When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The system, though often idle, proved remarkably useful when needed.

The moment Jiang Mo sought help, the system’s scanning function activated. Energy tendrils swiftly extended towards the sand golem. This energy, distinct from the cultivation world’s system, went undetected by the formidable sand golem.

The system’s scan of the golem was akin to x-ray vision, not only seeing through it inside and out but also analyzing its composition. Though many substances in the cultivation world were difficult to detect, their uniqueness was a characteristic in itself. For instance, this sand golem was entirely composed of sand, except for a fist-sized unknown substance in its chest.

In mere seconds, the scan results appeared on the panel. Jiang Mo, prompted by the system’s light orb, opened the panel and was immediately drawn to the unknown substance.

She quickly glanced at the transparent image on the panel, then looked up at the animated sand golem before her, asking, “System, what’s that mass in the sand golem’s chest?”

The system replied without hesitation: “It’s energy.”

Of course it was energy. Even if the cultivation world wasn’t entirely scientific, energy conservation seemed a universal rule across all worlds. Without energy, how would this sand golem differ from the sand on the ground? Why could it run, jump, and attack while the surrounding sand remained inert?

Realizing she had asked a foolish question, Jiang Mo clarified, “I mean, do you know what kind of energy it is? Is it pure, intangible energy, or something concrete, like a stone core?”

The system swiftly analyzed and concluded: “There’s an 80% chance it’s an energy crystal core.”

“Energy crystal core” was the system’s terminology, certainly not a term used in the cultivation world. To the system, things like spirit stones (the currency of the cultivation world), spiritual ore, and even some special pills or refined artifacts were all energy crystal cores. Regardless, being a crystal core meant this energy mass had a tangible form.

The little white cat’s eyes immediately brightened. She abandoned her plan to sneak behind the sand golem and was about to call out to her senior sister when she suddenly switched to voice transmission: “Senior Sister, the sand golem’s weakness is in its chest. Attack its chest!”

No matter how formidable the sand golem was, cutting off its energy supply would end it once and for all.

Yun Qingyu heard the little white tiger’s transmission and instinctively glanced at the sand golem’s chest area. Though she saw nothing unusual, trusting the guardian beast, she shifted her attack target. The revived sand golem had donned its armor again, making it challenging to attack its protected chest, but having experienced breaking through the armor once, she wasn’t rushed.

While Yun Qingyu remained calm, she noticed the sand golem opposite her growing agitated, or at least no longer ignoring her attacks.

Previously, no matter how Yun Qingyu attacked, even when the armor finally shattered, the sand golem remained impassive. This time, after just two sword thrusts at its chest plate, the sand golem began defensive maneuvers.

It either raised its sword to block, dodged sideways, or, when too late for either, used its arm to shield itself.

Yun Qingyu, with her extensive battle experience, immediately realized the little white tiger’s hint was accurate—the sand golem’s weakness indeed lay in its chest. Her gaze hardened with renewed determination. After swiftly swallowing several spirit-replenishing pills, her attacks grew increasingly aggressive.

◆◇◆◇◆

Knowing the sand golem’s weakness, Yun Qingyu’s attacks flowed more smoothly.

Previously, she had depleted her spiritual energy and relied on the little white cat’s surreptitious attack to defeat the sand golem. This time, with her spiritual energy unrecovered, the situation initially seemed unfavorable. Yet, she managed to turn the tide and ultimately vanquish the sand golem.

Remembering the little white cat’s hint, Yun Qingyu felt her sword tip strike something the instant it pierced the sand golem’s chest. The sensation differed entirely from piercing sand—there was no sticky resistance, nor the looseness of dispersing sand. Instead, it felt hard, like striking stone. Before she could discern more, the sand golem before her completely disintegrated.

A massive pile of sand collapsed, and the wind blew a cloud of dust into their faces, nearly blinding them. When Yun Qingyu waved away the dust before her eyes, she saw a huge sand pile several people tall.

Yun Qingyu frowned, gripping her sword tightly, wary of the dispersed sand golem reviving again.

In fact, Yun Qingyu’s concern wasn’t unfounded. Jiang Mo shared the same worry—she had witnessed the sand golem’s defeat and seen Fuxue sword pierce the energy crystal core that enabled its revival. Unfortunately, the energy crystal core, made of unknown material, wasn’t shattered by her senior sister’s strike. Instead, it fell back into the sand pile with the collapsing sand.

This wasn’t good news. Just as Jiang Mo was about to remind her senior sister to search for the energy crystal core, the system excitedly exclaimed, “Host, quick, stop it. The energy crystal core is replenishing its energy. The golem will revive soon!”

