Lady Cultivator

“Elder Sister, Elder Sister, quick look!”

Inside the Virtual Sky World, Mo Tiange heard the soft, tender voice of a child.

She slowly opened her eyes. From inside the Virtual Sky World, she looked at the scenery outside.

Sunshine… Sunshine?!

Her eyes widened in an instant.

Sunshine… and it wasn’t just glimmers of it through the water! It was really direct sunshine!

Yesterday, the underground palace collapsed. She remained safe and sound inside the Virtual Sky World, but she then saw some specks of lights penetrating through the water, indicating that she seemed to be not too far from the water’s surface. Since she had no idea where she was, saw Ren Yufeng managing to escape from this calamity and was afraid they were still inside the Land of Hiding Dragon, she kept herself hidden inside the Virtual Sky World and didn’t go out. To her surprise, however, when she opened her eyes today, the scene outside had completely changed!

There wasn’t any water, and there was also no wall of rocks obstructing her line of sight. There was only sunshine—radiant and boundless sunshine!

“Xiaobao, don’t run around!”

There seemed to be two children. Their crisp, innocent voices spread to where she was.

“Elder Sister, there’s a very tall mountain here!” The child’s voice sounded close to her ears. Mo Tiange looked around and found that… she seemed to be on some rocks close to the seashore. When she looked up, what greeted her was the azure sky and bright sunshine. When she looked down, what she saw was soft ripples on the sea’s surface, but she could also vaguely see the rubbles and reefs underneath.

A thought emerged in Mo Tiange’s mind. This obviously wasn’t the Land of Hiding Dragon; this wasn’t even the Northernmost Ocean. However, the rubble underneath was indeed the collapsed ruins of the underground palace—in other words, she was moved along with the underground palace to somewhere else.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Mo Tiange directed her gaze downward to look for Ren Yufeng and Qiu Zhiming.

They weren’t there; she couldn’t find any traces of Ren Yufeng and Qiu Zhiming among the rubbles. Qiu Zhiming didn’t matter; maybe he’d been buried under the boulders. Ren Yufeng, however, was completely wrapped up by his black aura; according to reason, he should be easy to find, but she didn’t see him anywhere. Could it be that after the underground palace collapsed, he was swept away by the sea current along with his black cocoon?

This wasn’t impossible. When the underground palace collapsed, the outside world was still underwater. Maybe at that point, the current was very violent and swept him away.

Upon thinking about this possibility, Mo Tiange felt a bit relieved. If that was indeed what happened, at least she could now escape safely.

Two children ran towards where she was standing. One was a practically naked little boy about four to five years old, while the other was a girl around seven or eight years old. They were wearing gusty gray handwoven clothes. Their skin was dull, their cheeks were dry and sunken, their hair was disheveled, but their faces still carried the innocence and genuine kindness of children.

Judging by their clothes, this was definitely not the extremely cold Northernmost Ocean—this was a comparably warmer sea.

A bitter smile emerged on Mo Tiange’s face as she thought that over. She took off from west Kunwu to Wei Country in the heartland. From there, she entered Ziwei’s Immortal’s Cave in Jin Country, and then she was transported to the northernmost glacial zone by the Transporting Formation. From the northernmost region, she once again absurdly arrived at a new place. Just like that, she was tossed all over the place.

The little boy raised his head to gaze at the tall heap of boulders on the coast. He then said to his sister, “Elder Sister, take a look! It’s a mountain!”

His sister tilted her head as she looked on curiously, but a moment later, she shook her head. “It’s not a mountain.”

“How’s it not a mountain?” The little boy’s eyes widened. “Father said that a mountain is many, many stones. There are many, many stones here.”

The girl shook her head then said to his younger brother, “This isn’t. I’ve seen a mountain with father before; a mountain is very, very tall, and many trees grow on it. There are also many flowers on it.”

The little boy’s eyes became rounder. He stared at his sister with a face full of curiosity. “Then what are these?”

“These… These are just many stones,” said his sister.

