Chapter 123 : Nervously Concealing
The host slept for several days, and even the system couldn't wake her or make contact, which greatly worried the system baby. Fortunately, before the host fell into this deep slumber, they had found her Senior Sister.
For several consecutive days, the little white tiger remained in deep sleep, but Yun Qingyue's reaction was much calmer than the system's—after checking that the little white tiger's body showed no abnormalities, she didn't disturb her sleep nor continue her journey to find her fellow sect members. Instead, as promised, she stayed to guard her until she woke up. She didn't seem particularly concerned about the time wasted.
Perhaps influenced by her Senior Sister, the originally anxious system gradually calmed down as well.
The little white tiger's descent into deep sleep hadn't come without warning. Just before she fell asleep, she had just told Yun Qingyue about eating a glowing spiritual herb. Although she didn't know what herb she had eaten and suspected it had no effect whatsoever, herbs aren't weeds—how could they truly have no effect? Now that she had suddenly fallen into deep sleep, it seemed like the herb's influence was manifesting.
This was Yun Qingyue's assessment, which somewhat put her mind at ease. Moreover, divine beasts naturally don't measure time when they sleep. Like Divine Lord Zhiming, sleeping for several years or even decades was common. Even if the little white tiger slept for a few years, it wouldn't harm her body.
However, if the little white tiger truly slept that long, she couldn't possibly guard her the entire time, so she silently set a seven-day limit in her heart.
The system remained as a light orb watching over its host. Although Yun Qingyue couldn't see it, it observed her reactions completely. Upon hearing that the host might have fallen into deep sleep because of that spiritual herb, the system suddenly understood and quietly opened the character panel to monitor changes in the host's physical data during her sleep.
However, after observing for several days, the system became confused—the host's physical data wasn't unchanging, but each change happened in an instant before quickly returning to normal. If the system weren't a mechanical life form, if data weren't recorded in real-time with a retrievable history, it would have doubted whether those fluctuating data points were merely its imagination.
But in this case, with data fluctuating and returning to its original state, was the host's digestion of the spiritual herb yielding no results at all?!
The system couldn't understand but had no one to ask, so it simply perched on the tip of the host's ear, waiting for her to wake up. Perhaps when the host awoke, it would learn what changes this deep sleep had brought her.
...
With both person and system waiting for the little white tiger to awaken, time passed unknowingly quickly.
Days and nights followed one another, and seven days quickly passed, finally reaching the limit Yun Qingyue had silently set for herself.
The little white tiger still hadn't awakened, but Yun Qingyue needed to leave. This entry into the secret realm was for exploration and tempering; she couldn't keep delaying here, but obviously, the little white tiger couldn't be left behind either.
If Yun Qingyue had raised a spirit beast and had a spirit beast pouch, she could have simply placed the little white tiger inside and taken her along. Unfortunately, everything she raised died, and the dignified Jianbing normally wouldn't lower herself to a spirit beast pouch, so she hadn't prepared one. After pondering for a while, she simply picked up the little white tiger as usual, then rummaged through her storage ring for a cloth to wrap her up and bind her to her body.
This way, if they encountered danger, she could free her hands to fight without worrying about leaving the little white tiger behind.
After checking to ensure everything was secure, Yun Qingyue set off again to explore the secret realm. However, she didn't know that a system was hiding in its database, laughing heartily—its host hanging her head in deep sleep, being carried by her Senior Sister like a baby, the scene was truly as funny as could be. It had to take several unflattering photos to properly mock her when she woke up!
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The little white tiger slept for over ten days. It wasn't until another seven days had passed that she finally opened her eyes groggily.
By coincidence, at that moment, Yun Qingyue was engaged in battle with a beast. The moment she opened her eyes, the beast's bloody maw appeared right before her. The little white cat was almost terrified, but fortunately, after the encounter with the silver-backed bear and Iron-Armed Apes, she had firmly remembered her blood lineage suppression ability. She immediately exerted her pressure, and the ferocious beast's movements instantly froze.
Following the usual pattern, this beast would soon submit. However, this time her Senior Sister was present, and before the beast could show submission under the divine beast's pressure, it was dispatched by Yun Qingyue's sword during that moment of rigidity.
The icy sword slashed across the beast's neck, and the sword-wielding woman gracefully turned to avoid the beast's foul-smelling blood. Yun Qingyue casually shook off the remaining blood from her sword's edge without giving the fallen beast another glance, instead looking toward her arms. She found that the little white tiger had indeed awakened, though with a confused expression, as if not knowing what day it was.
Yun Qingyue sheathed her sword, her expression slightly relaxing, and asked: "Awake?"
The little white cat nodded groggily, still confused about the current situation: "Senior Sister, what is..."
But before Yun Qingyue could explain, the system light orb emerged first—now that Peak Master Qingyu wasn't nearby, Yun Qingyue was familiar to it, and with the host's filter toward her Senior Sister, it became less cautious and more unrestrained—the light orb, in its excitement, once again "splat" smeared all over the little white tiger's face: "Host, you're finally awake! You've been sleeping for over ten days!"
