Chapter 161 : Seven Treasures Glass
The secret realm didn't differentiate between seasons, but fortunately still had day and night.
This day had been full of twists and turns, and the two people and one tiger had experienced quite the adventure. Once night finally fell and everything returned to peace, Yun Qingyue led her two injured companions to chase away a solitary silver-backed bear and commandeer its cave.
The silver-backed bear lingered outside its home for a long while. Seeing firelight appear inside the cave, it realized that the villains who had seized its home wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Though the intruder looked thin and weak, the bear couldn't defeat her. Combined with the fact that it was alone without any help... the silver-backed bear felt it couldn't reclaim its den and eventually left reluctantly.
The imposing silhouette of the bear departed from the cave entrance, the dignified Nascent Soul beast walking away with faltering steps, even its retreating figure radiating dejection. Behind it in the cave, a campfire danced, bathing the room in warm light.
The majestic white tiger was long gone, having returned to its original cat-like size, sulkily lying across its senior sister's lap.
Yun Qingyue stroked the little white tiger's head with a face full of sympathy, her movements gentle and tender. As she applied medicine to the wounds on the little white tiger's back, she asked: "How is it? Does it still hurt?"
The little white tiger lay on her lap, whimpering: "It hurts, really hurts. I need Senior Sister..." It had originally wanted to say it needed Senior Sister's kisses to heal, but suddenly remembering there was an outsider in the cave, it glanced at the young monk meditating to the side with a hint of annoyance in its eyes. It swallowed those words and instead said: "I need Senior Sister to apply medicine for me every day to get better."
This was clearly a plea for attention—cultivators' medicinal pills typically had immediate effects. Even for serious injuries, these were internal wounds; for external injuries, no one needed daily applications of medicine. It wasn't as if they were using ordinary mortal remedies.
Nevertheless, Yun Qingyue agreed. After all, the little white tiger was just over a year old, truly still a cub, and this was its first time suffering such severe injuries, not to mention these wounds were sustained protecting her. Yun Qingyue felt both moved and sympathetic; at this moment, if the little white tiger asked her to apply medicine, she would do so gladly. Even if it asked her to pluck stars or the moon from the sky, she would fly upward to try!
Of course, the little white tiger didn't have such outlandish requests, and Yun Qingyue didn't neglect it. Knowing it was injured and in pain, she both lightened her touch while treating its wounds and occasionally fed it treats to distract its attention.
Besides the little white tiger's food stored in its own space, ever since adopting it, Yun Qingyue had also cleared out a section of her storage space specifically for snacks.
The little white tiger naturally never refused its senior sister's offerings. While gnawing on a piece of dried meat, it finally spared some attention for the young monk meditating opposite them, its tiger eyes staring at him for a long while.
Cultivators had keen perception, and the young monk naturally sensed this attention, opening his eyes: "Does Jianbing have something to say to this humble monk?"
The little white tiger thought: Yes, I want you to leave quickly and stop being a third wheel, okay?
But of course, it couldn't say this directly, so it could only grumble inwardly before asking from its position on its senior sister's lap: "Young monk, how are your injuries? Is there anything serious?"
Tan Xin, with his acute sensitivity, vaguely sensed some dislike from Jianbing, but couldn't understand why. He looked at the little white tiger several times with his clear black and white eyes, staring until the little white tiger became somewhat uncomfortable, before finally smiling and answering: "This humble monk is fine, just overexerted. I'll be better after some rest."
The little white tiger had been severely injured by the self-destruction of those twenty-plus vicious souls. When Tan Xin arrived, it knew reinforcements had come and had relaxed, promptly passing out. By the time it regained consciousness, it was already in this cave, and thus hadn't witnessed the confrontation between Tan Xin and Wuxiang.
Now it finally showed some interest and asked about the matter. Tan Xin recounted the situation in a few words without embellishment.
The little white tiger crunched through half the dried meat it was holding with one bite, its sharp teeth quickly chewing and swallowing the meat. After thinking for a moment, it honed in on a key point: "So, you let him escape, and the glass lamp wasn't recovered?"
Hearing this, Tan Xin's smile faded, his expression drooping as he pressed his palms together in apology: "It was this humble monk's incompetence."
The glass lamp from Foguang Temple was clearly a Buddhist treasure. Having received guidance from the old abbot and benefited in the temple, Tan Xin should have returned the lamp to his sect for preservation and use. Alternatively, even if it fell into someone else's hands, it would still fulfill a karmic connection. But for this treasure to fall into Wuxiang's hands—who knew when a Buddhist treasure might be degraded into a demonic weapon? The very thought was heartbreaking.
Seeing this, the little white tiger also wore an expression of reproach—it and its senior sister had pursued so arduously and fought so hard, all to recover the glass lamp, right? But not only had they failed to recover anything, they had also ended up injured. It was a complete loss!
Yun Qingyue seemed to sense the little white tiger's reproachful gaze. She raised her hand, originally intending to lightly pat the little white tiger's head as a reminder, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she simply covered the little white tiger's eyes with her hand and said to Tan Xin: "Junior Brother Tan Xin need not worry. When encountering someone like the demon monk, being able to return unharmed is already no small feat."
Tan Xin offered a wry smile, thanking Yun Qingyue and accepting her goodwill.