“Elder Sister!” The little boy called out after he saw something among the boulders. He then ran over, picking up a snow-white thing then holding it high above his head with his small hands. “Take a look; what’s this?”

The girl picked up the thing on her younger brother’s hand and examined it curiously for a while. In the end, she shook her head again. “I don’t know.”

“Then let’s take it back and asked father about it!”

“Oh! There’s another one here!” The girl picked up a piece of white, hard thing from among the boulders.

With a glance, Mo Tiange recognized it as a small piece of the dragon toe bones.

Upon seeing the two children outside searching for dragon bones, Mo Tiange gave it some thought then pointed at the space between her eyebrows to leave the Virtual Sky World.

A strong sea breeze brushed her arms. It felt humid but not cold; apparently, they were far away from the northernmost region.

“Ah!” The first one to see her was the little girl. She was completely stupefied to see that someone had appeared out of nowhere on the boulders.

The little boy also saw her but on the contrary, he immediately smiled until the two dimples on his cheeks became apparent. He pointed at Mo Tiange then clapped his hands and said ecstatically, “Fairy! Elder Sister, look—it’s a fairy!”

His innocence and adorableness made Mo Tiange unable to hold back her smile.

Once she left the Virtual Sky World, she immediately used her divine sense to scan her surroundings. It was only after she confirmed there was indeed no trace of other cultivators there that she finally felt at ease.

From on top of the pile of boulders, she floated down lightly.

The way she effortlessly fluttered through the air completely gave the little girl a fright. She pulled her younger brother back several steps. “You… What are you…”

Mo Tiange chuckled then said softly, “Little Sister, don’t be afraid; I’m just passing by.”

Unexpectedly, what she said made the little girl feel even more frightened. The little girl hugged her younger brother tightly and said, “Don’t take my younger brother away! I… I…”

Mo Tiange was baffled. “Little Sister, do I look like a bad person?”

Before the girl could answer, the little boy already shouted, “You don’t! You look like a fairy!”

Mo Tiange couldn’t help but smile. Being considered a fairy by such an innocent and cute child was a happy thing. However, the girl’s attitude was rather strange.

After giving it some thought, she proceeded to ask warmly, “Little Sister, what are you so afraid of? I’m not going to hurt you.”

The little girl watched Mo Tiange for quite a while carefully. However, after seeing that Mo Tiange indeed seemed to be good-natured, she slowly lowered her guard. She said hesitatingly, “You… really are just a passerby?”

“En.” Mo Tiange nodded then asked curiously, “Why do you think I look like a bad person?”

After a moment of hesitation, the little girl timidly said, “Father said many bad people came to our village recently. They often caught children, little boys like my younger brother…”

Catching little boys? Mo Tiange wrinkled her brows. Kidnappers? In Mo Family’s Village, when she was a child, she once heard there were kidnappers who specialized in kidnapping children, and more often than not, little boys were their target.

“Rest assured, I’m not a kidnapper,” Mo Tiange said with a smile to pacify the little girl’s nervous heart. “If you’re not at ease, how about you take me to see your father, is that okay?”

The little girl debated what she should do for a while but eventually, she nodded. “Okay—our village’s just over there; as long as I shout, people will definitely come over.”

Mo Tiange’s gaze moved following the direction the little girl was pointing in. There were indeed small huts not too far from them, but the people there might not necessarily be able to hear any shouts coming from there. This little girl obviously said that just to warn her. Mo Tiange really couldn’t hold back her smile. The little girl was still a child, but she was extremely vigilant. She understood she needed to protect herself and her younger brother; she was indeed an intelligent child.

When the little girl saw that Mo Tiange really wasn’t trying to do anything bad to them, her worries finally lessened a little. She took her younger brother’s hand then led Mo Tiange to walk towards the small huts.

The little boy seemed to like Mo Tiange very much. As they walked, he raised his head to look at her and said, “Sister Fairy, where did you come from? Did you come from the sea? My father said there’s a fairy at the sea, and she blesses us and keeps us safe and sound.”

