Chapter 124 : On the Treasure Hunt
No one had ever said that divine beasts possessed treasure-hunting abilities. But in fact, they did—thanks to their extraordinary sensitivity to spiritual energy, they could often discover treasures hidden so deeply that cultivators could only find them by luck.
Beyond this, each divine beast had its own attribute, making them even more sensitive to treasures of their particular element.
The Azure Dragon, being wood-attributed, would certainly detect rare and unusual flora. The Vermilion Bird, being fire-attributed, could sense fire seeds, unusual flames, and even fire-attributed ore and spirit fruits. The Black Tortoise, being water-attributed, could easily find spirit marrow, spirit liquids, dark water, and heavy water. Finally, the White Tiger, being metal-attributed, naturally excelled at locating mineral deposits and metal artifacts.
This wasn't even a skill per se, merely an instinct—it didn't even appear in the game system's skill list. However, after Jiang Mo broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, this instinct was restored to her by the Heavenly Dao.
Having just concealed certain matters from her Senior Sister, the little white tiger now wanted to make amends, immediately transforming into a treasure-hunting tiger and promoting her abilities.
Yun Qingyue hadn't expected the little white tiger to say such things. She was surprised at first, but after considering Jianbing's identity, it didn't seem so unexpected anymore. She only lowered her eyes to think for a moment before nodding in agreement—after all, who would complain about having more treasures? Moreover, they had ventured into the secret realm for opportunities and benefits; otherwise, who would bother coming?
Always decisive about choices, her Senior Sister readily agreed and sincerely said: "Thank you."
The little white cat immediately leaped into her Senior Sister's embrace, secretly wrapping her tail around her Senior Sister's wrist, visibly delighted. Yet she tried to maintain a serious expression, raising her paw to point forward: "Let's go this way."
Looking at the cat commanding authoritatively in her arms, Yun Qingyue could imagine the spirited little white tiger beneath this disguise. The corner of her lips lifted slightly, and unknowingly, something seemed to fill her heart, adding a trace of attachment. But she said nothing, only holding the small beast tightly as she rushed in the indicated direction.
As if in the blink of an eye, the human and cat disappeared into the distance.
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The secret realm was fraught with dangers, but as an experienced practitioner, Yun Qingyue knew certain unwritten rules. The first was that while in a secret realm, it was best not to fly when one could avoid it.
Although the ground posed many dangers, the unobstructed sky was actually less safe.
First, with nothing to hide behind in the sky, flying recklessly could easily lead to encounters with flying beasts. Second, beasts generally had temperamental dispositions; flying over a beast's territory might make it feel offended and provoke it to give chase. Finally, the Canglán Secret Realm where Yun Qingyue and the others were located was precisely the activity range for Nascent Soul beasts, and even if beasts cultivated to the Nascent Soul realm couldn't fly, they would certainly have methods to attack targets in the air.
Maintaining sufficient vigilance, Yun Qingyue had basically never flown since entering the secret realm, or if she did fly, she stayed close to the ground. Therefore, even when the little white tiger urged her to seek treasures, she only used her movement techniques to travel.
During their journey, Yun Qingyue recalled the little white tiger's experiences since their reunion and had to admit that the tiger had been raised somewhat lacking in common sense. So while carrying the little white tiger, she began explaining the basic principles of secret realm exploration—at the very least, stunts like flying into the air to avoid danger or playing diversion games with fifth-grade beasts should be minimized in the future.
The little white cat had been comfortably nestled in her Senior Sister's arms, calmly fulfilling her role as a treasure-hunting tiger. But after her Senior Sister's lecture, her head drooped lower and lower, nearly burying her face in her embrace to hide.
The system, hiding in Jiang Mo's consciousness, could clearly see what was happening outside. It took notes of the valuable knowledge while enjoying the host's discomfort. Only when the little white cat had completely wilted did it remind her with lingering satisfaction: "Host, you forgot—you're a divine beast! Once you activate your bloodline pressure, those beasts, whether they can fly or not, must all obediently prostrate before you!"
Hearing this, Jiang Mo instinctively felt something strange about these words, but the system wasn't wrong—she truly had no reason to fear any beasts now. So the little white cat, who had just been drooping her head, instantly perked up, radiating an excessively proud demeanor.
Seeing her downcast after the scolding, Yun Qingyue had felt some pity and reluctance, searching through her storage ring to find some osmanthus candy left over from earlier gift-giving. Just as she was about to offer the candy to console the tiger, she discovered that the little white tiger had already regained her spirits without needing comfort. Thus, the osmanthus candy that had just appeared in her hand was silently returned to her storage ring.
Never mind, no need to comfort her—if she could be so smug right after being scolded, wouldn't comforting her just encourage her to be more presumptuous?!
Fortunately, the little white cat didn't know what she had missed at that moment, only slightly flattening her ears when her Senior Sister looked over. Otherwise, she might have performed a scene of tearing the system apart on the spot...
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The "treasure" sensed by Jiang Mo wasn't particularly close; it took Yun Qingyue a full three days to reach the location.
