Chapter 86 : System Restart
In the end, Peak Master Qingyu discovered nothing. Even though Yun Qingyue's confession led Qingyu to suspect there might be an issue with her bloodline, when she actually extracted the essence blood for examination, she found absolutely nothing amiss—Yun Qingyue was genuinely a human cultivator.
Master and disciple gazed at each other for a long while, both silent.
After quite some time, Peak Master Qingyu finally frowned and said, "Let it be. Perhaps it's merely coincidence. Qingyue, don't overthink this. With the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition imminent, the improvement in your cultivation is a good thing. If you truly harbor doubts and wish to investigate further, wait until after the competition." She finished by patting Yun Qingyue's arm reassuringly.
The Three Sect Martial Arts Competition would begin tomorrow, and Yun Qingyue knew this wasn't the time to dwell on such matters. Therefore, she didn't press the issue further, simply acknowledging it before temporarily setting the concern aside.
In truth, both master and disciple knew that verifying whether there was an issue with Yun Qingyue's constitution would be simple—they only needed to place a couple of spirit beasts near her. During her childhood, when she was weak and had not yet begun cultivation, she wouldn't have noticed if spirit beasts' deaths benefited her. But now it was different. As a full-fledged Nascent Soul cultivator, not even the slightest change in her body could escape her notice.
Yet neither mentioned this approach because this constitution, no matter how one looked at it, seemed bizarre. Even if Yun Qingyue could indeed absorb spirit beasts' vitality to benefit herself, if news of this spread, many would undoubtedly view her as an unorthodox practitioner.
This wasn't a good thing, especially at the critical juncture of the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition. Even if the information didn't leak, it could disturb her dao heart.
Master and disciple tacitly ignored this matter, exchanged a few words about tomorrow's competition, and then Peak Master Qingyu left. Upon returning to her own quarters from the chamber, Peak Master Qingyu finally opened her tightly clenched hand, revealing her palm.
On that snow-white palm, half a drop of essence blood hovered silently, like amber frozen in time.
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In the chamber, after Peak Master Qingyu's departure, Yun Qingyue stood silently for a while before resuming her usual demeanor. She removed the golden bell from the little white tiger's neck, then checked her cultivation level, finding it had indeed improved considerably. She sincerely praised: "That's wonderful. Your cultivation speed is so rapid; in just a few months, you'll likely catch up to me."
The little white tiger had been in the room the entire time, witnessing the whole conversation and actions between master and disciple. Quick-witted as she was, various conjectures had already formed in her mind when Senior Sister described her strange constitution, the most likely being a bloodline issue.
Demon? Fiend? Divine? Immortal?
The cultivation world contained numerous species, and upon careful consideration, any seemed possible. Demons and fiends were wicked, while divine beings and immortals were domineering—their suppression of ordinary spirit beasts would be normal. However, regardless of which it might be, the bloodline shouldn't exceed that of the divine beast white tiger; otherwise, having been at Senior Sister's side for months, she would surely have detected some impropriety, yet her cultivation and constitution had steadily improved.
With these random thoughts, though curious, the little white tiger had no particular concerns about Senior Sister's constitution or bloodline. Hearing the praise, she immediately grew proud, nuzzling her head against Yun Qingyue's neck: "Not at all, Senior Sister is the strongest."
Yun Qingyue had always enjoyed the little white tiger's affectionate behavior toward her, but this time she paused, asking in confusion: "Why do you call me Senior Sister?"
The little white tiger was stunned by this question. She still hadn't recalled devouring the remnant soul last night, assuming it was just a pleasant dream. Since waking, events had unfolded one after another, and no one had explained to her what had happened during the night. Thus, until now, she hadn't realized her spirit had grown, enabling her to communicate with humans. To her own ears, her words still sounded like the "aowu" calls of a milk tiger.
But how had Yun Qingyue understood her? She had been so uninhibited with this form of address precisely because Divine Lord Zhiming wasn't present and Senior Sister couldn't understand beast language. Now, suddenly exposed, the little white tiger felt as if her entire being was burning with embarrassment.
Though it was merely a form of address, she inexplicably felt some shame, and finally, stammering, she hid her head.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue first smiled, then felt a bit awkward—previously, she had regarded the little white tiger only as a cub. After all, a white tiger just a few months old was genuinely small, and its milky "aowu" calls wouldn't prompt further thoughts. But now that the little white tiger could speak, even though her voice remained childlike, the impression was undeniably different.
And now, she was holding the little white tiger like a pet in her arms. Not only had the little white tiger just nuzzled against her neck affectionately, but now, embarrassed, it was trying to hide in her embrace... It was somewhat uncomfortable. Perhaps she should be grateful this was a female tiger?
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Upon waking from her sleep, the little white tiger felt as if the world had changed, because Senior Sister didn't seem to dote on her anymore!
Before today, Senior Sister would carry her wherever she went, but now she no longer held her, making her walk on her own instead. Although such a short distance was not at all tiring for the little white tiger, she still felt a sense of loss.
Why? What had she done wrong?
