Lady Cultivator

As the wind blew gently, a little brown spiritual beast rushed over and bit Mo Tiange’s sleeve.

Mo Tiange patted its head softly. “Don’t be naughty; stay quiet for a moment.”

The Inferno Beast blinked its black, bead-like eyes then lowered its head and sat motionlessly next to her.

Mo Tiange was amused by its disgruntled appearance. She couldn’t help but pat it again. “What? Do you feel that Zhenji spoils you more?”

The Inferno Beast made a “wuwu” noise. It was unclear whether it was agreeing or disagreeing with her.

Mo Tiange once again stroked its head while staring at the flowing water in the brook. She sighed and said, “I’m not a good master. I only let you cultivate on your own and let you help me with concocting pills, but I’ve never played with you.”

The Inferno Beast squeaked, bit the hem of her sleeve and shook it just like a spoiled child.

Mo Tiange laughed then asked warmly, “Xiaohuo, stay here and keep Zhenji company, okay?”

Once she said that, the Inferno Beast instantly raised its head. Its two eyes fixated on her face as if it didn’t understand why she said that.

“There’s no spiritual beast contract between us. The reason why you’re so intimate with me is because the Virtual Sky World is interlinked with my divine breath; you’ve lived here for a long time, so you naturally respond to me. Zhenji grew up under your watch and all these years when you weren’t in the Virtual Sky World, you were always at his side, accompanying him—you must have deeper feelings for him than for me. Right now, I’m not comfortable leaving him alone in the secular world, so… stay and keep him company, okay?”

The Inferno Beast’s eyes widened in an instant, but it didn’t make any noise.

Mo Tiange didn’t know what her Inferno Beast ate when it was inside the Virtual Sky World, but it was slightly more spiritual and could understand more than common spiritual beasts. Because of its intelligence, Mo Tiange was consulting with it instead of giving it orders.

“Rest assured; I concocted many medicinal pills for second and third rank spiritual beasts. I’ll give them to Zhenji later, so you definitely won’t have any issues with your cultivation. This time, I’ll leave for three years at the least and five years at the most. Presumably, I’ll already be back before you make a realm-breakthrough.”

This was something she decided after much thought. Having no Inferno Beast only meant that concocting pills wouldn’t be as convenient for her, but since Zhenji still hadn’t built his foundation and since she also wasn’t comfortable leaving him behind in the secular world alone, she might as well leave the Inferno Beast with him. Presumably, with a second rank spiritual beast at his side, he’d be alright even if he ran into danger.

The Inferno Beast hung its head down and made a “wuwu” squeak. Although its mood seemed low, it didn’t object.

Mo Tiange chuckled and fumbled around for several medicinal pills. After she gave it the medicinal pills, she heaved a sigh. “I better go first. Ye Clan… All I can do to help them is limited to this. Unless they one day have many descendants with spiritual roots, enough to support a clan, or I form my Gold Core and can provide protection for them… I don’t have enough power yet, so telling them my identity would only add more trouble. I hope Zhenji will understand.”

“Auntie!” Ye Zhenji’s voice rang out from outside. With a wave of Mo Tiange’s hand, the pearl between her eyebrows emitted a flash of light. A second later, she was already in the real world.

Ye Zhenji came inside right after the restriction was opened. Once he saw her, he laughed and said, “Auntie, it wasn’t easy for us to leave the mountain, yet you’re cultivating again!”

Mo Tiange shook her head with a smile. “It’s a habit.” Her aptitude was too poor before, so she could only make up for it by being diligent. Even though her aptitude was great now, she became even more worried that her aptitude would be wasted if she was lazy about cultivating.

Once Ye Zhenji was inside and Mo Tiange put the restriction back, she asked, “What’s wrong? You’re not keeping your family company? It’ll certainly be hard to see them again in the future, you know.”

Upon hearing this question, Ye Zhenji gloomily walked towards the table and sat down. “Don’t mention it. I was chatting with my father and the others at first, but I couldn’t get used to their discussion, so I just excused myself.”

