Chapter 13 : Azure Essence Spirit Marrow
Perhaps having never suffered such an affront, or perhaps influenced by the cub's body she inhabited which made her lose her composure, Jiang Mo momentarily lost her temper and roared a few more times. Not only that, she was also flailing her paws in Yun Qingyue's arms, looking as if she wanted to pounce.
Yun Qingyue was startled and hurriedly held her firmly, then hesitantly looked toward Zhiming: "Divine Lord..."
Zhiming didn't look at her. He had heard the little milk tiger's roared words and fell silent as he held the jade gourd—he truly had only meant to tease the cub, not knowing this little tiger cub treasured it so dearly, and that it contained milk! Divine beasts supposedly ate precious materials and drank celestial nectar—since when did they treasure milk bottles?!
The Divine Lord was full of inner complaints, but the current situation was genuinely awkward, so he had to find a way to save face: "It's nothing, I just wanted to see what she usually eats."
As he spoke, Zhiming opened the jade gourd, glanced at it briefly, and said: "The spiritual energy is thin—is this milk from a Golden Core beast?"
Yun Qingyue replied: "This gourd contains Cloud-splitting Leopard milk." Then, seemingly afraid that Divine Lord Zhiming might harbor resentment, she added: "This disciple's cultivation is shallow, and I could only find Golden Core beasts."
Zhiming had no intention of blaming her, but after hearing her words, he couldn't help but show a strange expression for a moment. Then he recapped the jade gourd and said: "Do you know that, apart from the one in your arms, no divine beast has ever grown up drinking milk." After tossing the jade gourd back to hang around the little white tiger's neck, he added: "Especially milk from such low-level beasts as those at the Golden Core realm."
Yun Qingyue felt somewhat ashamed upon hearing this, but Jiang Mo didn't feel slighted. On the contrary, she thought Senior Sister Yun had already done well by specially seeking milk for her. She firmly protected the jade gourd with both paws, ready to "argue" further with Zhiming.
Zhiming perhaps saw that she wouldn't settle down, and at this moment gave her an indifferent glance. Jiang Mo's words immediately caught in her throat.
Jiang Mo felt somewhat anxious, not knowing where this sudden fear came from. The usually silent system seemed to perceive her thoughts and finally spoke up to educate her: "Zhiming is the Black Tortoise. This one is not only fully mature but has also reached the pinnacle of this world. In other words, host, you just antagonized a max-level boss."
What does a newbie feel when confronting a max-level boss in the starting village? Especially when this newbie has just cursed and antagonized said boss... The suddenly cowed little milk tiger just wanted to ask the system if its game system had any newbie protection period.
The answer was obviously no, because no matter how magical the game system might be, reality remained reality.
Zhiming noticed the little milk tiger's sudden meekness and found it somewhat strange, but ultimately he wasn't one to quarrel with cubs. He withdrew his gaze from the little milk tiger and asked Yun Qingyue: "Besides milk, what else have you fed her?"
Yun Qingyue was properly raised in an immortal sect, and since Xuanqing Sect was protected by the divine beast Black Tortoise, the disciples had some understanding of the Four Divine Beasts. She certainly knew divine beasts should be raised with precious materials, but unfortunately, the one in her arms had grown up strangely. She had tried feeding her good things, but apart from milk, the only thing this little one accepted and was addicted to was taking pills.
Now, with a true divine beast inquiring, Yun Qingyue naturally did not conceal anything and explained all of the little milk tiger's abnormalities. After listening, Zhiming also found it strange and specifically asked her for a nurturing essence pill to examine.
Yun Qingyue produced a nurturing essence pill and explained to Zhiming: "Divine Lord may not know, but this nurturing essence pill is for Qi Refinement disciples to strengthen their foundation. Although its effect is mediocre, its medicinal power is gentle. And since I discovered that the little white tiger's constitution has been improving since eating this medicine, and because she loves these nurturing essence pills, I've gathered many for her to eat as snacks."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo's ears twitched. She finally understood why Yun Qingyue had been so accommodating, feeding her hundreds if not thousands of nurturing essence pills along the way—normally, no one would be so indulgent with a picky cub.
The little milk tiger, touched by Senior Sister's attentive care, moved her tail and once again discreetly wrapped it around Yun Qingyue's wrist.
