Chapter 151 : Directionally Challenged Cat
The Square Seal had actually escaped, and moreover, had hidden itself in Yun Qingyue's sleeve.
The situation became somewhat awkward, especially with the little white tiger staring intently at Yun Qingyue's sleeve, making her even more uncomfortable. Fortunately, Senior Sister was naturally cool-tempered, and her expression remained impassive, showing no particular reaction as she reached into her sleeve to retrieve the Square Seal.
Having developed a spirit and gained consciousness, the Square Seal naturally understood Senior Sister's intentions, so it hid in her sleeve, dodging left and right, refusing to come out. Seeing the small bulge about to escape toward her elbow, the little white tiger quickly pressed her paw on Senior Sister's hand: "Forget it, I won't look anymore. Senior Sister, just leave it alone." After a pause, she added: "I don't like this little seal anyway, and I don't want it."
Yun Qingyue could normally catch ordinary spiritual treasures with ease, but the Square Seal's grade was too high, and she truly had no way to handle it for the moment. Hearing the little white tiger's words, she also couldn't be bothered to struggle with the seal in her sleeve and withdrew her hand.
However, the little white tiger's words still made her frown with disapproval: "But this Square Seal should rightfully be yours."
The little white tiger shook her head: "I'm a white tiger, so this Square Seal has no use for me anyway. Besides, in the cultivation path, everything is about destiny. Since this Square Seal refuses to acknowledge me as its master, our fate simply isn't strong enough—there's really nothing to fuss about." After saying this, she suddenly held up a metal-encased sphere: "If Senior Sister feels I've been shortchanged, why not exchange it for this Puppet Heart instead?"
As her words fell, before Yun Qingyue could respond, she glimpsed the Square Seal poking its head out from Senior Sister's sleeve. Her gaze immediately fixed on it, and she secretly ground her teeth. The Square Seal seemed to sense it had been discovered and with a "whoosh" hid itself again.
The little white tiger was becoming annoyed. She had never crawled into Senior Sister's sleeve, so what right did this Square Seal have?!
Just then, Yun Qingyue spoke: "The Puppet Heart has no use for me either, so if you like it, take it." After a pause, she continued: "The same goes for this Square Seal. I am a sword cultivator—as long as I have my sword, that's enough. These treasures are unnecessary."
Yun Qingyue's intention was to not let the little white tiger lose out due to consideration for their relationship, but upon hearing these words, the little white tiger's eyes suddenly brightened, and she said: "If that's the case, why don't we give the Square Seal to the sect when we leave the secret realm? The sect has time to wait for the Square Seal's spirit to grow, and this treasure's illusion ability can also train disciples' minds—it would be practical."
To her surprise, Yun Qingyue nodded after a moment of astonishment at this decision—she wasn't lying about not needing it, and furthermore, if they contributed the treasure to the sect, the sect wouldn't treat them unfairly. When the time came, she could see what the little white tiger needed and exchange for it.
The human and tiger seemed to have settled the matter, and the Square Seal hiding in Yun Qingyue's sleeve had also heard their conversation. It swayed left and right in Yun Qingyue's sleeve, clearly displeased with its master's intentions. After a moment, it suddenly transformed into a streak of red light and collided with Yun Qingyue's jade-white arm. Without her noticing, it turned into a tiny red mole and attached itself to her skin.
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And so the palace expedition came to an abrupt end. Besides the Square Seal, which had already been decided to be handed over to the sect, it seemed they had gained nothing.
Faced with the little white tiger's regretful complaints, Yun Qingyue shook her head and said: "How can you say we gained nothing? Those premium spirit stones, along with the Phantom Dream Demon Lotus and its roots—aren't these the greatest gains from this journey?"
It was only because Yun Qingyue had awakened late that she didn't know the little white tiger had previously pried a circle of spirit stones from the main hall...
The little white tiger thought about it and agreed. Although she hadn't obtained any legacy or found more treasures, she had completed her task and eaten that section of Phantom Dream Lotus root, raising her level by a full two grades. Though in terms of cultivation realms she was still at the late Nascent Soul stage, she was just one step away from peak Nascent Soul, and could even glimpse the Void Crossing realm—compared to secluded cultivation on Purple Cloud Peak, this progress was truly not slow.
Thinking of this, the little white tiger cheered up again, though she still lamented somewhat: "Senior Sister defeated the sand puppet. If you hadn't been injured, perhaps after entering that palace, we could have gained even more."
Yun Qingyue laughed, feeling no regret: "There's no rush. The secret realm will remain open for a long time; we can continue exploring."
In the desert, it was impossible to distinguish directions or contact anyone with jade tokens, but Yun Qingyue had her own methods to determine direction, so the human and tiger set off again toward the edge of the desert. As for those cultivators who had rushed over after hearing the commotion before the little white tiger carried Senior Sister into the palace, after so many days, they had clearly lost patience waiting and had long since dispersed.
