Lady Cultivator

All of a sudden, noises could be heard coming from outside the room. People could be heard running upstairs, knocking on the guests’ rooms one by one.

Someone was even clamorously yelling, “Open the door!”

After a moment, the doors to several rooms were opened one after another. Someone unhappily asked, “Your lordship, may I know who you are? Why are you disturbing my peace?”

Someone also asked in a very respectful manner, “Do you seniors have any requests?”

However, they were answered by a very arrogant voice that said, “Zixia Sect is looking for rebels! Everyone, come out!”

Someone who sounded reluctant to submit said, “This isn’t part of Zixia Sect’s domain; why are you guys being this arrogant!?”

That person was answered with only a loud “hmph!” and right afterward, the spiritual aura pressure of a Foundation Building cultivator was released.

Mo Tiange was startled by what she heard. She turned her head to look at Second Uncle.

This time, Ye Jiang opened his eyes. A frown was etched on his face.

“Second Uncle?” Mo Tiange called him in a low voice.

Searching for rebels… Presently, there weren’t any problems among the three cultivation groups under Zixia Sect’s name, so those people were most likely coming for her.

Ye Jiang softly shook his head and said, “Don’t be nervous. There’s only one early-stage Foundation Building cultivator and several Aura Refining cultivators outside. If they really come for us, we just need to run.”

Mo Tiange nodded but her heart still felt uneasy. Although she had already put on women’s clothing and Second Uncle rarely appeared in front of others, if those people were really from Yunwu Sect coming to catch her, it wouldn’t be hard to recognize her…

“Open the door!” Eventually, those people reached their room.

Upon receiving a hint from Second Uncle, Mo Tiange put on the expression of someone extremely annoyed from being disturbed and opened the door. She said, “Who behaves so rudely like this!?”

Sure enough, once she opened the door, she saw black-robed Yunwu Sect disciples. However, because “Yunwu Sect” no longer existed, they called themselves Zixia Sect disciples.

Mo Tiange, staring at the Aura Refining disciple who knocked on their door, said in a very cold manner, “Fellow Daoist, what can I do for you?”

Right when the Aura Refining disciple was about to speak, the Foundation Building cultivator leading the group said, “Junior, we’re disciples of Zixia Sect’s Mount Yunwu branch. Our esteemed masters ordered us to look for the sect’s traitors. Please tell this to your master lest there be any misunderstanding.”

This person spoke politely but his tone remained arrogant. Obviously, he didn’t forcefully search their room only because he saw there was a Foundation Building cultivator inside.

Upon seeing that person, Mo Tiange cupped her hands as a greeting and pretended to respectfully go back into the room to report to her master.

Unexpectedly, once she returned to the room, a bright ray flashed in Second Uncle’s eyes and he directly pulled her hand, leading her to escape the room by breaking the window.

“Second Uncle!?” Mo Tiange said with shock.

Right after they started to run, the Yunwu Sect disciples broke into their room. Seeing what Mo Tiange and Ye Jiang did, the Foundation Building cultivator uttered a “hmph” and used his flying magic tool to chase after them.

“Second Uncle, what happened?” Mo Tiange really didn’t understand why they ran. Obviously, those people hadn’t realized who they were.

Ye Jiang dully said, “You’re wearing women’s clothing, but you didn’t change the way you salute others.”

Mo Tiange was dumbfounded at first but was soon filled with regret. Normally, only men cupped their hands as a greeting. If the other party thought carefully, hers and Second Uncle’s identities could be determined easily.

“Stop being in a daze!” Ye Jiang shouted as he took Mo Tiange onto his flying magic tool and fled to the west.

That Foundation Building cultivator chased after them for a while but he still couldn’t catch up to them. Furious, the cultivator stopped, took out several talismans and hurled them towards Mo Tiange and Ye Jiang before once again rushing towards them.

One was chasing, one was fleeing. In a flash, they had flown far away from that small town.

Ye Jiang gritted his teeth, took a Small Reversion Pill and continued to fly away with all his strength.

Mo Tiange was nervous. She kept shifting her gaze between Second Uncle and the back.

Although Second Uncle was in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm and his cultivation level ought to be slightly higher than their opponent’s, he was heavily injured and his lifespan was almost exhausted. Because of that, his cultivation level had plummeted. Now, he practically didn’t have any advantage over early-stage Foundation Building cultivators. Furthermore, his flying magic tool really wasn’t a magic tool that won out in terms of speed.

