When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

By the time You Yi and Ruan Le awoke, Yun Qingyu had long since left the stone forest, carrying the transformed little white cat.

As mentioned earlier, the Canglan Secret Realm was likely designed to test and pass on legacy. Upon entry, it separated Nascent Soul cultivators from Golden Core cultivators—the three sects had no Foundation Establishment disciples entering the realm, otherwise, they would have seen the area divisions more clearly. Ruan Le was originally a Golden Core cultivator, yet she now encountered Yun Qingyu and You Yi, both Nascent Soul cultivators. Did this mean the boundaries could be crossed?

Yun Qingyu had little interest in Golden Core resources, but their purpose for entering was to explore the secret realm. Exploration wasn’t a short-term endeavor, and to accumulate experience for future generations, she didn’t mind experimenting.

This was more important than reuniting with her sect mates!

Yun Qingyu discussed this with Jiang Mo, and the little white cat, nestled obediently in her arms, naturally had no objections. So the pair continued eastward, battling demonic beasts and mining ores along the way. Unfortunately, apart from that elemental crystal mine, they encountered nothing of value in this desert… After traversing several hundred or thousand li, they finally left the desert, reaching its edge.

Gazing at the gobi ahead and the distant oasis, Yun Qingyu suddenly had a realization. Perhaps prompted by the secret realm, she vaguely sensed that this was the boundary, and the desert behind them might be a transition zone.

Yun Qingyu’s eyelashes lowered momentarily, as if pondering something, but she quickly opened her eyes again and continued towards the gobi ahead.

One step, two steps, three steps… As expected, she was blocked.

An invisible barrier appeared before her. Yun Qingyu tentatively launched an attack, but it didn’t even cause a ripple in the barrier, let alone shake it. The little white tiger faced the same result; despite usually being able to easily penetrate barriers, this time she was equally unsuccessful. Just then, they watched as a lone Flame Venom Scorpion passed by them, sauntering to the other side.

Indeed, this was a barrier preventing Nascent Soul cultivators from entering the Golden Core area; neither human nor tiger could pass. Conversely, Golden Core cultivators could freely cross this barrier in both directions.

One had to wonder about that fifth-grade Flame Venom Scorpion king; surely it couldn’t have separated from its colony.

Perhaps the demonic beasts in the secret realm weren’t affected by the barrier? But that seemed unlikely. After all, if demonic beasts were unconstrained, how would they stay in specific areas? Sixth or seventh-grade beasts might decide they liked a third-grade area and claim it as their territory. Demonic beasts wouldn’t be reasonable, and any cultivators entering the secret realm who encountered them would face certain death.

Thinking this through, only one possibility remained—this Flame Venom Scorpion king might be the mini-boss guarding the Golden Core area. The volcanic cluster it presided over must contain something valuable!

Ruan Le’s luck was both good and bad. Not only was she teleported directly into the boss’s territory upon entering the secret realm, but she also accidentally stepped on and killed many baby scorpions. As a result, she had no chance to develop or search for treasures. The boss immediately turned hostile and began pursuit mode, chasing her to the brink of death… It was enough to make one shed tears of sympathy for her.

The little white tiger’s imagination ran wild, conjuring up a grand drama in her mind, thoroughly entertaining herself.

Meanwhile, Yun Qingyu’s attention wasn’t on the passing Flame Venom Scorpion. She studied the barrier blocking her way but, being a sword cultivator rather than a formation master, couldn’t discern any weaknesses in the restriction.

Of course, even if Wen Jin, the formation expert, were here, he probably couldn’t see anything either.

After half a day of fruitless investigation, Yun Qingyu finally decided to stop wasting time. She took a last look at the empty gobi and oasis on the other side, then at the jade tokens showing her distant Golden Core sect mates. She took out a jade slip for recording routes and environments, made a few simple notes to mark their location, then turned back westward, carrying the little white cat.

This trip yielded little, but it wasn’t in vain. At least submitting this jade slip to the sect would earn a fair amount of sect points.

On the return journey, the pair chatted idly. The little white cat, full of enthusiasm, let her imagination run wild: “Since there’s a barrier between Nascent Soul and Golden Core, there must be one between Soul Formation and Nascent Soul too. Senior Sister, what do you think would happen if we went to the Soul Formation territory to plunder resources, then fled back across the barrier when chased by sixth-grade demonic beasts? Those beasts would probably be furious.”

Yun Qingyu watched the little white cat gesticulating with her paws and couldn’t resist tapping her head with a finger. “What nonsense are you thinking? Aren’t you afraid of encountering something like the Flame Venom Scorpion king? Where would you run then?”

The little white cat held her head, looking wronged, and spoke truthfully: “But even the Flame Venom Scorpion king wouldn’t dare provoke me.”

This was true. Fearing the white tiger’s pressure, the Flame Venom Scorpion king had abandoned its prey, You Yi. Currently, the little white tiger’s bloodline pressure was highly effective against those of the same rank, but its effectiveness against sixth-grade demonic beasts remained unknown.

