Lady Cultivator

Now that she found the brook, Mo Tiange could finally determine her position on the map. After that, she cautiously crafted an itinerary that would allow her to avoid running into other people. It was fortunate that the map provided her with a general idea of what those places would be.

This map was basically a manual for disciples. If she looked for a place that everyone would probably dislike, she could avoid most people. Even if there were some people who were out of luck and were transported to that place, they presumably would also leave eventually.

The place she was looking for was a place that looked inhabitable and dangerous in the eyes of ordinary people. There were overhanging cliffs and a chasm as well as a poisonous spring that emitted poisonous fogs all year round. It was obviously written on the map that this wasn’t a good place – it was a dangerous place to go to and the demonic beasts there weren’t easy to kill. In that place, there was actually a pack of demonic monkeys that could be quite troublesome.

Mo Tiange pondered the matter carefully. Since it was a dangerous place to go to, she just needed to go with extra caution. Besides, she wasn’t a mortal – she was unlikely to suffer some kind of accident there. As for those demonic monkeys, they were just right for her. She was proficient in formations and on the other hand, first rank demonic beasts couldn’t recognize them. No matter how numerous the monkeys were, she wasn’t afraid. She just needed to find a suitable place, lay a Maze Formation, and draw the monkeys into the formation.

Having made up her mind, she proceeded quite smoothly through the path she chose. Her Breath-Concealing Technique wasn’t perfect, but because the divine sense of Aura Refining cultivators wasn’t strong, her presence was very rarely discovered.

It only took her a short while to arrive at the area indicated on the map. After taking a quick look at her surroundings, she unconsciously furrowed her brows. Just like the map described, this place was indeed unpleasant. Once she approached, she could already see the poisonous fog in the area probably because of that poisonous spring. The bushes were so thick that she couldn’t even see a walking path; furthermore, most of those bushes were poisonous.

It was now midday, but this whole place looked completely dusky. She essentially couldn’t see the sky from this place.

Without any better options, Mo Tiange braced herself and proceeded forward. After using her divine sense to sweep over this area, not only did she obtain a rough understanding of the terrain, she also found the location of the pack of demonic monkeys.

Right at the edge of the poisonous spring, there were a lot of faint spiritual aura fluctuations. The divine sense of Aura Refining cultivators wasn’t strong, so the spiritual aura fluctuations from a lone first rank demonic beast would be very hard for them to perceive. However, if it was a pack of demonic beasts, picking up their spiritual aura would be very easy.

She swallowed another Refreshing Pill to prevent the poisonous fogs from affecting her body. Then at a spot neither too close nor too far from the pack of monkeys, she laid a simple Disorienting Formation and a Spirit-Trapping Formation.

Just like its name, Disorienting Formation’s main usage was to disorient others so they’d lose their way. Once they walked into the formation, they would keep walking around inside without being able to get out – described by mortals as “ghosts going through the walls ¹ .”

Regarding Spirit-Trapping Formation, it was a formation used specifically to handle both humans and beasts that possessed spiritual aura in their body. After entering this formation, their speed in moving their spiritual aura would become very slow. Generally, this formation was laid in cultivators’ caves to prevent others from breaking in.

Just these two formations weren’t enough. After a moment of thinking, she laid another formation – the Five Elements Life and Death Formation. This formation was slightly more complicated than the two others. However, when she was studying that formation manual some time ago, she made some changes to this formation. Now, both its defense and attack powers were acceptable, so using it was slightly more secure.

After she finished setting her traps, Mo Tiange stayed in the middle of the formation and adjusted her spiritual aura to its optimal condition then intentionally released her breath in the direction of the demonic monkey pack.

First rank demonic beasts weren’t much smarter than common wild animals. They couldn’t analyze matters and completely relied on their senses. Soon, their silhouettes started to come out of the poisonous spring.

Squeaking noises could be heard. Mo Tiange finally had a good look at these demonic beasts. Sure enough, they were a pack of monkeys.

With a sudden emergence of a provocative breath, these demonic monkeys unhesitatingly threw themselves towards the spot where Mo Tiange was waiting. However, they were already trapped in a loop before they could approach her.

The pack of monkeys was rotating around her, running in a “you chase me, I chase you” manner, forming a ring with her as the center. They actually looked amusing this way, but Mo Tiange didn’t dare to be careless and brandished the formation flag in her hand.

Blazing quicksands suddenly appeared in the formation. The pack of monkeys was making loud squeaking noises and was scrambling here and there chaotically, yet no matter how much they ran, they couldn’t escape. The pain from being burned sent them into a melee as they began trampling on each other.

Watching this scene, Mo Tiange once again waved the formation flag. Countless stones suddenly rained down inside the formation. With nowhere to hide, the monkeys died one after another under those stones.

When the demonic monkeys were thoroughly annihilated, Mo Tiange finally sighed with relief. If it wasn’t because she set up a trap in advance, an Aura Refining disciple like her definitely wouldn’t be able to handle such a large number of first rank demonic beasts. Furthermore, although she did manage to smoothly exterminate them, she had to expend quite a lot of spiritual aura.

