Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange tucked her hands inside her sleeves as she stood above the highest gated tower of Yu Clan, observing the protective barrier of the formation above Yu Clan’s territory with rapt attention.

Above this barrier, two cultivators were fighting a demonic beast. One of the cultivators suddenly noticed Mo Tiange and became extremely happy. He shouted, “Fellow Daoist, please lend us a helping hand!”

Mo Tiange felt rather unhappy and frowned. This demonic beast was a fifth rank demonic beast. Its rank was equivalent to the early stage Core Formation realm. However, since demonic beasts didn’t have talismans, magic weapons and the like, this beast’s fighting strength was a bit weaker than an early stage Core Formation cultivator.

In any case, this was still a fifth rank demonic beast; it would be very hard for these two middle stage Foundation Building cultivators to defeat it. Nevertheless, they actually led it to Yu Clan’s borders and asked for help without feeling guilty whatsoever. What they really did was belittle the lives of Yu Clan’s mortals and early stage cultivators! They might even pass the problem over to Yu Clan and make their escape.

Mo Tiange’s thought might be cynical, but she had never been afraid of assuming the worst intentions in other people. She was quite sure that even if these two people hadn’t intentionally implicated Yu Clan, they had subconsciously done so.

Even if these two people came from a prestigious cultivation group, they didn’t have any hope of fighting a fifth rank demonic beast and could only avoid its attacks. As it became harder and harder for them to dodge, the second cultivator shouted, “Fellow Daoist, are you going to stand by and watch!?”

His tone was really unpleasant. Mo Tiange swept her gaze over their surroundings. There were only a couple low level cultivators watching them reverently. The others had long been evacuated to another area by Clan Master Yu. She then chuckled softly and said faintly, “I’m only a guest here, not the master. My involvement has to be decided by the master of this clan. Fellow Daoists better wait.”

“You—” The man’s face grew purple. He could naturally sense that Mo Tiange’s words were perfunctory, but their lives were hanging by a very, very thin thread!

Due to a second of carelessness, his companion was swatted down by the demonic beast’s wings and fell to the ground with a blood-curdling scream.

“JUNIOR MARTIAL BROTHER!” the man bellowed. He glowered at Mo Tiange for an instant before he led the demonic beast around the formation—he really couldn’t hold on much longer.

Fortunately, Clan Master Yu and his wife frantically rushed towards them. Upon seeing this situation, he hastily said to Mo Tiange, “Fellow Daoist Mo, please help them!”

Mo Tiange understood so she nodded. “I’ll open the formation. You go grab the injured person. Remember, you have to be quick! We only have enough time equivalent to a single incense stick burning. If time is up and you still haven’t entered the formation, I’m going to close the formation again for the safety of others.”

“Understood.” In the past few days, they had successively received a lot of cultivators. Clan Master Yu was already well-aware of Mo Tiange’s modus operandi. When she said one incense stick, she meant one incense stick. If they surpassed that time limit, they would have to be responsible for their own deaths. Moreover, their enemy was a fifth rank demonic beast, which was beyond their abilities. It would be considered great if they could save those people and bring them inside.

Clan Master Yu shouted, “Fellow Daoist above! We’re going to open the formation for one incense stick’s worth of time; please come inside quickly! If you can’t, there’s nothing else we can do to help you.”

Overjoyed by what he heard, the man shouted back, “Thank you! Please quickly open the formation! I can’t hold on much longer.”

Mo Tiange moved with a speed that was neither too slow nor too quick. She clasped her hands together, made a hand seal and started to mutter some incantations.

This ancient Four Symbols Formation was different from its modern version, which was controlled with formation flags. This one was easier to control with hand seals and incantations.

In the wake of her incantation, a layer of light appeared on the protective barrier. Soon after, a heavy buzzing sound came through. Upon hearing this sound, Mo Tiange quickened her pace in reading the incantation. All of a sudden, a small hole appeared on top of the protective barrier along with a sharp penetrating noise.

Mo Tiange shouted, “QUICK!”

Clan Master Yu grunted in response then promptly flew outside the barrier with Madam Yu toward the person who had fallen to the ground.

