Chapter 82 : Under the Moonlight
With the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition imminent, Yun Qingyue, having just obtained the refining materials, naturally wouldn't waste time on other matters. Thus, after returning to the private residence on Mount Tianyang, she—having been out of seclusion for only half a day—proceeded without delay to the refining room to consecrate the Fuxue Sword.
The little white tiger, not wanting to disturb Senior Sister at such a time, was left outside, holding her golden ball "toy."
Looking at the tightly closed door of the refining room, the little white tiger felt somewhat reluctant to leave. Fortunately, this long day, from returning from Divine Lord Zhiming's place to being taken by Senior Sister to the auction house and Mission Hall, was finally coming to an end. She glanced up at the dark night sky once more, then, instead of stubbornly waiting outside, ambled back to her temporary quarters.
The little white tiger's cultivation was no longer low—she was a genuine Golden Core cultivator—and sleep was no longer a necessity for her. But young cubs are naturally fond of sleeping, and divine beasts don't have the tradition of seizing every moment for diligent cultivation. Moreover, she had long been accustomed to sleeping at night.
So after returning to her room, the little white tiger leaped onto the bed, curled into a ball, and prepared to sleep. But looking at the empty, quiet room before sleeping, she couldn't help feeling a sense of melancholy—Senior Sister needed to cultivate, and she had grown accustomed to not being able to stay by her side all the time, but before there had always been the system accompanying her. Even though this system was more useless than she was, at least it would talk to her, which was enough to dispel loneliness.
The solitary little white tiger opened the system panel to check, finding it unchanged, with the blood-red characters for "System Malfunction" occupying her entire field of vision. She had grown accustomed to this and wasn't surprised, closing the panel with a "snap."
Nevertheless, being alone tonight left the tiger feeling a touch of loneliness. She curled her tail and hugged it, still feeling empty inside. After some thought, she also hugged the golden ball Senior Sister had given her today, pretending Senior Sister was with her. Fortunately, after a busy day, the little white tiger was tired. Thinking of this and that, she gradually drifted off to sleep.
That night, the moon was bright with few stars. A ray of moonlight passed through the window into the room, coincidentally illuminating a corner of the bed.
The cool moonlight was not as intense as sunlight—subdued and gentle, it softly fell on the little white tiger's black and white fur, not disturbing her sleep. Bathed in moonlight, the little white tiger gradually uncurled her body, released her tail, and the golden ball rolled out.
The bed was covered with a thick mattress, so the golden ball's rolling made no sound. The deeply sleeping little white tiger wasn't awakened, and thus didn't see the flash of golden light that briefly appeared on the ball when touched by moonlight. This golden light seemed exploratory—initially flashing just once before returning to stillness, with no movement for a long time, making one almost think it was an illusion. Later, perhaps discovering that no one had noticed, it tentatively flashed once more, then twice, three times, four times... gradually pulsing like a heartbeat at regular intervals.
If the little white tiger had awakened to see this, she might have thought the golden ball contained some electronic device, with its flashing light resembling the breathing indicator on a phone. But she didn't wake up, so this scene unfolded silently in the night.
The night quickly passed, and when the little white tiger awoke the next day, she faced the same empty room with only herself.
It felt a bit strange, but during the previous month at Divine Lord Zhiming's, she had been without companionship as well. Besides, morning, unlike night, doesn't inexplicably evoke melancholy. Just awakened, she rubbed her eyes, rolled over, and stood up, then stretched her body in a long, lazy yawn. Only after stretching her limbs and shaking her fur did she fully wake up.
By now, the sky outside had brightened, and the moonlight flooding the room had transformed into sunlight—intense and dazzling. The smooth surface of the golden ball reflected the sunlight, glaring into the just-awakened little white tiger's eyes.
The little white tiger remembered hugging the golden ball to sleep last night, so she wasn't concerned. Her tail coiled around the ball and pulled it closer. But she wasn't actually a cat by nature, so she had no particular interest in playing with balls. She casually pressed a paw on the golden ball and stored it in her storage ring, then turned and jumped off the bed, stepping out with feline grace to freshen up.
Felines, or rather most furry animals, groom themselves by licking. But the little white tiger, having been a tiger for only a few months, clearly hadn't adapted to this grooming technique, so her morning routine remained conventional.
After wandering around the private residence for a couple of rounds, she found no water source other than the ice spring where she had previously picked ice lotus seeds.
The little white tiger stood by the ice spring, looking down to see the clear water crisply reflecting her image. If nothing else, at least the spring water was clean and imbued with spiritual energy—suitable not just for freshening up but even for drinking. The only issue was that the ice spring was too cold. As soon as she extended her paw to scoop some water, she was instantly chilled and shuddered.
On such a hot day... no, rather, even though she had reached Golden Core, this ice spring still gave her a bone-chilling sensation, indicating its formidable nature. Thus, the little white tiger, her paw frozen, dared not continue. She activated her spiritual energy to dry her fur and basked in the sun for a long while before leaving reluctantly.
