ”I’m... by the way, where is th-KYAAAA!” And she immediately jumped back onto the bed.

”The Spirit Slime likes to stretch on the floor, so...” Aiko laughed awkwardly, but she was very concerned about Yue. ”Here is some soup with bread, try to eat slowly.” The food in this place couldn’t be said to be filling, since you could constantly eat and never have enough.

However, the feeling of hunger was not there either, making the whole situation a bit strange.

”...” Yue sighed weakly as she received the food.

At first, she didn’t touch it much, but when she did, she devoured the whole soup in a few gulps.

”This was a lot more delicious than the restaurant.” Yue looked at Aiko, thinking that she was the one who cooked this.

”Yeah, I have no idea why, but the food made by this house is really delicious.” Aiko nodded her head while using her feet to feel the Spirit Slime under her.

”...” Yue was no longer surprised at this, especially after the food kept appearing inside the restaurant.

”I wonder why the food tastes different since neither of those are real...” Yue felt like it didn’t make any sense.

”Maybe because it’s home-cooked?” Aiko tilted her head.

”Aren’t restaurants supposed to have better ingredients?” Yue rolled her eyes.

”But restaurants can never beat your mother when it comes to cooking.” Aiko nodded her head seriously.

”Ah...” Yue connected the dots. ’Since this place is Aiko’s it’s only natural that it would mimic her experiences.’ She nodded her head at yet another realisation, but this time, not as scary as the previous one.

”Anyway, once you rest a bit more we can continue shopping.” Aiko had to change plans, because she did believe that Yue might actually die if she pranked her into wearing the Slime Dress Set...

Yue nodded slowly before going back to bed.

”Ummmm...” She didn’t know how to say this because this was clearly Aiko’s home.

”What is it?” Aiko tilted her head as she stopped at the doorway.

”Can you take it with you?” Yue pursed her lips. She knew that she was making an unreasonable request since this was her-

”Hm? Sure.” Aiko picked part of the Spirit Slime and just dragged the whole thing away. ”Just keep in mind that it might come back, so be careful about it.”

”...” Yue had her eyes wide. She didn’t expect Aiko to be so kind even inside this place.

Needless to say, she should have a nice rest after such a long time...