Lady Cultivator

As he said before, after obtaining the Foundation-Building Pill, Qin Xi really did begin his Closed Door Meditation to make a realm-breakthrough.

On the North Peak of Mount Yunwu, there were some places where the spiritual aura was particularly abundant. Most of these places were Immortal’s Caves of high-level cultivators, but several of them were open, public Immortal’s Caves.

The so-called public Immortal’s Caves were caves everyone could use, although they did have to provide quite a large amount as rent payment to the sect. However, cultivators who wanted to use the caves to build their foundation would be allowed to use these caves for free and would be prioritized.

Formations had been laid both inside and outside these public Immortal’s Caves. Furthermore, there were also Foundation Building cultivators patrolling the caves in turns. Under normal circumstances, unless the people in Closed Door Meditation passed the one-year time limit, they never encountered any kind of disturbance. These caves were indeed the best places to perform Closed Door Meditation and make breakthroughs into the Foundation Building realm.

In Closed Door Meditation to build one’s foundation, it would take at least three to five months up to about one year. The first two months were used to nurse their health. Later, after taking the Foundation-Building Pill, they would have to spend several more months to ingest the pill and adapt their bodies to the changes. If they succeeded in building their foundation, they would still have to spend some time in stabilizing their realm.

This time, no matter whether he would fail or succeed, Qin Xi would have to spend about a year before he could exit his Closed Door Meditation.

Mo Tiange didn’t really feel anything about this except envious and bored. She was envious because before Qin Xi began his Closed Door Meditation, he looked very calm and didn’t seem worried at all. It was as if he was very confident about it. Since he seemed very confident, he must’ve known some kind of secret method. Meanwhile, she still had to spend about one or two more years to complete the Aura Refining realm and increase her grasp in building her foundation. As for feeling bored, it was because without Qin Xi, she basically had no one else to talk to.

Liu Yidao’s injuries were quite heavy. At the very least, he would have to stay in the North Peak for three to five months. Murong Yan, funded by her clan, had also gone to one of the public Immortal’s Caves and entered Closed Door Meditation to complete the Aura Refining realm. Another person she was a bit familiar with was Senior Martial Brother Zhou, but he was the same as Qin Xi – upon obtaining a Foundation-Building Pill, he directly went to a public Immortal’s Cave and entered Closed Door Meditation to build his foundation. Unless he was unlucky and entered the twelfth layer of the Aura Refining realm, in the future, she would have to call him Martial Uncle Zhou.

Aside from her, Jiang Shanghang was the only one remaining in the house, but he simply wasn’t someone she considered as a friend. Ever since the annexation of the sect, not only did this guy refused to acknowledge others, but he also became even gloomier. Actually, she was quite baffled. When Jiang Shanghang entered the sect, he was already in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm. Now Qin Xi had entered Closed Door Meditation to make a realm-breakthrough, but why did Jiang Shanghang, against all reason, make no movements at all? Of course, she wouldn’t go and ask him just because she was curious. There was no friendship between them after all.

In fact, after she returned from the test, if she wanted to rent a public Immortal’s Cave and enter Closed Door Meditation, she was wealthy enough to afford it. From those Qiankun Bags she obtained, she had more than a thousand spirit stones. Selling those demonic beasts’ remains also gave her more than a thousand spirit stones. She also received several hundred spirit stones from selling some important materials and spirit tools. Totaling all these stones together, she already had more than 3,000 spirit stones. Taking into consideration some medicinal pills, spirit tools which were hard to sell, and materials she might use in the future, she was unprecedentedly rich and could be compared to ordinary Foundation Building cultivators.

However, she still thought it’d be better for her to maintain a low profile. Because of that, she didn’t even take out the Iron-Teethed Crocodile’s remains out, let alone perform an extravagant matter like renting an Immortal’s Cave – she naturally wouldn’t do that.

Thus, her days returned to being tranquil. Aside from listening to sermons once in a while, she spent all her days cultivating. She didn’t even pick up any errands in the steward’s hall. Fortunately, after this event, the sect exempted disciples in the seventh layer of the Aura Refining realm and higher from doing various chores, so it wouldn’t matter that she didn’t go and pick up errands.

Contrary to her expectations, after being lectured by Second Uncle and having no one to talk to, she actually managed to focus her heart on cultivating. Coupled with taking a lot of medicinal pills, she unexpectedly needed only three months to cultivate until she completed the Aura Refining realm. She was quite amazed. She hadn’t foreseen that she would have such speed in cultivating.

