Lady Cultivator

“A disciple of Clear Spring Peak, Lord Daoist Jinghe’s registered disciple, Mo Tiange, twenty-three years old, has advanced to the Foundation Building realm.” After recording her name on the list of disciples, a Foundation Building cultivator in charge of administrative matters smiled and said, “Congratulations to Junior Martial Sister Mo on advancing to the Foundation Building realm. This is your new identity tablet.”

Mo Tiange accepted it and politely said, “Thank you, Senior Martial Brother.”

This Foundation Building cultivator explained things in more detail. “After advancing to the Foundation Building realm, the disciple’s Immortal’s Cave and equipment are normally replaced with new ones. However, as Junior Martial Sister is Grandmaster Jinghe’s registered disciple, your cave isn’t arranged by the steward’s hall, so Junior Martial Sister better asks the higher-ups about it directly. As for equipment, you can receive new ones as others do – you just need to take your identity tablet to the back hall and look for Steward Lu.”

“Thank you.”

She made a trip to the back hall, found the steward and received her uniforms and equipment before she left.

Outside the hall, Mo Tiange raised her head to look at the sky while grasping her Foundation Building identity tablet, feeling that everything was just like a dream.

Even though she obtained three Foundation-Building Pills, there was still no guarantee she would be able to build her foundation successfully. She just held as much faith as possible and went through with it. Fortunately, she succeeded.

Mo Tiange tested her spiritual aura, flying steadily in the sky. She felt as if her body was completely weightless. Aura Refining disciples could only use Light Body Technique and some spirit tools which could accelerate their movements, but they could neither use flying magic tools nor fly for a long period of time. It could be said that they were only slightly stronger than mere mortals.

Foundation Building cultivators, however, had enough spiritual aura to control flying magic tools and fly in the sky for a long time. It was really no wonder that some people said the Foundation Building realm was the real doorstep to cultivation. After all, controlling a sword to fly a thousand miles in an instant was something only immortals could do.

She hovered in the air. A cool breeze brushed her face, and thousands of miles of mountains and rivers lay open in the distance as she thought in silence.  If Second Uncle was here, he would feel relieved, right?  She finally built her foundation and crossed the doorstep of cultivation. In the future, she would continue on forming her Gold Core and forming her Nascent Soul until she soared to heaven… Although she didn’t know which stage she would end up at, she would press on until the last moment.

With a slight smile on her face, she slowly flew back to her cave.

She saw Qin Xi right after she finished her Closed Door Meditation and came out of her cave. From him, she realized she had actually spent two years in Closed Door Meditation. She was even more surprised when she learned that she had unexpectedly triggered celestial phenomena that were similar to celestial phenomena seen during Gold Core formation.

It had never once crossed her mind that her foundation-building could be comparable to core-formation. Aside from the fact that she took an exceptionally long time, the other parts of the process were the same. There was also nothing strange about the spiritual aura inside her body after she built her foundation, so how could she have triggered celestial phenomena? Normally, only advancing to the Core Formation realm or higher would trigger celestial phenomena. Advancement to the Foundation Building realm normally only created some spiritual aura fluctuations at most.

Qin Xi just told her not to think too much about it. As for Martial Uncle Xuanyin, he happened to be in Closed Door Meditation himself, so she could only deal with other matters first and wait to see him when he finished.

After exchanging her identity tablet and picking up new uniforms as well as a few rewards from the school for her success in building her foundation, she went to Ye Jingwen and Luo Fengxue to thank them for their care these past two years before returning to her cave.

In any case, her success in building her foundation was a fact. She had to plan for future matters properly.

The first and foremost matter involved her cultivation techniques. She originally practiced the Art of Sunu and Green-Wood Art. Although Green-Wood Art could be practiced until the Core Formation realm, it wasn’t really effective against Foundation Building cultivators, so she decided to stop using it. After all, her purpose in learning Green-Wood Art was to complement the weakness of the Art of Sunu, which was insufficient in fights of magical power. However, if she abandoned Green-Wood Art, she would have to learn another divine technique to use in fights of magical power.

The second matter was about magic tools. Aura Refining cultivators used spirit tools while Foundation Building cultivators used magic tools. Compared to spirit tools, magic tools were usually more than ten times stronger. Now that she had entered the Foundation Building realm, she naturally had to change all her spirit tools to magic tools.

In fact, she had quite a lot of magic tools in her possession. Most of them were left behind by Second Uncle while several others were rewarded by Grandmaster Jinghe and Martial Uncle Shoujing before she built her foundation. The other two items, the Heaven and Earth Cloud-Silk Armor and the Land-Fleeing Ruler, were stolen by Qin Xi when they left Mount Yunwu and given to her.

However, although she had a large number of magic tools, most of them were meant to aid and defend. Since Second Uncle’s magic tools weren’t suitable for her, she had to search for other magic tools. She still had the remains of the second rank Iron-Teethed Crocodile she killed during her time in Yunwu Sect. Someday, she could take it out and ask someone to make it into a magic tool for her.

