Lady Cultivator

This world was extremely cruel. Mo Tiange had never been so naive to the point where she’d hope people would be kind enough to help her everywhere. Jiang Shanghang also wasn’t a good person or anything, but seventeen years ago, he helped her, thus saving her from a tragic fate. Just like Jiang Shanghang himself said, their friendship had undergone a life or death tribulation. That kind of person… She really hoped he was still the Jiang Shanghang from back then and not someone who placed personal gain above everything.

The area had sunk into complete silence. Jiang Shanghang didn’t speak, and neither did anyone else. The current situation was very obvious. Jiang Shanghang was forced to choose; he either gave up on Mo Tiange or saved her.

For a long time, no one spoke. However, after an eternity, Mo Tiange finally heard someone saying rather shyly, “Senior Martial Brother Ren, this solution… isn’t good, right?”

Judging by the voice, it was Tang Fang.

The youngster who was still very soft and inexperienced gathered his courage then said, “Junior Martial Sister Ye is a disciple of an allied group after all, we…”

“Junior Martial Brother Tang,” Ren Yufeng said to Tang Fang. This time, Ren Yufeng spoke using another kind of tone which made Mo Tiange wonder what kind of identity Tang Fang had that he could actually make a snob like Ren Yufeng so polite, and even somewhat fawning, to him. “You’re still naive; you don’t understand what their relationship is like. Our sect and Xuanqing School are indeed friends, but when it comes to important things, that friendship isn’t part of the equation. During the demonic beast riot more than ten years ago, although the seven great cultivation groups were friendly, conflicts and even mutual slaughters and robbery also happened between us in secret. Why did those things happen? For personal gain! Personal gains are the most important. Besides, we didn’t do anything to Junior Martial Sister Ye. It’s simply inconvenient for us to take her along. Junior Martial Brother Tang, think about it; Junior Martial Sister Ye’s currently half-dead, so how could we look for treasures if we brought her with us?”

“This…” Tang Fang couldn’t refute anymore.

“Junior Martial Brother Jiang.” Ren Yufeng once again spoke but this time, his words revealed his intention to intimidate. “You’ve got to make your decision quickly. If you take too long, we cannot wait for you!”

Before long, Mo Tiange felt Jiang Shanghang’s hands steadying. He then said faintly, “I better stay here to watch over Junior Martial Sister Ye. I’m the one who brought her here, so I have to bring her back safely.”

…

“Hmph!” Ren Yufeng hmphed coldly. “Alright. In that case, we don’t have to discuss anything further. Junior Martial Brothers, Junior Martial Sisters, let’s go!”

Mo Tiange then sensed a spiritual aura fluctuation—presumably, they were opening the entrance to the underground palace. Soon after, she heard the sound of footsteps fading into the distance. At that moment, aside from her and Jiang Shanghang, there was no one else there.

All of a sudden, Jiang Shanghang dejectedly sat down, hugging his own head.

Mo Tiange opened her eyes and slowly sat up. “Senior Martial Brother Jiang…”

Jiang Shanghang instantly raised his head. He stared at her in astonishment. “Junior Martial Brother Ye, you…”

“My injuries aren’t that heavy.” She smiled at him but soon afterward, she turned serious. “This time… I have to thank Senior Martial Brother Jiang.”

Jiang Shanghang naturally understood what she was thanking him for. Right now, he was both startled and happy, but he also felt dejected and regretful—his heart was filled with a mix of numerous emotions. In the end, he simply squeezed out a smile. “Junior Martial Brother Ye, forgive me. I’ve made a lot of promises to you, but the result was…”

“Senior Martial Brother Jiang doesn’t have anything to do with what happened. I’m very touched that Senior Martial Brother Jiang gave up the opportunity to enter the underground palace just for me. However, don’t you regret your decision?”

Jiang Shanghang smiled wryly. “Regret? A bit… But between Junior Martial Brother Ye and Senior Martial Brother Ren, I still believe in Junior Martial Brother Ye more. Normally, Senior Martial Brother Ren’s very harsh in how he treats fellow disciples and now, he also plotted against Junior Martial Brother Ye… I think with his personality, he certainly won’t give me many things later on, so I might as well not enter—maybe Junior Martial Brother Ye will give me some treasures to thank me!”

What he said was both fact and self-consolation. There wasn’t the slightest resentment towards Jiang Shanghang left in Mo Tiange, so when she heard what he said, she chuckled and said, “Why not?”

