Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Mei calmly sipped her tea. She was conflicted about what kind of army Aiko was building.

At first, she just picked up a black stray Fox. Then a red one, then another black one and now she picked up a whole army.

With Aiko's tendencies, she might soon pick up a whole race.

She also has that spider that follows her and Mei had a feeling that she would not be the only Beast following her.

...

Ming Xiuying was eating heartily while Aiko was pouting on the side.

Ming Qian was cooking all the good stuff for his wifey, who successfully recovered.

"What even happened to that guy?" He suddenly asked the little Fox.

"Munched by my Ghosts, Tails, Divine Sense." Aiko replied briefly, since she was still sulking.

"..." Old Ming thought that this was abnormal, but he wouldn't ask about it. All that mattered was the fact that his wife was alright and healthy, everything else was secondary.

"I can't believe how much he splurges on you." Mei shook her head.

"Yeah, this is one of the few times I can't really stop him, or he will pester me ceaselessly." Ming Xiuying shook her head.

"I can definitely see that." Mei chuckled and petted Aiko.

"I should be able to guide you around soon, so you can enjoy the city a bit, it's not good to stay in here like salted fish." Ming Xiuying chuckled.

"I'm making Pills." Mei retorted.

They both looked at Aiko.

"What? I'm revising the Massage Chair while glaring at him." Aiko sulked even more.

"Another revision?" Mei was concerned that they would spend too much on the materials.

"Yeah." Aiko nodded. "I made it more efficient by incorporating things from the Blood Tyrant Scripture and Moon Goddess Scripture."

"Pfft." Ming Xiuying coughed up the soup when she heard those two names, while Ming Qian was wiping her gently.

"What?" Ming Xiuying kept coughing a few times.

At this point, Mei was not surprised, but she was also concerned.

"Those scriptures are mostly Human, are you alright?" Mei narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not using them as cultivation material, but as a testament to what you can do with bodies." Aiko rolled her eyes. "For example the Blood one allows me to reinvigorate your blood vessels so that you get more blood to the affected parts. There is also a Technique that allows you to target only the afflicted areas, but I have no idea how to make it work on the current Massage Chair." She shook her head.

"Thus I'm making revisions so that I can use those things on the Massage Chair and that will also allow us to spike up the prices with more premium line Massage Chairs." Aiko explained.

"So we are not throwing the old ones or reusing them?" Mei narrowed her eyes.

"No, as long as they are functional we will keep them, for research purposes." Aiko nodded her head.

"What are you plotting?" Mei narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing." Aiko avoided her gaze and the Twins chuckled.

Mei shot them a glare. She wanted them to explain this situation, but they avoided her.

Clicking her tongue, she drank her tea slowly, concerned at her waning authority.

"Massage Chair? That could be useful for my Qian." Ming Xiuying’s eyes shined.

"I'm alright, you should eat more." Ming Qian nudged her to eat more of the Spiritual Food.

"You should definitely finish the food." Aiko glared at her, like she was ready to tackle her if she didn't finish her food.

Ming Xiuying gulped another spoon. "Do you have it with you?"

"No, it's making money back in the Fox Village." Mei shook her head.

"Can you make the revised version?" Ming Xiuying kept asking questions, wishing that she could obtain such a wonderful thing.

"We need a Forging Cultivator for that." Mei shook her head again, finding it cute how she looked like a chick getting fed by an old mother.

"Huh? Is it that complex?" Ming Xiuying was shocked.

"Quite so, there are only a few Inscription Cultivators that would be able to recreate it, even if they had the plans laid in front of them." Mei chuckled happily.

"How so?" Ming Xiuying tilted her head.

"The Inscription Runes are quite different to what they are used to. You need to finish the whole Inscription in one go to make it work properly and since it's different from what they are used to, there are only a few that are able to recreate it without mistakes." Mei explained.

"But then they would just need to slow down or make it in parts?" Ming Xiuying tried to dismantle the Massage Chair situation.

"That's the thing. The parts are too small to just make it in parts, so it's impossible." Mei chuckled. "There are even some parts as small as fingernails and still filled to the brim with Runes."

"Like it's with the Storage Rings?" Ming Xiuying was surprised.

"It's quite similar actually. It's also difficult since Aiko has her own interpretation of Runes and their effects. So some might even cough up blood at her interpretation." Mei chuckled. She almost lost her mind over how complex that thing was.

"Yeah." Aiko nodded. "And it's getting even more complex." She said proudly.

"Isn't it complex enough now?" Mei groaned at the expenditure.

