Lady Cultivator

After that round of talks with Ruan Mingzhu, Mo Tiange could no longer keep sitting there, so she returned to her own Mingxin Residence.

Xiuqin and Qingqi moved very quickly; they already put the medicinal fields back in order.

The moment Mo Tiange returned, she saw that there wasn’t even a single soul in the courtyard. Xiaohuo was still curled up in the corner of the cultivating room, cultivating. Feifei was walking here and there around Xiaohuo, looking extremely curious.

Feifei was her contractual spiritual beast; since she already commanded it not to trouble Xiaohuo, it wouldn’t try to do anything to Xiaohuo. As for Xiaohuo, it was cultivating, but it still allowed Feifei to come so close to it; apparently, their earlier dispute hadn’t hurt its heart.

After contemplating for a while, Mo Tiange closed the door to the courtyard, activated the defense formation, and placed an illusion inside her room. She then grabbed Xiaohuo and Feifei, taking them with her into the Virtual Sky World.

Xiaohuo immediately stopped cultivating. The moment it saw the Virtual Sky World it hadn’t seen for a long time, it cheerfully started running, looking for the spiritual plants it fancied in the past.

Feifei, who saw this, immediately ran after Xiaohuo, fearing that the things it fancied would be snatched by Xiaohuo.

The two spiritual beasts ran while competing with each other. It was only later when the two beasts found out that the things they respectively fancied were different that the hostility between them ceased. By the time Mo Tiange snapped out of her momentary daze, she realized the two of them were already rolling about and playing together.

Mo Tiange couldn’t help but feel amused upon seeing this. Spiritual beasts’ emotions were very simple; happy was happy, and dislike was just dislike. Just earlier, the two of them were still fighting, but now, they were already playing naughtily together. En, she often tossed Xiaohuo to this place and left it by itself back then, so it always felt lonely. With Feifei around, it ought to be a bit happier in the future.

As she pondered, her mind inadvertently went back to those messy matters outside.

The medicinal pills she concocted for Xiaohuo were discovered by Qin Shoujing. Zhenji had a master. That total troublemaker, Ruan Mingzhu. And her master’s unfinished remark…

She massaged the space between her eyebrows, feeling completely muddled. Right now, she was certain her master didn’t know about the medicinal pill matter. But regarding whether or not that Senior Martial Brother Shoujing doubted her, she really couldn’t be certain. Nevertheless, she already talked to her master anyway. Even if they came to her later on, she could just push the blame onto Zhong Muling.

Speaking of which, it had been at least… more than thirty years since they last met, right? For her, it definitely wasn’t a very short period. Today, she finally realized that she actually had long-lasting feelings. More than thirty years still hadn’t allowed her to completely forget…

After letting her mind wander around for quite a while, Mo Tiange eventually shook her head, put some restraint on her thoughts, and began cultivating.

The sixth day of the sixth month wasn’t at all far away. Although her master said she didn’t need to go all out, she still had to make some preparations.

With her mind focused on cultivating, several days passed by very quickly.

By the time Xiuqin and the others came to call upon her, it was already the sixth day of the sixth month.

On this day, every Foundation Building disciple in Xuanqing School gathered at the main peak; even Xiuqin and the others were no exception. Mo Tiange saw a lot of familiar faces among the crowd: Han Qingyu, Wei Jiasi, Luo Fengxue, Ye Jingwen, Kuang Zhu, Zhan Bai…

With a major event just around the corner, nobody was in the mood to chat. They’d greet each other, but they’d soon return to their own positions among the formation.

Han Qingyu and the others were in the same group as Mo Tiange, so Luo Fengxue immediately stood next to her to gossip.

Mo Tiange looked around and surprisingly found Bai Yanfei in her group. However, after pondering the matter, she finally understood—this group must be the group with the highest status among the Foundation Building cultivators. Everyone in this group was a disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator, so Bai Yanfei naturally would be here.

Having not seen each other for a few dozen years, Bai Yanfei seemed much steadier now. Although he still had the same arrogant look, he wasn’t as frivolous as before. What made Mo Tiange feel relieved was that ever since she arrived, Bai Yanfei hadn’t even taken a look at her; apparently, the thoughts he harbored back then had ceased to exist.

Interestingly, there was a girl standing not too far from Bai Yanfei who furiously glared at him from time to time. Against all reason, however, Bai Yanfei just pretended to notice nothing—his eyes didn’t even waver.

Luo Fengxue, who noticed Mo Tiange’s line of sight, approached her and whispered, “You should recognize this Junior Martial Brother Bai, but you must’ve never seen that Junior Martial Sister Jiang before, right?”

