When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

At the end of his rope, the Nascent Soul chose to self-destruct, taking his enemy down with him.

Yun Qingyu immediately discerned the Nascent Soul’s intentions. Though slightly surprised, it was understandable—the yellow-robed cultivator valued his life, as evidenced by his earlier desperate act of using a junior as a shield. Yun Qingyu had expected him to flee, but perhaps realizing escape was impossible, his dying resentment intensified, making the choice of mutual destruction unsurprising.

As the tiny Nascent Soul began to swell, Yun Qingyu swung her sword, batting it away while leaping backward with the little white tiger in her arms. Vulnerable without its physical body, the Nascent Soul would have lost half its life from Yun Qingyu’s strike if not for its impending explosion.

Even so, seeing its enemy escape, the Nascent Soul was filled with hatred.

Jiang Mo looked up just in time to meet the Nascent Soul’s venomous gaze, feeling as if marked by an evil spirit, and instinctively shuddered. This eye contact lasted only a moment before the Nascent Soul exploded.

The massive energy burst forth, and despite Yun Qingyu’s preparation, the force knocked her forward. A sweet, metallic taste rose in her throat, staining her lips red. Fortunately, she had shielded the little white tiger well. After a brief glimpse of the Nascent Soul, the cub’s head was pressed back into Yun Qingyu’s embrace, sparing her from harm.

Yun Qingyu’s injuries weren’t severe, bringing her some relief. However, the little white tiger in her arms felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest—perhaps due to a divine beast’s instinct, or the manic glee she’d glimpsed in the Nascent Soul’s eyes, giving her an ominous feeling.

“Senior Sister…” the little white tiger began, about to warn her senior sister to be careful.

But it was too late. As the words left her mouth, the surrounding spiritual energy suddenly surged wildly. In the next instant, another thunderous explosion erupted nearby, its power no less than the Nascent Soul’s blast. Being closer, the impact on the pair was even greater.

This time, even with Yun Qingyu’s protection, the little white tiger felt a tremendous shock. Her mind blanked momentarily, and when she regained awareness, she felt warm liquid on her face, carrying a heart-stopping metallic scent.

“Senior Sister!” The little white tiger, recovering from the blast’s impact, quickly wriggled free from the loosened embrace.

Anxiously checking Yun Qingyu’s condition, she found her senior sister pale and unconscious. Jiang Mo’s heart sank. Suspecting something, she hurried to check Yun Qingyu’s back. As feared, the magical robe was destroyed, revealing a mess of blood and torn flesh. Blood flowed profusely, quickly staining the yellow sand and Jiang Mo’s eyes red.

Jiang Mo panicked, fumbling through her storage space, her tiger eyes glistening with moisture.

However, her daily routine had been cultivation within the sect. Even when occasionally chasing spirit beasts around Purple Cloud Peak, her essentially laid-back and cautious nature meant she never challenged difficult opponents… The little white tiger rarely got injured, and while Peak Lord Qinglan occasionally sent her some pills, they were for cultivation assistance, not for treating wounds.

Jiang Mo had considered this before departing but feared that asking Peak Lord Qinglan for medicinal pills might reveal her intentions, ultimately abandoning the idea. She had always thought staying with her senior sister would suffice, as Yun Qingyu would have such supplies. Now, faced with this situation, she found herself at a loss.

After frantically searching her space, Jiang Mo reluctantly realized that the only thing remotely usable as medicine was still the Qingyuan Spirit Essence. Fortunately, she at least had that. With no other choice and no time to think, she hastily applied a few drops to her senior sister’s wounds.

The grisly wounds on Yun Qingyu’s back began to heal at a visible rate. Within moments, the torn flesh stopped bleeding, scabbed over, shed the scabs, and grew new, tender skin. If not for the pinkish hue of the newly formed skin contrasting with the surrounding snow-white complexion, one might doubt the existence of the previous horrific injury.

Seeing the Qingyuan Spirit Essence’s immediate effect, Jiang Mo truly sighed in relief. But this relief was short-lived as she quickly realized that the explosion’s impact could have injured internal organs, not just flesh and skin.

Worried that her own spiritual energy might be too sharp and harm her senior sister, Jiang Mo hastily called out, “System…”

She intended to ask the system to scan and assess her senior sister’s injuries, but as the system’s light orb appeared, its tone was uncharacteristically serious. It preempted her request: “Host, we must leave immediately. The earlier explosion was heard too far, and your use of Qingyuan Spirit Essence has leaked spiritual energy, making people think treasure has appeared here. Those nearby who heard the commotion are all heading this way.”

Due to the disturbance caused by demonic cultivators, quite a few people had entered the Canglan Secret Realm, some near the desert. Being close to the boundary, not only Nascent Soul cultivators but also Golden Core cultivators from the other side of the barrier had heard the commotion and were rushing over.

People die for wealth as birds die for food—it has always been so.

