Chapter 452 : Too Content to Leave
452: Too Content to Leave
The big tiger was throwing a little tantrum, waiting for someone to coax her.
However, as she waited and waited, Senior Sister didn't speak up, nor did she receive any loving pats or hugs. At first, she tilted her ears hopefully, but after a while, she lost patience, her heart thoroughly soaked in grievance.
Just then, the lightning pool, which had gradually calmed down, suddenly became violent again. Clusters of lightning began to gather and explode around her. This startled the big tiger, who had just adjusted to the lightning's intensity, causing all her fur to stand on end... and her already electricity-curled fur became even more uniformly curled, transforming her into a curly-haired tiger in minutes.
Jiang Mo wanted to cry but had no tears, feeling somewhat under siege. But the next second, she was caught by an arm around her neck. However, after returning to her original form, she was truly quite large, so the arm barely touched her neck.
"Hmm?" The big tiger turned her head in surprise and indeed saw that someone else had entered the lightning pool.
Yun Qingyue had somehow entered the lightning pool as well. Her cyan-colored robe seemed special, unaffected by the lightning's attacks. The wide garment floated on the lightning pool like it would on water, accentuating her tall figure and beautiful face, resembling a proud blue lotus blooming defiantly in this azure lightning pool.
Jiang Mo finally understood why the lightning pool had suddenly erupted, and why she was now being doubly electrocuted. But at this moment, she couldn't think about any of that—her heart and eyes were filled with the stunning beauty before her.
Until Yun Qingyue's fair hand rubbed the tiger's head, giving the big tiger an electric jolt that brought her back to reality.
It was somewhat stimulating, and Jiang Mo couldn't tell whether she had been electrified by the lightning Yun Qingyue carried or by the person herself. Then she heard Senior Sister say: "You're too big now, not easy to hug. Better shrink a bit."
Jiang Mo was stunned for a moment, then her eyes instantly brightened.
The big tiger had now completely adapted to the electrical shocks of the lightning pool. Apart from the slight sting of lightning tempering her body, soaking in the lightning pool felt no different from soaking in a spirit spring before. She excitedly spun around in place, and the already violent lightning pool became even more powerful with her disturbance.
Jiang Mo was electrocuted once more, this time even the fur at the tip of her tail stood on end. But she didn't mind at all, only cautiously glancing at Senior Sister, afraid she might anger her with the commotion.
However, that wasn't the case. In fact, Yun Qingyue's adaptation to the lightning pool was far superior to Jiang Mo's—earlier, when she pressed the tiger's head into the lightning pool, one of her own hands had also been immersed in the lightning. As everyone knows, the human body conducts electricity, so with one hand in the pool, Yun Qingyue endured nearly as much electrical shock as the big tiger.
But unlike Jiang Mo, who was shocked into revealing her true form, Yun Qingyue, having experienced many lightning tribulations, clearly had a much stronger tolerance for lightning than the White Tiger who had rarely been struck by lightning. From beginning to end, she appeared perfectly composed.
Seeing that Senior Sister wasn't angry, the big tiger didn't dare to make any more trouble. With a shift of spiritual energy, her form began to shrink at a visible rate. The originally enormous divine beast quickly shrank to the size of an adult tiger, then turned and pounced, placing her thick tiger paws on Yun Qingyue's shoulders, jumping into her arms and even pushing her down into the lightning pool.
The blue-purple lightning crackled loudly, but the two who had sunk into the pool ignored its power, finding it merely noisy.
Within the lightning pool was dense, solidified lightning that looked terrifying. Ordinary people would be reduced to ashes in minutes if they fell in, and even cultivators with shallow cultivation would feel immense pressure.
But Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue were different—their cultivation realms were deep enough, and their physical bodies strong enough. Even though they had fallen into the lightning pool and were completely surrounded by lightning, those menacing lightning clusters had become mere background—under the lightning's embrace, the two seemed to have entered a separate, quiet space where only they existed.
After pouncing on her, Jiang Mo had somehow returned to human form. She placed both hands on Yun Qingyue's shoulders, leaning slightly to embrace her, while simultaneously, another pair of arms encircled her slender waist.
Jiang Mo looked up, meeting Yun Qingyue's gaze, and suddenly felt a stirring in her heart.
This wasn't the first time Jiang Mo had felt such a stirring for Yun Qingyue. In fact, when you like someone, such feelings are often present. But in the past, the little tiger had the desire but not the courage, never daring to do anything. This time, perhaps emboldened by the arms around her waist, she suddenly leaned forward and pressed her lips against those she had been yearning for.
Yun Qingyue could have avoided it, just as she had done before, indulgent yet restrained with Jiang Mo's feelings. But this time, her eyelashes only trembled slightly, and she didn't evade. Thus, that impulsive kiss, both reckless and gentle, landed on her lips...
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Jiang Mo had turned back into a tiger, turning her back to Yun Qingyue, almost curling herself into a ball.
The first kiss with Senior Sister wasn't long, as Jiang Mo had no experience, and neither did Yun Qingyue. The two only clumsily pressed their lips together, feeling each other's softness and warmth, their hearts pounding.
