Chapter 174 : Life's Peak
The Canglán Secret Realm was vast, and as everyone was among the first to explore it, they naturally had no clear destination. It didn't matter which direction they went, and if they could return You Yi and his companion to Tiandao Sect's team, they'd resolve one concern.
Thus, the proposal to head north received unanimous approval.
The little white tiger didn't express an opinion. A single tiger had consumed more than half a pot of meat soup—calculating the amount eaten, it was more than her own size. Fortunately for the little white tiger, digestion was no concern at all. Once the energy-rich flesh and blood of the Silver-scaled Black Python entered her stomach, it quickly transformed into pure energy for her to absorb. Let alone half a pot of meat soup, she could even devour an entire Silver-scaled Black Python!
With bellies full and the discussion about their journey concluded, the little white tiger nestled in Senior Sister's embrace, bored. She finally remembered the system tasks and opened her panel to check the rewards for slaying the Silver-scaled Black Python.
The system had previously issued quite a few tasks to the little white tiger. These tasks weren't assigned randomly but had been verified and approved by the main system, with rewards to match—the Silver-scaled Black Python was a sixth-grade spirit beast, currently nearly ten levels higher than the host. This definitely qualified as a level-skipping challenge, and the system's rewards were naturally quite generous.
After opening the system panel, the little white tiger instinctively checked her character panel first—
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Profession: Divine Beast
Level: 50
Combat Power: 18690
Experience: 2947/52000
Points: 10907
Potential: ∞
Skills: Meditation, Intermediate Spirit Energy Utilization, Blood Inheritance Suppression, Sharp Metal Force, Way of Transformation]
Previously stuck at level 49, the little white tiger had undoubtedly leveled up after completing the task, finally advancing from late Nascent Soul to peak Nascent Soul realm. But this wasn't important to the little white tiger, as previously when she consumed rare treasures to increase her level, the corresponding combat power increase had been limited. So this time, her focus wasn't on her level but on her points!
Just one day earlier, she had spent 5100 points on a game bag and the system's storage space... Her 13,000+ points accumulated over a year had suddenly dropped from five digits back to four.
The little white tiger had felt quite distressed about this, originally thinking it would take considerable time to accumulate five-digit points again. But after just one task, the system had rewarded her with 3,000 points—when had the stingy system ever been so generous? Or had she misread the task reward?!
In that moment, the little white tiger's heartbeat quickened, her golden tiger eyes filled with surprise.
She eagerly called the system: "System, when did you become so generous? How did one task reward 3,000 points?!" Then she continued with heartfelt anguish: "Such a high-reward task—why didn't you issue it earlier? If you had, I would have definitely completed it eagerly. We wouldn't have needed to be so poor..."
The system light ball had barely appeared before being bombarded by the host's torrent of words. Only after the host finished her rambling did it find an opportunity to open its panel and explain: "Host, look carefully. This isn't the reward for one task, but three."
The little white tiger paused at these words, completely confused: "When did I complete three tasks?!"
As she spoke, she looked at the panel opened by the system and indeed found notifications for the completion of three tasks. Besides the one for slaying the Silver-scaled Black Python that rewarded 1,000 points, the other two tasks were ones she hadn't previously paid attention to. One congratulated her on reaching level 50, rewarding 1,000 points, while the other actually congratulated her on successfully protecting Yun Qingyue, rewarding another 1,000 points.
A bewildered little white tiger: "???"
This isn't the first time I've leveled up—since when did level-ups reward so many points? System, have you been keeping my previous rewards?! And what about Senior Sister—when did the system issue a task to protect her? Why haven't I seen something so important?!
The system watched as the host's gaze towards it turned suspicious and hastily explained, with a hint of grievance in its mechanical voice: "Host, you've now reached level 50. With the maximum being level 100, surpassing half the levels qualifies you as a mid-tier player, which is why the system increased the level-up reward." So the system hadn't kept any of her points at all, okay?
The little white tiger nodded, accepting this explanation, then asked: "What about Senior Sister? What's that about?"
On this topic, the system wasn't grieved at all. In fact, it seemed a bit excited: "Host, do you remember the system's name?"
This wasn't the first time the system had asked this question. The little white tiger expressionlessly repeated: "You are the Life's Peak System, code 223."