“Couldn’t get used to their discussion?” Mo Tiange asked with confusion. She then gestured at him with her chin. “Sit properly on the chair.”

“Yes.” Ye Zhenji obediently got off the table and pulled a chair over to sit across from her. He sounded bewildered. “I’m really confused. I remember that when I was a child, my father was very diligent about cultivating; why is he like this now?”

“What’s wrong?”

Ye Zhenji paused for a moment then continued to say in a rather annoyed tone: “My father and the other uncles kept talking about food, drinks, hobbies, and politics. I didn’t want to listen, so I said I was going to come find you.”

Based on Ye Zhenji’s unhappy expression, he was obviously very angry with his father. Nevertheless, Mo Tiange just chuckled and said softly, “Zhenji, how old is your father now? What’s his cultivation level like?”

Ye Zhenji was caught off guard by this question. “My father… is already forty-five years old, but he’s still in the first layer of the Aura Refining realm now.”

Mo Tiange saw from his expression that he seemed to have understood, so she smiled and said, “In Xuanqing School, although your aptitude’s not great, your cultivation still has a chance of progressing. But for individual cultivators in the secular world who have neither good spiritual roots nor good medicinal pills, even after they cultivate arduously for dozens of years, it’s still very hard for them to progress in the Aura Refining realm, much less build their foundation. It isn’t that your father and the others don’t want to make any progress; they just couldn’t see any hope.”

“But…” Ye Zhenji wanted to say something, but he eventually found it hard to refute her.

Mo Tiange said, “Zhenji, do you still have a lot of medicinal pills for Aura Refining cultivators on you?”

Ye Zhenji nodded. “I originally wanted to give those medicinal pills to them, but after seeing them behaving like that, I no longer want to give them away.”

“It’s precisely because they’re behaving like that that you should give those to them.”

“Why?” Ye Zhenji asked with bewilderment.

Mo Tiange said, “Your father hasn’t made any advancements in his cultivation for dozens of years, so naturally, he’d lose interest in cultivating. If you give them the medicinal pills and give him some hope of advancing his cultivation level, his mind will naturally return to cultivating. They’re not mortals; aside from making a realm-breakthrough, is there anything else in the world that’s more attractive to them?”

Ye Zhenji was suddenly enlightened. “Right! Why didn’t I think about it like that!?”

Mo Tiange contemplated it then said, “But you also shouldn’t give them too many. It’d be best if you told them that when they send people to Mount Taikang in the future, you’ll send medicinal pills and the like to them. That way, although they’ll stay in the secular world, they’ll still feel like they have some hope in their cultivation. At that point, they’d naturally focus on cultivating again.”

“Auntie, you’re ever the thoughtful one!” Ye Zhenji sprang from his seat. “I’m going now…”

“Wait.”

Ye Zhenji stopped in his tracks. “What’s wrong, Auntie?”

“You can talk to them about this later. Right now, I have something I want to tell you.”

“Huh?”

Mo Tiange continued on calmly: “I came to Ye Clan this time just to drop you off in passing. Now that you’ve made it here without mishap, I want to leave tomorrow.”

“Huh!?” Ye Zhenji was rather flustered. “Auntie, are you going to make me stay here alone?”

Mo Tiange let out a chuckle. “Why? Are you afraid?”

Ye Zhenji was stumped for words and felt a bit embarrassed; for the past ten years, he hadn’t left his aunt’s side, so he instantly panicked.

Once he regained his composure, he said, “Auntie, I… I’m still unaccustomed to being alone. Can’t you just stay a bit longer?”

“I’ll have to go sooner or later.” Mo Tiange extended her hand to stroke his hair just like she used to do when he was still a child. However, when she noticed how tall he was, she pulled her hand back. “You don’t need to worry. I’ll leave Xiaohuo with you—nothing bad will happen.”

“I’m not worried about something happening.” Ye Zhenji stared at her with a pitiful stare. “Auntie, I just don’t want you to leave.”

Mo Tiange couldn’t help but laugh. He was already an adult, but he still looked so pitiful. “You’ve grown so big, but you’re still like a child!”

