When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

Compared to Yun Qingyue's ice peak, the little white tiger's spirit peak was much more ordinary. However, the little white tiger didn't mind; on the contrary, she quite liked it because her spirit peak was covered in blooming flowers with abundant spiritual energy, making it perfectly suited for living.

Following Senior Sister's example, she infused spiritual energy into the jade tablet and threw it into the formation eye. In no time, a connection formed between this spirit peak and the little white tiger.

This connection was quite mysterious. The little white tiger found it fascinating and also closed her eyes to sense it for a moment—unlike the ice peak, this spirit peak's conditions were much more complex, filled with mountains, rocks, flowers, grasses, fish, and spirit beasts. Focusing her mind, the little white tiger could even "see" a nest of spirit rabbits in an underground cave on the mountainside that had just given birth, with a dozen or so bright red baby rabbits whose eyes weren't even open yet.

Suddenly, the little white tiger let out a soft "oh," visibly becoming excited.

Before Yun Qingyue could ask what was happening, she saw the tiger open her eyes with something new in her arms. Looking closely, Yun Qingyue saw it was a piece of spirit honey, its sweet fragrance quickly spreading through the air.

The greedy little tiger's eyes sparkled as she dipped her paw into the honey and brought it to her mouth, finding it sweet but not cloying, with a refreshing fragrance. If she had tasted more, she would have discovered that this honey was not only delicious but also cleared the mind after eating, benefiting cultivation. But she only took one taste before her eyes brightened even more, and she offered the honey upward like a treasure: "Senior Sister, try some, it's delicious."

Yun Qingyue's expression turned subtly peculiar for a moment, and she didn't accept the honey. She quickly flew away on her sword, cutting through the air and not forgetting to instruct the little white tiger: "Put that honey away quickly."

The little white tiger froze, holding the honey and not understanding what was wrong, but she instinctively obeyed.

Then quickly, she seemed to hear some commotion. Looking back from Senior Sister's shoulder, she discovered that a swarm of bees had somehow emerged from the spirit peak below. She had seen these bees before—they were from the hive she had taken the honey from, each as large as an egg, and being stung by one would definitely not be pleasant. But she had taken the honey from midair; how did these bees know?!

The little white tiger didn't understand the bees' devotion to their honey, but seeing the cloud-like swarm covering the sky, her fur puffed up in fright. Then, remembering that her paw had just touched the honey, she hurriedly stuffed it into her mouth, afraid the scent of honey would spread.

Yun Qingyue observed the little white tiger's actions, her crystal eyes filled with amusement and helplessness—the swarm of bees chasing them were certainly not ordinary bees but a group of second-grade spirit beasts. The small leaders in the swarm were third-grade, and the queen bee could even reach fourth-grade, equivalent to Golden Core cultivation. Not only could the Golden Core little white tiger not provoke them, but even ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't want to face these enemies numbering in the tens of thousands.

Spirit honey was naturally a good thing, and collecting it was fine, but the little white tiger's recklessness was truly rare. Fortunately, she was with her this time; otherwise, facing this situation alone, the tiger would likely have been stung into a swollen mess.

Nascent Soul cultivators fly very quickly on their swords, and with the spirit honey placed in a storage bag that isolated its scent, the spirit bees were ultimately left behind.

Only after flying thousands of miles, when the spirit peak and spirit bees had completely disappeared from view, did the little white tiger finally breathe a sigh of relief. Just as she removed her paw from her mouth, she heard Senior Sister's voice beside her ear: "Will you dare to be so reckless next time?"

The little white tiger felt a pang of anxiety, but recalling the wonderful taste of the spirit honey, she blinked and didn't particularly regret her actions. She peered backward to confirm they had flown far enough away that the honey's scent couldn't possibly reach the bees, then took out the piece of spirit honey from her storage bag again, looking hopefully at Yun Qingyue: "But it really is delicious, Senior Sister, you should try some."

As she spoke, the little white tiger broke off a small piece of spirit honey and held it to Yun Qingyue's lips. The sweet honey touched her lips, and after a moment's hesitation, Yun Qingyue found it hard to refuse again. She finally parted her lips and tasted it.

It was indeed very sweet, and no wonder the little one liked it.

Yun Qingyue had no choice but to advise: "Then remember, in the future when collecting honey, you must isolate the scent immediately."

The little white tiger nodded quickly to show she understood, then ate another mouthful of honey herself, contentedly narrowing her eyes—she hadn't collected much spirit honey, being still very inexperienced in controlling her newly acquired spirit peak. When she saw the spirit honey, it was just a moment of greed that moved her. Who would have thought that from such a distance, with just a thought, the spirit honey would actually appear in her arms, more frightening than delightful.

But it didn't matter; with this experience, she knew to be careful next time she collected honey. Senior Sister would be leaving in a few days, and this spirit honey was quite good. She could collect more to give to her for her journey.

The little white tiger happily swished her tail, sharing the spirit honey with Senior Sister one bite at a time. Yun Qingyue didn't know her thoughts but, seeing the tiger's content appearance, didn't say more. She stroked the little white tiger's head and asked: "Alright, we've seen the spirit peaks, and in two days I'll be leaving the sect. It's still early today; is there anything else you need my help with?"

Thinking of the separation, the little white tiger immediately felt a tightness in her chest, and her tail stopped swishing. She rested her chin on Senior Sister's arm, looking at her with reproachful eyes for a good while, and finally said gloomily: "That peach tree, plant it on my spirit peak."