Zhiming naturally paid no attention to this small gesture. Having personally examined the nurturing essence pill, this Qi Refinement medicinal pill was essentially worthless in his eyes. So after pondering for a moment, Zhiming looked at the little white tiger and said: "It seems your congenital deficiency needs postnatal compensation. But eating these nurturing essence pills is useless; their efficacy is simply too poor."
Upon hearing this, the little white tiger nodded unconsciously, giving an "aowu" sound, and sympathetically agreed: "It was fine at first, but later they had little effect. I'm almost sick from taking so many pills." Milk tastes better.
Zhiming found this amusing and reached into his sleeve to produce a jade bottle, holding it before the little white tiger: "This is Azure Essence Spirit Marrow."
The name alone sounded impressive, and the little white tiger's attention was immediately drawn to it. Her round tiger eyes gradually brightened—just now, the system had flashed a reminder before her eyes: "Host, this is good stuff! The contents of this bottle are at least ten thousand times more potent than nurturing essence pills. One drop is more effective than ten thousand nurturing essence pills!"
Jiang Mo, who had recently been taking so many pills she felt sick, was overjoyed. Her gaze toward the jade bottle in Zhiming's hand wasn't merely desire; she was practically drooling. And knowing the other's identity, Jiang Mo felt her chances of obtaining this bottle of spirit marrow were quite high.
After all, protecting cubs is the natural instinct of all species, isn't it?
The little milk tiger freed one paw, eagerly trying to reach for the jade bottle before her.
But the Divine Lord Zhiming, despite his age, seemed to enjoy teasing her. With a twist of his fingers, he closed the jade bottle in his palm, leaving Jiang Mo grasping at air. The hot-tempered little milk tiger was about to become angry and embarrassed when she heard his teasing voice: "Come with me, and I'll give it to you." He waved the jade bottle before her eyes and added: "Not just the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow, but even more good things."
Jiang Mo's gaze involuntarily followed the movement, like a cat being teased with a cat toy. But after hearing Divine Lord Zhiming's words, she still shifted her gaze from the jade bottle, looking suspiciously at Zhiming.
At this point, Zhiming suppressed his earlier teasing and assured her: "Really, I'm not deceiving you."
Jiang Mo looked at him for a moment, her gaze lingering especially on the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow in Zhiming's hand, but ultimately turned away and directly buried herself in Yun Qingyue's embrace—she buried her head in Senior Sister's shoulder, not even showing her eyes, clearly adopting an "out of sight, out of mind" approach.
Divine Lord Zhiming failed in his enticement, sighed, but didn't insist further. He handed the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow to Yun Qingyue. Along with it, he gave her a jade slip containing his freshly recorded "Divine Beast Raising Manual." After giving these two items, he instructed Yun Qingyue: "This little one's birth was not easy. If there are any problems in the future, come find me."
After saying this, he didn't wait for Jiang Mo to turn back, but with a sweep of his sleeve, he disappeared. Not only could the little milk tiger who turned back a moment later not find any trace of him, but even Yun Qingyue, a cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core realm, couldn't detect his whereabouts.
Nevertheless, Yun Qingyue bowed to the empty space: "Thank you, Divine Lord."
The little milk tiger was much more direct; as soon as Divine Lord Zhiming left, her gaze fixed intently on the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow in Yun Qingyue's hand. Yun Qingyue had no intention of keeping this treasure for herself, and seeing the little white tiger staring at it, she gave it directly to her.
Jiang Mo was immediately excited, opening the jade bottle on the spot, eager to drink it. From now on, she would never touch those little sweet pills again.
However, just as the opened bottle approached her mouth, the system's prompt suddenly sounded: "Ding, system has detected a high-grade spiritual item, which does not match the host's level for use. Please handle with caution."
Jiang Mo paused, and since Divine Lord Zhiming had now left, she directly asked: "System, what do you mean?"
The system light orb landed on the bottle's opening, its warm yellow light flickering as it explained: "It means the host's level is too low, and the system does not recommend using items beyond your level." Before Jiang Mo could question further, it continued: "Reality is not a game; the system cannot prohibit item use, but this Azure Essence Spirit Marrow contains too much energy. If the host uses it rashly, there's a risk of bodily explosion."
Jiang Mo had wanted to retort after hearing the first part, but after listening to the full explanation, her paw holding the jade bottle froze. Then she felt her paw itching to swat the system, while a crude curse nearly burst from her mouth.