Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

The more bases might be useful, but Aiko was against crafting anything as elaborate as the caravan. That thing would be her only mobile base that would be upgraded semi-regularly.

That way, everything would stay fresh and advanced and the whole construction wouldn't fall behind.

As for the more 'permanent' bases, or rather outposts. Aiko didn't know how to make them without causing issues.

She knew that she had to buy another camo wrap, or whatever that thing was. The uglies were bound to find her without it, and then she would naturally wake up inside the safe area, because she died.

Aiko shook her head gently.

"Teleport? Some kind of movement ability?" Yue tilted her head. There were too many unfamiliar things around her, so keeping up with everything was quite exhausting. This also made her wonder what this place actually was, but that was for later.

"Yes, it's close to Void Steps, or something like that. A technique that allows you to cross great distances, but with penalties." Aiko tried to explain it simply since Yue was old... very old.

"Hmmm..." Yue slowly nodded her head. There were some issues with this, but as long as they were able to get to the finishing line and without being hurt, that would be fine.

Long distance movement techniques were dangerous, since one wrong step, and you would be lost 'on the other side'. If you got lost over there, then the only positive thing about it would be a quick death.

The Qi is abnormal and everything is abnormal about that place. The water runs against the common currents, no, the whole sky could be said to be one big sea.

The ground was black and the beings on the other side were too. A place devoid of colours, but with no bright colours like in this place.

This place had the majority of white colour, while greys and black were used to outline and 'describe' things.

This place could be said to be colourful compared to that dreadful place.

"Nothing bad will happen, since that's instantaneous." Aiko said proudly.

"Huh?" Yue blinked at her. Even Void Steps required some preparation and you still had to walk that distance. It's just that others would observe it as being instantaneous. "You don't have to walk it?"

"No?" Aiko tilted her head. She didn't need to walk anything, but she had to rest a lot.

"Fascinating." Yue would love to take this technique and make it viable in the outside world, but as she had no body and no Dantian to speak off, that was impossible.

Still, she wished to experience it, since just that experience might give her some ideas about how to improve existing techniques.

She might not be as skilled as Mei, but Yue still prided herself with her ability to convert things into techniques!

Or at least that's how she observed herself...

"It is." Aiko agreed, since it was very nice and didn't need anything elaborate.

Although greater distances might need something more, so as to prevent Aiko from dying from overusing her HP.

"Well, what do we need for that?" Yue smiled happily, but that didn't last too long.

"Outfits~" Aiko hummed, but Yue already groaned...

...

"You know... I'm fine staying here." Yue didn't want to enter that clothing store.

"Don't be such a wuss." Aiko rolled her eyes at her.

"I just don't like such clothes..." Yue pursed her lips.

"Nobody is telling you to wear it." Aiko smiled at her.

"Uhuh, then what about your expression?" Yue raised her eyebrow at Aiko.

"Whatever could you mean~?" Aiko tried to control her expression, but her smile only widened.

Unlawfully taken from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"This is exactly what I mean!" Yue cried out softly, but Aiko already dragged her inside...

...

"Let's see..." Aiko was looking for sets. The [Barbaric Nightingale Set] was a great set, but not for magic, so she was now looking for sets that would allow her to do that.

"These are... modest?" Yue tilted her head. She was trying to figure out why these sets were so prudent.

"That's because it's about magic. Magic requires a lot of space to enhance, so you need long robes and things like that." Aiko nodded her head, but she was still concerned.

That was because most sets only included the robes and few necessities, in other words, there was nothing under those robes!

"Hmmm..." Yue observed the clothes without knowing this fact, and she even liked some of them.

"I wonder what kind of underwear I can wear with this." Contrary to how Yue acted, she quite liked shopping for these things, since they were soft and not too revealing.

"Everything that is on that stand is all that you will get." Aiko said seriously.

Yue blinked her eyes a few times. She looked at Aiko before looking back. She flipped the obnoxiously large skirt, looking inside.

Yue then turned back towards Aiko and back at the clothes, feeling incredulous.

"... What?" Yue couldn't comprehend what she just heard.

"What, what?" Aiko snorted. "Don't think I'm happy about it. I would prefer it if it had more clothes." Aiko protested against this strongly.

'Good, I was worried for a moment.' Yue nodded her head, smiling gently.

"After all, the more clothes you have, the more buffs you will be able to get!" And Aiko immediately shared her reasoning, shattering Yue's imagination instantly.

