Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

”I don’t understand you.” The Ancestral Beast was both bewildered and amused.

”You don’t have to.” Witch Aiko chuckled. ”Nobody should understand the things I do.” It was safer that way for everyone.

”Yet others still try to do that.” The Ancestral Beast leaned back.

”You seem ill.” Witch Aiko noticed that she didn’t seem as powerful as the other Ancestral Beasts.

”It is of no concern, shall we do the Contract first?” The Ancestral Beast smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

”Do you have a name?” Witch Aiko stepped closer, so that she could initiate the whole Contract ripping.

”A name... name would be nice, yes.” The Ancestral Beast paused for a moment before observing the Fox that was unlike any other.

’Okay, more naming...’ Witch Aiko gulped nervously, but she would have to figure it out as she went.

She gently placed a hand on her body, to ease her pain and-

...

The scenery shifted.

’...’ Witch Aiko was inside a familiar, yet unfamiliar space.

It was the boundary of the Ancestral Beast’s Soul, but Witch Aiko immediately noticed something wrong.

The Soul had many tendrils attached to it, which was not different to other things, but there was one huge tendril, kind of like a pipe, pumping something into the Soul.

Looking closely, it seemed like it was forcefully expanding the Soul, but what for?

[During Ascension, the biggest damage you have to endure is to one’s Soul.]

[Thus, the most successful Cultivators to Ascend are those that cultivate their Soul.]

Witch Aiko was startled. The system was talking to her again.

’Is this some kind of ”stuffing a pig” ritual?’ Witch Aiko felt sick to her stomach.

[You are indeed correct, Princess.]

’I wonder how does it taste...’ Witch Aiko tilted her head. She would never reject a nice boost to her Souls~!

[...]

It kind of felt like the system had given up on her. Not because of concern- well, maybe that too, but it mostly couldn’t understand where this gluttony was coming from.

’Since you are not saying anything. I will assume that this thing is safe to eat.’ Witch Aiko nodded her head seriously. Her tails behind her turning into familiar little devourers.

’Chew some for me.’ Witch Aiko nudged one of her tails, and it immediately went towards the huge tendril, gathering everything within a certain distance before chomping on it.

’Hm?’ Witch Aiko noticed another change, an unexpected one.

’There is no resistance.’ There was very little resistance before, but what she exactly meant was that-

’It doesn’t seem like it causes any damage to the original Soul.’ Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes even more.

The Ancestral Beast’s Soul was unharmed, even when she chomped and ripped a huge hole into the tendril, but if that was the end, she would be just slightly impressed.

No, what she was impressed by was-

’It doesn’t leak anything.’ The tendril was clearly damaged, and badly at that. However, even with that kind of damage there was no leakage.

This could also mean she might be able to patch up the other.

’... Am I collecting too many birds?’ Witch Aiko tilted her head. That couldn’t be right... She didn’t have any kind of fetish towards birds, so was she just unlucky?

[You have stored some of the Spiritual/Soul Essence.]

[This can only be used on the target and can’t be consumed by you.]

[It is advised against feeding it to the Ancestral Beast as she is already on the verge of ’breaking’ down.]

Witch Aiko read the notifications. She was a bit puzzled. Why would that person want to damage her so much even before ascension- No, did he even want her to Ascend?

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Witch Aiko had many questions, but she would have to wait.

’So I can’t use this for myself.’ Witch Aiko noticed it soon after. The ’Essence’ that she just ripped apart was very incompatible with her.

On the other side, the tendril that was connected to the Ancestral Beast’s Soul, the energy passed smoothly. Not because it was forced inside, but because of its exceptional stability and compatibility.

’So if I want to repair Souls, I have to adjust the ”frequency”?’ Witch Aiko felt like this was something that Moon Aiko should do, but since Witch Aiko had more stability and tools when it came to Souls, it seemed like she would have to do it herself.

It was quite complex, repairing those Souls. Sure, Aiko gave Mei that Herb, or rather would give her the Herb later for consumption, but if there was something she didn’t understand.

’I don’t understand if he is trying to harm her or help her...’ Witch Aiko felt like the jerk was making so many mistakes that it shouldn’t be possible to help the Ancestral Beast to improve, but at the same time, these resources were not cheap.

It made no sense for him to sacrifice so much, only to kill her off.

’Unless...’ She was used as a sacrifice. This was obvious to Witch Aiko, but since she didn’t have enough experience, it was hard to say what kind of ’ritual’ he was making.

’It’s not like he would answer me.’ Witch Aiko believed he would be too stubborn for it, but she would still ask later.