An hour passed by. Mo Tiange found in her anxiety that the distance between them had gradually shortened.

Ye Jiang once again exerted his power. However, an ache making his whole body feel numb suddenly appeared from his chest. He exerted strenuous effort to take a breath and swallowed another medicinal pill.

“Second Uncle, you…”

“Quiet!”

Ye Jiang then gave her a talisman and said, “This is a Mountain-Setting Talisman; when we come to blows, stick it onto your body and hide!”

Mo Tiange clenched the talisman in her hand. She understood that Second Uncle was planning to fight. After all, if this chase continued on, that cultivator would overtake them sooner or later. It’d be better for them to directly kill that person and once again go into hiding.

Her fists were clenched tightly. She really couldn’t describe how much she loathed herself now. She finally knew that compared to Second Uncle, she was far too inferior! Without strength, what was the use of being smart? The distance between herself and great wisdom was still too much! Right now, she was completely useless and could only watch as her heavily injured Second Uncle risked his life fighting against their opponent…

Two beams of light flashed across the sky. The beam in front eventually descended while the one in the back stopped for an instant before it followed suit.

Ye Jiang, who had stopped on a certain glade and pushed Mo Tiange behind a huge piece of mountain rock, was coldly watching the approaching cultivator.

This cultivator seemed to be around thirty years old and looked very arrogant. It seemed like he was also a rather proud person in the sect. Once he landed, he directly raised his chin and said, “Are you an elder of that Ye Xiaotian?”

Instead of answering, Ye Jiang simply waved his hand, conjuring up a palm-sized jade disc.

That cultivator’s expression changed upon seeing Ye Jiang’s movements. He uttered a “hmph” and said, “Are you an enemy of Zixia Sect?”

Ye Jiang said, “You were ordered to catch people while I absolutely won’t allow my junior to be caught. What else can I say?”

As he was so unyielding, that cultivator was very unhappy. The cultivator then sneered and said, “Do you have any idea who Ye Xiaotian has offended? You’re only a Foundation Building cultivator who has even deteriorated with age up to this point. Do you really want to risk your life fighting a Core Formation senior?”

Ye Jiang answered indifferently, “Enough with the nonsense! Just start if you want to stop us!”

Right after he finished speaking, he brandished his hand, causing the jade disc to fly in mid-air. At the same time, he fumbled into his Qiankun Bag from which a thin dagger quietly floated out.

Once the jade disc was activated, it immediately swelled in size. Ye Jiang then inserted several spiritual arts into the disc. Soon afterward, it began revolving at lightning speed and emitted a powerful coercive effect.

Seeing how Ye Jiang acted without any hesitation and how he seamlessly combined several tricks, that cultivator instantly knew his opponent was very experienced in fights of magical powers. There were normally two types of individual cultivators – the first type was down-and-out and they couldn’t withstand even a single blow; the second type had swift and fierce methods and they usually far surpassed their peers. The one in front of him obviously belonged to the second category.

Thinking up to this point, the cultivator suddenly became flustered. Fear grew in his heart.

Ye Jiang, however, had no intention of showing mercy. By the time he inserted the last spiritual art, the jade disc had swelled so big that it looked like a woven mat and it became glitteringly bright. With a loud “Boom!”, the jade disc lunged at that cultivator.

The cultivator hastily moved to dodge it. However, although he barely avoided the jade disc, he was blown away by its mighty power, causing him to suddenly feel pain from his internal organs.

Even though this attack succeeded, Ye Jiang didn’t fare better than the cultivator. His facial complexion gradually turned sallow and he became even paler than before. All of a sudden, he vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Second Uncle!” Mo Tiange hastily stepped forward to prop up his tottering body.

Right at this moment, the cultivator regained his composure, and a killing intent flashed on his face. He manipulated a flying sword, sending it towards the two people.

Ye Jiang opened his eyes. Using the last bit of strength he had left, he pushed Mo Tiange away and used the jade disc that had returned to his hand to block the attack. Two kinds of spiritual aura were entangled in one place, intertwining and fighting against each other.

Blood continuously dripped from the corner of Ye Jiang’s mouth. He kept his eyes on this sinister-looking opponent and strenuously blocked the incoming attacks.

At this point, Mo Tiange couldn’t hide any longer. She took out all the talismans she had and hurled them towards that cultivator.

But they were useless. Their opponent only put up a protective barrier and all of her attacks were rendered useless.

This was the difference between Aura refining and Foundation Building cultivators – no matter what she did, she wouldn’t be able to help Second Uncle.

