Lady Cultivator

The smile on Mo Tiange’s face froze; she stared at the three Core Formation cultivators without saying anything.

Of the three people in front of her, Elder Qingmiao had a frown on her face and Elder Qingxi looked rather vigilant—it was only Elder Qingyi who remained smiling as if what she was talking about was nothing but a very trivial matter.

As for Wei Haolan who was standing next to her, her eyes instantly widened in shock. “Elder, you mean…” She turned to look at Mo Tiange and immediately afterward, she slowly took a step back.

Although Mo Tiange still looked calm, countless thoughts were flashing through her mind.

Zhong Muling once said that as long as she wore the Spirit-Concealing Pendant he re-refined, she wouldn’t have any issues even if she was disguised as a mortal. He was one of the topmost cultivators in the human realm who’d been a deity for several millenniums. According to reason, even Nascent Soul cultivators shouldn’t be able to see through his technique.

But why? Why could three mere Core Formation cultivators actually see her real cultivation level?!

What should she do now? Make the first move? But she wasn’t so arrogant that she believed she could escape unharmed under the watch of three great Core Formation cultivators, and the brief second she had wouldn’t be enough for her to enter the Virtual Sky World—what should she do?

The three Core Formation cultivators were staring at her either expressionlessly or with a smile. However, they all had a hint of vigilance in their eyes.

In the end, Mo Tiange revealed a faint smile and said, “Senior really has good eyes. May I know how you saw through it?”

“Little Friend Ye is very calm…” Elder Qingyi nodded with a smile. “In fact, there’s no harm in telling you.”

Elder Qingmiao, who was sitting next to her, also smiled then took over. “Little Friend Ye shouldn’t overthink it. This Dao-Achieving Pagoda was a sacred place set up by the founder of Bixuan Court. There are many restrictions and traps everywhere—even us juniors to whom this pagoda was passed on, aren’t sure about everything inside. Nevertheless, among them, there’s this clause—every Illusory Technique used by visitors of this pagoda will be seen through by cultivators whose cultivation levels are higher than theirs. From a certain aspect, Breath-Concealing Techniques could also be considered an Illusory Technique.”

“I see…” Mo Tiange originally thought this Primordial Lady Bishui was a wise and talented person but now, it seemed she was also a heaven-gifted genius who didn’t lose out to Wanderer Ziwei. Even though Mo Tiange read countless books, she definitely didn’t notice this kind of restriction.

As she thought up to this part, Mo Tiange secretly warned herself. Although her aptitude was now outstanding and she also possessed unique treasures, she must never underestimate other cultivators. The world was vast and there were lots of talented people out there. Even if their talents were inferior to hers, there must be many whose intelligence and wisdom surpassed hers.

“You seem completely unafraid.” Elder Qingxi, who’d been quiet all along, finally spoke. Her tone was cold, and her sharp gaze was fixated on Mo Tiange.

Mo Tiange raised her eyebrows but maintained her smile. “In the beginning, Junior was indeed a bit afraid as Junior never expected the three Elders to see through my secret. However, if Seniors wanted to harm me, Seniors would only need to move a fingertip; why would Seniors chat with me kindly? Besides, aside from hiding Junior’s cultivation level, Junior hasn’t done anything unfavorable to your group, so Junior’s not afraid.”

“Oh?” Elder Qingyi seemed to be quite interested in her. “In that case, how are you going to explain why you kept your real cultivation level a secret? Just saying you did so without any ill intentions is very hard to believe!”

Mo Tiange then said neither slowly nor quickly, “In fact, Seniors already brought up the reason why I hid my cultivation level.”

The three elders all showed bewildered expressions.

She continued on: “Seniors, when I said I was thirty nine years old, all of you raised your eyebrows… The reason why I hid my cultivation level was precisely because most people would have the same reaction as Seniors did.”

