When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The snow-like sword light was exceptionally sharp. After killing one person, it drove the remaining demonic cultivators far away before slowly dissipating.

As the sword light appeared, another figure shot up from the lake bottom, rushing toward Ruan Le who was about to self-destruct her Golden Core. Golden spiritual energy struck Ruan Le's dantian where she was gathering energy, instantly sealing it and forcing her violently rotating Golden Core to stop. Simultaneously, two slender, fair fingers pressed together touched Ruan Le's glabella, instantly rendering the emotionally agitated female cultivator unconscious.

Caught off guard, Ruan Le's eyes closed, and she fell limply, plummeting toward the lake water below. Fortunately, Tan Xin reacted quickly, swiftly sending out a stream of spiritual energy to catch her, then pressing his palms together and reciting a Buddhist invocation.

This series of events happened extremely suddenly. From Ruan Le rushing out to attempt self-destruction to Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin's rescue, the entire sequence took only a few breaths. You Yi hadn't even had time to stop Ruan Le before everything was over.

He stared somewhat blankly at the young monk, his reaction delayed by half a beat before rushing over to catch his Junior Sister: "Junior Brother Tan Xin?!"

Tan Xin pressed his palms together and slightly nodded to him: "Senior Brother You Yi."

You Yi confirmed that the person before him was real and not a desperate hallucination, then shifted his gaze downward to the now disturbed lake surface, guessing: "Is Senior Sister Yun from the Xuanqing Sect also here?"

Yun Qingyue in the lake—whether she heard his question or the timing was coincidental—also leaped from the water surface at that moment. Her white ceremonial robes were completely unblemished, and the Fuxue Sword in her hand was like ice and snow. Standing over the water like a goddess, she turned her head upon hearing You Yi's question and slightly nodded to her disheveled fellow righteous path Senior Brother: "It is I, Senior Brother You Yi."

Seeing this, You Yi felt excited. Both individuals before him were outstanding among their peers, and Yun Qingyue had immediately killed a demonic cultivator upon appearing. It seemed their dangerous situation was likely resolvable, and he and his Junior Sister might yet survive. However, amid his excitement and gratitude, questions inevitably arose—why were Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin together? Had they just happened to meet?

Of course, with the crisis unresolved, these thoughts merely flashed through You Yi's mind.

While You Yi exchanged greetings with the two, the demonic cultivators also recognized their identities—Immortal Maiden Qingyue had some reputation abroad, not to mention Tan Xin's conspicuous bald head, making his identity as a Buddha Sect disciple immediately recognizable.

The demonic cultivators had originally been in a favorable position, but upon seeing these two appear... no, just upon seeing Yun Qingyue alone kill one of their companions with a single strike, they all felt a jolt of alarm. Looking around, however, they still held numerical superiority, and killing three righteous path talents would certainly earn considerable merit. Thus, driven by self-interest, after slight hesitation, they charged forward.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyue's eyes coldened. Fearlessly facing the encirclement, she raised her sword to meet them.

Tan Xin was equally decisive. After handing Ruan Le to You Yi, he said: "Senior Brother, take a moment to recover. Senior Sister Yun and I will handle the current situation." With that, he turned to face the demonic cultivators, immediately throwing his white jade prayer beads from a distance.

The battle resumed, and the lake surface, which had just calmed, once again churned with splashing water and rippling waves.

These two had spent some time together, and having fought side by side against demonic cultivators before, they now worked together with tacit understanding. Yun Qingyue's sword techniques were sharp and offensive, while Tan Xin's Buddhist techniques were thick and defensive, a balance of attack and defense completely different from You Yi's earlier struggle. Not only did they not suffer under the demonic cultivators' encirclement, but they made frequent progress, forcing the demonic cultivators into steady retreat.

Before long, the demonic cultivators all sustained new injuries and realized these two opponents weren't easily dealt with. At this point, someone among the demonic cultivators shouted: "These two are too troublesome to handle. Let's retreat for now!"

Demonic cultivators instinctively avoided disadvantageous situations, and they weren't particularly united to begin with. Hearing this, they immediately wavered. Once their resolve weakened, their attacks and defenses became increasingly ineffective. After hastily responding to a few more moves and sensing unfavorable conditions, they hurriedly retreated. Considering the lake bottom situation and the injured You Yi, Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin didn't pursue.