Wrapped tightly and bound to her Senior Sister, the little white cat couldn't push the light orb away from her face. She closed her eyes in frustration, but upon suddenly hearing this, she couldn't help but be shocked, opening her eyes: "What? I slept for over ten days?!"
The system paused, moving the light orb slightly away from the host's face: "Host, you didn't know?"
Jiang Mo truly didn't know. She only felt that this sleep had been quite long and deep. In her foggy state, it seemed something had happened, but she had forgotten upon waking. Now, prompted by the system, she also realized something was wrong. She hurriedly examined herself internally and began to recall what had happened while she was asleep. She must have remembered something, as her face suddenly darkened, making even the system afraid to inquire further.
The system didn't dare ask, but Yun Qingyue obviously had no such concerns. She first briefly explained the current situation, then asked: "Well, your deep sleep was most likely caused by the spiritual herb you ate earlier. Did you gain anything from it?"
The little white cat quickly hid her dark expression and shook her head, looking innocent: "I don't feel anything different." Then she showed a bit of remorse: "I'm sorry, Senior Sister, I've burdened you again."
Yun Qingyue glanced at the little white cat, and based on her understanding of the tiger, felt she wasn't telling the truth. But since the little white tiger wanted to keep it secret, she didn't press further, only shaking her head calmly: "It's fine."
As they spoke, Yun Qingyue noticed the little white cat seemed uncomfortable in her bindings, so she untied the wrapping and released her. Then, as usual, she first collected the valuable parts from the beast's corpse before searching for the spiritual plants it had been guarding.
The little white cat had slept for over ten days. Though she hadn't felt the passage of time while asleep, her body had become somewhat stiff. So after being placed on the ground, she first shook her fur, then stretched lazily to loosen up before feeling her body regain its flexibility. Afterward, she circled around to her Senior Sister's side, watching her work while carefully observing her expression.
Yun Qingyue's expression hadn't changed, but even the system could see the little white cat's guilty concealment—how could she not know? The system couldn't contain its curiosity and floated before the host's eyes again: "Host, you..."
Unfortunately, before the system could finish speaking, the long cat tail swatted it away like a fly.
After being smacked away by the tail, the system first performed N 360-degree spins in the air, then "splat" crashed into a tree trunk. By the time it had "laboriously" pulled itself off the tree trunk, it suddenly realized it should have continued its questioning... One could only say that theatrics had been integrated into its database, becoming instinctual and difficult to separate!
To say how complex the system's feelings were upon realizing this would be too much, but suffice it to say, it no longer had the mood to continue bothering the host. The light orb flickered and then disappeared, presumably retreating to the database to brood.
The matter seemed to have passed. Yun Qingyue didn't pursue it further, and the little white tiger, her round tiger eyes revolving a few times, didn't mention it again. Passing by the dismembered beast corpse, the little white cat averted her gaze, not daring to look too closely, yet somewhat proudly lifted her head: "Senior Sister, if we encounter more beasts later, I'll help you. The beasts here seem to all be at the Nascent Soul realm, and my pressure can suppress them."
As she spoke, the little white cat became increasingly proud, viewing herself as a bug in this secret realm who could be an external aid for her Senior Sister.
Yun Qingyue, however, didn't agree. The beasts in this secret realm were indeed formidable, and she had sustained numerous injuries in battle, but opponents matching her strength were perfect for honing her sword intent. She had already decided to fight properly and improve herself, not needing a divine beast's external assistance.
Beyond this, Yun Qingyue also had concerns: "This Canglán Secret Realm must be quite large. When entering, those at the Golden Core realm were transmitted to one area, while those at the Nascent Soul realm were transmitted to another. You and I are both at Nascent Soul, so we were sent here, and the beasts encountered in this region are all at the Nascent Soul level. But I believe this isn't the limit of the secret realm—there are likely regions for Void Crossing and Spirit Division as well."
In simple terms, don't be reckless just because you're a divine beast; who knows when you might encounter a setback? Moreover, the dangers of secret realms never lie solely with beasts—spiritual plants, formations, illusions—which of these couldn't be lethal?
Regarding the secret realm's divisions, Jiang Mo and the system truly didn't know. They had no companions to contact, and the system's energy tendrils couldn't extend to all parts of the secret realm... Jiang Mo suddenly felt like she had been viewing things too narrowly. The pride she had just developed was instantly extinguished by her Senior Sister's words, and even her raised tail tip curled back.
However, not being able to help fight monsters didn't mean she had no other uses. After closing her eyes to sense for a moment, the little white cat suddenly opened them and pointed in a direction: "Senior Sister, let's go this way next."
Yun Qingyue looked in the direction she indicated and shook her head again: "I wish to reunite with my fellow sect members and have already been delayed for many days. This direction is exactly the opposite of where we need to go. We should head this way." As she spoke, she pointed in the opposite direction.
This time, the little white cat didn't listen to her and insisted: "Let's still go this way first. There are treasures in this direction. We can fetch them and then turn back."
That's right, Jiang Mo wasn't just an ordinary tiger—she could also locate treasures!