Chapter 175 : Heading North
The Canglán Secret Realm was vast, filled with countless dangers and resources. However, treasures of the caliber of spirit crystals and dragon bones weren't commonplace—ultimately, finding them depended on one's fortune.
After leaving the lake where the Silver-scaled Black Python had dwelled, the group didn't delay and began their northward journey according to plan.
The journey was relatively peaceful. They encountered neither vengeful demonic cultivators nor beasts they couldn't handle. On the contrary, because they traveled as a group with formidable offensive capabilities, they cleared out many beast lairs along the way and obtained various strange treasures. Overall, traveling together proved beneficial—their time spent heading north hadn't been wasted, and the harvest satisfied everyone.
In this manner, they traveled northward for over a month, finally reaching the vicinity where Tiandao Sect disciples were active. This month of travel also provided enough time for Ruan Le to reorganize and soothe the chaotic spiritual energy in her body, removing the seal on her dantian.
At noon on this day, You Yi took the initiative to bid farewell to everyone: "Everyone, I've just contacted two Junior Brothers who are nearby and wish to take Junior Sister to meet with them, so we won't trouble you to escort us further. For the past month, I thank you all for your protection, and especially thank Junior Sister Yun and Junior Brother Tan Xin for saving our lives that day. If you ever need anything in the future, I will not hesitate to go through fire and water for you."
Ruan Le also expressed similar sentiments, then turned to Yun Qingyue and said: "Senior Sister Yun has saved me twice, but with my low cultivation and no possessions, I cannot repay you now. Once we leave this secret realm, I will certainly prepare my humble abode and invite Senior Sister to visit Tiandao Sect as my guest."
Hearing this, Yun Qingyue remained noncommittal, neither accepting nor declining, brushing it off with a few casual words.
The little white tiger, however, felt threatened upon hearing about "preparing the humble abode." Her tail skillfully wrapped around Senior Sister's wrist, and her gaze toward Ruan Le was full of wariness and hostility, leaving Ruan Le quite dejected—long ago, she had thought about luring Jianbing back to Tiandao Sect, but that idea had died before she could implement it. For the past month, she had been so well-behaved and hadn't done anything. Why was Jianbing still looking at her like that?
Completely unaware of which line she had crossed, a confused Ruan Le was led away by her senior brother. Before leaving, she didn't forget to wave at Yun Qingyue: "Senior Sister Yun, when we leave the secret realm, remember to come play at Tiandao Sect..."
Yun Qingyue shook her head helplessly, while the others also sighed in relief. Unlike their relations with the non-competitive monks, Xuanqing Sect and Tiandao Sect didn't have such a good relationship. If You Yi and Ruan Le hadn't been in danger, necessitating assistance, they wouldn't have wanted to travel with Tiandao Sect people. Fortunately, You Yi had been perceptive, keeping himself and his junior sister well-behaved throughout the journey, and finally taking the initiative to bid farewell.
After the two had walked away, Bei Luo looked around and asked: "Where shall we go next?"
Before others could answer, Su Hao interrupted this topic: "No rush. Let's first find a safe place, I have something to say."
At these words, everyone exchanged glances but didn't ask further. Half an hour later, after finding another valley and having Wen Jin deploy isolation formations to ensure no one was around, the seven people sat in a circle, ready for discussion.
Su Hao got straight to the point, looking directly at the little white tiger: "Jianbing, with outsiders present that day, we didn't ask much. But now that they're gone, let me ask: were the dragon bones and Dragon's Blood Grass at the bottom of the lake taken by you?"
After a month had passed, the little white tiger thought this matter was over, but it seemed she couldn't escape the old topic being revisited.
Yun Qingyue didn't intervene this time, so the little white tiger was candid: "The dragon bones are indeed with me. But I can't give them to you now—the pressure emanating from them is too strong; you wouldn't be able to approach them." More importantly, the dragon skeleton was intact, and she could store it in a system package, but if the dragon bones were broken apart—who knew how many hundreds or thousands of bones a dragon had—how could her 99-stack package possibly hold them all?!
Fortunately, after hearing this, Su Hao and the others didn't demand that Jianbing immediately bring out the dragon bones to divide. Revisiting the old matter was merely to provide an explanation to the Buddha Sect disciples—regarding this matter, everyone somewhat understood. Such large dragon bones with such heavy draconic pressure—who besides Jianbing could move them? The Buddha Sect disciples not mentioning it didn't mean Xuanqing Sect could monopolize the bones. That wouldn't be gentlemanly conduct, nor a way to maintain relations.
Now that the matter was out in the open, Su Hao found it easier to speak. He smiled apologetically at the two: "Jianbing's words, I believe Junior Brother Tan Xin has experienced firsthand. Since we currently can't handle those dragon bones, why not wait until we leave the secret realm and let the sect elders allocate them? How does that sound?"
Xuanqing Sect and Buddha Sect had always been on good terms, so this decision was reasonable. Tanming agreed.
With that, the matter of the dragon bones was completely settled, and the atmosphere among the group completely relaxed. As for the ninth-grade Dragon's Blood Grass, it wasn't worth mentioning separately; its distribution method would certainly be the same as for the dragon bones.