“Oh?” Elder Qingyi paused to exchange looks with the two other elders. In the end, the three of them finally put away their last bit of misgivings. “With Little Friend’s current age, reaching the late stage of the Foundation Building realm is indeed quite shocking. It’s no wonder you were accepted as a disciple by a Nascent Soul cultivator—even in the entire Celestial Pole, a genius like you hardly appears in a millennium. Ay~ a great cultivation group is, in the end, a great cultivation group…”

They had been part of the cultivation world for several hundred years. Most of their young disciples never went to Kunwu, but they, as the three Core Formation elders, had definitely seen what the real world was like—how could they possibly not understand what Mo Tiange said? In addition to playing a pig to eat tigers, she also hid her real cultivation level as a way to protect herself. If people underestimated your strength, they might inadvertently give you a chance of survival when they schemed against you.

After watching how Mo Tiange handled things, Elder Qingyi couldn’t help but lament in her heart. Although this child was still very young, she was very calm with how she handled things. In comparison, there were barely any people who understood how to handle things carefully at Bixuan Court. How could this not make Elder Qingyi feel dejected?

Elder Qingmiao and Elder Qingxi also had similar expressions as Elder Qingyi. After they let go of the misgivings they had, their expressions now looked heavy. They were shocked that they actually met such a rare genius, and at the same time, they recalled Bixuan Court’s current situation and pondered whether they should make a slight change in how they managed the group.

For them, reaching the late stage of the Foundation Building realm at thirty nine years old was completely unimaginable. Even though they were located in Linhai, they had a Transporting Formation connecting them to Kunwu, so they didn’t lack information. Even in Kunwu, cultivators who formed their Gold Core at about a hundred years old only appeared every thousand years, and each time one appeared, they were always labeled as a genius. She was already in the late stage of the Foundation Building realm at thirty nine years old; presumably, she would be able to form her Gold Core within the next twenty to thirty years. A cultivator who managed to advance to the Core Formation realm at seventy years old would simply be a genius among geniuses!

And yet, Xuanqing School actually let such a genius among geniuses do whatever she wanted, allowing her to go outside on her own to gain experience.

Their Bixuan Court, on the other hand… Not to mention not having a genius of this caliber, but even their disciple with mutated spiritual roots, whom they managed to recruit after much difficulty, always remained by their side out of caution. For more than a hundred years, never once had they let that disciple leave their group. In fact, they didn’t even dare to allow other slightly promising Foundation Building cultivators to go out and gain field experience.

The three elders pondered quietly for some time; all of them were silent.

At that moment, Wei Haolan, whose gaze had shifted back and forth between them, couldn’t help but step forward and ask, “Fellow Daoist Ye… is really in the late stage of the Foundation Building realm?”

Elder Qingmiao nodded. “Haolan, it’s enough for you to know this; don’t divulge this to others—we don’t want to make trouble for ourselves.”

“… Yes.” Wei Haolan answered softly. She then tilted her head to the side and looked at Mo Tiange; her gaze was filled with mixed emotions. Eventually, she simply let out a quiet sigh and looked away.

Regarding Fellow Daoist Ye, at first, she simply felt envious of her good luck at being the disciple of one of the greatest cultivation groups in the Celestial Pole, but that was it—with her status as the Sect Head, she indeed didn’t need to be too concerned about this matter. However… Now she unexpectedly discovered this Fellow Daoist Ye was already a late stage Foundation Building cultivator despite her young age… This was simply unimaginable!

“Little Friend Ye, you’re so young but you already have such a high cultivation level; how do you also have such superb concocting skills?” Elder Qingmiao asked.

Mo Tiange only needed a split second to think of an answer to this question. “I’m going to be honest with Seniors. Although my aptitude could be considered excellent, I advanced to the late stage of the Foundation Building realm because I obtained fated chances, not because I cultivated painstakingly every day. Normally, I also study the art of pill-concocting to moderate my mood. Besides… although my concocting skills seem brilliant to cultivators who don’t specialize in pill-concocting, compared to cultivation groups that specialize in pill-concocting like Danding School, my skills really don’t count for much.”

“Is that so?” There was a hint of doubt in Elder Qingxi’s gaze as she said, “The three of us aren’t ignorant people who’ve never seen the world. We’ve tried to concoct Clear Sky Pills before and back then, we went to Danding School to look for a concoctions master. Reportedly, that concoctions master’s skills were quite high, but he still couldn’t obtain a success rate of 60-70%. Little Friend Ye, why are your concocting skills better than Danding School cultivators despite the fact that you’re not a cultivator who specialized in pill-concocting?”

