Chapter 544 – Hollow Illusion

Moon Aiko was confused. Either this place was so huge she couldn't grasp it at all, or there was something going on with this place.

The scale was much bigger than what the mountain was supposed to hold. It might be possible that this place was at the bottom of the mountain, but then...

'Would I see the Moon if that were the case?' Moon Aiko arrived at the part where there was a crater-like structure all around her. Making this the 'mouth' of the mountain.

She could clearly see the Moon as the energies from it quietly danced inside her body.

No matter how she thought about it, this place was seriously strange.

The Table Map couldn't see through it, the scale was all wrong, and so much more.

Feeling strange about this whole experience, the maze suddenly opened up.

In the middle of the mountain's 'mouth', there lay a beautiful, pristine pond.

'Is this the place?' Moon Aiko tilted her head. She could use her [Melody of Healing] since there was no one around, but she decided against it.

Shaking her head gently, she approached the pond- no, lake. The size was getting bigger and bigger over time, startling even Aiko.

She approached the lake, and the surface was tranquil, and shades of blue danced on the lake's surface.

It felt like this lake had its own currents, small as it was.

Moon Aiko dipped her toes in it. It was cold, but it didn't feel all that bad for her.

However, she also noticed that her hanfu melted when touching the lake, but her skin didn't.

It was a strange sensation, like the lake rejected anything not living.

'But wouldn't dead tissues count as not living?' Moon Aiko was concerned since she had a few wounds that were already closed up.

Most of the damage went to her internal organs, but those fangs did cause a few lacerations.

Fortunately, due to her physique, it pretty quickly closed up, preventing bleeding out, but the healing itself was shockingly slow.

Investigating the cause, Moon Aiko noticed fire threads inside her wounds.

Those threads kept burning from inside, preventing any significant healing.

Moon Aiko was slightly confused. She didn't see these before; was she so exhausted that she just couldn't see them? Or maybe they were always there, and this place was special?

Moon Aiko gently shook her head. There was no point in thinking about it right now, since she was supposed to have a bath.

Since clothes were not permitted, Aiko stored them inside her Storage Ring.

She definitely should get a few Spatial Rings, but those were quite rare in this place. Not many Cultivators had them.

Of course, the Elder she burned had one, how unfortunate...

...

Being naked, Moon Aiko felt very cold for some reason, so she dipped her body into the lake.

It gently caressed her skin, and soon even the water felt warm.

'How strange...' Moon Aiko paused her thoughts.

She was unable to figure out if this lake had Qi or didn't have Qi.

There was no information about this place, and Aiko was inclined to use her [Ancient Spiritual Water] to absorb some of its Essence.

However, she decided against it. No matter how familiar she was with the old grandpa, she shouldn't take this away. It felt like there would be a lot more eyes on her if she did.

Moon Aiko gently leaned back. It was nice that her soft pillows helped her float. She was able to gently gaze at the Moon and ponder upon the possibilities.

She was not really aiming for a full Moon. The full Moon would be hard to crack, and she could already feel the seedling inside her.

It was still weak, but slowly being nourished by the Moon.

'Who said that the Moon is supposed to be barren?' Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes. The surface of the Moon was a hostile place, so it was impossible to keep anything on the surface without it being damaged.

'A Hollow Moon.' Moon Aiko's thoughts suddenly paused.

The Moon's Crust was always used as a protective film against damage, so it was possible to keep the insides hollow, no?

That would allow her to settle the seedling and anything she wanted, but there were still some issues.

The main issue would be light. Could anything grow in the darkness? Well, they could, but Aiko was not interested in mushrooms and the like.

If her seedling turned into a mushroom dick, Moon Aiko wouldn't know how to feel about it.

In that case, she would have to introduce some Fire Shards for warmth, but the Moon was huge. Was it even possible to collect enough of them?

As Aiko had this inspiration, the lake slowly resonated with her. She was absorbing the energies, nourishing her body.

'What if I used Grandpa Flame as a small Sun?' Moon Aiko pondered on it even more.

It should be possible to introduce that, but once again, how big would the Moon be?

'No, I'm approaching this from the wrong direction.' Moon Aiko shook her head.

You needed more than just sunlight to nurture flora. Water, earth, wind, fire, light, and so much more were needed just to grow a single flower.