As for freshening up, well, she'd just be unkempt this once. Later, she would definitely learn the cleaning spell!
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
Without Senior Sister at her side, the bored little white tiger spent the day cultivating, and before she knew it, daylight was consumed by night. She first went for a stroll outside the refining room, finding no sign of Senior Sister emerging, so she basked in the moonlight before returning. Along the way, she munched on two milk-scented fruits, and upon returning to her quarters, she again hugged the golden ball to sleep as she had the previous night.
It wasn't her imagination—this golden ball surely contained considerable energy. As she maintained contact with it, energy constantly flowed into her body. Though the amount wasn't substantial, over time, it would provide her with significant benefits.
Indeed, Senior Sister hadn't spent a fortune buying this golden ball as a mere toy for her!
Understanding this, the little white tiger would take out the golden ball and carry it with her whenever possible. At night, when she wasn't cultivating during sleep, it was naturally most suitable to hug the ball and fully utilize it. So on this night, she also fell asleep embracing the golden ball.
Deep in the night, the cool moonlight once again visited the room, softly falling on the little white tiger and the exposed golden ball. The golden ball's light began to flash again, one pulse after another, silently continuing for who knows how long. Just when it seemed the night would pass peacefully, the flashing golden ball underwent a new change.
A hazy mist emanated from the golden ball, floating and gathering in midair, its specific form indiscernible in the dim light. If a knowledgeable cultivator had witnessed this scene, they would have recognized it as a remnant soul, so broken that it could no longer coalesce into a complete form.
But there was no knowledgeable cultivator here; the only breathing creature was the deeply sleeping little white tiger.
The little white tiger clearly hadn't noticed the changes around her, sleeping soundly under the caress of moonlight. From initially curling into a neat ball when falling asleep, she had sprawled out in an unrestrained posture, her tender, not-yet-fully-furred belly rising and falling with her breath... If Yun Qingyue had been present, she would likely have been unable to resist the temptation to gently rub that little belly.
But she wasn't there, and no one witnessed this scene, so the little white tiger's deep sleep remained undisturbed.
The night deepened, and the misty strands flowing from the golden ball finally ceased, with the remnant soul floating and coalescing in midair now fully revealed. Still indistinct and lacking clear features, from its silhouette one could roughly discern it was some kind of beast.
That beast's remnant soul bathed in the moonlight, seemingly cultivating—its inhalations and exhalations appeared to absorb and release energy at a frequency almost identical to the earlier flashing of the golden ball. Time flowed silently, and though the scene in the room looked somewhat eerie, there seemed to be no other issues. Without any mishap, tonight would, like the previous night, peacefully reach its end.
However, as the full moon shifted westward outside the window, the moonlight streaming into the room gradually moved with it, eventually no longer illuminating the golden ball. Without this light source, the previously somewhat bright room quickly darkened.
But this wasn't the main concern—the critical issue was that the remnant soul could no longer absorb the moon's essence!
As is well known, a large portion of demon beasts cultivate by absorbing moonlight, and unfortunately, the remnant soul reduced to just a core was among them. It had originally been a great demon of the Spirit Division realm, but after an unlucky demise leaving only its core, it had fortunately reacted quickly at the moment of death, managing not only to hide its soul in its core but also disguising the core as that of a Nascent Soul spirit beast.
But its good fortune ended there, because even though it had promptly hidden its soul in the core, the damage from its demise had still severely damaged its soul. After countless years of muddled existence, it hadn't found a way to recover and instead had grown increasingly weak.
Later, someone accidentally obtained it and sold it to the auction house as a Nascent Soul spirit beast core. After several twists and turns, it was finally purchased by Yun Qingyue and given to the little white tiger as a small gift. However, the divine beast white tiger naturally had an affinity with spiritual energy—even without doing anything, the gold-attribute spiritual energy in the core would be continuously absorbed by her.
As one waxed, the other waned—naturally, it was the remnant soul that suffered.
Normally, even a Spirit Division great demon wouldn't dare to act rashly against a divine beast white tiger. But after observing for these two days, the remnant soul discovered that this white tiger was not only a cub but also a congenitally deficient cub, with cultivation merely at the Golden Core realm!
The remnant soul's interest was immediately piqued. It didn't know that this little white tiger was under the Black Tortoise's protection, and its damaged soul couldn't think that meticulously. It coveted the little white tiger's body and had originally planned to observe for a few more days before making a move. However, today, after absorbing moonlight to cultivate, it discovered that its cultivation speed was far slower than the rate at which the little white tiger absorbed the core's spiritual energy.
How could this be allowed? If she continued absorbing, wouldn't it perish before it could make its move?!
The remnant soul's vicious nature was instantly triggered, combined with its inherent greed, leaving it no time to think further. In the instant the moonlight disappeared, it silently let out a long howl and pounced on the unwitting little white tiger.
The night was cool as water, and the ferocious remnant soul vanished in a flash, easily entering that body which had already been possessed once before...