Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange was startled, but she had no time to think. She recalled the White Silk Handkerchief and soon launched it again to dodge the fierce clutches of the female cultivator.

The method used by the female cultivator in this fight of magical powers was completely different from all the methods she had seen before. She didn’t only use magic—instead, she was similar to martial artists from the secular world. Furthermore, both her hands were covered in gloves that were equipped with sharp claws. Using those claws, her attack method was similar to methods used by demonic beasts.

When Mo Tiange wandered around Kunwu with her uncle in the past, she also saw a few cultivators like this. This kind of cultivator was normally called a martial cultivator. They were just like sword cultivators but they depended on their bodies and skills more than sword cultivators did.

Nevertheless, martial cultivation wasn’t a proper path in the cultivation world. Among a thousand people, there might not even be one or two of them. Despite that, this female cultivator’s means weren’t weak, and from what she said, she seemed to have a master, although Mo Tiange didn’t know who her master was.

In addition, they were at Xuanqing School; why did that female cultivator want to kill her right after she heard she was Lord Daoist Jinghe’s disciple? Not to mention the Nascent Soul cultivators here, but even the passing Core Formation cultivators would be able to kill that female cultivator as easily as raising their hands.

As these thoughts flashed across her mind, Mo Tiange once again recalled the White Silk Handkerchief back to her hands. She then frowned and said coldly, “Senior Martial Sister, what’s the meaning of this?”

That female cultivator revealed a cold smile but didn’t answer. Although she still looked like she had no intention of responding to Mo Tiange, she was actually very nervous. She basically used her full power in her previous claw attack, but Mo Tiange, who seemed to have not used her full strength yet, only used her White Silk Handkerchief to effortlessly block her attack.

Her cultivation level was already in the late stage of the Foundation Building realm, so she had always been arrogant. She believed that even if she fought against an early stage Core Formation cultivator and didn’t have the strength to fight back, it wouldn’t be hard for her to escape unscathed. However, her attack was just effortlessly blocked by a middle stage Foundation Building junior with just one move! She felt nervous but at the same time, anger also started to flourish in her heart.

She targeted Mo Tiange’s body then immediately swung her claws again.

Mo Tiange promptly drew back. She had no plan to fight force with force. Mo Tiange was a conventional cultivator who majored in magic. In fighting a martial cultivator, it would be best to prevent one’s opponent from coming close to oneself. Nonetheless, the side hall was filled with people, so for now, it was quite difficult for her to dodge. Because of that, she simply got on her White Silk Handkerchief and fought that female cultivator head on.

Mo Tiange also once learned about the secular world’s Lightness Skill before, and it was very helpful during her Aura Refining days. Thus, with the Lightness Skill and the extremely agile White Silk Handkerchief, she still had it easy although she drew close to that female cultivator—Mo Tiange didn’t feel pressured at all by her.

In just a flash, their figures changed positions many times. Most of the Foundation Building female cultivators couldn’t see their figures clearly, let alone the Aura Refining female cultivators—they were so shocked by the spiritual aura pressures from the fight that they turned pale and were completely clueless about what to do.

After spotting a gap between the claw attacks, Mo Tiange immediately flung the Shuttle of Flying Apsara which then attempted to wrap around the female cultivator to stop her movements. Mo Tiange shouted, “What are you all in a daze for? Quickly go and report this to the Core Formation grandmasters!”

The other female cultivators in charge of accompanying the guests finally returned to their senses and frantically tried to leave the hall.

The female cultivator fighting Mo Tiange managed to block the Shuttle of Flying Apsara. But all of a sudden, she retreated and smiled gloomily. “You want to call Core Formation cultivators to deal with me? Hmph! I’m not going to fight you anymore; just you wait!” As she said this, she rapidly retreated until she fled the side hall through the main door.

Rather than immediately going after her, Mo Tiange first looked back and instructed the others, “You all stay here; don’t go out.”

The Aura Refining female disciples nodded repeatedly. They had seen the two people fighting, and the spiritual aura pressures emitted during that fight were staggering; why would they possibly dare to go out? They just watched as Mo Tiange leave the side hall to chase after that female cultivator.

Mo Tiange noticed the changes in that female cultivator’s behavior happened after she heard that whistling noise. The noise was very short and high. Presumably, cultivators in the Foundation Building realm and lower wouldn’t be able to hear it. As for Mo Tiange, her Soul-Refining Art made her very perceptive towards spiritual aura fluctuations, so not only did she hear the noise, but she also sensed a peculiar, somewhat-suppressed, spiritual aura pressure.

