Lady Cultivator

“You said his cultivation level regressed?!”

Upon hearing Han Qingyu’s question, Mo Tiange nodded. “Yes, I can see that the damage sustained by his meridians was too severe, so his cultivation level definitely regressed.”

Han Qingyu pondered for quite a while before she heaved a deep sigh. “We’re in trouble this time.”

Mo Tiange stared at her in confusion. She said, “Senior Martial Sister Han, we’ve never considered that Yu Clan cultivator to be part of our ranks since the beginning—why would we be in trouble because of him?”

Han Qingyu said, “Think about it. Because the other Foundation Building descendant died, Clan Master Yu decided to participate in this war. Now, since this young cultivator’s cultivation level regressed to the Aura Refining realm, wouldn’t he lose all hope and decide to fight those demonic beasts to the death?”

Mo Tiange was dumbstruck. That… is indeed possible.

Upon seeing that Mo Tiange understood her point, Han Qingyu continued on with a bitter smile. “If it were me, maybe I would do the same thing. People who don’t come from cultivation clans probably can’t understand this; a clan with no promising future can only prolong their feeble existence for a short while. I’m afraid… this idea has taken root in Clan Master Yu’s mind.”

Mo Tiange thought the matter over calmly then said, “Senior Martial Sister Han, so this means we’re also…”

“Yes. If this is indeed the case, we’re also in a dangerous situation. What master told us to do is also no easy task…” Han Qingyu pondered for a moment then continued to say, “Alright. Later on, I’ll take a look at that Yu Clan boy and see what’s wrong with him. In order to prevent the Yu Clan from giving up and acting desperately, I’ll definitely help if I can. If that’s still not enough, we’ll leave Yu Clan if we must. We mustn’t throw away our lives just for them.”

“…” Mo Tiange could only nod. “We’ll act according to what Senior Martial Sister Han said.”

Once Mo Tiange finished talking to Han Qingyu, she entered the Virtual Sky World again and took some time to ponder over this matter.

Every time she entered the Virtual Sky World, she always laid a Spirit-Dispersing Formation outside her room. The purpose was to allow others to detect that there was a Foundation Building cultivator inside, so Han Qingyu and the others wouldn’t become suspicious and discover her secret. From inside the Virtual Sky World, Mo Tiange could sense what was happening in the outside world clearly. If any problems occurred, she could immediately come out. Unfortunately, entering the Virtual Sky World required some effort; otherwise, she wouldn’t need to worry about her life.

Right now, she felt both glad and worried. She was glad because Han Qingyu made some preparations long ago. This Senior Martial Sister Han was similar to Luo Fengxue—both were good at crisis management. Furthermore, her experience in fights of magical power was much more abundant than Luo Fengxue’s. With Senior Martial Sister Han planning and making arrangements, Mo Tiange didn’t need to exert too much brain power herself. As for her concerns, she was worried about Yu Clan’s present unstable situation. Their situation made Mo Tiange wary of the sudden appearance of any problems.

Since she was still at a loss for better solutions even after thinking for a while, Mo Tiange shook her head and once again focused her attention on cultivating.

She tried using the Soul-Refining Art when she rescued Yu Clan’s younger generation cultivators and the cultivator surnamed Zhou, so she had a lot of expectations for this technique. She was only in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm, and it had only been a while since she advanced realms. Nevertheless, to her surprise, she could injure a fifth rank demonic beast so easily with this technique. It was obvious to her that making attacks using one’s divine sense didn’t require a high cultivation level. That being the case, even if she had to face a Core Formation cultivator, she wouldn’t be completely defenseless to fight back.

As she engrossed herself in cultivating, an entire day unknowingly passed.

On the second day, Mo Tiange suddenly heard sounds of footsteps approaching from a distance, rousing her from her cultivation. She immediately came out of the Virtual Sky World then pretended she was cultivating in her room.

“Tiange!” It was Luo Fengxue’s voice.

Mo Tiange removed the formation outside her room then opened her door. “Senior Martial Sister Luo?”

Luo Fengxue looked extremely anxious. Her forehead was drenched with sweat. She nervously said, “Quick! Let’s go quickly! The fight has started!”

“En?” Mo Tiange was dumbfounded.

