Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

The Grandmaster almost fainted when he gave the Spirit Boat over to the Fox.

"You have already refined it?!" The Grandmaster sweated. It took a few days for most to refine this Treasure, yet this Fox... 'Abnormal! Truly abnormal!' His eyes shone, and he was wondering what this Foxy could accomplish in the future.

[Unnamed Spirit Boat]
[Rarity: Numinous Treasure (Without Spirit)]
[Restriction: -]
[Effect:
Size adjustment
Spirit Core
Flight Restriction Bypass: Weak
Protective Barrier: Weak (Incomplete)
Spirit Stone Consumption Increased: +500%
Durability Lowered: Medium
Incomplete Form (Can obtain more effects as it nears completion)]
[Owner: Aiko (Perfectly Refined)]

Moon Aiko was very happy with this, and she now also understood the refinement process that she had to go through.

On that note, her [100 Ghost Parade Lamp] was not properly refined, and that was because it was too damaged.

"I have also bought the Inscription Ink and other goodies." The Grandmaster recovered. If this was enough to shake his mind, then he wouldn't be able to progress this far!

"Thank you, Grandmaster." Aiko smiled happily.

"You have helped us with a lot of things, and Young Master now doesn't have to kill his brother, so you might as well say that we are indebted to you." The Grandmaster chuckled as he shook his head. It was a blessing that this Foxy arrived here.

Aiko took the Inscription Ink and checked its quality. 'Higher than what I had before.' That meant she could repair the Lamp!

*Cough*

The Grandmaster coughed up blood when he noticed what the Fox pulled out.

"Is that the 1,000 Ghost Sealing Lamp?!" The Grandmaster couldn't believe it. That was a priceless Treasure that was able to seal evil Ghosts!

"Something like that." Moon Aiko didn't try to correct him since he already seemed too shocked.

"But it's damaged?" The Grandmaster tilted his head.

"Yeah, I'm going to repair it." Moon Aiko hummed. It was time to level up!

The Grandmaster raised his eyebrow. He already collected information on this Foxy, but he didn't think she would be able to repair it.

"You will be using my Disciple's abode, right?" Ah Cy narrowed her eyes.

"Yes. I need the Qi Fog to keep the Lamp stable." Aiko nodded her head.

"Then let's go over~!" Ah Cy was curious about how much attainment in Inscription she had!

"You don't mind me coming over, right?" The Grandmaster smiled.

"Not a word about my ability." Aiko threatened him.

The Grandmaster made a quick vow and followed behind them.

...

"You are back?" Li Xiu thought that Aiko would be gone for longer.

"I'm going to repair things." Aiko smiled at her.

"Then I will definitely watch." Li Xiu put her hands on her hips.

"Sure." Moon Aiko didn't mind being watched. It was not like they would be able to copy anything she did.

[100 Ghost Parade Lamp (Slightly Damaged)(Reworked)]
[Ghosts: 3/5]
[Ghosts (Unconscious):
Liu Ru, Slave 1, Liu Zhi]

'Hm, hm.' There was still room inside the lamp, but it was damaged, and the Ghosts were in a comatose state.

'Let's work through this.' Moon Aiko breathed out as she summoned her [Inscription Carving Pen].

[Unnamed Inscription Carving Pen]
[Rarity: Numinous Treasure (Undeveloped)]
[Restriction: Aiko]
[Effect:
Soul Treasure (Can be hidden in ####)
Precise Tip (Writing improves slightly)
Spirit (Undeveloped)
Undeveloped (Can obtain more effects as its consciousness develops. Some Treasures can also nurture this.)
[Owner: Aiko (Perfectly Refined)]

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Aiko felt kind of weird about this. Did she really forget to name it? What a pain...

"This is not simple." The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes. "It might be weak, but this feels like a Spiritual Treasure!" He concluded.

Normal Treasures had either no Spirit or one so weak that it would vanish if you refined it.

Then you had Spiritual Treasures. Which always had a Spirit, they might be undeveloped and easy to erase if one wished, but they could easily endure the refining process.

However, once one stepped into the Numinous category, a lot of things would change.

The Treasure had either guaranteed Spirit or had its powers immensely boosted.

"Don't disturb me." Aiko rolled her eyes. It was time to repair the Lamp and refine it!

'I wonder if I have to refine the Cauldron too...' Aiko pondered on it, but it should be possible.

The refinement process is more or less about imprinting your consciousness on it. How gentle or rough you are will determine how well the Treasure will be able to grow later, or if you suffer backlash if it breaks.

The perfect refinement that Moon Aiko was doing was very gentle, one could say even harmless to the Spirit inside. The refinement was closer to symbiosis, which eliminated most of the backlash while also greatly promoting growth through this connection.

