Lady Cultivator

Among the maids, aside from Xiuqin who was in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm, the others were all in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm. Their natural aptitudes were average, and they had no strong patrons backing them. In fact, they could be considered very lucky that they were able to advance to the Foundation Building realm. Therefore, even though they obtained pointers from a Nascent Soul cultivator after advancing to the Foundation Building realm, only a few among them were able to advance to the middle stage.

They had remained by a Nascent Soul grandmaster’s side and served him for a long time. They had seen many great things, so their pride was too great. Now that Mo Tiange belittled them so much, they were naturally enraged.

By the time Xiuqin finished talking, Qingqi had already taken out her magic tool while Xianshu and Daihua had both gotten onto their respective flying magic tools and were getting into position.

Mo Tiange raised her eyebrows. Based on their positions, they seemed to have some understanding of fights of magical powers. So they weren’t total idiots after all. But so what if they weren’t idiots? Four Foundation Building cultivators—female cultivators who had no experience in fights of magical powers—were really nothing to worry about.

Although the four of them were already in position, they didn’t attack immediately. It was as if they were waiting for her to make the first move.

Mo Tiange smirked and lifted both her hands. As the Shuttle of Flying Apsara rushed towards Xiuqin, Mo Tiange stepped onto the White Silk Handkerchief and flew away from her original position in a flash.

Seeing that Mo Tiange made her move, Qin, Qi, Shu, and Hua all took their magic tools out; some were flower baskets while others were ribbons. In short, all of them were pretty objects women usually liked.

Mo Tiange didn’t think much of them, but she had good habits—no matter who her opponents were, she treated them with caution once they started fighting.

The Shuttle of Flying Apsara transformed into golden rays that went to trap Xiuqin, who immediately raised her jade ruyi scepter. The jade ruyi scepter emitted a bright light and blocked Mo Tiange’s attack. Meanwhile, the three others also made their move. One after another, they went to attack Mo Tiange.

Mo Tiange didn’t even spare them a glance. She just waved her hand to summon the Shuttle of Flying Apsara back and in the next second, she moved from her previous position.

When she began to attack, Mo Tiange already had some ideas in mind. These four people had pretty good magic tools, but they didn’t have much experience in fighting. Presumably, since they were always by Lord Daoist Jinghe’s side, there was never a need to fight. In addition, since most female cultivators didn’t like to fight, the knowledge they had of fights of magical powers probably came from Lord Daoist Jinghe’s explanations.

This would make things a lot easier for Mo Tiange. Ever since she came to Kunwu, she had experienced numerous deadly fights. At first, she only followed Second Uncle, but she had her own share of fights later on. These four people could never imagine the dangerous situations she had been in. What mattered the most in fights of magical powers wasn’t cultivation levels or magic tools. In some life or death situations, what mattered most was last minute intuition and this was something that only came from the accumulation of experience. Opponents who had no fighting experience were the easiest to take on because even if they knew what to do at certain points, they usually couldn’t execute it.

After launching several attacks to test them, Mo Tiange took out her Enchanting Lantern. If experienced cultivators witnessed how the Sky-Treading Ox reacted after she took out this lantern, they would certainly realize it was a magic weapon that caused psychotic effects and that they would be fine if they kept a safe distance from it. This was also the reason why this kind of magic weapon didn’t have much use in fighting cultivators who were adept in fights of magical powers. Nevertheless, these four people didn’t notice anything—they were still engrossed with their own magic tools.

The Enchanting Lantern flew up and emitted a very bright light. Mo Tiange gathered her spiritual aura and directed it towards the lantern, guiding the light to slowly shine upon the people below.

Qin, Qi, Shu, Hua suddenly felt their vision darkening. Everything in front of them disappeared from sight, instantly throwing them into a panic.

All of a sudden, a golden light appeared above Xianshu’s head and in just a flash, it completely covered her.

“AHH—!!!”

Upon hearing their comrade’s scream, the other three were frightened. Xiuqin, who was even more flustered than the others, shouted, “You dare to kill us!?”

However, the answer she got was Qingqi’s miserable scream. Qingqi was fighting a flying sword and her flower basket was about to gain the upper hand. But just as she started to feel complacent, several flying needles suddenly appeared by her side and pierced her body.

