Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Moon Aiko glanced at the fluff pile of Foxes rolling around. She was currently revising her Forging knowledge, so there was no way she would join at the moment.

Unfortunately for her, that fluff pile had a different idea as it rolled towards her.

"Huh...?" Aiko blinked with a startled expression. She thought she imagined things when the fluff pile turned towards her, but that was not the case!

"Wait a moment, I'm not finished yet!" Aiko yelped out as she was rolled over by the fluff pile, merging with it in the process...

...

"Phew..." After a few hours of rolling around, Aiko was finally able to make it out of there.

Inside, there was a grand giggling party as they used their weight to keep the fluff ball rolling.

That naturally delayed Aiko's department, but she was not unhappy about it.

As long as the group was in a good mood, everything would be good.

Moon Aiko sat down in a safe place where she wouldn't be taken for a ride and kept revising her knowledge.

She could improve the Massage Chairs further, thanks to understanding metals a bit better.

There was an issue with heavy Foxes, like the Muscle Foxes, but she could do 2 types of chairs.

One type would be heavy-duty for the hulking muscles, while the second type would be for soft muscles.

The one used for soft muscles could be used by both hulking muscles and soft muscles, since it would target different muscle groups.

On the other hand, heavy-duty Massage Chairs could not be used by soft muscles since they would be wrecked by their power.

This would simplify everything for Aiko as she didn't need to make one Massage Chair to fit them all. These two categories made it very easy, since heavy-duty Massage Chairs would have one large size, while soft-muscle ones would have several of them to fit about 5 categories.

The range of power would also be different, since soft muscles didn't need as much power to make them move.

Thus, slim Foxes would pay less as it would cost less to operate.

Aiko nodded as she heard a huge explosion.

Looking towards it, it seemed like someone didn't pay attention during the 'rolling' of the fluff ball, and they crashed into the side of the house.

"Auch."

"Ugh."

The Foxes groaned as their heads spun constantly. It took some time until they were able to stand up somewhat straight.

"Enjoyed the ride?" Moon Aiko tilted her head.

Everyone participating blushed as they couldn't meet her curious eyes.

"You can enjoy it for a bit longer. Afterwards, we will be departing." Moon Aiko said.

"Wanna stay with me?" Fang Jia asked Feifei.

"It's fun going around with Aiko, so I will stay with her." Feifei shook her head. It was a lot more exciting when she followed Aiko than anyone else.

"I can't believe I was rejected by my sister." Fang Jia shook her head like she really couldn't believe it.

"What's so strange about that?" Aiko tilted her head. She had plenty of resources, and Feifei even had friends within the group, so it was not unexpected that she would say that.

"Because she would be a lot safer with me, and we could have a lot of fun..." Fang Jia sighed.

"You don't have friends, huh?" Moon Aiko immediately stabbed Fang Jia's soft heart.

"W-w-what are you talking about?!" Fang Jia blushed, but she couldn't refute Aiko's words.

It was true that she didn't have all that many friends. Fang Jie was intimidating enough, but now her other mother was even more fearsome.

Most would approach her only to gain benefits, which could not be called friendship. They would also get punished by the Patriarch for approaching Fang Jia for that reason.

Aiko just glanced at the blushing Fang Jia before sighing. "You will meet again, but before we get to that point, you should socialise more."

Aiko's piercing gaze was quite hurtful for Fang Jia, especially because she was unable to deny it.

"I hope it will be soon." Fang Jia sighed.

"I don't think it would be that long with Aiko's current record." Feifei nodded her head.

"Oi. What's that supposed to mean?" Aiko glared at Feifei.

"Nothing~" Feifei hummed, hiding behind the Demonic Foxes.

It seemed like Feifei was already accepted by this group, so there was no need to worry about her being bullied.

"I swear..." Aiko sighed. There were so many troublemakers, but at least everyone was happy with how things were moving.

"What's next on the list, Mistress?" Yu asked Aiko.

"It would be your training, so I can use you during Secret Realms." Aiko nodded. The need for resources grew sharply, so it would be better if everyone became gatherers and cooperated with each other to earn those resources.

Aiko then could distribute them as she saw fit and Mei would be able to make plenty of Pills out of the rest, which would make everyone happy.

'I also understand how to make Treasures...' Aiko narrowed her eyes. 'While they are weak for the time being, that will change over time, and since I can produce them myself, there will never be a lack of them.' She nodded happily.

Aiko knew there was a group of Forging Demonic Foxes, and she planned to share her Cauldron with them later to boost their efficacy.

