Chapter 53 : The Small Secret Realm
Mount Tianyang stood at the center of the five peaks and was the most expansive among them, so naturally its back mountain differed from Mount Mingxia's.
Mount Mingxia's back mountain consisted of a forest that housed numerous low-level spirit beasts for disciples to train against. At the same time, materials obtained from hunting these spirit beasts allowed training disciples to earn a modest profit, serving as a form of subsidy for them.
Mount Tianyang, however, was more magnificent than Mount Mingxia, as its back mountain training ground wasn't a dense forest but a small secret realm. Or more precisely, it wasn't even a naturally formed small secret realm, but rather a damaged semi-immortal artifact that Xuanqing Sect's founder had acquired by chance years ago. Semi-immortal artifacts were rare, but one broken beyond repair became a white elephant, so it was eventually placed on the back of Mount Tianyang as a small secret realm for disciples to train in.
Yun Qingyue, with one arm holding the little white tiger, told her about the origin of this small secret realm. With her other hand, she tapped the identity jade tablet at her waist, forming a hand seal as a point of spiritual light rose from the jade tablet and flew toward the empty space before them.
The previously empty void suddenly lit up as that point of spiritual light entered it. Then, under the little white tiger's intense gaze, the faint light first gathered into a rice-grain-sized point, then expanded outward. The expanded light formed a "door" with shallow ripples like water, though what lay beyond the "door" was momentarily unclear.
Yun Qingyue, carrying the little white tiger, didn't hesitate and stepped through. After a brief dizziness, they beheld a completely new world...
The person and tiger appeared beside a small stream in the secret realm. In the distance, several herbivorous spirit beasts were drinking at the stream's edge, while unidentified wildflowers bloomed at their feet nearby. At first glance, the scenery was peaceful and breathtakingly beautiful.
However, this tranquility didn't last long, as the sudden appearance of the person and tiger clearly startled the spirit beasts drinking water—this was a small secret realm where disciples frequently came to train, not some remote wilderness rarely visited by humans. Consequently, the spirit beasts in the small secret realm were particularly wary of cultivators. Seeing a cultivator appear in the distance, these spirit beasts didn't hesitate at all, turning and fleeing immediately.
After a "rumbling" of hoofbeats, the area by the small stream fell completely silent.
The little white tiger looked around curiously, then leaped from Senior Sister's arms. She landed gracefully, coincidentally jumping into a patch of flowers by the stream. As soon as she landed, a faint floral fragrance enveloped her.
The little white tiger hadn't seen these flowers elsewhere, and their fragrance was truly pleasant. The little white tiger, essentially still a girl at heart, immediately became interested. She approached and sniffed a small purple flower. The delicate floral scent entered her lungs, making her entire body feel as if it had been cleansed, involuntarily relaxing her and turning up the corners of her mouth.
Watching the little white tiger's actions, Yun Qingyue's eyes also held warmth and tenderness. Nevertheless, she bent down to stroke the little white tiger's head, cautioning: "This is Purple Yun Flower, which has calming and focusing effects, often dried to make sachets. If you like it, I can prepare one for you later. However, not all spiritual plants along the roadside are harmless. Next time you encounter unfamiliar flora, don't approach them recklessly."
The little white tiger, who had been lowering her head to smell the flowers, raised her head upon hearing this, feeling somewhat peculiar—Yun Qingyue's admonishing manner strongly resembled her former chemistry teacher warning students not to randomly sniff chemical reagents...
Well, fair enough, they were both unknown substances.
The little white tiger pawed at the Purple Yun Flower, then solemnly nodded to Senior Sister while letting out two "awoos" to remind her not to forget the promised sachet. It would be even better if Senior Sister made it herself.
Yun Qingyue naturally couldn't understand what she was saying, but she wouldn't forget what she had promised.
After this brief inconsequential delay, System approached and asked: "Host, what shall we do next? Do you want to continue grinding for points? But Senior Sister is here..." It paused halfway, the System that had originally intended to hide secrets suddenly recalled that even the Splendid Chickens in Discourse Hall had been specially prepared for the tiger by Senior Sister. Was there still any need to hide the point-grinding from her now?
Jiang Mo wasn't sure if it was necessary either, but looking at her rapidly increasing level lately had made her somewhat anxious—she currently carried two debuffs, which System had said would only be removed after reaching Nascent Soul, causing her combat power to lag far behind her level. With her rapid leveling, if she could push her game level all the way to 41 in one go, that would be fine. The fear was that her level might advance halfway with combat power lagging far behind, and System might suddenly issue a mandatory quest requiring her to fight monsters. Or if she encountered an unexpected situation in reality needing to face opponents of the same level, she would be utterly doomed.
Moreover, the experience needed for game leveling had always increased exponentially. Though her level was rising quickly now, the future remained uncertain. She also hadn't forgotten what System had said when she received the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow—while her physical body could advance rapidly through external assistance, if her soul couldn't keep up with such speed of strengthening, no one knew what would happen in the later stages.
All in all, Jiang Mo had many concerns, and after much deliberation, she felt that steadily building her strength was most prudent.
With this in mind, the little white tiger didn't want to miss this opportunity. She sharpened her claws and said to System: "System, could you scan this small secret realm to see if there are any Poison Spike Rats? Let's continue grinding for points."
