When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

Looking at that familiar fur, that familiar shape, that familiar way of tumbling to her feet...

Yun Qingyue instantly recognized the small beast's identity, but her first reaction wasn't what one might expect. She quickly retreated two steps, then formed hand seals attempting to break the illusion before her—had the previous environment been too peaceful? Or was there something extraordinary by this river that had unknowingly trapped her in an illusion without her awareness?

As for Jianbing? Don't be ridiculous—Master had personally kept her by her side; how could she possibly have slipped into the secret realm? Taking it a step further, even if the little white tiger had escaped from Master's dimensional sleeve space and snuck into the secret realm, what were the chances she would appear right in front of her?!

Yun Qingyue remained clear-headed and vigilant, her sword pointed unwavering at the small beast, while her other hand rapidly formed seals trying to find a flaw in the illusion.

This scene was completely unexpected for Jiang Mo. Seeing her Senior Sister treating her as an enemy, the little white cat—who had deliberately tumbled out in such an undignified manner—was stunned. She no longer sought her Senior Sister's embrace but sprang to her feet, then cautiously stepped forward under the sword tip: "Senior Sister, what's wrong? It's me."

The childlike voice was just as always, and the little white cat's surprised yet familiar gaze was recognizable, but Yun Qingyue remained vigilant. Her beautiful brows furrowed slightly, her expression as serious as if facing a formidable enemy.

The little white cat finally panicked and asked the system inwardly: "What's wrong with Senior Sister? Has she lost her memory after just a few days in the secret realm?!"

How could the system have encountered such a situation before? It was as confused as its host. But compared to its host's helplessness, the system could at least secretly extend its energy tendrils to scan the person before them. The results showed that the person had no issues, especially not with her mind. Considering their environment, it quickly formed a hypothesis: "Host, this is a perilous secret realm. Senior Sister might think she's encountered an illusion."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo paused, first asking: "Really?" Then looking at her extremely guarded Senior Sister, her feelings became complex, followed by uncertainty about how to prove her identity.

The little white cat no longer tried to approach. After some thought, she first took out some ice lotus seeds from her storage space and placed them on the ground. Looking up at her Senior Sister and seeing no reaction, she then brought out some milk-scented fruits and placed them on the ground. Looking up again and still seeing no reaction, she proceeded to produce a series of snacks including Xuanqing Sect's specialty dried meat, nuts, candied haws, and more...

Yun Qingyue watched as a small mountain of snacks gradually piled up in front of the little white cat, and her expression finally became uncontrollably complex—although she hadn't yet found the flaw in this "illusion," was this greedy image really how she perceived the little white tiger in her heart?!

Oh, that's right, the gifts she had brought back from her tempering journey were all food...

The little white cat quickly emptied her inventory, and the two stared at each other. In the end, the little white cat even brought out the Azure Essence Spirit Marrow she had specially saved, but still couldn't convince Yun Qingyue of her identity. Finally, she gave up trying and leaped forward, hugging her Senior Sister's leg and wailing: "Senior Sister, this isn't an illusion, I'm really Jiang Mo!"

Yun Qingyue's sword tip was already pointing at the little white cat, but upon hearing this name, she suddenly froze—she had only heard it once but remembered it clearly; this was the little white tiger's true name. A divine beast's name is bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, and the Heavenly Dao responds to it. No illusion could probe this memory of hers!

Could it be... could the little white tiger really have snuck into the secret realm?!

Yun Qingyue was extremely surprised and finally slowly sheathed her Fuxue Sword, also releasing her hand seals. She looked at the little white cat wailing while hugging her leg, then at the pile of snacks that hadn't been put away, and her feelings became even more complex.

༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺

The little white tiger never imagined that simply stating her name would make her Senior Sister believe she was real. Had she known, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths. Now she had not only exposed her foodie nature but also lost face by crying while hugging her leg—truly embarrassing herself completely.

With the crisis resolved, the system was laughing so hard in its database it nearly fell over, and deliberately letting her hear it.

The little white cat gritted her teeth, angrily making "hmph hmph" sounds. Coincidentally, Yun Qingyue heard this and looked over, causing her to feel even more embarrassed. She raised her paws to cover her face, pretending her Senior Sister hadn't seen anything.

By now, dusk had fallen. Yun Qingyue casually lit a campfire by the river, watching the little white cat's behavior with amusement dancing in her eyes.

The dancing firelight reflected in her glaze-like eyes. When the little white tiger had finished being embarrassed, Yun Qingyue finally extended a finger to poke the little white cat's soft body and asked: "How did you enter the secret realm, and how did you find me? Won't you tell me?"

The little white cat's body contracted at the poke, and she dodged to the side, but after a while, she inched back. Nudging closer until she was against her Senior Sister's leg, still not satisfied until she carefully climbed back into her Senior Sister's embrace. Surrounded by the familiar cool fragrance, she finally relaxed completely. She contentedly narrowed her eyes, resting her chin on her Senior Sister's leg, and began recounting her experiences of the past few days.

Starting with how she escaped from Master, the little white cat told her story proudly, with her tail tip raised. Then she described entering the secret realm, first encountering a powerful beast, then entering an eerie forest, and the various dangers she faced afterward.

