When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The Spirit Beast Garden of Xuanqing Sect was located on Luoxing Peak, east of Mingxia Peak, almost spanning the entire Xuanqing Sect. However, for cultivators who could fly on swords, even a vast sect was but a moment’s journey.

Jiang Mo was once again carried in Yun Qingyu’s arms onto the flying sword. There was no choice; she was still too small.

Of course, being held in a beauty’s arms wasn’t bad, but the journey was too brief. Cultivators flying on swords could cover thousands of miles in an instant, a completely different experience from the leisurely flight of celestial cranes. Before Jiang Mo could fully react, they had arrived. As Yun Qingyu’s flying sword descended, Jiang Mo still felt a bit unsatisfied.

The Spirit Beast Garden was said to be on Luoxing Peak, but it wasn’t actually on the peak itself. Instead, it was situated on a small mountain next to Luoxing Peak. The entire mountaintop belonged to the Spirit Beast Garden, where most of the spirit beasts were not of high level, but the variety was extensive.

Yun Qingyu, holding the little white tiger, stood outside the Spirit Beast Garden, not looking out of place at all, as disciples coming and going with spirit beasts in their arms were a common sight. Until one disciple looked up and saw that the person holding a “spirit pet” standing in front of the Spirit Beast Garden was actually the senior sister of Mingxia Peak, the legendary cold beauty who cared for nothing but sword practice and cultivation. He was startled for a moment, then hurriedly bowed and greeted, “Greetings, Senior Sister Yun.”

This greeting immediately drew the attention of everyone around, and a chorus of greetings followed.

Yun Qingyu maintained her cool expression, merely nodding slightly to the crowd before carrying the little white tiger towards the Spirit Beast Garden. The guard at the gate saw her and was surprised for a moment, also bowing and greeting, but privately hurried to send messages to his senior brothers and sisters.

It couldn’t be helped; Yun Qingyu’s reputation for having everything she raised die had been mostly forgotten by others over the years, but the disciples of the Spirit Beast Garden who had been “victimized” in the past still remembered clearly. Whenever new disciples joined the Spirit Beast Garden, senior brothers and sisters would repeatedly warn them about the persona non grata of the Spirit Beast Garden, telling them to be cautious.

Today’s gate guard was just like this. He had heard Yun Qingyu’s name countless times, and his first reaction upon seeing her was to be wary and report. But after sending out the message and looking up again, he was shocked to find that this Senior Sister Yun was holding a small spirit beast in her arms. Wasn’t this senior sister supposed to have everything she raised die? How could she be holding a spirit beast? Could it be that she couldn’t raise it, so she was bringing it to the Spirit Beast Garden?

This seemed to be the only explanation. Having figured it out, the gate guard’s eyes softened when he looked at Yun Qingyu again. At least Senior Sister Yun didn’t have any ill intentions; her special constitution that caused everything she raised to die wasn’t her fault.

In an instant, this gate guard had done and thought many things, his attitude changing repeatedly.

Naturally, none of this escaped the notice of the highly cultivated Yun Qingyu, nor the sharp-eared and keen-eyed little white tiger. The latter gave the gate guard a disdainful glance, feeling he was being overly dramatic and not knowing what he was thinking.

Yun Qingyu didn’t mind any of it. She didn’t even enter, just waiting outside the Spirit Beast Garden for the senior brothers and sisters summoned by the gate guard’s message to arrive.

Sure enough, the Spirit Beast Garden’s wariness towards her was still as strong, and the disciples still cared for and loved the spirit beasts they raised just as much. Upon hearing of her appearance at the garden gate, nearly half of the Spirit Beast Garden was alerted, with streams of light hurrying over from all directions.

After a moment, perhaps realizing it was too much of a commotion, not all of the arrivals showed themselves. Only three to five people came forward to greet her.

The disciples of the Spirit Beast Garden, besides raising spirit beasts, were also known for their beast taming skills. They spent years caring for spirit beasts, personally nurturing relationships with them. Therefore, their attire wasn’t the typical flowing robes of ordinary cultivators, but rather short, practical garments, making them look like workers. Of course, compared to the common laborers of the mortal world, the cultivators’ elegance and otherworldliness were still present.