Luo Fengxue came in, grabbed Mo Tiange’s hand, and dragged her outside. “No time to explain it to you. I haven’t gone out yet, but I’ve already noticed there’s something wrong outside, so I immediately came to find you.”

Mo Tiange was still in a dazed state when she followed Luo Fengxue outside. However, when she was outside and lifted her head, she finally understood what Luo Fengxue meant by “something wrong.”

Fire filled the whole sky. Everything outside the protective barrier of the Four Symbols Formation was engulfed by fire.

It was daytime now, but the flame illuminated Yu Clan’s entire territory. If it was nighttime, the flames would probably make it appear as bright as daytime.

As she tried to make sense of the situation outside, Mo Tiange realized there were more than a dozen Foundation Building cultivators, several hundred Aura Refining cultivators and demonic beasts in the vicinity!

The two of them glanced at each other, both looking ghastly pale. What did the appearance of so many cultivators and demonic beasts mean? It meant the area around Yu Clan had already become the main battlefield! Although they long expected that there would definitely be a day when the war came to them, they hadn’t expected that day would come so fast.

They flew unsteadily towards Yu Clan’s highest gate tower. Sure enough, Han Qingyu and the people of Yu Clan were already there. During this short period of time, they’d been continuously rescuing other cultivators.

Han Qingyu instantly pulled them towards her right after she noticed their arrival. She said in a dignified manner, “I don’t know why, but the battle has spread to this area today. I don’t have time to tell you much right now. You better be prepared to fight. Yu Clan…” She cast a glance at Yu Clan’s people standing not too far from them then shifted her gaze towards Mo Tiange. “Yu Clan will soon ask you to open the formation. Do as you see fit.”

Mo Tiange also glanced at the people of Yu Clan. She then whispered, “Senior Martial Sister Han means…?”

A bitter smile appeared on Han Qingyu’s face. “Originally, I planned to help. But things unfolded too fast. So, do what you should do; don’t hesitate. I will take responsibility in front of Master later—if we’re still able to reach him, that is.”

Since Han Qingyu was talking like that, Mo Tiange naturally understood her intention. She nodded and said, “Alright, I understand.”

Right after they finished talking, Clan Master Yu came over. “Fellow Daoists.”

Clan Master Yu didn’t give them the chance to return his greeting; he directly shifted his gaze towards Mo Tiange. “I have to shamelessly ask for Fellow Daoist’s help today.”

Mo Tiange nodded. She didn’t beat around the bush and directly asked, “When does Clan Master Yu plan to attack?”

Clan Master Yu looked at the protective barrier in the sky above them then at the numerous silhouettes fighting in the distance. Decisiveness was apparent in his expression. “Now!”

“What about the mortals and low level cultivators?”

Upon hearing her question, bitterness appeared on Clan Master Yu’s face. He said, “I’ve evacuated them to a mountain in the back. It’s naturally best if they can survive, but if they don’t… they can only blame themselves for being unlucky.”

“…” Now that things had reached this point, what else did they need to say?

Mo Tiange took several steps forward and laid a simple defense formation on the ground she was standing on. She then made some hand seals, closed her eyes and muttered some incantations.

Along with her incantations, the Four Symbols Formation suddenly emitted bright light. East, west, south, north—light in those four directions suddenly appeared in the form of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Soon after, a gap appeared between those four beasts.

Clan Master Yu shouted to the people outside, “Fellow Daoists! If you can’t hold on, please enter the formation quickly!”

Every cultivator on the battlefield was delighted to hear this good news. Knowing that there was a safe harbor, some of them clenched their teeth and continued to fight demonic beasts while others looked glad and directly rushed towards the gap.

Whenever demonic beasts came towards the formation to chase after the cultivators, the four light beasts would pounce on them and tear them apart…

Several of Yu Clan’s cultivators also leaped out of the gap to fight demonic beasts.

Even though Mo Tiange had seen humans and monsters fighting each other from the day she first left Mount Taikang, what she witnessed really couldn’t compare to what she was seeing today.

In the secular world, hunters hunted beasts. Once in a while, there were cases in which the hunter was buried in the beast’s stomach. In the cultivation world, humans hunted monsters. A moment of carelessness might cause them to be swallowed by monsters. In any case, humans normally occupied the dominant position. But today was different. In all honesty, if there were slightly more demonic beasts, this war would definitely become even more tragic.

