Chapter 288 : Peace of Mind
What the system called "equipping" was actually the process of refining. This was true for all treasures—only after refining them could they be better utilized. However, at the moment, they lacked both spiritual power and time. While the White Tiger and her Senior Sister could hide in the Innate Space, her master was still outside. What if the merperson took advantage of their absence, activated the altar, and sacrificed everyone in one go? Wouldn't that be an irreversible tragedy?
Therefore, after stuffing the Formation-Breaking Pearl into Yun Qingyue's hand, Jiang Mo didn't linger. She instructed her to use anything in the space freely, then immediately flashed back outside. As for the single-use Formation-Breaking Pearl, it was convenient to use—she simply swallowed it.
When the majestic White Tiger reappeared before the merperson, her already substantial size immediately expanded several times more. Standing at least three to four meters tall at the shoulder, she made the normal-sized merperson look like a "little fish" before her. Simultaneously, the protective golden light around the White Tiger's body began to shine, clearly demonstrating the reality of her restored spiritual power.
The merperson, facing this suddenly appearing behemoth, was momentarily shocked speechless: "Y-y-you... how could..."
The White Tiger, already frustrated and angered by his attacks, now felt her spiritual power return and became completely uninhibited. With a tiger's roar that cut off the merperson's words, she pounced forward.
This attack was no longer the previous show of strength hiding inner weakness. The merperson's counterattack landing on the White Tiger dissipated against her protective golden light like a mud ox entering the sea. As her four paws trod the wind and she closed in, one swipe of her paw tore through the glass-like barrier containing the seawater.
In that moment, Jiang Mo heard a "pop," like a bubble being pierced.
Then came the sound of water—"splash"—as the seawater confined by the formation spread uncontrollably in all directions. This wasn't because the merperson wasn't controlling it or couldn't control it, but because after breaking the light barrier, Jiang Mo didn't stop—she lunged directly at the merperson. Like a large cat catching a fish, one swipe nearly dragged him over.
The merperson dodged, but with lingering fear, unable to comprehend how the White Tiger had suddenly recovered her spiritual power and cultivation. Though he couldn't understand this point, he clearly saw the power disparity between them, and his heart immediately sank as he thought of escape.
However, Jiang Mo had just spent a large amount of points and was feeling the pain of it—how could she let the merperson escape easily? She had spent those 100,000 points for her Senior Sister willingly, but her own 1,000 points made her heart ache!
Besides, if she let the fish escape, would she allow him to continue causing trouble?
Jiang Mo wasn't foolish. Moreover, this merperson still had a main storyline quest attached to him. Keeping him, whether for interrogation or otherwise, to extract information and complete the system task, would at least earn her some points to recover her losses.
The merperson raised his hand again to stir up a wave of wind and water. This time, he didn't intend to do anything to the White Tiger, even if she retreated into her Innate Space. As long as he had those few moments of respite, he could activate the remaining formation on the ground and teleport away from here. As for what would happen here afterward, he couldn't care less—as long as he preserved himself, there would be opportunities in the future.
Unfortunately, with her protective golden light restored, the White Tiger had no intention of dodging this time. She charged directly into the imposing wind and waves. The pressure crashed down on her, causing her protective golden light to flicker several times, yet it still couldn't delay her in the slightest.
The White Tiger broke through the merperson's wind and waves and viciously swiped at him.
The movements of feline creatures are both swift and fierce, and the White Tiger with restored cultivation was even more so—this attack was so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen. Combined with the now enormous size difference between them, the merperson only felt a black shadow descending upon him, and before he could even dodge, he was swatted away.
The swatted merperson was like a fish hauled ashore, floundering awkwardly on the ground. However, merpeople are tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, not unable to survive out of water. He quickly tumbled back up, and apart from some dishevelment, he had only lost a few scales. But escape was no longer easy for him, as the White Tiger's swipe had physically knocked him beyond the range of the transportation array.
Nevertheless, the merperson hadn't given up. As he rose, his hands secretly formed the seals to activate the transportation array—it didn't matter if he couldn't teleport himself; sending his opponent away would work just as well, perhaps even better!
The altar had already been activated and it would be best to complete the sacrifice immediately. If he fled now, it would be difficult to clean up the aftermath.
Jiang Mo didn't know the merperson's secret thoughts, but how could she not see his ill intentions? Not to mention that her Senior Sister was still in her space—she was at her most vigilant right now. Therefore, when she saw the merperson hiding his movements, doing who-knows-what, she instinctively felt a warning. Without hesitation, she leaped once more, pouncing toward the merperson.
The merperson was a step behind, and before he could complete the hand seals, Jiang Mo physically pinned him to the ground. Her powerful tiger paw pressed on his shoulder, sharp claws piercing his skin and flesh. As fresh blood gushed out, intense pain swept over him.
