NOVEL NEXT 4. Racial Talent
While the cultivation world lacked airplanes, it abounded with flying magical artifacts.
As Jiang Mo and the system gazed skyward, a spirit boat cleaved through the clear sky ten thousand meters above. Aboard this vessel were disciples of the Xuanqing Sect, entering a secret realm for training.
Indeed, this was a secret realm, albeit a minor one that had been entered countless times before. Previous cultivators had thoroughly explored every inch of it, and any rare treasures had long since been claimed by fortunate individuals over the countless years. By now, this place offered little in the way of opportunities, but it also posed few dangers, making it ideal for newly inducted disciples to gain experience.
The chatter on the spirit boat came from Xuanqing Sect’s latest generation of young disciples, their cultivation levels ranging from Foundation Building at the highest to Qi Condensation at the lowest. There was one exception, however: a woman in cyan robes standing at the bow.
Gripping a frost-blue sword, she stood facing the wind. Suddenly, she spoke: “We’ve arrived.”
Her voice was cool and clear, not particularly loud, but every disciple on the spirit boat heard her. The previously noisy young disciples fell silent instantly. Some hesitantly stepped forward, seemingly wanting to say something, but were held back by their companions. A more perceptive disciple immediately cupped his hands and said, “Thank you for your trouble, Senior Sister. We’ll be on our way now.”
The cyan-robed woman turned around, revealing a face of unparalleled beauty. Yet before one could be captivated by her looks, they would first be repelled by the coldness emanating from her entire being. She gave a slight nod and said, “Go then. You have half a month. I’ll wait here.”
Everyone cupped their hands in acknowledgment. It became clear that this woman wasn’t here for training, but merely to escort these disciples into the secret realm.
Moments later, streaks of light departed from the spirit boat. Disciples who couldn’t yet fly on swords were carried by those who had reached Foundation Building, setting off in pairs and small groups. Their tasks were simple: either find one or two specific spirit herbs or fruits, or obtain the core materials from certain spirit beasts. All were within their capabilities and generally posed no life-threatening danger.
In the blink of an eye, everyone had left, and the spirit boat fell silent once more.
The cyan-robed woman remained standing at the bow. The fierce winds of high altitude became gentle as they passed through the spirit boat’s barrier, lifting a strand of her hair to flutter with her hairband. After a while, her gaze drifted slightly downward, falling upon the mountain ranges below.
No one knew what she was looking at or thinking about. Suddenly, she waved her hand, dispelling the spirit boat, and departed on her sword.
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The ten-thousand-meter altitude was too distant for Jiang Mo to clearly see the passing spirit boat, nor did she think it had anything to do with her.
The little useless tiger only glanced up briefly before losing interest and lying back down. Before the system could speak, she preemptively said, “I’m tired and need to sleep. Don’t startle me again with your outbursts.” She waved her paw in a mock-threatening manner: “Or I’ll swat you away!”
The system wasn’t at all afraid of the little white tiger’s milky threats, as it had no physical form. Its previous “swatting” had merely been to humor the host. However, it quickly fell silent on its own, as the data showed that the host’s physical state indeed required sleep. So it obediently shut up, turned off its lights, quietly settled on the host’s head, and silently expanded its scanning alert range to the maximum.
The sunlight was perfect at that moment, with a gentle breeze by the small stream. The little white tiger closed her eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep.
An indeterminate amount of time passed before the system suddenly made a puzzled sound, but then fell silent again, as if that sound had been just an illusion.
Jiang Mo slept for a long time. When she had fallen asleep, the sunlight was bright, and when she woke, the sun still gently caressed her nose tip. She lifted her head and looked around, thinking she had only taken a short nap, completely unaware of how much time had passed.
Seeing her awake, the system exclaimed joyfully, “Host, host, you’re finally awake!”