Meanwhile, Liu Yidao was still in the North Peak. She heard that a certain martial uncle admired him and wanted to take him as a disciple. Upon hearing this news, Mo Tiange suddenly realized it had been a long time since she last saw Liu Yidao. After thinking carefully, she realized they had indeed become distant with each other. Now that she thought about it, she felt quite guilty and decided to spare some time to visit him.

Nonetheless, this plan ultimately wasn’t fulfilled because once she went to the North Peak, she was prevented from going further. With no better options, she had to give a senior martial brother a few unimportant things while asking him to pass her message to Liu Yidao.

As for the reason why Jiang Shanghang didn’t try to build his foundation, Mo Tiange also heard about it, bit by bit. As it turned out, Jiang Clan had one kind of medicinal pill to aid their members in building their foundations. That medicinal pill could increase their odds in succeeding in building their foundations but they weren’t easy to concoct. Every round of concoction only resulted in a few successful pills.

Originally, with Jiang Shanghang’s diligence and cultivation level, he ought to be able to obtain one pill. Unfortunately, he was an object of scorn within the Jiang Clan. Furthermore, Jiang Chengxiang, who was the direct descendant of the current Clan Master, also wanted to build his foundation. Hence, Jiang Shanghang’s share was directly given to Jiang Chengxiang, leaving Jiang Shanghang with no other options except clenching his teeth and swallowing this result. Since Foundation-Building Pills were hard to obtain, he planned to endure until the next time the medicinal pill became available to build his foundation.

Jiang Shanghang’s thoughts were purely Mo Tiange’s speculations. But, good or bad, they had known each other for more than three years. Based on Jiang Shanghang’s actions on ordinary days, that was most likely his thought process.

Upon hearing this information for the first time, Mo Tiange felt rather envious. There was unexpectedly a kind of medicinal pill that could increase the odds of successfully building one’s foundation! However, since they had never heard about the pill from the sect, it was either because the medicinal pill was too complicated to concoct or the materials needed were too rare, so the sect couldn’t provide it for ordinary disciples. Jiang Shanghang couldn’t obtain items from the Jiang Clan, let alone Mo Tiange. Therefore, although she was envious, she couldn’t do anything about it.

When she reached the peak stage of the Aura Refining realm and could no longer progress with her cultivation, Mo Tiange took a trip down the mountain.

Even though Second Uncle severely reprimanded her and also forbade her from visiting him unless she figured things out last time, she still came to see him every half month. It was just that Second Uncle would chase her off shortly after and tell her to go back to the mountain every time. However, this time was different. She had a very important thing to tell him.

“Second Uncle!”

Ye Jiang, who was still recuperating in that small courtyard, had gotten even older. He didn’t even open his eyes when he heard Mo Tiange’s voice. He just said, “What are you coming here for? Go back and cultivate!”

Mo Tiange didn’t give up. She said, “Second Uncle, I’ve reached the peak stage of the Aura Refining realm!”

Ye Jiang finally opened his eyes. He stared up and down at her and showed a faint smile. “Three months… Not bad.”

Seeing that Second Uncle no longer had a taut face, Mo Tiange heaved a sigh and sat down beside the bed as she usually did. She said, “Second Uncle, are you alright?”

“For the time being, I won’t die.” Upon seeing her worried look, Ye Jiang’s heart softened. With a relaxed tone, he said, “Lately, Second Uncle’s injuries have been recovering well. I reckon I can last until next year.”

Mo Tiange lowered her head and remained silent. This was indeed good news. Two years ago, Second Uncle said there were only about two or three years left in his lifespan. Right now, at the very least, they could confirm that he would have one more year.

“Well, since you’ve already completed the Aura Refining realm, you should tackle building your foundation. Have you made the proper preparations for building your foundation?”

Mo Tiange shook her head, looking completely bewildered as she said, “Second Uncle, I can sense that my cultivation level isn’t the problem now. Regarding entering Closed Door Meditation and building my foundation, I feel like I’m still lacking something.”

“Lacking something…” Ye Jiang muttered. “Second Uncle explained long ago the importance of insight in foundation-building to you. I also let you familiarize yourself with the process. According to reason, I should’ve prepared you enough. Do you perhaps have some misgivings in your heart?”

Mo Tiange hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. “Probably… I always feel nervous when I’m thinking about building my foundation. I don’t have the slightest certainty about the outcome.”

