Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange didn’t explain it to him. In any case, she’d long rejected his Dual Cultivation proposal and she also wouldn’t have too many interactions with Tang Shen in the future, so she didn’t need to explain it that much.

Tang Shen also didn’t bring up the matter anymore. Instead, he smiled and said, “That being the case, I should also call you senior martial sister. Senior Martial Sister Mo’s so young but already has such a high cultivation level—calling you senior martial sister’s what I should do.”

In the cultivation world, seniority was never determined based on age. Only people who were closely related to each other like martial siblings under the same master would use age to determine their relative seniority and maintain that manner of address despite any cultivation progress out of respect.

They’d been living together inside this pagoda for more than ten years. Although they were each engrossed in their own business most of the time, the relationships between them was still different compared to their relationships with others. This was also why they could easily discuss their ages. Now that he knew Mo Tiange’s cultivation was a lot higher than his despite her age, Tang Shen indeed felt he ought to call her senior martial sister.

Xia Qing said, “I still have to call you senior martial sister in any case. Senior Martial Sister Mo, since you’re so awesome, you’ll have to look after me in the future.”

“Junior Martial Sister Xia!” Wei Haolan cast her a harsh glance but eventually chuckled. “You’re right though. Fellow Daoist Ye’s our Bixuan Court guest elder now, so she indeed has to look after us more.”

Mo Tiange waved her hand. “The two of you shouldn’t tease me. My achievements were just because I received help from my elders.”

Just as Wei Haolan about to speak, the four of them suddenly felt a spiritual aura fluctuation. All of them froze then simultaneously turned to look at the Transporting Formation.

The Transporting Formation emitted a burst of white light. Right afterward, Elder Qingyi’s voice rang out: “Come over, all of you.”

The four of them couldn’t help but feel moved to finally hear their elder’s voice again after fifteen years.

Wei Haolan put her palm on her chest as she tried to calm her excited self. “It seems the two elders already finish their Closed Door Meditation. Let’s go upstairs and greet them.”

Everyone obviously had no objections. The four people put down their wine cups, stood up then went towards the Transporting Formation.

Within the past fifteen years, the Transporting Formation had always remained off, but now, it was once again activated. Besides, the four of them were summoned upstairs, so the elders had presumably ended their Closed Door Meditation already.

The four people stood on the Transporting Formation and with a burst of blinding light, they appeared on the fourth floor. Although they desperately wanted to see the two elders, Wei Haolan and the two others didn’t dare to lift their eyes.

They all knew the consequences for practicing the Blood-Prohibition Secret Technique. Even though they had fifteen years to prepare themselves, personally seeing the results was a whole ‘nother thing.

As a result, the first one to see the two elders’ appearances was Mo Tiange.

She saw the two of them sitting side by side on the praying mats on the master seats. They seemed perfectly normal—they’d just each put on a cloak and a gauze hat.

These cloaks and gauze hats didn’t only block curious eyes, but they also blocked divine senses. Coupled with the fact that the two elders’ cultivation levels were much higher than theirs, the four of them couldn’t see their real appearances at all.

“Greetings to the two Elders.” Mo Tiange saluted. She was also considered a member of Bixuan Court now, so she no longer needed to call them senior.

Upon hearing how normal Mo Tiange sounded, the three others finally looked up. They seemed relieved, but their eyes were brimming with sadness. The two elders must’ve been afraid of scaring them, so they hid their appearances.

“Greetings to the two Elders.” Wei Haolan took the lead and saluted.

Elder Qingyi gave them a slight nod. “These fifteen years… all of you must’ve gone through a lot of hardships.” Her voice was much hoarser than it used to be.

Wei Haolan said respectfully, “Compared to what the two elders have been through, our hardships are basically nothing.”

“You’re a good child,” said Elder Qingmiao. Although they couldn’t see her appearance, judging from her voice, she was obviously much older now. “You don’t need to blame yourself. This was the responsibility we had to bear as the elders of Bixuan Court.”

Tang Shen hung down his head and quietly rubbed the corners of his eyes.

When Elder Qingyi looked at him, she blurted out: “Shen’er, you’ve advanced?”

“Yes,” Tang Shen said with a drooped head. “I… I’m sorry, Elders. I was too insensible before.”

His words made Elder Qingyi let out a soft chuckle. “You, this child… You finally grew up. If your great-great-grandmother in the netherworld knew, she would be happy.”