On the other hand, when the other cultivator being chased by the demonic beast saw this opportunity, he felt happy and directly rushed towards the opening in the formation.

Mo Tiange was furious upon seeing his actions. This person was seriously selfish! He directly rushed towards the formation without considering that he might also lead the demonic beast into the formation and harm Yu Clan!

Her expression became even more indignant as she watched the demonic beast behind that man. She made another hand seal. Several Eyes of Formation, belonging to this Four Symbols Formation, suddenly emitted bright rays. The rays immediately took the form of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, which then shone upon the demonic beast.

These rays seemed to have mass; the moment the rays shone upon that demonic beast, the demonic beast became sluggish and suddenly emitted smoke. With an enraged howl, the demonic beast flapped its wings angrily, beating and tearing the rays created by the formation.

In an instant, the spirit stones on each Eye of Formation shattered, one after another. Even the spiritual aura inside Mo Tiange’s body dissipated at a maddening speed. Clenching her teeth, she secretly released her divine sense and inserted it between the fifth rank demonic beast and the Four Symbols Formation. When she found a chance, she ruthlessly lashed out at the demonic beast.

The fifth rank demonic beast instantly roared out in pain. The four ray beasts threw themselves at it and bit it without any mercy. Meanwhile, the cultivator exploited this opportunity and rushed into the opening of the formation. Clan Master Yu and his wife also moved very quickly. They fled and rushed inside, following behind the cultivator.

Watching this scene, Mo Tiange promptly made another hand seal and coordinated it with the incantation. Light once again flashed across the protective barrier, causing the hole in it to shrink until it finally disappeared.

For a while, the demonic beast still didn’t give up and tried to close in on them. However, upon seeing that its efforts were to no avail, it finally left with a disgruntled heart.

After confirming that the formation was closed and the demonic beast had left, everyone present sighed in relief. Mo Tiange slowly lowered her hands, but she suddenly held her chest and coughed.

“Fellow Daoist Mo!” Madam Yu cried out in shock.

Mo Tiange wiped the blood from her cough with her hand and shook her head. “I’m alright. I just exerted too much spiritual aura. You’d better go and add some spirit stones to each Eye of Formation.”

When Madam Yu heard this, she didn’t dare to be neglectful and personally saw to the task.

At that time, Mo Tiange finally turned around to look at Clan Master Yu and the two cultivators who just entered. Clan Master Yu was already examining the wound on the unconscious cultivator. The other cultivator had already closed his eyes and was meditating, completely ignoring her.

Mo Tiange just shook her head, took a Small Reversion Pill, and no longer paid them any attention.

Among these two cultivators, the unconscious one was rather young. He looked like he was in his early thirties. The one meditating to adjust his breath was slightly older, appearing to be in his late thirties. They wore uniforms of Danding School and were rather arrogant; they were probably elite disciples. They were relatively young, but they were already in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm. Presumably, they had bright futures, so they looked down on others.

Saving the two of them was within her abilities, and it was also requested by Clan Master Yu, so Mo Tiange hadn’t hoped for their gratitude. She didn’t take this matter to heart.

When Madam Yu returned, Clan Master Yu was still examining that person. The two of them then cooperated in treating his injuries.

Before long, that person slowly regained consciousness. “Uncle, Aunt!”

Clan Master Yu was happy to see him waking up. He said, “Good, good. It’s good that you woke up! Don’t talk—head back and heal your injuries first.”

Mo Tiange was startled. Turns out this person was the only Foundation Building cultivator the Yu Clan had left, the one who was studying at Danding School? It’s no wonder he asked me to save him so naturally—turns out this is his home! But in any case, I’m still a disciple of another school; he was too rude!

After assigning some people to take the younger cultivator back, Clan Master Yu turned around and sincerely cupped his hands towards Mo Tiange. “I really don’t know how to thank you. Fellow Daoist Mo, I’ll forever remember your grace in my heart.”

Mo Tiange faintly said, “Clan Master Yu doesn’t have to be polite. I just did what I could.”

Clan Master Yu dismissed her words, took out a bottle of medicinal pills and gave it to her. “Fellow Daoist Mo is injured. These are Green Pendant Pills. They’re Yu Clan’s secret medicine and are much more effective than Small Reversion Pills. Please take them as a token of my appreciation.”

