Chapter 190 : Hide and Seek
This sudden change came without warning, leaving the white tiger no time to react beyond calling out a warning. In reality, Yun Qingyue's reaction was even faster than her words. Her airborne form flashed instantly, effortlessly avoiding the attack.
With a "splash," the attacker fell back into the magma after its failed strike, but quickly leaped out again.
Only then did the human and tiger clearly see the creature's appearance, causing them both to start with surprise—standing on the magma was a majestic beast, entirely crimson, identical in color to the magma beneath its feet. This beast stood taller than a person, bearing deer antlers, lion eyes, a tiger's back, snake scales, horse hooves, and a dragon's tail—in every way resembling the legendary qilin.
The "qilin" stood suspended above the magma. Seemingly fixated on Yun Qingyue, after leaping from the magma again, it stomped its hooves fiercely on the "ground," splashing magma sparks everywhere before lowering its head and charging toward Yun Qingyue once more.
The distant white tiger immediately drew a sharp breath, so frightened that cold sweat nearly broke out.
Yun Qingyue, however, had already recovered from her initial shock. With her willow eyebrows slightly furrowed, she lightly tapped her toes on the magma, easily avoiding the creature again. This time, though, she didn't merely dodge—after evading the "qilin's" charge, she countered with a sword strike aimed directly at her opponent. The ice frost sword intent remained completely unaffected even in this scorching magma pool, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet instantly.
The "qilin's" movements seemed insufficiently agile, and it was struck squarely on its back. The "qilin" immediately reared its head and howled, but unexpectedly, instead of counterattacking in rage, it plunged headfirst back into the magma below.
The white tiger stared at this scene in bewilderment, feeling something wasn't right. In that brief moment, she thought she saw a black patch appear where Senior Sister's strike had hit the crimson qilin's back. And the earlier attack, though seemingly fierce, had given her the impression of being mere bluster—qilin were divine beasts, so how could it lack even the slightest divine pressure?
While the white tiger was still puzzling over these oddities, Senior Sister's voice suddenly reached her ears: "Watch out!"
With only one human and one tiger present, the white tiger knew without thinking that the warning was for her. She immediately turned and lashed out with her paw. Sharp golden light cut through the air, directly slashing through the ambusher's head, which promptly retreated back into the magma after being injured.
The white tiger leaped up from the magma, standing on its surface using spiritual energy, her gaze suspicious as she looked down—it wasn't an illusion; what she had just clawed was a dragon's head, a full size larger than the previous qilin's head. After this encounter, though, she was more certain: the dragon head wasn't a real dragon, just as the earlier "qilin" wasn't a real qilin.
As if to confirm Jiang Mo's suspicions, no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the previously calm magma pool suddenly became agitated. "Divine beasts" began emerging from the magma one after another—dragons, phoenixes, qilins, Black Tortoises, Vermilion Birds—every divine beast that could be named appeared.
There was naturally a "white tiger" as well, though the magma-formed white tiger was crimson red, somewhat contradicting its name.
Seeing this scene, the real white tiger Jiang Mo couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth. No need to guess anymore; she was certain of the culprit: "System, are these puppets the work of that strange fire?"
The system was clearly enjoying the spectacle: "Host, is it really so surprising for a child to make a few toys?"
The white tiger had nothing to say to that, and instead asked: "So where is the strange fire now?"
The system wasn't entirely just spectating and actually checked when asked: "Probably because living creatures rarely appear in this magma, it's playing with you. Right now it's hiding in that dragon's body... no, it's moved to the qilin's body... it's moved again, now it's in the Black Tortoise's body... Vermilion Bird, pixiu, white tiger, xiezhi..." Essentially, it was constantly moving.
The white tiger's reaction was quick; her gaze followed each name the system reported. Perhaps noticing her attention, the strange fire moved even more enthusiastically, cycling through these "divine beasts" multiple times in just moments.
After this observation, the white tiger gained some insight—these magma puppets were ultimately inanimate objects controlled by the strange fire. The strange fire, however, had developed consciousness and could be considered an alternative form of living entity. So whichever puppet it inhabited would become animated, especially the eyes, which seemed suddenly infused with spirit.
The white tiger's paws twitched as she asked the system: "Is there any way to catch it?"
Strange fire was a treasure, capturing it would yield significant rewards, and besides, this little thing seemed to have fixated on them. Even though these magma puppets were easily destroyed, their occasional harassment was enough to cause irritation.
