Chapter 41 : Leveling Up to Foundation Establishment
Under the warm sun, the little white tiger curled up in the beauty's embrace, sleeping soundly for quite some time.
As the afternoon sunlight grew more intense, the little white tiger awoke groggily, only to find that Yun Qingyue's lecture still hadn't ended. Even after the lecture would conclude, there would still be debates and question-answering sessions. The Q&A was for the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment disciples, while the debates were aimed at the outsiders from Tiandao Sect and Buddha Sect—unavoidable, as those selected to participate in the martial arts competition were all young talents from their respective sects, and none were willing to submit to others.
The people from Buddha Sect, with their detached dispositions, were somewhat better, only raising questions and different perspectives when they had genuine doubts. The Tiandao Sect disciples were different—habitually arrogant and self-important, they never missed an opportunity to nitpick and find fault.
Jiang Mo didn't know any of this, but she could see that the lecture wouldn't end anytime soon. After all, most cultivators practiced abstinence from food and had no need for sleep or rest. If a lecturer became engrossed, or if the audience was captivated, it wasn't uncommon for a lecture to last three to five days, or even ten days to half a month... She had never experienced such a thing herself, but had read about it plenty of times, and certain common knowledge about cultivation was universal.
Having had enough sleep, the little white tiger, seeing that the lecture wouldn't end soon, raised her paw to rub her face, then leaped out of Yun Qingyue's embrace. Standing on the elevated platform, she felt no discomfort from being the center of attention, stretching lazily under everyone's gaze.
Yun Qingyue merely gave her a fleeting glance, not pausing her lecture in the slightest.
After stretching, the little white tiger, now fully alert, shook her head vigorously. Then she folded her front paws under her chin, lying down nearby to listen to Yun Qingyue's lecture a bit longer, though she still couldn't make sense of the cloud-shrouded content.
Since she couldn't understand anyway, the little tiger didn't force herself. She flicked her tail and unabashedly stared at Senior Sister's exquisite, perfect profile, lost in admiration—until System suddenly appeared, barging rudely into her line of sight...
Others naturally couldn't see System, but Jiang Mo found it blocking her view and raised her paw to wave it away like a fly. Not only did she fail to chase System away, it actually clung to her paw, flashing like an oversized firefly perched there.
Before the host could express her annoyance, System spoke urgently: "Host, host, there are so many Splendid Chickens in the kitchen!"
Jiang Mo paused in her shooing motion, her round tiger eyes glancing toward Yun Qingyue as she whispered: "So what? Senior Sister is right here. Are you suggesting I go to the kitchen to kill chickens?" She glanced at those below the platform: "Besides, there are outsiders here. What if the monks object to killing, or the Tiandao Sect people make trouble? You're just creating problems for Senior Sister, you know?"
System seemed to pause momentarily before countering: "The Buddha Sect people don't actually forbid killing. Host, do you think the cultivation world is a place where compassion prevails?" Then it added dejectedly: "Are you really not going? But there are so many Splendid Chickens in the kitchen."
Hearing System repeatedly emphasize the large number of Splendid Chickens, Jiang Mo finally couldn't resist asking: "How many is 'so many'?"
System's light orb immediately brightened, becoming almost blindingly bright: "They're all over the kitchen, 582 in total. That's 582 points, 582 combat power. Host, you could have it all just by extending your claws for half an hour..."
It didn't use particularly tempting language, but the number itself was temptation enough for Jiang Mo—heaven knows how she had spent the past few days running around the back mountain, getting her face kicked swollen by spirit rabbits, being pierced all over by Poison Spike Rats, exhausting herself to a disheveled state, all for less than 500 combat power. But now, right in the kitchen, 582 combat power was there for the taking!
Jiang Mo was instantly tempted, and she wasn't the only one lured by the points—System felt the same way. In fact, after scanning and discovering this result, it couldn't resist sneaking to the kitchen first, perching on the cages and drooling over the Splendid Chickens for quite some time.
Only when it sensed its host awakening did it hurriedly return, unable to resist sharing this intelligence.