Monsters used both their fangs and claws. Humans deployed both talismans and magic weapons. Both parties were squeezed on the battlefield together. Sometimes, humans killed monsters. Sometimes, monsters ate humans.

Because there were fortunately no demonic beasts in the fifth rank and above, Mo Tiange didn’t think that controlling the Four Symbols Formation was too arduous, although she might still have to take Restorative Panaceas to replenish her spiritual aura from time to time.

To lighten Mo Tiange’s burden, Han Qingyu and Wei Jiasi stood guard at the gap in the formation. Luo Fengxue, on the other hand, guarded her, feeding medicinal pills to her and conveying her messages to cultivators around them.

Mo Tiange didn’t know how long the battle went on for; it just felt like everything was turning into rivers of blood. There were several times when she wanted to give up and enter the Virtual Sky World, disregarding the lives of others. However, the precarious state of her formation reminded her of the huge burden she was carrying on her shoulders. Besides, even if she left, she would have to put the formation in order. Otherwise, she might be attacked by the rebounding formation’s power before she could leave.

“Fifth rank demonic beasts! There are fifth rank demonic beasts!” someone suddenly cried out.

Mo Tiange promptly looked up and saw two demonic beasts appearing in the horizon, flying towards them.

In an instant, she and Luo Fengxue turned pale.

A fifth rank demonic beast… was equivalent to an early stage Core Formation cultivator… Everyone present were Foundation Building cultivators; furthermore, there were countless low rank demonic beasts…

“TIANGE!” Han Qingyu yelled out, “ABANDON IT! ABANDON THE FORMATION! RUN!”

With clenched teeth, Mo Tiange muttered some incantations and made a few hand seals. As soon as she finished, she pulled Luo Fengxue towards her, summoned her White Silk Handkerchief, and fled through the gap in the formation.

She used a secret technique to temporarily control the formation. Without anyone presiding over the formation, it should still last about an hour. Within that one hour, they were probably going to decide whether they were going to fight or run.

“Senior Martial Sister!” When four people gathered together, Mo Tiange asked, “What are we going to do?”

Han Qingyu swept her gaze over their surroundings. All around them, cultivators had started to flee in panic. A bitter smile appeared on her face. “We… We too will take advantage of this chaos and run. We can’t hang on any longer.”

“…” The four of them were silent.

Suddenly, Han Qingyu pulled Luo Fengxue to her side and said sternly, “Fengxue will go with me. You two take care of your own selves. If we manage to escape… if we manage to escape, let’s meet at the neighboring branch courtyard!”

“Understood!”

Luo Fengxue was arranged to go with Han Qingyu because Han Qingyu’s cultivation level was the highest among them. As for Mo Tiange and Wei Jiasi, both of them were in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm and were very experienced in fights of magical powers; the two of them were capable of taking care of themselves.

Mo Tiange stepped onto her White Silk Handkerchief while holding the Shuttle of Flying Apsara. The Enchanting Lantern and her flying needles were on standby. In addition, she had secretly taken out the Land-Fleeing Ruler as her backup plan. If she was unlucky enough to encounter a fifth rank beast, she planned on using it to immediately flee a thousand miles away before entering the Virtual Sky World.

Although she had prepared this plan long ago, now that she was confronted with the real situation, she still felt her palms getting sweaty. That day, when she controlled the Four Symbols Formation and fought a fifth rank beast, she was successfully able to land a blow on it using her Soul-Refining Art because of the power of the Four Symbols Formation and also because the demonic beast was already exhausted from fighting other cultivators. Right now, the situation was different. She didn’t have the slightest assurance she could do it again.

After launching the Shuttle of Flying Apsara, Mo Tiange started to dash left and right without relaxing her hands. The moment her Shuttle of Flying Apsara whirled back, numerous demonic beasts fell down from the sky one after another. She didn’t stop; after killing one, she continued to kill others blocking her way.

Occasionally, she also ran into second and third rank beasts. When she did, she would hurl talismans and do her best to quickly subdue her opponents.

Flesh and blood were scattered all over the area, covering the ground with a bright red color. Everyone seemed as if they were in a killing frenzy.

“TIANGE! BEHIND YOU!”

Upon hearing Luo Fengxue’s shout, Mo Tiange instantly maneuvered the White Silk Handkerchief, causing it to instantly rise higher in the sky. After she pivoted, she finally saw the thing behind her.

