When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

Yun Qingyue's injuries hadn't fully healed yet, and she really shouldn't have been running around at this time. However, she had repeatedly rejected the little white tiger's goodwill earlier, and now that the cub had finally given up trying to persuade her and instead suggested finding a spirit spring, she naturally couldn't refuse again.

After pondering silently for a moment, Yun Qingyue thought of a place. She picked up the little white tiger and flew away on her sword.

Xuanqing Sect had many spirit springs—some suitable for drinking, some for planting, and naturally some for bathing. Although Yun Qingyue wasn't a disciple of Mount Tianyang and didn't have the habit of bathing outside, she had often come to Mount Tianyang's small secret realm for training in her early years and was quite familiar with the area. Finding a suitable hot spring for bathing wasn't difficult for her.

The spiritual sword cut through the sky, with the fierce headwind blocked by an invisible barrier, leaving only a gentle breeze on their faces. The little white tiger's fur fluttered slightly in the wind. She narrowed her eyes to look down and found the scenery below somehow familiar.

Indeed, it wasn't just her imagination. A moment later, the human and tiger descended into a familiar tranquil canyon—with a rainbow arching high and a waterfall cascading down. This place no longer belonged to Mount Tianyang; it was the canyon Yun Qingyue had brought her to some days ago. They landed right beside the waterfall pond, not far from where the white dragon fish bones from their last meal were buried!

Was there a spirit spring here?

The little white tiger was puzzled. After being set down by Yun Qingyue, her gaze began to search around.

Though the scenery was beautiful, she couldn't see anything resembling a spirit spring. The water in the nearby pond was just ordinary water. At most, since Xuanqing Sect was rich in spiritual energy, the water had absorbed a little spiritual energy, but it certainly couldn't qualify as a spirit spring.

Although she hadn't found the spirit spring, the little white tiger didn't think Senior Sister would lie to her. She simply looked up and asked, "Senior Sister, where is the spirit spring?"

Yun Qingyue didn't keep her in suspense. She raised her hand and pointed, saying, "Behind there."

The little white tiger followed her gaze and saw that Yun Qingyue was pointing at the waterfall that hung like a white silk ribbon down the ravine. She narrowed her eyes to look, but the flowing water completely concealed what was behind the waterfall, making it impossible to see anything. However, many waterfalls did conceal caves behind them, so this wasn't surprising. With the waterfall as cover, the spiritual energy of the spring wouldn't leak out, making it even harder to detect.

Thinking of this, the little white tiger felt somewhat satisfied. After all, being outside wasn't as convenient as being at Mount Mingxia. At Mount Mingxia, there was a spirit spring in Senior Sister's room, but at Mount Tianyang, they were merely staying in guest quarters, so bathing in a spirit spring meant they had to go outside.

Although she was a tiger, she didn't want people to see her wet and soaking during a bath, especially since she had other plans in mind...

The little white tiger's eyes rolled slightly, and not wanting to waste time, she urged, "Since we've found the spirit spring, Senior Sister, let's go there now." Afraid that Yun Qingyue might not want to follow, she added, "I can't fly yet, could Senior Sister take me there?"

Having carried her all the way from Mount Tianyang to here, Yun Qingyue naturally wouldn't refuse at this point. Besides, she hadn't thought much about the little white tiger's bathing—after all, the little white tiger was only a few months old, and even for a divine beast, there was nothing inappropriate about it. Not to mention, she had previously held the cub down for a bath herself, and had already seen the little white tiger's drenched, bedraggled appearance.

"All right," Yun Qingyue agreed promptly, picking up the little white tiger and flying toward the waterfall.

This waterfall wasn't particularly wide, only a few zhang across, but it was quite tall, at least several dozen or nearly a hundred zhang. The water cascaded down, hitting rocks midair and transforming into white spray before continuing to fall, creating a thunderous, impressive sound...

Passing through such a waterfall would be quite forceful if one were hit by the flow. However, Yun Qingyue carried the little white tiger through the waterfall very quickly. She didn't even raise a barrier—the rapid wind from her flight slightly pushed away the water flow, giving the human and tiger an opportunity to enter. Only when the little white tiger was set on the ground and instinctively shook her fur did she realize not a single drop of water had touched her coat.