Tang Shen was Elder Qing Xi’s beloved descendant. He grew up under the watch of the three elders, so the two elders also viewed him as their junior. Now that they saw he had advanced and matured a lot, their hearts were naturally consoled.

While wiping his tears, Tang Shen answered with a muffled voice: “Yes. In the future, Shen’er will definitely work hard at cultivating. Shen’er will never disappoint the two elders and great-great-grandmother again.”

The two elders’ attention then shifted to the rest of them. Elder Qingyi asked, “Haolan, Tiange, are your injuries healed already?”

“Yes,” Wei Haolan answered, “Rest assured, Elders. My injuries are most or less healed now. Elder Mo even finished dissolving the dead aura inside five years ago.”

“Oh?” Elder Qingmiao directed her gaze towards Mo Tiange. “Tiange, come over—let us take a look at you.”

“Yes,” Mo Tiange said then walked over.

Elder Qingmiao reached out at lightning speed, grabbing her wrist into which she then inserted her spiritual aura.

Mo Tiange only felt her meridians were numb and achy. Elder Qingmiao’s spiritual aura was much stronger than she’d expected; it was as if Elder Qingmiao had reached the peak stage of the Core Formation realm. Nevertheless, the spiritual aura was also very strange. It seemed to contain a kind of craziness which made her feel very uneasy.

She looked down, staring at a pair of exposed hands holding her wrist. They were dried and wrinkly, just like old tree barks and extremely pale as if they were bloodless. These could practically no longer be called hands… She remembered that when she first met Elder Qingmiao sixteen years ago, Elder Qingmiao didn’t look young, but she was still pretty and attractive.

Even though she didn’t have such deep feelings towards the two elders like Wei Haolan and the others, a sliver of sadness still emerged in Mo Tiange’s heart upon seeing such a scene. This was indeed a world which prioritized benefits, but it also didn’t mean it was a completely heartless world.

Immediately afterward, Elder Qingmiao released her hand then said with relief, “Very good, Tiange. Not only are your injuries all healed, but even your spiritual aura is also much purer than before. Presumably, you must’ve worked very hard these past years.”

As she retreated, Mo Tiange answered, “Elders gave me a lot. Since Junior accepted Elders’ kindness, it was only natural Junior did some things for Bixuan Court.”

“If you think like that, then we really didn’t misjudge you.” Elder Qingyi nodded with a smile. “That’ll do. Now, we called you over firstly to tell you guys that we’ve finished practicing the Blood-Prohibition Secret Technique and that we’ve officially concluded our Closed Door Meditation today. Secondly, what we’ve done is still not enough to deal with that devil cultivator—we still have to make some preparations.”

“Elder,” Wei Haolan said, “Just tell us what has to be prepared; we’ll definitely prepare them well.”

“We have to prepare two kinds of things,” Elder Qingyi said calmly, “Firstly, that devil cultivator’s dead aura is too terrible. If it touches you guys, you most likely won’t be able to hold on. After looking for a long time, we finally found a kind of talisman which can protect you from that type of dead aura. Because of that, you shouldn’t do anything else in the following days—just draw this talisman. The more you can create, the better it’ll be.”

“Elders,” Xia Qing said, “None of us can draw talismans; how can we master it in just a short while?”

“Then learn it until you can draw them well,” Elder Qingyi said bluntly. “As for the second item, it’s a magic weapon. You guys can’t help us with this, so Junior Martial Sister Qingmiao and I will have to refine it ourselves.”

There wasn’t any master of refining in the group. Tool-refining was different from talisman-drawing. For talisman-drawing, even if they lacked talismans materials such as paper, brush and so on, the materials were still easy to obtain, not to mention the seventh floor of this Dao-Achieving Pagoda was the storage place for several thousand years’ worth of Bixuan Court’s collections. For tool-refining, on the other hand, the materials were normally precious. Rare materials for magic weapons simply couldn’t be wasted so easily.

“Correct,” Elder Qingmiao said while passing them a Jade Slip. “Haolan, after this, go to the seventh floor and retrieve the necessary talisman papers and brushes. Draw the talismans according to this painting. No matter how long it takes, you have to draw at least several hundred talismans. That’s the only way we can deal with that devil cultivator.”

“Yes,” Wei Haolan said compliantly. She then hesitated for a moment before she eventually spoke again. “Elders, will you… be able to hold on?”

