Lady Cultivator

Once she finished squeezing out information from Wei Ziming and the others, Mo Tiange asked for a room in the Blue Cloud Building. The manager of the Blue Cloud Building even went as far as to arrange a small courtyard for her upon hearing that she wanted to live there for the time being. From this, it could clearly be seen that cultivators enjoyed many benefits in Linhai Town.

This actually made Mo Tiange feel that her previous deductions were made rather rashly. Although Bixuan Court was very controlling in all matters related to individual cultivators, they also provided many benefits. In any case, the topography of the region was unique, so how Bixuan Court handled things was really not for foreign cultivators like her to judge.

The three people scrambled to invite her as a guest to their respective clans, but Mo Tiange tactfully rejected their offers.

She wanted to leave Linhai Town as soon as she could and return to Kunwu, so she wanted nothing to do with the cultivation clans to avoid implicating them in anything. Bixuan Court’s power was too big in the area—it’d be troublesome if things went wrong and she violated some taboo.

From Wei Ziming and his friends, Mo Tiange obtained a rough understanding of the situation in Linhai.

According to them, Linhai Town was the domain of Bixuan Court. No matter what they wanted to do, no cultivator in Linhai Town could bypass Bixuan Court.

For Mo Tiange, as long as Bixuan Court controlled the only Transporting Formation connected to the outside world in Linhai, she had to get in touch with them sooner or later. However, she had to thoroughly think about how she would do so.

Wei Ziming and his friends said that in the beginning, Bixuan Court’s Transporting Formation wasn’t at all limited to transporting their disciples. Even if individual cultivators wanted to borrow it, they could use it as long as they could come up with sufficient spirit stones or other precious things.

Linhai had been isolated from the outside world for ages, so spirit stones, precious things and the like were relatively scarce there. Individual cultivators usually had to use their entire savings to use the Transporting Formation once. Nevertheless, no one opposed this rule because the Transporting Formation itself consumed many spirit stones. If Bixuan Court didn’t accept any payment, they’d simply suffer losses.

Later on—no one knew when it began exactly—the payment Bixuan Court demanded continued to increase until eventually, no individual cultivators could afford it. From then on, the Transporting Formation became the exclusive property of Bixuan Court. Even now, whenever individual cultivators wanted to borrow the Transporting Formation, Bixuan Court set a sky-high price, thus forcing them to back down voluntarily as they couldn’t afford it.

Now that she had a clear understanding of this from the information she obtained, Mo Tiange devised a few methods.

The first was to directly disclose her identity. Presumably, Bixuan Court would be somewhat accommodating to her because of Xuanqing School’s name. However, in the end, Bixuan Court was different from Kunwu’s cultivation groups. Linhai’s topography was special; in Linhai, Bixuan Court was the only cultivation group there, and they always had the last say. Even if Xuanqing School became the greatest cultivation group in the Celestial Pole, Bixuan Court still wouldn’t be affected.

The second method was just like what Wei Ziming and the others suggested; when Bixuan Court noticed her cultivation level was pretty high, they would most likely try to recruit her and at that time, if she became their disciple, she could naturally request to use the Transporting Formation. Nevertheless, doing so would inevitably complicate what was originally a simple matter; she just wanted to borrow an exit route from them, but she would be deceiving them instead. If the people of Bixuan Court found out, aside from the fact that they definitely wouldn’t let her use the Transporting Formation, they might even try to kill her out of anger.

There was also a third method. Those people said a few foreign cultivators had come to Linhai by accident before. The situation was rather tricky for male cultivators, but for female cultivators… They were either recruited by Bixuan Court or paid a certain cost to be transported out of Linhai. She might as well do as she did before, claiming to be an individual cultivator who was willing to pay the cost and borrow a way out from Bixuan Court.

After thinking for a long time and still failing to decide which method to use, a thought suddenly flitted across Mo Tiange’s mind, and she suddenly laughed.

This was in fact a very simple matter; why was she making it more complicated than it needed to be?