Jiang Mo was momentarily confused by this news: “What do you mean, replenishing? Shouldn’t the energy crystal core be releasing energy to revive the golem?”

The system, wasting no time, quickly displayed the current scan results on the panel, along with an energy flow diagram. When it came to detecting energy, perhaps nothing was more sensitive than the system. In its diagram, Jiang Mo clearly saw energy from the entire desert converging towards the energy crystal core in the sand pile.

Seeing this, she was puzzled only for a moment before realizing—in the cultivation world, energy primarily took the form of spiritual energy. The energy provided by this desert was likely earth-attribute spiritual energy. The object in the sand golem’s chest must be some rare treasure capable of absorbing external spiritual energy and converting it to power the sand golem’s creation, combat, and revival.

Recalling the time it took for the golem to revive previously and observing the current rate of the crystal core’s energy absorption, Jiang Mo felt her scalp tingle with alarm. The little white cat wasted no time. After a few bounds up the sand pile, she began digging rapidly towards the crystal core’s location.

She moved quickly, having already excavated the crystal core by the time Yun Qingyu arrived.

Unlike the scan image in the system, the crystal core before them glinted with an odd light in the sunlight, appearing incredibly beautiful at first glance. If it weren’t so dangerous, it would make an excellent collectible or gift, sure to please any girl.

Yun Qingyu arrived just in time to witness this scene. She paused briefly, then blurted out, “A golem’s heart?!”

The illiterate tiger didn’t know what a golem’s heart was, but Yun Qingyu, having frequented the sect’s library before her Foundation Establishment training, was familiar with many of the cultivation world’s rare treasures. Though her knowledge was superficial, she understood the power of a golem’s heart. Without hesitation, she quickly formed a hand seal to freeze it.

Frost spread rapidly, enveloping the oddly glowing crystal core. The fist-sized golem’s heart instantly became encased in ice the size of a small watermelon. However, the ice was merely superficial; Yun Qingyu’s true purpose was to isolate it from spiritual energy.

From the two previous sand golems, it was clear that this golem’s heart was earth-attribute. Among the Five Elements, earth might seem the least conspicuous, but it was actually the most troublesome, as earth-attribute spiritual energy was almost omnipresent. As long as this golem’s heart could access earth-attribute spiritual energy, it could continuously transform into a golem, truly undying and relentless.

Yun Qingyu’s action this time was slightly delayed, as she hadn’t initially expected to encounter such a legendary item. From the sand golem’s collapse to Jiang Mo excavating the golem’s heart, and then to Yun Qingyu freezing it, it had already replenished a significant amount of energy.

Sure enough, once the golem’s heart was frozen and unable to absorb more earth-attribute spiritual energy, it didn’t remain idle.

Sand quickly gathered around the “ice watermelon,” but this time, with insufficient earth-attribute spiritual energy absorbed by the golem’s heart, the reforming sand golem lacked its previous grandeur.

What reappeared before the human and tiger was a sand golem of average human size. It still wore the sand armor, identical in appearance and attire to its predecessor, except for its greatly reduced stature… Compared to the previous sand golem, this one looked like a small-scale figurine next to a large one from the same production line, or like a son next to his father.

This sand golem, having revived countless times, seemed to have developed its own consciousness. Upon revival, its eyes gleamed with even greater ferocity. It formed a sand sword and prepared to attack again, but upon turning its head, it froze.

What was happening? Why did the enemies suddenly become so large?

No, that wasn’t right. The enemies hadn’t grown; it had shrunk!

Realizing this, the sand golem had an ominous feeling. Its empty left hand instinctively touched its chest, sensing an unfamiliar heaviness.

The confused sand golem appeared unexpectedly dumbfounded, but Yun Qingyu and Jiang Mo couldn’t relax at all—Senior Sister had already battled the larger sand golem twice, depleting her spiritual energy in the first fight and relying on spirit-replenishing pills in the second. Though this sand golem wasn’t as imposing as before, another battle would undoubtedly be a significant burden for Senior Sister.

The little white cat stepped forward, transforming back into her white tiger form. Though still small, her aura was much stronger than before.

Before Yun Qingyu could speak, she preempted, “This golem’s heart sounds precious; it’s surely not a tool planted by villains. There’s probably no one else around, Senior Sister. You needn’t worry too much. Let me handle this one.”

Yun Qingyu instinctively glanced around, then sighed. With the little white tiger revealing her true form, what more could she say?

Meanwhile, the smaller sand golem had regained its senses. Though unaware of what had happened, it understood that its sudden shrinkage was related to the human and tiger before it. Enraged, it swung its sword and charged.

The little white tiger, not to be outdone, let out a “Roar!” as golden light flashed across her body, and she pounced towards the sand golem…