Six months later...
Rong Jiaojiao and her friends stood atop an inconspicuous stone mountain, below which lay a small canyon.
Sensing the rich spiritual energy and the urgent yearning of the small secret realm, Rong Jiaojiao said, "The small secret realm seems very eager; perhaps there is a spiritual vein here."
Since leaving the immortal mountain, they have found many jade mines in the past six months, and the small secret realm has absorbed a lot of spiritual energy, but it has not been upgraded again.
Qing Xuanzi sensed the spiritual pressure emanating from the demonic beasts below. After examining the area with his divine sense, he said, "There should be a small spiritual vein down there, otherwise the spiritual energy wouldn't be so dense."
Rong Jiaojiao sensed the powerful demonic energy coming from below: "Master, there is a high-level demonic beast."
Qing Xuanzi instructed, "They are two spirit beasts. They do not have any bloodthirsty aura. When you have the treasure absorb the spiritual energy, do it slowly. We will grab the spiritual energy and run away. We will not confront them directly."
"What kind of spirit beast? Is it beautiful?"
Qing Xuanzi laughed and said, "They're just two tigers at the peak of the third tier. Do you want them?"
Zi Ling protested, "Master, don't you like me anymore?"
Upon hearing the name "tiger," Rong Jiaojiao's eyes lit up, but then she heard Zi Ling's aggrieved voice and quickly comforted her, "How could I not like you? You're my most dear little Zi Ling!"
She reached out and stroked the little purple ferret's head in her arms, and Zi Ling rubbed against her palm in satisfaction.
Seeing this, Qing Xuanzi shook his head and chuckled: "Alright, don't waste time. Although those two tiger beasts are only at the peak of the third rank, they are still spirit beasts and are extremely alert. Make the treasure move faster, otherwise once they sense the loss of spiritual energy, they will definitely be enraged and give chase."
Rong Jiaojiao nodded and communicated with the little secret realm: "Little secret realm, please be quick in a bit. If we encounter a small spiritual vein, we can take half of it."
The little secret realm trembled slightly, responding gently to Rong Jiaojiao, before disappearing into the depths of the earth.
Not long after the small secret realm descended underground, the spiritual energy in the canyon began to slowly decrease.
Two deafening tiger roars echoed through the canyon!
"roar--!"
Rong Jiaojiao sensed a divine sense sweeping over them and asked, "Master, should we hide?"
Qing Xuanzi: "Why are you hiding? Go and practice your skills."
Rong Jiaojiao was eager to try...
A moment later, the ground shook, and two snow-white figures rushed out from the depths of the canyon. In the blink of an eye, they leaped to the top of the mountain, their tiger-like eyes fixed on Rong Jiaojiao and Qing Xuanzi.
Rong Jiaojiao took a closer look and saw that the two white tigers were robust and snow-white, with only a golden stripe on their foreheads shining brightly. Their bodies were surrounded by spiritual energy, clearly indicating that they were peak third-tier spirit beasts.
"Master, they are so beautiful!" she couldn't help but exclaim.
Qing Xuanzi said helplessly, "Now is not the time to admire them; they have already set their sights on us."
One of the white tigers let out a low growl and pounced!
Qing Xuanzi stepped back and said, "Disciple, go ahead!"
Rong Jiaojiao...
You are truly my dearest master!
Lingyuan Sword was drawn, and a soft shout rang out: "Sword transforms into a dragon, go!"
The Lingyuan Sword in his hand suddenly shone with silver light, and the blade instantly transformed into a silver dragon, rushing straight towards the White Tiger with sharp sword energy.
"Roar!" The white tiger nimbly dodged to the side, then slammed its front paws into the ground, instantly sending up several golden light blades that hurtled towards Rong Jiaojiao.
Rong Jiaojiao flipped her wrist: "The dragon turns its head."
The silver sword dragon made a sharp turn in the air and attacked from behind the white tiger.
