Chapter 302 – How to Steal a Garden 101
Aiko spent a few days with Grandpa Dragon until Feifei settled down.
Feifei was still quite unnerved by the Dragon, but it should be enough for her to talk normally.
Aiko also condensed the Vitality, but she did not go overboard. She only gave the Dragon 500,000 Vitality, which meant that she was still in the positives.
Aiko nodded to herself and stood up. "I'm going to explore, while you do you, right?" She asked just in case.
"Yes, with this Vitality I will be able to easily last for a year as long as I won't move much." The Dragon chuckled. "Now go, so you can rob the bastard's Treasures! But look for Herbs and Mines, since other Cultivators already scavenged normal Treasures. You might even find his memorial, which could help you or harm you, depending on how you use it and if you pass the bastard's tests." He was surprisingly talkative for a Dragon.
Aiko didn't see him as an almighty creature any more, since he felt more like a common grandpa worried about his granddaughter.
Aiko shook her head and chuckled. "I will do my best to scavenge as much as possible!" She proclaimed.
The Dragon laughed and Aiko left Feifei in his care.
Aiko was happy about this, since she didn't need to be a caretaker for her!
The Dragon was left alone with Feifei and her body quivered. She wanted to call for Aiko, but at the same time, she knew that Aiko needed to get stronger.
"You have a good head on your shoulders." The Dragon spoke with a hint of admiration.
"Y-yes." Feifei didn't know what to say, so she just nodded along.
"She will be able to get stronger, while you will do so too." The Dragon chuckled. "You might be just in Qi gathering, but that doesn't mean you should be weak. Power is not everything." He shook his head. It felt like he was talking from experience.
No matter how powerful you are, there are always cunning creatures that will, with enough time, defeat you.
"H-how?" Feifei was too scared to learn anything.
"First you need to calm down, then we will talk." The Dragon chuckled and went to sleep. His aura created an impenetrable barrier that kept Feifei and himself safe.
...
Aiko dashed through the forest in her small form. She was happy that she had recovered her energy. Fortunately, the Moon was still in this place, so she was able to recover all of her energy.
Moreover, her Blessings probably activated again, they were in bright blue colours, that must be it!
Aiko nodded happily, speeding up. She wanted to get away from the Dragon before she would start scavenging. Since it seemed like most Herbs around here died from being unable to withstand the Dragon's energy.
"I should've asked for his name..." Aiko murmured. She was so used to Foxes having shitty nicknames, that she was worried that he would have some kind of ridiculous nickname too!
"No matter now, I can always ask later." Aiko shook her head. She would have to learn about asking names, as long as it was not a Fox! Or a Beast!
Aiko arrived at the end of the forest. It seems like this forest grew thanks to the Dragon, since the trees were a lot tougher than normal ones. Even Aiko with her full strength could not put a dent into them!
The plains in front of her were peaceful, a bit too peaceful. There were no animals or Beasts on the plains, which made Aiko feel suspicious.
She turned into her Fox form, since the Dew Essence lost its strength and dived into the dense and somewhat high grass.
It was not high enough to conceal Humans, but for the tiny Aiko, it was good enough to completely hide herself!
She also used her Skills and Abilities to hide herself even further, since she felt eyes on her.
There was some kind of predator around and from the direction of the stare, it felt like the predator was somewhere high up.
'Maybe a hawk or something?' Aiko tilted her head. It was either a flying predator, or someone far away that just accidentally spotted her.
Aiko explored the somewhat high grass and she was shocked by what she saw.
'I have never seen these Herbs!' Aiko's eyes glistened. She was happy that she dived inside this thick grass, since below it revealed a world of its own!
So many Herbs, some of them Aiko knew, whilst she couldn't recognise many others.
'I don't know how to harvest all of them...' Aiko frowned. 'How about I just scoop them up with the ground?'
The terraforming little Fox narrowed her eyes. 'I don't have a shovel, but I do have [Earthen Walk] that can somewhat replace it.'
'Let's try the shop!' Aiko smirked.
'Terraforming Ability or Skill, as cheap as possible.' Aiko nodded to herself.
[Gardening] - 100 Skill Points[Soil Excavation] - 50 Skill Points[Digging Site] - 1,000 Skill Points
'They are quite cheap, but what do they do?' Aiko tilted her head.
[Gardening][Skill][Allows you to tend to flowers and other garden-like flora.]
[Soil Excavation][Active Skills][Allows you to dig up a larger amount of soil. (size depends on Skill Level.)]