While maintaining a safe distance, Mo Tiange followed the female cultivator. As she expected, she saw the female cultivator heading towards the source of the spiritual aura pressure.

Mo Tiange felt rather doubtful. This direction… Sure enough, they were heading towards the place where the Nascent Soul cultivators were gathered.

“QIN JINGHE!” All of a sudden, a thunderous roar came through. Mo Tiange was shocked. The blood and aura inside her body surged rampantly, causing her to tumble from her White Silk Handkerchief.

She looked up and saw a turbulent-looking black cloud emerging above the main hall where the Nascent Soul cultivators were. On that cloud, a sinister face could faintly be seen. Unexpectedly, the female cultivator Mo Tiange was chasing wasn’t affected by this spiritual aura pressure at all. That female cultivator looked back to give Mo Tiange a lovely smile and in an instant, disappeared without a trace.

Mo Tiange’s expression changed. She had no time to ponder what kind of technique that female cultivator used to disappear because she sensed that this spiritual aura pressure… definitely belonged to a cultivator in or above the Nascent Soul realm!

After the thunderous roar was heard, all the Nascent Soul cultivators inside the main hall came out.

Xuanqing School had six Nascent Soul cultivators altogether now. With around a dozen Nascent Soul guests present, their side had more than twenty Nascent Soul cultivators. Mo Tiange swept her gaze over them and finally felt assured. With so many Nascent Soul cultivators there, no matter how formidable their opponent was, they would still be alright.

Nevertheless, she was also quite baffled. Aside from the fact that there were so many Nascent Soul cultivators present, they were on Mount Taikang—the Great Mountain-Protecting Formation Xuanqing School had wasn’t just for display, yet this person actually still had the guts to break in? Furthermore, based on his momentum, he was most likely a devil cultivator! Mo Tiange really wondered what that cheap master of hers had done to offend this kind of person.

When the dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators saw the black cloud, they either remained calm or looked bewildered.

“This…”

“Master Song Feng!” someone muttered.

One after another, all the Nascent Soul cultivators who looked bewildered immediately had a change in expression.

A bald cultivator said with astonishment, “Turns out he’s alive!”

Among this group of people, the only ones who still looked calm were Lord Daoist Zhenyang and Lord Daoist Jinghe. At that moment, Lord Daoist Jinghe, who already flew up, said heavily, “Song Feng! Today’s my disciple’s Soul-Formation Ceremony; if you came for revenge, just come another day!”

A cold laugh emerged from inside the black cloud. The sinister, ghostly face on the cloud became distorted. “What? There’s a time when Qin Jinghe doesn’t want to fight back? The day of your disciple’s Soul-Formation Ceremony is indeed a good day for a fight. If my disciple was still alive, maybe he would’ve also formed his Nascent Soul by now!”

Lord Daoist Jinghe sneered, “Old Song Feng, I’m just showing you some respect! We’re at Xuanqing School’s Mount Taikang, and there are so many Nascent Soul cultivators here. Even though you’re a late stage Nascent Soul cultivator, you still don’t have any chance of success if you act here!”

Strange laughter was emitted from inside the black cloud. Once the laughter was over, however, the face on the clouds showed a fierce expression. “Qin Jinghe, don’t you fear neither the Heavens nor Earth? Are you perhaps going to pull in so many people to handle me?”

Lord Daoist Jinghe looked calm; he wasn’t infuriated by those taunts. “Do you take me, Qin Jinghe, as someone who acts without a brain? Having lived until this age, do you think I still care about maintaining a good reputation? I admit I can’t beat you. That being the case, what would I court death for?”

“Good, good, good!” The black cloud laughed out loud. “Qin Jinghe, I underestimated you! But even if you’re all here today, I still want to have fun!”

Once he finished speaking, the momentum of the black cloud instantly soared. Even the early stage Nascent Soul cultivators below found it hard to breathe because of it.

At that moment, the spiritual aura inside Mo Tiange’s body was surging even more rampantly. She couldn’t bear it and with a “pu,” she vomited a mouthful of blood. Her eyes swept past her surroundings. Seeing that she was now in a corner and no one could see her, she immediately summoned her White Silk Handkerchief. She wanted to use the spiritual aura turbulence created from her magic weapon to conceal the light from the opening of her Virtual Sky World. Several seconds later, she managed to escape into her Virtual Sky World.