With past matters resolved, it was natural to discuss future plans: "When we entered the secret realm, we sensed that the Canglán Secret Realm would be open for one year. Now only three months have passed. For the remaining nine months, what are everyone's plans?" After a pause, he added: "Although we haven't encountered any demonic cultivators on our journey, it's still best to stick together."
Regarding sticking together, no one objected. The only point for discussion was which direction to go next.
Yun Qingyue stroked the little white tiger's head and finally spoke: "We're unfamiliar with this secret realm anyway, so any direction is the same. Since we've been heading north, why not continue northward and see what we find?"
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The system's data statistics were never wrong. Although the seasons weren't distinct within the secret realm, the temperature did indeed drop as they traveled further north.
When everyone discussed where to go that day, Yun Qingyue suggested heading north, and no one expressed objection, so they truly headed northward. After just a few days of travel, everyone noticed the temperature change and speculated that continuing north would eventually lead to an ice plain—although the spiritual plants and treasures produced in ice plains might not match their spiritual roots, as long as they had value, they could always be exchanged for something suitable.
Everyone assumed Yun Qingyue had detected the ice plain to the north early on and, out of self-interest, had called for everyone to go there together. Little did they know she was taking the blame for Jianbing. From start to finish, the one who had proposed continuing north was actually the little white tiger.
The little white tiger hadn't noticed the change in everyone's attitude and thus wasn't aware of this internal debate. Seeing they were getting closer to the ice plain, and finally spotting a patch of white on the distant horizon one day, she pointed to the task of collecting Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flowers and asked the system: "System, do you know where these Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flowers are? The ice plain is so vast—without coordinates, a few spirit herbs will be hard to find."
The system helplessly spread its hands: "But Host, if I gave you the coordinates, this collection task would be too simple." It then advised: "Host, look at the reward: ten Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flowers are worth 800 points. Fighting the Silver-scaled Black Python to the death only earned you 1,000 points. If collection tasks were this easy, would that be fair? Even games need balance!"
Unexpectedly, the little white tiger nodded without hesitation, saying matter-of-factly: "I think it's fair. It's about balancing work and rest. System tasks can't always have me fighting monsters desperately. Occasionally, there should be some benefits too."
The system was taken aback, feeling that the wife-pursuit-related tasks were already full of benefits, yet the host still wasn't satisfied!
After a back-and-forth argument between host and system, the little white tiger had to compromise: "Fine, fine, no coordinates then. System, can you at least scan and tell me where there are volcanoes on this ice plain?"
Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flowers grew at the intersection of ice and fire—this information the little white tiger had obtained from Senior Sister days ago. The system had been present then and naturally had heard it. Now hearing the host's request, how was it any different from asking for coordinates earlier? However, since the growth habits of the Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flower were information the host had inquired about herself, the system couldn't say much.
After a while, the system replied: "It won't work, Host. This ice plain is too vast; a complete system scan would be inefficient. However, based on the system's analysis of geological structures and other factors, the probability of volcanoes in the northwest direction exceeds 70%. Host can head northwest first."
Hearing this, the little white tiger's golden tiger eyes grew thoughtful—a year ago, when the system had just arrived in the cultivation world with her, its scanning range had been quite limited. It couldn't even detect when she was taken from Mount Mingxia to Mount Tianyang by Divine Lord Zhiming and had to search around like a headless fly. Yet now, facing this vast ice plain, certainly larger than the distance from Mount Mingxia to Mount Tianyang, it claimed a complete scan would be inefficient.
It seemed the system had upgraded too.
Jiang Mo wasn't sure whether the system's upgrade was a good thing or not, but she set this matter aside for now. She did, however, take the system's analysis to heart. So as soon as the group set foot on the ice plain, she pointed northwest and said to everyone: "Let's go this way."
Bei Luo immediately smiled upon hearing this and approached to ask: "Jianbing, have you discovered some treasure again?"
Traveling with Jianbing was like having a treasure-hunting tiger. Throughout their journey, whenever Jianbing pointed in a direction, their gains were always several times richer than usual. So upon hearing Jianbing speak, everyone's hearts inevitably warmed. Compared to his other brothers' composure, Bei Luo had a magnanimous personality that didn't dwell on details, making him always the first to inquire.
But this time, he was destined for disappointment. Jianbing raised her tiger paw and pushed his face away through the air: "No, I just want to collect something there. Besides, I have a metal attribute, not ice, so I don't have much perception on this ice plain."
Bei Luo responded with an "Oh," indicating understanding, but didn't show much disappointment.
Though the others were curious about what Jianbing was seeking and how she knew the route, they had no objections to this journey—they had gained considerably from Jianbing's guidance along the way, so naturally had no reason to refuse helping her now. Moreover, given Jianbing's status, even if she hadn't helped with anything before, the Xuanqing Sect disciples couldn't refuse her request.
So without further questions, they set off northwest with the mindset of seeking treasures for Jianbing. Only Yun Qingyue, whom Jianbing had asked about the Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flower, vaguely guessed the purpose of this journey.
However, she didn't say anything—what was there to say about a baby tiger wanting to pick a flower?
Besides, as the main ingredient for Age-Preserving Pills, the Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flower itself was quite valuable, making the journey worthwhile.