Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

The Queen had her treasures in front of her, but she kept her frown on her face. 'To suppress the poison inside her, I will need either 4th Grade Antidote, but preferably 5th Grade one, to not leave any residues for her future Cultivation, or completely awaken her Bloodline. Considering her state and how well she was able to hide... It will cost me. But having a follower with such a powerful bloodline would mean that I would be able to passively suppress all assassins that might get sent after me.'

The Queen thought into the future since she intended to rob all the rich, but stupid families. Most of them don't know what kind of riches they have on their hands, yet they dare to stash it away from the naked eye...

The Queen prepared the necessary herbs for her so that she could pull out the arrow. The wound was already infected and it would take quite a lot of time to heal even with those herbs.

She then prepared Qi Armours, weapons, etc. and laid them on her rough Array circle. This Array would allow the extraction of Energy from objects at the expense of greatly reduced efficiency.

For example, if you had a Qi Sword imbued with 100 Qi during forging, then this Array would extract that Qi, but only around 1/10 would be usable for the Cultivator, as such this Array is mostly unused... unless you are rich.

'I'm quite rich.' The Queen nodded. 'But I won't be able to use most of them, since I'm an Energy Cultivator, it would be better to put them to use.' She nodded at herself happily. 'By awakening her bloodline she will live and serve this Queen well and since I can't use the Energy from these swords, rather it's so negligible that eating these armours would be more efficient...' She shook her head and returned to her little Servant Beast.

"This will hurt... but it doesn't seem like you can move." The Queen snickered.

The Queen held the Fox’s body down with her paws and used Divine Sense on the Arrow, effortlessly pulling it.

*Whine*

Aiko whined in her 'sleep', startling Queen, but she resumed her work and slapped herb salve on Aiko's wound with a few crushed pills.

'You will need a Blood Replenishing Pill and... a Blood Replenishing Pill...' She sighed, crushing quite a few of them and then slapped another layer of herb salve on Aiko's wounds. The wounds started to sizzle and all the infection was slowly turning into bubbles.

'I was banned from using this 'Technique' even though it's very effective!' She snorted. It was true that her Technique was effective, but it also robbed the target of their Energy...

[Beast Core: 220 -> 215 -> 210 -> 205 -> 200 -> 195]

She swiftly activated the Array and the equipment slowly crumbled into dust.

[Beast Core: 195 -> 196 -> 191 -> 192 -> 187 -> 188...]

A tug of War was demonstrated as she was healing her.

'... HOW MUCH DO YOU INTEND TO CONSUME?!' The Queen was speechless as another whirlpool was created above Aiko as she sucked another round of Energy into her body. "NO! DON'T YOU DARE CONSUME THAT SHARD, I'M WARNING Y-"

The whirlpool doubled as her Bloodline found a source of energy and eagerly sucked anything and everything within the radius.

The Queen had a bitter expression on her face as she placed a few Spirit Stones on the Array. "You..." She shook her head. She couldn't believe this little thing would rob her blind even when she was unconscious. "You better serve me well or I will send you to the underworld!" She cussed at the whirlpool.

[Duality of Cultivation]
*ROAR*

A deafening roar crashed into her body. The Queen’s senses warned her to be careful. It felt like something Ancient was looking at her, something so old it was already forgotten, yet at this moment awakened.

The formless Beast looked around, making the Queen choke on air. He then turned to Aiko, observing her with those huge formless red eyes.

*ROAR*

He roared again and yet again, another terrifying wave of pressure descended upon the forest. Imprinting that Energy on Aiko as a celebration of her complete awakening!

The whirlpool of Energy slowly lessened and the Queen cursed in her mind for helping her.

'At least I still have...' The Queen looked around blankly, she remembered she placed her ring outside the range of the Array just in case the Array ran amok and wanted to consume anything with Qi, but...

"W-where is my ring?" Her voice quivered as she robbed and slaughtered 200 Humans just to stockpile that ring.

The Queen looked around, noticing something shiny in the corner of her eyes.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me so much my little sweetheart, you can't make this Queen worr-"

She stopped, it was certainly her Storage Ring and it certainly had her signature... but why was there only half of the ring???

Her mind stopped working completely, a week of hard work thrown out of the window just because she helped this little bastard!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" The Queen howled in the night and cried until morning...

