When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The effects of the spirit spring were generally to strengthen the body, with benefits more gentle than medicinal pills.

After bathing for several days, the little milk tiger gradually came to love the feeling, no longer concerned about getting her fur wet. However, she had expected that with the spirit spring's effects, she would gain at least some experience points, like when taking pills. But in reality, this didn't happen; she observed for several days and her experience didn't increase at all. Instead, only under the system's reminder did she notice that her combat power had increased by 1-2 points.

This was probably due to simple physical improvement, but these 1-2 points of combat power increase seemed insignificant compared to the combat power gained through leveling up. Thus, soaking in the spirit spring became purely a pleasure.

But these are matters for later. Now, the busy day had finally passed, and after bathing, the little milk tiger felt her whole body soften. When Yun Qingyue carried her back to the small bed and wrapped her in a blanket, she slept sweetly.

Shortly after waking the next day, Qinglan sent someone to deliver newly refined Spirit Nurturing Pills.

The superior-grade Spirit Nurturing Pills crafted by an eighth-grade pill master were indeed different from those casually refined by disciples. As soon as the jade bottle was opened, a unique medicinal fragrance immediately wafted out.

The little milk tiger felt invigorated after just one sniff, and then tried eating one pill, immediately hearing the system prompt—

"Ding, congratulations host, experience points +5000."

Jiang Mo was shocked. She then ate another pill, instantly leveling up, finally believing that the same medicine crafted by different people could truly have a tenfold difference in effectiveness—which was certainly good news for her. With a pill master like Qinglan, she could take 90% fewer pills, not only saving her teeth but also saving money!

The little white tiger immediately discarded her previous Spirit Nurturing Pills, then pressed one paw on the newly delivered superior-grade pills, raised her head proudly, and "aowu-ed" several times, indicating that Qinglan would be responsible for all her future pills.

This naturally wasn't a problem. The white tiger was still small, and Qinglan could casually refine a few batches that would last her a long time.

With a stable food supply established, the little white tiger's days at Mount Mingxia settled into a routine. Every day, apart from taking pills, bathing, and watching Yun Qingyue cultivate, she completed daily quests, though the system's daily quests were truly frustrating...

Day one's daily quest: Give Senior Sister a peach.

Day two's daily quest: Give Senior Sister a peach.

Day three's daily quest: Give Senior Sister a peach.

...

After nine consecutive days of delivering peaches, regardless of how Yun Qingyue felt, the little white tiger herself was tired of looking at peaches. It was fortunate that although Yun Qingyue appeared cold, her temperament wasn't poor, and she properly accepted the peaches and thanked her each day.

By the tenth day, Jiang Mo finally said to the system before the daily quest was issued: "Stop saying my caretaker wants to eat peaches and asking me to deliver them. Even I'm sick of them. Can't your system quests be more thoughtful?!"

The system froze for a moment, feeling somewhat wronged and about to defend itself when it saw Yun Qingyue approaching with her sword—when others were present, the tiger and system always minimized their communication. Although others couldn't understand the little white tiger's calls, barking at the air for no reason would still appear strange.

So both fell silent. The little white tiger proactively approached, giving an "aowu" as a greeting.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyue bent down and scooped her up, holding the little white tiger by her chest and belly. Her cool, glassy beautiful eyes met the little white tiger's golden ones as she asked: "Would you like to come out with me today?"

Jiang Mo suspected Yun Qingyue no longer wanted to receive her peaches, but what did that matter? She eagerly nodded in agreement.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

It was early morning; the sun was rising through clouds, with dawn spreading for thousands of miles, casting a bright glow over Mount Mingxia.

On the precipitous peak to the left, a figure stood against the wind. The morning breeze lifted the hem of her blue-green robe, carrying away the morning dew clinging to her clothes. The owner of the garment paid no attention to this; her gaze focused as her long sword chopped, slashed, or thrust. With each move, sword energy surged forth, brilliantly shining. Her footwork matched her sword techniques, maneuvering and turning with her garments fluttering.

