When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The little white tiger transformed into a cat, and Zhong Heng was immediately shocked, retreating several steps backward in quick succession.

Compared to others in the sect, Zhong Heng had at least interacted with the little white tiger and knew something about her temperament—the Jianbing before him was as docile as a cat in front of Senior Sister, always being carried around, appearing completely harmless like a young cub. However, this was only on the surface. Away from Senior Sister, she was ultimately a lawless little tiger, with the temper of a divine beast that was not small at all.

The little white tiger had never deliberately targeted Zhong Heng before, but he had suffered somewhat at her paws. Now, seeing the little white tiger's reaction, how could he not guess her intentions?

Help the Jianbing deceive the sect and smuggle her out?

Impossible!

Without waiting for the little white tiger to speak, Zhong Heng turned and ran, his movement technique so swift that only a residual shadow could be seen.

However, in the next moment, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Glancing from the corner of his eye, he saw a white kitten skillfully perched on his shoulder. He was first startled, then his expression suddenly turned bitter—he had forgotten that divine beasts were heaven's favorites, born with Nascent Soul cultivation. He was still at the peak of Golden Core, one step away from Nascent Soul, which meant the little white tiger's cultivation at birth was already higher than his!

Seeing that he couldn't shake off the little white tiger, Zhong Heng had no choice but to stop, turning his head helplessly: "Jianbing, please don't do this. I can't take you, and there's no way I could. My cultivation is lower than yours, so I can't see through your transformation, but the Peak Masters and Elders aren't fake, and they'll definitely see through your disguise. When that time comes, we'll all be in trouble—what's the point?"

The little white cat seemed not to understand his words, her golden cat eyes meeting his, her gaze clear and innocent. If Zhong Heng hadn't witnessed her transformation with his own eyes, he might have truly believed that what sat on his shoulder was just a little white cat.

No one could reason with a tiger pretending to be stupid, and Zhong Heng certainly couldn't either.

From then on, no matter how Zhong Heng tried to persuade or what tactics he used, he couldn't get rid of the little white cat on his shoulder. Instead, he paraded around with this little white cat for several days, and everyone on Mount Mingxia knew that Second Senior Brother had acquired a spirit cat as a spirit pet.

Thus, three days passed in a flash, and finally the day arrived for the sect to escort the disciples to Mingzong Mountain.

After a final unsuccessful struggle, Zhong Heng ultimately resigned himself to fate and brought the little white cat to the gathering at the mid-mountain plaza of Mount Tianyang—he had adopted a "broken pot, broken fall" attitude. He was just an ordinary true disciple with Golden Core cultivation, naturally unable to overcome the Jianbing. But it didn't matter; the Peak Masters and Elders leading the team had profound cultivation and would see through the Jianbing' disguise at a glance. Then they could leave the tiger behind.

The system had the same thought as Zhong Heng, secretly perching on the tip of the little white cat's ear to ask her: "Host, can we really sneak out like this? Those Peak Masters and Elders are much higher level than you, they'll definitely see through you."

The light ball had no physical form, but sitting on the little white cat's ear made her feel a tickle at the ear tip. So she instinctively twitched her ear, then answered with her thoughts: "They won't. Ordinary cultivators can't see through a divine beast's inherited techniques. Even if the Peak Masters and Elders have higher cultivation than me, it's useless, unless Divine Lord Zhiming personally comes to see us off today."

But was that possible? Impossible. That lazy Black Tortoise was probably still fast asleep in Zhiming Hall!

The system light ball remained firmly attached to the host's ear tip, not shaken off, and didn't doubt her words. However, these past few days it had only watched the host and Zhong Heng's battle of wits and hadn't properly checked the host's current data panel. Taking advantage of this free moment, it opened the host's character panel to see her data changes over the past year—

[Host: Jiang Mo

Race: White Tiger

Profession: Divine Beast

Level: 47

Combat Power: 16890

Experience: 36941/45000

Points: 11820

Potential: ∞

Skills: Meditation, Intermediate Spiritual Energy Utilization, Blood Inheritance Suppression, Sharp Metal Power, Way of Transformation]

In one year, Jiang Mo had gained more than ten levels, and the system's slogan of "Nascent Soul in a year" had long been achieved. Moreover, after reaching Nascent Soul, the final "Congenital Weakness" debuff on Jiang Mo had automatically disappeared. With this early boost to combat power, plus the unlocking of blood inheritance skills, Jiang Mo now truly possessed the innate strength that a White Tiger divine beast should have.

