Witch Aiko observed the changes on the Table Map. This was truly a Relic of a lifetime. Allowing her to see so many things without actually having to uncover them herself.
'There is a large underground area, but...' Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes. In the north, there was quite a party going on.
Hundreds of Beasts were surrounding something, and Aiko was exceptionally curious about what it was.
Merging with the shadows, she slowly approached the group of Beasts.
Shadow Panthers, Blazing Birds, Holy Deers, and many more.
There were too many different Beasts, but one thing was for certain.
'They are unwilling to cross that border?' Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes. It seemed like there was a large opening leading to a large plain, covered with flowers.
In the middle of that plain was a huge spiky 'mountain'. However, considering how the scenery changed so abruptly, it was definitely not a natural mountain.
A sweet scent entered Aiko's nostrils. She quickly became hungry and tempted to venture into that strange 'mountain'.
Shaking her head gently, she distanced herself from this place. It was never a good idea to approach something that could bewitch her, but that scent...
'I really want to eat it.' Neither Aiko really liked sweets, but for some reason, this delicious scent made her mouth all watery.
Witch Aiko quickly shook her head.
The Beasts that were surrounding it were no ordinary Beasts. Some even noticed her, but chose to ignore her, as she was a lot weaker than they were.
This highlighted how small the Fox Village and the numerous Sects were.
Once you leave the populated areas, the power of Beasts would skyrocket, making it difficult for even powerful Cultivators to cross it safely.
Witch Aiko decided to map the whole area. She also realised that she could map things if she saw them. That's how she found the northern flower plains.
However, due to that, Aiko could not map the underground, only what was above ground.
Underground was only mapped with the marble, bead, whatever this small crystal was.
This crystal would then be connected to the Table Map, and all of that information would be shown on it.
Witch Aiko had limited information when it came to minerals, and even Mei didn't have all that many minerals on the Jade Slip.
Only the most precious or versatile minerals, neither of which this thing was.
But that begged the question. If this was not precious or versatile, why weren't there more Table Maps? Could they not be taken from the Sacred Realm, which would cause this to be usable only inside that one Sacred Realm? But it functioned normally when taken outside.
Sure, Aiko's way of taking things outside was unique, but it should not be impossible for humans to replicate.
Witch Aiko was cunning, but lacked the knowledge and insight of Moon Aiko, so she decided to forget about it for the time being.
What interested her more was the underground part. It was like a large labyrinth that stretched far and wide.
Finding the entrance would take a lot of time, but that would also allow her to record a lot of terrain~!
...
A week later, Aiko found the first entrance. However, for some reason, she had this vague feeling that this was not the only entrance.
What was more, there was dangerous air coming from inside, making her shiver.
This was definitely not a safe place.
However, Witch Aiko smirked. She already has a sinister plan in mind, but she would have to find other exits first.
...
A month later, she had explored about 1/5th of the Outer Nightmare Forest zone. It was already a lot smaller than the Peripherals, but that didn't mean it was THAT much smaller.
There were 7 exits to the underground area. At first, Witch Aiko believed that these things would be centred around the strange mountain, but that was wrong.
For some reason, the underground area completely avoided the strange mountain like a plague, making her even more confused.
Witch Aiko didn't believe that there was anything that dangerous inside the strange mountain, otherwise those Beasts wouldn't wait around it for some reason.
And when she looked at the underground area more closely, it looked like an ant's nest.
There were also numerous areas above the ground. Like nests and dilapidated ruins, but both of those were avoided by the tunnels.
It was like they were hiding their presence from everyone above the ground.
Well, the entrance was not really hidden, since it was inside a cave, but then there was a problem.
The cave would abruptly end, and there would be a small hole in the ceiling leading into the first tunnel that would then reach into the underground area.
The tunnels leading down were too far away from each other, so Aiko would find her plan too hard to accomplish, but it still should be possible to do it as long as she closed one exit successfully.
The plan? Roasted ants!
She would transform into Sun Aiko and let loose one of her Seals. This would allow her to heat up one part of the dungeon, and as long as her precious [Immortal Heat Devouring Bracelet+] held on, she would be able to roast them alive over time.