In the blink of an eye, the previously arrogant demonic cultivators had all fled, leaving behind only threatening words: "Just a female cultivator and a bald monk! Just you wait, we'll be back!"

Yun Qingyue frowned in displeasure and swung her sword again, sending a sharp sword energy chasing after the demonic cultivator who had spoken.

There was a moment of chaotic commotion in the distance before everything quickly returned to calm. The demonic cultivators had fled far away, no longer visible.

You Yi, having been rescued, had taken medicinal pills and somewhat recovered. Now that the situation had stabilized, he approached with his Junior Sister in his arms to express gratitude: "For saving us in this peril, I thank you both deeply. You Yi will remember this in his heart. In the future, if there's anything within the bounds of righteousness you need, I won't refuse."

Yun Qingyue sheathed her sword, and though her expression remained characteristically aloof, she replied: "Senior Brother You Yi is too polite. As fellow practitioners of the righteous path, facing demonic cultivators together is our duty. There's no need for thanks."

Tan Xin also said: "Indeed, dealing with demonic cultivators is our responsibility. Senior Brother You Yi is too polite."

Hearing their courteous refusals, You Yi smiled without saying more, merely keeping this debt of gratitude in his heart. His gaze passed over both of them, lingering slightly longer on Yun Qingyue, before asking: "Today I thought I had nowhere to turn, yet unexpectedly met you both here. May I ask how Senior Sister Yun and Junior Brother Tan Xin came to be together? Are your other Senior Brothers from the Xuanqing Sect and Buddha Sect also nearby?"

Hearing this, Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin exchanged glances. Both being straightforward individuals, they had no intention of concealment. They told You Yi about their chance meeting, encounter with demonic cultivators, and even seeing the demon monk, omitting only the treasure hunt.

After listening to Yun Qingyue, Tan Xin finally sighed and said: "With demonic cultivators infiltrating, this secret realm has become increasingly dangerous. Senior Brothers Tan Zhi and Tan Kong have disappeared without a trace. This humble monk fears they encountered demonic cultivators and were defeated separately, so I invited my eldest Senior Brother to join us in meeting with the Senior Brothers of the Xuanqing Sect. With more people together, we can be safer."

After hearing this, You Yi's expression became extremely grave. He suddenly remembered that some of his own fellow disciples couldn't be contacted either. However, since he and Ruan Le had been in the desert stone forest and couldn't communicate with the outside world, he had assumed these senior and Junior Brothers had similar experiences—now he realized that might not necessarily be the case.

"Thank you both for telling me this. I'll contact my Junior Brothers immediately." After saying this, You Yi didn't bother asking where Su Hao and Tan Ming had gone, hurriedly turning to retrieve his Eight Trigrams Mirror to contact the others.

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The battle on the lake surface didn't last long, and Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin were capable of handling it, so the little white tiger hiding underwater never revealed herself. Firstly, her identity was inconvenient to expose, and secondly, the Dragon's Blood Grass and dragon bones were too precious to abandon.

Upon hearing her Senior Sister's arrangement, the little white tiger, unusually compliant, didn't insist on following but obediently lay at the lake bottom waiting—though she didn't know the glowing white surface beneath her was a dragon skeleton, the rich spiritual energy from the dragon bones indeed brought her tremendous benefits. Her Senior Sister had said they wanted to move it entirely into her innate space, which was tempting. But with her space too small to fit it, she could only try hard to cultivate, hoping to expand her space.

Atop the massive dragon bones, the tiny white tiger lay, letting the rich spiritual energy wash through her meridians.

She narrowed her eyes in comfort, feeling somewhat drowsy. She could sense her cultivation gradually improving, her small body continuously absorbing the spiritual energy like a sponge, seemingly insatiable.

If one opened the system's character panel at this moment, one would likely see prompts like "Experience +1+1+1..."

But this was still too slow, at least in terms of expanding her innate space—practically impossible in the short term.