Jiang Shanghang turned towards her. “En? Does Junior Martial Brother Ye really want to give me treasures?”

A secretive smile emerged on Mo Tiange’s face. “Ren Yufeng plotted against me, so I’m guessing there must be something good inside. Since he’s heartless, I don’t need to abide by the norms—let’s go and robe him!”

She talked as if it was so easy, but Jiang Shanghang seemed conflicted. “This… Junior Martial Brother Ye, I know the current you isn’t the same as the old you, but Senior Martial Brother Ren and the others aren’t weak, and they have more people than us. We can’t defeat them if we really end up fighting. Besides, at the end of the day, I’m a disciple of Zhengfa Sect. For me to fight against them is indeed a bit…”

Mo Tiange raised her eyebrows. “What are you afraid of? If we can’t fight them head-on, we can attack them in secret. Your Senior Martial Brothers Lu and Xiang are injured, so they’re not worth worrying about. Aside from Ren Yufeng, who may have unknown tricks up his sleeve, I don’t think the others will be hard to deal with. Senior Martial Brother Jiang, if you’re afraid you’ll be blamed by your sect when you go back, we just need to kill all of them. At that point, who would question your story?”

Jiang Shanghang was thunderstruck. “Junior Martial Brother Ye, this…”

“If people don’t mess with me, I won’t mess with them either. We can decide what to do about the others later, but Ren Yufeng has to die in my hands. If I wasn’t vigilant and wasn’t really seriously injured, I would’ve been half-dead as a result of being schemed against by him! He even wanted to leave me here to cope on my own, hmph!” After she said that, she looked at Jiang Shanghang. “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, you used to be very resolute when you had to kill; why are you so indecisive now?”

Jiang Shanghang was stunned and immediately sank into silence. She was right. When he was still in Yunwu Sect and suffered all kinds of mistreatment, his temperament wasn’t like this. He endured Jiang Chengxian’s bullying, but the moment he got a chance, he killed Jiang Chengxian without any hesitation in the slightest and fled Mount Yunwu. When he arrived at the northernmost glacial zone, however, he became the master immortal of a tribe worshipped by the mortal tribesmen and he also became the formal disciple of one of the seven great cultivation groups. He was no longer arbitrarily bullied and humiliated like he was before, so he began to cautiously protect everything he had. When faced with Ren Yufeng’s haughtiness, he just accepted it, and even when Ren Yufeng behaved aggressively, he just restrained himself. Unlike when he was in Yunwu Sect, where he could barely survive, he no longer had the decisive heart he had before. He was much more broad-minded and open now, but he also lost his edge.

Now that he thought about it, Jiang Shanghang took a deep breath then said earnestly, “Thank you for the reminder, Junior Martial Brother Ye.” It wasn’t too late for him to realize it now because the path forward constantly had to be adjusted. The old him was trapped in his hatred, but he was now free from it. The current him wasn’t decisive enough, so he would always remind himself about it in the future.

“Alright. Junior Martial Brother Ye, if you want to kill Senior Martial Brother Ren, I won’t interfere. However, I hope you can let Junior Martial Brother Tang go. My friendship with him is quite good, and his temperament is also very simple—he’s not an evil person.”

Mo Tiange noted the kindness Tang Fang showed her by speaking up for her, so she immediately nodded and said, “The only one I want to kill is Ren Yufeng. As for the others, they’ll be fine as long as they don’t provoke me.”

Jiang Shanghang felt relieved. A faint smile finally emerged on his face. “That’s good then. Junior Martial Brother Ye, we’re in the same boat now. I still want to stay in Zhengfa Sect and if you only kill Senior Martial Brother Ren, I’ll have a way of escaping the blame, but the others are my fellow disciples after all…”

“I understand. Senior Martial Brother Jiang was willing to stay behind with me and I’ve already taken note of this kindness, so I definitely won’t let Senior Martial Brother Jiang land in a difficult situation.” Once she finished talking, Mo Tiange stood up then began examining their surroundings. At the spot where they previously opened the restriction, there was now an additional Transporting Formation.

Mo Tiange muttered pensively for a moment before asking, “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, since we have to open the restriction to go to the divine dragon monument, how did they draw that Water Carp Beast out just now?”