Secret medicines for treating wounds were exactly what Mo Tiange lacked, so she accepted them outright. “Thank you.”

After some time, the recuperating cultivator finally opened his eyes and exhaled. The moment he lifted his gaze, he stood up and bowed at Clan Master Yu. “Uncle Yu, thank you for your help.”

Clan Master Yu smiled and helped him up. “I didn’t see clearly. Turns out it’s Junior Martial Brother Zhou! Junior Martial Brother Zhou is too courteous; why are you calling me Uncle? Our cultivation levels are in the same realm. I’d like it if you called me Senior Martial Brother.”

This Junior Martial Brother Zhou said nothing further. Mo Tiange could see he didn’t think highly of this Clan Master Yu, who didn’t have any prospects of breaking through to the next realm. He probably only said that out of courtesy for his injured junior martial brother from Yu Clan.

Contempt flashed in his eyes as he asked Clan Master Yu, “May I know where Junior Martial Brother Yu is? Is he all right?”

Clan Master Yu said, “My young nephew is fine. He’s headed back to rest. If Junior Martial Brother Zhou wants to see him, I’ll get someone to show you the way.” He then called a low level cultivator over and gave him a few instructions.

Junior Martial Brother Zhou once again cupped his hands, and at the same time, he impertinently swept his gaze over Mo Tiange before following the low level cultivator away.

After he left, Clan Master Yu sighed and turned towards Mo Tiange. “Fellow Daoist Mo, please don’t mind him. This Junior Martial Brother Zhou’s temper has always been like this. It isn’t like he has an evil heart or anything.”

Mo Tiange chuckled. She had experienced this kind of person a lot, but none of them acted so obviously contemptuous like this Junior Martial Brother Zhou. Wei Jiasi, for example, only looked arrogant, but she would definitely never look at others with that kind of gaze or haughtily boss others around. This Junior Martial Brother Zhou… was indeed loathsome.

From Mo Tiange’s expression, Clan Master Yu could roughly understand her train of thought. He felt somewhat awkward, but he didn’t say anything further. This Junior Martial Brother Zhou wasn’t from Yu Clan. Out of consideration for his nephew, saying a few sentences to smooth things over was already enough on his part.

The two of them stood on Yu Clan’s gate tower in silence. Occasionally, they saw fleeting rays passing over and bright rays from fights of magical power in the distance.

In the past two days, they had been listening to news about the current situation from cultivators from outside the formation. The situation wasn’t good now. All Danding School disciples had been dispatched to the war; even part-time disciples weren’t exempt. Since even part-time disciples had entered the battlefield, it was very clear how desperate their situation was.

A portion of Danding School’s Great Mountain-Protecting Barrier had been shattered. Every cultivation clan affiliated with Danding School received a summons to fight. Of course, not every clan complied. Now, Danding School was in a precarious situation; there were naturally some clans who wanted to be independent. Nevertheless, demonic beasts definitely wouldn’t hold any peace talks with humans, so they could only hope their luck was good enough that they wouldn’t encounter high ranking demonic beast.

Yu Clan had many reasons for participating in the war. First, Yu Clan was small, so rather than saving their strength and depending on another strong group, they thought they’d better bet their lives on Danding School, betting that the several-millenniums-old Danding School wouldn’t be overthrown by a demonic beast riot. Second, out of the two Yu Clan Foundation Building cultivators with potential, one perished in the riot. They were angry but they let go. Things couldn’t get much worse; even if they chose to save their strength, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to do it. So, they just decided to bet their lives.

Regarding this matter, Mo Tiange actually had a lot of admiration for this Clan Master Yu. This Clan Master Yu must have quite a character to act so resolutely.

From what they heard, Danding School once again sent out countless Summoning Talismans requesting aid. Presumably, help would come in half a month to one month. People didn’t want to sacrifice their lives, so they wouldn’t come too early. However, they also wouldn’t come too late because they were afraid Danding School would be overthrown and consequently lower the standard of pill-concocting in all of Kunwu. They were most likely holding out until a critical moment before they came.

