Chapter 56 : A Small Sachet
The little white tiger was angry. Although the injuries sustained during today's battle were far less severe than those from the previous competition, the feeling of voluntarily stepping onto a stage to complete a task was completely different from being abandoned in a wolf's den by someone she trusted.
Jiang Mo was very angry, and the consequence... well, apart from giving someone the cold shoulder, there didn't seem to be much else she could do.
Yun Qingyue was an observant person who immediately noticed the little white tiger's unusual attitude, and after a moment's reflection, seemed to understand the reason. However, as for feeling regret—certainly not. Cultivators strove against heaven for their fate, and the methods masters used to train disciples were rarely gentle. Though she had grown up freely without a master's discipline, examples of disciples being thrown into secret realms, ice plains, or fire pits by their masters were commonplace.
By comparison, merely leaving a little white tiger whose realm and strength far exceeded Wind Speed Wolves in a wolf's den was actually quite a prudent decision. Moreover, after half a day of combat, the little white tiger's progress was visibly evident.
From initially being able to face only one Wind Speed Wolf with probing attacks, to later setting ambushes to kill two, and then directly overpowering three... she was growing slowly yet steadily. By the time of the wolf pack's final encirclement before retreating at dusk, she could effortlessly leave behind the corpses of ten Wind Speed Wolves amid the siege of dozens.
In the end, the Wind Speed Wolves retreated not because of heavy losses, but because they recognized their opponent's increasing strength with each battle.
Yun Qingyue knew nothing of Jiang Mo's system, nor did she know that with each Wind Speed Wolf killed, she immediately received combat power rewards. But she observed her visible growth, so she didn't feel her actions today were wrong.
Still, the little tiger cub was sulking, and it was appropriate to comfort her.
Yun Qingyue held the freshly cleaned little white tiger, examining her thoroughly from top to bottom, until the little white tiger grew somewhat annoyed. Only then did she take the tiger's paw and ask: "How are you? Are you injured anywhere?"
Hearing these caring words, the little white tiger's ears twitched slightly, but she still turned her head away, ignoring her.
Yun Qingyue was neither impatient nor annoyed. In fact, if she wanted to check the little white tiger's injuries, she could simply scan with her divine sense to know everything clearly. But she didn't do this. Instead, she waited until blood faintly seeped through the little white tiger's snow-white fur, then gently parted the soft fur to examine her wounds—naturally, they weren't serious injuries; if they had been, Yun Qingyue wouldn't have delayed treatment.
The little white tiger took this opportunity to secretly glance back, seeing Senior Sister's slightly furrowed brow, seemingly concerned. She turned away again, mentally snorting: Now you know how to be concerned? I didn't see you appear when I was being chased so wretchedly by the wolf pack!
Yun Qingyue naturally wasn't unaware of this, but she showed no reaction, simply producing medicine to treat the little white tiger's wounds. She carefully tended to each wound, her movements gentle and meticulous, while not forgetting to praise the little white tiger's prowess and progress... Such words from a dignified Golden Core cultivator sounded quite embarrassing to the tiger, but the involuntarily swaying tail betrayed her slight pride.
Finally, all the little white tiger's wounds had been treated by Yun Qingyue. Naturally, the medicines of the cultivation world were incomparable to mortal ointments. Given that all the little white tiger's injuries were minor, the medicinal paste, once applied to the wounds, healed them completely in just moments.
With points and combat power earned, and her body no longer in pain, much of her anger seemed to have dissipated.
The little white tiger still didn't turn around, but her attitude appeared to have softened. She thought to herself that if Senior Sister promised never to treat her like this again, she would forgive her this time.
But was that possible? Impossible!
Yun Qingyue couldn't truly raise Jianbing as a pet. She was a member of Xuanqing Sect, and Jianbing was destined to become Xuanqing Sect's guardian divine beast. She couldn't spoil her, even if this cub was born fragile. Through observation over this period, it was evident that her potential was limitless. This was merely a small training exercise; more dangers awaited her in the future.