First, she collected more of the energy that was being pumped into the Ancestral Beast’s Soul. She collected a lot of it in hopes to create something that would later help the recovery. After all-

’I can always throw it away, but it would be hard to create from scratch.’ If Witch Aiko could save her strength, she would always do it.

The tendrils didn’t try to resist or move away. Not even regeneration worked now. It was as if...

’... I’m not here?’ Witch Aiko felt like everything in this place was ignoring her, or trying to ignore her? IT was a strange feeling, like someone was covering their eyes and ears and going ’lalalala’ just to ignore her presence.

’Well, isn’t that good for me?’ Witch Aiko tilted her head. She didn’t need to make any grand strategies like before. She just had to cleanly cut them and see if she could decrease the size of her Soul to a more ’manageable’ size.

All her tails were like hungry mouths, slowly circling their favourite prey.

At first, Aiko left a bit of his Soul attached to the Ancestral Beast. That was mostly because her power was strengthened so much that she didn’t know what she should expect from it.

But once she got used to it, she cleanly cut everything, creating a perfectly round Soul in front of her.

However, there was a problem.

’This Soul was a mess.’ Aiko pursed her lips. Her eyes changed, and she was able to see what was happening in that ball.

You could say that it was a large empty yarn. Almost everything was tangled. Short-term memories, long-term memories, even memories from previous lives. Everything was a complete mess thanks to the ’liquid’ that was pumped into her.

’Do I have to sort it...?’ Aiko considered dropping this work, but...

’Dammit. Why did she have to be so hot?!’ Aiko groaned as she gripped her head.

’Hm? I don’t have ears?’ Aiko was puzzled, but her focus quickly changed.

’I wonder where Uncle is...’ Aiko sighed gently.

”Are you looking for someone?” A familiar voice greeted her.

”Not really.” Aiko turned towards him. It was the shrouded person, the person that made these Contracts.

”Oho? You became even more beautiful.” That horndog smiled.

”Do you think this is the time to say that?” Aiko felt confused. He seemed too confident considering what was about to happen.

”Oh?” The horndog chuckled. ”If you are looking for help, then you should give up. They won’t be able to meet you before I’m finished with you.” He chuckled sinisterly.

”...” Aiko felt stranger by the minute. She didn’t seem concerned about him, nor was she intimidated.

’Why...?’ Aiko felt confused. He was definitely powerful, too powerful for her, but she didn’t see him as a threat.

”I wonder why you are so stupid...” Aiko tilted her head. ”To begin with, aren’t your hands full with those paintings?” She was curious how he handled that.

The horndog gritted his teeth. ”Thanks to a certain someone, I had to use several dozen Communication Talismans just to smooth things over.”

”Hmmm...” Aiko tilted her head before grinning. ”Do you believe that will change something?”

Aiko chuckled at him. ”After all, will you be able to recreate the paintings?” She didn’t believe he was skilled.

”I was the one who made them to begin with.” The horndog snorted at her.

”Yeah, right.” Aiko didn’t believe a word he was saying. ”Can we skip this whole thing...?” She might’ve burned his paintings, but she didn’t want to engage in lengthy conversation with him.

”...?” The horndog tilted his head. ”Considering you are at my mercy, why are you not worried?” He then smirked. ”Ah, have you already lost your mind? That’s no fun.”

”Come here.” Aiko beckoned him to come closer.

”Yes, yes.” The horndog smiled. That’s how this was supposed to go. Her calling him over so he could-

*Slap*

”Learn some manners, you dog.” Aiko clicked her tongue.

”???” The horndog was bewildered. The person in front of him was definitely-

*Shudder*

”H-how?” He didn’t want to admit what he was seeing.

”Ah...” Aiko suddenly smiled bewitchingly. ”I’m so glad that I can use all my special techniques on you.” She was happy that there was someone sturdy around her.

”T-this is impossible! Your kind should be sealed!” The horndog realised he was in trouble, but...

”Sealed? Who?” Another voice entered their ears.

”Uncle~” Aiko smiled at him.

”I wanted to bring over some tea.” Her uncles smiled at her.

”...” The horndog just stared at them. Previously he was saved because ’that’ person didn’t take much notice of him, but now...

”Aren’t you supposed to be unable to come over...?” The horndog realised that this might be the end of the road if he doesn’t run away.

”Hm?” The Uncle tilted his head. ”Aren’t you misunderstanding something?”

”?” The horndog looked completely dumbfounded.

”We are everywhere.” The Uncle chuckled.

”And we come from anywhere.” Aiko added. Those words felt natural, but she didn’t mind. She felt joy just looking at her Uncle, so she didn’t care about this person any more.

”Oh right, I was thinking about draining this, but do you have a better idea, Uncle?” Aiko patted the overly inflated Soul, asking for guidance...