Next was Daihua. What Mo Tiange used with her was the Shuttle of Flying Apsara but this time, she used it to lay a square-shaped formation which trapped Daihua inside it.

“Martial Uncle Mo!” Upon hearing her fellow martial sisters’ successive screams, Xiuqin couldn’t help but shout loudly, “Even though you’re grandmaster’s disciple, killing is still outrageous!”

After she said that, the dark scene suddenly brightened.

Mo Tiange flew in the air with a cold smile etched on her face. “Outrageous? All of you are perfectly aware that I’m my master’s disciple, so why did you try to kill me?”

Mo Tiange’s smile made Xiuqin tremble but she still answered: “We didn’t want to kill you. We just wanted to…”

“Give me a lesson, am I right?” Mo Tiange flung her sleeve. A seemingly corporeal spiritual aura flew out and struck Qingqi, Xianshu, and Daihua, who lay on the ground. Although the three of them let out muffled screams, they didn’t die.

Xiuqin shouted, “Martial Uncle!” There was both fear and anger in her voice. There was fear because if something happened to these three, she, as their leader, would definitely have to bear responsibility. As for anger, it was because Mo Tiange didn’t seem to consider the fact that they were grandmaster’s maids at all!

Mo Tiange was unfazed. She simply cast a contemptuous glance at Xiuqin then turned around and walked back into the spiritual beast compound. “I can’t act coquettishly, but you can’t fight! If all you have is this bit of skill, don’t be an eyesore in front of me!”

Mo Tiange spoke very bluntly, but Xiuqin didn’t dare to refute at all. Ever since she became Lord Daoist Jinghe’s maid, nobody dared to act so rudely to her. Even Core Formation martial uncles always treated her courteously out of respect for grandmaster. This kind of courteous treatment was precisely what made her feel that she had some kind of status here. Now that this Martial Uncle Mo gave them such a rude lesson, she finally realized maids would always be maids.

After attentively examining each restriction, replenishing the water and food, and cleaning each spiritual beast’s stall, Mo Tiange finally exited the spiritual beast compound.

Qin, Qi, Shu, Hua were no longer there. Presumably, they learned their lesson.

Mo Tiange smirked and thought mockingly:  Sure enough, this world cannot tolerate people who remain meek and subservient. Being patient will only lead to being bullied. Only those who are strong enough to pressure others will be respected.

In Yunwu Sect, she had neither background, patron nor high cultivation level, so she had no choice but to keep a low profile and forbear. But now, at Xuanqing School, she was the advanced inner disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator and had some strength—why should she be overly patient and accommodating to others?

She gave them a lesson today, so those four people should’ve learned their place already. If those other maids also provoked her in the future, she would also give them a beating.

9-1 p.m. She had to give a sermon. Once Mo Tiange read her next task, she felt a bit worried.

Of course, as a middle stage Foundation Building cultivator, she indeed had the qualifications to give a sermon. However, she practiced the Dao of the Origin, which was totally different from the current Dao. How could she teach this to Xuanqing School disciples? Even if she did talk about it, it would still be useless to those disciples, right?

With these doubts in her mind, she ran into the hall of Shangqing Palace.

Once she entered the hall, however, she saw Qin, Qi, Shu, and Hua kneeling in front of Lord Daoist Jinghe. On the other hand, Lord Daoist Jinghe looked like he was in high spirits and was happy.

What kind of situation is this?  Mo Tiange was still in utter bewilderment as she stepped up and greeted: “Master!”

“Haha! Little Disciple, quickly come here!”

“…” Mo Tiange ignored Lord Daoist Jinghe’s overly excited smile and walked over silently.

Despite calling her over, Lord Daoist Jinghe proceeded with ignoring her and instead turned towards Qin, Qi, Shu, and Hua. “How did she beat you up?”

Upon hearing this question, Mo Tiange finally understood. As it turned out, these four women came to complain! But seeing Lord Daoist Jinghe’s expression, their complaints would probably be futile.

The one who spoke was Xianshu. She cautiously sneaked a glance at Mo Tiange before answering: “Martial Uncle Mo beat all of us to the point of fainting, except Senior Martial Sister Xiuqin.”

