Chapter 44 : Uncommon Talent
In the early morning, as the rosy dawn spread across the sky, it was Yun Qingyue's usual time for sword practice on the treacherous peak.
Having accidentally damaged the floor with her claws, the little white tiger felt extremely guilty. After looking around and discovering that Yun Qingyue wasn't present, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Yet after this moment of relief came a subtle sense of disappointment—after all, this had been her first time entering meditation, and under Senior Sister's personal guidance no less. Shouldn't she have stayed to watch over her awakening? Why did she still go out for sword practice on schedule? Wasn't she worried about potential cultivation deviation?
Jiang Mo had these thoughts, but in reality, divine beasts faced almost no risk of cultivation deviation, as such deviations in the cultivation world were entirely different from those in the mortal martial arts world. Divine beasts were naturally favored by the Dao, and even outer realm demons were reluctant to target them.
Despite her disappointment, Jiang Mo didn't dwell on it for long and quickly regained her spirits. She lowered her paws from behind her back and stared at the floor with a troubled expression for quite some time, even trying to smooth out the claw marks with her paws. After failing to destroy the evidence, she asked System: "System, do you have anything to repair the floor? Like cement or something?"
The System light orb circled the claw marks several times before responding: "Host, the mall does have cement, but it won't work. Cement is too fragile compared to this bluestone, and the color is different too."
Repair materials could never be perfect, but surely a small imperfection wouldn't be noticeable without careful inspection...
The little white tiger harbored this hopeful thought, but System seemed to read her mind and disagreed: "Host, cultivators have very sharp eyes. Never mind this little imperfection—they could spot a flying fly missing a leg if they wanted to. So either do nothing and simply wait for Senior Sister to return so you can apologize, or buy something good for a complete repair."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo felt somewhat disappointed, understanding that with the System Mall's comprehensive inventory, it certainly wouldn't lack repair materials. But consider this—the System Mall dared charge 450 points for a tube of anti-swelling medicine, so what could her meager points buy?
The little white tiger immediately abandoned the idea of repairing the floor. After some thought, she first opened her character panel to see if there were any changes—
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Profession: Divine Beast
Level: 21
Combat Power: 5,244,307 (1,427)
Experience: 372,676/5,242,880
Points: 1,140
Potential: ∞
Skills: Meditation (Blood Inheritance Not Activated)]
Since slaughtering all the Splendid Chickens in the Hall of Inquiry kitchen yesterday, Jiang Mo hadn't done anything to increase her stats, not even taking a single Spirit Nurturing Pill. Looking at it now, a night of meditation had not only taught her spiritual energy circulation but also somewhat increased her game data.
For instance, her combat power had increased by 15 points, and her experience had directly increased by 300,000. Although the experience required to level up had inflated significantly, 300,000 was still quite impressive. After all, this was just the effect of one night's meditation. If she hadn't been "kept" by Xuanqing Sect, without external aids like Spirit Nurturing Pills, she'd probably have to rely on meditation like regular cultivators to level up.
Her points hadn't changed, though, suggesting that besides killing monsters and daily quests, she hadn't yet found other ways to earn points.
After examining the data changes and gaining a thorough understanding of the benefits of meditation, Jiang Mo curiously opened the System Mall. Too lazy to search herself, she directly asked System: "System, look for materials to repair the floor."
The mall was a small program attached to System, and such a minor task was naturally effortless for it. Jiang Mo watched as the mall interface in front of her flashed, then thousands of product pages rapidly scrolled by, finally stopping at a collection of repair materials.
Perhaps because there were too many products, the page System found was quite long. The little white tiger casually scrolled through with her paw and saw hundreds of different items. Cement-like materials were the cheapest, followed by various synthetic adhesives, then all-purpose repair agents, and finally a series of high-tech repair machines she had never heard of but which looked quite sophisticated.
System enthusiastically explained beside her, as if it earned a commission from the mall: "Cement is too primitive and fragile—definitely not suitable for floor repair. Synthetic adhesives aren't much better; they're still just glue. Ordinary people might not notice the difference, but Senior Sister would spot it immediately." After disparaging the low-priced products, it began its enthusiastic sales pitch: "Host, look at this—the All-Purpose Repair Agent. Never mind a bluestone floor; it could even repair magical artifacts missing a piece. And this, the Star Element Repair Device—not only can it fix anything, but after purchase, it can be used repeatedly..."
Jiang Mo listened to System's product introduction as if she were at a mall listening to a sales pitch. Admittedly, the items System recommended were indeed good products. But there was one problem: why did System think she could afford them?
The little white tiger looked at her 1,140 point balance, then at the All-Purpose Repair Agent costing 100,000 points, and the Star Element Repair Device priced at 1,000,000 points. The poor little tiger nearly shed tears of poverty as she swatted away the still-chattering System with her paw: "Get lost! You can see exactly how many points I have. Why recommend these things to me?!"
System obligingly "got lost," rolling away before rolling back: "Host, System knows you can't afford these, but just wanted you to face reality."
Jiang Mo rolled her eyes and snapped: "What reality? The reality of poverty?"
The next moment, with a "ding" sound, System's cheerful voice rang out: "Exactly, host—poverty! Only when you recognize your own poverty will you be motivated to earn points. It's not a big deal if there are no more Splendid Chickens; there are still so many spirit beasts on the back mountain waiting for you to conquer. Think about it—you can't even afford to repair a floor right now. Isn't that embarrassing? Shameful?"
