Chapter 359 : Senior Sister, Stop Teasing
After becoming smaller, her fluffy Senior Sister was very adorable, but she had ultimately forgotten her past and was no longer the heart-stirring Senior Sister from before. Jiang Mo didn't mind raising her anew, but if she could help her Senior Sister return sooner, she would be quite willing.
Besides, how could she bear to let the Little Swan Goose go hungry with nothing to eat?
After returning from the Golden Peng's place, Jiang Mo made preparations to leave. Back in her room, she asked the system, "System, do you have any small treasure-hunting tasks or something similar?"
Before the main quest opened, the system had issued numerous small tasks to her, and treasure hunting was one of them. Years ago in the Canglán Secret Realm, the system had issued a task directing her to find the Snow Realm Dragon Flame Flower. Even the spirit vein she now kept in her space to generate spiritual energy was found because of a system task. The advantage of system-issued tasks was that they at least outlined the general location of the objective.
Though the system had been keeping a low profile, it observed everything happening in the outside world clearly, including the conversation between the host and the Golden Peng earlier. Therefore, it understood Jiang Mo's intentions but hesitated, saying, "But host, the main quest..."
Before it could finish, Jiang Mo interrupted—the main quest offered more points, and points could be exchanged for rare treasures not available in this world, like the Ice Soul Condensation Pearl that Yun Qingyue still used to this day. Jiang Mo knew all this, but at present, she wasn't in the mood to undertake any main quests. Moreover, main quests often came with dangers, and she had already lost more than she gained several times. She truly had no interest in taking the Little Swan Goose on an adventure at this time.
The host's attitude was firm, and the system could see this. After searching and rummaging, it reluctantly issued several small tasks.
Jiang Mo opened them and felt somewhat disdainful, as these small tasks not only offered few points but the items weren't particularly precious—in the cultivation world, non-precious treasures meant they didn't contain much spiritual energy, and insufficient spiritual energy wouldn't be enough to feed her Senior Sister.
She was extremely disappointed and said to the system, "Child, you're truly disappointing."
The system felt wronged and was about to say something when it was blocked by the host.
Cultivation always had its benefits. When she first crossed over, Jiang Mo had been dependent on the system in almost every aspect and had no way to manage it. But now with her increased cultivation, she had control over everything within her body, including the system bound to her soul—she had discovered its location. Although she couldn't remove the binding yet and had no intention to do so for now, blocking it had become increasingly effortless.
Having no time to waste words with the system and no desire to undertake any main quests, Jiang Mo simply blocked it. Afterward, she indeed didn't linger at the Buddha Sect for long, quickly bidding farewell and departing with the Little Swan Goose.
Her departure was so swift and resolute that she missed the people from the Xuanqing Sect who came looking for her...
The Buddha Sect and Xuanqing Sect had good relations and frequent exchanges, so naturally, the Buddha Sect would inform the Xuanqing Sect about Jianbing bringing the Swan Goose to undergo tribulation. Additionally, given Yun Qingyue's special status, the Golden Peng had also explained her identity to the Sect Leader afterward, and Huining certainly couldn't keep it secret.
Thus, the Xuanqing Sect received the news that Jianbing, who had sneaked out of the sect, had finally surfaced. As for Yun Qingyue, although she hadn't returned to the sect for many years, the Xuanqing Sect had not removed her name. Now that the descendant of the monstrous race had transformed back into a divine beast through atavism and passed through heavenly tribulation, regardless of the purpose, the Xuanqing Sect intended to bring them both back.
In fact, if the sect were to support her, the Little Swan Goose would definitely not lack food. However, getting entangled in this karmic relationship would eventually require repayment. Whether missing this opportunity to leave was good or bad remained uncertain.
In any case, Jiang Mo took the Little Swan Goose and departed, plunging into the vast world of cultivation, making it difficult for others to find them.
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Three months—the self-proclaimed wealthy Jianbing only managed to feed the Little Swan Goose for three months before her years of savings were depleted.
Whether spiritual herbs and fruits, or spirit pills and stones, everything disappeared into the Little Swan Goose's tender little mouth. Finally, Jiang Mo emptied her space and found that everything edible was gone, leaving only a pile of minerals that looked tough on the teeth.
At that time, the person and cub were in the wilderness. Even though Jiang Mo had many precious minerals, she couldn't quickly exchange them for spirit stones to feed the Little Swan Goose. The unfed Little Swan Goose had wilted, but her phoenix eyes brightened at the sight of the minerals Jiang Mo had emptied out. She flapped her wings, which had just grown two small white feathers, wanting to pounce on the minerals.