The abilities of Aura Refining disciples were too low. Not only could they not use multiple spirit tools at the same time, they also couldn’t engage in fights of magical powers for too long. Even for magic weapons that didn’t have any cultivation level limitations, the power they displayed were limited if they were wielded by Aura Refining disciples. Hence, the more Mo Tiange cultivated, the more she yearned to enter the Foundation Building realm.

Once she recovered her spiritual aura, she began packing up the scattered carcasses of the demonic monkeys. There were about twenty to thirty of them; presumably, with all the fights that broke out in this mountain forest, everyone wouldn’t have time to kill too many demonic beasts. These demonic monkeys should be sufficient for her to get a Foundation-Building Pill. Therefore, after putting the demonic monkeys’ carcasses into her Qiankun Bag, she sat and meditated with no intention of continuing to hunt demonic beasts. Her target was only obtaining a Foundation-Building Pill – she didn’t want to endanger her life or attract other people’s attention.

While she was meditating, mayhem erupted inside this mountainous forest.

The first time a Zixia Sect disciple was killed, no one found out about it, yet those who had murderous intentions were numerous. Soon, others also began to act.

In addition to having an advantage in numbers, Zixia Sect disciples also considered the two other groups as exterminated groups, so they naturally weren’t willing to let the matter go. In the afternoon, battles were carried out in the open.

Although the total number of Yunwu Sect and Jindao School disciples added together still couldn’t match the number of disciples Zixia Sect had, because they were filled with hatred and generally carried out sneak attacks, many of them succeeded.

Nevertheless, when Zixia Sect disciples began to retaliate later, victories and defeats happened equally on both sides. As the numbers of people killed increased, they basically threw all caution to the wind. Both sides engaged in battle right after they met.

Mo Tiange was unaware of this. It was ironically fortunate that she had gone to this place. Otherwise, she might’ve already been drawn into a battle.

The sky gradually darkened. Mo Tiange was still sitting inside her formation and did nothing else. She couldn’t use any light because it might attract other people to her. Besides, even if it didn’t attract people, it might attract demonic beasts. Fighting in the night wasn’t a good option. In any case, she still could somewhat see and only needed to endure for one night. Tomorrow, the exit formation would be opened.

Suddenly, she furrowed her brows and raised her head.

There was a spiritual aura fluctuation outside. Apparently, someone was coming towards her.

She pondered her choices for a moment before retrieving the formations she laid before, leaving only the Five Elements Life and Death formations behind. She then hid and watched carefully.

The person was running so fast that his footsteps seemed to be floating. Although he tumbled from time to time, he still persisted in running forward. However, he suddenly seemed to have run into something and ‘Bang!’ After that loud noise, no other noise was heard.

A long while passed but there was still no sound. After thinking for a moment, Mo Tiange came out of her hiding place and began to cautiously make her way over in the dark. She had always been careful. Right now, she already cast a defensive spell on her body and was holding onto her Green-Wood Sword. Even if this person suddenly made trouble, she could definitely handle him. Therefore, she planned to take a look at him.

Somewhere not too far from her, he had fallen motionlessly on the ground. The sky was too dark, so she couldn’t see clearly. She could only vaguely see that the robe on that person’s body was black-colored.

Mo Tiange felt a bit relieved. Once she stepped forward to take a closer look, she saw that the person was indeed a young Yunwu Sect disciple.

“Senior Martial Brother! Senior Martial Brother!” She softly shook the man.

It took a long time for her to get a response. The man raised his head with difficulty and whispered, “Junior Martial Sister… save… save me…”

Mo Tiange was stunned.  Junior Martial Sister?  She didn’t have the chance to think further because the man’s head dipped once again and he fainted.

After thinking carefully, she carried the man into the formation she laid. She didn’t recognize this man. However, of all the numerous Aura Refining disciples Yunwu Sect had, she only knew a few of them well. Even out of the people from the other houses in their courtyard, she only knew a few familiar-looking ones. As for this person, she didn’t remember seeing him before at all.

Nevertheless, both of them were Yunwu Sect disciples; there was nothing wrong with offering a helping hand. Thus, she sent her spiritual aura into this man’s body to check his injuries.

Once her spiritual aura traveled around the man’s meridians, Mo Tiange became slightly relieved. The man’s injuries were very severe, but since his meridians weren’t damaged, treating them would be easy.

Mo Tiange pondered and then took out some medicinal pills from her robe. She decided to feed him a Refreshing Pill first to prevent the poisonous fog in the area from entering his body before giving him an Aura-Nourishing Pill.

Refreshing Pill was merely a common detoxifying pill, not a kind of precious medicine. As for medicinal pills for treating injuries, she did have Small Reversion Pills in her possession. However, Small Reversion Pills were very valuable and could even be used by Foundation Building cultivators. Giving one to an Aura Refining cultivator she didn’t even recognize was really not worth it. Moreover, considering that she didn’t recognize this person, giving him such a precious thing would be an excessive generosity.

