Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko asked about the materials.

"That would be difficult, Master." He shook his head. "You need to be at least a Forging Emperor or Grade 5 Blacksmith to be able to create it. Not to mention it's not really a righteous way of doing things, so most famous Forging Emperors won't even look your way..." He sighed, feeling pity towards his new Master.

"I see..." Aiko nodded slowly. "What should I call you, by the way?" Aiko tilted her head.

"Ghost Cultivators do not have names, so you can call me whatever, Master." He smiled gently, but Aiko could not see that since he was too blurry.

"Slave 1." Aiko nodded slowly.

He choked badly, but did not protest. He still had to observe his new Master for a bit more to gauge her temperament, so it wouldn't end up badly for him.

"Yes, Master?" He bowed elegantly.

"What can we take from here?" Aiko wanted to rob this place blind and then create tools to tor- test them on her new slave...

He hesitated for a bit. "It's a bit complicated to take too much from here, I would suggest waiting till you have a more powerful Soul, so that you can resist the Natural Treasure." He advised his Master.

Aiko slowly nodded. "Wait, does that mean we can have the Natural Treasure?" Aiko tilted her head.

He laughed happily. "Master, anything can be moved if you try hard enough!" That was his life motto and for the most part of his life, it always worked.

Aiko felt a sense of kinship with him. She was very happy to have this kind of slave, so she reduced his sentence from 50 years of torture to 49 years and 359 days.

Aiko smiled. "Then what can we take?" She tilted her head.

"There is a melted meteorite in that special Spatial Ring." He pointed at a small ring in the corner of the bed. "You can only store materials in there, but they will slowly melt over time making it easier for you to work with them." He explained. "Well, it will only heat up some materials, so it all depends on the kind of material you will place inside, but I do not recommend placing any Mortal metals inside, Master." He advised his Master.

"Why?" Aiko didn't understand why he would single it out like that.

"They will turn into steam, which will be hard to contain and work with." He gestured. "While the heat is fine for most Immortal metals or alloys, that is not the case for mortal stuff, as it has very little Qi inside that protects it from the heat that the inside of the ring is giving it.

"Oh..." Aiko nodded slowly. Molten meteorite...

Aiko thought about it and she really wanted to use it on her [The Ever Shaping Cauldron], but the word molten scared her too much. She would have to wait till her Divine Sense is powerful enough that she could protect her insides from being burned black.

"What else can we take?" She asked Slave 1.

"Naturally we have to take the Primordial Soul Wood." He pointed at it. "You can Refine it over time, just don't make it into Array Flags or Alchemy Cutting Boards!" He warned his Master.

"I wouldn't waste it like that." Aiko's eyes rolled at him.

"Can I store it inside the Storage Ring?" Aiko asked.

"No, since Soul is attached to it, you would need a special Spatial Ring, you can't use normal Storage Rings." He shook his head.

"Oh..." Aiko nodded slowly. "What is the difference between a Storage Ring and a Spatial Ring?" Aiko was curious.

"The difference is simple. Storage Ring is your everyday ring with just storage capacity. Meanwhile, the Spatial Ring is a special ring that can have additional properties. Like keeping Herbs fresh, Storing Souls, burning things and so on." He pointed at the Ring in his Master's hand, the one that melted things.

Aiko nodded slowly. "But it must be harder to create, right?"

"That is correct. While you can create a Storage Ring at the stage of Forging Master, you need to be at least a Forging Ancestor or Grade 6 Blacksmith to start trying Spatial Rings." He gestured at the Rank floating in the air.

Aiko nodded slowly. It would be cool if she could have a few dozen Storage Rings so she didn't have to carry with her anything else, but those rings.

"What do you need to create Storage and Spatial Rings?" Aiko asked Slave 1.

"Meteorite for Storage Rings and more precious metals for Spatial Rings depending on what you want to use it for." He gently said, but he had a hard time suppressing the chuckle that was threatening to escape his lips when he saw his Master's shocked face.

"Fuck..." Aiko cursed, which surprised the Ghost Cultivator. He was used to the fact that girls in front of him would play all cute and nice, but never did he hear a female curse so openly in front of him and without shame...

"Well..." Aiko sighed.

"Yes, Master?" He straightened right away.

"Anything else?" She asked him.

"No, with your strength it's impossible to take anything else..." He will have a truly difficult time with this Master, since her expressions were a bit too much for his old Soul, but if he laughed he would be sent to the 18th Hells.

Aiko sighed. "Let's go..." She felt a bit sad that she couldn't take more, but this should be good enough...

"Um, Master... don't forget the Primordial Soul Wood..." He was a bit concerned about his well-being if his Master had already forgotten to take him with her.