Yun Qingyue's palm gently stroked the little cat's head, a completely different sensation from petting a small tiger—though small in size, a tiger cub has a substantial bone structure, feeling tiger-like to the touch. A cat's head is different, much smaller, able to be completely covered by a woman's slender hand. One divine beast, two different textures—she should take the opportunity to pet her more, as the next chance to pet a cat might not come soon.

Despite being engrossed in petting the cat, the Senior Sister clearly didn't miss the little white cat's narrative. Hearing about her boldly stealing the Iron-Armed Apes' spiritual herb, she couldn't help but worry for her. Only when the little white cat proudly described using her divine beast bloodline pressure to suppress the pursuing Iron-Armed Apes and the silver-backed bear she had provoked did Yun Qingyue finally relax a bit.

Such is the nature of divine beasts, favored by the Heavenly Dao. Even a newly hatched cub cannot be harmed by beasts of inferior bloodlines. Under blood lineage suppression, unless it was a great beast several realms higher in cultivation, ordinary beasts couldn't even summon the will to resist.

However, on the other hand, beasts that could cultivate to high levels wouldn't originally have inferior bloodlines either—ultimately, cultivators rely on spiritual roots and aptitude, while spirit beasts and demonic beasts rely on their bloodlines. In this perilous secret realm, the little white tiger faced half the threats others did. With blood lineage suppression, she could practically strut through beast territories!

After a moment of reflection, Yun Qingyue became curious: "What kind of spiritual herb did you eat then?"

The little white cat tilted her head, thinking, then replied with difficulty: "I don't know. I was somehow drawn to it at the time, and I didn't even see what it looked like before eating it. I just remember that the spiritual herb glowed."

The system had actually seen what the herb looked like and even transmitted an image to her consciousness, but since the little white cat had already spoken, she couldn't very well describe it to her Senior Sister now. However, she did examine it carefully herself, combining it with her limited knowledge of the cultivation world... and still didn't recognize it or know its name or effects, only that it looked rather extraordinary.

That was stating the obvious—anything that could tempt a divine beast wouldn't be an ordinary spiritual herb. But since it appeared in an Iron-Armed Ape's lair, the herb's grade wouldn't be too high, at most sixth-grade, perhaps some rare variety?

After hearing the little white cat's words, Yun Qingyue also had no clue, as there were countless types of glowing spiritual plants in the cultivation world. Though slightly concerned, she stroked the little white cat's head, reassuring her: "It doesn't matter. Since it was guarded by beasts, eating that herb should be beneficial."

The little white cat nodded, but as she continued nodding, she suddenly froze: "But, but I didn't feel anything after eating it."

Indeed, she had carelessly stolen and eaten their spiritual herb, and afterward felt nothing. There was no warming sensation in her dantian, no increase in cultivation, no accumulation of spiritual energy waiting to be refined. It was as if she'd drunk a glass of plain water—seeming like a gain, yet nothing at all. Smacking her lips, she couldn't even remember what the herb had tasted like.

Yun Qingyue didn't know what to make of this either, but a consumed spiritual herb wouldn't be completely without effect; perhaps the effects would gradually become apparent over time. That was her thought, and that's what she told the little white tiger before changing the subject: "By the way, you still haven't told me how you found me."

The little white cat's confusion immediately paused. Since it involved the system, she truly didn't know how to explain. Finally, she vaguely said: "It's, it's nothing special. Just that, knowing I couldn't go with you, I was afraid I wouldn't find you after entering, so I... I placed a tiny mark on you." After saying this, she shrank her neck and emphasized: "Really just a small mark, only for finding you."

Yun Qingyue raised her willow-like eyebrows in obvious surprise—as a Nascent Soul cultivator, her awareness of her own body had reached an extreme level. Not only had she not detected the "mark" the little white tiger mentioned before, but even now with it pointed out, she still couldn't find it.

Of course she couldn't find it; the system's energy marking and the cultivation world's energy were completely different systems.

The little white cat didn't miss her Senior Sister's puzzled look and, fearing further questions, simply closed her eyes and said: "Enough talk. I'm exhausted from chasing after Senior Sister these past few days. Now I'm sleepy and want to rest."

How could Yun Qingyue not see through her evasive thoughts? But she didn't dwell on it—after all, divine beasts had many secrets, just as the little white tiger disguised as a little white cat couldn't be seen through even by Master. Perhaps the mark she placed on her used some secret technique that she couldn't easily explain, and it wouldn't be appropriate to press for more.

Going with the flow, she didn't pursue the matter further, instead following the little white tiger's lead: "Alright, you sleep. I'll keep watch."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo immediately felt at ease. These days in the secret realm had been more dangerous than anything she had experienced before. Her body after cultivation wasn't too fatigued, and the injuries from fighting weren't significant, but her mind was truly exhausted. Now finally back at her Senior Sister's side, she closed her eyes and curled up in her embrace. Though she had merely said she wanted to sleep, drowsiness truly overtook her. Her mind emptied, and she fell asleep instantly.

Then she didn't wake up the next day, nor the day after...