Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Chapter 69 – Babi’s plea

Aiko was cleaned by the mean Fox. She changed into her Human form and walked with her towards the ship.

It was already night, a night with Full Moon.

'Wait!' Aiko's eyes widened like lightbulbs.

'No exploration...'
'You should have explored!'

As she finally realized what time it was, she was also reprimanded by the Darkness.

'It's not my fault! I was taking a bath...' Aiko tried to defend herself and heard a click of a tongue.

'If you want to Evolve you need to do that over the lake.'

'Why there?' Aiko asked, but the Darkness didn't tell more.

She immediately looked at the mean Fox and tugged her clothes.

"Hm? What is it?" The Queen stared at her fluffball which was pleading with her eyes. "Do you want something?"

Aiko nodded several times.

The Queen paused. "Then write what you want." She smiled mischievously and Aiko shivered.

She still remembered that thick book and she didn't want to repeat that torture. Aiko nodded while quivering.

'Oh my~, she looks like a scared rabbit~.' The Queen was enjoying herself, a small payback for her insatiable Mate.

Aiko gave the Queen the paper with writing. It was crooked as she was quivering, but it was still readable.

'... You must be joking.' The Queen read it in her mind, but her thoughts almost spilt over. "You want to Evolve? Today? Now?!" The Queen had a headache. 'This is what I get for teasing her.'

"We can't do it here, it's not safe." The Queen said, but Aiko didn't move from her place.

Aiko was pouting angrily. 'I need to Evolve here and now!'

The Queen sighed. "You can't really Evolve here. How about I cook you something nice and you can Evolve once we return?" The Queen asked gently.

Aiko plopped on the ground, not leaving. The Queen was startled.

"You..." She sighed. "Do you really need to Evolve here?" She asked again.

Aiko shook her head and the Queen felt relieved only to pause because her little Mate was pointing at the dirty lake.

The Queen's face hardened and she pinched her little rascal's cheeks.

Aiko didn't cave in and hugged the mean Fox with moist eyes.

The Queen recoiled like she had taken damage from something.

She resisted for a while, but...

"Ugh... Fine... can you wait a bit?" The Queen had to give up as the combination of those most eyes and the quivering cub was too much for her.

Aiko nodded happily, she was humming to herself.

The Queen sighed again and left to seek the Sect Leader.

...

"I need a favour, you will get this in return." The Queen told the Sect Leader.

Hua was confused as to why the Jade Fox needed a favour but took the Jade slip.

She almost spilt the tea she was drinking when she read the slip.

'T-t-this is too much?! Does she want to go to war!?' Hua stared at the Jade Fox speechless.

"J-Jade Fox... you don't want us to go to war right?" The Sect Leader rattled.

"War? No, why would we do something so pointless?" The Queen tilted her head not understanding the worry of the Sect Leader.

"They might be just basic Pills, but I really need that favour." The Queen sighed.

"What do you need?" The Sect Leader had never seen Jade Fox look so troubled, unless... "It's about your Mate?"

The Queen smiled wryly. "Yeah..." She sighed again. "She wants to Evolve."

The Sect Leader nodded. "That is fine, once we return-"

"Now." The Queen looked away and the Sect Leader twitched.

"Pardon?" Hua thought that her hearing might be bad.

"My Mate wants to Evolve here and now." The Queen stared into the horizon.

The Sect Leader's face hardened. "You want us to protect her..." Hua finally understood her assignment.

"That is fine." The Sect Leader knew that the Jade Fox's Mate was only Beast Rank and would not cause any phenomena.

The Queen smiled bitterly at this naive fool. "She also has a dormant Bloodline."

Hua's body stiffened and her brows twitched. "Why don't you just tell us to go to war?" She smiled not so kindly.

"I wish it was that easy." The Queen chuckled.

The Sect Leader sighed. "Double."

"Deal." The Queen readily agreed and Hua felt agitated.

"I will see you around the Lake again." The Queen waved and left, not letting the Sect Leader adjust the deal.

The Sect Leader was left alone, feeling bad premonition, but now that she accepted the deal she couldn't go back... especially since they would be awarded 10 Pills with Heaven Quality.

She called for the Elders and moved.

...

The Queen arrived in front of the small Aiko and pinched her cheeks. "You better remember this favour."

Aiko smiled happily hugging her. The Queen still had a headache, but felt a little better after being hugged by her little sweetie. 'Ugh... I will have to create so many Pills.' She felt pain in her Beast Core. 'You better make the Evolution worth it!'

...

The Elders gathered and some even set up Concealing Formations and Arrays.

The Sect Leader commanded them skilfully and things settled down.

Aiko looked through what she was missing...

[Moon Fox]
[#### Rarity]

[Requirements:
Bath in the rays of the Moon for 30,000 consecutive days - 62 days
Nurture Moon Stone - Obtained
Core Purity of at least 50% - Obtained
During Evolution User needs to be bathed in the rays of the Full Moon - Obtained
]
[Hidden Requirements:
####
]
[Stats Requirements:
Mind: 10,000+ - Missing 910
Soul: 1,000+ - Obtained
Beauty: 50,000+ - Crushed
Luck 10,000+ - Missing 2,696
]
[Title Requirements:
Something/Someone that means being loved - Obtained
]

'Let's put 1,000 in Mind, and 2,860 into Luck that means the Luck from Stat Points is now 3,000 which is more than enough for this Evolution. And it's a nice and round number.' Aiko nodded to herself. 'It's unfortunate. I can't use my [Shadow Enhancement] during the Evolution, but that can't be helped.'

'That leaves me with 1,368 Stat Points... that consumed quite a bit.' Aiko frowned, she would have to stockpile more Stat Points just in case for her next Evolution.