The system made a "pa" sound, as if clapping its hands forcefully: "Correct, the Life's Peak System. Host, before transmigrating, did you ever hear the saying: 'Become CEO, marry a rich beauty, reach life's peak!'" Without waiting for the little white tiger's response, it continued: "According to the system's analysis, there are two key points in this saying—CEO and rich beauty—meaning success in both career and love, which constitutes reaching life's peak."
Hearing this, the little white tiger vaguely understood something, and her furry tiger face suddenly felt warm. Fortunately, her face was covered with thick fur, so nobody noticed anything unusual, not even the system at that moment.
The system didn't think there was anything wrong with its words and continued: "Further system analysis of the host's emotional responses indicates a greater than 90% probability that the host has feelings for Senior Sister. Therefore, helping the host achieve her desires is also the system's responsibility." The matter-of-fact tone suddenly shifted, becoming ambiguous: "As everyone knows, a hero's rescue of a beauty is an excellent beginning for affection. If once isn't enough, then twice; if twice isn't enough, then thrice..."
The little white tiger finally couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted: "Wait, wait, wait—what do you mean by 'once, twice, thrice' for a hero's rescue? Are you cursing Senior Sister or me?!"
The system froze for a moment, then spread its hands: "Anyway, this is how the system tasks are designed."
The little white tiger scratched her ear and quietly opened the task panel, scrolling through it one by one. She indeed saw a series of tasks related to Senior Sister—holding hands, kissing cheeks, heroic rescues, making her smile, and so on... The system's essence seemed to have completely changed, transforming from a career-focused system that constantly urged her to fight monsters and level up into a matchmaking system.
But perhaps this wasn't without precedent. Starting a long time ago, the system's daily tasks had been to give Senior Sister flowers, candies, and fruits. So had the system anticipated this development since then?!
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After setting off again, the little white tiger was still being carried in Senior Sister's embrace. However, for some reason, the tiger cub seemed unusually quiet today, not even acting coquettishly toward Yun Qingyue, always keeping her head down, lost in thought.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue was somewhat concerned. She stroked the little white tiger's head and asked: "What's wrong? Are you reluctant to go north?"
The little white tiger's gaze wandered slightly. After learning about the system's hidden pursuit tasks, she felt inexplicably shy when facing Yun Qingyue—unavoidable, really. Even if she ignored the people around her, there was still a system watching eagerly. How was this any different from having a super-bright 100,000-watt lamp beside her? Her face wasn't thick enough yet; she needed time to adapt.
"Jianbing?" Yun Qingyue called again, bringing the distracted little white tiger back to attention.
The little white tiger shook her head: "No, going north is fine."
According to the system's continuous detection, the temperature grew colder as they moved northward. If there were no unexpected developments, the north likely contained an ice plain, and she happened to have a task to collect ten Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flowers. The name alone indicated these spirit herbs must grow in icy, snowy regions, though requiring ten at once suggested they weren't particularly rare herbs.
But then again, the system also had a task for her to find a high-grade spirit stone vein. She wasn't sure if the system was making outrageous demands or if the Canglán Secret Realm was truly so abundant that high-grade spirit stone veins could be found casually.
Her thoughts inevitably wandered again. When the little white tiger came back to her senses and looked at Senior Sister, she found her brow slightly furrowed, regarding her with concern. The little white tiger's heart warmed, and she found a topic to ask about: "Senior Sister, do you know about the Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flower?"
Hearing this, Yun Qingyue raised an eyebrow: "Yes, it's the main ingredient for refining Age-Preserving Pills..."
As she spoke, Yun Qingyue's expression became momentarily peculiar, as if curious why a baby tiger would be interested in Age-Preserving Pills.
The little white tiger realized this and silently cursed the system, guessing that it probably wanted her to collect the Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flowers and give them to Yun Qingyue. While it was true that female cultivators appreciated beauty, Senior Sister was young and in her prime. Would giving her Age-Preserving Pills truly not anger her? She blinked innocently and mumbled: "I just heard these flowers are quite beautiful."
This was actually true. The Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flower grew beside snow realm volcanoes, as clear as ice yet as vibrant as fire. After being picked and placed in a jade box, it resembled an exquisitely crafted art piece. Even if not immediately useful, female cultivators loved to collect them.
A flash of amusement suddenly appeared in Yun Qingyue's eyes—she had forgotten that Jianbing was also a young girl. There was nothing wrong with liking beautiful things.