...

Aiko woke up in the morning, feeling quite fresh. She still had a hard time moving her body, but it was not that bad any more.

She peeked at her status only to get stunned.

So much has changed for her…

Aiko clicked at her status in curiosity.

[Good/Evil(NEW): 400 - 600]
[What kind of moral compass the User has...]
[Duality of Cultivation]
[You can switch Species depending on your alignment]
[As you currently don't have secondary Species your Alignment is unstable and will slowly degrade.]
[Please solve this as soon as possible or you might turn into [Demonic Beast] without sense!]

'Oh... I'm not sure if I should be happy or mad about this...' Aikor murmured in her mind.
[Species(NEW): [-]]
[Additional Species that should act as a counterbalance for the other Species.]

'... this didn't tell me much...' Aiko sighed sadly
[Shadow Fennec Fox Cub(Female, Peak of Unique)]
[Unique Breed of Fennec Fox that blends with its surroundings.]
[(Female)]
[After Evolution, your soul will be adjusted to your current vessel and taught.]

'... Curse you, System!' She frowned at it, now she understood why her mind was in disarray. Blame everything on this stupid system!

[(Peak of Unique)]
[In the next Evolution, the User may tap into the full potential of this Species.]
'Oho? I might be able to uncover that [####] Beast Rarity?' Aiko was very happy about it, but there was still a lot to think about.

She would need to find some way to obtain another Species to counterbalance her 'misfortune' and she would also have to find a way inside the Village for her rewards...

[Bloodline(NEW): [-]]
[User will alter between bloodlines depending on User Alignment.]
[It is possible to create [Synergy] between bloodlines, where both of them would stay active during certain moments.]
'Hooo? I can be twice as strong?!' She giggled in her mind happily, but it was so much more.

Bloodlines made the Beast much stronger, for example, her current bloodline gave her 100 Points for almost every stat! And that would only grow! Meaning if one had 2 bloodlines it would be an immense boost to Beast Powers!

There are also ways to earn more Bloodlines, but having more than one Bloodline would greatly increase the Energy requirements for their Beast Cores! Of course, that was not the case for Aiko as she had those Bloodlines separated, meaning she wouldn't get any penalty for having 2 Bloodlines! (But would have if they were in the same bracket)

[Bloodline: [Shadow Fiend Fox(Awakened)]]

[One of the Oldest Bloodlines there is. When Heaven and Earth Collapsed and Darkness took over, one #### #### ruled them all. But there can't be Darkness without light, as such his Rule was brief, but none will ever forget the terrifying age that came with it.]
[This Bloodline dislikes light, as such, any Holy or Light attribute will deal additional Damage to the User.]
[This bloodline is completely [Awakened] and can be [Evolved] further with the right 'ingredients'.]

'So not only do I have to pay attention to my level, so I can Evolve my species, but I also have to pay attention to Bloodline so they don't lag behind...' There were a lot of things to keep track of.

[Title: [Foul-mouthed]]
[This Title makes the User more susceptible to cursing.]
'Well fuck...' Aiko cursed.

[Title: [Thief Who Robbed Immortal]]
'??? Since when did I rob someone?!' Aiko was unaware that just a day ago she unconsciously robbed everything from an Immortal.
[This Title makes it Easier to steal from anyone below the Rank of 'Immortal']
'... That's nice... since I already have Species revolving around shadows, this is just nice spicing on the cake.' Aiko thoughtfully nodded while grinning to herself.

[Beast Core: 620]
[From the number of Evolutions: 20]
[From the Beast Core itself: 500]
[From the Bloodline: 100]
[Beast Core Purity: 1%]
[Beast Core is the literal Core of its being. If the Beast loses their Beast Core, they will regress to mindless Animals and will never be able to enter the path of Cultivation again. (There are possibilities to heal or create pseudo-Beast Cores, but those are weak and take an insane amount of materials.)]

'What the fuck is wrong with my Beast Core?! Why the fuck does it have such low Purity?!' Aiko cursed her system, but that was ultimately her fault.

Beast Cores consume the Energy of the Body, Heaven and Earth, and Vitality.