Ye Zhenji stroked his nose then laughed along. He knew Mo Tiange already made her mind up, so he settled for the second choice. “Auntie, how about I go with you?”

“I’m going to travel around, not to have fun,” Mo Tiange patiently explained, “I can’t take you with me. First, I don’t know when I’ll be back; it wouldn’t be good if your foundation-building progress was hindered by being with me. Second, I might go to rather dangerous places, and I’m still not strong enough to ensure your safety.”

Ye Zhenji fell silent. He wasn’t an insensible child. He knew that what Mo Tiange said was the truth. He was just unwilling to part with her.

“That’ll do; Aunt knows you’re a thoughtful child. Anyway, it’s not like I’ll never come back. Us cultivators often part ways for years, sometimes even for more than a hundred years. As our cultivation levels get higher, we’ll part more often and for even longer periods of time. You’d better get used to this.”

“… I understand.” Ye Zhenji nodded obediently. How could he not understand her reasoning? Cultivating was meant to achieve a long life, and when one had a long life, they had to get accustomed to parting and being alone. It wasn’t that bad for small cultivators like them; they’d only be in Closed Door Meditation for around one year. Cultivators in the Core Formation realm and above, however, would often be in Closed Door Meditation for dozens of years, and being in Closed Door Meditation for a hundred years also wasn’t unheard of.

Throughout the cultivation process to become an Immortal, one’s ability to be alone was also cultivated. People who couldn’t stand to be lonely wouldn’t be able to cultivate to reach the Great Dao.

“Auntie, you have to be careful on your travels. Do send news back often; otherwise, I’ll be worried.”

Mo Tiange smiled. Although being solitary was preferable, having someone worry about her still made her feel warm inside.

“En. You have to cultivate properly. You mustn’t be lazy, but you mustn’t be impatient either. If you have any issues, go ask your grandmaster. Your grandmaster’s temperament might be eccentric, but he’ll guide his juniors sincerely. You must listen to whatever he says.”

“Understood,” Ye Zhenji answered. He then contemplated for a moment then asked, “Oh, Auntie, what should I do if that master of mine exits his Closed Door Meditation?”

Mo Tiange raised her eyebrows. “Your master is your master. Do you still have to use ‘this’ and ‘that’?”

Ye Zhenji scratched his head and said innocently, “He’s my master in name, but up till now, I’ve never even seen him! Auntie, you’re my real master. That one’s simply a cheap master forced on me!”

Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Cheap master… The pair of them, aunt and nephew, were indeed in agreement on this point—even their masters were picked and decided by others.

“By the way, Aunt, what does that master of mine look like? Hualing said he met him when he was a child, but he didn’t really remember him. Other senior martial brothers and sisters said I’m lucky because my master is the best among the younger generation cultivators of Xuanqing School. He’s already in the late stage of the Core Formation realm now; if he really succeeds in forming his Nascent Soul within a hundred years, I’d really be a lucky dog—ah… anyway, they said I’m too lucky…” Sensing that he was being too vulgar, Ye Zhenji stopped talking immediately.

Mo Tiange couldn’t help but smile. That was indeed true. Being the advanced inner disciple of a Core Formation cultivator and being the advanced inner disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator were miles apart. If Qin Shoujing really succeeded in forming his Nascent Soul, Zhenji’s status would also rise, despite being his disciple only in name. At that point, whether it was disciple rations, Immortal’s Cave or resources, everything would be dramatically different from what he got now. Back when she was taught by Martial Uncle Xuanyin, the perks Mo Tiange received were only slightly more plentiful. After she formally became Lord Daoist Jinghe’s disciple, however, her wealth was comparable to that of a Core Formation cultivator from an ordinary cultivation group.

“En… Back when your grandmaster made you your master’s advanced inner disciple, he indeed had such ideas. However, your master’s in rigorous Closed Door Meditation now, and we don’t know when he’ll come out. But even if he takes several hundred years to form his Nascent Soul, you wouldn’t lose out.”