She didn’t add anything to the story, but she displayed a delicate, pitiful expression. After she spoke, she also gave Mo Tiange an aggrieved glare.

Mo Tiange was speechless.  I’m not a man; is acting like this in front of me effective?

Unknownst to Mo Tiange, Xianshu was acting like this just out of habit. It was probably because Lord Daoist Jinghe liked the coquettish side of women that these maids occasionally behaved like delicate girls to please him and win his favor.

But this time, not only did Mo Tiange ignore her, but even Lord Daoist Jinghe paid no attention to her. He just laughed out loud and patted Mo Tiange’s shoulder. “Not bad! This is how Qin Jinghe’s disciples should act! We just need to beat up those who dare to be disobedient and they’ll become obedient, won’t they? Don’t you think dillydallying and whining too much is annoying?”

There wasn’t even the slightest change in Mo Tiange’s expression when she heard Lord Daoist Jinghe’s praise. She dared to give them a lesson because she was certain this nominal master of hers wouldn’t make things difficult for her for the sake of some maids. Besides, maids were maids. She, on the other hand, was his disciple. She didn’t need to display a delicate girl’s attitude to appease him like those maids did. If she handled things to his taste and her cultivation advanced quickly, he would naturally protect her. With this master’s flamboyant and blood-thirsty nature, how could she, as his disciple, be weak? However, these maids looked very smart. Why did they come and complain about such an embarrassing matter?

She indeed overestimated these maids.

Because Xiuqin, whom Mo Tiange deliberately went easier on, got first-hand experience of Mo Tiange’s abilities, she naturally didn’t dare to say much. But being under Lord Daoist Jinghe’s protection made the three others arrogant; how could they swallow this grievance?

Nonetheless, reality made them feel dejected. Not only did grandmaster not blame this Martial Uncle Mo, but he actually looked very pleased about this whole matter!

With total disregard for the maids’ aggrieved, teary-eyed appearances, Lord Daoist Jinghe gleefully raised his chin at Mo Tiange. “Girl, you’re pretty good! This Lord feels refreshed today, so This Lord will give you a few things; consider them gifts for worshiping me as your master. Take all of your magic tools out; let me see what you’re lacking.”

Once she heard what Lord Daoist Jinghe said, Mo Tiange was completely ecstatic. It wouldn’t mean much if he offered medicinal pills or cultivation techniques—she didn’t lack any of those. But if he gave her magic tools and so on, those would be perfect because she didn’t have enough means to attack! In a flash, she took out all her magic tools and magic weapons.

The White Silk Handkerchief, the Enchanting Lantern, the Shuttle of Flying Apsara, the Land-Fleeing Ruler, the flying needles, as well as the flying sword Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin rewarded her for succeeding in building her foundation. After a moment of contemplation, Mo Tiange said, “Master, I still have a Heaven and Earth Cloud-Silk Armor and a Spirit-Concealing Pendant. I don’t need to take these two out, do I?”

Instead of answering, Lord Daoist Jinghe started to examine the things she placed on the table.

He first picked up the flying sword; it was just a standard-issue Foundation Building disciple’s sword. The flying needles, however, were good to have; they would be extremely effective in mounting sneak attacks. Soon after, his attention fell on the Land-Fleeing Ruler and the Shuttle of Flying Apsara. A frown started to form on his face.

That smelly brat!  Although this Land-Fleeing Ruler wasn’t something he refined, it possessed some traces of being consecrated by him. In addition to that, there was also this Shuttle of Flying Apsara! This was obviously something he bestowed to that brat back when that brat just succeeded in building his foundation. As it turned out, that brat had long given it to this girl!

When Lord Daoist Jinghe finally saw her Enchanting Lantern and White Silk Handkerchief, his frown became even deeper. This lantern didn’t matter because it wasn’t that useful, but this handkerchief… he actually couldn’t tell what materials it was made from!

