Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

"..." Moon Aiko observed the ball.

"How about we combine this with this?" Moon Aiko pulled out her [Primordial Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Vessel].

"This again..." Chen Shi rolled his eyes, but then he paused. "Wait, you are already roasting a Soul? Aren't you worried that it would shatter?" He stared at Aiko speechlessly.

"Not really, since I'm burning only the outer part." Moon Aiko gestured.

"Gosh..." Chen Shi shook his head. "Only you would be crazy enough to consider this."

"How so?" Moon Aiko couldn't understand him.

"If you overdo it, you will suffer backlash, you know." Chen Shi gestured.

Moon Aiko rolled her eyes gently. "Can we combine it or not?"

Chen Shi paused. "We can... but-"

"Alright, then let's do it like this and this-" Moon Aiko gestured as she changed the blueprints. The core of the Treasure was now her [Primordial Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Vessel].

The [Divine Meteorite] and [Primordial Soul Wood] were used as connection and amplification for the core, while [Divine Steel] and Cold Iron were used for reinforcement and protection.

All things were like pieces of a puzzle. You could easily take them apart as long as you knew how.

This allowed Aiko to upgrade the Treasure whenever she found any interesting materials.

Chen Shi could only look on speechless. "You know that if you miss the thickness by just a hair, it won't work, right?"

"We have enough time to make that happen, so don't worry." Moon Aiko shrugged.

"Seriously..." Chen Shi could never understand Forging Cultivators, much less Aiko.

...

The blueprint was adjusted a few times, and Moon Aiko also added the Ghost Flag, which made Chen Shi almost faint.

The Ghost Flag was used as the stick that you would hold the paper lamp with, the papers would act as reinforcing and amplification Talismans, the inner 'light' would attract all Ghost Qi or overall Yin Qi, as long as it had the capacity to purify.

"We can also incorporate the old materials from the [100 Ghost Parade Lamp]." Moon Aiko gestured.

"You-" Chen Shi almost spilt his tea when he saw Aiko shamelessly combining so many materials and Treasures together. "Do you really think it will work?"

"If not, we can just adjust it." Moon Aiko shrugged. She added the materials from the Ghost Lamp to the current paper lamp. "The only thing we are reworking is the Ghost Lamp. Other things are being used as is."

Chen Shi shook his head. He felt like Aiko was overdoing things.

"What about the Soul in-" As Chen Shi was questioning the Soul inside, Moon Aiko just kicked it towards Danji and let her deal with it.

"M-me?" Danji was startled that Aiko gave her that Soul.

"You can play with it, since it was reinforced by that flame, it should survive some time out, poke it, disperse it or shatter it." Moon Aiko shrugged. "If it can survive until the new Treasure is created, then we can place it back inside."

"..." Danji felt absurd about this situation, but... 'I'm no longer interested in this Soul...'

After that vehement poll inserting, she felt quite pity towards the Soul.

"So, let's get back to the-" Moon Aiko resumed her blueprint making, making Chen Shi dumbfounded.

...

A few days of brainstorming passed by, and the blueprint was finally finished.

"We probably won't be able to use all the metal from the lamp, but try to harvest as much as possible." Chen Shi gestured on the blueprint.

"Naturally." Moon Aiko nodded her head.

...

Twist, warm, scrape and collect.

That was the process that Aiko had to go through, but shockingly, the Ghost Lamp was easier to take apart than the newest Treasures.

"Say..." Moon Aiko's eyes shone with a strange light.

"Don't say it, don't even think about it, don't even attempt it." Chen Shi denied any attempt to modify the blueprint.

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"Cheap." Moon Aiko clicked her tongue. She just wanted to use the Reverse Scale to reinforce it further, making it pretty much indestructible.

'Later, later.' Moon Aiko nodded her head. She would definitely incorporate that shiny scale into her precious Treasure.

...

With everything prepared, the Ghost Flag was stripped of its cloth part. The cloth was still precious, so it would be reused on the paper lamp later.

The start was the [Primordial Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Vessel].

They used the [100 Ghost Parade Lamp Material] with [Divine Meteorite] to make strange spider webs all over it. This both reinforced the effects of the [Primordial Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Vessel] and made it larger without increasing its size.

Its current size was around 3-4 Aiko's fists, but the inside was about the scale of an incomplete Secret Realm.

Thanks to the [Divine Meteorite], the effects were amplified several times, and the high-quality [100 Ghost Parade Lamp Material] raised the success chances of it working.

[Primordial Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Vessel]
V
[Primordial Ghost Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Webbed Vessel]

The first step was a success. However, there were many empty spots.

That's where the [Primordial Soul Wood].

Thanks to its ability to easily shape when given enough Soul Essence, they were able to wrap the metals into it, further boosting the compatibility with the new Vessel.

The next step was the [Divine Steel] reinforcement and Cold Iron skeleton. This skeleton would be used to hang the paper, or rather the Talismans, making it into an incomplete paper lamp.

...

[Primordial Ghost Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Webbed Vessel]
V
[Primordial Ghost Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Webbed Vessel+]

"It shrank..." Moon Aiko groaned. For some reason, the Vessel was consuming the carefully arranged materials and making the glass full of waves and other lines.

"Well, you have succeeded." Chen Shi nodded his head. "This is a pseudo-growth Treasure."