Jiang Mo was unfazed, feeling that the nap had completely dispelled her fatigue, leaving her utterly refreshed. She shook out her fur and stood up, even arching her back to stretch like a cat… She was indeed adapting well, becoming more and more cat-like.
“What’s the matter? I just took a little nap. Why are you so excited?” The little white tiger basked in the sun, feeling lazy.
The system paused at her words, then excitedly replied, “Host, it wasn’t just a little nap. You slept for three whole days!” It then added in an anguished tone, “You were sleeping so deeply. If the system hadn’t been constantly simulating high-level spirit beast pressure to intimidate the surroundings, you would have been carried off by wolves, you know?!”
Jiang Mo was somewhat surprised by this, her round tiger eyes widening slightly. But she quickly remembered her current environment and new identity, and regained her composure: “What’s the big deal? In the cultivation world, time isn’t measured in days.”
Cultivators could enter closed-door cultivation for years or even decades; divine beasts could nap for hundreds or thousands of years.
Wasn’t this all normal in the cultivation world?
The system was momentarily speechless. After a while, it could only change the subject: “Well, sleeping for three days isn’t a big deal. Host, quickly open your character panel. There’s a surprise.”
Although Jiang Mo harbored some resentment towards the system, in this strange world, it was ultimately all she had to rely on. Moreover, since she woke up, the system had been doing its utmost to help her survive, so her feelings towards it were quite complex. Occasionally taunting the system was a way to vent and seek revenge, but she would also seriously consider its suggestions.
So now, she obligingly opened the character panel and saw that the data had indeed changed:
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Class: Divine Beast
Level: 1
Combat Power: 5
Experience: 3/5
Points: 0
Potential: ∞
Skills: Bloodline Inheritance (Not Activated)]
Jiang Mo first scanned it quickly, then looked more carefully, noticing that the experience points had indeed increased by 3. She was initially confused, then quickly glanced around, breathing a sigh of relief when she found no crushed insect corpses.
Full of puzzlement, she opened the history messages:
[Year 75891 of the Xuantian Continent, July 22, 15:07:35
Host gained +1 experience point due to racial reasons. Current experience: 1/5.
Year 75891 of the Xuantian Continent, July 23, 15:07:35
Host gained +1 experience point due to racial reasons. Current experience: 2/5.
Year 75891 of the Xuantian Continent, July 24, 15:07:35
Host gained +1 experience point due to racial reasons. Current experience: 3/5.]
Looking at the time, the last message was from just over ten minutes ago, meaning she had inexplicably gained another experience point then. And at that time, she had been doing nothing but sleeping.
Jiang Mo was far from stupid; on the contrary, she was quite clever and quickly grasped the key point in these brief notifications. Her tiger eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the floating system orb: “System, did I get these 3 experience points from sleeping?” Without waiting for an answer, she added, “I’ve heard that divine beasts experience a surge in power when they reach adulthood. Is their strength related to age?”
The system hadn’t expected Jiang Mo to react so quickly, but it answered honestly: “The host is correct; that is indeed a factor. The power of divine beasts mostly comes from their bloodline. As they grow, the power of their bloodline gradually awakens, making them stronger.”
Hearing this, Jiang Mo’s eyes lit up, and she fully understood those notification messages. She was no longer a day-old cub; as she grew, her bloodline gradually awakened, manifesting as experience points on the data panel. Once she grew to a certain stage, meaning she had accumulated enough experience points in the game system, it would directly translate to leveling up.
Understanding this point, Jiang Mo suddenly felt that the sky was bluer, the water clearer, and the future full of hope.
The system, seeing Jiang Mo’s sudden excitement, had a sense of foreboding. It cautiously suggested, “Host, look, you’re only two experience points away from leveling up. Why don’t you go kill a monster now?”
Standing on a boulder by the stream, looking at her character panel, Jiang Mo waved her tiger paw dismissively: “No, I don’t want to go squash bugs. Isn’t it better to just sleep for two more days and level up directly?!”