Aside from Yan Ruoshu and her two fellow martial sisters, she basically didn’t have any other connection to Bixuan Court, and their deaths in Ziwei’s Immortal’s cave also wasn’t her fault. In other words, there was no enmity or grudge between her and Bixuan Court, so she didn’t need to worry that they’d make things hard for her.

Whether she was a disciple of Xuanqing School or an individual cultivator didn’t really matter. Bixuan Court was a cultivation group for female cultivators, and from what Wei Ziming and the others said, they also didn’t seem to be too hard on female cultivators who weren’t their disciples—she just needed to confidently tell them the truth; why should she rack her brain just to come up with an excuse?

In the end, it came down to the fact that she had encountered many obstacles, so she always wanted to avoid danger, making her constantly overthink insignificant problems. How could anything be surefire in this world? She was still a human now, not a real immortal; she wasn’t even a high level cultivator, and she couldn’t even sense fate yet. She also wasn’t clever enough to take every possibility into account—she only needed to be cautious regarding things she absolutely had to be cautious about. Avoiding every potential risk was simply impossible.

With these thoughts in mind, Mo Tiange finally made a decision. Since she had to pass through Bixuan Court, she thought she better request their help honestly.

In addition, when she was in Ziwei’s Immortal’s cave, she and Daoist Fangzheng divided the deceased’s belongings between the two of them, including Yan Ruoshu’s and her fellow martial sister’s possessions, so she better hide them when she went to Bixuan Court. The less trouble the better. She couldn’t explain the details of their adventures together, so she might as well say nothing.

She took a day’s rest in the Blue Cloud Building. The next day, Mo Tiange, following the Blue Cloud Building’s manager’s pointers, went to Bixuan Court’s shop in Linhai Town, Blue Water Pavilion.

As Mo Tiange walked into the shop that looked completely the same as a mortal’s shop, she also briefly scanned her surroundings.

The shop wasn’t big—there were only two display rooms. However, despite its simplicity, it was well-stocked. Cultivation techniques, medicinal pills, spirit tools, and materials—each was sold on a different counter. There was even a place to collect goods there.

Only low level cultivators in the Aura Refining realm were watching over the counters there. Mo Tiange also noticed… that all of them were male cultivators.

The low level cultivators guarding the store seemed rather stunned when they saw her entering, but they immediately snapped out of their daze and rushed over to welcome her. “This… Senior?”

Mo Tiange had now suppressed her cultivation level until it appeared to be in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm. After all, the late stage of the Foundation Building realm could be considered a very high cultivation level here. Bixuan Court themselves only had three Core Formation cultivators in total; a late stage Foundation Building cultivator might attract the attention of their Core Formation elders. As for a cultivation level in the Aura Refining realm, that was too low; it might cause her to be belittled.

Although the person addressed her as a senior, he didn’t dare to be certain and seemed a bit bewildered. In Linhai, aside from the women whose spiritual roots were really bad or had no foundation at all, every woman with some cultivation base was a disciple of Bixuan Court. According to reason, the early stage Foundation Building female cultivator in front of them should be a disciple of Bixuan Court, but there wasn’t any Bixuan Court symbol on her body. Furthermore, they also didn’t recognize Xuanqing School’s uniform.

Mo Tiange showed a faint smile then said to that person, “Excuse me, is this Bixuan Court’s shop?”

Once the shop clerk heard her question, he immediately nodded and asked back, “Pardon me for asking, but Senior, you’re…”

Mo Tiange’s face remained calm. “I’m a cultivator from Kunwu who came here accidentally. I came to request an audience with Bixuan Court’s shop manager.”

Upon hearing what she said, all other clerks stopped what they were doing in succession and shifted their eyes to her. It’d been a very long time since a foreign cultivator came to Linhai and moreover, the one who came to talk to them could be considered a high level Foundation Building cultivator.

The clerk who received her hastily said, “So that’s the case! Senior, please wait for a moment. I’ll now ask the manager to come out and see you.”

Mo Tiange nodded with a smile. “Thank you for the trouble.”

Maybe it was because her cultivation level was high enough, or maybe it was because her attitude was pleasant that the clerk immediately dashed to the back hall after he invited her to sit. Before long, a middle-aged man in the ninth layer of the Aura Refining realm anxiously walked out following behind the clerk.