Yet Jiang Mo wasn't satisfied with this, nor did she feel secure. Her other paw stomped on the merperson's chest and abdomen several times... With such a large tiger, one can imagine how heavy those steps were. The merperson's originally white skin quickly turned red, then blue, then purple. It was unclear whether he had sustained internal injuries, but had he not been of the demonic race, he would likely have been trampled to death.
At this point, the merperson was finally captured, and the situation completely reversed.
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While Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue confronted the merperson, Zhu Baiyi and Tan Xin were busy like industrious ants, moving the cultivators off the altar one by one. Tan Xin's movements were relatively gentle, supporting, carrying, or helping people down the altar. Zhu Baiyi was much more direct and crude, simply throwing people off the altar one by one, and when her arms tired, she even resorted to kicking.
After all, even without spiritual power and cultivation, cultivators were still tough-skinned and thick-fleshed—a fall wouldn't kill them.
During this time, the group of natives intimidated by the White Tiger hadn't remained passive—they had attempted to stop the two. But Zhu Baiyi was a formidable Grand Achievement stage cultivator with half demonic bloodline; how could she be easily dealt with?
The natives didn't dare make too much noise, fearing they would attract the White Tiger's attention—they weren't fools; they had seen how the merperson hadn't even dared to fight the White Tiger earlier, turning tail and fleeing instead. This undoubtedly deepened the natives' apprehension. Besides, Zhu Baiyi and Tan Xin were only moving people off the altar, not attempting to escape. In the end, the natives merely surrounded them without taking further action.
Zhu Baiyi didn't mind this. After all the people had been thrown off the altar, she dragged Tan Xin back to Qingyu's side, then pointed at Qingyu and said to Tan Xin: "Little monk, you can save people, right? Quickly wake her up."
Hearing this, Tan Xin glanced at Zhu Baiyi but didn't refuse. After closing his eyes briefly, he extended his finger and touched it to Qingyu's forehead.
The young monk said nothing, but his gaze was too penetrating, as if he could see through everything. Zhu Baiyi inexplicably felt a bit uneasy, suddenly realizing the impropriety of her identity. Thinking of the fastidiousness of righteous path practitioners, she feared bringing trouble to Qingyu because of herself—their relationship was already complicated, and she didn't want to create additional obstacles between them, much less compromise Qingyu's reputation.
Therefore, while Tan Xin was providing aid, regardless of whether he could hear her, Zhu Baiyi offered an explanation of her own: "Qingyu's strength is not weak. The sooner we wake her, the more help we'll have."
As her words fell, Tan Xin withdrew his finger. The tiny bit of spiritual power at his fingertip dissipated, and his face suddenly turned pale. Evidently, he had heard Zhu Baiyi's explanation, and now he silently looked at Dharma Master Huineng, whom he had deliberately placed aside—the old monk had also failed to break free from the merperson blood's control, and in terms of cultivation realm, he was senior to Qingyu, his level only higher, not lower.
Zhu Baiyi understood the meaning of his glance. According to her logic, if he truly wanted to save someone, he should have saved his own elder first. Since Qingyu had now awakened, Zhu Baiyi said: "I was careless. Dharma Master Huineng should also be awakened."
Tan Xin sighed and said: "This humble monk is willing but unable. Let's wait a moment."
Clearly, Tan Xin's ability to save people wasn't easily exercised. At present, he had saved Qingyu and now needed to wait before he could save Huineng. And with hundreds of cultivators under the merperson blood's control, relying on him to save them one by one would take until the year of the monkey.
Qingyu, who had just awakened, heard a few words and guessed what had happened. Just as she was feeling somewhat apologetic, she looked up and witnessed the scene of the White Tiger pouncing on the merperson. Having been controlled by the merperson blood and trapped in a dream, she hadn't seen the White Tiger's transformation, but seeing her figure here didn't surprise her. She even remarked to herself: So Jianbing is indeed here too.
As for who Jianbing had transformed into, she knew without guessing!
Not far away, the White Tiger had achieved a great victory. After nearly trampling the merperson to the point of helplessness, she carried him back like a cat with a dead fish. Meeting Qingyu's gaze, she showed no guilt whatsoever.
Qingyu wanted to say something to Jianbing but ultimately didn't say much, only asking: "Where is Qingyue?"
Uncertain whether her Senior Sister had refined the Formation-Breaking Pearl yet, the White Tiger dropped the merperson and merely said "Wait," then flashed back into her Innate Space.
At this moment, Yun Qingyue in the Innate Space had not refined the Formation-Breaking Pearl. Even though she didn't recognize what this object was, with the precedent of the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl, she could guess it must be something valuable—the White Tiger always saved the best things for her, but how could she accept them again and again with peace of mind?