In order to make people grateful without inciting them to have a greedy heart, kindness had to be given in moderation. This was a principle Second Uncle taught her tirelessly.

Before long, the man groaned and was apparently about to wake up.

Mo Tiange said, “Senior Martial Brother, are you feeling better?”

The man opened his eyes then struggled to sit. He forced himself to smile and said, “Junior Martial… Brother, thank you. If I hadn’t met you, I would’ve certainly lost my life today.”

Mo Tiange spoke with a faint tone, “Senior Martial Brother doesn’t need to be too courteous, it was no trouble.”

The man nodded, took out a jade bottle from his robe, swallowed several medicinal pills from it then passed the jade bottle to her. “I mustn’t let Junior Martial Brother suffer any losses.”

Mo Tiange bluntly took it. This was the custom in the cultivation world. On one hand, no one would be willing to lose their belongings just to help others while on the other hand, those who received help also owed their saviors a favor.

Seeing her accepting his gift, the man asked, “Junior Martial Brother, where are we? Is it safe here?”

Mo Tiange answered, “This is the poisonous spring at the northwestern part of the forest.”

Presumably, this person was also a wise man; right after he heard her answer, he sighed in relief. “This is good; presumably, no one will come here.” The man paused for a moment before asking, “I am Murong Zi, may I ask what Junior Martial Brother’s name is?”

Since he said “I am” and not “my name is,” he was obviously one of the renowned individuals among the Aura Refining disciples. As for his name, Mo Tiange had indeed heard it before. Murong Zi was a disciple who managed to last until the end during the Miwu Valley competition along with Senior Martial Brother Zhou and the others. At the same time, he was also Murong Yan’s elder brother and had, together with her, worshiped the same Foundation Building cultivator, Lin Qingwan, as their teacher. He was also the senior martial brother who guarded the medicinal garden and was the seed supplier mentioned by Murong Yan. This senior martial brother… was indeed quite famous among Aura Refining disciples.

Because she and Murong Yan were friends, Mo Tiange treated him a bit more courteously. “So you’re Senior Martial Brother Murong. My name is Ye Xiaotian, a friend of Senior Martial Sister Murong.”

Murong Zi made a soft “ah” sound then said, “So it’s you! I’ve heard Little Yan talk about you before.” Having scrutinized her appearance, he smiled, “No wonder I thought you were a junior martial sister when I was dizzy before.”

Mo Tiange was doubtful, so she naturally took the chance to ask, “Why?”

Murong Zi pursed his lips before saying with a smile, “Because Little Yan said it’s unfortunate that you’re a man. Whether it’s your figure or looks, you’re more suitable to be a woman.”

Mo Tiange was speechless. In addition to Xu Jingzhi, Murong Yan also liked to tease her, saying that she was so petite, that she was a man with a girly face, that it’d be good if she was a woman and so on.

Thinking about Murong Yan, she couldn’t help but sigh. The Murong Yan who loved to laugh and play had disappeared.

Seeing that Mo Tiange’s expression didn’t look good, Murong Zi thought she took offense at his comment and changed the subject: “Junior Martial Brother Ye, ever since you’ve been here, have you met any Zixia Sect disciples?”

Mo Tiange shook her head. “I haven’t.” Because Murong Zi seemed troubled by something, she asked back, “Did Senior Martial Brother Murong encounter anyone?”

This question made Murong Zi sigh. “Since Junior Martial Brother Ye has been staying here, presumably you don’t know that the disciples from the three groups have been fighting.”

Mo Tiange had long foreseen this outcome. However, she didn’t say it out loud and just pretended to be oblivious. “Really? What happened?”

“I don’t know how it happened. In the beginning, there were only fights between individuals, but they later turned into this melee. Us and Jindao School teamed up to fight Zixia Sect. Originally I didn’t want to join, but whenever I met Zixia Sect people, they directly attacked me, leaving me with no choice but to defend myself. Back then, I was ambushed when I was killing a demonic wolf. I had to expend a lot of effort to escape.” After he said this, his expression was filled with worry. “The situation is really chaotic now. I don’t know how Little Yan is. She’s always been lazy before, so her fighting skills are really…”

Hearing his words made Mo Tiange feel a bit worried too. In addition to Murong Yan, there were also those housemates of hers. Although Liu Yidao and Qin Xi were very experienced in fights of magical powers, two fists were still no match for four hands. Xu Jingzhi’s cultivation level was ordinary; even though he was a child from a cultivation clan and inevitably possessed some treasures, if he encountered a strong enemy, the result would still be hard to determine.

Nevertheless, Murong Yan was still the most worrisome from the lot. She never liked cultivating before. The only reason her cultivation level was that high was because of medicinal pills. Her own skills, however, were really mediocre.

Both of them sank into a momentary silence until Murong Zi finally smiled and said, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, I’m going to shamelessly take advantage of you. Let me stay here for a while because right now, I really can’t do anything about my injuries…”

Mo Tiange nodded. “This place isn’t mine; everyone has the right to be here. Senior Martial Brother Murong doesn’t need to be too courteous.”