Chapter 37 : A Bribe
Mount Mingxia differed from Mount Tianyang. Since Peak Master Qingyu focused solely on cultivation without concern for other matters, unlike the Sect Leader who had many affairs to manage, the peak summit did not have palace-like structures, only a solitary cave dwelling and a few pavilions standing in isolation.
A moment ago, Yun Qingyue had just received her master's permission and was stepping into the cave dwelling.
Peak Master Qingyu's cave dwelling was like the person herself, exuding a certain chill that intensified the deeper one went. Only upon entering the main stone chamber could one discover that inside this cave dwelling was a cold jade bed—this was a magical treasure, accidentally obtained by the previous Peak Master during a personal journey to the extreme southern snow region, with effects that aided in clearing the mind for cultivation. It was said that cultivators with ice spiritual roots could achieve twice the results with half the effort when meditating on this cold jade bed, and rumors suggested it could suppress heart demons.
When Yun Qingyue entered, she saw her master sitting cross-legged on the cold jade bed, eyes slightly closed as if in meditation. She paused briefly, then respectfully bowed: "Master, Qingyue has arrived."
Hearing this, Peak Master Qingyu opened her eyes, her gaze cold as ice and snow, warming slightly only upon seeing Yun Qingyue.
She nodded slightly without speaking, her gaze sweeping over her disciple in assessment. Earlier in Lingyun Hall, with so many people present, she hadn't examined her beloved disciple closely. Now, looking again, she discovered that her cultivation had reached the peak of the Golden Core realm, just one step away from Nascent Soul.
Yet this one step had hindered countless people—some stumbled through it, while others remained stuck for a lifetime.
Her beloved disciple was naturally gifted, and at just over thirty years of age, she had already achieved such cultivation level. Peak Master Qingyu was certainly pleased. At this crucial juncture for Yun Qingyue, Qingyu, as her master, naturally should offer some guidance: "During my seclusion of several years, Qingyue, your cultivation has progressed. If you have any uncertainties, feel free to ask."
It was somewhat sad. Qingyu herself was a cultivation fanatic, indifferent to everything except cultivation, yet for the sake of Mount Mingxia's lineage, she had to take disciples. Thus, over thirty years ago, when she coincidentally found Yun Qingyue, who shared her ice spiritual root, at the foot of the mountain, she took her as her senior disciple.
However, taking a disciple didn't divert Qingyu's attention; over the years, she still frequently entered seclusion, and Yun Qingyue essentially grew up on her own. Aside from initially guiding her disciple into the path, the time Qingyu spent teaching her disciple over the years could be counted on one's fingers. Fortunately, Yun Qingyue was naturally gifted and occasionally received guidance from a few martial uncles; otherwise, how could she have achieved her current level of cultivation?
As for those few junior martial brothers and sisters in the courtyard next to Yun Qingyue's, though they were called the Peak Master's direct disciples, in reality, apart from enjoying the resources allocated to direct disciples, there was essentially no difference whether Qingyu was their master or not—they received even less instruction than Yun Qingyue, whom she had personally raised. However, influenced by Qingyu, these individuals were also generally cultivation fanatics, spending their days either in seclusion or gaining experience, focused solely on cultivation.
Now, with Qingyu actively offering guidance, it was a rare opportunity for Yun Qingyue. She had great respect for the master who had raised her and wasn't afraid of her. She promptly raised all the questions she had accumulated over the past few years.
Though Qingyu had a cold personality and didn't enjoy teaching disciples, she was patient at this moment, and the questions from a Golden Core cultivator were easy for her to address. After listening patiently to Yun Qingyue's questions, she answered each one, explaining clearly and even drawing analogies from various sources... The question-and-answer session gradually transformed into a lecture, and through her words and guidance, she slowly illuminated the path to Nascent Soul for Yun Qingyue.
With one teaching and one listening, time passed swiftly.
By the time Yun Qingyue finally returned from that profound state of listening to her master's lecture, her glass-like eyes were radiant with divine light, and who knew how much time had passed.
After a moment, as the divine light receded, she suddenly bowed to Qingyu: "Disciple thanks Master for her guidance."
Qingyu looked up and met her beloved disciple's beautiful face, experiencing a moment of distraction for some unknown reason, but quickly recovered. She nodded slightly, then pulled out a long sword with a wave of her hand: "With Nascent Soul approaching, this sword is now yours."
It was an ice sword named Fuxue, once Qingyu's personal weapon. This sword was said to be of extraordinary material, crafted by a master swordsmith, sufficient to serve from Nascent Soul all the way to Spirit Division level. Moreover, this sword was perfectly compatible with the ice spiritual root. Once Yun Qingyue advanced to Nascent Soul, paired with such an excellent sword, her combat power would double.
Yun Qingyue was somewhat delighted and accepted the sword with both hands: "Thank you, Master."
Qingyu nodded, her gaze lingering on the Fuxue sword for a final moment before saying: "Mm, you may go if there's nothing else." After a pause, she added: "During the competition period, I won't enter seclusion. If you have more questions, feel free to seek me out."
Having gained much from today's lecture, Yun Qingyue needed to return to meditate and absorb the insights. Upon hearing this, she took her leave.
However, as Yun Qingyue, holding her newly acquired Fuxue sword, emerged from her master's cave dwelling and had just looked up at the distant mountains, before she could summon her sword to return to her small courtyard, the communication jade pendant on her body suddenly lit up.
She was momentarily startled, then showed a flicker of realization. After opening the jade pendant, it indeed transmitted the voice of the Hall of Inquiry's manager: "Senior Sister, there's been another incident in the back kitchen of the Hall of Inquiry..."