Inside the Virtual Sky World, after swallowing a Green Pendant Pill and calming her breath, Mo Tiange pointed at the space between her eyebrows, where a pearl emerged. She employed a secret art to the pearl and immediately after, the sky was torn open, creating a gap which allowed her to view the situation outside.

Within this short period of time, Lord Daoist Zhenyang had stepped forward and flown to Lord Daoist Jinghe’s side. He said loudly, “Brother Song Feng! If this junior martial brother of mine has done something to offend you, I hope you can take me into consideration and let go of the matter for the time being. We just held the Soul-Formation Ceremony for Xuanqing School’s newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator. If you have a problem, how about we discuss it another day?”

The face on the black cloud opened its mouth and laughed. Its voice sounded a bit friendlier. “Brother Zhenyang, it’s indeed been a long time since we last met. Lately, your Law of Dao is even better than before!”

Lord Daoist Zhenyang smiled and cupped his hands towards the black cloud. “You’re over-flattering me. It’s been several hundred years since Brother Song Feng last appeared. You really made us old fellows miss you too much!”

“Is that so? In that case, I’ll have to properly come and pay you a visit one day!”

Upon hearing that, Lord Daoist Zhenyang thought Master Song Feng had accepted his proposal, so he immediately said, “Then I have to thank Brother Song Feng for your consideration.”

“It’s too early to thank me!” Master Song Feng “hmphed.” In an instant, his tone changed, and he said coldly, “Brother Zhenyang, tomorrow’s matters should be handled tomorrow. Today, I came for Qin Jinghe, so you don’t need to try to get yourself into my good books!”

He was extremely rude. He actually treated Lord Daoist Zhenyang, a majestic late stage Nascent Soul cultivator, like his junior!

Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s smiling face turned purple in a flash. He was both a late stage Nascent Soul cultivator and the Head Grand Supreme Elder of the second greatest cultivation group in the entire Celestial Pole; had anybody ever talked to him like this? With a colder expression on his face, he said, “Brother Song Feng, I can’t do anything if you don’t want to take me into consideration. However, today’s a good day for Xuanqing School. If your esteemed self came just to find fault with my junior martial brother, I, as his senior martial brother, also cannot sit by and do nothing. If your esteemed self has any qualms, feel free to speak!” This was obviously a threat. If Master Song Feng didn’t back off, Lord Daoist Zhenyang would work with Lord Daoist Jinghe to attack him from all sides.

“Hahaha…” The black cloud burst out laughing. “Xu Zhenyang, we’re both late stage Nascent Soul cultivators, but honestly speaking, you’re bound to lose to me in a fight of magical powers although your cultivation level isn’t inferior to mine. Do you believe it?”

Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s expression remained still. “The people of Xuanqing School have never been afraid to admit our weaknesses. I might be a bit worse than you in a fight of magical powers, but it’ll also be hard for you to beat me. If I team up with Junior Martial Brother Jinghe… hehe!” Lord Daoist Zhenyang simply chuckled. His gaze, however, was cold.

The black cloud surged forward violently. The face on it displayed an extremely fierce expression and glared at the two people in front of it.

Having listened until this point, Mo Tiange finally realized who that person was. In the Celestial Pole, there were five late stage Nascent Soul cultivators in total; two of them were in Tiandao Sect, and there was one each in Xuanqing School and Gujian Sect. The last one was actually an individual cultivator, and that was Master Song Feng.

To cultivators, this Master Song Feng was quite extraordinary. It was said that a thousand years before, he was only a cultivator from a small cultivation group. Later on, his group was exterminated and he went missing. Several hundred years later, he reappeared in the Celestial Pole but by then, he had unexpectedly advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, making everyone wonder what kind of fated chances he encountered. In fact, his aptitude was only three spiritual roots. It should’ve been a feat for him to be able to form his Gold Core, but who would’ve thought that he would even advance to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm!

This person learned all kinds of extraordinary things. His cultivation technique was closer to the devil art, and he was also very proficient in fights of magical powers. Even sword cultivators from Gujian Sect, who were good in fights of magical powers, also suffered a lot of losses from his hands. Once, the late stage Nascent Soul cultivator of Gujian Sect, Venerable Swordsman Yuanying, went looking for him to do battle, but he also couldn’t defeat Master Song Feng. In sum, there might be five late stage Nascent Soul cultivators in the Celestial Pole, but the majority of people still considered Master Song Feng to be the strongest.

