When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The lotus root of the Phantom Dream Demon Lotus not only tasted good but also contained abundant spiritual energy.

The little white tiger had barely finished gnawing on a section of lotus root when she felt spiritual energy filling her body, followed by a yawn and drowsiness. Looking at Senior Sister, she found her meditating after eating her lotus root, presumably refining the spiritual energy contained within it.

As she watched, she yawned again, feeling increasingly sleepy—they were still trapped in the illusion, and the little white tiger knew this was not the time to sleep peacefully. However, due to a divine beast's natural instincts, they didn't need to meditate to refine anything; after consuming something beneficial, they simply wanted to sleep, and upon waking, whatever precious materials they had consumed would be completely refined.

"Host, Host..." Seeing the little white tiger's eyelids drooping, the system couldn't help but call out.

The little white tiger hazily waved a paw: "Don't disturb me, let me sleep for a while. I'll wake up soon..." Her voice grew increasingly faint, and by the time she uttered the last word, she had fallen completely asleep.

The system was quite helpless at the sight but, looking at the lifeless illusion and the meditating Senior Sister nearby, it felt somewhat reassured. It then opened the host's character panel and watched as the numbers began to climb, thinking that the host sleeping now wasn't so bad—that lotus root was truly excellent. The host hadn't leveled up by consuming experience for a long time, but after waking up from this, she would probably gain a level or two.

In the illusion, with both human and tiger immersed in cultivation and the system entering standby mode, everything around them fell into complete stillness.

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Time passed slowly. Who knew how long it had been—perhaps just a moment, or perhaps many days... The scenery in the illusion never changed, without even day or night, giving one a sense of disorientation about the passage of time.

Yun Qingyue was the first to open her eyes. A flash of joy passed through her typically cool, glassy eyes.

She had been seriously injured before, and although the little white tiger had placed her safely in the innate space with many spirit stones to aid her recovery, the healing time had been too short. Combined with the limited spiritual energy in the innate space and her concern that the little white tiger might encounter danger alone outside, she had requested to come out before her injuries had fully healed.

She had thought her injuries would take some time to heal completely. Unexpectedly, after consuming that section of lotus root, not only had her injuries healed, but her cultivation had even advanced—truly a blessing in disguise... or rather, she had the little white tiger to thank.

With this thought, Yun Qingyue turned her gaze to the small figure beside her—she had assumed the little white tiger was also refining the lotus root like her, but looking carefully, she discovered that the cub was simply sound asleep. Her head rested next to Yun Qingyue's leg, and in her dreams, she must have been dreaming of something delicious, as her mouth moved slightly. Leaning closer, one could even hear faint purring sounds.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyue was first startled, then couldn't help but smile. This was, after all, still a young cub. Although she had grown quite reliable and could rescue her from danger, the cub's habits of loving food and sleep were difficult to change.

She gently stroked the little white tiger's head a couple of times, ultimately deciding not to wake her, and instead carefully lifted her into her arms.

The system had restarted the moment Senior Sister opened her eyes, thus capturing her expressions and movements. The other's gentleness and closeness were undeniable, but for some reason, the system felt something was strange...

Yun Qingyue was unaware that a system was observing her. Even when she occasionally felt as if someone was watching her, after looking around to no avail, she attributed it to the illusion, making her expression increasingly serious.

Speaking of the illusion, the reason Yun Qingyue and the little white tiger had eaten the lotus root was for its ability to see through illusions. Now that the lotus root had been refined, its effects were naturally evident—Yun Qingyue circulated spiritual energy to the meridians around her eyes, and when she looked again, what she saw was indeed different from before. She saw numerous strands of spiritual energy interweaving, following some subtle rules, ultimately constructing everything before her.

Yun Qingyue looked at these interwoven lines of spiritual energy, pondered for a moment, then swung her sword to cut them, only to find it completely ineffective. The severed spiritual energy reconnected, and the damaged objects in the illusion were restored, as if refreshing.

Unlike the little white tiger, who knew nothing about formations, Yun Qingyue had some understanding of them and seemed thoughtful upon seeing this.

The system watched as she lowered her eyes in thought for a while, then suddenly, still carrying the little white tiger, began to walk along the street they had traversed many times. Occasionally she would pause, staring at certain spots as if examining something, but would soon shake her head and continue walking. Until she carried the little white tiger to an inconspicuous well by the street, where after pausing again, she remained still for some time.

Suddenly, with a "clang," her sword left its sheath. The frost-like sword edge, carrying an irresistible momentum, struck down at the well... Without rocks exploding or water splashing, the scenery before them shattered like a breaking mirror, disintegrating in an instant.

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Before falling asleep, Jiang Mo had told the system she would wake up soon, and indeed she had tried hard to awaken quickly. But when she finally woke up, she found the scenery around her had changed completely, with scorching yellow sand entering her vision.

The little white tiger trembled slightly, thinking she had been trapped in another illusion: "Where is this?"

Before the system could answer, Yun Qingyue, who was holding her, heard her question and replied: "This is that desert. We've gotten out."