Ye Jiang said with understanding, “It seems your heart isn’t prepared. This will be a bit hard to deal with. If you force yourself to enter Closed Door Meditation and build your foundation, the unsteady state of your mentality could result in an unstable situation, which could affect your odds of successfully building your foundation.”

“Yes. I still can’t make up my mind to immediately enter Closed Door Meditation. Second Uncle, what should I do?”

Ye Jiang said, “It isn’t surprising you feel this way. Average people have to wait a long time after cultivating and reaching the peak stage of the Aura Refining realm to obtain Foundation-Building Pills. Because of that, they normally have enough time to prepare. You, on the other hand… because of Second Uncle, you were compelled to cultivate quickly until you completed the Aura Refining realm. Trying to build your foundation now is indeed too rushed.”

“Then what should I do?”

Ye Jiang closed his eyes, seeming to contemplate the matter.

Mo Tiange watched him anxiously. She knew that although Second Uncle’s situation was somewhat better than what they expected, he still only had one year left in his lifespan. She wanted to let Second Uncle watch her reach the Foundation Building realm before he passed away, so he could leave at ease. Because of this, she couldn’t afford to delay during this next year.

Ye Jiang finally opened his eyes after seemingly reaching a decision. He stared at her for a long time before he said slowly, “Tiange, leave the mountain and go travel around for a while.”

“Huh?” Mo Tiange was stunned.  Travel around? Wouldn’t that mean I have to leave Mount Yunwu and leave Second Uncle?

Ye Jiang nodded. “Correct, as long as a cultivator is stuck in a bottleneck or has an unsteady mood, traveling around is the best method to resolve the problem.”

“But…” Mo Tiange said with concern, “Wouldn’t that mean I have to leave this place? Second Uncle, how can I abandon you here alone?”

With a faint smile, Ye Jiang said, “Are you afraid Second Uncle will die here suddenly?”

Mo Tiange was silent. She was indeed afraid – afraid that by the time Second Uncle passed away, she still hadn’t built her foundation. However, she was even more afraid that second uncle would have to finish his last journey alone while she was away traveling.

Ye Jiang sighed and said, “Rest assured. When a cultivator’s lifespan is about to end, they will be very sensitive to their fate. If Second Uncle feels that the time has come, I can still wait for you to come back. For the time being, you should go. If you stay, you might have to spend much more time.”

“Second Uncle…”

“Do what I told you.”

Struggling for a long time, Mo Tiange still shook her head resolutely at the end. “I can’t! What happens if there’s an accident? I’m not going!”

“What if you had to go?”

“I definitely won’t go!”

Ye Jiang closed his eyes, apparently not wanting to keep arguing with her. He knew how stubborn this child was. Back then, when he got injured during a demonic beast hunt and was abandoned by his companions because his injuries were too heavy, it was this child who ran into the forest looking for him without considering her own life. In the end, the two of them, uncle and niece, managed to make it through a life or death struggle and escaped the forest.

“Xiaotian, take Second Uncle’s Life Tablet and start your journey.”

Mo Tiange was surprised but called out distractedly, “Second Uncle…”

Ye Jiang once again closed his eyes and sighed. “If Second Uncle encounters some kind of mishap, you only need to look at the Life Tablet to know. Are you relieved yet?”

“I…”

Ye Jiang no longer spoke. Instead, he took a jade tablet from his robe and made hand seals with his right hand while murmuring some incantations. After a moment, a drop of bright red blood emerged from the area between his eyebrows. The speed of his murmurs accelerated and soon after, he brandished his fingers. That drop of blood followed his gesture, entering the jade tablet in a flash. All of a sudden, the originally pure white jade tablet became dark red in color.

Ye Jiang coughed violently after he finished doing these things.

“Second Uncle!” Mo Tiange hastily helped him steady himself while also patting his back.

A while passed and Ye Jiang finally controlled his breathing. As he waved his hand, he passed the jade tablet to her and said, “If I have an accident, the natal blood essence inside this tablet will be drained. You just need to come back as soon as you see its color changing.”

Mo Tiange accepted it in silence. Since Second Uncle gave her his Life Tablet, he had apparently made up his mind.

Ye Jiang waved his hand as an order for her to go back and said, “This’ll do. Go back and report to the sect that you’re going to travel. Go right after you pack up your things. Remember, open your mind and don’t think about matters related to cultivating. You may come back in half a year’s time.”

Mo Tiange was silent for a while but shortly after, a resolute expression appeared on her face. She nodded and said, “I know, Second Uncle.”