[Digging Site][Active Ability - Costs Beast Core Energy][Allows you to designate an area of influence where you can dig faster. It will also reduce the chances of damaging treasures or anything that is under the soil. (Size depends on Ability Level.)]
[You can't access the rest in Secret Realms.]
'I don't think I will need the first one, but it's cheap...' Aiko frowned.
'As for the rest, I definitely need them!' Aiko smirked, with these kinds of Abilities, she didn't need to struggle with digging, she just needed to use her Stamina and Beast Core Energy!
Aiko bought all 3 of them, since they were cheap. Moreover, it seems like the system didn't want her to destroy this Secret Realm.
What Aiko didn't know was the fact that was not the case. Secret Realms were not connected to the outside World, so she was able to buy only certain things or things related to the Secret Realm.
Aiko spent her Skill Points somewhat lavishly, since she would still Level up later and thus gain a large amount of Stat and Skill Points!
It might not be as impressive a number as what she would get from her Beast Core, but it was still something!
Aiko nodded to herself.
'[Digging Site]' Aiko designated the largest area, which was 1m2, and waited for her Ability to finish.
Aiko almost dozed off waiting for the Skill to finish.
[Digging Site designated. All digging Skills and Abilities enhanced!]
Aiko then activated [Soil Excavation] on a nearby Herb, but to her shock, the whole 1m2 of soil was highlighted!
'What does this mean?' Aiko titled her head. The system was more silent than usual, which Aiko didn't mind since she wanted to explore this by herself!
She tapped the highlighted area and the ground below her disappeared completely!
'What the fuck?!' Aiko fell into a half-meter-deep hole, startled.
'What the fuck just happened?!'
[Digging Site completed. Please choose another 'anchor' point.]
Aiko blinked a few times and then she stared at her system.
Tails Storage(2,400m3): [Heavenly Blessed Light-Water 1,000L], [Primordial Soul Wood], [100 Ghost Parade Lamp(Damaged)], [Talismans], [Tools], [Soil with Herbs(.5m3)]
'Huh...' Aiko blinked a few times, but she was still speechless! Her tail worked like an inventory that she always missed, since for some reason the system didn't accept her things most of the time!
Not to mention that from the time that the system became even more talkative, the system only accepted system items! But now she had a special portable inventory, Aiko was very happy!
'Hehehehe~' Aiko giggled like a little thieving gremlin. She would absolutely 'excavate' this whole place!
[Gardening: Lv.1->2][Soil Excavation: Lv.1->2][Digging Site: Lv.1->2]
Aiko blinked a few times. She was quite shocked by this!
'Why did the [Gardening] level up?' Aiko tilted her head. 'Was it because I handled the Herbs? Surely not?' She was confused as to why she earned the level, but this was definitely a good thing for her!
'I can level them up at the same time!' Aiko's eyes sparkled, like she was up to no good!
'[Digging Site]!' Aiko shouted and waited for her digging adventures!
...
{High up on the top of Mountain}
There sat a majestic Eagle, watching over his 'small' garden.
He was quite happy with it, since it took him a while to make it into a flourishing paradise of Herbs, but the time was well spent.
All of those Herbs were in preparation for him to achieve the Human body and shatter this place to pieces!
He laughed with glee while watching over his garden. He wiped out pretty much anyone who approached it.
The majestic eagle spotted a small rodent. It was an incredibly tiny Fox.
"Tsk." The majestic Eagle clicked his tongue. "Another rodent that is trying to munch-" He was startled since he could no longer detect the small rodent.
"What the-" The majestic Eagle was stunned, but this would be the last of his worries.
He watched over his garden as one piece, a perfect square, of the garden suddenly vanished.
"Huh?" The majestic Eagle blinked a few times, like he couldn't believe his eyes. That's right, this guy was the 4th disaster and the one who ruled the skies when the Dragon couldn't!
Yet even this majestic being could not comprehend what was happening.
"Is that some kind of illusion?" He tilted his head, but then another piece disappeared.
"..." The majestic Eagle slammed his head on a nearby rock, since he wanted to wake up from his nightmare, but he was uninjured.
Another piece of his sacred garden vanished.
"Huh..." The majestic Eagle was still speechless.
Then another piece.
"Uh..." The majestic Eagle started to sweat.
Then another piece vanished.
"Wait a moment!" The majestic Eagle was now heartbroken.
Then yet another piece of his garden vanished.
"You bastards! Stop robbing my garden!" He suddenly yelled out.
Then all of a sudden, a much larger portion of his sacred garden vanished.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!" The majestic Eagle roared and descended towards his garden!