The little white tiger lay on a rock not far away, watching the scene intently—over these days, Yun Qingyue often went out alone, but she hadn't realized she was practicing swordsmanship, and that the beauty danced with her sword so beautifully.

This differed from Jiang Mo's understanding of cultivation. She had thought that cultivation prioritized realm advancement, which was why cultivators often entered seclusion and geniuses occasionally had insights, as if making hand seals was sufficient for confrontations. But that applied to spell cultivators, while Yun Qingyue was a sword cultivator. She had practiced the sword since entering the sect at age five, and hadn't slackened for over twenty years.

Jiang Mo couldn't comprehend concepts like sword intent or sword domain; she simply found Yun Qingyue's moves, balancing hardness and softness, very beautiful to watch. So she became entranced, and her early morning drowsiness imperceptibly receded.

The morning light was perfect, and the system's glow was several degrees softer than the dawn's radiance as it flickered before Jiang Mo, seeking attention: "Host, host, I've updated the daily quest. Would you like to see it?"

The little white tiger lazily gave it half a glance, and the system automatically announced—

"Ding, daily quest update complete: Time stands still, beauty meets flowers. Mount Mingxia's Senior Sister Yun Qingyue is unparalleled in beauty and particularly loves peach blossoms. Conveniently, there is a blossoming peach tree at the mountaintop. Please pick blossoms to present to the beauty.

"Current progress (0/1)."

After hearing the quest description, Jiang Mo's expression became somewhat peculiar. She couldn't help but criticize: "I believe my caretaker likes peach blossoms, but system, are your scanning and memory functions broken? There's such a large peach tree in my caretaker's courtyard. You've had me pick peaches for her every day, and now the peaches have ripened and are ready to eat. Where would peach blossoms come from at this time?!"

But they truly existed, and the system's scanning function wasn't broken.

Due to the dense spiritual energy within Xuanqing Sect, various flowers, plants, and fruits no longer followed the four seasons. They bloomed whenever they wanted and bore fruit whenever they pleased, quite willfully.

Thus, peach blossoms and peaches could certainly exist simultaneously, and even a tree simultaneously blooming and bearing fruit wasn't unusual.

After the system's repeated assurances, Jiang Mo reluctantly believed it. Having delivered peaches for nine consecutive days, she would finally gather enough 100 points today to activate the mall, so she naturally wouldn't delay further. Thus, she looked up at Yun Qingyue, who was still practicing her sword, then stood up, shook her fur, turned around, and ran off along the mountain rocks. Meanwhile, Yun Qingyue continued her sword practice, seemingly unaware of her departure.

The system's daily quests weren't difficult. For instance, with picking peaches, the little white tiger had initially climbed up the tree but couldn't get down, though she gradually became accustomed to it. Today, the system didn't make things difficult for her. Following the system's directions to the mountaintop, Jiang Mo immediately spotted the peach tree in full bloom.

Under the dawn light and morning breeze, the delicate flowers swayed gently, creating a beautiful scene.

Unfortunately, the little white tiger wasn't a flower-cherishing tiger. She bounded up the peach tree in a few steps, quickly selected a branch with the fullest blossoms, approached with cat-like steps, and without hesitation, swiped with her paw—the little milk tiger's "sharp" claws might not be effective for other tasks, but breaking off a flower branch wasn't a problem, and she quickly succeeded.

A few petals floated down, and the little white tiger bit the flower branch in her mouth, turning to jump down from the tree.

By now, she had learned to descend from trees and wasn't afraid of this height, but she hadn't expected that upon turning around, she would see a blue-green figure standing under the tree with a sword, looking up at her.

A sense of guilt washed over her at being caught. Startled, she lost her grip, and the peach blossoms in her mouth fell.

Yun Qingyue raised her hand to catch them, holding the flowers as she looked up—a beautiful scene like a painting.