'You are sulking...?' Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. Her Pen was now sulking because it had not been used in a while.

'Why is everyone so needy?!' Moon Aiko sighed as the tip gently shone.

'Inscription Intent?!' The Grandmaster almost vomited blood again, while Ah Cy just narrowed her eyes.

'If anyone would spread this, she would become the most hunted Beast on the Beast Possession List...' Ah Cy understood why Aiko was so cautious now.

It was not because of that. Moon Aiko just didn't want to be bothered by others if they knew she could repair things.

[[Myriad World Linguistics: Lv.1/99] is developing.]

Moon Aiko glanced at the notification, but she didn't pay too much attention to it.

The [Unnamed Inscription Carving Pen] threw around sparks as it met the metal.

Aiko didn't use the ink just yet, as she wanted to create the best possible vessel for the Ink.

This would also ensure that the Lamp was not corroded by the energies inside.

Moon Aiko nodded gently. So far, it was working well, but she had to skip one Inscription. If she repaired this Inscription too, the Ghosts would be spat out of there with all the ghost Qi.

'Wolfy will block it later, but I need to work fast...' Aiko had a powerful Divine Sense, but everything had its limits.

She was already depleting her mind just by making these grooves due to her intense focus.

'The number of slots dropped again.' Moon Aiko clicked her tongue. Even if she didn't rework the last Inscription, they would still be spat out.

"Wolfy, keep the Qi inside." Moon Aiko's Divine Sense transformed into a towering, hungry beast.

It only glanced at the humans before forming a powerful barrier that kept all the energies inside.

The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes. Only Dragons would have such Divine Sense; not only that, but they would have Dragon Divine Sense.

Yet this Fox could create the same manifestation, but with a mismatched Divine Sense?

'Her Origin might be even more special than that old hag could have predicted.' The Grandmaster chuckled. Those Northern Bastards never mentioned anything about this, and they would absolutely do that, since this would earn the Foxy infamy strong enough that she would be hunted.

'I wonder what kind of Treasure I should use for currying favour...' The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes before pulling out his flags.

"Heaven and Earth Exclusion Formation!" The Grandmaster slapped the ground as the flags were positioned all around the Hidden Peak.

This was a special formation that concealed Heaven and Earth, but still allowed energies to gather.

With this, even if there is a Heavenly Phenomenon, it would be suppressed to a point that nobody outside would be able to see it.

With that, he disappeared, going into his cave abode to gather some interesting Treasures and Trinkets that this Fox might like.

'Sneaky fossil.' Ah Cy chuckled. It had been some time since she saw the Grandmaster display so much interest in something.

The sparks persisted as Li Xiu quietly watched Moon Aiko work.

Moon Aiko was true eye-candy, but when she seriously worked, she looked so cool and dignified.

'It would be concerning if she became Saintess...' Li Xiu narrowed her eyes. She was already bothered by so many bastards just because of that title.

Some of them were even very cunning with words dripping with honey. This cool beauty might not fall for them, but her eccentric nature might doom her in the long run.

Li Xiu clicked her tongue. She was wondering if she could prevent that, but she just shook her head. Aiko had her own growth path, so she shouldn't press her luck.

The surrounding Qi level greatly dropped, so Li Xiu went to whip the tree for more Qi. She did it so Aiko could continue, but that didn't mean she didn't feel disgusted about it.

*spit spit spit*

Finally, the Lamp Inscription 'broke' and the Ghosts were coughed out.

Ah Cy was startled as she knew one of the Ghosts, but she didn't say anything.

The Ghosts had closed eyes, and they looked like they were asleep, but Aiko wouldn't repair it so much if it were so simple.

Moon Aiko groaned. This truly strained her Divine Sense, and she should work hard on her Divine Sense to strengthen it. Her current Divine Sense radius was around 150km, but that was only if she strained it.

She had to strengthen it more so that it could block the Divine Sense of others and restrict energies that might harm her.

Of course, that was a long list. Her Divine Sense was already powerful, so strengthening it further would be exceptionally difficult.

That's where Mei would come in, but Aiko still had things to do over here and could not return yet.

'Patience.' Moon Aiko said gently inside her mind, but her head already started to hurt quite badly.

'I have to finish this...' Blood trickled down the corner of her lip. It seems like she was pushing it too much, but this was important for her.

If she succeeded, she should be able to refine this Treasure and see what was wrong with it and repair it.

Once one had refined a Treasure, it would become part of their 'body'. So they would be able to diagnose it much quicker and simpler ways than just through observation or Divine Sense.

Moon Aiko breathed out. Her breathing was now uneven, and she was running out of time, but she still pushed forward!