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Practice makes perfect. The little white tiger's point farming this time was extremely efficient. She killed quickly, fled immediately, and didn't even dare steal a chicken. When she rode the crane back from the Hall of Inquiry to the small courtyard, the entire process took less than half an hour.
She sneaked to the front of the small courtyard, but hesitated at the entrance: "Go in first and see if Senior Sister has returned."
No one could see the system, making it perfect for reconnaissance. So the system swaggered in, circled around without seeing anyone, and returned: "It's fine, Host, Senior Sister hasn't come back yet."
Jiang Mo thus breathed a sigh of relief, raised her head proudly, and strode into the small courtyard with a tiger's gait.
Before leaving, Yun Qingyue had placed her in her little bed, and upon returning, Jiang Mo instinctively went back to her bed and lay down again—leave in one state, return in the same state, maintaining order to avoid suspicion. Although Senior Sister would probably know about this incident and could likely guess the culprit was her...
With some worry, Jiang Mo kept waiting for Yun Qingyue to return, but Yun Qingyue's absence continued. The little white tiger stared eagerly at the main door, resembling a stone waiting for a returning spouse. Finally, the system couldn't bear it anymore and reminded her: "Host, why not take the opportunity to consume a couple of pills and level up?"
Hearing this, the little white tiger finally gave it some attention: "There's no rush. Let's wait until the combat power catches up."
As she spoke, Jiang Mo casually opened her character panel to check today's gains—
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Profession: Divine Beast
Level: 20
Combat Power: 2621747 (516)
Experience: 2529110/2621440
Points: 255
Potential: ∞
Skills: Blood Inheritance (Not Activated)]
The two debuffs were still firmly attached, with the system deliberately highlighting them in red and bold to ensure Jiang Mo wouldn't forget, again causing unrealistic numerical inflation. But in many cases, Jiang Mo preferred to ignore them—out of sight, out of mind.
Looking only at today's gains, the experience increase of 4020 seemed negligible. However, both combat power and points had increased by 201 points, which looked much better given the small initial base.
As for why it was 201 points and not the original 199 points?
Because the system really wanted to round up to an even number, so when the crane was flying halfway back, it scanned a spirit rabbit passing by on the ground and forced the crane to stop, encouraging Jiang Mo to go down and "incidentally" kill the rabbit. Who would have thought that after Jiang Mo exhausted herself catching and killing the extremely fast spirit rabbit, the reward wasn't 1 point of combat power, but 2 points... 199 becoming 201, completely deflating the system.
Jiang Mo didn't mind this, looking at the fresh combat power and points with satisfaction. Converting the figures, she realized that 516 combat power still hadn't reached the threshold for Qi Refinement. Despite her disappointment, she was filled with fighting spirit—although her current realm was severely inflated, with an increase of 200 combat power per day, catching up to her cultivation level wasn't actually very difficult.
Calculating, it would take roughly a week, provided she didn't rush to level up.
The system probably guessed her thoughts and poured cold water on them from the side: "Host, don't just think of the good things. Today is the last time we'll go to the Hall of Inquiry's back kitchen to farm points. Next time we'll have to go to the back mountains to actually fight monsters. At that time, without cages restraining opponents, not to mention the risks, the efficiency won't be high. Like that spirit rabbit today—it ran so fast. Don't you realize how much time you spent chasing it?"
That seemed reasonable. Jiang Mo was immediately silenced, feeling some regret about abandoning such a good point-farming location. But she truly didn't have the courage to go to the Hall of Inquiry for a killing spree every day, making the entire tiger suddenly deflate.
At this moment, the system suddenly made a surprised sound, and the little white tiger immediately looked up at it: "What's wrong?"
The system had just mentioned the Hall of Inquiry and scanned it simultaneously. Now it said: "The incident at the Hall of Inquiry's back kitchen has been discovered. That manager is holding a communication jade pendant, probably reporting the situation to Senior Sister."
Hearing this, the little white tiger's fur bristled: "It's just a few chickens! Why is that manager so fond of tattling?!"
The system understood and earnestly explained on the manager's behalf: "The Hall of Inquiry is filled with disciples who haven't formally entered the sect yet, similar to a kindergarten in modern society, so of course they're concerned about food safety. With repeated incidents in the back kitchen, how could the manager not report them?"
That made sense, but the little white tiger was anxious, fearing Senior Sister would come back to confront her, and even more afraid that Senior Sister would think she was psychotic.
In her anxiety, her front paws uncontrollably began kneading her bed, commonly known as "making biscuits." Before she could come up with a solution, the system suddenly said: "Senior Sister is back, already at the courtyard gate."
This, this quickly? Could she be rushing back specifically to confront her?!
Jiang Mo grew even more anxious. Then, with some unclear thought process, before Senior Sister entered, she quickly opened the system mall and ordered several pieces of milk candy. Thus, when Yun Qingyue stepped through the door, she saw the little tiger cub holding a handful of milk candy, letting out an "awoo" sound. That voice was milky and tender, carrying a hint of placation.
So, was this a bribe?
Yun Qingyue, who had always shared a spiritual connection with the little white tiger, immediately understood Jiang Mo's intention.
Somehow, she felt like laughing, but seeing the little tiger cub so tense that even the tip of her tail was rigid, she couldn't bear to tease her. So she walked forward, took a piece of milk candy from the little tiger cub's paw, put it in her mouth, and didn't ask anything.
Yun Qingyue went into seclusion to digest what she had learned, leaving Jiang Mo standing there foolishly holding the milk candy—so, did she pass the test?
The next day, after scanning, the system informed Jiang Mo that the Splendid Chickens at the Hall of Inquiry had been replenished.