Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko boarded the continental flying ship again. Everything worked, except a few parts of the cafeteria which were replaced by Chen Shi and stockpiled by Aiko again.

”You are not too bad.” Dai Lu nodded her head seriously. Aiko was still improving in her combat capabilities which pleased her greatly.

This was not just about Aiko learning how to fight with her current abilities, but learning how to fight generally.

That was because the Human Body Stage would restrict her ability to use her current abilities.

In that case, her ability of using anything she could get her hands on would turn invaluable.

Protection and safety were priority especially during the Human Body Stage when everyone was very vulnerable.

Dai Lu did believe something might happen to Aiko during that stage, be it a good thing or a bad thing, but she would like to prevent the worst scenario.

The Beast Sect was ’safe’, relatively, but one had to keep in mind that they were still ’Beasts’. All Human Cultivators wanted a powerful pet which would help them in battle and unfortunately unlike the Foxes, which were ’great’ at ’socialising’, Beasts were very prideful and against the idea of mingling with Human Cultivators, if it could be helped.

”Am I?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. She didn’t know what her assessment was like to tell her this, but it was probably a good thing.

Moon Aiko tried really hard to make use of everything she could, while also limiting the possible destruction that might be caused by them.

They were not in the clear just yet, since the Northern Sect kept following them.

Any damage to the continental flying ship might prove lethal, so it was important to be careful.

”En. You have improved.” Dai Lu smiled gently as she leaned against the railing. ”There are still things that you need to learn, but the foundation is good enough to pass now.”

”That’s not all that positive review.” Moon Aiko pursed her lips. She thought that Dai Lu would be a bit more enthusiastic about what Aiko accomplished, but that was not entirely the case.

Or maybe she just acted like this to keep Moon Aiko on her toes? That was possible. Dai Lu wouldn’t want her to grow haughty, so she might be doing this to curb her ego.

”You are imagining things. It’s close to perfect.” Dai Lu chuckled. It didn’t seem like she was serious, but her words still pleased Aiko.

”With this, this should be the last stop before we get to the sea, right?” Moon Aiko sat down, thinking about this long journey.

”Probably.” Dai Lu nodded her head as she slowly walked inside. ”We will only see over time.”

With that, she disappeared into the ship.

’I should return to Mei.’ Moon Aiko nodded her head as she returned to the captain’s cabin.

There, Mei still slept peacefully.

Seems like she was seriously tired from all that paperwork which was no surprise.

Just a bit of help from Moon Aiko completely exhausted them, so without her, they might actually keel over if they wanted to finish it in time.

Moon Aiko went to the bed, next to Mei. She used the covers, just laid there and waited for Mei to wake up while reviewing a few things.

’The Inscriptions can be tied to Arrays and Arrays can be tied to Formations...’ Moon Aiko was thinking about making a ’hybrid’ system where she could switch the ’core’ of her creation at will.

If she wanted to move it, it would become Formation. If she wanted to root it and protect it, it would become an Array. If she wanted to keep it stored somewhere, then it would become an Inscription.

It was a pretty ingenious system, but to actually pull it off...

’I don’t have enough knowledge for that.’ Moon Aiko frowned. While she was ’unrivalled’ when it came to Inscriptions, that was not the case for the others, especially Formations, which she was the least familiar with.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Well, there were also Talismans, which also worked with ’Runes’, but that was another rabbit hole that she didn’t want to open just yet.

As Moon Aiko reviewed her work, Mei stirred awake.

”Morning~” Moon Aiko hummed softly, trying not to startle Mei.

”Morning...” Mei was still tired, rubbing her eyes with her hands. ”I’m surprised you are still here.” She didn’t think that Aiko, with all her energy, would stay here and wait for her to wake up.

”I did stretch for a bit.” Moon Aiko didn’t conceal it since Mei would be able to find out eventually, or whenever she would ask Dai Lu.

”Figured, but it’s nice to see you when I wake up...” Mei pursed her lips. She understood Aiko’s character, but she was still happy.

”Is it?” Moon Aiko tilted her head. She had a pretty face, but that didn’t mean it was nice to wake up to her presence. Wasn’t Mei complaining here and there because of her causing chaos? Then why would she be happy now?

”You have a lot of questions.” Mei gently nudged Aiko’s forehead.

”I do.” Moon Aiko nodded her head, but it didn’t seem like Mei was willing to answer those questions.

”You will have to experience it yourself to understand how I feel.” Mei gently shook her head as she snuggled into the bedsheets again.

”Do I have to live that long for me to understand it?” There was not-so-small difference between their ages, so Moon Aiko couldn’t help but to tease her.