She then placed the Moon Stone near her and the eyes of the Elders twitched. They really wanted that Stone, but seeing their Sect Leader being adamant about helping, they couldn't move...

[Do you wish to Evolve?]

'Yes! Let's goooooo!' Aiko roared.

The Full Moon was at its brightest and Aiko started to Evolve, unaware of the things happening outside of her body.

[Requirements:
Bath in the rays of the Moon for 30 consecutive days - 62 days
Nurture Moon Stone - Obtained
Core Purity of at least 50% - Obtained
During Evolution User needs to be bathed in the rays of the Full Moon - Obtained
]
[Hidden Requirements:
Beauty: 250,000+ - Obtained
Peak of the Full Moon, covering the sky. - Obtained
####
]
[Stats Requirements:
Mind: 10,000+ - Obtained
Soul: 1,000+ - Obtained
Beauty: 50,000+ - Crushed
Luck 10,000+ - Obtained
]
[Title Requirements:
Something/Someone that means being loved - Obtained
]

[Evolution shall now proceed.]

The Full Moon brightened further but cast its rays, especially in one place.

That Place was where Aiko was. It almost felt like it was midday from the amount of light that was displayed.

[Balancing Species acknowledged.]

[Species: [-] -> [Moon Fennec Fox Cub(Female)]]
[User can now adjust his alignment Good/Evil between 500-500 to 0-1,000!]

[Adjusting User's body to receive the Moon's Grace]

The Full Moon dimmed everywhere else but brightened where Aiko was.

[Elemental Affinity: [Moon - 3]]
[Hidden Requirements fulfilled, raising affinity further.
[Moon - 3]
[Moon - 2]
[Moon - 1]
[Acquiring Divine Ability: [Moon's Eyes]!]
[The Moon is resonating with [Moon Goddess Scripture]! Acquiring Divine Ability: [Moon's Crust]!]
[Acquiring Bloodline]
[Moon Goddess Bloodline]

[Let's reject that one... here.] A gentle female voice drifted into Aiko's Soul.
[Moon Goddess Kitsune(Dormant)]

The ground around Aiko lost its lustre and slowly turned into sand, there was barely enough energy in the surroundings to fulfil this Evolution.

[Phew, that went well.] She praised herself.
[Resetting Alignment]
[... what?] She was confused.
[Conditions fulfilled, Advancing Beast Rank.]
[W-wait! This is not supposed to happen!] She was flustered.
[I told you not to play around.] A tender female voice reprimanded the gentle voice.
[B-but! Senior!] The gentle voice cried.
[Advancing the Beast Rank.]

The Moon returned to normal. The Elders were sweating and the Sect Leader was the same.

'That was supposed to be an Evolution for someone in Beast Rank?! Bullshit!' They cursed the Sect Leader and Jade Fox.

The Queen laughed bitterly. 'Little rascal you need to finish it now!'

They already attracted a lot of attention from the pillar of Moonlight.

They felt the ambient Qi drop sharply. They felt goosebumps on their bodies and instincts warned them.

They stared at the Cub who was eagerly sucking all the Qi she could find.

'She will die at this rate.' The Sect Leader looked concerned but didn't interfere, it was good enough to be close to Jade Fox so she could be the first one to console her.

The Queen was frowning, this amount of suction was beyond her imagination for someone at the Beast Rank.

'Don't tell me she is also advancing in Rank?!' She shivered. 'This is bad, I don't have enough Pills and Beast Core Energy to fend off all the Human Cultivators that might come!' She clutched her head as another headache came her way.

...

[Beast Core instability detected.]
[[Duality of Cultivation] Intervened!]
[Setting up Secondary Beast Core]
[Linking the Secondary Beast Core]
[Not enough Qi]
[Initiating [Meditation]!]

A whirlwind was created around Aiko as she was sucking all the Vitality out of her surroundings.

The Queen frowned. She stared at the Priceless Moon Stone as it slowly crumbled. She could even feel the force that was trying to pluck her own energy, but it was weak enough that it could be suppressed.

The Queen was now scared about her rascal's survival. She took one of the Rings filled with Spirit Crystals and threw them towards Aiko. In the blink of an eye, those Spirit Crystals vanished. It was not enough.

'Y-you!' The Queen had tears in her eyes. Their wealth was eagerly sucked dry by her servant!

She threw another batch of Spirit Crystals.

[Secondary Beast Core Established successfully!]
[Perfect Link was created!]
[Bloodline: [Shadow Fiend Fox] reached the top!]
[Bloodline: [Dream Beast Kitsune(Dormant)] is nudging. It seeks more energy!]

The Ground under Aiko caved shocking Queen that was guarding nearby her. She rushed towards her sweetie only to pause.

Under the ground was a large deposit of Spirit Stones and Crystals.

The eyes of the Elders shook in greed but were restrained by the Sect Leader.

The Sect Leader also had greed in her eyes, but those Pills couldn't be bought with normal means and that restrained her.

She looked towards the Jade Fox who was anxiously looking at her Mate.

She did sympathize with her, but wouldn't move. If her Mate lived or died either way she would earn a lot, there was no need to move.

A Human battleship appeared. The Elders cursed, but they were already in battle formation.

"Haha! Someone is breaking through! I bet it's breaking through Holy Spirit Beast Rank!" One Human Elder laughed.

The Fox Elders frown deepened, but before the Human Elder could do anything.

"What are you doing to our guests?" A bellowing voice made that Elder spit blood.

"P-patriarch!" The Elder bowed.

A Handsome-looking youth stepped outside of his Battleship. Staring at the whirlpool with interest.