They ate together. She was squeaky clean from the Fox constantly using some strange technique on her. She didn't mind that, since it was quite a nice feeling, although it couldn't compare to a proper bath, it was still nice enough like a shower. The most important thing was that she was completely clean!
The Fox levitates her on her back. Aiko was startled and confused, but couldn't question the Fox as she couldn't talk nor express herself.
"I will be carrying you around until your Core settles down." The Fox said gently.
Aiko was taken aback. 'She understands me?' She scrunched her face.
"I don't understand you, you are just easy to read sometimes." The Queen answered gently, slowly and carefully moving through the Forest. "When we leave the Forest we will have to cross and go around several cities, so be a good girl and stay put." The Fox still said gently but with a hint of seriousness. "If you wait for me I will give you delicious meals." She negotiated the terms since it would be bad if Aiko hunted like this.
Aiko felt like she was losing on this deal, but since she was carried around on this soft and fluffy back... she didn't mind as much.
Queen and Aiko made it out of part of the Forest. In front of them, the forest was thinner and there was less vegetation. There was more light since the trees were much farther apart. Aiko also felt weaker as she was on the light, but that wasn't all that bad since this stinky Fox at least carried her gently.
This part of the forest was much quieter, there were fewer birds and beasts around than before and even those beasts looked weaker than the others. It felt like a completely different world as there were much more peaceful animals/beasts, like deer or hedgehogs. It would be a lot easier on her if she 'spawned' in here as the food was abundant and easy to obtain and there was much less danger.
What she didn't know was that the Inner part of this Forest had thicker ambient energy, making it easier to advance and gather energy. If she tried to Evolve in here she would surely die, being sucked dry by her own bloodline.
"We will be leaving the forest shortly. this might be only a Middle part of this Forest, but it gets smaller the further you get from the centre." The Fox slowly explained as she felt Aiko looking around curiously. "We also were nowhere near the centre of this Forest. While we were considered to be in the inner part, it was only on edge, much more powerful beings roamed the inner parts and they would constantly fight for territories destroying the forest in the process."
Aiko was puzzled. 'Then why isn't this forest already destroyed?'
"The Forest in the inner parts is much tougher and quicker to grow. So it actually helps thin out the forest, when the beasts fight." She explained, getting back into rhythm like she did with her boy toy, just this little one was paying more attention. *Sigh*
'You can read my mind right?!' She angrily slapped her back.
"I can't read your mind." The Queen answered flatly.
'I call bullshit on that one!' Aiko was very angry, but no longer slapped her paws as it was exhausting and it's not like this stinky Fox would feel it.
They fast walked through this part of the Forest arriving in a much thinner part. This was the Outer part of this Forest. The trees were far and few in between, there was plenty of light and very little vegetation. Aiko also felt heavier as the amount of ambient Qi was much lower.
"We beasts are more dependent on ambient Qi until we reach at least pseudo-human form. That's when we can keep Qi inside our bodies and expend it if we go through Qi-deficient parts of the world. This allows them to stay in top shape even if the Qi disappeared, while beasts would be troubled since we use part of the ambient Qi to empower our Abilities." The Fox explained as this was very important information if she managed to enter the 'Fox Village'. If someone would set a trap for her it would be in a region with little to no ambient Qi to limit her powers. "If you can help it, it is better to avoid places with little Qi, as they are often plagued with bandits and traps." She warned the curious Aiko.
Aiko nodded slowly. She didn't like this place as it didn't have much shadow and she felt weaker here. She wouldn't want to spend any time in here if it could be helped.
There were peaceful plains in front of them. Sheep and cows were freely grazing. They were obviously wild animals because of the lack of any signs of Human intrusion and while there were many humans they often would not leave their Villages. While Humans were the main and most powerful Cultivation beings in this plane, that didn't mean they purged the world from monsters. They were greatly beneficial for them and if they wiped all of them they wouldn't be able to have their own pets, so most powerful individuals would restrict the hunting to a certain degree as they didn't want their possible future Dao Companions or Caldron to be hunted till extinction. That was especially true for Foxes as they had many beneficial arts that could aid Human Cultivators greatly, as such they would severely punish or straight up kill if someone hurt a Fox too much. They would be abused, but not to the point that they would die, which again was beneficial for the leaders.
"We will be passing near Village soon, I will take a slight detour but still don't make too much noise. I don't want to dirty my hands with filthy Humans." She said flatly but with a hint of danger in her voice.
Aiko nodded blankly, it's not like her ride was hurting her, she did not need to do anything, maybe she would appreciate more meat? A bit more? A few kilos more?
They tread the grassland, it's peaceful, yet chaotic.
"Kill that bastard!" A young male voice drifted from the treeline.