Jiang Shanghang said, “That’s actually the special ability of the Water Carp Beast. We don’t know whether it mutated or obtained some kind of fated chance, but it was actually able to disregard the restriction laid by our Nascent Soul seniors. Fortunately, it couldn’t pass through the unusual terrain of this Land of Hiding Dragon, so we managed to escape from it. When we left last time, Senior Martial Brother Ren tore some of its scales off; he most likely used those scales to draw it out.”

“Oh?” Upon hearing this, an idea flashed across Mo Tiange’s mind. Demonic beasts didn’t possess magic weapons, so its special ability was probably attached to its body. That being the case, could that Water Carp Beast’s carcass be possibly used to create a magic weapon that could pass through restrictions?

“Junior Martial Brother Ye…” Jiang Shanghang said somewhat hesitatingly as he gazed at the restriction. “I think… whatever’s inside must be quite dangerous. Are we really going to enter?”

“Enter! Why don’t we?” Mo Tiange, who initially didn’t even have the tiniest interest towards this underwater palace in the Land of Hiding Dragon, was unexpectedly very determined, if for no other reason than being determined to get Ren Yufeng back for scheming against her!

“Alright.” Jiang Shanghang nodded, affirming his resolution. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. To obtain fated chances, we have to brave the dangers.” When he was still in Yunwu Sect years ago, he certainly wouldn’t have cared about this. The comfortable life he had these past few years had indeed curbed his edge.

“Junior Martial Brother Ye.” Before they entered the Transporting Formation, Jiang Shanghang wanted to double-check something. “Are your injuries really fine now?”

“Of course! But it’s also thanks to the medicinal pill Senior Martial Brother Jiang gave me. If it wasn’t for that pill, I also wouldn’t have recovered so quickly like this.” The effect of the medicinal pill he gave her was better than that of Green Amplifying Pills.

Green Amplifying Pills were the heirloom of Yu Clan from Danding School. When she was in Yu Clan, Clan Master Yu gave her one full bottle of them as thanks. From Mo Tiange’s point of view, the Green Amplifying Pill was already a superb curative medicinal pill for cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm, yet the result of the medicinal pill Jiang Shanghang gave her was unexpectedly better than that of Green Amplifying Pills. She wondered what kind of spirit pill it was…

Jiang Shanghang stopped speaking, and Mo Tiange didn’t ask anything further. The two of them entered the Transporting Formation. Then with a burst of blinding light, the two of them already went into another place.

The moment they entered the place, Mo Tiange was immediately jolted. This breath…

They were surrounded by murky ocean water. Completely different from the dark blue color outside, this place was dark, stifling and bleak. There was some kind of breath revolving around. It was imposing and sacred, and it was also vast and quiet. It felt as if it originated from ancient times, bringing everlasting loneliness and haziness.

As she was surrounded by this breath, Mo Tiange felt as if she had returned to ancient times; it was like storms were brewing, spiritual beasts were gathering, and cultivators were moving around unhindered—that distant era, that ancient breath, that sacred spiritual aura pressure!

The divine dragon’s breath… It was no wonder it was called divine dragon’s breath!

Mo Tiange couldn’t imagine a better name to call it than divine dragon’s breath.

She lifted her eyes. In the middle of the vacant space stood a very tall stone tablet. A vivid image of a divine dragon had been drawn at the center of the stone tablet, and numerous words had been engraved closely all around the image. The engraving could still be seen clearly, but the dull color on its surface illustrated it had gone through an eternity.

This had been Zhengfa Sect’s inheritance for several thousand years—the divine dragon monument.

Mo Tiange stepped forward. She couldn’t help but want to touch it—

“Junior Martial Brother Ye, don’t!”

In the split second her palm made contact with the monument, the divine dragon’s breath surged, converged together then all of a sudden, it bounced out of the monument towards her.

“AH!” Mo Tiange felt a pain stinging her palm and in an instant, her whole body was thrown away; she didn’t even have the slightest ability to resist!

“Junior Martial Brother Ye!” Jiang Shanghang immediately ran over and helped her up. “This divine dragon monument mustn’t be touched. It won’t hurt anyone as long as it isn’t touched.”

After Mo Tiange got back on her feet, she looked at her palm. There was no visible damage whatsoever, but the stinging pain she felt just now still lingered. Mo Tiange secretly felt fearful. The power of the divine dragon’s breath was really formidable; it made her lose all ability to resist, but it didn’t injure her at all.