“True…” Ye Zhenji said while scratching his head. In any case, he never pinned any hopes on that master, so he didn’t feel disappointed. The one who genuinely taught him about cultivation was his aunt. For him, whether that cheap master was present or not didn’t matter.

“Auntie, you haven’t told me what my master looks like!”

A smile once again appeared on Mo Tiange’s face. “What if I told you I’ve never seen him either?”

Ye Zhenji’s eyes widened. “How could that be? Everyone says the relationship between you and master isn’t ordinary…”

“Oh?” Mo Tiange furrowed her brows. “How’s it not ordinary? How did they say it?”

“They said… you were originally admitted to the school under master’s recommendation. Grandmaster only accepted you as his disciple because he took master’s wishes into consideration. These were probably all…”

Mo Tiange’s expression softened. “When I entered the school, your master was already a Core Formation cultivator; would he show up personally?”

After contemplating for a bit, Ye Zhenji nodded. “That’s quite true.”

“What they said was right; among the younger generation of Xuanqing School cultivators, your master’s the one who has the highest odds of success in advancing to the Nascent Soul realm. With your master’s cultivation speed, it’s not impossible for him to form his Nascent Soul within a hundred-some years. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t come out of Closed Door Meditation during this time. But if he does, you still have to be respectful towards him; this is also what your grandmaster wants.”

“En…” Ye Zhenji paused for a short while then said, “But I already have you. Master’s just my master in name…”

Upon hearing this child’s words, Mo Tiange smiled wryly. “Take a look at my age and cultivation level. You’ll most likely build your foundation within the next dozen-odd years, and I certainly won’t be able to advance to the Core Formation realm within that period of time; I can only give you limited help…”

“I’m not such a greedy person!” Ye Zhenji exclaimed. “If it wasn’t for Auntie, I wouldn’t be who I am today. No matter how good that cheap master is, what does it have to do with me?”

When she heard that, Mo Tiange was both happy and worried. She was happy about the fact that after ten years of teaching him, she hadn’t let him grow into someone with a utilitarian character. However, she was worried about the fact that he didn’t have enough experience and was too childish.

In the end, she warned him, “It’s not a big problem if you talk like this in private, but you must never say those kinds of words to others in the future.”

“I know. Rest assured, Auntie.”

“En. Is there anything else you’re still unsure about?”

Upon hearing Mo Tiange’s question, Ye Zhenji once again walked towards her. “Auntie, you’ve got to come back quickly. I’ll definitely work hard so I can build my foundation while you’re away.”

What he said made Mo Tiange laugh. Eventually, she still reached out to stroke his head. “Go and keep your mother company. You two haven’t seen each other for years; she must’ve missed you so much that she constantly talked about you. Tell her everything you can—don’t make her worry about you.”

“I know.”

Mo Tiange opened the restriction then crossed her legs and closed her eyes.

Ye Zhenji hesitated for a moment before he finally left.

It was only after she heard the door closing that Mo Tiange once again opened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with worry.

This child… was really similar to how she was years ago. Maybe she hadn’t been careful enough in how she raised him. She might’ve given him enough care, but her care also made him develop a dependent personality. Years ago, she also depended on her uncle and consequently, she was so sorrowful when he passed away that she wished she could die with him.

She didn’t think these deep feelings weren’t good; it was just that deep feelings required a broad and open heart to contain them, just as the Daoist scripture said: “Daoists forget emotions. Forgetting emotions isn’t without emotions. Forgetting emotions is being detached and unruffled by emotions as if those emotions were forgotten.” Cultivators didn’t necessarily need to be worry-free. Some cultivators also had big hearts; some had spousal love as well as affection towards their descendants, but that didn’t necessarily affect their cultivation. On the other hand, ordinary disciples weren’t capable of that yet. Because of that, cultivation groups disapproved of their disciples having too much contact with their families or clans.

That was the kind of problem Ye Zhenji was currently facing. They’d known each other for ten years during which she took on the role of his master, father, mother, and sister. His feelings towards her were just like her feelings towards her second uncle back then.