“En, you could say so.” Mo nodded with a smile. “Why do you think I’m a fairy?”

“Because Sister Fairy’s very beautiful just like my mother said!” The little boy lifted his hand, apparently wanting to pull hers.

Upon seeing his movements, the little girl timidly glanced at Mo Tiange’s snow-like, pure white clothes then hurriedly swatted her younger brother’s hand away. “Xiaobao, your hands are dirty.”

The little boy named “Xiaobao” looked dejected, and with an “Oh,” he lowered his hand.

Mo Tiange sighed in her heart. She bowed down and pulled the little boy’s hand. “No need to worry. My clothes won’t get dirty.” She was wearing Xuanqing School’s Daoist robes now. They were made from Mount Taikang’s cloud brocade, so even if ink was spilled on them, she would only need to give them a little shake and they would be clean again.

A smile instantly bloomed on Xiaobao’s face. He cheered out loud, “You’re really Sister Fairy! Mother said the sister fairy from the sea is extremely kind to us— she’s everyone’s mother!”

“…” Mo Tiange’s mind was a bit chaotic; first she was a fairy sister, now she was everyone’s mother? Nevertheless, she understood what the little boy meant. The sister fairy from the sea he mentioned ought to be the God worshiped by the fishermen in this area.

The small huts weren’t too far, and because she was talking to the little boy the entire time, they arrived before they knew it.

Mo Tiange gave the huts a brief glance. All of them were thatched huts made of straw roofs and clay walls or stone walls at best. The inhabitants had dull complexions, shabby clothes, and looked apathetic—obviously, their lives weren’t at all good.

When they entered the village, some of its residents were at the village entrance drying fish while chatting with each other. When they saw well-dressed Mo Tiange entering the village with the two children, everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing. Their gazes continuously shifted towards her.

A bold one among them called out, “Shui Family’s An’an, who are you bringing back?”

The little girl tossed a glance at the person who spoke before answering, “Second Uncle Niu, this big sister said she was only passing by.”

“Passing by?” The adults at the village entrance got together then looked Mo Tiange up and down, However, none of them dared to say anything; they simply crowded together and whispered to each other.

The little girl then led her through many turns until they eventually reached a certain thatched hut. Smoke came out from its chimney, and someone was washing something in a big water vat in front of the small hut.

“Mother!” the little girl called.

The madam, who was crouching while washing some wild herbs, grunted in response then said gruffly, “Where the hell have you been? I didn’t even see your shadow all day long—did you take your younger brother to goof off together?”

The girl said, “Mother, we have a guest.”

“A guest?” The madam finally turned around. When she saw Mo Tiange standing not too far from her, she immediately stood up and wiped her hands on her apron. “Aiya! This… young lady?” she said somewhat doubtfully. Mo Tiange was now wearing Xuanqing School’s uniform. It was a Daoist robe and it was also different from the ones in the secular world. From mortals’ point of view, she was too pretty to be called a Daoist priest, but “miss” was just too simple of a term to address her.

Mo Tiange didn’t bother to argue about how she should be addressed. She smiled and said, “Greetings to Madam. I was passing through this area and happened to run into these two guys. I have some matters I don’t understand, so I came to ask around.”

“Oh, I see.” That madam felt somewhat inferior in front of Mo Tiange. She combed her hair with her fingers then tidied up her clothes before making a “please” posture. “Miss, our house’s really simple and crude. If you don’t mind that, would you like to come inside and sit for a while?”

Mo Tiange nodded with a smile then followed her into the hut.

Once she entered, she was in what seemed to be their sitting room. Inside the cramped room, there was a dining table and several stools. Although they seemed to be very old, they could be considered clean. A picture of the Sea God was stuck on the wall across the door, and it seemed to be a female God.

The madam asked her to sit on a long stool next to the dining table then said to the girl, “An’an, go and make some food—Mother’s going to keep the guest company.”