It begins with Energy from the Body. The Beast Core is shaped depending on how much Beast collects their Energy. In other words, how many Beast Cores from other Beast he collected.

Then Energy from Heaven and Earth is added. If the Energy of Heaven and Earth is not enough, then it will seek other means to cover for that Energy.

The last way, the Beast Core would seek Vitality from its surroundings. That can be corpses or living, very rarely Nature and even more rarely soil. If even that is enough the Core will be incomplete and can have various negative effects, ranging from simple not completely awakened Bloodline, to the worst which is Death.

If the Beast Core didn't consume enough Energy from sucking Vitality, it would turn back to its User and completely dry him of its Vitality. Those kinds of deaths were excruciatingly painful, as in rare instances the Beast Core might go after the Beast's Soul...

[Vitality: 136/136]
'For some reason, my Vitality recovered...'

When Bloodline completely awakens, it will Heal the Beast almost completely. If there are any mortal wounds it would heal them partially, but any superficial wounds or not mortal wounds would be healed completely. If the Bloodline is rare enough, it would also cure any ailments the Beast has.

[Elemental Affinity(NEW): [Shadow - Stage 3], [Earth - Stage 9]]
'This is also a new one... That wasn't there before.' Aiko thought.

[When Beast Core is formed, it will bestow an Affinity upon its User. This can range from basic affinities like Flame or Water to more rare affinities like Light or Shadow.]
[Affinities go from Stage 9-1 the higher the affinity the easier it is to manipulate the Element and the harder for your opponent.]
'That's wonderful! That means they won't be able to kick me out of my shadows unless they have Higher Affinity or complete Opposite. I imagine.'

In this case, Aiko was right. It would take the Enemy to have a higher affinity to suppress her element or Opposite Affinity. In which case it would need at the minimum 1 lower than Aiko's affinity to affect her. (She has Stage 3 Shadow Affinity and it would take at least Stage 4 Light Affinity to affect her or higher Cultivation, which would depend on how much the opponent spends of his Energy.)

[Divine Ability: [Duality of Cultivation], [(NEW)Jaws of ####]]
[The Cream of the crop when it comes to personal arsenal. Abilities at this stage are Earth or even Law changing.]
[Duality of Cultivation]
[Is Divine Ability that splits the law of conservation and allows the User to obtain another Breed of Species and Bloodline. The only negative is that unless practised to perfection, the User has to balance his intentions in order not to 'fall'.]
'This doesn't feel sinister at all, nu-ah!' She sighed. 'More work to do...'

[Jaws of ####]
[Divine Auxiliary Ability. It would allow the User to escape from the clutches of cultivators. Sending the User back to its marked location, no matter how far that place might be.]
[Warning! This Ability requires a great deal of Energy and if not properly satisfied the Ability will choose its sacrifice instead of Energy!]
'Now this shit is sinister!' She shook her head. 'While it's nice to have escape ability, I would rather not use it.'

She would keep it in mind just in case she couldn't get away, but she wouldn't bet on it, since it doesn't describe what kind of sacrifice it can take.

[Camouflage: Lv.1(NEW)]
'This is like [Hide], but more powerful and consumes more stamina. I can move during it, but if I attack, it would temporarily break my [Camouflage].'

[Hide: Mastered -> Stealth: Lv.1]
'Just a more powerful Ability, I can move in stealth without the need of [Shadow Walk], but it will be cheaper and safer to use in tandem and when I want to attack, using [Camouflage] would be the perfect combo.'

[Intimidation: Lv.1(NEW)]
'Just intimidating presence... a bit meh...' Aiko thought, but she was unaware that this skill would be terrifying if she were to use it in shadows where her enemies couldn't quite make it where she was.

[Killing Intent Perception: Lv.1(NEW)]
'I can spot if someone wants to kill me. This one is good.'

[Weakness Detection: Lv.1(NEW)]
'Nice! I don't have to aim for their necks all the time and come up with my enemy's weakness, but I will need to practise this… thing.' Yet another thing that she will have to do.

[Hunting Mastery: Lv.1(NEW)]
'It's just knowledge on how to hunt effectively...' She didn't really need it since she was already quite fast with her kills, not to mention, in shadow she was twice as powerful!

*Yawn* 'That was a nice rea-' She suddenly sniffed delicious meat.