Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox
Chapter 475 – Aiko vs Information

It was the usual cave that Aiko was so used to.

The most obvious thing about this cave was the eerie presence that everyone could feel. It was like someone was breathing down their necks.

Aiko didn't like that at all and was really tempted to just leave, but this place was also perfectly hidden from most Cultivators, and she would be able to finally refine that relic in peace.

"This place is bad..." Yanyan shivered. She was not sensitive at all to the presence, but the coldness didn't make her happy.

Looking closely at her body, Aiko figured out that she might be a fire Dragon.

Yanyan's hair was flamingly orange, with bits of red and yellow, not as long as Yueying's, but still long enough to impress anyone.

Her body had similar proportions to Yueying, just a bit bouncier on the lower end.

Her tail was completely covered in scales, and the tip felt more like a snake's tail than a Dragon's.

Yanyan's horns were gently curved, but very rough, like she hadn't cleaned them in a while.

Her face was alright to Aiko's standards...

Aiko gently shook her head. It might be too cold in here for her, but that didn't mean she would leave with them.

'New hideout obtained.' Aiko smirked as she kept talking.

One of the good things about Foxes was their absurd affinity to Souls and their manipulation.

What that meant was that as long as it was not an overly powerful Ghost, she would be able to deal with them.

As for mind invasion... Well, they can definitely try and attempt it, but it wouldn't end up well for them.

Aiko explored the place with sparkling eyes. This place was not moist like most caves, but also not cold or too hot like others.

Maybe that was because of her [Thermal Regulation], but she really liked this place.

"I intend to stay here for a while, so let's find the origin of that presence and either destroy it or subdue it~" Aiko hummed as she led the way.

"Are you sure you can deal with it?" Yueying narrowed her eyes.

"Probably." Aiko wasn't sure, but if she didn't try it, she wouldn't know if she could do it.

"We should leave if you are not sure." Yueying was cautious when it came to almost everything right now, but she also didn't really want to stop others from experiencing the same.

Unless one has experienced the same feeling or situation, they wouldn't understand it well.

"It will be fine." Aiko was already possessed, and she lived, so nothing bad would happen to her this time either.

Yueying sighed. She wanted to wait here, but she was also worried about Aiko.

Walking deeper inside, the air changed subtly. It became heavier and heavier the further in they walked.

Shaking her uneasiness, Aiko walked deeper until they arrived at some kind of ritual site.

"This place is nice." Even Nightmare Aiko could appreciate the architecture.

The whole room was not supported by visible pillars. All the weight was in the arches and other beautifully decorated, but well-hidden supports.

There were scratches everywhere, but it seemed like this place was once a memorial for someone or something.

Moving along the jagged edges, there were even small colourful glasses inserted into the walls.

Overall, the sight was magnificent.

"This place is scary..." Yanyan didn't want to be here and clung to Yueying for her dear life.

"It seems like that is the origin of that uneasiness." Yueying pointed at a strange curved weapon that was half stuck in a pedestal.

"Oh." Aiko stopped to pay attention to the walls and approached the weapon.

It didn't give her any eerie feeling, but the thing below it did quite a bit.

'How strange...' Nightmare Aiko tilted her head. 'Let's see.'

The pedestal was decorated with Runes. They didn't tell any story or make any sense. It was somewhat slurred sentences which were hard to decipher.

'Nothing...' Aiko scrunched her face. While she was curious about the weapon, she didn't want to touch it unless she figured out why the pedestal felt so eerie.

Aiko shook her head and walked around the room.

There were Runes here and there, but nothing concrete to go from.

The only place she didn't look was the floor, but that shouldn't tell her anything about this place.

However, she was wrong.

The floor was pretty much littered with Runes, and they were readable too!

'...' Nightmare Aiko focused all of her brain power to figure this out, but it was quite difficult.

"Aiko...?" Yueying was concerned about Aiko.

"What?" Aiko still stared down.

"Your face is turning redder. Are you alright?" Yueying pursed her lips.

"I'm thinking." Nightmare Aiko was translating those Runes and adjusting them so that those sentences made sense.

"Aiko...?" Yueying was even more concerned about Aiko.

"What?!" Aiko rolled her eyes.

"Your face looks like a tomato right now. Are you really alright?" Yueying didn't know how to say this, but she felt like something bad would happen to Aiko.

"I'm still thinking, don't disturb me." Aiko shooed her away.

"Aiko...?" Yueying coughed awkwardly.

"WHAT?!" Aiko was seriously annoyed by this.

"Your head is steaming..." Yueying gulped nervously as she saw the constant stream of steam coming out of Aiko's head.

"..." Nightmare Aiko stopped thinking, and everything slowly returned to normal.

"..." Aiko's face distorted slightly, like she was holding in her tears.

"It's alright..." Yueying understood that not everyone was able to think well with their heads, so she soothed Aiko.

Aiko shamelessly rubbed her face on her bosom.