Behind the waterfall was indeed a cave, not too large but not small either, spacious enough for a person to pass through. The cave seemed quite deep—the light from outside was already dimmed by the water curtain, and looking deeper into the cave revealed only darkness.

But such lighting issues wouldn't affect cultivators. Yun Qingyue led the little white tiger deeper into the cave: "Come, the spirit spring is inside."

Hearing this, the little white tiger didn't hesitate and immediately followed at Yun Qingyue's feet. As she walked, she looked around and noticed almost no traces of human activity in the cave, so she asked, "Senior Sister, did you discover this spirit spring?"

Yun Qingyue replied while walking: "Yes, when I came here to relax in my youth, I happened to discover there was a cave behind the waterfall, so I came in to take a look." This wasn't difficult for cultivators—even a small cultivator at the Foundation Establishment realm could detect what was behind the waterfall by extending their divine sense. However, normally people wouldn't casually extend their divine sense everywhere without reason, as it could offend others.

After hearing this, the little white tiger suddenly asked while walking: "Then Senior Sister, have you brought anyone else here besides me?"

Yun Qingyue had never been this idle before, so she answered, "No, I haven't."

The little white tiger was satisfied with this answer. Her tail rose high, and her steps somehow became lighter.

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The spirit spring in the waterfall cave wasn't very large—it even appeared smaller than the one in Yun Qingyue's room—but the value of a spirit spring wasn't measured by its size. This particular spring was probably valuable because it was close to the main peak, Mount Tianyang, and hidden behind the waterfall, it hadn't been used much. Over the years, it had accumulated a considerable amount of spiritual energy.

As soon as the little white tiger approached the spirit spring, she poked her head forward and was met with a face full of misty spiritual energy. She quickly turned away and shook her fur, then dipped a paw into the spirit spring to test it, discovering that the water temperature was just right—it would definitely be comfortable for bathing!

Seeing the little white tiger's delighted expression, Yun Qingyue's cold demeanor softened considerably: "Go ahead and bathe if you want."

Upon hearing this, the little white tiger immediately turned back, afraid that Yun Qingyue would leave after saying this. However, her master showed no intention of leaving for propriety's sake. Perhaps because of the abundant spiritual energy from the spring, she took out a meditation mat from her storage ring, clearly intending to meditate and heal her injuries here... While it was good that Senior Sister wasn't planning to leave, her casual attitude made the tiger's heart sink.

Secretly grinding her teeth, the little white tiger turned back—well, she was overthinking things. A tiger cub taking a bath was even less intimate than washing one's pet cat, so what could Senior Sister possibly think about it?!

The little white tiger dejectedly took out the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow, dejectedly opened the jade bottle, and dejectedly began adding the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow to the spirit spring.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

Perhaps because her tiger paw couldn't hold the bottle steadily, the jade bottle suddenly tilted, and the full bottle of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow was about to pour out. A hand as white as jade suddenly extended from the side, firmly grasping the bottle.

Even so, more than a dozen drops of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow had already spilled out, dripping into the spiritually rich spring.

The next moment, the misty spirit spring suddenly blazed with blue light, and the previously ordinary spring water suddenly looked as if special effects had been added, dazzling to the eye. The little white tiger, who had caused this, was stunned and even instinctively took a step back, asking, "What, what happened?"

Yun Qingyue put away the jade bottle while quickly waving her hand to lay down several layers of barriers. After ensuring the barriers had prevented any energy from leaking outside, she sighed in relief and then looked at the little white tiger with helpless resignation, her gaze seeming to have completely seen through the cub's little scheme: "What do you think happened? Azure Essence Spirit Marrow is a rare heavenly treasure; some unusual phenomena are to be expected. Fortunately, I am here today, otherwise, if this energy leaked out, others might think some heavenly treasure was about to emerge, and they would all come rushing to claim it."

Hearing this, the little white tiger looked embarrassed, her paws nervously pressing on the ground: "Well, only a few drops spilled." As she spoke, she glanced at the spirit spring, finding that the entire pool had turned a light blue color, with a vibrant life force that couldn't be concealed.

In such an environment, one could feel the life force of the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow entering the body from the limbs and bones even without soaking in the spirit spring. If Yun Qingyue had been injured earlier, just staying here would make her feel her injuries healing and her spirit refreshed.