However, not now. Aiko didn't have a proper way to make them swear on it so that they would not leak the Cauldron.

You could say vows could work for this, but if Aiko used the rules in a way that would kill the Demonic Foxes if they shared that information. Then anyone with a charm or mind control Technique could mass-kill her companions.

Aiko was wary about that, so she postponed this issue for later.

'I can always create a Cauldron for them.' Aiko already planned for her Cauldron to be the 'Sect's' size. In other words, huge enough that it could create other Cauldrons inside.

That would help her in the creation of other Cauldrons for her team.

...

With those thoughts out of the way, Aiko made her way towards the Patriarch's place.

She was ready to depart and would just stash those Foxes into her tails later on.

Arriving at the grand hall, Aiko checked if the door was locked.

It wasn't locked, and it didn't seem like 'they' were doing anything, so she entered.

"You are leaving already?" Lian raised Jade Slips in front of her in order to read them.

"Yes, I have done everything that I needed." Moon Aiko nodded her head in appreciation.

"Jia will be sad." Lian narrowed her eyes, looking at Aiko.

"If she can't deal with partings, then she won't make it far." Aiko's serious expression startled Lian.

"Do you think she will forget about you?" Lian chuckled.

"Unlikely." Aiko shrugged. "It's not often that you meet someone who can cause so much trouble."

"En..." Lian sighed. On one hand, she was happy that one headache would leave, but on the other, another headache would bloom.

"Jia will mature. She also needs to make new friends and experience the world." Aiko suddenly said.

"I know..." Lian groaned like she was feeling guilty.

"The later that happens, the worse the consequences will be." Aiko added those words in consideration for Fang Jia.

"What are you trying to say?" Lian snorted.

"You have an excellent guardsman that can hide in the shadows." Aiko glanced at each one of them, hiding around the room.

"Continue." Lian tapped her armrest.

"Fang Jia can experience the world, while those in the shadows will protect her from mortal danger. Of course, they won't interact with her too much. She can't learn if she has a safety rope right next to her, but if it's some distance away from her. She will feel alone enough that her mind will change in how it works. Added to that, even if she was injured, she would quickly learn how to deal with it." Aiko explained.

"What if there is a mortal danger?" Lian snorted unhappily.

"Refer to my first sentence." Aiko giggled.

"Aren't you taking this too lightly?" Lian was unhappy about Aiko's attitude.

"Shouldn't I be saying that? I already know that you drove everyone around Fang Jia away. All the learning material and everything she could gain from them. Learn how to distinguish between good and evil, pure thoughts and impure thoughts. Learn to understand human emotions." Aiko sighed.

Lian groaned. "The rewards are in the next room, so you can get them." She couldn't rebuke Aiko for what she said since she was indeed keeping Fang Jia too well protected.

This would cause issues later, but Lian believed she could deal with it.

"Don't make her into a spoiled Young Miss, or we will have to straighten her up later." Aiko warned Lian as she was leaving the room.

Lian sighed. "I can't believe I'm being lectured by a juvenile Fox." She groaned unhappily just thinking about it.

"But she has a point." Nightingale voiced her opinion.

"You talk back much more often after that young one arrived." Lian was displeased with her.

"My apologies, Mistress." Nightingale bowed before disappearing into shadows.

'Look at me. I'm even scolding my own subordinates when they have done nothing wrong.' Lian groaned unhappily, even more than before.

When Aiko came, the place was quiet, since she purged everything, but now it has become lively again.

That was not necessarily a bad thing, but it would affect her Heavenly Treasure Pavilion in the future.

'At least our Elders are on their way to being cured...' Lian shook her head. She couldn't believe that the thing that acted like a poison was actually not a poison.

'What a vicious thing to do, to mask impurities as a poison.' Lian knew that if it wasn't for Aiko's insight, they would be like beached whales, unable to find any water.

She was grateful for that part, and that's why she rewarded Aiko handsomely.

Of course, she gave her daughter the same materials and even more so, so that she wouldn't fall back.

'It's all so that Fang Jia could pursue her first love...' Lian was quite unhappy, but she wouldn't get in between them. A first love would always hurt, but it would also bring the greatest growth.

This would also allow Fang Jia to see that the world was not as sweet as it seemed.

'Although I still can't believe that Fang Jia didn't mind that Aiko had a partner already.' Lian believed that Jia was like Jie in this matter.

'Well... I'm not much different. I'm allowing Jie to keep her husband even when he behaved like trash.' Lian shook her head and looked towards the future.