The lead senior brother stepped forward, a polite smile on his face. He was about to ask why Yun Qingyu had come when he noticed the little white tiger in her arms. Although the white tiger was wearing small clothes, obscuring its exact appearance, the senior brother of the Spirit Beast Garden could tell at a glance that it was a feline spirit beast.

Thinking of the litter of small spirit cats that had once died under Yun Qingyu’s care, the senior brother’s eyelid twitched, and his words changed: “Oh? Is this Senior Sister Yun’s spirit pet? How long have you been raising it?”

The senior brother of the Spirit Beast Garden was clearly older than Yun Qingyu, but in the cultivation world, seniority among peers was determined by cultivation level. In earlier years when Yun Qingyu was young, the Spirit Beast Garden members could call her junior sister, but now Yun Qingyu’s cultivation had surpassed theirs, so even those older had to honestly call her senior sister. In a few more years, if Yun Qingyu’s cultivation surpassed her peers by two major realms, not everyone would even be able to call her senior sister.

Yun Qingyu hadn’t been to the Spirit Beast Garden for many years and didn’t pay much attention to the matter of titles. Hearing the question, she answered truthfully, “A little over a month.”

Upon hearing this, the senior brother of the Spirit Beast Garden felt his whole being go awry. He frowned and asked, “Then what brings Senior Sister here? Could it be that this little spirit beast has fallen ill, so you’ve come seeking medicine?”

There was no shortage of pill refiners in Xuanqing Sect, with the Qionghua Peak Lord being a top-tier pill refining master. The pills needed for the little white tiger had already been entrusted to him for refining. However, not just any pill refiner could make pills for spirit beasts. After all, even pills for humans were countless; how could pill refiners waste energy on spirit beasts? Only places like the Spirit Beast Garden would focus all their energy on spirit beasts.

Yun Qingyu heard the implication in his words, fearing he thought the little white tiger was suffering due to her and was about to die. She didn’t intend to explain anything, nor did she plan to expose the future Divine Lord Zhiming’s bald head in front of everyone. She just nodded and said, “Indeed, I’ve come to ask for medicine.”

The senior brother of the Spirit Beast Garden immediately became distressed. He stepped forward, wanting to take the little white tiger: “Very well, I’ll do my best.”

Yun Qingyu raised her sword-holding hand, stopping him: “There’s no need. I just wanted to ask you for a bottle of hair growth powder.” As she spoke, she slightly lifted the little white tiger’s clothes, showing him the patches of fur that had been pecked off: “She got into a fight and had some fur pecked off. She’s been unhappy these past few days, so I thought to come ask for some medicine to help her recover quickly.”

Spirit beasts losing fur in fights was an extremely common occurrence, and unlike animals in the mortal world, most spirit beasts had developed spiritual intelligence and were aware of beauty. Whenever they finished fighting and found themselves disfigured, they would become depressed, which was why the Spirit Beast Garden had specifically developed the hair growth powder.

Although the fur would grow back naturally after some time without medicine, the hair growth powder had become the most popular medicine in the Spirit Beast Garden.

Hearing this, the expressions of the Spirit Beast Garden members all relaxed at once. The senior brother’s smile also became much more genuine: “I see. That’s easy. I have some right here.” He took out a porcelain bottle from his storage ring and handed it over.

After accepting it, Yun Qingyu expressed her thanks and also borrowed the Spirit Beast Garden’s medicinal pool to use. This pool was specifically for spirit beasts and unique to the Spirit Beast Garden. Otherwise, the little white tiger wouldn’t have needed to make this trip; they could have just waited for Yun Qingyu to bring the medicine back to Mingxia Peak. Moreover, as a divine beast of high rank, Yun Qingyu wasn’t sure if the hair growth powder would work on her, so it was best to try it at the Spirit Beast Garden.

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Jiang Mo followed along obediently with Yun Qingyu’s arrangements, but she had observed everything said and done after their encounter with the others. She couldn’t help but find it strange, feeling as if her caretaker was being guarded against and disliked by these people.