"Princess... She is taking advantage of you..." Yanyan didn't like how that Fox behaved, but she couldn't really step in.

It was obvious that her Princess had some fondness for this Vixen, so she could only tell her about her worries.

Yueying shushed her, since she didn't dislike this kind of kinship.

If Aiko groped her, that would be crossing the line, but nuzzling was alright.

...

"Have you calmed down?" Yueying gently smiled.

"Mm." Aiko nodded her head as she rubbed her eyes.

"Did you figure out something?" Yueying carefully asked Aiko.

"I think so, but I will have to verify it." Aiko was unsure if what she read was true or not, and for some reason, Moon Aiko didn't want to come out.

Nightmare Aiko scrunched her face once again as she read the Runes.

"A great evil is sealed in this stone, that seal was created by Mo-... Saintess. It was to protect this Mortal World from the danger of the beyond." Aiko translated it.

"Voidlings." Yueying concluded from that brief message.

Aiko stiffened and looked at Yueying. She especially looked at her smaller bosom.

"Can I exchange it for brains?" Aiko touched her own ample bosom as it moved under her touch. It was significantly larger than what Yueying had.

"What are you thinking about?" Yueying gently pinched Aiko's cheek.

"I want to be smarter." Nightmare Aiko was able to speak quite well since Yueying learned how to control her strength.

"You can learn that with time." Yueying didn't know how to respond to that at first, but this was probably the best thing she could say.

...

"So, what are we going to do about those Voidlings, Princess?" Yanyan had a more friendly approach since they had known each other for a long time.

"I'm not sure..." Yueying shook her head. "While I know a few things about them, I don't really have anything that would be able to kill them."

"And whittling them down would take too much time-" Yanyan agreed with Princess, but then she saw that Vixen from the corner of her eyes.

She was touching the strange sword for some reason.

"No!" Yanyan suddenly screamed, startling both of them.

Due to that, Aiko accidentally pulled the sword.

"Ah..." Nightmare Aiko made an innocent expression as she held the sword.

The decorated pedestal crumbled into nothingness.

"Aiko!" Yueying dashed to protect Aiko as Voidling formed behind her.

"Oh..." Nightmare Aiko stared at the Voidling that looked like a wolf, but for some reason, she was not scared, even when it growled.

Yueying grabbed Aiko and tried to take her away from it, but the growl suddenly stopped.

Something tapped the Voidling on the head.

There was another enormous wolf in the room, staring down at the Voidling.

*whimper?*

For some reason, all that enthusiasm from the Voidling vanished.

The enormous wolf flicked the Voidling, making it explode spontaneously.

'... What am I watching...' Yanyan rubbed her eyes, but that ginormous wolf disappeared, like it was never there to begin with.

The presence vanished, and Yueying turned around. The Voidling was completely gone, not even ashes remained from it.

Moreover, the Qi inside this place spiked sharply, signifying that all the Stagnant Qi had been purified.

"Are you alright, Aiko?" Yueying immediately pinched Aiko, since she had done something wrong, but she didn't really want to scold her.

Both Aiko and Yanyan were at fault, so both of them would have to behave from now on!

"I'm phine." Aiko slurred her speech since Yueying wasn't controlling her strength again.

"You are not allowed to touch anything!" Yueying was quite upset, since Aiko could've got hurt from that.

"Yesh." Aiko agreed that she wouldn't touch anything strange while Yanyan was around, since she was the bane of her curious existence.

Yueying let go of Aiko and went to scold Yanyan right after.

Aiko rubbed her cheeks and touched a few Runes.

The walls moved, revealing a few rooms.

Aiko then wanted to store that sword, but for some reason, she was not holding anything...?

'What in the world...?' Aiko couldn't understand where her sword had gone.

-----

"Isn't she cute?" A certain Goddess giggled.

"She always tries to store anything that is not nailed down. That 'monkey' raid confirmed it." A certain Serpent nodded her head.

"I can't have her take my stuff!" The Goddess laughed as the sword appeared in her hands.

"This is my stuff, a few more of them and even the seal won't be able to keep me still~" She hummed happily as she hugged the Serpent.

"Yes, yes." The Serpent was quite content with her current life, watching over her last Mortal World.

"Are you still concerned about your ####." The Goddess asked.

"I can make peace with it." The Serpent shook her head; even if she died, she wouldn't mind right now.

"You are lazing around." The Goddess clicked her tongue. "Who will want to date you if you won't move? You will grow chubby!"

"I'm not a Human, I also gained the Dragon's Furnace, so I can just burn the fat." The Serpent shrugged at her.

"You-!" The Goddess was upset. For some reason, Aiko was quite a bad influence on her dear friend. "... can I borrow it...?" She coughed awkwardly.

"What? You gained weight?" The Serpent observed her.

"You-! That's it! No snacks for you!" The Goddess pouted.

"I will just take some from Aiko." The Serpent rolled her eyes. Aiko was quite a good provider of delicious food.