Moon Aiko kept sleeping even when everyone finished.
The Elder even came over to have a look, but since nothing was wrong with the Princess, he disappeared.
His hands were full with that mischievous Great Dao, so he would always seal this place, not allowing anyone to enter, much less those Heaven Bastards.
...
Moon Aiko squirmed awake. She squinted her eyes a few times as her lazy ears perked alive.
She gently stretched her body and tails in the process.
Moon Aiko felt like she had slept for a while, but that was not necessarily bad. She felt refreshed, like she had a new coat on her body.
Moon Aiko moved her body out of the lake. The Elder briefly came over and told Aiko she could keep this lake, so she did.
She summoned her [Ancient Spiritual Water] and let it absorb the Essence.
Meanwhile, Moon Aiko pulled out her brushes and got to work.
'My beauty went up again...' Moon Aiko pursed her lips. She decided to increase the stage of her [Moonless Mist Shroud] to prevent any mishaps.
Sure, she couldn't protect herself completely, but it was better than nothing.
Moon Aiko gently tilted her head as she finished her first tail.
Her beauty was slowly climbing, which bothered her, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Humming to herself, she had already healed from her injuries.
Her next Evolution would have to be Moon one, since the others were mostly complete.
She also wanted to achieve the complete state of the [Hollow Moon Physique].
That required a lot of ingredients, but luckily, there was just one ingredient in front of her and another one inside her tails.
In theory, she also had the [Primordial Holy Blood Essence Marble], but unfortunately, as this turned into marble, it was not usable by her Spiritual Water.
Thus, she would have to gather precious blood later just for her Spiritual Water.
Would it work? Probably not, but the more precious the water was, the better her Hollow Moon would become.
Of course, there were things that she wouldn't gather, like excrement and the like.
Her Tails Storage was now huge, which pleased Aiko greatly. She could gather all the previous dirt and anything of value without worrying about running out of space.
Moon Aiko dressed her body before 'dusting' herself. There was no dust on her body thanks to her techniques, but it felt like she should do it.
[Ancient Spiritual Water (Ranking: 100+ & 100+)]
V
[Ancient Spring Spiritual Water (Ranking: 72nd & 100+)]
The small blob was now slightly bigger, but the colour was lighter. It was also more pleasant to the touch, making Aiko happy.
Moon Aiko didn't expect to be shot so high, and she didn't even use the [Heavenly Blessed Light-Water]!
She would drip-feed her Spiritual Water until it changed again.
Moon Aiko still wanted to leave some of the precious water for Mei and her Pill Refining adventures.
Sure, 10 litres was a lot for Mei, but you would inevitably run out, so it was better to give her more.
...
Drip feeding her Spiritual Water, it changed again.
[Ancient Spring Spiritual Water (Ranking: 72nd & 100+)]
V
[Ancient Blessed Spring Spiritual Light-Water (Ranking: 12th & 98th)]
'The name is getting way too long...' Moon Aiko squinted her eyes. With this kind of pace, it would turn into a 20-word name!
Shaking her head gently, she was left with 43 litres of [Heavenly Blessed Light-Water]. That should be enough to last Mei for a while.
Her own Spiritual Water could produce that kind of water, but the quality was not yet up to par. Her Spiritual Water was a bit weaker than what was required to create the perfect copy of the [Heavenly Blessed Light-Water].
But once it was powerful enough, Moon Aiko would be able to almost freely produce all kinds of precious waters.
She just needed water and a lot of Qi to convert it into the desired water.
And as the conversion was managed by the Spiritual Water, Moon Aiko didn't need to think or adjust it in any way.
The lake still had water inside. While it was without essence, it was still precious, so Moon Aiko immediately used it to enhance her incomplete [Hollow Moon Physique].
Unfortunately, this lake was simply not enough to even fill 1%, so Aiko had a long way to go.
The Hollow Moon inside her body might seem small, but the scale was huge. This would cause Aiko to rob a lot more than others would need to complete their physiques.
Moon Aiko sighed gently as she stood up. The Spiritual Water played inside the Hollow Moon, and her Grandpa Flame was also adjusting its inner temperature.
They both were improving their control over a given element.
Now Aiko needed Earth and Wind to make the baseline. She would then need Wood and others to completely recreate the ecosystem.
That would take a while, though, so Moon Aiko could only take one step at a time.
...
Moon Aiko arrived at the large opening, where she met the Elder for the first time.
It was very empty, with only a few tables and chairs.