During these three days, the human and cat naturally encountered many beasts. At her Senior Sister's request, the little white cat didn't release her bloodline pressure. Unrestrained, the beasts naturally fought Yun Qingyue with all their might. Even though these beasts ultimately died under her sword, they still left injuries on her, the most severe instance nearly taking half her life.
Jiang Mo watched with heartache, but at her Senior Sister's request, she ultimately didn't intervene—despite the injuries, such deadly battles were beneficial for Yun Qingyue. Her cultivation had advanced too quickly over the past year. Although she had accumulated much at the Golden Core stage, and Peak Master Qingyu had recently personally helped temper her realm, these were far less insightful than what battle brought her.
In just three short days, the little white cat could sense the change in her Senior Sister's aura.
She first became sharp and imposing in battle, like a treasured sword unsheathed, its brilliance exposed. Then she gradually internalized this energy in battle, until all the external sharpness was contained, like a treasured sword paired with a scabbard.
Thereafter, this treasured sword would gradually settle and be honed. Until all the impetuous aura was completely concealed, and she polished herself to be increasingly perfect, only then would she radiate an even more dazzling brilliance... Of course, this was still far off, but given enough time and patience, Jiang Mo had no doubt that Yun Qingyue would progress further and more steadily.
Fortunately, the three days passed quickly, and Jiang Mo sensed they were getting closer to the treasure. To avoid delaying the treasure hunt, Yun Qingyue finally stopped refusing the little white tiger's use of bloodline pressure to drive away beasts on their path.
Then the human and tiger arrived before a desolate desert, gazing at the distant endless yellow sands, momentarily falling silent.
The little white tiger hadn't expected the treasure hunt to lead them to a desert. Having never been to a desert before and only having heard of the hardships of desert survival, she couldn't help feeling apprehensive. Yun Qingyue, however, hadn't anticipated that the secret realm's environment would change so abruptly. After a brief silence, she wasn't particularly surprised and simply carried the little white tiger as she stepped into the desert.
Her foot landed on the yellow sand, appearing steady yet leaving almost no trace.
For mortals, deserts were certainly harsh environments where every step was difficult. But for cultivators, environmental conditions had little impact—yellow sand couldn't impede their steps, sandstorms couldn't obstruct them, and lack of food and water wasn't an issue.
For cultivators, the greatest danger in the desert still came from beasts.
Unlike beasts in forests and plains that lived either solitarily or in groups, desert beasts often weren't high level but survived in collectives. And these collectives differed from ordinary beast gatherings. For example, the Iron-Armed Apes that Jiang Mo had previously provoked numbered around a hundred, which was considered substantial, but desert scorpions and fire ants often gathered by the thousands or tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands.
Even if these scorpions and fire ants only had Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivation levels, even if they were tiny, no larger than a human palm, ordinary cultivators wouldn't dare provoke them. Otherwise, when thousands upon thousands swarmed over, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would struggle to defend!
Fortunately, they had the little white tiger along on this journey. After hearing her Senior Sister mention the types of desert beasts, she unhesitatingly released her full pressure. Those desert beasts, sensing her pressure, fled in panic as if encountering the most terrifying natural predator, keeping their distance. The occasional few who couldn't escape in time either dug holes to bury themselves or lay motionless by the roadside, playing dead...
Ignoring the occasionally "dead" beasts by the roadside, this desert journey was perhaps the most peaceful Yun Qingyue had ever experienced. Carrying the little white tiger, she even moved faster than during their previous journey, and before long, they had ventured deep into the desert.
Finally, after traveling deep into the desert for half a day, the little white cat raised her paw to tap her Senior Sister's hand, reminding her: "Senior Sister, we're almost there. About a hundred li to the east should be approximately right."
Yun Qingyue nodded to indicate she understood, then continued hastening eastward.
Before reaching a hundred li, they could already see in the distance, amidst the endless yellow sand, a black stone forest abruptly rising from the desert. Jiang Mo sensed briefly and discovered that the rich metal spiritual energy attracting her indeed came from there. Her tiger eyes brightened slightly, and she raised her little paw again, pointing at the black stone forest to remind her Senior Sister: "Senior Sister, it should be over there. Let's hurry over."
However, Yun Qingyue stopped in her tracks, looking at the stone forest from afar with furrowed brows: "No, let's wait."
Just as Jiang Mo was confused, the system, which had silently scanned the stone forest, spoke up to alert her: "Host, there are people in the stone forest ahead. And this person seems to have disturbed a beast nest; a large group of venomous scorpions are currently surrounding and intercepting him."
Hearing this, the little white tiger was incredibly shocked, her round eyes growing even rounder—it's worth noting that she had kept her pressure activated without withdrawing it. Along their journey, they had seen venomous scorpions either digging holes to bury themselves or, without time to bury themselves, lying by the roadside playing dead—at least eighty if not a hundred of them. They were clearly afraid of her pressure, but now, with her so close, why hadn't those scorpions in the stone forest fled?!
The system perhaps guessed what she was thinking and had to emphasize the key point: "Host, there are people in that stone forest! Maybe the treasure you've been eyeing has already been taken!"
The little white cat, stunned on the spot: ???!!!