Jiang Mo was very tempted but also conflicted. After all, things might happen once or twice, but not three times. She feared Yun Qingyue would notice and grow distant from her, yet such an easy way to increase combat power was genuinely enticing.
After a long while, the conflicted little tiger finally squeezed out a sentence: "Over 580 Splendid Chickens—that's enough to feed how many people? There are many here today listening to the lecture, but most of them practice abstinence from food. If we kill all these chickens now, wouldn't it be wasteful?"
As she said this, she suddenly found it strange and asked why the Hall of Inquiry kitchen would stockpile so many Splendid Chickens. When she first came to Hall of Inquiry to earn points, though she had earned over 50 points, they weren't all from killing Splendid Chickens. There had been red-crowned geese, speckled ducks, and various other poultry, with some worth 2 points each.
Overall, during the little white tiger's first visit to Hall of Inquiry to earn points, the kitchen's stock had been relatively normal. On her second visit, those 199 points were already quite a lot, but this time's 582 Splendid Chickens was even more unusual.
Jiang Mo suddenly grew suspicious, and her momentary desire to go to the kitchen to earn points instantly vanished.
But just then, Yun Qingyue, who had been focusing on her lecture, suddenly turned to glance at her. Though her lecture rhythm didn't change at all, Jiang Mo clearly saw her make a gesture—having lived together for over a month, Jiang Mo recognized this gesture, indicating she could move about freely and didn't need to wait here.
System understood as well and grew more excited: "Let's go, host, Senior Sister has agreed to let you leave."
Jiang Mo saw Yun Qingyue's gesture but hadn't planned to leave and hadn't thought much of it. Yet hearing System's words, an abrupt and unrealistic idea suddenly sprang to her mind, making her heart beat faster.
A moment later, while System continued its incessant persuasion, the little white tiger gave Senior Sister a deep look. Then she suddenly stood up, shook her fur, and jumped down from the platform, heading toward the kitchen without any attempt to hide her intentions.
This movement didn't draw Yun Qingyue's attention, but those listening to the lecture below inevitably had their gazes drawn to Jianbing. Soon, however, as the little white tiger disappeared from view, the audience returned their attention to the lecture. As for what thoughts certain people might have had, that remained unknown.
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"580, 581, 582..."
The System light orb bounced up and down, extremely excited, counting the host's spoils one by one. Even as the entire kitchen filled with the thick scent of blood after all the Splendid Chickens had been killed, it didn't see any problem with this one-sided slaughter.
Jiang Mo retracted her paws, now soaked with blood, and distastefully wiped them on the ground. After silently earning points, she finally spoke: "System, didn't we agree before not to come to the kitchen for points anymore? You were very worried last time, so why are you suddenly encouraging me now? Is the attraction of over 580 points really that strong for you?"
The debt System carried was actually in points, and they could even use points to make purchases in the System Mall. Therefore, compared to Jiang Mo's greater concern for combat power, System didn't care about that at all—it only cared about its commission on the points.
This 223 didn't seem very intelligent, but calculation was a System's natural talent, and they didn't forget things. Thus, the more Jiang Mo thought about it, the stranger it seemed, but System didn't have such convoluted thinking. Its answer was very direct: "Because according to System calculations, the probability that host's point-earning in the kitchen will have no negative impact on the future is as high as 95%."
Intrigued, Jiang Mo searched for a water source to wash her paws while asking: "What's your basis for that?"
The System light orb flickered, providing a reasoned response: "The Hall of Inquiry kitchen has stockpiled too many Splendid Chickens. And does host remember when we were hunting in the back mountain a couple of days ago, we encountered several Qi Refinement disciples catching Splendid Chickens? They said it was a task from the Mission Hall."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo thought for a moment and realized it was indeed true, though at the time her attention had been focused on that nest of spirit rabbits. She hadn't paid much attention then, but thinking about it now, she connected the events, speculating: "Could it be that these Splendid Chickens in Hall of Inquiry were collected from the Mission Hall? But who issued the mission at the Mission Hall..."