The girl grunted in compliance. She snuck a glance at Mo Tiange then went to the kitchen.

Seeing the little girl’s appearance threw Mo Tiange into a daze. She remembered her own self a few dozen years ago. At that time, she was also as small as this child…

“Miss?”

Mo Tiange regained her train of thought. She smiled in apology and said, “Madam, your daughter’s an obedient and capable daughter; you’re really blessed to have her.”

The madam uttered a “Ha!” while waving her hand. “Miss, you’re too courteous; this girl’s always wandering around. However, she’s indeed capable. Whatever I tell her to do, she can do it better than some adults can! Normally, she also helps with looking after her younger brother…”

It was obvious that although this madam didn’t show her love towards her daughter, she was very proud of her. Her smile was filled with happiness when she talked about her.

Xiaobao also added a few words: “Elder Sister is very good. She always takes me to play.” His sister went to cook, but he wasn’t willing to follow her; he was still hanging around by Mo Tiange’s side.

It was only now that the madam saw her little son pulling Mo Tiange’s hand. She hastily came over and carried him away. “Xiaobao, quickly go and wash your hands. Look at what you two made of yourselves by playing around.” After she said that, she turned towards Mo Tiange and said apologetically, “Miss, the child’s not thoughtful; has he dirtied your clothes? Come, I’ll wash them for you.”

Mo Tiange shook her head. “No problem. My clothes don’t get dirty.” She dusted off her clothes then waved her hand, leaving behind not even a speck of dust on her body.

Upon seeing her actions, the madam, who was still carrying Xiaobao, stopped in her tracks. She looked like she was thinking about something but soon after, panic emerged in her eyes. “Miss… Miss, are you maybe a fairy from Bixuan Court? Forgive me, forgive me… I’m blind as a bat; I’ll kowtow to you!” Right afterward, she really did kneel and started knocking her head on the ground.

Mo Tiange was flabbergasted, but she soon lifted her hand lightly, using her spiritual aura to block the madam’s movements. She asked warmly, “Madam, what’re you doing? What do you mean by fairy from Bixuan Court?”

Once the madam saw the technique Mo Tiange just used, she was even more convinced that she was right. She begged in desperation, “Fairy, Fairy, please spare us. The children didn’t act intentionally, and I just didn’t recognize you for a moment…”

Mo Tiange felt helpless, so she just waved her hand, propping the madam up with her spiritual aura. “Since you already know I’m a cultivator, you just need to answer me properly—you don’t need to act like this.”

“Sure, sure.” The madam repeatedly nodded then retreated to the back carrying Xiaobao in her hands.

Xiaobao was completely oblivious as to what was happening. He said curiously, “Mother, sister fairy’s a good person, why…”

“Shut up!” The madam covered Xiaobao’s mouth and berated him. “Little children should be obedient; don’t interrupt when adults are speaking.”

Xiaobao’s expression was full of curiosity, but he didn’t dare to disobey, so he just opened his round eyes widely to stare at the sister fairy sitting in front of his mother.

Mo Tiange was quite perplexed. It was normal for mortals to revere cultivators, but the kind of fear the madam exhibited was definitely not normal in any way. Besides, the Bixuan Court this madam mentioned sounded rather familiar… Right! It was the medium-sized cultivation group that specialized in accepting female cultivators! Previously, Yan Ruoshu and the two others she ran into in Ziwei’s Immortals’ Cave were disciples of Bixuan Court… So Bixuan Court was founded in this area?

“Madam, you should sit too.”

After the madam heard what Mo Tiange said, she immediately waved her hand. “I don’t dare, I don’t dare—How could I possibly dare to sit together with Fairy?”

Mo Tiange didn’t force her. She just took some time to think then asked, “Why are you so afraid of cultivators? You also said… fairy from Bixuan Court or something. Is Bixuan Court here?”

Astonishment flashed across the madam’s gaze. After thinking for a moment, she asked cautiously, “Fairy… you’re not a member of Bixuan Court?”