The system glanced at the new skills in the host's skill bar. Although they were the simplest basic skills, they were also the most practical. It seemed that the host's strength had increased significantly, so when she entered the secret realm with Senior Sister in the future, she wouldn't burden her.

Influenced by the host, the system's focus had also shifted somewhat, but the goal of becoming stronger remained unchanged, so there would be no mistakes.

As they were speaking, Zhong Heng had already flown his sword toward Mount Tianyang. Perhaps hoping to arrive at Mount Tianyang early so that the leading Peak Masters and Elders would discover the Jianbing and resolve the matter sooner, he flew faster than usual. Additionally, Zhong Heng was used to roughing it and wasn't as meticulous as Senior Sister; he didn't deploy a barrier to block the wind while flying his sword, and the fierce high-altitude winds made the little white cat's fur blow straight backward.

Fortunately, today's Jiang Mo was incomparable to the past. The little white cat perched steadily on his shoulder and even lazily yawned. However, just as she was yawning, another figure suddenly appeared beside them.

The little white cat paused, then looking carefully, discovered that it was Mount Qionghua's Senior Brother Bai Xu.

Jiang Mo's last encounter with Bai Xu was during the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition, but Zhong Heng was clearly familiar with him. Seeing him catch up, Zhong Heng laughed cheerfully: "What a coincidence, meeting Senior Brother Bai here."

Zhong Heng's familiarity with Bai Xu was actually a development of this past year. Because Zhong Heng had unexpectedly obtained a fire seed, and Bai Xu had long subdued a spirit fire, Zhong Heng had frequently sought Bai Xu's guidance in cultivation throughout the year. Bai Xu was generous and didn't withhold knowledge when instructing junior brothers. Combined with Zhong Heng's straightforward personality making him worthy of friendship, the two had grown close after numerous interactions.

Hearing this, Bai Xu also smiled: "I saw you flying halfway and specifically caught up." As he spoke, his gaze fell on the little white cat on Zhong Heng's shoulder, and he said with curiosity: "I heard a couple of days ago that you had raised a spirit cat, but I didn't quite believe it. Does your spirit cat have some special bloodline? This journey to explore the secret realm has uncertain dangers, yet you still bring her along?"

In the cultivation world, there were many types of spirit beasts, differing not only in appearance but many also possessing strange bloodline abilities. For instance, rumor had it that a hundred years ago, a female disciple of Tiandao Sect had a treasure-seeking mouse that had no other abilities except for its exceptional talent in finding treasures.

Although Bai Xu didn't recognize the species of the spirit cat on Zhong Heng's shoulder, since they were exploring a secret realm, one wouldn't bring useless spirit beasts. This spirit cat looked extremely weak, so Zhong Heng probably wasn't bringing her as a battle pet—could she be one of those rare treasure-seeking spirit beasts? He wasn't jealous, but extremely curious, and as he flew closer, he tried to pet the cat.

Naturally, the little white cat named Jiang Mo wasn't for just anyone to pet. She swatted Bai Xu's hand away with one paw.

Zhong Heng couldn't stop her in time, and before he could be frightened, his expression turned strange. After the little white cat had swatted Bai Xu, he cleared his throat and relayed: "Senior Brother Bai, this... cat wants me to tell you that you have too many good things in your storage belt, be careful of being robbed."

Hearing this, Bai Xu instinctively touched his ordinary-looking belt, then looked at the storage ring gleaming on his hand. Finally, he also cleared his throat and slightly increased the distance: "Not at all. I just thought that there would be many dangers in the new secret realm, so I specially refined a few batches of pills. If Junior Brother has any needs, just say so, and Senior Brother can spare you some."