'Never mind... it's better to not think about this.' Yue concluded that she would just ignore those last words and just pretend nothing would happen.

"What would happen if you wore more than what is on the stand?" Yue asked a very important question.

"Well, you would get debuff and none of the buffs that it provided." Aiko tilted her head. That debuff was really-

'I will definitely visit the one who created this place.' Aiko swore to use a good pole for that part!

...

Yue and Aiko browsed the sets. Yue was looking for anything that would empower her Confucianism and paintings, but she quickly found out what kind of degenerate store this was!

Confucianism was empowered by an impossibly short and tight skirt, with a tight shirt where the buttons were holding on for their dear lives.

Meanwhile, the painter was mostly all about the aprons. What other clothes did it use? Do you even have to ask...?

As such, Yue just didn't want to wear anything in this place. Sure, if those effects were real, that would be incredible, but running around with such a short skirt, or with just an apron was a bit...

'My dignity won't allow it." Yue shook her head. She wouldn't judge Aiko over this, since she was born in a different era, but Yue didn't want to touch this!

"What do you think?" Aiko awkwardly walked towards Yue, with her new outfit.

She had an impossibly long robe with impossibly long sleeves. Her hat was also enormous and so was the staff.

"How can you walk in that?" Yue blinked at the robe that covered the whole ground and then some.

"You just have to kick it." Aiko said seriously, but seeing it in action, Yue just had to laugh at her.

It was such a ridiculous situation, where Aiko was small and cute, but the kicking was so vicious and animated.

"What?" Aiko pouted at her.

"Nothing~" Aiko might look more mature now, even if she was smaller, but that didn't mean that some things didn't change. Yue believed that this was still the same Aiko that she met the first time...

Aiko fixed her impossibly big hat, so that she could at least see something.

"I know it seems stupid, but this thing cuts the cost of teleportation by more that 80%!" Aiko proclaimed.

"So what do you have under this?" Yue asked promptly.

"This thing cuts the teleportation cost by more than 90%" Aiko said seriously, dodging that question.

Yue pursed her lips. She couldn't laugh, no she shouldn't laugh in this situation, but seeing the cute Aiko defend herself and change the topic so quickly...

"Just laugh, you are making me feel worse like this..." Aiko grumbled. If not for the teleportation, she wouldn't even wear this! 'I can't believe I miss that short skirt...' She couldn't believe it, but the mage set was a lot more comfortable than the Spatial Mage Set.

Yue burst out laughing. She found Aiko to be more adorable than she was outside, probably because she seemed more down to earth in this place.

Feeling happy about her current emotions, she gently patted Aiko.

"Believe it or not, but I will bite you." Aiko said seriously while looking at Yue.

"Ooops." Yue got a bit carried away, so she cleared her throat.

Then she noticed Aiko handing her something.

"...?" Yue looked over.

"What? You thought I would suffer alone?" Aiko said seriously without blinking her eyes. She was quite scared when looking like this, so Yue took a step back.

"W-what?" Yue noticed what Aiko was holding and immediately stammered. 'It's the apron!'

"Wear it. Wear It. Wear it." Aiko chanted again and again like this was some kind of ritual.

"A-Aiko!" Yue yelped, wanting to run away, but her escape was cut by the strange slime.

It barricaded the doors and windows. There was no escape...

-----

"It's been a while, is there still no news from Aiko?" Mei asked softly. The continental flying ship was progressing smoothly, but the Nightmare Owl Clan was putting a subtle pressure on them.

"None." Dai Lu answered, but they already had a vague idea about where Aiko was.

"Is that still about the Inheritance Grounds?" Danji looked over.

"En." Dai Lu smiled back.

"Why is Aiko always having fun?" Yuxi pouted her lips while Wanshu tried to comfort her.

"She is not having fun..." Mei sighed. Aiko only mingled with troublemakers-

"This time I have to agree. It's been too boring over here." Dai Lu smiled. There were no interesting minds to read around her, so it quickly grew boring for her.

'...' Mei blankly stared at her. 'Am I the only normal person in this place?' She couldn't believe it and she couldn't even retort. Aiko was abnormal, so any complaints might slight Aiko too.

'Let's just wait, it's not been so long since she disappeared.' Mei still felt a strong reaction from Aiko, so she was safe and actually doing well. There was no need to throw a fuss, outside the Nightmare Owl Clan, but those guys could be dealt with, probably...