Moments later, they separated, and when their eyes met again, even Yun Qingyue had lost her usual coolness.
Jiang Mo could feel that something had finally broken free of its cocoon. When she met Yun Qingyue's slightly bashful gaze, the joy in her heart was about to overflow... then that overflowing joy turned into embarrassment. Because she had forgotten that her robe wasn't lightning-resistant and had shattered completely when she first fell into the lightning pool—she was still completely naked!
It wasn't that she couldn't be honest with her beloved, but this development was too fast, and one-sided honesty was very embarrassing. Jiang Mo's face instantly turned bright red, and she finally understood the source of Senior Sister's bashfulness.
If she were the one fully clothed, and Senior Sister were the one exposed...
Jiang Mo imagined the scene and immediately felt heat rising in her nostrils. She didn't even attempt to retrieve a new robe to cover herself, directly returning to her beast form, then turning her back to Senior Sister and curling into a ball.
Yun Qingyue could guess some of her thoughts, knowing she was embarrassed, and found it both funny and endearing. But she could never have guessed that Jiang Mo had imagined things she shouldn't have. So she raised her arm to embrace the tiger ball, stroking the White Tiger's once again soft and flowing fur, and asked with a smile: "What's this? So forward a moment ago, and now you're shy?"
Hearing this, Jiang Mo's heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, after returning to her original form, her tiger fur was sufficient to hide the crimson blush and guilt on her face. She grunted twice and muttered: "I'm not shy."
After saying this, Jiang Mo finally composed herself—after all, Senior Sister didn't know what she was thinking, so why should she feel guilty?
The White Tiger turned around and pounced on Senior Sister again, her furry tiger head kissing and nuzzling against Senior Sister's face.
...
The lightning pool at the back of Mount Tianyang was formidable, brought back and sealed here by the founding ancestor with great effort. The powerful lightning force had many uses—it could help cultivators temper their bodies, and it could also be used to refine sword embryos.
However, experience had proven that while Xuanqing Sect disciples had many cultivation methods to choose from, those focused purely on body tempering were definitely a small minority. Furthermore, those who weren't practicing body tempering but still willing to endure this suffering to be struck by lightning were even rarer... Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue had never seen anyone since arriving at the lightning pool, nor during their time soaking in it.
The two of them soaked in the lightning pool, waiting for the demonic energy contaminating Jiang Mo's wound to be eliminated, while also finding their days far from monotonous.
Once the White Tiger had grown accustomed to the electric current of the pool, she adapted extremely well. Occasionally, when she found the lightning's power insufficient, she would swim a few laps in the pool to stimulate the lightning to collide and erupt. Most of the time, however, she was too lazy to move, or would only swim around Senior Sister, occasionally approaching to kiss and nuzzle her, attempting to repeatedly test Yun Qingyue's boundaries.
However, Jiang Mo seemed to have misjudged something. She had always thought Senior Sister's boundaries were very high, so she never dared to be too unrestrained. But after days of practical testing, she discovered that Senior Sister's tolerance for her was actually quite high—she had yet to cross any of her boundaries.
Felines are always curious, and after repeatedly testing the waters with careful paws, their courage gradually grows.
The White Tiger swiftly swung her tail in the lightning pool, instantly swimming far away. Then, before Yun Qingyue could turn to look for her, she stealthily slipped behind her, and suddenly bare arms encircled Yun Qingyue's slender waist. At the same time, a soft body pressed against her back, clinging tightly to her spine.
Warm breath beat rhythmically against her ear, and Yun Qingyue's earlobes slowly reddened, her body imperceptibly stiffening. But quickly, she gently pulled away that hand: "Stop fooling around."
Unfortunately, Jiang Mo was no longer as obedient as before. The hand that had been pulled away soon wrapped around her again, and Jiang Mo also rested her chin on Yun Qingyue's shoulder: "Alright, no more fooling around. Let's cultivate."
As she spoke, spiritual energy circulated, and the surrounding spiritual energy began to gather toward the two of them.
She moved so quickly that Yun Qingyue had no time to push her away. Additionally, with their skin touching and their previous tacit understanding of cultivating together, Yun Qingyue's internal spiritual energy was quickly mobilized by her. A familiar spiritual energy vortex formed above their heads, and the surrounding spiritual energy surged in with doubled intensity. Unconsciously, Yun Qingyue was drawn into the rhythm of cultivation.
At some point, Jiang Mo had gently kissed the back of her neck, feeling the spiritual energy flowing back and forth between their bodies, experiencing a joy of intimate connection. Then her gaze shifted slightly, falling on her own bare shoulder.
On that fair shoulder, the pink scar had faded and would soon disappear completely—her wound was about to heal. The demonic energy that had clung to her wound had been struck away by the lightning in the pool at some point. Without the obstruction of demonic energy, the White Tiger's powerful body recovered quickly. Perhaps after this cultivation session, even this slight scar would vanish.
But after soaking in this lightning pool for so long, she had become too content to leave, not really wanting to go anymore.