Mo Tiange whispered back: “So that’s Junior Martial Sister Jiang of Drifting Cloud Peak… I think she’s quite good. Although she isn’t an outstanding beauty, she’s still a beauty nonetheless.”

“True…” Luo Fengxue let out a low chuckle. “If we’re talking about looks, Junior Martial Sister Jiang’s indeed not bad. Unfortunately, her temper… is more or less the same as our Senior Martial Sister Ruan.” Although Lord Daoist Xuanyin had established a separate division, Luo Fengxue still addressed people in the same way she used to.

Mo Tiange looked towards another group in her periphery. Ruan Mingzhu was in that group, looking completely crestfallen without a sliver of the domineering nature she used to have. Mo Tiange then said with a smile, “You seem to really dislike that Senior Martial Sister Ruan!”

“It’d be weird if I liked her!” Luo Fengxue said while pursing her lips, “Although there’s nothing great about second martial sister’s temper, she never harmed others. Ruan Mingzhu injured second martial sister so badly; how could I possibly like her?!”

Since they were talking about this, Mo Tiange’s gaze shifted towards the solemn-looking Wei Jiasi. Unexpectedly, however, she found that Wei Jiasi had also advanced to the late stage.

“Did Senior Martial Sister Wei advance?”

“En,” Luo Fengxue said, “Second martial sister finally understood; she’s already more than a hundred years old now. If she doesn’t hurriedly work for her core-formation, it’d certainly be harder in the future.”

At this point, Luo Fengxue once again asked her: “Tiange, how did your cultivation progress so quickly? We built our foundation around the same time; I’m now still in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm, but you’re already in the late stage. Hasn’t it only been a few dozen years, yet you’re already almost one whole realm higher than me?” Although Luo Fengxue liked to deal with authority-related matters, she was also never lazy about cultivating. Of the twenty-four hours in a day, she spent at least half of them cultivating.

Shaking her head, Mo Tiange said, “You also figured it out… Immediately after I built my foundation, I obtained a fated chance, hence my direct advancement into the middle stage. It’s been more than thirty years since then—it’s not at all strange for my cultivation level to have reached the late stage now. Besides, aren’t you now already in the peak of the early stage? You just need a realm-breakthrough now.”

“That might be the case, but who knows?” Luo Fengxue wasn’t interested in talking about this matter, so she changed the topic. “In fact, all of us have been saying in the dark that Junior Martial Sister Jiang would definitely suffer in the future. She now has Martial Uncle Lingxu as her backing, so she’s very privileged. When it comes to her aptitude, however, she’s actually about the same as us. If she performed Dual Cultivation with Junior Martial Brother Bai, she’d be the one who got easy gains. Martial Uncle Zhenyang’s move is just to placate Drifting Cloud Peak.”

Mo Tiange said, “If Martial Uncle Lingxu passes away, what’d happen to Drifting Cloud Peak? It must’ve been almost a thousand years since Martial Uncle Lingxu advanced to the Nascent Soul realm—Drifting Cloud Peak is filled with his disciples and grand-disciples.”

Luo Fengxue pursed her lips and said, “That’s why Drifting Cloud Peak is now anxious to come up with another Nascent Soul cultivator. Otherwise, Senior Martial Brother Danning wouldn’t have been so anxious to form his Nascent Soul without traveling outside. Ay~ According to me, it’s going to be hard for Senior Martial Brother Danning to form his Nascent Soul now!”

Even though Luo Fengxue was only a Foundation Building cultivator, she was the chief steward at Sweet Dew Peak, so she knew much more compared to ordinary Foundation Building cultivators.

Upon hearing what she said, Mo Tiange couldn’t help but ask: “Are these things you heard from Martial Uncle Xuanyin?”

Luo Fengxue said, “Master indeed told me so before. In addition, Martial Uncle Shoujing…” she hesitated for a moment before continuing: “His situation’s most likely also worrisome.”

“… Then why did everyone still want to let them enter Closed Door Meditation now to form their Nascent Souls?” Mo Tiange asked in bewilderment. “Soul-formation isn’t the same as core-formation—it’s highly risky. They might even fall if they fail to handle their Inner Demons.”

Luo Fengxue shook her head. “Who wouldn’t be in danger when trying to form their Nascent Soul? Even my master also had to go through all this. If they fail, it’s just meant to be.” She paused for a moment before continuing with a smile: “In fact, I think Martial Uncle Shoujing will succeed. Even without taking anything else into consideration, just judging by Martial Uncle Shoujing’s temper, he’ll always do something perfectly before he’ll proceed with the next step.”