3 people were fighting among each other and near them was an herb that was glowing softly.
'Maiden's bells.' The Fox telepathically said to Aiko. 'These bells are special as they allow you to see in complete darkness if prepared properly, of course, once you reach high enough Cultivation you will be able to see in the dark, but they are at the beginning of Foundation Establishment and as such it's extremely beneficial to them if they want to explore it. That herb would also be beneficial to those that want to enter the Golden Core as it purifies the liquid Qi quicker.' She told her a few things about the herb so that if she encountered it she would know the basics and not fight for such useless herbs... well it wasn't useless for Aiko since she needed to purify her Core, but it would take too much time to refine that herb so it can be used by beasts, not to mention it could be used only once, so it's better to combine it with more herbs so that the effect is much greater than each individual plant.
They continued to watch and the Fox waited, she would kill the last one standing and take all of their treasures alongside the herb. If two were alive she would just leave, not because she couldn't kill them, but because she didn't want to stain her hands with grouping scum that can't even take the herb by themselves. Naturally, she would still take the herb either way, leaving them helpless and with possible inner demons. This would delight her as it meant less powerful Cultivators overall.
The guys fought, and fireworks flew everywhere as each one of them recited fanciful names of their techniques. Aiko watched over, but it was less interesting than seeing those at the peak of Foundation Establishment or in the Golden Core fight as their fireworks were much more powerful and pleasing to look at. It felt like the higher you went up the Cultivation chain the more colourful your techniques became, she didn't understand this. Shouldn't power rule over everything? Why make it more colourful?
The Queen stole the herb in the meantime and placed it in her [Storage Ring], watching over those dumb Cultivators still fighting even after the herb vanished.
'So idiotic, so dumb...' The Queen scoffed, as they finally managed to kill their comrade. How did she know he was their comrade? They had the same clothes with the same symbols, simple as that.
"Haha... finally..." The youth breathed heavily.
"Now for the herb." The other youth looked over only to freeze.
"What's wrong?" The first youth asked.
"T-t-the-" The second youth stammered and couldn't answer.
"T-T-T-What? Can't you speak more cl-" He ridiculed that youth only for himself to freeze. "W-w-w-where is that herb?"
They both looked in disbelief and one suddenly gripped his head. It was the first youth. He screamed like a madman and Aiko could see his eyes slowly darken and turn red. It was a mesmerizing colour if it wasn't for that sinister energy leaking out of him.
The youth laughed at his partner in crime and slashed with speed incomparable to when he fought with that youth, killing that still stunned youth instantly.
'That is how others become mad. They lose themselves to the inner demons whispering sweet things into their ears. At first, it starts inconspicuous, small whisper here and there, those whispers increase in frequency over time, "guiding" you for the better. At the last step, they increase in intensity, commanding you to do things, stepping/interrupting your meditation/advancements, until your mind finally slips and gates open. At that moment they overtake your body as pure thoughts and desires to fulfil their purpose.' She explained to Aiko in the wishes she would be able to avoid becoming one herself. 'He has killed his comrade in order to get that herb. Seeing the herb not there he developed an inner demon about killing. This demon overtook his body and is fulfilling its desires and that is to kill everyone he considers a comrade.' The Queen explained. 'After he kills everyone he will revert back, but that guy will lose his mind again meaning this kind of thing is never ending once you allow your inner demons to possess you.'
'For us beasts it's different, nothing takes over us, but we will degrade into Demonic Beasts. This way many beasts can skip the magical beast stage at the cost of their intelligence. Those beasts are loved by demonic cultivators as there is a possibility for their intelligence to return, but at that moment they would be already in contract unable to hurt anyone, but those that they are ordered to hurt.' She sighed. 'Some Humans also like Demonic Beasts more since they are a lustful bunch and love Dual Cultivation. They are quite sought after for the trait of live dolls, but people would go completely nuts over intelligent Demonic Beast, as they can learn the art of seduction and invade righteous sects and destroy them from inside.'
She killed that Demonic Cultivator with her tail and gathered their [Storage Pouches], while those are unwieldy and smaller than [Storage Rings], you don't need to use Qi to open them, as such even mortals can use them. This trait also makes them much cheaper as you need just high-quality textiles and not rare and non-renewable metals. The Inscription on them is also much simpler as you don't need to carve into hard metal but just paint the pouch.
She took all of the items inside her own [Storage Ring], but kept those pouches around her neck for Aiko's use until she learns how to properly control her Qi.
Ah yes the greatest of all pass times watching idiodic cultivators kill eachother over scraps of power. Only exceeded by watching others watch those cultivators kill eachother.
Now this is briliant and will be used later~
She would never forget that feeling and she swore that she would push this Fox down! It would be a blissful feeling for her the moment that this Fox would be hopelessly under her squirming.