Jiang Mo fell silent for a moment, then quietly raised her paw to swat System away again. This time, without System's help, she manually browsed the mall and eventually found bluestone tiles identical to the floor beneath her feet, priced at 100 points each.
The little white tiger raised her chin slightly, pointing proudly at the mall interface with her paw, signaling System to look for itself.
This time it was System's turn to fall silent before finally squeezing out a sentence: "But host, are you really planning to buy bluestone tiles and replace them yourself?"
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In the end, the scratched floor was neither repaired nor replaced—the former was too expensive, and the latter was operationally too difficult for a little tiger cub. But after System's antics, Jiang Mo came to terms with it—what's the big deal about scratching a floor? In modern society, people keep pets; which cats and dogs don't destroy homes? Let alone a tiger.
If you're going to keep a tiger, you must accept the risk of home destruction!
Jiang Mo convinced herself, and her attitude immediately changed. No longer anxious or guilty, she could even go outside to wait for Senior Sister's return. She quickly climbed up the peach tree in the courtyard, waiting for her return while attempting to cultivate.
Undeniably, the white tiger divine beast's talent couldn't be underestimated. Although Jiang Mo was essentially a "rerolled account" without inherited abilities—initially unable to even meditate or use spiritual energy—once she entered the door, cultivation became as simple and fluid as eating and drinking for her. From fully focused meditation to dividing her attention between cultivation and waiting, it only took two or three attempts.
In no time, the little white tiger independently grasped new cultivation methods, then lay eagerly on the tree, waiting.
This wait lasted for most of the day. The person she expected to return at noon didn't appear until the sun began to tilt westward. The little white tiger, who had been waiting obediently in the tree, became so excited that she leaped directly down into the beauty's arms.
Yun Qingyue, with her keen senses, wasn't startled. With a sweep of her arm, she caught the little white tiger, who had grown considerably larger and heavier. She was delighted that the little white tiger had been waiting, but seeing her reaction, she knew she had waited anxiously. After stroking the tiger's fur and rubbing her ears to soothe her, she apologized regretfully: "I'm sorry I returned so late."
The little white tiger, her eyes narrowed with pleasure from Senior Sister's increasingly skilled petting technique, still managed to squeeze out a few grumbles from her throat: "Yeah, why are you back so late today? You don't usually practice swordsmanship for this long."
Yun Qingyue seemed to understand her question and explained while continuing to pet her: "You were still in meditation when I left this morning, and I didn't go to practice swordplay. The sect competition begins in three days, and the Sect Leader called a meeting at Mount Tianyang. After the meeting, some Outer Sect disciples caused trouble, which delayed me further."
She explained in detail, as if reporting her schedule to the little white tiger, and didn't find anything inappropriate about doing so. Since she was so forthright, Jiang Mo naturally didn't find anything amiss either, only expressing surprise: "So soon? The sect competition starts in just three days?"
Yun Qingyue couldn't understand her surprise this time, but System floated over leisurely and explained: "Host, you weren't in meditation for just one day. It's been three days since Senior Sister's lecture that night!"
Three days, so quickly? She hadn't felt it at all!
Jiang Mo was momentarily shocked but soon came to terms with it—cultivators in the cultivation world often seclude themselves for months, years, or even decades. If they experienced every single day clearly, wouldn't any normal person develop psychological issues? Yet she had never heard of any cultivator going mad from seclusion, so perhaps this was the norm—closing your eyes and opening them to find an unknown amount of time had passed?
While Jiang Mo was filling in her pitiful knowledge of cultivation basics, Yun Qingyue observed the little white tiger suddenly getting agitated without understanding why. Fortunately, she seemed to come to some realization, flicked her tail, and resumed her relaxed demeanor.
Yun Qingyue carried the little white tiger into the room, and upon entering, she felt the tiger's body stiffen slightly in her arms. Though it was just for an instant, Yun Qingyue's keen perception caught it, and her gaze quickly swept across the room, soon capturing the only difference—where the little white tiger had been meditating earlier, there were now several deep claw marks on the floor, faintly emanating a sharp metallic aura.
Upon discovering this, Yun Qingyue wasn't angry; instead, she seemed delighted. Lowering her head, she asked the little white tiger: "Did you make those claw marks?"
The little white tiger was still guilt-ridden, curling her paws into her chest and looking around with feigned innocence. As if she were just an ordinary little tiger who couldn't understand what Yun Qingyue was saying.
As for the claw marks on the floor, she couldn't see them, and they definitely weren't her doing.
Yun Qingyue was amused by this reaction, her cool features relaxing slightly. Without waiting for the little white tiger to confess, she picked up one of her paws and, pressing on the pad, squeezed her toes, causing the claws hidden in the little tiger's paw to emerge... A cub's claws may look sharp, but they're still immature. In Yun Qingyue's hand, they didn't resemble weapons at all, instead looking somewhat adorable.
Unfortunately, Yun Qingyue had no interest in admiring them at the moment. She simply compared the little white tiger's claws to the scratches on the floor—the evidence was conclusive.
The little white tiger felt both guilty and embarrassed, but before she could react, Yun Qingyue said: "Not bad. Jianbing's talent is truly uncommon. I haven't even taught you how to use spells yet, and you've already applied it practically."
This... was she being praised?!
The little white tiger raised her head in surprise, wanting to see if Yun Qingyue was serious, only to find an unusual hint of playfulness in those crystalline eyes. She immediately realized that when Senior Sister had held her paw up to compare with the evidence earlier, she had actually been teasing her.