Chapter 66 : Ice Lotus Seeds
Before today, Peak Master Qingyu wouldn't have known who Chu Yang was. Even now, her understanding of him was merely as a formidable Outer Sect disciple who had performed well in the arena today, even attracting Qingxu's interest in taking him as a disciple.
But that was the extent of it—she couldn't even recall what Chu Yang looked like, let alone his techniques or cultivation level.
Peak Master Qingyu immediately fell silent, beginning to recall the previous arena matches—having reached the Fusion realm, her divine sense was vastly superior to ordinary people's. Even though she hadn't divided her attention to the adjacent arena while watching earlier, Chu Yang's performance on the arena was still crystal clear in her memory. Yet upon reviewing everything from beginning to end, she found no trace of this sword technique in his movements.
This wasn't Chu Yang's habitual sword technique, and it didn't even align with his cultivation path. Reaching this conclusion, Qingyu quickly understood that Yun Qingyue's awkwardness when using the sword earlier wasn't entirely her own fault; perhaps Chu Yang had displayed similar awkwardness when using that sword move!
Thinking of this, Qingyu asked: "Under what circumstances did you see Chu Yang use this technique?"
Yun Qingyue concealed nothing, answering truthfully: "In response to Master, it was during a previous defensive match when I happened to see him use it against an opponent." After a pause, she added: "I observed that he didn't seem to be deliberately displaying it for others to see."
Qingyu lowered her eyes, concealing the darkness that suddenly appeared in their depths, as well as the anger that abruptly arose in her otherwise calm heart. Outwardly, she remained as impassive as ever, merely nodding slightly and responding: "I understand this matter; you need not concern yourself further." After a pause, she added: "Also, there's no need to mention this to anyone else, not even to your martial uncles and aunts."
Yun Qingyue agreed, indeed having no intention of telling others—this matter might be unrelated to the sect, pertaining only to her master's personal affairs. Because Chu Yang's few moves were clearly her master's early-years sword technique, both in form and intent.
However, after Peak Master Qingyu encountered some unknown tribulation, her cultivation path was greatly affected, her mental realm no longer what it once was, and consequently, all her techniques and methods changed. Even fewer people had seen those techniques; besides the Sect Leader, Peak Masters, and some elders, Yun Qingyue had only caught glimpses of her master performing these moves by chance.
Peak Master Qingyu clearly had no intention of discussing these old matters with anyone, and Yun Qingyue had no intention of delving deeper. She merely informed her master of this matter; how to respond and resolve it would be up to her master's discretion.
With this matter temporarily set aside, Peak Master Qingyu had lost her mood for giving her disciple special instruction. She casually tossed a jade slip to Yun Qingyue, saying: "Inside are your master's insights from advancing to Nascent Soul back then. You're only one step away from forming your Nascent Soul now. Study it well; perhaps you might advance to Nascent Soul before the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition."
Yun Qingyue respectfully accepted it, expressing gratitude: "Thank you, Master. This disciple will certainly strive in cultivation, not disappointing Master's high expectations." Sensing that her master might not be in the mood to deal with her further, she added: "If Master has no further instructions, this disciple will take her leave."
Qingyu indeed had no mood to attend to her, waving her hand to dismiss her.
Yun Qingyue bowed and departed. At this point, barely a quarter hour had passed since Zhong Heng left.
Of course, unlike Zhong Heng who returned directly to cultivate after leaving, Yun Qingyue's first task after exiting the practice arena was to find the little white tiger who had sneaked away—this was Peak Master Qingyu's cultivation residence, appearing ordinary on the surface but secretly arranged with numerous formations and restrictions. Consequently, Yun Qingyue walked through it like an ordinary person; besides having keener senses, she couldn't even use her divine sense.
With no alternative, searching for the tiger could only be done step by step. Yun Qingyue had no choice but to search through the courtyards one by one.
When she found the little white tiger, the latter was pawing at something by the spirit spring. Only upon approaching did Yun Qingyue see that clusters of ice lotuses grew in the spirit spring. The little white tiger seemed to have taken an interest in the lotus seeds, but unlike the warm spring in Yun Qingyue's room, this was an ice spring suitable for ice lotus growth. The little white tiger's paw had frozen the moment it touched the water, so she dared not enter the water and could only reach out with her paw.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue's eyes flashed with a mix of helplessness and amusement. Then she raised her hand, shooting out a beam of spiritual energy like a sword. The energy circled around the lotus seeds without damaging the flowers in the slightest, then flew back carrying several seeds.
The little white tiger, her attention focused on the seeds, naturally witnessed this scene and immediately followed the seeds with her gaze.
Seeing that Senior Sister had arrived, the little white tiger was both surprised and delighted, immediately turning to pounce on her: "Senior Sister, Senior Sister, why are you out so quickly? Weren't you supposed to be getting special instruction?!"
Earlier, she had happened to see Zhong Heng leave, but now only a quarter hour had passed since his departure. Previously, Zhong Heng's questions had taken at least an hour, so she had expected to wait much longer, hence her interest in the ice lotus seeds. To her surprise, before she could even retrieve the seeds, Yun Qingyue had already come out... Was this the difference between a top student and a poor student?!
Yun Qingyue naturally had no idea what the little white tiger was thinking. She caught the baby tiger that pounced over, casually stroked her fur, then opened her palm to reveal several crystal-clear, cold-emanating lotus seeds in her fair palm: "Did you want to try some?"