“…” Mo Tiange didn’t say anything in return. While Luo Fengxue didn’t know, Mo Tiange knew perfectly well that her master completely wasn’t optimistic about his chances.

“Oh, right! I should call him Senior Martial Brother Shoujing now! I can’t get accustomed to this. Before long, I’ll have to call him martial uncle again anyway,” Luo Fengxue said while patting her forehead. “I’ve pulled our conversation off track again—what were we talking about just now?”

“We were talking about Junior Martial Sister Jiang,” Mo Tiange said as a reminder.

“Oh! Let’s make a bet. I think Junior Martial Sister Jiang will still end up marrying Junior Martial Brother Bai in the end—believe me or not?”

Mo Tiange chuckled. “I’m betting with you? Isn’t that just the same as looking for defeat? In all of Xuanqing School, who has better access to news than you?”

“Indeed,” Luo Fengxue said proudly. However, she didn’t forget to lower her voice again as she spoke: “Last time, Junior Martial Sister Jiang caused havoc in the Morning Sun Peak because of Junior Martial Brother Bai’s refusal. In my opinion, Junior Martial Sister Jiang must also have a good impression of Junior Martial Brother Bai, so it was hard for her to accept his refusal.”

The unruly Junior Martial Sister Jiang and the arrogant Junior Martial Brother Bai… This combination really made Mo Tiange smile. “If that’s indeed the case, we’ll have a show to watch every day.”

“Who said we won’t?” Luo Fengxue let out a soft chuckle. “Furthermore, that Junior Martial Brother Bai is, in fact, not really someone with high morals. Although he already refused, what if Martial Uncle Zhenyang still wanted him and Junior Martial Sister Jiang to perform Dual Cultivation? Besides, Junior Martial Sister Jiang is also considered a beauty—at that time, he’d certainly yield.” At this point, Luo Fengxue pursed her lips again. “If I may say, Martial Uncle Zhenyang’s the one who’ll profit the most from this move. Right now, by letting Junior Martial brother Bai and Junior Martial Sister Jiang bond as Dual Cultivation partners, everyone will only say he’s kind, but Drifting Cloud Peak definitely isn’t the only one to benefit from this matter. Senior Martial Brother Danning’s odds of success in forming his Nascent Soul aren’t high, and there are only a few other prospective disciples at Drifting Cloud Peak; Junior Martial Brother Bai, however, has a very high chance of successfully forming his Nascent Soul in the future—hmph! Once Junior Martial Brother Bai forms his Nascent Soul, he’ll be able to become the master of Drifting Cloud Peak. How good would that be?!”

Mo Tiange sank into silence for a while before she finally spoke again. “However, with Junior Martial Brother Bai’s current cultivation level, he’ll need at least two to three hundred more years before he can advance to the Nascent Soul realm, wouldn’t he? Within that period of time, our Xuanqing School might come up with more than one new Nascent Soul cultivator. At that time, wouldn’t the Drifting Cloud Peak have to be allocated to others?”

Luo Fengxue was dumbfounded. “That also makes sense… Aiya! Even if that’s the case, Martial Uncle Zhenyang also wouldn’t suffer any losses. Forget about soul-formation—let’s talk about core-formation now. In these past few years, many of our fellow disciples reached the late stage of the Foundation Building realm. According to my estimates, the competition to gather spiritual plants inside the magic formation will definitely be very fierce. Tiange, you’ve got to be careful.”

“En?” Mo Tiange was baffled. “Why do I have to be careful?”

Luo Fengxue said, “Although there are a lot of spiritual panaceas left behind from the Middle Ages era inside the magic formation, all of them have to be handed over to the school. At that time, you people who are about to form your Gold Core would still have to depend on medicinal pills provided by the school. There are only so many medicinal pills, but you all have to share them—think about it. If you take a bit fewer, others can take a bit more, so would there be people who wouldn’t want to let you take many spiritual panaceas?”

This reasoning was indeed correct. Mo Tiange asked, “Will people attack me?”

“They wouldn’t go as far as attacking you. The school rules forbid fellow disciples from harming each other.” Luo Fengxue swept her gaze past several people. “But obstructing you or blocking you outside is very possible.”

“…” She never expected that the school’s assignment, which she hadn’t really taken seriously, to actually be quite risky. Fortunately, her master had long told her that protecting herself was most important right now.

“Come here. There are several people you need to watch out for—I’ll point them out for you.”