Lord Daoist Jinghe slammed the things down, one on top of another, and shouted, “Four magic tools, two magic weapons, and there’s still that armor something you mentioned—you still think you don’t have enough? Don’t you know most Foundation Building cultivators only have one or two magic tools? You already have magic weapons, but you’re still not satisfied! Take them back! I’m not giving you anything! A man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant!” After he said that, he turned around, swinging his sleeves in anger.

Mo Tiange was stupefied. She had long known this master was completely different from other Nascent Soul cultivators who liked to pretend to be mysterious and unfathomable; she knew he was a very moody person. But wasn’t behaving like that too exaggerated? He was obviously the one who offered to give things to her, so why did he portray her as someone who was never content? She didn’t ask him for anything!

Lord Daoist Jinghe once again cast her a glance. “What are you standing here stupidly for? Quickly go and do your tasks!”

With clenched teeth, Mo Tiange held back her anger, took all her things back then turned around and walked away. However, she stopped halfway, turned around and came back. “Master, Disciple has a question. For tasks like giving a sermon, aren’t Disciple’s qualifications inadequate?”

Once he heard her question, Lord Daoist Jinghe once again shouted, “Your qualifications aren’t enough? You’re my disciple but you actually think you aren’t qualified to give Aura Refining disciples sermons? Ridiculous!”

“But… what Disciple’s practicing now is the Art of the Origin—it isn’t the same as their Dao!”

“So what? They can’t tell the difference; if I tell you to go, just go!”

“… Yes, Disciple will leave first.”

Unable to talk reason with him, Mo Tiange walked out of Shangqing Palace while massaging her temples. She silently looked up and asked the heavens; what kind of sin had she committed to deserve this kind of master? He gave her neither pointers nor objects and was extremely temperamental. Having him as a master was tantamount to have no master!

Give a sermon… Give a sermon…  Mo Tiange headed towards the steward’s hall while continuously muttering these words.

“Jun… Martial Uncle Mo.” Luo Fengxue, who welcomed her into the hall, was still a bit unaccustomed to addressing her by her new title.

Upon seeing Luo Fengxue’s expression, Mo Tiange understood what she meant and followed her into the hall.

Since there was no one else inside, Luo Fengxue changed the way she called her. “Tiange, are there any problems?”

A bitter smile appeared on Mo Tiange’s face. She said, “Master arranged for me to give sermons.”

“Oh…” Luo Fengxue instantly understood her problem. “You’re already in the Foundation Building realm now; it’s not abnormal if you’re told to give sermons.”

“Be that as it may, I’ve never given a sermon before…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luo Fengxue said, “Since you already built your foundation, you naturally have some deeper insights and experience than Aura Refining disciples. You can just talk about anything you want. What instructions did grandmaster leave you?”

“En… Master told me to give a sermon every day at 9 a.m. for four hours a day.”

“Huh?!” Hearing this arrangement really bewildered Luo Fengxue. “What’s grandmaster thinking? Our Xuanqing School only gives sermons to disciples once every three days, and that’s already considered frequent. Even though he told you to give sermons every day, we don’t have that many slots in our schedule!”

This was also why Mo Tiange thought Lord Daoist Jinghe was deliberately tormenting her. Four hours a day? Did he perhaps want her to monopolize all the sermons at Xuanqing School?

“But…” Luo Fengxue continued on, “If you think this is troublesome, I can arrange for you to teach young disciples who’ve just been admitted. This way, it’ll be easier for you, but you still can say you’ve finished your task.”

Mo Tiange pondered her suggestion for a moment. Thinking that this sounded pretty good, she immediately smiled and said, “In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to arrange it for me. I can’t refuse the tasks master assigned, so completing them really will give me a headache!”

Chuckling, Luo Fengxue walked towards a desk and picked up an empty Jade Slip laying on top. After she recorded something inside the Jade Slip, she gave it to Mo Tiange and said, “If I let you give sermons to all Aura Refining disciples, you’ll have to go to the main peak. So, the only choice you have now is to teach inner disciples. Take this to Mengxue Hall on the mountainside; someone will explain things to you in more detail there.”

Because of Luo Fengxue’s idea, Mo Tiange was able to leave in satisfaction. She heaved a relieved sigh, took the Jade Slip and headed towards the mountainside Luo Fengxue told her about.