“This is very simple,” Mo Tiange said unabashedly, “Although Danding School’s a cultivation group that specializes in pill-concocting, not all its disciples have better concocting talent than that of outsiders. If we’re only discussing concocting talent, I’m confident my talent doesn’t lose out to others’.” To keep the existence of the Virtual Sky World a secret, she could only boast about herself. If she merely said her concocting talent wasn’t good, who would believe that?

After a pause, she continued on: “Furthermore—please forgive me for telling the truth—Danding School’s strength was flourishing before; they were one of the seven great cultivation groups, and their pride was way over their heads. I’m afraid they don’t take cultivators from small cultivation groups seriously, so they only dispatched an ordinary concoctions master to see you.”

The three elders felt unhappy, but they had to admit that what Mo Tiange said was the truth. Although they were all Core Formation cultivators, Danding School was considerably arrogant before their decline. Even Tiandao Sect and Xuanqing School were also polite to them because they often went to them for pill-concocting assistance. After being stuck in that kind of situation for a while, how could Core Formation cultivators from a small cultivation clan possibly earn their respect?

The current Danding School, however, had greatly decreased strength after they went through the demonic beast riot. Their label as one of the seven great cultivation groups was nothing but tradition now. Now, they sank into being the other six great cultivation groups’ concocting division. This happened because Danding School was too arrogant before. Otherwise, the other six great cultivation groups wouldn’t have tacitly delayed sending help on purpose. Unfortunately, Danding School had to swallow this bitter fruit now.

In the cultivation world, the rules applied in the way people conducted themselves and the way people managed a cultivation group were the same. If your strength was exceptional, it didn’t matter if you were arrogant. However, if you were weak, it’d be better for you to keep a low profile. If your strength was exceptional but you kept a low profile, that’d be even better.

“In other words, Little Friend Ye’s chance arrival in Linhai can also be considered a blessing for us old fellows. Had you not arrived in Linhai, we would’ve had much difficulty in finding a suitable concoctions master.” Elder Qingmiao turned towards her and spoke with a smile after exchanging glances with Elder Qingyi and Elder Qingxi.

Mo Tiange answered humbly, “When it comes to concocting skills, Junior’s skills are just acceptable. In Kunwu, there are a lot of great and grand concoctions masters; it’s just that Seniors reside in Linhai, so Seniors rarely have the opportunity to get in touch with them.”

Elder Qingyi nodded. “Little Friend Ye’s neither arrogant nor impatient; I really should make the disciples in my group learn from you properly.”

The coldness in Elder Qingxi’s expression vanished, but she still looked solemn when she asked, “Little Friend Ye, is your master at ease with you going out to gain experience like this?”

Mo Tiange was a bit surprised by this question, so she raised her eyebrows and asked back, “Junior doesn’t really understand what Senior means; why would my master not be at ease?”

Elder Qingxi said, “With your aptitude, you already reached the late stage of the Foundation Building realm at such a young age—presumably, you’re also a carefully nurtured genius disciple at your school, right? Wouldn’t your school and master worry that you’d get into accidents when you’re out traveling?”

Elder Qingxi’s words sounded as if she was cursing her, but her tone was extremely gentle, so Mo Tiange didn’t take any offense. She simply showed a small smile and said, “Senior, you most likely didn’t know this, but Xuanqing School is a Dao School—aside from cultivation level, we also attach importance to our mental state. My master always told me that if our mental states aren’t mature enough, we have to be very careful when we try to make realm-breakthroughs, and Junior also agrees. If we’re always afraid of accidents happening when we’re traveling, we’ll never go out to gain field experience. If that’s the case, even if one’s a genius disciple, one will never grow into an outstanding cultivator. If we can’t grow properly, would having terrific talent be of any use? In cultivating, the end result depends on one’s cultivation, cultivation realm, and ability in fights of magical power—it’s impossible to just rely on talent to advance all the way to the Nascent Soul realm. Therefore, even if we have to experience some harm or loss, it’s worth it in the end.”