Jiang Mo was terrified and quickly held her back: "Senior Sister, stop teasing, these aren't spirit stones; they really can't be eaten!"
The White Tiger belonged to the metal element, so naturally, the minerals she had found were also metallic, most of which were used for artifact refinement. These minerals, when melted and added to magical treasures, not only enhanced the quality of the treasures but also increased their strength... One could imagine how hard these materials were.
Jiang Mo didn't think the Little Swan Goose could gnaw on these minerals like she did with spirit stones, unless her ice spiritual root had mutated into a metal spiritual root. But the hungry Little Swan Goose, sensing abundant spiritual energy, didn't think so—at least she wanted to try. What if she could bite through these minerals? In the Little Swan Goose's simple understanding, as long as she could bite through something, she could digest it!
Finally, Jiang Mo couldn't resist the persistent Little Swan Goose and had to let her go. Then she watched as the bird chick pecked at the azurite known for its hardness...
With a metallic "dong," the Little Swan Goose's tender beak struck the azurite, as if hitting actual metal.
Jiang Mo approached with curiosity to take a look, and sure enough, she found the azurite remained intact, unlike spirit stones that would crumble in the bird's mouth. Given the hardness of azurite, not only was it undamaged after being pecked by the Little Swan Goose, but it didn't even have a small dent.
As for the Little Swan Goose, her full-force peck yielded no results. While her seemingly tender but actually hard beak wasn't damaged, her brain was buzzing, and her eyes were spinning in circles, looking extremely comical... Sorry, Jiang Mo couldn't help it—she covered her mouth and laughed, even sneakily bringing the newly purchased Retention Stone close to take a picture.
It took the Little Swan Goose quite a while to barely regain her senses, after which she became embarrassed and angry, slapping the azurite away with a wing.
Seeing her recover, Jiang Mo quickly suppressed her laughter, fearing that her Senior Sister might remember her mockery if she ever regained her memories. However, she still habitually comforted the cub, throwing away the azurite while saying to the Little Swan Goose, "If this thing isn't good, let's throw it away. Next time, I'll find something better for you."
The Little Swan Goose had grown considerably and could now understand Jiang Mo's words. Hearing this, she pitifully pounced into Jiang Mo's embrace and called out a couple of times as if complaining.
Holding the cub, Jiang Mo's heart nearly melted. If she hadn't remembered that this was her beloved Senior Sister, she might have truly raised the Little Swan Goose as her own... though it was already quite similar now.
After comforting the Little Swan Goose with a few more words, Jiang Mo flipped her hand and took out another mineral rich in spiritual energy, asking the Little Swan Goose, "That one was too hard; this one should be softer. Senior Sister, do you still want to try?"
The Little Swan Goose didn't notice the laughter in Jiang Mo's eyes, but having just had a bad experience, she now deeply despised these stones. She waved her wing, pushing away both Jiang Mo's hand and the stone, then turned her head and angrily pecked Jiang Mo's chin—clearly, even with her lost memory, she was a perceptive cub. Even if she hadn't seen Jiang Mo's secret laughter, she had sensed her mischief.
Jiang Mo rubbed her chin without anger; instead, she stroked the Little Swan Goose and comforted her at length. Without food, she barely managed to console her. Afterward, she once again extended her divine sense to check the surroundings, confirming there were truly no rare treasures nearby, and had to take the Little Swan Goose to the nearest city.
She had no money or food left, but the inedible minerals could be exchanged for spirit stones and other items.
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A Fusion realm cultivator travels quickly, and half a day later, the person and cub arrived at a city called Changhe.
Changhe City wasn't large, but a cultivator's city, though small, had everything it needed. What it didn't lack were shops selling cultivation resources. However, the minerals that Jiang Mo had collected and treasured were naturally not ordinary items, and the food that the Swan Goose would find appealing wouldn't be simple merchandise. Thus, from the moment she entered the city, Jiang Mo hadn't expected to exchange them for anything particularly good.
As the person and cub entered the city, the Little Swan Goose, who hadn't seen so many people for a long time, curiously poked her head out from Jiang Mo's hand, looking around with fascination. Jiang Mo protected her with one hand while scanning with her divine sense, then headed toward the largest auction house in the city.
She needed to exchange the minerals, and at this moment, she envied Mengzhang, or even Zhiming would be fine. Because the Azure Dragon belonged to the wood element and the Black Tortoise to the water element, the treasures they found were edible, making raising cubs much easier!