Unfortunately, this led to the demerits of this plan.
The first one would be materials. She would have to find material strong enough to withstand her heat until everyone was roasted.
Another issue was that if they had a powerful ice element, they would be able to endure until the material melted completely.
She also didn't have enough knowledge of Arrays to construct a one-time barrier to hold that heat inside.
Well, once again, not all was lost. She didn't use it in a while, but she could still dive into the earth and dig around.
So what was the next plan? Collapse this entrance!
That way, she didn't need to worry about the heat escaping, and even if it did escape, most Beasts shouldn't be able to approach this place.
With Aiko chuckling at her plan, she just had to blow it up~!
That part was quite easy, using Wolfy, she would just batter this place until it collapsed by itself~!
'Wolfy~' Witch Aiko transformed into Sun Aiko and transformed into a small Fox.
'Destroy this place once the heat rises.' Sun Aiko immediately dived through the tunnel into the underground area.
She immediately could feel someone was watching her, but she didn't need to worry about her heat!
The first Seal erupted within Aiko, causing the heat to immediately melt her surroundings.
*Rumble!*
She could feel the entrance being blocked by not feeling any kind of draft coming towards her.
'Roasting time~!' Sun Aiko laughed as she upped her heat.
-----
One of the Elders oversaw the construction of the great underground.
This place was perfect for hiding, and because of their shrinking technique, only certain Beasts would be able to go inside.
There was a large Array spamming the whole underground, concealing it from others.
This place was used to 'tame' Beasts from the Nightmare Forest.
Some Elders had peculiar tastes, so they had to be accommodated one way or another.
This place was also the Sealing Ground of the Eternal Winter Beast. Which meant it was protected from heat and cold.
Moreover, due to its powerful aura, all Beasts would feel being watched just by entering this place.
It was a calm day like any other, the overseer Elder was having a nap after strenuous 'activity', when suddenly he felt his body heating up again.
'Damn! I already went through the Fire Bird Princess, but can I still go on?!' The Elder was confused, but soon he realised that it was not just his body heating up.
The cold aura emanating from the Eternal Winter Beast was also getting stronger, as if trying to protect itself from something.
The Elder soon started to sweat, so he deployed a barrier with his Beast Core, but he was quickly shocked at the insane drain it had on his Beast Core.
"What the fuck!" The Elder cursed. If his Beast Core were depleted, he would be unable to have fun for a whole week!
But at the same time, if he removed his barrier, he would be toast!
"You whore! Freeze this place!" The Elder yelled at the Eternal Winter Beast.
The Eternal Winter Beast snorted. She was doing her best just to protect herself, since this was no simple heat.
It carried the faint Essence of the Primordial Sun. A sun that would destroy anything in its path.
The Elder saw his barrier freeze, as if that whore was trying to hide from him, but he quickly noticed something wrong.
The ice was constantly cracking from the heat.
He suddenly realised that this was a more serious issue than he expected!
He immediately activated another Array, sealing the place from the outside.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat down.
*pop*
*pop**pop*
*pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop*
In horror, he looked at the pile of Spirit Stones and saw them popping one after another.
This Spirit Stone pile was used to power up the Array he just activated, but this kind of consumption could only mean one thing.
'I'm fucked!' What kind of Beast made its way inside?! Was it the Queen of the Fire Birds? But that was impossible! He already tamed the Fire Bird Princess!
Sweating profusely, he noticed something was wrong with his body.
The heat was supposed to be blocked by the Array, but some of the heat was still leaking inside!
-----
Sun Aiko, in all of her glory, walked through the underground while whistling. She didn't raise the heat any further because that 'gaze' disappeared soon after she unleashed her heat.
That meant the Beast was already covering somewhere, waiting for her to pass, but Aiko had no intention of doing that!
"Let's play~!" Sun Aiko hummed as she skipped a few steps in her pseudo-Human Form.
She was happy that she found this place where she could play without attracting any attention.
Sun Aiko didn't need to worry about other Beasts chasing her. She didn't need to worry about the heat getting out of hand, and on the map, there were only a few enemies. Which meant that once she dealt with them, this expansive system would be hers to use~!