System immediately responded: "Of course it was Senior Sister! Mount Mingxia is now under Senior Sister's management, and besides her, who would stockpile so many Splendid Chickens in Hall of Inquiry? They couldn't possibly eat them all!"
Yes, this was the most likely result according to System's calculations, and what prompted all this was naturally the little white tiger's two kitchen slaughters. Perhaps Jiang Mo had been wrong from the start—she shouldn't have thought a divine beast's bloodthirst was wrong. The cultivation world operated on survival of the fittest, no different from jungle law. Under such circumstances, wasn't it natural for a tiger to learn to hunt from an early age?
Yun Qingyue didn't see anything wrong with the little white tiger killing a few Splendid Chickens. Perhaps in her view, it was no different from a cub's play. Though somewhat bloody, it aligned with the nature of beasts.
For a moment, Jiang Mo couldn't describe her feelings, eventually squeezing out: "What a waste of money."
When she didn't know these Splendid Chickens had been prepared for her by Yun Qingyue, Jiang Mo had killed them stealthily without any qualms—after all, she was just letting the chickens bleed out with her claws, and couldn't they still be eaten afterward? But upon learning that Yun Qingyue had bought these chickens at one spirit stone each, she immediately felt distressed, especially since killing spirit beasts on the back mountain cost nothing!
System thought its host was being a bit stingy, since cultivation had always been expensive, and the enhancement brought by a few hundred low-grade spirit stones wasn't actually that costly. But given that neither it nor its host had a single spirit stone, this wasn't something it could comment on.
Jiang Mo didn't say anything more. On the surface, she complained about wasting money, but if System had opened the data panel at that moment, it would have discovered she was actually quite happy, even feeling a bit sweet inside. However, System didn't open the panel to observe its host. Instead, Jiang Mo, having finished washing her paws, opened her own character panel to check today's gains—
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Profession: Divine Beast
Level: 21
Combat Power: 5,244,292 (1,412)
Experience: 72,676/5,242,880
Points: 1,140
Potential: ∞
Skills: Blood Inheritance (Not Activated)]
While killing Splendid Chickens for points earlier, Jiang Mo had felt a familiar warmth flowing through her limbs. Looking now, she had indeed leveled up. Level 21 was Foundation Establishment, and although she had deliberately suppressed her experience growth these days, not taking a single pill, she had taken so many pills before that she couldn't control it anymore.
Leveling up had brought her a 21-point increase in combat power, but beyond that, it hadn't provided any benefits. Because her combat power hadn't caught up, not even reaching the basic combat power appropriate for her level, she would be at a disadvantage if she encountered another temporary mission like last time.
Jiang Mo then calculated mentally—her current combat power was equivalent to Qi Refinement sixth layer, not even reaching the seventh layer. This level-up to Foundation Establishment didn't bring her joy; instead, she felt increasingly urgent... From level 20 to 21, in the game system this was a difference of 1 level, but in cultivation terms, these were two different realms, making her feel that the combat power she lacked had become even more substantial.
Grinding for combat power on the back mountain was too slow and too dangerous. Perhaps, perhaps she should continue to rely on Senior Sister?
Jiang Mo felt a bit guilty—just a moment ago, she had complained to System about wasting money, and now she was thinking about clinging to Senior Sister and asking to be kept by the rich. But as soon as this thought occurred to her, a system message suddenly appeared on her character panel—
[System Announcement: Due to host's level increase, from this moment on, rewards for experience points and points from monsters below host's level by 10 levels will be reduced to 1/10 of the original.
May host strive to improve, forge ahead bravely, and reach life's peak through their own efforts!!!]
After reading the announcement, Jiang Mo paused and asked System: "What does this announcement mean?"
System read the announcement and responded with some regret: "It means that if host continues to grind Splendid Chickens, each one will only yield 0.1 points and 0.1 combat power. But so far, System statistics don't count anything after the decimal point, which means grinding Splendid Chickens is now useless for host—nothing but 20 experience points, not even worth taking pills."
In other words, Jiang Mo's path of relying on Senior Sister and taking the pay-to-win route was blocked by the system announcement before it even began.