Two people watched silently until Clan Master Yu suddenly spoke. “In several days, it’ll be New Year.”

Mo Tiange was startled. Cultivators didn’t keep track of time; they usually didn’t pay attention to these kinds of secular world traditions. Whether it was in Yunwu Sect or Xuanqing School, and even when she was with Second Uncle, she hadn’t celebrated New Year. New Year just told her that she had grown one year older. For Clan Master Yu to suddenly mention it like this meant the people of their clan valued these traditions.

Clan Master Yu stared at the fire blazing somewhere in the distance and chuckled remorsefully. “On New Year last year, my other grandnephew was just thirty years old, but he already advanced into the Foundation Building realm. At that time, we still thought Yu Clan’s future was promising; we thought we might even get a Core Formation cultivator. I never expected that by New Year this year, that grandnephew of mine would’ve perished already…”

This Clan Master Yu didn’t say anything more, but Mo Tiange could still sense the sorrow in his words. For cultivation clans, having no qualified successors was probably the most sorrowful thing; Ye Clan went through the same thing back then. Even though they had an astoundingly talented Core Formation cultivator, they dejectedly retreated from Mount Qingmeng since they had no successor.

Clan Master Yu rubbed his eyes before he turned towards her. He said with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Mo, please don’t blame me. As people get older, their thoughts tend to run amok. Ay~”

Mo Tiange shook her head. “It’s alright…”

The two of them once again sunk into silence. After a while, Clan Master Yu asked, “Fellow Daoist Mo looks rather young, but you don’t seem to be using Look-Preserving Technique. May I know how old you are?”

Mo Tiange was silent. Asking about someone’s age was rare for cultivators. But this Clan Master Yu was quite old; it wouldn’t be a problem for her to treat him as an elder. She pondered it for a while before she answered, “When this year ends, I’ll be twenty-five years old.”

“Twenty-five!!!” Clan Master Yu exclaimed in shock. “Fellow Daoist Mo, you’re already in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm, but you’re actually only twenty-five years old?”

Mo Tiange nodded. Although others might be surprised upon learning her age, the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm wasn’t anything special, so she thought there was no harm in telling him the truth.

Clan Master Yu let out a heartfelt sigh. “It was no wonder Senior Martial Sister Ling praised you as young and promising. Here I thought my grandnephew was already outstanding among elite disciples of big cultivation groups… but compared to Fellow Daoist Mo, he really wasn’t worth mentioning.”

Mo Tiange smiled but there was no complacency in her smile. “Clan Master Yu is over praising me. In fact, it hasn’t been long since I built my foundation. It was only because of special treatment from my elders that I was able to obtain some fated chances and was thus able to advance to the middle stage. It makes me feel quite ashamed to be praised like that.”

“Eh~!” Clan Master Yu earnestly said, “Fated chances can be considered part of your strength. Fellow Daoist Mo really doesn’t have to be this modest. If it was those unworthy descendants of mine, even if they got enormous fated chances, I’m afraid they still wouldn’t be able to advance to the Foundation Building realm as you did.”

Faced with Clan Master Yu’s praise, Mo Tiange simply cupped her hands with a small smile. Clan Master Yu spoke like that because he had no idea how great her fated chances were. After obtaining the Art of the Origin, her detrimental spiritual roots instantly became a heaven-sent gift. She also obtained pointers from Deification cultivators, which meant her cultivation path was shorter than her peers by ten to twenty years. In addition, with her Five-Spirits Cultivating Body, the time required to practice the Deification Technique was cut in half. Lastly, there was also the Virtual Sky World. Although she still hadn’t had a chance to use its biggest and most precious resource, the formations she used now were also enabled by it.

If she hadn’t obtained these fated chances, she would certainly have a similar viewpoint as Clan Master Yu, thinking that fated chances were nothing but extraneous assistance. However, after obtaining those fated chances, she finally realized they weren’t something to be belittled.

According to legend, a cultivator with very bad natural aptitude obtained an enormous fated chance years ago in Kunwu. Because of that, he managed to cultivate until he reached the Nascent Soul realm and possessed a divine power that covered the entire Celestial Pole. Now, it seemed like this could’ve been entirely possible.