After much consideration, Jiang Mo roused herself and approached the system, asking straightforwardly: "System, do you have any built-in storage bags?" Without waiting for the system's answer, she continued: "I remember there should be one, right? Back when I bought milk candy at the mall, I bought too many but didn't take them all out at once. I remember they were stored in the system space."

The system light orb floated out, swaying. It had been there all along, just observing. Now that Jiang Mo had spoken, it immediately guessed her intention. While rapidly scanning the massive dragon bones beneath the host, it answered: "Host, that's the mall's warehouse. Unsold goods can be temporarily stored in the warehouse, but after taking them out, you'll need to pay rental fees to put them back. However, items outside the mall can't be stored there."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo was immediately disappointed, her tiger face overflowing with disdain: "Didn't you load a game panel? Which game doesn't have storage space? Yet you, such a grand system, don't even have a personal bag, you..." piece of trash.

The system interrupted her before she could finish: "Host, who told you the system doesn't have storage space?!"

Jiang Mo immediately swallowed her words, her eyes slightly brightening: "You have storage space?"

The system was smug, the brightness of the entire light orb seemingly three degrees brighter than usual, somewhat dazzling. It then began to educate its host: "The system not only can store items but has two methods. One is to create a space, charging based on space size for upgrades. The other is the game bag the host mentioned, charging per slot, with each slot able to stack 99 identical items."

Jiang Mo easily understood the system's two storage methods but also grasped the key point: "Charges?"

The system paused, then raised its tone: "Of course there are charges. Does the host think these functions are free? You spent points to activate the mall initially, and buying bags in games also costs money!"

While it was true that buying bags in games cost money, there were always those initial free dozen slots. What game charged from the very beginning? Even the most predatory games wouldn't dare do this! Jiang Mo inwardly complained, but the matter at hand was more pressing, so she didn't bother arguing with the system. Instead, she impatiently waved her paws and said: "Fine, fine, tell me, how many points?"

Hearing this, the system grew excited, rubbing its hands together to give the price: "Storage space is 100 points per cubic meter, with no upper limit and no price increase. The first game bag costs 5,000 points, the second 50,000 points, the third 500,000 points, and so on... Though there's also no upper limit, the tenfold price increase makes it astronomically expensive as you progress, and no one would spend these points this way."

With such points, wouldn't it be better to buy a storage magical treasure from the mall? Save up a bit more, and one might even find a bargain on a personal space, where one could plant, raise animals, and cultivate inside—far more useful than any game bag.

Jiang Mo's heart clenched at those point prices, and she silently opened her character panel:

[Host: Jiang Mo

Race: White Tiger

Profession: Divine Beast

Level: 49

Combat Power: 17890

Experience: 48891/50000

Points: 13007

Potential: ∞

Skills: Meditation, Intermediate Spiritual Energy Utilization, Blood Inheritance Suppression, Sharp Metal Force, Way of Transformation]

After her gaze lingered on the points section for a moment, the little white tiger raised her paw to wipe her face, having to admit that after a year of struggling (or being lazy), she was still so poor. She could only afford one game bag, with the second not even worth considering. As for storage space, she could create about a hundred cubic meters, but this space wasn't even larger than her own innate space—what use would it be?

Of course, regarding the massive "stone" beneath her feet, not fitting it was secondary; the real issue was not being able to move it. She was too small to dig out such a large "mineral," and her Senior Sister and the others couldn't approach to help, which was quite frustrating.

After much thought, Jiang Mo realized that apart from using system functions, there seemed to be no better solution. So she stepped on the ground beneath her paws, gesturing as she asked the system: "System, how many items does this stone beneath my feet count as? If I buy a game bag, can one bag stacking 99 items hold it? Also, can the system automatically collect it, or will I need to dig it out?"

Hearing this, the system matter-of-factly replied: "This is a dragon skeleton, counted as quantity 1, and of course the game bag can hold it... Oh, right, except for that herb. If the host wants to take that along too, you'll need to buy two bags." It then added: "Whether it's a game bag or storage space, the system supports one-key collection. As long as the host's hand can touch something, the system can take it all."

The dragon skeleton guess hadn't been told to her by Yun Qingyue yet. Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo was immediately stunned, her eyes widening: "D-dragon bones?!"