A fifth rank Two-Headed Eagle!

What bad luck! From the two fifth rank demonic beasts that appeared, one of them had actually targeted her! Mo Tiange turned pale; the Land-Fleeing Ruler was already in her hand. However, she didn’t have the time to use it.

That Two-Headed Eagle flapped its wings at her, causing the spiritual aura she gathered in her hand to disperse before she could use it. Mo Tiange rolled around above the White Silk Handkerchief as she was blown away by the Two-Headed Eagle. In the next moment, she promptly launched the Shuttle of Flying Apsara.

This was the first time she fought against a real high rank demonic beast. A fifth rank demonic beast was equal to an early stage Core Formation cultivator. Long ago, despite being very experienced in fights of magical power, and despite working together with five other cultivators, Second Uncle still ended up being severely injured from trying to subdue a high rank demonic beast. From this, the strength and combat power of a high rank demonic beast could clearly be seen. Moreover, that Yu Clan cultivator and that cultivator surnamed Zhou were other examples. If it weren’t for their outstanding flying magic tools, they certainly wouldn’t have lasted that long. So, how could she possibly handle this fifth rank Two-Headed Eagle by herself?

Therefore, she could only dodge and look for an opportunity to escape.

The White Silk Handkerchief could be used to both defend and fly. For defense, it could naturally block several attacks from those demonic beasts. But, this wasn’t a solution; she could only continue to dodge the attacks that came towards her while using the Shuttle of Flying Apsara to harass that Two-Headed Eagle in an attempt to buy herself some time to use the Land-Fleeing Ruler.

She had made another miscalculation.

In this fight against a high rank beast, she couldn’t even get the slightest time to use the Land-Fleeing Ruler.

“Tiange!” Luo Fengxue called out anxiously. In the next moment, however, she saw Mo Tiange flying up one second and down in the next; one moment she dashed to the left, and in the next she dashed to the right. Her movements were almost as indiscernible as clouds, but she was also as fast as the wind. She almost couldn’t see Mo Tiange’s body. She was obviously dodging that fifth rank demonic beast’s attacks, but it looked like she was teasing that demonic beast instead.

Luo Fengxue was stunned. She already knew this nominal junior martial sister of hers was different from elite disciples of cultivation groups who grew up safe and sound like them—she had a rough life journey, drifting from place to place, enduring many hardships, and experiencing countless fights and tribulations. However, she never expected this junior martial sister, who had just build her foundation not too long ago, possessed this kind of fighting power and was able to handle a fifth rank beast. Watching Mo Tiange made her realize that she had to strive hard to improve herself.

“Fengxue! What are you daydreaming about!?”A shout entered Luo Fengxue’s ears. It was Wei Jiasi, who was blocking an attack coming towards Luo Fengxue. Wei Jiasi glowered at her and said, “Take care of yourself first!”

“But…” Before Luo Fengxue could finish speaking, she saw Wei Jiasi maneuvering her flying sword towards the fifth rank Two-Headed Eagle.

That fifth rank Two-Headed Eagle was already furious because of Mo Tiange’s successful dodges. It continuously made swatting movements with its claws, causing thunderbolts to strike Mo Tiange.

In fact, Mo Tiange felt very anxious. Other people might not see it, but her body was actually under an enormous strain. How could a fifth rank demonic beast’s attacks be that easy to dodge? If she didn’t have a magic weapon like the White Silk Handkerchief, she would’ve been brought down by its attacks a long time ago!

All of a sudden, Wei Jiasi arrived. She attacked the Two-Headed Eagle, swinging her sword to chop its wing. Although her attack caused no damage to its extremely hard wing, it still managed to give Mo Tiange some time to breathe. However, Mo Tiange promptly shouted, “Senior Martial Sister Wei, don’t mind me! I have a way of escaping!”

Wei Jiasi was dumbfounded. She hesitated for a moment; but because Mo Tiange kept giving her meaningful looks, she withdrew her sword and flew away.

The Two-Headed Eagle once again furiously tried to catch Mo Tiange with its claws. Mo Tiange jumped and started to dodge again. This time, as she dodged, she also led it away from the battlefield.