The little white tiger extended her paw, pushing the seeds back: "I've already tried them—they're icy and sweet, delicious. You should try them too."
Understanding the meaning behind the little white tiger's gesture, Yun Qingyue couldn't help but smile—of course she had eaten ice lotus seeds before, and quite frequently from childhood to adolescence. This entire pool of ice lotuses could almost be considered planted for her. Though her master appeared cold and seemingly unsympathetic on a daily basis, toward this disciple whom she had personally found and raised, she was, in a sense, indulgent and even doting.
Thinking of this, a hint of nostalgia flashed in Yun Qingyue's eyes. Then she felt a coolness against her lips—the little white tiger had placed an ice lotus seed at her mouth. She resignedly parted her lips to accept it, and the ice lotus seed, truly like ice and snow, instantly melted with her body temperature. Immediately, a sweet freshness spread throughout her mouth, with hints of coolness dispelling the summer heat, making her feel refreshed.
The little white tiger was a gluttonous tiger; she had already eaten many ice lotus seeds, picking almost all the accessible ones near the shore. Only after finishing did she think to save some for Senior Sister, so she tried to reach for more distant lotuses.
Now, seeing Senior Sister's relaxed expression, she felt somewhat proud, wagging her tail and "aowu-ing" twice: "See, I told you they're delicious. Senior Sister, if you like them, there are many more in the spirit spring." Then she added regretfully: "It's a pity that the spring in your room is warm; the ice lotuses would probably melt if soaked there. Otherwise, we could transplant some over and have lotus seeds to eat every day."
Though Yun Qingyue had developed some tacit understanding with the little white tiger after spending time together, she still couldn't understand what the little white tiger was saying when she kept "aowu-ing." However, seeing the little white tiger's proud and lively appearance, her glassy eyes couldn't help but fill with traces of amusement. Then with a wave of her sleeve, the ice lotus seeds above the spirit spring seemed to receive some summons, detaching from the ice lotuses and rushing into her sleeve all at once.
The little white tiger watched wide-eyed as a massive wave of seeds entered Senior Sister's sleeve, her tiger eyes rounding in shock. Then she instinctively reached out to touch the sleeve, only to see the garment floating gently, appearing completely empty inside as if nothing were there.
Was this the legendary "universe within a sleeve"?
The little white tiger was both surprised and curious; pawing was no longer sufficient to satisfy her curiosity—the entire tiger was almost squeezing into Senior Sister's sleeve. Finally, she was restrained when Senior Sister grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and only then did she behave.
Yun Qingyue was also helpless in the face of the little white tiger's abundant curiosity. She turned her palm, revealing a delicate, small storage pouch: "All the ice lotus seeds are in here. If you like them, take them to eat. They should last for a while. When you finish them, you can come pick more. As long as you don't disturb Master's cultivation, she won't mind."
So it was a storage pouch, not a universe within a sleeve... The little white tiger felt inexplicably disappointed. However, having acquired a bag of snacks, she felt the trip wasn't wasted after all and happily accepted the excessively small storage pouch.
Having found the little white tiger and collected the ice lotus seeds, Yun Qingyue picked up the little white tiger and asked: "Is there anything else? If not, shall we go back?"
The little white tiger nodded without hesitation. It was only after Yun Qingyue had taken her away by sword that she felt she might have forgotten something. But never mind—forgetting meant it wasn't important. She became cheerful again, casually retrieving two ice lotus seeds from the storage pouch, feeding one to Senior Sister and eating the other herself, feeling thoroughly content.
When the two returned to the guest quarters halfway up Mount Tianyang, just as Yun Qingyue set down her flying sword and landed in the courtyard, they saw a light orb rushing toward the little white tiger. With a "splat," it clung to her face, the brightness nearly blinding her tiger eyes.
The little white tiger was startled, using both paws to finally pry the system off her face, her fur nearly bristling. But before she could angrily question it, she heard the system begin to cry "ying ying ying," the mechanical sound almost making her scalp explode, deflating her unvoiced anger like a punctured balloon.
Left with no choice, the little white tiger covered her ears and asked: "What's wrong with you?"
The system was extremely aggrieved, sobbing: "I lost track of the host again. I searched for you for so long, from Mount Tianyang to Mount Mingxia, Senior Sister's courtyard, even the Peak Master's cave dwelling, but couldn't find you anywhere. I could only come back to wait for you..."
The crying system now resembled an abandoned little pitiful thing, but after hearing its lament, Jiang Mo's heart felt extremely peculiar—she had seen many things before, including various system setups, but one like this... so weak it made people sympathetic, so incompetent it made people rueful, but undeniably, such a weak and incompetent system was currently the most reassuring to her.
Due to that small selfish thought, Jiang Mo didn't remind the baby system to check if there was a following function. However, feeling slightly guilty for forgetting the system, she opened the mall to buy two pieces of milk candy, easily consoling the sobbing little system.
Fortunately, this all happened very quickly, and the system was comforted before Yun Qingyue could notice anything amiss.
The little white tiger secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then continued to cling to Senior Sister as usual. However, Yun Qingyue had just received her master's jade slip today and needed to focus on comprehending it, so she had no time to play. She quickly taught the little white tiger some new characters for her to practice, then immersed herself in cultivation insights.