Mo Tiange shook her head. “I’m just a cultivator who was passing through this place. I’m not related to Bixuan Court at all.”

“Oh.” The madam heaved a sigh of relief. This time, she finally had a smile on her face. “Fairy, please don’t blame me for misunderstanding you.”

Mo Tiange chuckled. “It’s nothing. But Madam, can you explain to me why you were acting like that?”

The madam promptly nodded. “Yes.” She took a moment to pause then started to explain, “Fairy, you might not know, but our Eastern Sea is too remote, so even the Emperor doesn’t care about us. Because of that, the most powerful one in our area is Bixuan Court—”

“Wait a minute,” Mo Tiange cut her off, asking, “Are you saying this is the Eastern Sea?”

“Yes.” The madam looked a bit surprised. “Did Fairy not know?”

“Oh,” Mo Tiange said faintly, “I came a long way and never noticed.”

The madam didn’t dare to doubt what Mo Tiange said, so she just continued on: “In fact, Bixuan Court’s fairies also don’t pay too much attention to us mortals, but we still must never offend them. If we do…” The madam hesitated for an instant but she then changed the topic. “Just now I saw Fairy’s clothes couldn’t get dirty, so I thought Fairy came from Bixuan Court.”

“I see.” For mortals, cultivators were always high up in the air. Since Bixuan Court was situated here, the mortals in the surrounding area naturally revered them the most. However, she really never expected that she would’ve ended up at the Eastern Sea area. The Eastern Sea area was really desolate; if she wanted to go back to Kunwu, she definitely had to expend quite a lot of effort. The easiest way for her was naturally to borrow a method from Bixuan Court, but Mo Tiange didn’t really want to get in contact with them. At this point, a wrinkle appeared on her brows.

After taking some time to think, Mo Tiange saw that the madam was still standing cautiously, so she smiled and said, “Madam, you don’t have to be like this. I’m just a passerby. I’ll leave after I get the news.”

“Oh.” Although Mo Tiange didn’t release her spiritual aura pressure, the fact that she was a cultivator still made the madam feel her heart was heavy. Now that she said this, the madam finally felt relieved. She said politely, “If Fairy still has something to ask, Fairy can just ask me. I know about everything that happens near the village. If Fairy wants to ask about Linhai Town, my husband is also knowledgeable about it; he’ll be back soon.”

Mo Tiange smiled. “I already know this is the Eastern Sea region and as for Bixuan Court’s location, it’s not something I need to ask. I only want to ask about one matter—yesterday, were there any odd events happening around here?”

“Odd events?” The madam seemed confused. She took some time to think before answering: “Yesterday when the tide rose, there seemed to be thunder… Fairy, is this what you meant?”

“Thunder?” Mo Tiange asked while pondering, “Was there anything else?”

“Xiaobao heard loud rumbling noises yesterday, and when Xiaobao played with elder sister today, Xiaobao found a new mountain appeared!” Xiaobao interrupted from his mother’s embrace.

“Oh?” Mo Tiange was a bit interested in what this child said. “Is it the mountain you saw me on before?”

“En!” Xiaobao nodded hard. “There was no mountain there yesterday but when I played with elder sister today, it was suddenly there.” In fact, what he called a mountain was only a pile of rubbles.

Xiaobao then extended his hand. “Sister Fairy, take a look—this is something I found on that mountain.”

On his dirty little hand lay a pure white bone-like thing—it was precisely the divine dragon’s bone he picked up before!

Once she saw it, she smiled and said to the madam, “Madam, I happen to have another matter I want to ask for your help with.”

The madam, who heard Mo Tiange had something she needed help with, immediately said, “If Fairy needs anything, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Please go to the mountain this child talked about and help me collect every bone like this one and bring them to me.”

“Ah?’ The woman was dumbfounded. What kind of request was this?

Mo Tiange took out a bag from inside her robes and put it on the table. “For every piece of bone you bring back, I’ll give you one gold bead.” She then opened the bag, exposing the glittering, toe-sized golden beads inside.