Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

With everything finished. Mei chatted with Moon Aiko for a moment before Dai Lu came over with the same animal as before.

”A piggy?” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”I found it at the ’ruins’ of the Heavenly Deer or whatever they were called.” Everything was already in the past, and they were not really worth remembering, so Dai Lu just talked about deer.

”Oh.” Moon Aiko touched it, the piggy was soft and squishy.

”We can use this as emergency rations.” Moon Aiko smiled happily. This would ensure that nobody would be starving!

The piggy thrashed with its body, like its life depended on it.

”Hm? Can it understand me?” Moon Aiko was startled. She never met an animal that could converse as equals.

”It can understand, but it can’t talk.” Dai Lu chuckled.

”Wasn’t that the same with me?” Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. This piggy was smooth and chubby, this would be a good roast once it grows a bit bigg-

’It’s thrashing even more?’ Moon Aiko was startled.

”It can naturally sense danger, and it’s really good at it.” Dai Lu found this ’animal’ fascinating.

[The individual ’???’ is eligible. His Soul is suppressed, and his Cultivation is abolished. He is the perfect target for the Contract.]

’Hm, hm?’ Witch Aiko tilted her head side to side. She had a hard time understanding this.

She shook the piggy, turned it upside down, trying to figure out what was so special about it.

”Let’s fatten it up.” Moon Aiko smiled.

*Squeal!*

The piggy squealed in protest, but once he tasted the food prepared in this household, he was delighted.

”Fatten up well~” Moon Aiko chuckled. The piggy was sniffling, but he still kept eating.

”What a strange animal.” Moon Aiko tilted her head. Unlike the twins and Fire Bird Queen, it was not obvious what this little one was.

Considering she could no longer contract normal Beasts, meant that this piggy was special, special enough to be allowed to join them.

”How did you find him?” Moon Aiko turned towards Dai Lu.

”He was the main sacrifice for the ritual or whatever that was. Its boundless Vitality was keeping it alive.” Dai Lu explained what and how she found it, giving more details about it.

”So it’s like...” Moon Aiko couldn’t find a word for it.

”It’s closer to a Tonic or Medicine Bath.” Mei was the one to explain. ”It’s rare that someone has so much Vitality, so you would either try to befriend it or make it into a living furnace.”

”That’s grim.” Moon Aiko grimaced.

”For us, it’s also grim, but anyway. These kinds of Beasts or well, animals are rare. It either lost all of its cultivation and crashed near the deer, or it stumbled around during its earlier years.” Mei nodded her head slowly, trying to figure out if this would bring them any trouble.

”That sounds like a lot of fun, but what do you suggest?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. She didn’t mind keeping this animal, since the system allowed it, and feeding it sounded kind of fun.

”...” Mei gazed at Aiko for a while before sighing. ”Since you are not coming with us immediately, you can keep it, but I do not know what will happen once you try to join the Beast Sect.” She gently shook her head.

”We can figure something out.” Moon Aiko chuckled. ”And who said they need to know about it?”

”That’s...” Mei raised her eyebrow.

”Not many can form multiple contracts and while there are some that will be able to achieve it, we can just fool others.” Dai Lu suggested.

”It’s not like they will be able to read Aiko just because they saw her.” Danji also chimed in, with unsteady steps.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

”...” Mei sighed. ”You are making me into a criminal.”

”But you already are.” Moon Aiko raised her eyebrow.

”I don’t think you should be talking, Master.” Dai Lu shook her head.

Mei’s lips twitched, but she didn’t immediately retaliate. ”You say that like I’m some kind of demon.”

Moon Aiko hid behind Danji.

Dai Lu whistled innocently.

”Alright, that’s it!” Mei pulled out her experimental Pills and started to chase Dai Lu.

”No, why are you after me, Master?” Dai Lu panicked.

”Because you are coming with us, so there is no need to hold back!” Mei chased her like a demon.

”Let’s go outside.” Moon Aiko pulled on Danji’s sleeve.

Danji tilted her head, but still followed the cute Stoic Aiko.

...

”Why are we here?” Danji looked around.

”Well, there should be more materials coming over briefly, so we have to make sure nothing will happen to it.” Moon Aiko was convinced that something would happen.

And she was right!

The Fire Bird Queen was walking over with some retainers.

”Welcome.” Moon Aiko greeted them.

The Fire Bird Queen was momentarily startled, since she still was not used to Aiko changing forms. No matter how many times she saw it, she just couldn’t wrap her head around it.

”We brought over the rest of the ingredients and my personal collection...” The Fire Bird Queen beckoned them, but her eyes were still trained on that small piggy in her arms.

”What is that?” The Fire Bird Queen felt that she saw it somewhere before.