The little white tiger couldn't understand, and feeling sulky, she left on her own. Wandering around the private residence, she eventually arrived at the ice spring. The ice lotuses in the spring, of an unknown variety, seemed to bloom perpetually, yet produced no small yield of lotus seeds. The ice lotus seeds Yun Qingyue had picked for her last time weren't even finished, and a new batch had already grown, successfully flowering and bearing fruit simultaneously.
The satisfaction from devouring the remnant soul made the little white tiger unusually disinterested in the ice lotus seeds. Combined with her low spirits, she simply lay down by the poolside to enjoy the scenery. The pool of snow-white ice lotuses stood gracefully, swaying elegantly—truly a breathtaking sight.
Perhaps because the scenery was too beautiful, or because the afternoon sunlight was just right, the little white tiger momentarily forgot how freezing the spring water was. After watching the ice lotuses out of boredom for a while, she instinctively extended her paw to stir the ice spring. The calm spring water rippled, reflecting a shimmering light under the bright sunlight, displaying a sense of tranquility and beauty.
The little white tiger only realized what she was doing when her paw tip touched the water surface. She had expected to be frozen again, but surprisingly, the ice spring that had felt freezing to her paws yesterday now felt merely cool. She was stunned—had it not been for the lingering cold aura above the water surface, she would have almost thought the ice spring had warmed up!
During her moment of bewilderment, a familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded in her ear: "Ding, system restart successful!"
The little white tiger didn't know that last night, to help her defend against the remnant soul, the system had been forced to restart, and her consciousness had awakened promptly thanks to the system. Now, suddenly hearing the system's successful restart, she almost thought she was hallucinating—she had personally experienced how powerful tribulation lightning was. Even with Divine Lord Zhiming's timely treatment, the bone-deep pain after being struck by lightning still left her fearful.
If her white tiger divine beast body had been affected like this, what about the system? When she had found the system lying outdoors for three days, even though she couldn't clearly see the extent of the damage, it was undoubtedly in tatters.
Jiang Mo had already prepared herself for the possibility that the system had been destroyed beyond repair, yet it had managed to self-repair so quickly?!
That's what she thought, and that's what she asked. The freshly restarted system blinked and flew toward her. With a "splat," it plastered itself against the little white tiger's face, its bright light dazzling her eyes. Only after being expertly swatted away by the little white tiger, flying in a circle and returning, did it happily explain: "It's not that the system self-repaired quickly; this time, it's thanks to the host."
The little white tiger, watching the dramatic system that as always played along with her, felt a slight relief in her heart—after a month's separation, she actually felt the joy of reuniting with an old friend. Her lips curved slightly upward as she asked: "How so? I don't recall helping you."
The system's light cluster flew back and forth in front of the little white tiger, evidently quite excited: "Host has become more powerful, which helps the system." It proceeded to explain: "Since the binding day, the system and host share glory and hardship. When the host was struck by tribulation lightning, the system suffered too. Now that the host has improved, it naturally provides energy for the system's repair."
The little white tiger was genuinely pleased to see the system's lively state, but she also heard every word it said without missing anything, keeping them in mind. Various thoughts flashed through her mind as she continued: "Is that so? But it's only been a month, and I don't feel my cultivation has improved much. Tribulation lightning is so powerful that it scrambled your code—what difference would this small improvement make? Moreover, you shouldn't have been able to extract energy from me, right?"
With Divine Lord Zhiming's guidance, the little white tiger's progress in cultivation wasn't limited to realm advancement; her mastery over herself had deepened as well. Combined with her cultivation advancing to Golden Core, if the system were secretly drawing energy from her, she shouldn't have been completely unaware.
However, hearing this, the system swayed left and right, as if shaking its head: "No, it's not just your cultivation that has improved. Host, have you forgotten? Last night, a remnant soul tried to devour your soul and possess you, but you ended up eating it instead. That remnant soul was a Spirit Division great demon. After eating it, your spiritual force greatly increased, and your originally weak human soul became more compatible with this white tiger body."
Without waiting for Jiang Mo's surprise, it added: "Besides, the energy the system needs isn't something as basic as spiritual power... I can't explain it clearly, but essentially, the more successful the host is, the more powerful the system becomes."
Jiang Mo was indeed surprised by the first piece of news, recalling her dream from last night. Though the remnant soul had tasted good, she still felt somewhat nauseated. As for the system's additional explanation, she wasn't surprised at all. After all, everything in life is about give and take; she didn't believe anyone could give unconditionally without expecting something in return, and she certainly wouldn't expect that from a wild system that had appeared from who-knows-where.
Nevertheless, the system's words made her heart sink. She lowered her gaze, hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "Then what kind of energy do you actually need? Is it luck? Merit? Or my soul?"
These were the most common demands from systems in novels. Except for merit, which was somewhat better, systems that extracted luck or souls were clearly not benevolent entities.
Hearing this, the system froze, feeling that the host was being overly serious, and vaguely sensing that this answer would affect their relationship. So while rapidly searching its database, it replied: "None of those."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo remained skeptical, thinking to herself: None of those? Are you here for charity then?
By now, the system had retrieved relevant content from its database. After quickly scanning through it, it was so angry that the entire system was about to smoke. What nonsense was this? It didn't have so many conspiracies—these were all slander!