However, despite her resolve, seeing the little white tiger's softening attitude and lingering resentment, she still needed to continue comforting her.
Yun Qingyue stroked the little white tiger's head, and when the latter impatiently dodged, she extended her hand before the little white tiger's eyes. Opening her palm revealed a small, light purple sachet resting quietly in her fair hand.
The little white tiger looked up, initially unsure what it was, but then faintly detected a delicate floral scent. She sniffed closer, confirming she wasn't mistaken—it was indeed the fragrance of Purple Yun Flower, and this small sachet must contain the very flowers—the Purple Yun Flower sachet Senior Sister had promised her not long ago, given to her so quickly.
Jiang Mo wasn't slow-witted. Recalling Senior Sister's previous words, it was clear she hadn't had a ready-made sachet, yet now she had given her one. Moreover, the fragrance from this sachet was rich, unlike an old item...
Could it be that while she was being surrounded and pursued by Wind Speed Wolves, Senior Sister had made this herself?!
The little white tiger's already round eyes widened further. Although the sachet wasn't particularly exquisite in craftsmanship, although Purple Yun Flowers were wild flowers commonly found by the stream in the secret realm, and although Senior Sister had made the sachet while she was in a disheveled state fleeing from the wolf pack's encirclement... it was still a sachet made by Senior Sister's own hands, specifically for her—she really wanted it.
Her fluffy tiger paws fidgeted, toes opening and closing, but out of pride, the little white tiger still didn't immediately pounce on it. Yun Qingyue, always good at understanding tiger intentions, seemed to raise the corner of her lips slightly. Without teasing the tiger further, she directly placed the sachet into the tiger's paw.
The little white tiger instinctively clutched it, then raised her head with an attitude of "you insisted on giving it to me, so I'll reluctantly accept it."
Yet her tail behind her wagged more joyfully, clearly betraying her good mood.
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Fleeing and killing amid the wolf pack's encirclement for an entire afternoon was naturally exhausting for a cub. However, in the cultivation world, such muscular fatigue hardly counted as a significant matter.
On the way back to the guest quarters on Mount Tianyang, Yun Qingyue had already massaged the little white tiger with spiritual energy, instantly relieving her fatigue.
Upon returning to the guest room, the little white tiger leaped from Yun Qingyue's arms, first stretching lazily and then exercising her muscles and joints, confirming she had indeed recovered seventy to eighty percent. As for the remaining discomfort, it wasn't a concern—she would fully recover after a brief period of self-cultivation in the evening. While marveling at the wonders of spiritual energy, she took the opportunity to open her character panel to check her gains—
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Profession: Divine Beast
Level: 29
Combat Power: 1,342,179,075 (2,621)
Experience: 87,766,590/1,342,177,280
Points: 2,035
Potential: ∞
Skills: Meditation, Basic Spiritual Energy Utilization (Blood Inheritance Not Activated)]
Since the last time she had opened her character panel, two days had passed. Under the continuous experience growth effect of the Golden Scale Fruit, the little white tiger had gained another level. Fortunately, as levels progressed, the experience required increased, so even with the Golden Scale Fruit's ongoing effect, she likely couldn't break through to level 31 and rashly enter the Golden Core stage in such a short time.
Although the game system provided a foundation, making it virtually impossible for issues like unstable foundations affecting future development, if she advanced now with combat power lagging far behind, from a cultivator's perspective, her realm would appear unstable and hollow.
Yes, it was still the old combat power problem. Despite the little white tiger's efforts, her combat power had broken through the 2,600 threshold, truly becoming incomparable to before. But her level was now 29, and the basic combat power for level 29 should be 4,350, with an upper limit difficult to measure... So despite her point-grinding efforts and heroic wolf-slaying, she remained a small, useless tiger whose combat power couldn't match her cultivation level.