But he was still too young now. Mo Tiange recalled how she was before. It was precisely when she was around his age that she lost her uncle. At that time, if it wasn’t because she had Qin Xi supporting her, she might not have gotten back on her feet so quickly…

As she thought about this name, she momentarily felt her heart aching as if it was stabbed by countless needles, but she soon regained her composure.

This was her fortune as well as her doom. If things weren’t like this, maybe she would’ve taken a very long time to restore her mind state. If things weren’t like this… she wouldn’t have fallen in love with him so easily.

Fortunately, she had rationally cut off those feelings. When she vaguely realized some things later on, she felt even gladder over her decisiveness back then.

Once she thought up to this point, Mo Tiange massaged the space between her eyebrows then shook her head.

Forget it. No need to think too much. I’m me, and Zhenji’s Zhenji.  The difference between men and women was also reflected in their natures. Maybe during the time she was gone, Zhenji would be able to interact a lot with other kinds of people and his dependence on her would also decrease. As for whether or not he could fully comprehend the matter… that would require a fated chance.

At the dawn of the second day, Mo Tiange packed up her belongings and left the Ye Clan’s residence.

All members of Ye Clan came out to see her off.

Last night, she let Ye Zhenji pick up some medicinal pills, spirit tools and the like, which were no longer useful to her, to give to Ye Clan’s patriarch. For this matter, Ye Clan’s patriarch felt deeply grateful.

Ye Clan had been in the secular world for a long time, so they had long exhausted their savings. Back when they sent Ye Zhenji to the school, they could only come up with about two to three spirit stones and a few medicinal pills—the extent of their impoverishment was obvious.

Using her identity as Ye Zhenji’s martial uncle as a pretext, Mo Tiange gave them more than a dozen bottles of medicinal pills and around ten spirit tools, which were considered a fortune to Ye Clan.

In fact, those medicinal pills were leftovers from when Mo Tiange practiced concocting pills. The spirit tools were also spoils from killing other cultivators years ago. None of them were particularly useful, so she never gave them to Ye Zhenji and simply tossed them into a corner inside her Qiankun Bag. Now was the perfect time for them to be of use.

“Zhenji, I’m leaving Xiaohuo with you; take care of it well. When you head back, take it back to the school with you, understand?”

“En.” Ye Zhenji nodded and took the Inferno Beast from her. Over the past ten years, it could be said that he grew up with Xiaohuo. The feelings between him and the beast were close, so he carried Xiaohuo in his arms with ease.

Upon seeing the Inferno Beast, every member of Ye Clan widened their eyes.

Ye Clan’s cultivators could see that this Inferno Beast was a second rank spiritual beast. A second rank spiritual beast was equivalent to a middle stage Foundation Building cultivator, yet Mo Tiange so willingly gave it to Ye Zhenji!

“Senior!” Ye Cheng came forward, pointed at the Inferno Beast in Ye Zhenji’s embrace and said with trepidation, “Giving this spiritual beast to Zhen’er isn’t too appropriate, is it?”

Mo Tiange turned her head to look at him. “Does Patriarch Ye see an issue with that?”

Ye Cheng said, “This is a second rank spiritual beast; presumably, it might be of use to you. If you give it to Zhen’er, what about you?”

“Even if this spiritual beast stayed with me, it wouldn’t be of much use, so I might as well leave it under Zhenji’s care. Rest assured, Patriarch Ye. Zhenji grew up around Xiaohuo, so the feelings between them are very good—it will never harm Zhenji.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Mo Tiange knew he was just worried, so she waved her hand and cut him short. “Patriarch Ye can rest assured. Alright, Zhenji, Martial Uncle’s going now. You may stay here for several months, but remember to head back to the school on time. If you miss the test, you’ll have to wait three years for the next test.”

“I know, Martial Uncle. Rest assured; I understand all of this.”

“En. In that case, I’m leaving now. You guys don’t need to send me off.” After she finished saying that, Mo Tiange no longer said any more perfunctory words and just waved her hand, summoning the White Silk Handkerchief. As she rode on it, she transformed into a flight light ¹ which disappeared into the horizon.