”This was looted from the deer before they collapsed.” Moon Aiko gestured, before looking at Danji, who was collecting the Storage Rings with the resources.

”That’s a lot more than planned.” Danji pursed her lips.

”We have pooled our Treasures together, so there is a bit of extra. We have to thank the Foxy that allowed us to fish without endangering us, or the fishes.” The Fire Crow explained.

”I see...” Danji found it plausible, but there was still something missing.

”So they really did that nasty ritual, huh? No wonder their domain is completely inaccessible right now.” The Fire Bird Queen nodded her head.

”Is it? I mean, it’s hard to get in, but it shouldn’t be impossible.” Moon Aiko tilted her head. They were probably still pounding the earth, so that they could get into the treasure and get some extra loot in.

”It’s not impossible, but the sacrifice is unpleasant.” The Fire Bird Queen shook her head.

”I suppose.” Moon Aiko didn’t know much about the sacrifice, but she could imagine what it might entail.

”Anyway. Everyone was ditched or left, I have taken my collection with me and ensured that your compensation is more than handsome...” The Fire Bird Queen trailed her words.

”I’m not sure if I will find more Beasts to make a contract with.” Moon Aiko chuckled, raising her hand.

...

It was the same place as before, a calm, almost undisturbed lake.

”Now this is something I might die for.” The Fire Bird Queen looked around.

*Squeal!*

”Hm?” The Fire Bird Queen turned to the side.

A piggy was right next to her.

”You too?” The Fire Bird Queen couldn’t believe it. Considering this was just an animal, she didn’t expect Aiko to contract it.

”The Contract is not simple.” The Fire Bird Queen narrowed her eyes. The shadowy being was definitely defined as ’Aiko’, but it was a bit too mysterious to be just her.

”You know how it goes.” Aiko spoke in normal cadence. ”Will you follow me, listen to me and that kind of thing?”

”En.” The Fire Bird Queen didn’t expect to extend her lifespan, but being in this group might actually extend her lifespan.

*Squeal!*

The piggy couldn’t talk, but even if it was not completely willing, the food was more than enough to stick around, so they both joined Aiko.

[Beast Familiar:

[??? - Animal (Contracted Devouring Piggy)], [???- Animal (Contracted Treasure Crow)], [Xinyue - Animal (Contracted Heavenly Doe)], [Jing Yi - Animal (Contracted Harmony Owl)], [Jing Yao - Animal (Contracted Sacred Owl)], [Divine Silk and Fate Weaving Jumping Spider (Spirit Beast?)], [Yuqi (Divine Stage)]]

”Hm? Hm?” Aiko blinked her eyes.

”Treasure Crow? Devouring Piggy?” Aiko found that quite outrageous and would explain where she found so many goodies.

If they could easily find or spot Treasures, then she would pretty quickly become wealthy~!

’This is really good~’ Aiko hummed as the scenery slowly melted.

...

’So many of them...’ It would take a while to build everything up, but it should work well once she established her own business and that was because-

[Bloodline Book] & [How to obtain Bloodline 101]

They suddenly got thicker and more outrageous.

Moon Aiko would now be able to create Bloodlines from resources and rare materials. She could then give these Bloodlines to her pets, as long as they are compatible, they would be able to merge with those Bloodlines and become even more powerful.

’There are some limitations, but with money, everything can be solved.’ Moon Aiko nodded her head slowly. For now, she would keep her pets inside her tails.

Not only would that ensure their safety, as they were incredibly weak right now, but the injured Demonic Foxes would have something to cuddle or be entertained by.

’The last companion is probably hiding around, but since the system didn’t say anything about her...’ Moon Aiko tilted her head. She would be a nice addition, but it didn’t seem like she could make a contract with her.

’So much to do...’ Moon Aiko felt like she might die of overwork if she didn’t soon finish at least some of her projects!

...

”We really have everything, but we still haven’t finished continental flying ship, so we will have to stick around for a few weeks.” Mei gestured towards it, but she was bothered by the amount of materials that they were bringing over.

”It’s unfortunate that we can’t use too many Storage Rings, otherwise, this would be easy.” Moon Aiko clicked her tongue.

”You will be taking all the Demonic Foxes with you.” Mei suddenly said, startling Aiko.

”Why?” Moon Aiko was confused by that.

”They are our hidden ace. If we can’t get into the Beast Sect, they are our plan B and C.” Mei narrowed her eyes. It was unlikely that they wouldn’t be able to join, but just in case, she already made plans if something didn’t go as planned.

”Well, that’s fine, I can take them with me, so just order them to make more food and snacks, since we don’t know when we will come over.” Moon Aiko didn’t want her snack to be stolen by them again, so she would just shower them with food to make them more docile!