Yes, it wasn’t her imagination, especially when she noticed people looking at her with pitying gazes, which made her even more perplexed.

It wasn’t until the group turned towards the medicinal pool that the system, at Jiang Mo’s signal, stayed behind and pricked up its ears to finally overhear the Spirit Beast Garden disciples’ discussions about Yun Qingyu:

“Is that the Senior Sister Yun from Mingxia Peak? She doesn’t seem any different.”

“How could you tell from just looking? The senior brothers and sisters all say that Senior Sister Yun is good at everything, with excellent talent and rapid cultivation progress, but she just happens to have everything she raises die, naturally conflicting with our Spirit Beast Garden… As long as she doesn’t come to our Spirit Beast Garden to choose spirit beasts, we should still respect her as usual in daily life. It doesn’t affect anything else.”

“That’s true. But I feel sorry for that little spirit beast in Senior Sister Yun’s arms. It’s wrapped up so tightly, who knows what kind of spirit beast it is? I heard that in the past, spirit beasts in her care never lasted more than a month. This one must be of a high rank.”

Even while talking about it being of a high rank, the Spirit Beast Garden members weren’t optimistic about Jiang Mo’s fate. After all, these were lessons learned through blood. They didn’t believe that time could heal everything, or that Yun Qingyu’s special constitution could be cured without medicine. Hadn’t they seen that even now, the celestial cranes still avoided her? As they talked, they felt uneasy and a few Spirit Beast Garden disciples turned back, planning to lock up the free-roaming spirit beasts. They wanted to prevent any casualties if Yun Qingyu found some free time and decided to take a stroll in the Spirit Beast Garden.

The crowd dispersed, discussing amongst themselves. Fortunately, there were no outsiders around, so these words wouldn’t spread. However, the system, having heard all this, was greatly alarmed. It rushed back to its host’s side, shouting from afar: “Host, host, it’s terrible…”

As it spoke, it burst into the medicinal pool, only to see its host entirely submerged in the fragrant pool. Yun Qingyu held a freshly prepared medicinal paste in her hand, patiently applying it to Jiang Mo’s bald spots. After applying it here and there, the balding tiger quickly turned into a spotted tiger, looking quite comical.

Jiang Mo didn’t care about her current appearance, as the effect of the medicinal paste on her body was remarkably instant. She lay comfortably at the edge of the medicinal pool. Hearing the system return, she raised her head and asked, “What did you hear? Why is it terrible?”

The system wasn’t in the mood to joke around. It immediately recounted what it had heard, concluding worriedly, “Host, should we perhaps change caretakers? Senior Sister Yun is very good, but her constitution isn’t good. What if something really happens to you?”

Jiang Mo was unconcerned, snorting lightly, “Absurd. It’s just a coincidence. How could it be so mysterious?”

Yun Qingyu couldn’t see the system or understand their conversation. She only heard the little white tiger making low, mumbling sounds. Then she felt a coolness on her wrist as a wet tail wrapped around it, as if coquettishly…

A hint of warmth flashed in her glass-like eyes, and the melancholy born from past events at the Spirit Beast Garden seemed to dissipate somewhat.

The atmosphere was pleasant, and Jiang Mo’s trip had been quite fruitful. Not only did she regain a coat of neat and beautiful fur, but she also heard some stories about Yun Qingyu’s past. She suddenly understood why, during their first meeting, Yun Qingyu seemed to like her but wouldn’t let her nuzzle or take her along. At this moment, she felt somewhat grateful, and beyond that, curious.

So after refuting the system, Jiang Mo quickly changed the subject and asked, “Is there really such a thing as a constitution where everything raised dies? System, can you check if there’s anything wrong with Senior Sister?”

The system’s scanning function was quite powerful in some ways, as mechanical analysis could avoid many subjective human judgments.

For the sake of its host’s safety, the system didn’t refuse this small favor. It initiated a scan of Yun Qingyu, and soon came to a conclusion. Looking at the scan results, the system suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Eh?”

The little white tiger’s ears perked up, and she immediately looked over, asking nervously, “What’s wrong?”

The system muttered, “Something seems a bit off…”