Zhong Heng didn't have the thick skin to ask for things and quickly declined. When he secretly looked at the little white cat, his gaze showed a hint of surprise—Bai Xu's belt was a standard sect belt, appearing completely normal. No one unaware of the truth would imagine that he had refined it into a storage magical item. How had the Jianbing seen through it? Did divine beasts really have treasure-seeking abilities?

Come to think of it, Divine Lord Zhiming was so lazy that he wouldn't leave the sect once in a hundred years. Yet he was extraordinarily wealthy and quite generous. Could it be that he had built his fortune based on a divine beast's treasure-seeking abilities?

Thinking of this, Zhong Heng suddenly didn't oppose the Jianbing' companionship anymore, and even felt a bit excited...

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Although the distance between the five main peaks was not close, cultivators' sword-flying speed was always swift. In just a moment, Zhong Heng and Bai Xu landed one after another on the mid-mountain plaza of Mount Tianyang.

The two arrived neither early nor late; when they landed, four or five people were already waiting in the plaza.

Those who had participated in the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition were the top ten disciples from the sect competition. Among them, three were from Mount Tianyang, three from Mount Luoxing, two from Mount Mingxia, and one each from Mount Qingyun and Mount Qionghua. However, those present today weren't the original ten, because Yun Qingyue was away training and hadn't returned, and Chu Yang was suspected of being a demonic spy, so these two were not present today.

After Zhong Heng and Bai Xu landed, they scanned the area and recognized those present. They were the Bei Luo and Bei Chen brothers from Mount Luoxing, Senior Brother Wen Jin from Mount Qionghua, and a somewhat familiar Mount Luoxing disciple—Chu Yang had originally been a true disciple of Mount Luoxing, and after his defection from the sect, the Sect Leader and Peak Master had probably given his spot to another Mount Luoxing disciple.

Worth mentioning was that this replacement was a female disciple named Li Shuang. Mount Luoxing had always valued strength above all, so for her to secure this spot, she must have gone through quite a struggle, certainly not an ordinary character.

Everyone exchanged greetings, and Zhong Heng looked around, asking: "Haven't the Senior Brothers from Mount Tianyang arrived yet?"

Just as he spoke, several streaks of light flashed in the sky—it was the people from Mount Tianyang. Three people landed one after another, two men and one woman, namely Mount Tianyang's senior disciple Su Hao, second disciple Mu Qin, and that fierce female cultivator Qin Wan who had raised a Blood-Craving Vine and shocked everyone on the arena... The terrifying Blood-Craving Vine had been destroyed by Bei Luo on the arena, but today she had a new, thumb-thick small Blood-Craving Vine coiled around her fingertip like a spirit snake.

Perhaps recalling the Blood-Craving Vine's ferocity on the arena, everyone instinctively stepped away from Qin Wan. Finally, Bei Luo took the initiative to greet her, and after everyone exchanged pleasantries and chatted briefly, the atmosphere quickly became harmonious.

Thus, everyone had finally gathered, now only waiting for the Peak Master or Elder leading the team.

A moment later, everyone saw a flash of light, and several figures suddenly appeared on the plaza. As they recognized the arrivals, they all bowed in greeting: "Disciple pays respects to Peak Master Qingyu, Elder Yi Yun, Elder Liu Feng..."

Seeing his master, Zhong Heng was first surprised, then followed the crowd in bowing. The little white cat, who had been steady as a mountain on his shoulder, this time lost her balance, her paws slipping, nearly falling off. After a flurry of pawing, the little white cat barely managed to grab onto Zhong Heng's clothes and hang on, inevitably appearing somewhat awkward and comical.

Peak Master Qingyu and the several Elders hadn't yet spoken when their attention was drawn by this incident, and they all turned their gaze toward the cat.

The little white cat seemed to sense this. She stopped struggling while hanging from Zhong Heng's shoulder, as if she had transformed into an ornament. However, no one would mistake her for an ornament because under everyone's gaze, her fur quickly stood on end.