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The desert was vast. To avoid encountering You Yi and Ruan Le on their return, Yun Qingyu chose a path away from the stone forest. This lengthened their journey out of the desert, and it took several more days before they reached its edge.

As the monotonous scenery finally changed, the little white cat perked up.

With a leap, the little white cat jumped from her senior sister’s arms, landing on the soft yellow sand. She first shook out her fur, then took a few cat-like steps before suddenly realizing the midday desert sand was a bit hot on her paws. Having just jumped down, she was too embarrassed to jump back into her senior sister’s arms, so she trotted forward while looking back, saying, “We’re finally out. Once we leave the desert, I’ll continue helping Senior Sister search for treasures.”

Yun Qingyu made no comment, though it was unclear if she had noticed something. A hint of amusement flashed in her crystal-clear eyes—this was a testing ground for Nascent Soul cultivators in the secret realm; surely the sand wasn’t ordinary.

Unaware of this, the little white cat grew increasingly frustrated as she ran.

She had worked hard to reach Nascent Soul level, yet her paws were still burned by desert sand. How could she face anyone if this got out?

Oh, wait, she already couldn’t face anyone… The long-absent system popped up again, its light orb flashing before her eyes, laughing loudly in her consciousness. Even when she swatted it away with her paw, the laughter didn’t stop. However, as it laughed, the system’s voice suddenly changed. Its flat, mechanical tone became sharp: “Host, watch out!”

Though Jiang Mo and the system often bickered, their fundamental trust had never been broken. Especially in critical situations, Jiang Mo’s trust in the system had become almost instinctive. Hearing the warning, she immediately rolled to the side.

The advantage of reaching Nascent Soul level was that even rolling was faster than before.

Even forgetting she could fly, even if rolling seemed ungraceful, Jiang Mo still dodged at the system’s first warning.

A thunderous boom followed a beat later, accompanied by earth-shaking tremors and the sound of falling sand… Before Jiang Mo could stand, the commotion made her stumble and fall again. Fortunately, a pale hand grabbed her the next second, pulling her back into that familiar embrace with its cool fragrance.

Yun Qingyu hovered in the air, holding her Fuxue sword, her brows slightly furrowed as she observed the scene before her—moments ago, a sudden change occurred. The previously calm sand suddenly rose from the ground. In just a few breaths, the rising sand gathered and took shape, forming a massive, square golem with limbs and a head, covered in a layer of sand armor glowing with an earthy yellow light.

Sand seemed like it would scatter at a touch, but this sand golem exuded an imposing pressure. It stood three or four people tall, its thick legs looking capable of crushing someone with a single step. When it turned its “gaze” towards them, even its sand eyes seemed fierce.

What was this? A test or an ambush?

Yun Qingyu didn’t dare lower her guard. She hovered in the air, level with the sand golem’s head, but before she could observe it further, the golem opened its hand. The sand on the ground seemed to respond to its call, gathering towards it. In the blink of an eye, the sand condensed into a giant sword, grasped by the sand golem.

The attack came swiftly. The newly formed sand greatsword swung heavily towards Yun Qingyu. Even from afar, one could hear the sharp sound of it cutting through the air, and the wind it generated arrived first, stinging their faces like a physical force.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyu immediately knew the power of this strike without needing to think. Wasting no time on other considerations, she quickly flashed away to create distance.

The sand golem’s strike missed, and simultaneously, Yun Qingyu’s Fuxue sword left its sheath. Sharp sword light wrapped in frost slashed towards the sand golem. Where it passed, even the desert’s high temperature couldn’t melt the frost. The surrounding air froze, instantly dispelling the desert’s dry heat and replacing it with the slight chill of ice and snow.

Yun Qingyu’s strike was powerful; when she had used the ice sword to mine earlier, such a strike would have left deep marks on the black rocks. However, when this strike landed on the sand golem, it neither dodged nor evaded. The yellow light on its sand armor flashed, and it actually withstood the blow!

If not for the little white cat’s keen eyesight, she might not have noticed the tiny trickle of sand falling…

This looked troublesome.

The little white cat’s expression turned serious, a hint of sharp metal energy flashing on her small paw. But before she could act, her senior sister’s voice transmission reached her ears: “This golem’s appearance is suspicious. We don’t know if someone has deliberately set an ambush. Don’t intervene yet; if you reveal your identity, it might cause more trouble.” Then, as if fearing she wouldn’t listen, Yun Qingyu added, “Tiger skin and bones are very valuable, you know.”

That last bit sounded like she was trying to scare a child!

The little white cat’s face fell, but she ultimately withdrew the sharp metal energy from her paw. However, she wasn’t idle. She rummaged through her storage space, pulling out a stack of talismans and occasionally throwing a couple.

Seeing this, Yun Qingyu no longer paid attention to her. She rapidly moved to dodge the sand golem’s attacks while swiftly swinging her Fuxue sword, landing several more heavy blows on the sand golem’s armor—a keen observer would notice that each subsequent strike accurately hit the same spot as the first.

After several rounds, the trickling sand finally became sheets of falling sand, and fine cracks began to appear on the sand armor.