Nevertheless, his temperament was somewhat similar to Lord Daoist Jinghe’s; both were extremely aggressive and blood-thirsty. But Lord Daoist Jinghe was from a Dao school—he was concerned about mental cultivation, so he never slaughtered innocent people and rarely killed. Master Song Feng, on the other hand, didn’t resemble a high level cultivator in this regard. He actually thought nothing of mental cultivation, so he was also a temperamental person. Sometimes, he even killed mortals. Because of his extreme despicableness, very few people were willing to recognize him as the top cultivator in the Celestial Pole.

However, Mo Tiange once heard that Master Song Feng had disappeared for several hundred years. With what remained of his over-thousand-year lifespan, many people thought he already passed away, leaving only four late stage Nascent Soul cultivators in the Celestial Pole. But today, he actually showed up at Xuanqing School! Furthermore, he came to make trouble for her master!

What had her master done to offend this malignant star? A moment ago, they mentioned their disciples; could it be that her master killed Master Song Feng’s disciple?

Just as Mo Tiange thought to herself, she heard Master Song Feng speaking again: “Qin Jinghe, where’s Qin Shoujing, that baby disciple of yours? Why didn’t he show up on such an important day?”

Lord Daoist Jinghe chuckled mischievously. “That disciple of mine is already in the late stage of the Core Formation realm. He’s in a strict Closed Door meditation. Unless he succeeds in forming his Nascent Soul, he won’t come out.”

“Forming his Nascent Soul…” The black cloud laughed gloomily. “That brat is unexpectedly lucky; he managed to advance to the late stage of the Core Formation realm so quickly. However, with his aptitude, forming his Nascent Soul shouldn’t be easy, right?”

With a smile, Lord Daoist Jinghe answered, “Old man Song Feng, even with that aptitude of yours, you formed your Nascent Soul and even advanced to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm; is there any reason why my disciple can’t?”

“Me?” That black cloud burst out laughing. “Hahahaha! Qin Jinghe, are you comparing your disciple to me? You think too highly of him, you know!”

Although the face on the black cloud was vague, everyone could feel his contempt. In eastern Kunwu, many people who wanted to ridicule Qin Shoujing about cultivating were probably jealous. The fact that a cultivator with double spiritual roots was actually more talented than many cultivators with single or mutated spiritual roots was already enough to illustrate the situation. Nevertheless, the one who was mocking Qin Shoujing was Master Song Feng, a late stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and no one could say anything about him. A late stage Nascent Soul cultivator was naturally qualified to show contempt for an insignificant Core Formation cultivator, despite the fact that the Core Formation cultivator was a genius rarely seen in a millennium, who managed to form his Gold Core in his hundreds.

Lord Daoist Jinghe had the temper of an irritable child, but today, he was extremely calm. He wasn’t provoked at all and was beaming instead. “Do I? Say… Old man Song Feng, you also think too highly of yourself. I’m not the one who said it, but aren’t you a freak who’s neither man nor devil nor monster? It doesn’t matter if you act almighty in front of others, but you’re still pretending in front of me. How shameless!”

His words were filled with ridicule, causing Master Song Feng to be infuriated in an instant. “Qin Jinghe, you—”

“What?” Lord Daoist Jinghe was still beaming. However, Mo Tiange had been his disciple for a while, so she could sharply spot the killing intent in his gaze. It seemed her master was ready to fight him. “Ay~, say… You obviously know that I know everything about you; what are you still running over and letting me laugh at you for?”

Upon hearing this, every Nascent Soul cultivator present was baffled. Did Master Song Feng perhaps have some kind of secret that was discovered by Lord Daoist Jinghe?

All of a sudden, the black cloud rapidly surged again. Immense spiritual aura pressure also dispersed in a flash. Lord Daoist Zhenyang immediately summoned an Eight Trigram Disc. It was unclear what the disc was made of, but aside from the side the eight trigrams were painted on, the other side of it was brown. Right after Lord Daoist Zhenyang summoned it, it swelled in the wind, growing until it was the same size as the black cloud. From the center of the eight trigrams, black and white rays of light were emitted. The two rays interweaved and formed a net which then firmly covered the main hall and the surrounding area. It was actually protecting the cultivators with slightly lower cultivation levels against the oppression of the spiritual aura pressure.