Hearing this, the little white tiger looked at Senior Sister, then at the yellow sand around them, sat up silently, and then reached out a paw to poke Yun Qingyue's arm: "Are you really Senior Sister? I'm not trapped in some illusion again, am I?"

Yun Qingyue laughed at this, rubbing the tiger's head: "Don't worry, it's not an illusion, and you've also eaten the lotus root of the Phantom Dream Demon Lotus."

The little white tiger, feeling that gentle hand, unconsciously nuzzled into her palm, then felt somewhat frustrated. Too embarrassed to ask Senior Sister directly, she first asked the system in her mind: "System, how long did I sleep? How did Senior Sister already get out of that palace?!"

The system, with its built-in timekeeping, replied honestly: "Host, you slept for three days."

Hearing this, the little white tiger immediately showed a dejected expression. Without asking the system anything further, she said to Senior Sister with a shamefaced look: "Senior Sister, have I held you back again?"

Setting aside other matters, after encountering the Taotie and Qiongqi, the little white tiger had asked the system about the combination of ancient fierce beasts. Since the Taotie and Qiongqi had appeared, the Taowu and Hundun should follow. Although based on previous experience, these two fierce beasts were likely also false ones, Senior Sister didn't have an innate space or a spirit beast pouch, so bringing her along would undoubtedly be a burden.

The more the little white tiger thought about it, the more guilty she felt. Her head drooped low as she regretted eating that section of lotus root.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyue was both amused and exasperated. She patted the tiger's head: "Don't overthink. After eating that section of Phantom Dream Demon Lotus root, I quickly saw through the illusion and got out. You didn't hold me back; on the contrary, I should be the one apologizing to you."

As she spoke, she turned her palm over, revealing a small seal in her white palm. It had a bronze hue with fierce beast forms carved on all four sides.

The little white tiger was puzzled by her words and looked at the small seal in Senior Sister's palm, even more confused: "What is this? And why does Senior Sister say she should apologize? Whatever you do, you never need to apologize to me."

She spoke earnestly, but Yun Qingyue found her words childlike, remembering how small the little white tiger was both before and after transformation, so she didn't find these words surprising. However, there were some things Yun Qingyue didn't intend to hide, so she explained truthfully: "This is a treasure I obtained after leaving the illusion, called the Square Seal. It imprisons four types of fierce beasts: Taotie, Qiongqi, Taowu, and Hundun..."

This Square Seal was indeed an excellent treasure, at least seventh-grade or above. Besides possessing extremely strong offensive power, it could also create illusions to confuse people's minds. More importantly, this treasure had developed a spirit, which meant it had great potential for growth—if released, it would certainly be a coveted item fought over by everyone.

Yun Qingyue didn't hide anything from Jiang Mo. After introducing it, she frowned with concern: "For some reason, this treasure has already acknowledged me as its master."

The little white tiger heard this without concern and was about to speak when the system explained in her mind: "Host, you did sleep for three days, but Senior Sister also spent two and a half days in meditation refining the lotus root. Afterward, she found the weakness and broke through the illusion, and you both came out. That palace disappeared, Taowu and Hundun never appeared, and that Square Seal just appeared and recognized Senior Sister as its master."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo's first reaction was to open her data panel and glance at it, finding that the exploration task was marked complete, but only two palace chambers had been explored—the system wasn't lying to her.

This explained Senior Sister's reaction—she hadn't actually helped with the level clearing. The little white tiger had explored the first palace chamber alone, and breaking through the second illusion had relied entirely on her Phantom Dream Lotus root. Yun Qingyue had already benefited greatly by eating a section of the little white tiger's lotus root, so how could she rightfully claim this Square Seal? Yet despite doing nothing, the Square Seal had already acknowledged her as its master!

Yun Qingyue felt unworthy of receiving it, and as a sword cultivator, this Square Seal wasn't something essential to her. If it had been an ordinary treasure, she would have already released her ownership and returned it to the little white tiger, but unfortunately, this small seal had developed consciousness and refused to change masters, leaving her helpless.

After hearing the explanation, the little white tiger didn't feel she had worked in vain and reached out with interest to take the small seal from Senior Sister's palm.

Yun Qingyue naturally didn't stop her, but as soon as the little white tiger's paw touched the small seal, it emitted a burst of red light and flew up to escape. Fortunately, feline reflexes are quick, and the little white tiger swiftly pressed it down with one paw. Even so, the small seal struggled left and right under her paw, clearly trying to escape... it was quite unwilling to face her.

The system observed coldly for a while, then suddenly spoke: "Host, have you noticed that this Square Seal seems afraid of you?"

Only with the system's reminder did the little white tiger carefully examine and discover that this small seal, besides trying to escape by darting left and right in her hand, was actually trembling slightly—are even treasures so humanized these days?

The tiger cub tilted her head in confusion, and in a moment of carelessness, finally let the Square Seal escape.

With a flash of red light, the seal directly dove into Senior Sister's sleeve and hid itself!