Only now did the little white tiger understand the potency of the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow. She had even considered pouring the entire bottle in earlier...

Of course, regardless, an excess of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow had already been poured in, and it couldn't be wasted. So the little white tiger withdrew her gaze, straightened her chest, and said solemnly to her Senior Sister: "It seems I poured in a bit too much; I might not be able to handle it." After a pause, she added, "But it's fine, since you're here, Senior Sister. Why don't you join me for a soak?"

Hearing this, Yun Qingyue lowered her eyes, her crystal-clear pupils showing an indifferent expression. Although she said nothing, she had already seen through the little tiger's intentions earlier, and now her penetrating gaze made the little white tiger feel quite uncomfortable.

The little white tiger lowered her eyes guiltily, mumbling: "Aren't you injured? Using Azure Essence Spirit Marrow to heal would be good. Besides, the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow has already been poured in and can't be retrieved. Senior Sister, you have a competition tomorrow, and when you leave, if the barrier is removed, won't the energy leak out anyway? If it attracts people then, it would cause trouble, which wouldn't be good."

Yun Qingyue had never known the little white tiger to be so eloquent, but she blocked all of the little white tiger's excuses with just one sentence: "Who says it can't be retrieved?" As she spoke, she took out an empty jade bottle, made a hand seal, and the spirit spring water containing the diluted Azure Essence Spirit Marrow surged toward the bottle like a whale drawing in water.

In the blink of an eye, the water level of the already small spirit spring dropped by nearly half.

The jade bottle in Yun Qingyue's hand was clearly a storage magic item, and the little white tiger had no doubt she could collect all the spirit spring water. This left her rather dumbfounded, and she hurriedly pounced forward to hug her Senior Sister's leg, trying to stop her: "Don't collect any more, don't collect any more! We agreed to come for a bath, Senior Sister. If you take all the water away, how are we supposed to bathe..."

Caught off guard by the sudden leg-hugging, Yun Qingyue experienced this for the first time, and her body stiffened slightly. Her fair earlobes seemed to take on a hint of pink, not very noticeable in the dim cave, and her movements involuntarily slowed.

However, she clearly didn't intend to let it go. The next moment, she took out a jade basin from her storage ring. Judging by its size, it was just a bit larger than the little white tiger's body size, making one wonder if it was prepared specifically as a bathtub for the little white tiger: "You added too much Azure Essence Spirit Marrow to the spirit spring. Didn't you say you were afraid you couldn't handle it? Soaking in this would be just right."

The little white tiger looked at the basin and then at her Senior Sister, finally realizing she couldn't get her way today. Senior Sister wasn't willing, and her little scheme couldn't outsmart her. So she lowered her head and admitted her mistake: "I'm sorry, Senior Sister. I shouldn't have acted on my own."

Yun Qingyue remained silent, but the expression in her eyes visibly softened.

The little white tiger drooped her head, the entire tiger looking pitifully dejected, three parts pretense and seven parts genuine: "I was born weak, and before meeting you, Senior Sister, I always thought I wouldn't survive. But you picked me up and didn't mind that I had no cultivation, and you were so good to me. And this bottle of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow, I received it as a welcoming gift because you brought me back to the sect to meet Divine Lord Zhiming.

"Compared to how good you've been to me, what does this bottle of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow matter? Now you're injured and have to compete with others tomorrow. I was worried about you and wanted you to use it. But you refuse and insist on arguing with me..."

As she spoke, she truly began to feel aggrieved, and this genuine display of emotion made it difficult for Yun Qingyue to know how to refuse.

With a sigh, Yun Qingyue suddenly felt that the little white tiger was right, and that she herself was being too calculating. If she truly didn't want to owe anyone, she could repay it in other ways in the future. Could she not afford to repay a bottle of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow?!

Born as heaven's favored child, Yun Qingyue naturally had her pride and didn't believe she couldn't repay a bottle of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow. So she put away all those jade bottles and basins, and looked at the spirit spring that was now only half full: "Fine, although the effects of Azure Essence Spirit Marrow are gentle, using too much is also of no benefit. This amount is enough for both of us."

The little white tiger raised her head in surprise: "Huh?"

Yun Qingyue casually ruffled her head, showing some indulgence, and then raised her hand to remove her outer robe...