What Jiang Mo and her companion didn't know was that news about a treasure appearing in the desert had already spread like wildfire throughout the entire secret realm. Those who traveled in groups or were brave enough flocked to investigate, while cautious cultivators chose to stay away and keep safe.
Yun Qingyue and the little white tiger knew nothing of this, but after several days, they also noticed that there were more people in the desert.
The human and tiger were puzzled, but their gains from this desert were already substantial, and they had no intention of getting involved in anything further. Moreover, it was better not to reveal the little white tiger's identity to avoid attracting covetous eyes. So after discussing, the little white tiger transformed back into a little white cat, then was carried by Senior Sister as they left the desert in one go.
The endless yellow sand was left behind, and verdant scenery appeared before them. The little white cat, who had been bored while nestled in Senior Sister's arms, regained her spirit. She stood up and jumped onto Senior Sister's shoulder, shook her fur, and felt the yellow sand grains falling off her body.
Yun Qingyue almost got a face full of sand and helplessly took the little white cat down from her shoulder, casting a cleaning spell to refresh them both.
The little white cat immediately felt much fresher all over. Taking another breath of the humid air outside the desert, she couldn't help but exclaim: "Finally out! If we had stayed in the desert any longer, I'd have felt like I was being roasted alive!"
This was obviously an exaggeration, but the desert environment was uncomfortable even for cultivators. Yun Qingyue merely rubbed her head without saying anything, then took out a jade token to check the positions of their fellow sect members—there was no signal in the desert, but once they left the desert area, the jade token could be used again. However, upon careful counting, Yun Qingyue discovered that several people were missing from it.
Yun Qingyue's heart immediately sank, fearing these fellow disciples had met with misfortune.
The little white cat, seeing her troubled expression, tugged at her sleeve and asked: "What's wrong, Senior Sister?"
Yun Qingyue's thin lips pressed together slightly. She initially didn't want to say anything, but then felt that Jianbing should know about the dangers of the secret realm, so she said: "I see on the jade token that several junior brothers and sisters' positions have disappeared." After a pause, she continued: "Perhaps... perhaps they've met with misfortune..."
The little white cat's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. Xuanqing Sect hadn't sent many people to explore the secret realm, and although she wasn't close to every one of them, she knew them all among such a small group. Now hearing that they might be in trouble, she inevitably felt anxious. After thinking for a moment, she asked about the most familiar person: "What about Zhong Heng? Is his position still there?"
Yun Qingyue said nothing, and the little white cat understood that Zhong Heng's position had also disappeared.
This was not good news. To prevent Senior Sister from worrying too much, she looked back at the desert behind them and raised her paw: "Senior Sister, don't worry too much. They might not necessarily be in trouble. Perhaps they've also entered this desert that blocks communications, or a similar place."
The little white cat was right; anything was possible in the secret realm. Yun Qingyue quickly composed herself.
Seeing Senior Sister's emotions settle, the little white cat secretly sighed in relief. She also didn't want to dwell on the topic of "missing fellow disciples," so she changed the subject: "So, Senior Sister, where are we going now? Are we going to regroup with our fellow disciples?"
Hearing this, Yun Qingyue looked at the jade token again and found that several fellow disciples were distributed around Su Hao. They weren't moving together, but they weren't far apart either, roughly within a range where they could quickly receive help if needed. This arrangement ensured safety while avoiding wasting manpower, maximizing potential gains.
Agreeing with this arrangement in her heart, Yun Qingyue thought for a moment, then took out the jade token to show the little white cat: "Senior Brother Su and the others are currently in the north. Shall we head over there?"
The little white cat tilted her head, initially not understanding why Senior Sister was asking her, but then remembered she was still a treasure-hunting tiger. She raised her paw to rub her nose, then carefully sensed around. Places with abundant metal spiritual energy weren't non-existent, but compared to the metal element crystal from before, these weren't worth considering, and ordinary treasures weren't worth specifically taking Senior Sister to find.
So she nodded and raised her paw to point: "There's nothing good around here anymore. Let's head north to regroup."
Seeing her pointing and directing as if commanding an army, Yun Qingyue suddenly fell silent for a moment, and finally couldn't help but take the cat's paw and turn it in a different direction, reminding her: "North is this way."
The directionally challenged little white cat: "..."
The little white cat obediently changed direction, shameless and unbothered—she had previously lived in a city where transportation was available everywhere, and besides, big cities had complex road networks; people just needed to remember roads, who paid attention to cardinal directions? She would bet that out of ten modern people who entered this secret realm, nine wouldn't be able to tell which way was north!
Fortunately, this was just a minor issue. Senior Sister smiled helplessly and continued carrying her northward.