“Hmph! A measly skill! I’ll fight you guys first!” The black cloud also swelled in a flash. It swelled so big that it was practically coming towards their faces. Although Mo Tiange couldn’t feel anything because she was currently inside the Virtual Sky World, Lord Daoist Jinghe’s maids, Mingxia and Wanqiu, immediately vomited blood in response, so she also understood that the spiritual aura fluctuations outside must be overbearing. Fortunately, there were many Nascent Soul cultivators present. With a wave of his hand, Lord Daoist Xuanyin gave the two maids a protective barrier, thus stopping them from vomiting blood.

Had she remained outside, Mo Tiange definitely wouldn’t have had the chance to carefully observe this fight of magical powers between some of the finest Nascent Soul Cultivators alive. At the moment, she didn’t have to worry about her own safety nor Lord Daoist Jinghe’s and Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s, so she just devoted her attention to observing the fight.

Once Master Song Feng made that move, both Lord Daoist Jinghe, and Lord Daoist Zhenyang promptly occupied their respective positions. These two old men fought not too long ago, but faced with a powerful opponent, the depth of their mutual understanding was very apparent; in an instant, they took positions where they could entrap their opponent. Soon after, Lord Daoist Jinghe summoned a calabash gourd and Lord Daoist Zhenyang summoned a small stone.

As the black cloud continued to swell, Lord Daoist Jinghe’s gourd suddenly spouted fire towards it. Lord Daoist Zhenyang also hurled his stone, which instantly grew large.

Mo Tiange wanted to study the fight carefully, but her cultivation level was too low; how could she clearly spot the movements of middle stage and late stage Nascent Soul cultivators? She only saw dust and stones being thrown in all directions along with bursts of flames and the vague movements of the surging black cloud—she actually couldn’t see what the situation was like outside!

Lord Daoist Jinghe had a fire spiritual root while Lord Daoist Zhenyang had a soil spiritual root. When the two of them cooperated in this fight of magical powers, the result was indeed just like the idiom “head and face covered in filth.” Not only did the fire burn their opponent, but the soil was also sprayed on him. Fortunately, Master Song Feng was only a black cloud now, so he simply didn’t need to fear getting dirty. Otherwise, he would most likely end up just like the two of them when they fought back then, completely messy and miserable looking.

Sometime later, their fight gradually stopped. Mo Tiange finally clearly saw that although Lord Daoist Jinghe and Lord Daoist Zhenyang cooperated together, they still couldn’t defeat Master Song Feng. However, seeing how the face on the black cloud also closed its eyes, Master Song Feng probably also didn’t have it easy.

The three of them separated. Lord Daoist Jinghe and Lord Daoist Zhenyang sat down in a lotus position while the black cloud’s eyes were closed, apparently resting.

Seeing that Master Song Feng also wasn’t able to do anything to Lord Daoist Jinghe and Lord Daoist Zhenyang, the rest of the Nascent Soul cultivators at Xuanqing School remained still.

After a long time, the face on the black cloud finally opened its eyes. A voice was transmitted from deep inside the cloud: “Qin Jinghe, tell this to your family’s brat—he killed my disciple, so sooner or later, I will definitely avenge my disciple! He better hide in the school until I pass away. Otherwise, I will certainly take his life!”

After it finished speaking, the black cloud easily broke through the net of rays Lord Daoist Zhenyang laid with his Eight Trigrams Disc and suddenly left.

Inside the Virtual Sky World, Mo Tiange finally heaved a sigh of relief. Since Master Song Feng dared to come to the school so unceremoniously, he must’ve never encountered people who were able to block his path, right? That was most likely the case. It was already hard to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, let alone a late stage Nascent Soul cultivator who possessed abundant secret techniques and treasures. Based on the indifferent reactions of those Nascent Soul seniors, they probably didn’t have any intentions of stopping him, right?

However, she didn’t know what Master Song Feng meant by “he killed my disciple.” Could it be that Qin Shoujing killed his disciple?

As Mo Tiange pondered various kinds of possibilities, she once again thought about the female cultivator who attacked her in the beginning. If it wasn’t because she had the magic weapons bestowed to her by Zhong Muling, she definitely wouldn’t have had such an easy time in fighting that female cultivator.

That female cultivator snuck into Xuanqing School and disappeared when Master Song Feng appeared. Was she also Master Song Feng’s disciple or grand disciple?

After thinking for a long time without an answer, Mo Tiange shook her head and tossed those matters to the back of her mind. They had nothing to do with her. Right now, she ought to think about how to get out without being noticed.