Jiang Mo's mood became extremely complex. Calculating further, she discovered she had earned over 500 points and combat power today. This number seemed substantial, but somehow felt disproportionate to her efforts. She opened the history message—
[Xuantian Continent Year 75891, September 16, 12:47:06
Host killed one "Wind Speed Wolf," rewarded with 2,000 experience points, +10 points, combat power +10.]
This was the earliest entry today, followed by over fifty similar notifications, representing the fifty-plus Wind Speed Wolves she had killed. At first glance it seemed impressive, worthy of being called a bountiful harvest, but after reading them, Jiang Mo nearly spat blood in anger. The reason was simple—for each Wind Speed Wolf killed, the experience, points, and combat power rewards were identical to those for killing a Poison Spike Rat!
But Poison Spike Rats were so easy to kill—one needle for one rat. Wind Speed Wolves were much more formidable and pack dwellers. Why would the system give the same rewards for these two types of monsters? This was completely unfair!
Jiang Mo instantly felt the frustration of wasted effort. She scooped up the nearby System light orb with her tiger paw, then pointing at the panel, she sternly questioned: "What's going on? Why are the rewards for Wind Speed Wolves and Poison Spike Rats the same?"
System responded pitifully yet righteously: "Host, Wind Speed Wolves and Poison Spike Rats are both second-grade spirit beasts, so naturally the rewards are the same."
This explanation seemed reasonable at first glance, but Jiang Mo had played many games before and snorted dismissively: "How can they be the same? 'Spirit beast second-grade' is just a rough classification. In reality, Wind Speed Wolves have strength equivalent to Qi Refinement fifth layer or higher, while Poison Spike Rats, disregarding their special poison, are at most Qi Refinement second layer—essentially the difference between level 15 and level 12 monsters. Why should their rewards be identical?"
Moreover, even monsters of the same level should have differences in attack power and rewards. The game module loaded by System was probably crudely made—not only were its functions limited, but its reward system was equally rough.
System couldn't refute this argument from its host. After some deliberation and searching its database, it finally provided an answer: "Host, this issue with the game module has existed for a long time. If you want differentiation, you can upgrade. But upgrading has pros and cons. Think about it—getting the same reward for level 15 and level 12 monsters seems unfair, but when grinding points, if you're grinding level 12 monsters but getting rewards equivalent to level 15 or even level 20 monsters, wouldn't that seem profitable?"
Actually, the issue Jiang Mo raised was a bug, but among so many hosts, those who chose to upgrade and fix the bug were few. Because after upgrading, level 16 monsters would still give 10 combat power rewards, while levels below 16 would decrease progressively, and those above would increase progressively.
When grinding monsters, levels 11 and 12 would naturally be easier, so upgrading would actually be disadvantageous.
After System's explanation, Jiang Mo understood—admittedly, this bug actually benefited the host more. However, after some thought and a furtive glance at Yun Qingyue preparing to cultivate nearby, she immediately developed an ominous premonition. After a moment of hesitation, the little tiger cub finally gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and said to System: "System, help me upgrade."
System was quite surprised by this request, asking with a "why would you do this to yourself" tone: "Host, are you sure you want to upgrade? You should know that most of the Wind Speed Wolves you killed today were level 15, with very few exceeding level 16. After upgrading, your next harvest will be less than now."
Hearing this, the little white tiger remained unmoved, becoming even more determined after System's question: "Upgrade it."
System offered one final reminder: "Once upgraded, you can't go back."
The little white tiger impatiently replied: "I won't go back."
So System asked no more and began the game system upgrade.
Having made her decision, Jiang Mo understood clearly—since Senior Sister had begun to train her, she certainly wouldn't let her kill Poison Spike Rats next time, or perhaps even Wind Speed Wolves would no longer be her opponents. The next time she was taken to kill monsters, they would definitely be above level 16, and before the sect competition or even the martial arts contest ended, she likely wouldn't have private opportunities to grind monsters.
Given these circumstances, choosing to upgrade made more sense. As for the long term, once she reached level 41 and received her blood inheritance, there would be more ways to gain combat power than just killing monsters.