As if sensing something, the white tiger leaped several feet into the air, barely dodging the attack.
Zi Ling transformed into a large sable with wings on its back, and a bolt of lightning struck down to meet another tiger.
Purple Spirit spread its wings and soared into the sky, purple arcs of electricity crackling between its wings. With a sharp cry, several bolts of purple lightning shot towards the other white tiger like arrows.
"boom!"
The white tiger nimbly rolled away to dodge, but several bolts of lightning still grazed its fur, and a faint smell of burning filled the air.
The white tiger, in pain, gleamed with ferocity in its eyes and spat out a golden ball of light.
"Ziling, be careful!" Rong Jiaojiao hurriedly reminded her.
With a flap of her wings, Zi Ling's body suddenly rose higher.
The golden sphere exploded below it, transforming into countless golden light blades that scattered in all directions.
One of the streaks grazed Zi Ling's wings, leaving a trail of blood droplets.
"Squeak—" Zi Ling cried out in pain, her body becoming unsteady.
Seeing this, Rong Jiaojiao became extremely anxious. She changed her sword technique, and the silver dragon instantly split into nine sword shadows: "Sword Lock Netherworld!"
Nine sword shadows enveloped the White Tiger like a net covering the sky.
The white tiger charged left and right, but was forced to retreat step by step by the sword shadows, and several bloody marks appeared on its body.
On the other side, Zi Ling steadied herself, her eyes gleaming with intense purple light.
It suddenly swooped down, its wings fully spread, and lightning crackled around its body, forming a large net: "Thunder Prison!"
The white tiger, trapped in a lightning cage, roared in anger.
It desperately rammed into the electric grid, but each time it was shocked and trembled all over.
Rong Jiaojiao seized the opportunity, and the Lingyuan Sword re-condensed in her hand, a cold glint appearing at its tip: "Sword Breaks the Sky."
A sword aura, refined to its utmost, aimed directly at the golden markings on the White Tiger's forehead.
Just as the sword tip was about to touch him, the white tiger suddenly swayed and transformed into a golden light, disappearing from the spot.
"Teleportation? Has it mastered the power of space?" Rong Jiaojiao was shocked and quickly turned around to defend herself.
Sure enough, the white tiger had appeared three zhang behind her, poised to pounce. Just as it was about to strike, a figure in cyan suddenly blocked its path.
"Enough." Qing Xuanzi waved his sleeve, and a gentle yet irresistible force separated the two sides. "If we continue fighting, we will damage our very foundation."
The two white tigers lay low on the ground, watching them warily, their hostility undiminished.
Rong Jiaojiao sheathed the Lingyuan Sword, ignoring the two tigers, and tenderly caught Zi Ling as she flew back.
The wound on the little guy's wing wasn't deep, but it was charred black.
She quickly took out the ointment and applied it to the wound, then used her spiritual power to heal it.
Qing Xuanzi walked up to the two white tigers and took out two fragrant pills from his sleeve: "These are spirit beast pills, which will be good for your injuries."
The white tiger sniffed warily, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously rolled over.
"Master, they..." Rong Jiaojiao hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.
Qing Xuanzi smiled slightly: "Spirit beasts value gratitude the most. You could have seriously injured them just now, but you held back. They understand that."
Sure enough, after taking the pill, the two white tigers' attitudes softened considerably.
After watching Rong Jiaojiao and the others for a while, they slowly retreated into the valley.
Back in the valley, the spiritual energy decreased almost precipitously; now it's almost impossible to feel any spiritual energy at all.
The two tigers were utterly devastated. They couldn't win the fight, and their spiritual energy had been taken away. The two white tigers lay dejectedly in the middle of the valley, their golden tiger eyes filled with grievance.
They would occasionally look up towards the mountaintop, letting out low moans.
Standing atop the mountain, Rong Jiaojiao felt a pang of guilt as she looked at the scene, though not much.
Rong Jiaojiao thought they would leave soon, but to her surprise, they waited for two days.
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