'You can read my mind right?!' She angrily slapped her back.
"I can't read your mind." The Queen answered flatly.
really if queen have mind reading ability she would have dealt with her boy toy and his female companion easily.
TFTC
Yup~
Thank you for reading~!
Little foxie is neither demonic beast right? But she has traits of demonic beast? From the previous interaction with the saintess.
Chapter thanks
She is mistaken as Demonic beast, her aura will be explained a bit later~ (Well... after a long time. )
Thank you for reading~!
there were much more peaceful animals/beasts, like deer or hedgehogs.
Is...is that.....is that SONIC?!?
As much as it would be funny, no, just oversized spiky friends~
Thanks for the chapter
Thank you for reading~!
Possible Ideas and my thoughts dump (Not sure 100% how to word this all to makes sense)
Sorry in advance I went on a bit of a mad tangent
Soul fire mc can gain a fire attribute with purifying effects as mc does have a phoenix blessing(another feather duster may be made) mc can use it purify their core and use in alchemy and blacksmith to give better results or possibly add bonus to creations like the special flames heaven chosen's have in story's with alchemy in it (Fox Spirit Fire sounds a bit cliche but still cool)
And with portable crock pot I think the cost is so low for it potential is possibly because of 1 noncombat Cultivation Technique are look down on 2 if the ingredients blow up it is on the inside of the users body 3 in the alchemy process some waste may get in to the users body 4 the user must be able to control fire in their body like a fire cultivator to use it and the potential advantages is 1 the user has more control in the alchemy process 2 is less energy consuming 3 the heavens possibly can't sabotage the process (purifying meat with soul fire?)
Aren't inscriptions more complex talismans(the paper one) as talismans are done uses a paint brush like thing have shorter commands and are only one use before it burns up to inscriptions which can be multiple use before it brakes(depends on ingredients used) and be use to make artifacts as it uses a inscriptions pen that can be use on hard materials like metals
Both used to make thing like formation as they work the same and use the same skills but talismans are cheaper to make so most cultivators learn first as talismans are make from talisman paper and beast blood mixed with primer unlike inscription where they will probably need multiple inscription pens as if it not strong enough to carve a mark it can brake the pen and if the pen is to strong they can carve through the material they are tying to inscription on not to mention the inscription ink which I don't remember any recipes apart from they have beast blood and Qi dust in it probably like alchemy with lot of secret recipe mixers
Immortal are dumb and have no common sense because the heavens claps or sabotage all the smart cultivators like Char?
Do we have pyramid like structure with the upper realms put in layers get less realms as you go up but they get bigger?
The heavens cultivators take the cuckoo approach to raising their children because get more luck the lower the realm you are born in (might be why mc is so lucky) and to hide their children from their enemies in the heavens? (Or they are just crap parents and lazy to raise their own kids)
This took far too long to type
I always love these tips and ideas~
Soul fire mc can gain a fire attribute with purifying effects as mc does have a phoenix blessing(another feather duster may be made) mc can use it purify their core and use in alchemy and blacksmith to give better results or possibly add bonus to creations like the special flames heaven chosen's have in story's with alchemy in itclear.png (Fox Spirit Fire sounds a bit cliche but still cool)
This was planned, since we will have blacksmithing because of Inscriptions and Alchemy for those Pills, She will have Fox type flame, but with more fanciful name
And with portable crock pot I think the cost is so low for it potential is possibly because of 1 noncombat Cultivation Technique are look down on 2 if the ingredients blow up it is on the inside of the users body 3 in the alchemy process some waste may get in to the users body 4 the user must be able to control fire in their body like a fire cultivator to use it and the potential advantages is 1 the user has more control in the alchemy process 2 is less energy consuming 3 the heavens possibly can't sabotage the process (purifying meat with soul fire?clear.png)
1. Nice idea, but that's not quite the reason why some techniques are so cheap and why others are so expensive. (Hint: Something about heavenly lighning and blessing pills *Wink**Wink*
2. Correct, one of the reasons why it is so cheap to obtain than the phoenix one
3. Also Correct, but that will be explained later
4. Correct, it will also improve the pills quality, the energy consumption is dependant on the type, but mostly correct. The Heaven's have harder time sabotaging it, but that comes around to the point 1
(purifying meat with soul fire?clear.png)
Yup~
Aren't inscriptions more complex talismans(the paper one) as talismans are done uses a paint brush like thing have shorter commands and are only one use before it burns up to inscriptions which can be multiple use before it brakes(depends on ingredients used) and be use to make artifacts as it uses a inscriptions pen that can be use on hard materials like metalsclear.png
It is correct that talismans are one time use item, while inscriptions are more like artifacts. While inscriptions are more complex in nature it is only because the metal can bear the immense load that comes with those symbols. So Talismans could be as complex as inscriptions if you have powerful enough paper or material that can hold it. Generally speaking Talismans are cheaper version of Inscriptions, while inscriptions can make greater wonders in the plane. The paint brush and Inscription pen is pretty much staple oh those profession and will be touched upon soon~
Both used to make thing like formation as they work the same and use the same skills but talismans are cheaper to make so most cultivators learn first as talismans are make from talisman paper and beast blood mixed with primer unlike inscription where they will probably multiple inscription pens as if it not strong enough to carve a mark it can brake the pen and if the pen is to strong they can carve through the material they are tying to inscription on not to mention the inscription ink which I don't remember any recipes apart from they have beast blood and Qi dust in it probably like alchemy with lot of secret recipe mixersclear.png
I completely forgot about the primer thing, I will have to do more research on that, but generally the Inscriptions is the motion of carving, which means they need to use a lot more Qi, while talismans use the beasts blood as balancer so they don't need to use as much Qi. Inscription ink is only used in grand or everlasting artifacts, as Qi would dissapete over time, but Inscription ink would last a very long time. You also need inscriptions to create Caldrons~
Immortal are dumb and have no common sense because the heavens claps or sabotage all the smart cultivators like Char?