The middle-aged man spotted Mo Tiange in the guest seat almost instantly. He walked over immediately then said very respectfully, “Greetings to Senior. I’m Luo Qianshan, the manager of Blue Water Pavilion.”

Mo Tiange stood up to salute him back. “Manager Luo doesn’t need to be too polite. My name’s Ye Xiaotian; I’m a cultivator from Kunwu who came here by accident. I heard Bixuan Court has a Transporting Formation to leave the area, so I deliberately came to ask for an audience.”

Manager Luo already heard about the reason for her visit from the clerk. This wouldn’t be a major problem to begin with. Although Linhai was isolated from the outside world, there had always been foreign cultivators who occasionally showed up accidentally through all kinds of methods, and he only needed to report the matter to the group. As for whether the cultivators could leave or not, it depended on whether or not the group was willing to let them use the Transporting Formation. Now, however, the visitor was a female cultivator and a Foundation Building one at that. In a small place like Linhai, Foundation Building cultivators were high level cultivators—he didn’t dare to be neglectful of her.

“Turns out it’s Senior Ye.” Manager Luo’s attitude was still respectful and courteous. “This matter’s important; Junior will definitely report this to the seniors in the group as quickly as possible. Senior Ye, please come inside and sit for a moment while you wait.”

With a smile, Mo Tiangge nodded and said, “Sure, sorry for the trouble.”

Both her attitude and appearance were warm and courteous, so Luo Qianshan had a very good impression of her. He immediately invited her into the inner room and offered her tea.

“Senior Ye.” After instructing his subordinate to report back to the group, Luo Qianshan sat on the side. “It has been a long time since a foreign cultivator arrived in our Linhai; may I know how Senior ended up in Linhai?”

Mo Tiange smiled. Apparently, this Luo Qianshan wanted to inquire about her origins, but this wasn’t a big deal—Linhai was the domain of Bixuan Court, so when a foreign cultivator suddenly appeared and asked to borrow their Transporting Formation, they would naturally inquire about said cultivator.

“About this… To be honest, I don’t really understand either.” She had long thought about what to say about this matter. “In the beginning, I went to a secret place looking for some fated chances. I don’t know what happened, but that secret place suddenly collapsed. Later, I realized I was sent to Linhai.”

“I see…” Luo Qianshan couldn’t distinguish whether what she said was true or false. He only noticed that Mo Tiange looked calm and nothing looked suspicious about her. “From Senior Ye’s mannerisms, Senior Ye doesn’t seem like an individual cultivator; may I know which Kunwu cultivation group you are a disciple of?”

“True.” Mo Tiange chuckled lightly, “I’m a disciple of Xuanqing School in west Kunwu.”

“Xuanqing School?” Luo Qianshan was aghast. He wasn’t one of those small cultivators from cultivation clans. As Bixuan Court’s shop manager, he was in touch with some of Bixuan Court’s affairs, so he knew much more than they did.

Xuanqing School… That was the second greatest cultivation group in the Celestial Pole! Even though Bixuan Court’s power in Linhai was enormous, it could only be considered a small cultivation group in Kunwu—it wasn’t comparable to the groups in Kunwu at all.

Luo Qianshan’s gaze instantly changed once he heard her mention that she was a disciple from Xuanqing School. He said somewhat fearfully, “Senior Ye’s actually a senior form Xuanqing School! I’ve been too rude indeed, too rude.”

“You have not.” Mo Tiange waved her hand. “I’m just an ordinary disciple in Xuanqing School, so I’m really not worthy of so much courtesy from Manager Luo.”

Despite what Mo Tiange said, Luo Qianshand still didn’t dare to slight her; he spoke politely, and his attitude was also respectful. When he noticed that Mo Tiange didn’t try to keep her background secret and answered everything he asked, he even completely lost the misgivings he had.

Soon after, the clerk he sent to the group to report what happened returned. As she expected, the steward of Bixuan Court wanted to meet her.

Mo Tiange secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Until now, no anomalies had occurred. She hoped Bixuan Court’s steward could smoothly lend the Transporting Formation to her.