Those who practiced the second half of the Blood-Prohibition Secret Technique, even if it was just “practicing,” would end up dead. However, she didn’t know how long the elders would have before they died.

Elder Qingyi said faintly, “You don’t need to worry about us. Before we help you eliminate future troubles, us old women wouldn’t dare to die.”

Hearing that remark made Wei Haolan’s gaze waver. Nevertheless, she didn’t dare to ask any further and just bowed. “Yes.”

“Tiange.”

Mo Tiange stepped forward. “Yes, Elder.”

“Go with Haolan. Your pill-concocting skills are outstanding; if you think there are any medicinal pills that might be helpful to us, you can take the materials and refine them.”

Mo Tiange was stunned but soon cupped her hands. “I understand.” This actually demonstrated the trust they had towards her. Not only were they allowing her to enter the treasury where the group’s collections were stored, but they were also letting her take things from there personally. If they didn’t consider her a trusted disciple, they wouldn’t have done so.

She sighed inwardly, feeling that they’d managed to stumble upon her weak spot. She admitted that she wasn’t a benevolent person, but if people treated her well, she’d want to treat them well in return. Now that the two elders had been so kind and trusting to her, how else could she pay them back? This guest elder position undoubtedly had to be taken and moreover, if she succeeded in her cultivation, she ought to take care of them often.

“Alright, the two of you should head back first. That’s all for now.”

“Yes,” the four people simultaneously answered. Xia Qing and Tang Shen then returned to the third floor, while Mo Tiange and Wei Haolan went to the seventh floor.

Affected by their meeting with the two elders, the two people were silent all along the way. It was only after they arrived at the seventh floor and she finished opening the restriction that Wei Haolan spoke again: “Elder Mo, over there is the spiritual panacea area. You can take anything you need. When you’re done, you just need to record whatever you take.”

“Alright.” Mo Tiange looked around then nodded.

Sixteen years ago when they fled into this pagoda, the two elders had taken her and Tang Shen up to the seventh floor. At that time, the two elders picked a lot of medicinal pills for them and also bestowed magic weapons to Tang Shen and Xia Qing. In addition, because they learned about her history, they generously gave Mo Yaoqing’s personal note to her.

Although the personal note didn’t seem to be as precious as magic weapons, Wei Haolan said only sect heads and elders were allowed to read their founder’s personal note—their willingness to give it to her was already a form of great kindness. Besides, for her, Mo Yaoqing’s personal note was much more important than any magic weapon.

The two elders might’ve treated her that well also because they hoped she’d help Wei Haolan to rebuild Bixuan Court, but kindness was kindness. Since she accepted their kindness, she ought to do some things for them in return.

After taking a deep breath, she quickly picked out dozens of spiritual plants. Once she was done, she went to Wei Haolan again. “Sect Head, I’m done.”

“Oh.” Wei Haolan finally found several jars of beast blood after browsing among cinnabars and the like. “Let’s go then. We have to record these first then we can head down.”

“En!”

Mo Tiange followed Wei Haolan towards the sacrificial table. Wei Haolan then took out a manifest then started recording the things they took. Mo Tiange, on the other hand, looked up and stared at Mo Yaoqing’s statue.

This ancestor of hers had a very rough life but she was always unyielding, always respected herself and always tried to improve herself. If she knew the group she personally established was toyed with so badly until it almost became an exterminated group by a Foundation Building cultivator who practiced an evil technique, she’d definitely be furious, wouldn’t she?

She’d be furious, but at the same time, she might also feel very relieved. Although the people in her group weren’t as good as her, a heaven-gifted genius, they hadn’t strayed away from her proud and unyielding character. As long as everyone still had that proud and unyielding character, Bixuan Court could still be re-established again.

“Elder Mo.”

“Yes?” Mo Tiange regained her train of thought upon hearing Wei Haolan’s voice.

“Are you confident?” Instead of looking at Mo Tiange, Wei Haolan fiddled with the Jade Slip in her hands.

“… No.” Mo Tiange answered honestly, “I like to be in control, but this time, it’s beyond my capabilities, and I’m not the one who’ll take action—I’m not confident at all. However, it’s alright if we’re not confident. It’s enough that the two elders are confident.”

“True.” Wei Haolan looked up to stare at the statue. She knelt softly then said, “Honorable Founder, please bless our Bixuan Court. Let us eliminate our foe and take back our monastery!”