‘Pu—!’ Ye Jiang once again vomited a mouthful of blood. The jade disc suddenly issued cracking noises and then, it simultaneously broke along with the opponent’s flying sword.

Both the jade disc and flying sword fell down in fragments. At the same time, Ye Jiang also exhausted his strength.

When their opponent saw this, he took out another flying sword, intending to take Ye Jiang’s life. However, just as he was about to send the flying sword forward, he looked down towards his chest in disbelief.

A moment ago, the second he wasn’t paying attention, a flying dagger had gone into his chest and claimed his life.

Thus, the two fighters simultaneously fell to the ground with loud bangs.

“Second Uncle!” Mo Tiange cried out and rushed forward. She frantically searched for medicinal pills for healing injuries and stuffed them into Ye Jiang’s mouth.

Ye Jiang tried hard to swallow those pills, but he vomited another mouthful of blood.

“Second Uncle, hang on! I still have some medicine. I still have…”

After a long while, Ye Jiang finally stopped vomiting blood. With much difficulty, he said, “Quick… Let’s go quickly…”

Mo Tiange nodded tearfully. She cleaned up the place to temporarily hide any traces that a fight of magical powers occurred there before helping her Second Uncle up and stumbling down the mountain.

It took the two of them several hours to arrive in a small village at the foot of the mountain.

There were many mortals living in this small village. Because Mo Tiange didn’t dare to alarm them, she quietly settled down in a run-down house outside the village.

“Second Uncle! Second Uncle!”

Ye Jiang eventually woke up. He barely opened his eyes as he took out a jade tablet from his Qiankun Bag with difficulty and passed it to her.

Mo Tiange took it with confusion. She said, “This…”

Ye Jiang’s aura was very weak as he said, “Crush it…”

This is… Ten Thousand of Miles Sound-Transmitting Talisman!  Although Mo Tiange hesitated at first, in the end, she still followed Second Uncle’s command and crushed the jade tablet.

Once it was broken, a burst of light rose from inside it. The light remained for a moment before it finally dissipated.

In her distracted state, Mo Tiange faintly sensed that the breath inside this jade tablet seemed very familiar…

After watching her crushing the jade tablet, Ye Jiang finally heaved a sigh of relief. With her help, he sat up and swallowed a medicinal pill to heal his injuries.

At the same time, many Foundation Building cultivators were flying across the sky above Mount Yunwu, slowly making their way towards where Mo Tiange and Ye Jiang were.

Another hour passed before Ye Jiang finally opened his eyes again.

“Second Uncle!” Mo Tiange called out with surprise. “Second Uncle, how are you feeling?”

Ye Jiang softly shook his head. His breath remained weak. He said, “Xiaotian… Second Uncle… really can no longer hold on…”

Mo Tiange was dumbstruck.  Can no longer hold on? Does… does that mean…

Ye Jiang was leaning against the wall, weakly gasping for breath. He said, “Useless… medicinal pills are useless… Second Uncle has moved too forcefully… my spiritual aura and my injuries worsened…”

“Second Uncle…” Mo Tiange couldn’t hold back her tears and murmured, “Second Uncle, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… everything happened because I’m too stupid…”

Ye Jiang smiled and held her hand. He said, “Children… always make mistakes… able to see you grow… grow up… Second Uncle is very happy…”

He then raised his head to look at the sky. He said with a sigh, “I just hope… hope they can make it in time…”

Ye Jiang’s words hadn’t diminished the blame Mo Tiange put on herself. If it wasn’t for her, Second Uncle wouldn’t have run to east Kunwu; if it wasn’t for her, Second Uncle wouldn’t have been heavily injured by a Lightning Beast; if it wasn’t for her, Second Uncle wouldn’t have forced himself to act…

Everything was because of this troublesome constitution! If she had known earlier…if she had known earlier that things would turn out like this, she might as well have joined Xuanqing School that year; that way, Second Uncle might’ve had a chance of advancing into the Core Formation realm, and Tianqiao also wouldn’t have been implicated by her. Compared with the life and death of her relatives, how could losing her freedom in marriage compare?

As minutes ticked away, those cultivators finally found concealed traces of fighting in the woods. Thus, they regarded that spot as the center and began searching outward from that area.

Meanwhile, a fleeting light with shocking momentum a hundred times more powerful than that of a Foundation Building cultivator appeared across the sky above Mount Yunwu, rushing to the west.