Hearing this, System no longer hesitated and immediately initiated a scan.
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Poison Spike Rats were creatures that ordinary spirit beasts respected and avoided, but for the little white tiger who now wielded metal-attribute spells, they were absolutely perfect for point-grinding—their poison spines could no longer harm her, and as the little white tiger's mastery of metal-attribute spiritual energy became increasingly proficient, one needle for one Poison Spike Rat easily yielded 10 combat power points, offering great returns for minimal effort.
The naturally laid-back little white tiger had no desire to become acquainted with all the spirit beasts on the back mountain. Now pressed for time to improve herself, targeting the easily farmable Poison Spike Rats to get her money's worth was definitely a choice she would make.
Unfortunately, she had miscalculated, as this small secret realm didn't have spirit beasts like Poison Spike Rats.
System's scanning range was limited, but after scanning nearly half the secret realm without finding any trace of Poison Spike Rats, they probably weren't present. Even if there were some, they would be too distant to be worth the journey for the time-constrained host.
Thus, System took the initiative to search for new prey, responding to its host after some time: "Host, there are no Poison Spike Rats here, but according to System's screening, there are quite a few second-grade spirit beasts in this secret realm. After eliminating those that are too large for host to hunt effectively, the closest and most economical alternatives to Poison Spike Rats would be a nest of snakes in a valley ten miles to the east."
A nest of... snakes in a valley ten miles to the east?!
The golden tiger eyes' pupils contracted sharply, and the little tiger cub felt her entire being deteriorate: "System, can't you find something normal?"
System was startled by the outburst, then replied pitifully: "It's just a nest of snakes, what's abnormal about that? Poison Spike Rats are venomous, those snakes might be venomous too. Poison Spike Rats are small, snakes are small too. And a snake nest means there are many targets inside. When host stabs down with a handful of needles, the point-grinding speed will definitely be faster than with Poison Spike Rats..."
The little white tiger wasn't tempted at all by this, looking at the quibbling System with increasingly unfriendly eyes. This made System speak progressively more quietly, finally having to regretfully admit: "Alright, host might be afraid of snakes. I'll look again to see if there are other options."
The small secret realm actually housed many types of spirit beasts. Besides low-level spirit beasts that had proliferated outside like spirit rabbits and Poison Spike Rats, there were more like Wind Speed Wolves and Earth Bears—creatures visibly too large and unsuitable for a little tiger cub to hunt. Moreover, killing one Wind Speed Wolf would yield 10 points, stabbing one Crimson Scale Snake would also yield 10 points. For the same reward, the effort required was completely different.
System was ultimately a mechanical entity, naturally excelling at calculations, and the result of its calculations was that hunting in the snake nest was more efficient. However, due to human nature, the little white tiger wasn't a machine and naturally refused to crawl into a snake nest.
With no choice, System went back to scanning and calculating, and the little white tiger's tense body finally relaxed.
Unlike their usual trips to the back mountain, this time Senior Sister accompanied them, so Jiang Mo and System's communication had decreased significantly. However, the little white tiger's occasional calls and near-bristling fur were all noticed by Yun Qingyue. A trace of confusion flashed in her crystalline eyes, but Yun Qingyue had never been one to pry deeply—or rather, she preferred observation and judgment over direct questioning.
Therefore, Yun Qingyue said nothing until she saw the little white tiger's emotions return to normal. Then she stroked the soft fur of the little white tiger's ear and asked: "Little white tiger, have you decided where you want to go?"
System hadn't yet produced a result from its scan, and when Yun Qingyue suddenly asked, the little white tiger hesitated before casually pointing in a direction.
Yun Qingyue turned her head to look, murmuring: "The east?"
The little white tiger heard this, her round tiger eyes widening further, never expecting that her random pointing would coincidentally indicate the east that System had mentioned. Recalling the snake nest in the valley over there, her fur immediately bristled all over. She hurriedly stood up on her hind legs, her front paws tightly gripping Senior Sister's arm: "No, no, no, not the east! Anywhere else will do!"
Having spent many days together, Yun Qingyue could tell from the little white tiger shaking her head like a rattle drum that she had changed her mind about going east. What was in the east? The Snake Valley was in the east—could it be that this little one was afraid of snakes?
Various thoughts flashed through Yun Qingyue's mind, though she didn't delve into how the little white tiger, newly arrived, knew about the Snake Valley in the east. Since she didn't want to go there, Yun Qingyue picked up the tiger cub, turned around, and headed directly west, in the opposite direction. As for where they were going and what they would do... for such a battle-loving little white tiger, who even sneaked out to fight when unoccupied, naturally it was to find her a good opponent.
She recalled that the Wolf's Lair of Wind Speed Wolves was precisely in the western forest. Last time in the competition, the little white tiger had won with difficulty. Though not much time had passed, let the now-different little white tiger test her skills again.
Surely a little white tiger who had reached Foundation Establishment wouldn't have trouble defeating a Wind Speed Wolf at the Qi Refinement stage. And after winning, there was a whole pack to continue with!
The little white tiger had no idea of Senior Sister's dangerous plan. Seeing Yun Qingyue head in the opposite direction, she breathed a huge sigh of relief—Senior Sister was so good; when she said they wouldn't go east, they wouldn't go east. Snake nests and the like could go to hell!