Then there was the question about elements that would be contained inside.

The morning Dew that helped keep the ground soft and wet.

The assumption that the Moon would be completely hollow was wrong.

'First...' Moon Aiko meditated as Enlightenment overtook her body.

A small Moon formed in her palms. It was the illusions that she hadn't used in a while.

That Moon was full, so the next step would be to cut it in half and remove the insides.

The Moon had many layers and a hard core, which allowed it to survive even the greatest of impacts.

However, that core was heavy in metal, causing the whole elemental scale to skew in the wrong direction.

Removing the core would remove a lot of its defensive potential, but that was only under the condition that she removed the other layers too.

What if she only took away the core and then compressed all the layers to the outside layer?

The possible defensive capabilities would skyrocket, but it would become weak to penetration as there would be limited depth to it.

Then the next question would be, how to remedy that?

Moon Aiko's eyes stilled. What if she didn't remove the core, but used the same technique she used on the other layers?

Sure, the insides would be heavy in metal, but then what if she copied the layers above the metal into the metal?

In that way, the Moon would look like this:

Crust would stay on the outside to soak up the damage from its sand-like properties.

The mantle would absorb the residual impact due to its thickness.

The outer core, which was liquid, would act as a separator if any kind of residual impact made its way to it.

Then there was the core, which acted as the hard barrier, stopping anything left.

But it would end there.

Then we would get again the outer core, the mantle and the crust.

The Moon would still be hollow, but its defensive capabilities would be shocking.

Then we would replace the innermost crust with soft sand or dirt.

We would fill half of the Moon with some precious water, and on top of it we would place soil.

Aiko's most precious soil was either black soil or white soil.

Either of them had its uses, so she would have to think about it more.

'Or mixing them together to achieve balance...' Moon Aiko pondered on this a bit more.

There would be too much water, but she could just use that to nurture aquatic life.

'For example, turtles...' Moon Aiko didn't forget about her purpose.

The sand or soil down below could have its own uses, but...

'What if we took the Elemental Shards into and under the water. Each Elemental Shard would represent an area, or faction, that would be nurtured under it.

The same could be applied to the soil and to the 'sky'.

Since the Moon would be enclosed, there would be no sky, but Moon Aiko believed she could find or create some artificial Sky if she knew enough Arrays.

She would also need to up her Forging skills in order to be able to deal with the changes of the Moon.

The warmth would come from the two outer cores, which should be enough to keep the inside from freezing.

The space was now half filled, so Grandpa Flame didn't need to work as hard to keep the whole place illuminated...

The lake whirled around Aiko as it was nurturing her body and mind, reaching heights that were never seen before.

The lake danced around her body, caressing her, maintaining her as the Great Dao woke up.

-----

The Elder slowly sipped his tea. He believed that at this point, Aiko would be bathing and nurturing her body.

The [Primordial Devouring Wolf-Rayet Kitsune] was powerful, well, way too powerful.

If Aiko didn't manage to strike a balance, she would inevitably grow parts that were not supposed to be there.

Neither Aiko nor Aiko wished for that, so the lake was prepared for this.

[A new Throne has been acknowledged.]

The Elder badly choked on his tea. Who was the brat that was creating yet another throne!?

He looked through his index finger and thumb that were shaped like a monocle.

He quickly divined who that rascal was, but then he coughed up blood.

'Princess! Stop creating chaos!' The Elder choked once again, and the Beasts looked over.

This Elder was never injured before, yet he was now coughing blood?! What was happening?!

They were scared shitless while the Elder kept shaking. He almost broke his tea set!

'Princess, spare this old servant!' Too many factions were already interested in their Princess!

From Heavenly Dao to many Great Dao, it was simply ridiculous how much she attracted their attention.

'First I had to eat that shitty curse, and now I have to deal with this...' The Elder cried out gently, making many Beasts faint out of fear.

'Let's not dwell on it.' The Elder decided to 'ignore' the chaos. 'Let's first deal with that 'miss'.'

The first thing he had to deal with was the Great Dao. She was always interested in new and unique things, so it wouldn't be too bad.

But it was also possible she would make unreasonable demands...!

Shaking his head gently, he disappeared from the spot.