The little white tiger nuzzled its head against its senior sister's palm, finally creating a gap to peek through with one eye at Tan Xin: "Alright, alright. That demon monk was truly formidable. But if he was at the Void Crossing stage, how was he so easily driven away by you? And what's the story with that glass lamp? What's so special about it that such a powerful figure would split his soul to enter the secret realm and steal it?"
After today's experiences, whether it was the two waves of demonic cultivators or Wuxiang who later stole the glass lamp, they all had very clear objectives. This naturally led one to suspect they had known about the treasure in Foguang Temple beforehand and had come specifically for it.
But the Canglán Secret Realm had only just appeared in the world, and it was discovered by the Tiandao Sect. The demonic path had no reason to know so much!
Yun Qingyue had initially intended to stuff dried meat into the little white tiger's mouth when it started inquiring about others' secret techniques, as this was a major taboo in the cultivation world. But by the end, she restrained herself, opting instead for gentle feeding, because this was also something she didn't understand.
Tan Xin lowered his eyes in thought, ultimately choosing honesty: "Wuxiang's cultivation is far deeper than mine. I couldn't defeat him. The reason I could drive him away was simply because of a treasure." As he spoke, his hand moved to his chest, fingers curling as if extracting something. The next moment, a dazzling golden light spilled from between his fingers, nearly blinding the watching little white tiger.
The little white tiger quickly raised its paw to shield its eyes, muttering: "What is that? It's so blinding!"
Tan Xin opened his palm for the two to see: "It's the Seven Treasures Glass Heart."
The little white tiger had only heard of the Seven Apertures Crystal Heart, so what was this Seven Treasures Glass Heart? And Tan Xin's previous gesture—had he truly dug out his own heart? That was quite horrifying!
Instantly recalling the scene of Bi Gan having his heart dug out, the little white tiger, despite its horror, still felt a bit curious. After hesitating, it secretly moved its shielding paw to take a look. It saw that what Tan Xin held wasn't a beating heart but a brilliantly shining seven-colored piece of glass in the shape of a heart. While it resembled a heart, it was clearly something different, and the glass was extremely beautiful.
The little white tiger immediately lost its fear and moved closer with curiosity: "This glass really looks like a heart. What's its origin?"
Since Tan Xin had already taken out the Seven Treasures Glass Heart for them to see, there was no need to conceal anything. He corrected: "This glass heart doesn't just resemble a heart; it originally was a heart." He then continued his explanation: "Legend has it that tens of millions of years ago, there was a great virtuous monk who was the reincarnation of Buddha, born with a Seven Treasures Glass Heart. Later, amid a great cosmic change, a demonic god broke through space and opened a passage to this realm, and a myriad of demons descended upon the world. Fortunately, the cultivation world united, and after much effort, finally sealed the passage. That monk personally removed this Seven Treasures Glass Heart to suppress and seal it."
This story wasn't particularly novel. After hearing it, the little white tiger was only surprised that the glass was truly a heart and had no other thoughts. Lying on its senior sister's lap and tilting its head, it asked: "Is this true? If it is, then this Seven Treasures Glass Heart must be what you obtained at Foguang Temple, right? Why would it appear here? Doesn't the seal need to be maintained?"
Tan Xin shook his head: "I don't know either. Even the legend is difficult to verify as true or false, but I believe Wuxiang came for it."
This was a long story. The Buddha Sect was a holy land for Buddhist cultivators. Though monks appeared detached and uncontentious, in reality, their influence was no smaller than the other two sects, and their information network was equally extensive. From some unknown time in the past, rumors about Foguang Temple began to circulate within the Buddha Sect. It was said that there was a treasure in the temple; whoever obtained it could instantly ascend and achieve enlightenment.
Of course, no serious Buddhist cultivator would believe this, but many knew of this rumor. Wuxiang must have known too. Whether he believed it was another matter, but knowing about Foguang Temple, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to visit.
As for why Wuxiang would know that there was a Foguang Temple in the Canglán Secret Realm and specifically come for it... perhaps his entry into the secret realm was coincidental, and he would have come regardless of whether Foguang Temple existed, only learning of it after entering. Or perhaps the demonic path had someone skilled in divination who calculated something that prompted his visit, which would also explain the recent stirrings of the demonic path.
Tan Xin couldn't be certain about these matters, but it was true that this Seven Treasures Glass Heart couldn't be controlled by a demon monk like Wuxiang who had fallen into demonic ways—he couldn't control it, and his blood-soaked karma couldn't withstand the Buddhist light empowered by the Seven Treasures Glass Heart, otherwise he wouldn't have fled so miserably.
As for the glass lamp stolen by Wuxiang, it was indeed a fine item with the ability to calm the mind, focus the spirit, and suppress heart demons. It was unfortunate that this treasure, coveted by all cultivators, had fallen into the hands of Wuxiang who had already fallen into demonic ways. What consequences would this bring? Tan Xin could only hope the glass lamp wouldn't be destroyed or, worse, degraded into a demonic weapon...
After saying this, Tan Xin returned the Seven Treasures Glass Heart to his chest. The little white tiger watched, feeling strangely uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable in the literal sense—it couldn't imagine what it would feel like to insert such a large piece of glass into one's heart.
To avoid tormenting itself, it turned its head away from Tan Xin and faced its senior sister once more.
Yun Qingyue, having listened to Tan Xin's words, seemed lost in thought about something. Just then, a furry tiger paw tapped her, and she absentmindedly popped a milk-scented fruit into the little white tiger's mouth...