"Right... and the clothes..." Aiko sighed again, she felt tired. She wanted to laze around and play with Lady Liu while doing nothing the rest of the day.

'Fortunately, that Inscription guy forbade me from doing anything, so I will use that as an excuse not to do anything.' Aiko smiled and laughed sinisterly.

...

Aiko arrived at the 'Maze' yet again. "So this is the main part of the Natural Treasure?" Aiko asked Slave 1.

"Yes, but we can't take it for now." He warned his Master again so she wouldn't get any ideas.

"When we get it, what can we do with it?" Aiko asked.

'If it will still be here...' He thought. "We can make an Illusion Defensive Formation from it, similar to what you experienced." He gestured.

Aiko glared at him and he flinched, but he couldn't hide since he had to be close to the Primordial Soul Wood, otherwise, the connection with it would break.

Aiko arrived at the large cave. Her clothes were still there, so she picked them up and wanted to use her [Earthen Walk] to leave.

"Aren't you going to take that Natural Treasure?" Slave 1 asked her.

"Eh? There is?" Aiko was puzzled since all she could feel was coldness.

"There is." He pointed at the body of water that Aiko fell into.

Aiko's expression turned ugly.

"I can bring it for you…? Since I'm Ghost, I'm very good against ice." He gently smiled, but Aiko couldn't see it.

"Go!" Aiko commanded and he rushed into the 'lake'.

Aiko was just happy that she didn't need to go in by herself.

Soon he returned with a crystal ball in his hands.

"I'm not sure what this exactly is, but with its strength, it should be something like Millennial Ice Jade?" He tilted his head and tapped it a few times.

Aiko stored it in her Storage Ring and the temperature rose noticeably.

"Anything else?" She was not very interested in that cold thing, but she didn't want to miss out on any treasure.

"Nothing that I know of." He shook his head.

"That's fine then." She walked into a wall and he wanted to warn her that there was nothing there, but she just phased through it.

He was momentarily shocked, but…

Of course just because she phased through it, didn't mean the wood would also phase through it...

*Clank*

The Primordial Soul Wood, the treasure sought by many was dumped on the ground like some kind of trash...

"..." He blankly stared at the Wood and where his Master disappeared... Will he be truly alright with this kind of Master?

...

Aiko breathed fresh air above the ground, but realised she was not holding anything. She blushed from embarrassment and used her [Earthen Walk] to return to the cave.

This motion didn't escape the Inscription Saint's Divine Sense.

He stood up abruptly. He was locked in this room with Aiko's team, which barraged him with questions and just tried to make him spill the beans that didn't exist.

"She is back. I will pick her up and we will leave as soon as possible." He said in a neutral voice, but he could see Aiko's team already rushing at him.

He used [Drawing into the Void] to disappear from his position and Aiko's team could only curse him loudly...

...

Aiko returned to the cave and picked up the Primordial Soul Wood awkwardly. The blank stare from her Slave 1 said it all and she could not meet his gaze.

She carefully used the hole where she fell through to escort that Primordial Soul Wood with the Ghost Cultivator.

She was back, breathing fresh air above the ground. The Ghost Cultivator was nowhere to be seen, but soon the space ruptured and the Inscription Saint gracefully walked outside the rupture.

However, the moment he spotted Aiko he almost staggered and fell. "I-i-is that Soul Wood?!" His eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets.

"Nice to see you too." Aiko kicked his shin.

"Auch." For such a small Fox, Aiko packed quite the kick. "Yeah, yeah. Enjoyed your adventure? Cool. We are leaving as soon as possible, there will be a stampede soon." He was still in shock from seeing that priceless treasure on her. That was good material for those that were close to death, they would be able to store their Souls inside and wait for the proper vessel to appear to occupy their bodies...

He would definitely try to trade it for his treasures!

He swiped his hand and another rupture appeared from his Runes. He stepped inside and waited for that little rascal to go with him.

Aiko was concerned about the rupture since she didn't like it, but seeing his pressing eyes, she had no other option, but to get inside and brace for the impact...

They appeared on the other side of the rupture. Her team was already anxiously waiting for her and Aiko staggered outside.

She was motion-sick from the journey and she didn't feel like standing, so she just plopped down on the ground.

Her team glared at the Inscription Saint with open hostility, believing that he treated Aiko harshly.

He ignored them since he had more severe matters to attend to, like the incoming stampede. They must avoid that at all costs!

He rushed out of the room that was unlocked by his Divine Sense and disappeared into the corridors without saying a word. His main goal was now to lift this flying ship that was buried in the ground!