"Why is it not complete?" Moon Aiko frowned.

"... It's not finished." Chen Shi rolled his eyes as he supported Aiko's insanity.

The next step was to redo the Cold Iron, since the core was now the size of Aiko's fist.

This meant the Cold Iron had to be adjusted to a smaller size, so it could fit.

"It has problems with- What are you doing?!" Chen Shi tried to explain what was wrong with it, but Moon Aiko just tossed it into the Cauldron for further refinement.

"Don't question it, just go along with it." Moon Aiko licked her lips, and her new insanity started.

[Primordial Ghost Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Webbed Vessel+] + [Primordial Soul Wood] + [Divine Steel] + [Divine Meteorite] + [Precious Resources] + [Precious Dirt] + [True Eternal Glacial Ice] + [100 Ghost Parade Lamp Materials] + [Yueying's Reverse Scale] + [Heavenly Blessed Light-Water] + [Aiko's Blood]

Moon Aiko cackled like a demon, since she thought of something interesting, making everyone shudder.

[Do you wish to use your Providence to combine all materials together? (Only possible once due to missing your Birthdays!)]
[Please be careful, as Providence protects you from instant death and also gives you opportunities!]
[Yes/No]

Moon Aiko cackled again as the priceless resources floated inside her Cauldron.

She didn't mind that message, since this place was safe, so she naturally touched 'yes'.

[Providence: 300,000 -> 0 -> 10,000 (Suppressed by ####)]

'It regenerated?' Moon Aiko tilted her head, but her thoughts were quickly drawn into the Cauldron and to what was happening inside.

The individual Resources floated around, and Moon Aiko could observe them.

The [Primordial Ghost Devouring Fire-Fox Glass Webbed Vessel+] broke down and combined with the [Primordial Soul Wood], forming a new Vessel.

It was now a [Primordial Ghost Wood Vessel].

The Vessel then combined with the Divine Meteorite to increase its compatibility, removing the 'wood' part from it.

[Primordial Ghost Vessel]

Grandpa Flame helped out to adjust it so that Aiko could use it, making it into:

[Primordial Ghost Kitsune Vessel]

While it was a tier higher than what Aiko was, she would still be able to use about 5% of its full potential, which was more than enough.

Then the [Divine Steel] was added, reinforcing the endurance of the Vessel, making it tougher to shatter from both inside and outside interferences.

[Primordial Ghost Kitsune Vessel+]

Some of the [Precious Resources] and [Precious Dirt] started to combine with it, creating scenery inside the Vessel.

[Primordial Harmony Kitsune Vessel+]

The [True Eternal Glacial Ice] and [Serene Azure Spiritual Flame Essence] allowed for it to filter and reject most undesired types of Qi, completely limiting Yang Qi and only allowing Yin Qi inside.

Furthermore, only Yin Qi that could be transformed into Ghost Qi was unfrozen. The rest was frozen until it either reached its capacity or there was better Qi that it could use, in which it would eject the 'improper' Qi outside.

[Harmony Divine Kitsune Vessel+]

The next step was the [100 Ghost Parade Lamp Materials], which were combined with it once again due to the gentle heat that the Grandpa Flame was giving.

[Harmony Ghost Divine Kitsune Vessel+]

[Aiko's Blood] and [Heavenly Blessed Light-Water] nurtured the Vessel to allow the Ghosts to thrive inside, but if someone had a powerful enough Soul, they could also escape their bodies to go and nurture their Souls.

Thus, Aiko could allow her companions to strengthen their Soul through this.

The last part was the [Yueying's Reverse Scale], which gently shone-

"Gimme that." Moon Aiko stole the Ghost Flag with the cloth and threw it inside.

At this point, Chen Shi almost lost his mind when he saw all the priceless Treasures being treated like toys by Aiko.

However, Danji didn't allow anyone to come closer to Aiko and would block all of their advances.

She could feel Aiko's excitement and was wondering what she would create.

Moon Aiko was even crazy enough to throw system meat inside!

The priceless Treasures danced around each other until they combined.

Moon Aiko observed the reaction closely, but then-

*Crack*

Her Cauldron started to crack.

"Oh shi-" Moon Aiko immediately wrapped her Divine Sense around it.

"No way will you fail when I poured all of my Providence into you!" Moon Aiko roared as she held the Cauldron together by sheer 'willpower'.

The Cauldron cracked more and more, but Moon Aiko didn't stop. She could feel it, her first personal Treasure would be finished if she just held on for a little longer.

*Stagger*

'Strange...' Moon Aiko felt dizzy.

"A-Aiko!" Danji's panicked voice sounded from the side.

Moon Aiko felt something on her tongue. 'I taste metal-' *Blech*

Aiko vomited blood, startling everyone, but her powerful Divine Sense was gushing out of her, making everyone unable to approach her.

This lasted until a blinding light completely disintegrated the Cauldron, throwing Aiko backwards.

Danji was quick with her movement, not only catching Aiko into her arms, but also creating a Crimson Shield around them.

Chen Shi also used his Void Runes to stop most of the shards from demolishing this room and the surrounding buildings.

However, the event still didn't stop! The roof was disintegrated by a powerful lightning strike!

"What-?!" Chen Shi staggered backwards. He didn't expect that Aiko's first clumsy Treasure could attract Heavenly Lightning.