"Yeah, but I made it so that we don't need as high-grade Inscription Ink as we needed previously. That will allow me to scale things up, or just keep them running for years at a time without touching." Aiko explained her reasoning or at least what she remembered from the Moon Aiko.

"This is getting out of hand." Mei groaned again. "I will talk to the other you later." She hoped to get more explanation about this from Moon Aiko.

"No." Aiko immediately denied Mei.

"Why not?" Mei was speechless at that flat denial.

"Because you will bully her." Aiko would not allow Mei to meet Moon Aiko.

"I would n-" Mei paused. "I will try not to?" She changed her tune quickly, remembering that cute Aiko.

"Not good enough. You will not meet her." Aiko denied it again.

"Who are we talking about?" Ming Xiuying was curious about what they talked about. However, the conversation about Runes was above her head. This kind of gossip she was interested in.

"It's just a form that Aiko has. You will get used to it soon." Mei smiled devilishly.

Old Ming stiffened. "How many forms does she have?" He always tailored the food to each person, so if someone had different affinities at different times... it caused quite a headache for him.

"I'm not sure? 4?" Mei overshot the number because she was unaware of how many forms Aiko might have.

Old Ming almost fainted.

"Qian?!" Ming Xiuying was startled at his condition.

"I'm being enslaved by ruthless Foxes..." He cried softly.

Old Ming quite hated when someone had multiple forms since that meant the Spiritual Food would get even more complex.

Aiko tilted her head. 'Is cooking really that difficult?' She thought that he was overreacting.

...

Once things calmed down and everyone rested, Ming Xiuying gathered everyone in the dining room.

"What is it?" Aiko perked her ears in annoyance. She was woken up from her blissful rest.

"I will guide you today around the city." Ming Xiuying proclaimed.

Aiko blinked a few times, before standing up and attempting to leave.

"Wait! Don't just leave without saying anything!" Ming Xiuying was shocked at Aiko. "Aren't you interested in the city?"

"Hmmmm..." Aiko yawned. "I'm definitely interested-"

As Aiko said that, Ming Xiuying's eyes shone, but that hope didn't last for too long.

"- in lying in my bed and sleeping." Aiko had quite a sore body from Moon Aiko and her workaholic tendencies.

'How can I balance two forms so that neither one overdoes it?' Aiko groaned unhappily.

"Oh come on! It will be fun." Ming Xiuying pouted her lips.

"I agree with the little Fox. You should rest more." Ming Qian smiled from ear to ear. At times this Fox was quite the likeable one.

"Not you too!" Ming Xiuying cried out.

"It's good to rest a bit more, nothing will run away from us inside this city." Mei smiled gently.

"Why is nobody supporting me?!" Ming Xiuying was shocked that even Aiko's team didn't agree with her.

"You agree with me, right?" Ming Xiuying asked the cute Lion.

"I agree-" Jun wanted to go out, but feeling their eyes on him, he changed his response. "-with Aiko." He felt sweat pouring down his back.

Everyone nodded happily, especially Aiko, who just wished to sleep.

...

A few days later Ming Qian caved in and Aiko was also properly rested to tackle this adventure.

Ming Xiuying was overjoyed that everyone finally agreed with her and guided everyone out of this 'small house'.

"How do we descend?" Aiko asked while staring at Jun and his hidden wings.

"I already told you I can't fly!" Jun felt hurt by that gaze.

"Tsk." Aiko clicked her tongue.

"Jun-" *Cough* "-Qian will take us down." Seeing the sharp gaze from the kind Lion, she just couldn't make fun of him.

"You should wear something else." Aiko commented on Ming Xiuying's outfit.

Now that she was healed up, she was too sparkly to go around the town unnoticed.

Her hair was now of light-blue colour with black streaks here and there. Her petite figure bulked up a bit since nothing was draining her. She looked like a healthy late-teen girl going to shop.

Her lips and cheeks were slightly flushed and her eyes sparkled with adventure.

Her clothing was pure white with a few streaks of light blue and black. It also empathised with her body curves, which would make most Cultivators go after her.

The most shocking thing was her revealed side thighs. Those pure jade-like sculpted thighs would attract the most attention.

Aiko turned towards Ming Qian, but he was just undressing her with his gaze.

"You should stare like that when we are not alone (and forget to lock the doors)!" Aiko protested. She wouldn't be able to see them in action right now, since Mei was too much around her.

Old Ming choked and glared at the little Fox. "I was not doing that!" He tried to defend himself, but his own wife shot that down.

"You already got a handful this morning, so let me enjoy my day." Ming Xiuying pouted.

Mei raised her eyebrow at Ming Qian.

Old Ming coughed awkwardly, not able to meet their gaze.