Xuanqing School had three methods of selecting disciples. The first method was the same as every other big cultivation group—once every ten years, they opened their monastery and admitted people from cultivation clans or individual cultivators who possessed exceptional spiritual roots or outstanding abilities.

The other method was the same method through which Mo Tiange was admitted; after being recommended by cultivators in the Foundation Building realm or higher, those who passed the examination would be accepted. However, she was brought to the school by a Core Formation cultivator, so she didn’t go through an examination process.

The last method was having disciples from the school enter the secular world, choose mortals who possessed exceptional spiritual roots and bring them back to the school.

In most cases, the disciples admitted through the last method had extremely outstanding spiritual roots. Therefore, they were usually accepted by Core Formation cultivators as disciples right after they entered the school. That was the case for Luo Fengxue. Back then, her older brother worshipped Master Daoist Xuanyin as his master. After he failed to break through to the next realm and passed away, Master Daoist Xuanyin took a trip to the secular world to deal with his funeral arrangements. At that time, he happened to discover that Luo Fengxue also possessed spiritual roots, so he brought her back and accepted her as his disciple.

Aside from the third type of disciple which was directly accepted by high-level cultivators, the other types of disciples had to begin at Mengxue Hall if their cultivation levels were under the fifth layer of the Aura Refining realm.

Because of this, there were two types of disciples at Mengxue Hall. The first type included children who were endowed with three spiritual roots or better. They were accepted because their natural endowments were good enough, so there weren’t any requirements imposed on their cultivation level. The other type included disciples who were viewed as promising despite having rather inferior natural endowments. These disciples were usually descendants of cultivators in the school, so the school eased up on the requirements for their admittance.

When Mo Tiange arrived at Mengxue Hall and the cultivator in charge saw her, he immediately greeted her very respectfully. “Grandmaster Mo, I never expected you’d honor us with your presence. Please forgive us for the lack of courtesy.”

Grandmaster … Being addressed like this made Mo Tiange shudder. The manager of Mengxue Hall was naturally a Foundation Building cultivator, but the people who normally handled the affairs there were all Aura Refining disciples. She was now an advanced inner disciple of a Nascent Soul sovereign, so her seniority was on par with Core Formation grandmasters; there was indeed no issues with calling her grandmaster. Nevertheless, it hadn’t been long since she advanced to the Foundation Building realm; she was previously just an insignificant Aura Refining disciple, the same as these people, yet now she was suddenly a grandmaster—the difference was too huge! Besides, the one who called her grandmaster was a grey-haired old man. This made it even harder for her to feel accustomed to being addressed like that.

“No need to be over-courteous like this. Regarding the reason I came here, it’s written clearly on this Jade Slip. If there’s anything I need to do, you can simply let me know.”

“Of course, of course.” The Aura Refining cultivator, whose lifespan was almost exhausted but had no prospects of advancing to the next realm at all, was afraid of showing any disrespect. Hence, he remained in a half-bowed position as he spoke: “On the Jade Slip, Martial Uncle Luo said Grandmaster came to teach new disciples. However, Martial Uncle Luo probably didn’t know that all new disciples at Mengxue Hall have teachers who are directly in charge of teaching them. I’m afraid Grandmaster…”

Is that so?  Mo Tiange was surprised. She then said, “In that case, you can just find me something to do.”

“This, this…”

She already told him to find a task, but this old man was still hemming and hawing. Mo Tiange felt rather unhappy. “Am I not allowed to work here?”

The old man repeatedly shook his head. “I wouldn’t dare to think so, I wouldn’t dare. Grandmaster, to tell you the truth, the highest cultivator we have here is only in the ninth layer of the Aura Refining realm. You can directly teach us if you want; why should you bother giving sermons to new disciples?”

Could she now be disliked for having a high cultivation level? Mo Tiange suppressed back the urge to roll her eyes. She simply wanted to pass the time; why couldn’t this old man understand this?

“I told you—you can just give me a random task, understand? If there’s really nothing, can’t you just let me sweep the floor?”

“This… We wouldn’t dare to trouble Grandmaster with such a task…”

Mo Tiange felt completely helpless. “Then I won’t do anything and I’ll sit here for four hours. That’s fine, isn’t it?”