Once she escaped, this eagle would definitely become even more furious and attack other people. Although she didn’t care much about other people, Luo Fengxue and the others were still in the vicinity; she didn’t want to push this monster onto them.

Besides, after she got accustomed to this demonic beast’s pace, dodging it became much easier. A demonic beast was, after all, still a demonic beast. It could use neither talismans nor magic weapons. It could only use its body and magic to attack. How could it possibly outsmart a human cultivator?

As time passed by, Mo Tiange even became relaxed enough to use the Shuttle of Flying Apsara to tempt this Two-Headed Eagle to attack her just so she could redirect it.

Feeling exasperated, the Two-Headed Eagle flapped its wings and flew high into the sky. It watched Mo Tiange from high above then opened its beak, spouting a huge, thick thunderbolt.

Mo Tiange was shocked. From the beginning, this eagle had been dull and gullible; she never expected it to suddenly release its power! With no time to think anymore, she rolled on the ground and grabbed the White Silk Handkerchief. In the next second, she waved her hand and hurled the White Silk Handkerchief upward, causing it to transform into a thick brick wall which blocked the thunderbolt heading towards her head.

However, she was still in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm after all. Even though this White Silk Handkerchief was a magic weapon, she couldn’t draw out its maximum power. Thus, although she was covered by a brick wall, she could still feel the tremendous spiritual aura pressure pushing down on her from above.

Her body was on the verge of collapsing; she couldn’t hold on much longer. The power of a fifth rank demonic beast’s thunderbolt penetrated the brick wall and pressed her down. She could feel every inch of her meridians shaking, leaving her in agonizing pain. Her dantian was compressed, causing her spiritual power to be squeezed until almost nothing was left behind.

Maybe it was because of her willpower, or maybe it was because her inner potential was aroused, but Mo Tiange still didn’t collapse even though blood was dripping from the corners of her mouth. The only thing on her mind now was that she didn’t want to die here.

The thunderbolt gradually weakened until it completely disappeared.

Now that she didn’t feel any power pressuring her, she suddenly felt her legs losing their strength and she fell to the ground. The brick wall once again turned into the White Silk Handkerchief, which then flew back to her hand. After collapsing on the ground, she felt her vision becoming blurry. Apparently, she had completely exhausted all of her strength.

Facing the wrath of a fifth rank beast… I’m afraid there’s no other middle stage Foundation Building cultivator aside from me who would dare to do that, right?  As Mo Tiange lay on the ground, she suddenly realized she still had the energy to think about this.

The Two-Headed Eagle seemed to be infuriated by her successfully thwarting its attack. It landed in front of her. But instead of rushing to kill her, it just hooted proudly.

A fifth rank demonic beast was equivalent to an early stage Core Formation cultivator; it already had an incipient ability to think.  After being teased by me like that, it must be outraged…

With that thought in mind, Mo Tiange couldn’t help but laugh and clench her hands tightly.

The demonic beast unexpectedly tilted its head when it saw Mo Tiange laughing. Its gaze was filled with confusion.

Once Mo Tiange saw this, she muttered, “Want to know about human emotions? It’s still far too early for you!”

Right after she spoke, the Two-Headed Eagle seemed to have finally realized the cunning laughter in her gaze. However, before it could pounce forward, it saw that the small bug in front of it had suddenly disappeared.

“Cough!” Somewhere a thousand miles away, Mo Tiange coughed up blood. She promptly closed her eyes and muttered some incantations.

She could be considered very lucky. Because that eagle didn’t rush to kill her, she finally got some time to activate the Land-Fleeing Ruler. However, for a fifth rank demonic beast, crossing a distance of a thousand miles would only take several seconds. It’d be dangerous for her if that demonic beast followed her scent and came here. Hence, she’d better enter the Virtual Sky World as soon as possible.

As she muttered the incantation, a pea-sized light appeared in the space between her eyebrows. That light became increasingly brighter along with her incantations and gradually turned into a big pearl which instantly swallowed her.

Inside the Virtual Sky World, Mo Tiange bent over and once again vomited a mouthful of blood. All of a sudden, a small thing shakily came running towards her. It moved to her side and started to whimper.

Mo Tiange forced herself to open her eyes. The small thing on her side was actually the Inferno Beast she inadvertently caught before.

She managed to squeeze out a smile. “I don’t have time to feed you today…” Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt her head getting heavy then she fell to the ground.