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The peach tree the little white tiger mentioned was the one in Yun Qingyue's courtyard. Originally, Yun Qingyue was planning to transplant it when she moved, but her chosen spirit peak was an ice peak, obviously not very suitable for peach tree growth. Therefore, when the little white tiger actively requested the peach tree, she didn't hesitate much and indeed took the opportunity to dig up the peach tree and transplant it to the little white tiger's spirit peak.

With abundant spiritual energy within Xuanqing Sect, and this peach tree not being a particularly rare species, transplanting it under the nourishment of spiritual energy didn't have much impact. After watering it with some spirit spring water, overnight, the flowers bloomed as before.

The next day, Yun Qingyue became busy again. She first went to the Enforcement Hall, originally just wanting to inquire about Chu Yang's situation to ease her concern that might affect her cultivation. To her surprise, after going there, she couldn't get any information at all. On the contrary, the people at the Enforcement Hall seemed secretive when mentioning Chu Yang, as if something unknown had happened to him in the past two days.

Yun Qingyue's previously calm mood inevitably rippled with unease, though she didn't understand why a person she wasn't very familiar with could affect her emotions. Perhaps it was an intuitive feeling that this person's appearance would bring unexpected changes to her life...

After returning from the Enforcement Hall, Yun Qingyue pondered for a long time and finally decided to seek out her master.

Peak Master Qingyu was still staying in the guest quarters on Mount Tianyang. Although the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition had ended, the people from Tiandao Sect and Buddha Sect hadn't left yet, so she wasn't in a hurry to return to Mount Mingxia—actually, whether Peak Master Qingyu returned to Mount Mingxia didn't make much difference, as she was always in seclusion for cultivation, and peak affairs had long been delegated to her disciples. Even if Yun Qingyue went down the mountain for training, wasn't there still a second disciple when the senior disciple was absent?

When Yun Qingyue sought her out, Peak Master Qingyu was, for once, not cultivating. When the master and disciple met, she had already anticipated Yun Qingyue's purpose: "What, have you arranged everything so quickly and are ready to leave the sect?"

Though she had questions about Chu Yang, bidding farewell was naturally also her purpose.

So Yun Qingyue said: "Yes, disciple went to the Mission Hall yesterday to claim a spirit peak, and I've also delegated Mount Mingxia matters to my junior brothers and sisters. I'll be leaving the sect for training in these two days." After a pause, she continued: "Today, disciple went to the Enforcement Hall, originally wanting to inquire about Chu Yang, but the people there were very secretive. Does Master know if anything has happened?"

Yun Qingyue had mentioned Chu Yang to Peak Master Qingyu long ago, and she hadn't concealed any of his anomalies from her master. Therefore, Peak Master Qingyu wasn't surprised by her interest in Chu Yang. However, at the mention of this matter, Peak Master Qingyu couldn't help but frown.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyue knew something had indeed happened, so she asked: "Master, what has occurred?"

As the senior disciple of Mount Mingxia, Yun Qingyue was the sect's presumed successor to the Peak Master position, and her status and authority were naturally not comparable to ordinary true disciples. Peak Master Qingyu thought for a moment and didn't conceal it from her: "Chu Yang was rescued by someone last night."

Yun Qingyue had anticipated that something must have gone wrong with Chu Yang, otherwise the people at the Enforcement Hall wouldn't be so secretive, but she never expected such an outcome. It was well known that the Enforcement Hall was a critical area of the sect, where even the most ordinary elder was at least at the Spirit Division realm, and the Grand Elder was a Fusion realm cultivator, of the same rank as the Sect Leader and Peak Masters. Rescuing someone from the Enforcement Hall seemed like an impossible fantasy!

Suppressing her shock, Yun Qingyue finally found her voice after a long while: "This... who did this?"

Peak Master Qingyu's brow furrowed even more tightly, her expression visibly darkening: "People from the demonic path infiltrated the sect." This wasn't even the most crucial part; what was more infuriating was: "There were demonic spies mixed into the sect. That female disciple from Mount Mingxia you mentioned before has already been apprehended, but there are others in the sect. They created a disturbance to draw away the Grand Elder, allowing the prisoner to be taken."

Peak Master Qingyu briefly touched on these matters, but Yun Qingyue understood that the commotion at the Enforcement Hall last night must have been significant. Fortunately, the Enforcement Hall occupied its own spirit peak, quite far from the main peak; otherwise, the people from the other two sects would have surely witnessed the whole embarrassing incident.

After calming herself somewhat, Yun Qingyue asked again: "Master, does the sect now know Chu Yang's background?"

Peak Master Qingyu shook her head: "We only know that those who came to rescue him last night should be people from the Nine Abyss Sect of the demonic path. As for Chu Yang's true identity, it remains unknown." She then cautioned: "The Nine Abyss Sect is the most mysterious of the four major demonic sects. They appear and disappear like ghosts, and we don't know what purpose they have in suddenly surfacing this time. Qingyue, you must be especially careful during your training journey. Remember not to be reckless."

Yun Qingyue agreed, though she wanted to ask more but couldn't for the time being. Peak Master Qingyu didn't mention Chu Yang further and, after a series of instructions, specially bestowed two sword talismans for her protection before letting her leave.

Such an incident occurring right before her departure was indeed worrying, but Yun Qingyue's training journey was already decided, and ultimately, she didn't delay her schedule because of it.

On the second day after bidding farewell to her master, she personally escorted the little white tiger to Zhiming Hall, and then left the sect.