”I’m not that old.” Mei pursed her lips. She was seriously considering smacking Aiko’s forehead.

”Yes, yes, I’m older.” Moon Aiko hummed.

Little did she know, that was actually the case...

...

Mei woke up some time later. She seemed tired, but she wanted to move to stretch her body.

”We can also stretch on the bed.” Moon Aiko suggested as she tugged on Mei’s clothes.

”No, that would hurt me more.” However, Mei was not tempted, possibly because she knew what would happen if she did.

”You don’t have to overdo it.” Moon Aiko shrugged.

”Do you even listen to your own words?” Mei snorted. She would not be scammed into more suffering, maybe later, not now.

”What will you do now?” Moon Aiko sprawled on the bed. Her hair was everywhere, and her ears kept twitching.

Moon Aiko’s tails didn’t move much, since they took so much space that if she did move them, she would send herself flying into a nearby wall or ceiling.

”Consider what to do with the Northern Sect and invite the Southern Sect.” Mei already had a clear plan. If not for her exhaustion, she would already try to accomplish this.

”Is that a good idea? The last time the Southern Sect ran away.” Moon Aiko tilted her head.

”It was not quite running away. They were trying to send a message... probably.” Mei didn’t know for sure, but that would make the most sense.

The current ’Fox Entourage’ had a very good relationship with the Southern Sect, all thanks to Aiko.

Since they were not hostile to them, it could also mean they were monitoring their safety so that the Northern Sect wouldn’t do anything stupid.

’Or, something happened, and they are following us to prevent ”something” from happening.’ There were several reasons why they might be doing that, but Mei didn’t have enough information to figure that out.

It was very possible that the Divinator from the Northern Sect was causing trouble for them, but since they had their own Divinators, it should be easy to combat.

”Mei, boots.” Moon Aiko stopped Mei from going out since she seemed distracted.

”Right...” Mei nodded her head. She was happy that Aiko was nearby.

Her mind was already filled to the brim with ’what ifs’, so she needed someone to remind her of-

”And while I don’t mind it, you should get some underwear while you are at it.” Moon Aiko ruthlessly stabbed Mei with her words.

Was it mean? Definitely not, but it was so unexpected that it startled Mei.

’I can’t be this clumsy.’ Mei didn’t believe it and immediately went to her wardrobe.

Sure enough, Aiko was right. She didn’t take any underwear, probably because she slept for a long time.

Usually, Mei didn’t take off her underwear since the rest would be brief, so there was no need to.

However, her current rest lasted a while, so she pre-emptively took off that underwear so she could get much higher quality rest.

Dressing up quickly, Mei scurried outside, making Moon Aiko speechless.

”Did I say something wrong?” Moon Aiko was confused. It kind of felt like Mei was trying to run away from her.

”Should I chase her?” Moon Aiko found that thought entertaining, but she didn’t go. Mei needed to finish her work. Right now, she was just a distraction to her...

...

However, curiosity got the best of her and Moon Aiko was now standing next to Mei.

”So...” Moon Aiko stared at the flying ships.

”Seems like the Northern Sect came with some rare flying battle ships.” Mei didn’t seem surprised, no, she seemed excited?

”Why are you excited?” Moon Aiko couldn’t understand, since this situation should be considered ’bad’.

”Because I didn’t have time or energy to test the defensive functions.” Mei smiled happily. ”Now we can test against techniques and Qi cannons, which is perfect.”

”They have cannons? Can I have a few?” Moon Aiko wanted to see what those cannons did and if she could recreate them.

”Your addiction to destruction is concerning.” Mei commented, but still indulged Aiko’s wish.

”Is it? I think it’s normal.” Moon Aiko waved her hand. She didn’t believe it was abnormal, everyone wanted to have at least one or two cannons lying around, no?

”Well, I’m not sure if there will be anything left from them, but if there is, you can have it.” Mei smiled.

While this continental flying ship should have unparalleled defence, when it came to offence they would have to use Dai Lu.

Other Elders were currently in the special rooms, moving this continental flying ship, so they couldn’t be used.

Chen Shi also didn’t have enough time to construct Qi cannons, meaning that this continental flying ship was like a flying fortress...

”Is it that serious?” Moon Aiko pursed her lips. She didn’t believe they needed to destroy them, but truth be told, that was the first time she saw flying battle ships, so it was hard to say if she understood them well enough to voice her thoughts.

”En. Depending on their flight speed, they might become annoying flies that constantly pester us.” Mei sighed, but fortunately she had a trusty guard, called Dai Lu.

Dai Lu would be able to solve this situation easily if they didn’t need to keep anything intact...