The Beasts sat around with their young ones. The parents already noticed her arrival, but didn't say anything. They gave the Foxy enough room to announce her arrival or not.
The young Beasts were recovering well. Moon Aiko noticed that most of the impurities in their bodies were purified, probably by that lake.
'What a wondrous lake.' Moon Aiko would definitely recreate it in her base. With the [Heavenly Blood Tree], there would be multitudes of ways to purify and nourish their bodies.
Moon Aikoo sat around the main table with the Elder.
"Finished?" The Elder glanced at her.
"Mhm." Moon Aiko nodded gently as she sipped the tea prepared by him.
"Good." The Elder nodded happily. With the tea, his mission was finished, and he could leave this place.
They would not interfere with the princess for some time, since now they knew she would not be affected by Intoxicating Powder or other sinister techniques.
This would allow them to just watch over her and block any pesky individuals from changing her fate.
Moon Aiko felt something entering her body, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn't find it.
Puzzled, she met eyes with the Elder.
"It's nothing bad." The Elder said simply. That thing was merely a compass that would allow the Princess to visit home and look around.
Most of them were curious about how the Princess would view her own home, but from a different perspective.
Moon Aiko narrowed her eyes, but since even the system didn't say anything about it, it should be fine.
She could feel a gentle nudging from within her body, guiding her in a certain direction, but it was very faint and easily ignored.
"You will find us..." The Elder smiled before standing up and swiping his tea set.
Fortunately, Moon Aiko had already finished her tea. Otherwise, she would definitely raise issues with him.
The Elder chuckled. "I will take my leave now. Since they owe you, don't hesitate to use them." He was looking forward to what the Princess would use this favour for.
"I know..." Moon Aiko could vaguely feel it. As long as she didn't say anything too outrageous, they would listen to her.
'However, there is no need for now.' Moon Aiko didn't really need anything. She would be able to eventually find the corrupt Elders and wipe them out. Along the way, she would also swipe anything precious.
There was no need for her to ask for their help for now.
Saving it for later would raise some issues, but those could be remedied easily.
"Are you going?" The Holy Deer was slightly startled.
"There is nothing else I would like to do." Moon Aiko gently smiled.
"Have you thought over our-" The Fire Bird Queen didn't believe that the Fox would dislike her daughter.
"I will pass." Moon Aiko giggled. "How may I contact you if I need anything?" She smiled gently, but the meaning was obvious.
'I will decide when and what I need; don't interfere with me.'
The Beasts exchanged glances, but didn't reject it. It might be easier to fulfil it later once their younglings have gained Human Bodies.
That way, they could charm this Fox, making it easier on their Treasures.
Each Beast gave Aiko a special Talisman, allowing her to contact them through it.
This Talisman would work as long as both sides wanted to talk. It would also burn slower as it was used from the best blood there was.
Moon Aiko would be able to call for about a quarter of a day before the Talisman was unusable.
It also didn't burn, unlike other Talismans. The thing that exchanged the energy for power was the blood, so it was possible to replenish the energy inside these Talismans when they ran out, making them, in theory, infinite.
Moon Aiko quite liked this kind of thinking, but she didn't know how to accomplish this.
She was a complete newbie when it came to Talismans, and unlike Runes, most of the power came from the wording with normal words and the blood used on it.
She would have to study words and blood in order to figure out what to use and when.
Moon Aiko gently bowed towards them, and the Beasts bowed back.
She was ready to leave this place-
Moon Aiko paused. "Can you drop me in the Outer part of Nightmare Forest?" She coughed awkwardly, completely forgetting where she was located.
The Beasts exchanged looks, but then laughed. Nobody minded taking care of this Fox for free, since they were the ones carrying her here.
Moon Aiko blushed, but was happy she was not rejected.
-----
Mei frowned gently. "So you believe not all Elders went hiding in the Nightmare Forest?"
The Blood Fox sipped her tea. "Correct. The Elders didn't use as many Foxes to try to capture me, so the likelihood is that they hid somewhere else."
Mei frowned even more. "How can you be sure of that?"
"The Foxes were not many, but they were powerful. If you want to survive in Nightmare Forest, you need to take powerful Foxes away." The Blood Fox thought about it like that.
"Plausible." Mei nodded her head, but then that begged the question.
"Where are they hiding?" The Blood Fox said softly. She didn't mind being bait since she could use their blood freely and gained Aiko's time as a bonus.
Mei nodded her head gently. "Be more careful. I will contact Aiko later."
"Okay." The Blood Fox finished her tea and went outside. There was no need to stay around Mei for the time being...