Clan Master Yu said, “Fellow Daoist Mo, may I know which Master Daoist at Xuanqing School you and your martial sisters are studying under?”

When they arrived, they only said they were ordered by their master to accept Danding School’s arrangements and were thus dispatched to Yu Clan to help. However, they didn’t mention their master’s name. Considering Clan Master Yu’s status, he probably didn’t have the qualifications to know about this matter.

But, it wasn’t like this matter was a secret that couldn’t be exposed. So, Mo Tiange said, “All of my senior martial sisters are Martial Uncle Xuanyin’s disciples. I’m also studying under Martial Uncle Xuanyin’s guidance, so we all have the same master.”

“I see…” Regarding why Mo Tiange was the only one who referred to Master Daoist Xuanyin as “martial uncle,” Clan Master Yu didn’t probe further. After all, things like this were usually a secret.

The two of them continued to chat. Seeing as Mo Tiange’s cultivation level was already this high despite her young age and that she was very earnest in how she treated others, Clan Master Yu had a good impression of her. Mo Tiange also treated him kindly—there was nothing wrong with building a good relationship; it might come in handy in the future.

As they chatted, someone suddenly came and reported some changes in the condition of Yu Clan’s young Foundation Building cultivator. Overwhelmed with worry, Clan Master Yu immediately rushed to see him.

Mo Tiange wasn’t originally concerned about this, but Han Qingyu happened to take over the watch on top of the gated tower and secretly ordered Mo Tiange to go and observe the situation.

Thus, she followed Clan Master Yu into Yu Clan’s inner courtyard. When she entered the room, she once again received a hostile stare from Junior Martial Brother Zhou.

Feeling rather helpless, Mo Tiange merely smiled. This Junior Martial Brother Zhou might be a Foundation Building cultivator with the appearance of a man in his forties, but he must be a hundred years old at the very least. Despite this, he was unexpectedly this childish. Apparently, Danding School’s disciples weren’t worth much.

“Axi, how are you!?” From the way Clan Master Yu addressed him, it seemed like Clan Master Yu and the injured cultivator had a quite close relationship.

Yu Clan’s young cultivator was lying in bed, looking extremely bleak. But he managed to squeeze out a bitter smile and said, “Uncle, I… I’m sorry…”

“Axi, stop saying these kinds of things!” Clan Master Yu grasped the cultivator’s hand tightly as he continued to pacify him, “You just need to recover properly. You’ll get better soon. We still have a lot of Green Pendant Pills left…”

“Uncle!” He cut Clan Master Yu off and sorrow emerged in his gaze. “Uncle, I’m very aware of my situation. Perhaps my injuries can be healed, but… but I might suffer a regression and fall back to the Aura Refining realm…”

Clan Master Yu looked visibly shaken upon hearing this. Mo Tiange saw that Clan Master Yu’s hands, holding Axi, were trembling.

Falling back to the Aura Refining realm… Mo Tiange understood how severe his wounds were. When it came to realm-regression, the person might have to spend several years re-cultivating to reach their former realm in the best cases, but in the worse cases, it might be difficult for the person to advance for the rest of their lives.

“Uncle…” Upon seeing Clan Master Yu’s expression, tears started to fall from Axi’s eyes. He said, “I… I’m sorry. For more than fifty years, you’ve spared no efforts in nurturing me, but I… I…”

“No.” Clan Master Yu regained his composure. He said firmly, “Axi, rest assured. When the war is over, Uncle will help you find a way. You don’t have to worry too much right now. Our Yu Clan is still in good shape; we just need to get through this.”

Probably because he didn’t want Clan Master Yu to feel even more heartbroken, Axi wiped his tears away then nodded. “I understand. Uncle, rest assured. I… I still don’t want to die.”

Nevertheless, Mo Tiange could clearly sense the disappointment in his gaze. He obviously knew he wouldn’t get better.

Mo Tiange secretly shook her head. She could see clearly that his condition was indeed not good—his meridians were severely damaged. Even if his dantian was alright, he would regress to the early stage of the Foundation Building realm at the very least.