The system wasn't omnipotent, and helplessly spread its hands at the question: "Different system entirely—the system can't help with this; you'll need to use cultivator methods." Then it suddenly changed its tone, becoming enthusiastic: "However, if Host is willing to spend points, the mall has everything. Capturing a mere strange fire would be very easy."
Spend points? Impossible!
This strange fire wasn't compatible with her or Senior Sister's attributes and they couldn't use it, so why should she spend points?!
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The suddenly emerging strange fire clearly disrupted Yun Qingyue and the white tiger's plans, but fortunately, they handled it appropriately and suffered no damage. More directly, Yun Qingyue's initial choice to leave the magma and fly away was intended to draw out the snake from its hole.
As an experienced cultivator, Yun Qingyue was clearly more alert than the tiger cub. The white tiger's words before releasing her had already raised her vigilance—the cultivation world was full of wonders, and it wasn't only places with suitable temperature and environment that harbored life. The magma might contain spirit plants or spirit beasts, and in the face of the unknown, maintaining vigilance was essential.
Sure enough, she drew out the ambusher, though unexpectedly, it had no life aura.
Even without the system's prompting, Yun Qingyue discovered the "qilin's" peculiarity before the white tiger did. Then, seeing many "divine beasts" successively appear, she detected something even stranger, though perhaps the only thing she couldn't be certain of was that a strange fire was controlling everything.
Yun Qingyue's gaze swept over the "ferocious" "divine beasts" as she channeled her ice spiritual energy for another sword strike. Wherever her sword pointed, those "divine beasts" seemed somewhat cowardly, scattering to avoid it. However, their speed was clearly no match for Yun Qingyue's sword strikes, and before long, several had been hit, each developing black marks on their bodies.
These were solidified remnants where the magma had been rapidly cooled by ice—not granite, but a certain mineral from the cultivation world.
The physical change seemed to greatly affect those agile puppets. After being struck, they all fled back into the magma. But before long, the solidified minerals were remelted by the magma, and the "divine beasts" leaped out again, lively as ever.
Yun Qingyue had merely been testing, and seeing this, she knew escape wouldn't be a quick matter, so she didn't rush to attack again. While remaining defensive with her sword, she continued observing and quickly noticed the white tiger's unusual behavior—her gaze was exceptionally animated, as if tracking something. Looking carefully at where her gaze fell, it was precisely on those "divine beasts," one after another.
Senior Sister was extremely perceptive and had also discovered the "divine beasts'" peculiarities. Her pupils flashed slightly as she inconspicuously tightened her grip on her sword hilt.
After waiting quietly for a moment, she suddenly struck with her sword at a precise instant.
Yun Qingyue's movement was lightning-fast—almost at the exact moment the white tiger's gaze fell on the "Black Tortoise," her sword had already arrived. The strange fire hiding in the "Black Tortoise's" body was happily playing hide-and-seek with the white tiger and completely failed to notice that the other person had targeted it from behind. Thus, completely unguarded, it was struck by the ice!
A sharp cry seemed to ring out suddenly, though perhaps nothing was heard and the cry was merely an illusion.
The white tiger watched as the "Black Tortoise" transformed into a heavy black boulder, encased in thick ice as it sank into the magma pool, momentarily unable to react. She stammered: "What just happened?"
The system was equally astonished, responding in a daze: "Senior Sister struck."
The white tiger had just been discussing with the system how to catch the strange fire and hadn't yet communicated with Senior Sister, yet Senior Sister had been so perceptive, delivering a fatal blow! She blinked, looking at the rapidly sinking "Black Tortoise," then at Senior Sister who had not yet withdrawn her sword, and asked with concern: "System, is the strange fire alright? It's not extinguished, is it?"
The system was speechless but still replied: "Host, what are you thinking? That's a strange fire with consciousness—how could it be so weak? Besides, this is a magma pool, with high-temperature magma beneath your feet. This is its territory."
Hearing this, the white tiger immediately realized the danger and ran toward Senior Sister: "Senior Sister, run quickly!"
However, her warning came too late. The injured strange fire was clearly enraged.
Massive surges of magma suddenly rose up, creating thirty-foot waves without wind, forming magma walls on all four sides that surrounded and descended directly toward Yun Qingyue, poised to kill her.
Even from a distance, the white tiger could feel the scorching temperature—the magma was at least ten times hotter than before.