Hearing the system’s words, Jiang Mo’s heart sank again. With her senior sister’s condition uncertain, she had no time to tangle with these uninvited guests. Gritting her teeth without further words, her form suddenly expanded tenfold to the size of an ordinary tiger. She used her spiritual energy to hoist the injured, unconscious Yun Qingyu onto her back, then sprinted off along the route marked by the system.

On the way, she spotted a sand golem no taller than an adult’s arm trying to sneak away—it was the golem’s heart that had fallen to the ground in the earlier chaos, having absorbed a bit of earth-attribute spiritual energy and revived once more.

As the source of all the trouble, Jiang Mo naturally couldn’t let it escape. She snatched it up in her tiger mouth.

The sand golem struggled, flailing its limbs, accidentally pulling out one of Jiang Mo’s whiskers. In the next moment, with a flash of golden light, an iron chain as thick as an arm thoroughly bound the sand golem. Now it couldn’t even move, let alone struggle or cause trouble, reduced to a rather unattractive figurine.

Having dealt with the sand golem, Jiang Mo ran a few more steps when her peripheral vision caught a fragment on the ground… It looked familiar—a piece of the small cauldron the yellow-robed cultivator had used to attack her senior sister.

Suddenly, a realization struck her, understanding the source of the second explosion. Her eyes reddened again, and if the yellow-robed cultivator hadn’t already self-destructed into nothingness, she would have pounced to bite him again—the second explosion had come from the small cauldron. Not only was the yellow-robed cultivator lucky, but his talent was also considerable. In a short time, he had not only acquired a high-grade artifact like the small cauldron but had also refined it into his life-bound magical treasure!

When a master perishes, their life-bound magical treasure doesn’t necessarily self-destruct, but it’s different if the yellow-robed cultivator had given it a command before his self-destruction. The small cauldron’s explosion was unexpected, and despite her senior sister’s high cultivation, this blow had injured her severely.

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Perhaps Jiang Mo should be grateful that when fleeing with her senior sister, she had also retrieved the golem’s heart.

The system’s warning had been timely, and the planned route flawless. However, having broken through layers of encirclement to find herself surrounded by endless yellow sand, Jiang Mo didn’t know where to take her senior sister, let alone find a suitable place for treatment.

Just then, the tightly bound sand golem in her mouth suddenly went still. The sand dispersed, trickling through the chain’s gaps, and with a light “clang,” the chain that had bound the golem fell to the ground… What remained in the white tiger’s mouth was once again the golem’s heart, tightly sealed in metal.

But soon, the metal encasing the golem’s heart melted, and a dazzling light burst forth from it.

The melted metal couldn’t harm the white tiger, but the blinding light made Jiang Mo dizzy. Combined with her discomfort from holding something in her mouth for so long, she loosened her grip, and the golem’s heart dropped to the ground with a “plop.”

Jiang Mo’s heart instinctively cried out “Not good!” In this situation, she had no means to deal with a sand golem at full strength.

However, events unfolded differently than she expected. The fallen golem’s heart emitted increasingly brilliant light, but no sand golem appeared. Instead, within the dazzling light curtain, a faint light door shimmered.

The white tiger blinked, wondering if it was an illusion caused by the blinding light, yet sensing this light door might be an opportunity. Before she could investigate further, the system warned again: “Not good, host! More people have been attracted by this light curtain and are rushing this way.”

Hearing this, Jiang Mo inwardly cursed, feeling like a shark drawn to blood. But at this point, she seemed to have no choice. Glancing back at her still unconscious senior sister on her back, she gritted her teeth, steeled herself, and stepped towards the light door—hoping it wasn’t some upgraded trial, as she didn’t need inheritance, just a safe place for her senior sister to recover!

As she entered the light door, Jiang Mo’s vision blurred, as if passing through a water screen.

When she opened her eyes again, the scene before her had completely changed.

The endless yellow sand was gone, along with the desert’s scorching heat. Her massive tiger paws now stood on a floor paved with white jade, while her eyes beheld a majestic palace… The ground was white jade, the bricks gold and stone, vermilion pillars exuding dense spiritual energy, and the roof tiles seemed to be made of some crystal, glittering brilliantly.

In short, every aspect of this palace exuded opulence. Combined with her recent experiences, this place strongly resembled an inheritance site, or at the very least, a treasure trove.

Feeling the weight on her back, Jiang Mo had no time for joy, first cautiously scanning her surroundings.

Fortunately, the square before the palace was empty. There were no dangerous trials, no other intruders, just deathly silence all around. However, the system had warned earlier of people rushing towards the light curtain. She had entered the light door first, but what about those following? Would they arrive just moments later?

As the white tiger’s worry arose, she heard a soft “clunk” and felt something gently bump against her foot. Looking down warily, she saw the golem’s heart had returned to its original form and somehow followed her in.

Nudging the golem’s heart with her paw, the white tiger relaxed—judging by earlier events, this golem’s heart seemed to be the key to opening the light door. Now that the key had followed her in, later arrivals should be unable to enter.

With this thought, Jiang Mo’s tension eased, and her enormous tiger body seemed to sag slightly.

She swayed, a flash of light passed, and she returned to her original form.