Yes, those who have higher resilience in mind have harder time in cultivation as Heaven and Earth needs balance. Placing stupid person high would allow the Heaven and Earth to not need to manage them as hard, but with smart/resilient people it would throw rocks at them, because who would want to take care of 'misbehaving' children all the time.
Do we have pyramid like structure with the upper realms put in layers get less realms as you go up but they get bigger?
If I understood that correctly then yes, the higher the realm the vaster the over all plane.
The heavens cultivators take the cuckoo approach to raising their children because get more luck the lower the realm you are born in (might be why mc is so lucky) and to hide their children from their enemies in the heavens?clear.png
Another mind reading reader! But yes, it is like that. The system had to offset a lot of Aiko's misfortune
This took far too long to typeclear.png
Thank you so much for such amazing comment! It's always joyous reading comments like these. (Even though there are often so many mind reading readers!) I hope I was able to asnwer all of your tips or questions and I hope you will enjoy future chapters as there is much more to come, even some troupes you might not like *cough* Tournament Arc *Cough*. But I will do my best to make them as enjoyable as possible!
So thank you so much for taking your time out of your day to write such sweet comment and I hope you have great day! (Or sweet night!)
@Ezy Oh a tournament arc I always love these.
@Ezy
So thank you so much for taking your time out of your day to write such sweet comment and I hope you have great day! (Or sweet night!)
Thank you for reading my comment
She will have Fox type flame, but with more fanciful name
I feel like a chuunibyou name is approaching
(Hint: Something about heavenly lighning and blessing pills *Wink**Wink*
You know some old heavenly Immortal is going to try blessing mc things to balance her luck but you know...
I completely forgot about the primer thing, I will have to do more research on that,
The primer is one of those annoying small details that tends to get skipped a lot but is highly relevant to how talismans work as it keeps the blood from going bad leaking Qi and makes it easier to paint with
Yes, those who have higher resilience in mind have harder time in cultivation as Heaven and Earth needs balance.
I presume there is also a karma like system in play linked to luck that the Heavens are cheesing like keeping people with bad karma alive so their children can kill them for good karma from more luck
But yes, it is like that. The system had to offset a lot of Aiko's misfortune clear.png
Is not doing a great job as it is the main reason for mc misfortune
(Even though there are often so many mind reading readers!clear.pngclear.png)
Quick scatter
*cough* Tournament Arc *Cough*
But captain she has no hands... yet
@ImaginaryFox
Thank you for reading my commentclear.png
I read every comment as there are not that many!
I feel like a chuunibyou name is approachingclear.png
Well... you are not wrong, but it still hurts when you say it like that
The primer is one of those annoying small details that tends to get skipped a lot but is highly relevant to how talismans work as it keeps the blood from going bad leaking Qi and makes it easier to paint withclear.png
Yeah, I want to keep the decay of talismans and the higher grade the talisman is the longer it will last.
I presume there is also a karma like system in play linked to luck that the Heavens are cheesing like keeping people with bad karma alive so their children can kill them for good karma from more luckclear.png
Correct, there is a Karma system, but It won't be probably touched upon this book, maybe the later one... who knows~
Is not doing a great job as it is the main reason for mc misfortuneclear.png
Like every other system
Quick scatterclear.png
You can't run away!
But captain she has no hands... yetclear.png
Wouldn't it be more fun if small fox dominated others?