The last matter was about medicinal pills. Medicinal pills for Foundation Building cultivators weren’t as easy to obtain as medicinal pills for Aura Refining cultivators. Even though she was already an elite disciple, it still wouldn’t be possible for her to take them as if they were rice like she did when she was in the Aura Refining realm.

Before she could find solutions for these matters, Luo Fengxue already informed her that Martial Uncle Xuanyin had come out of his Closed Door Meditation. Thus, Mo Tiange set these matters aside for the time being and made her way to see him first.

Upon entering Martial Uncle Xuanyin’s cave, she instantly found that this time, there were many people inside. Not only were the two senior martial sisters present, but even several senior martial brothers were also inside. These senior martial brothers were so diligent in cultivating that even though Mo Tiange had been at Xuanqing School for so long, there were still few of them she hadn’t met yet.

“Disciple Mo Tiange greets Martial Uncle Xuanyin.”

As usual, Master Daoist Xuanyin had a smile on his face. He made a raising gesture with his hand and said, “Rise.”

Mo Tiange stood up and said respectfully, “Disciple has come out of Closed Door Meditation and successfully built disciple’s foundation. Disciple came to report to Martial Uncle Xuanyin.”

Still with a smile on his face, Master Daoist Xuanyin nodded and said, “I know, you did great. Come up and let me take a look.”

“Yes.”

Mo Tiange stepped forward, allowing Master Daoist Xuanyin to feel her pulse. All of a sudden, she felt a thread of spiritual aura inserted into her body, going along her meridians and checking them one by one.

Soon afterward, Master Daoist Xuanyin let her wrist go. A slight frown was etched on his face.

Feeling somewhat worried, Mo Tiange cautiously asked, “Martial Uncle, is there a problem?”

Master Daoist Xuanyin shook his head. “No problem. It’s just that there aren’t any problems at all… You already heard about the abnormality that happened when you built your foundation, right?”

“Yes.”

“Were you perhaps aware when it happened?”

Shaking her head, Mo Tiange answered, “Disciple wasn’t aware of anything during the process. Disciple completely didn’t know that disciple was actually in Closed Door Meditation for two years.”

“I see…” Master Daoist Xuanyin pondered for a while before he dropped the subject and said, “We’ll talk about this matter in the future.”

“Yes.”

Seeing that Martial Uncle Xuanyin had other matters to handle, Mo Tiange obediently moved to the side and kept her mouth shut.

“Qingyu.”

“Master,” Han Qingyu stepped forward.

“This matter is important. Take several junior martial brothers and sisters with you. You can stop if there are no problems but if you encounter any, you have to quickly come back and notify us.”

“I understand, Master.”

Master Daoist Xuanyin shifted his attention to the other disciples. Stroking his beard and muttering to himself for a moment, he then said, “Shinan, Qifeng, Xiyue, the three of you will follow your eldest senior martial sister.”

“Yes, Master.”

“That’ll do, head back. Tiange, you stay.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.”

Seeing her fellow disciples leaving one after another, Mo Tiange couldn’t help but mutter in her heart.  Could it be that something huge is happening that Martial Uncle Xuanyin had to send four disciples out of school?

She didn’t get the chance to think further because Master Daoist Xuanyin said, “Tiange, although you’re not really my disciple, you’ve been honoring me as your teacher. Now that you’ve succeeded in building your foundation, I naturally have to give you some rewards.”

Mo Tiange said, “It was with Martial Uncle’s guidance that disciple succeeded. Disciple wouldn’t dare to ask for any rewards.”

Master Daoist Xuanyin stroked his beard and said with a smile, “You don’t have to refuse… Every disciple who succeeds in building their foundation is given some rewards; it’s not just you alone.” He thought for a moment then continued to say, “Let me ask you this first – do the cultivation techniques you’ve been practicing perhaps lack fighting techniques required in the Foundation Building realm?”

Mo Tiange was startled. As expected of a Core Formation cultivator, she hadn’t even voiced her problem, yet he already guessed it. She answered, “Yes, Martial Uncle is wise. I’m practicing two kinds of cultivation techniques; the first one is good for cultivation but doesn’t have huge power. As for the other one, its power greatly decreased once I entered the Foundation Building realm.”

Master Daoist Xuanyin nodded and stood up while saying, “That being the case, I’ll let you pick a new cultivation technique. Follow me.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.”

Mo Tiange walked behind Master Daoist Xuanyin and followed him out of the main hall. They made a lot of turns, passed over several restrictions, and finally entered a very small storage room.

Inside the storage room, she saw that there were several wooden shelves containing many books, Jade Slips and the like.

Master Daoist Xuanyin said, “I’ve never met a female cultivator with a Pure Yin Constitution before, so I’m not really sure about the characteristics of cultivation techniques you can practice. I can’t choose the most suitable cultivation technique for you and can only choose some which might suit you.”

Mo Tiange bowed her head and said, “Martial Uncle’s attention really makes disciple feel grateful beyond measure.”

Master Daoist Xuanyin, who had a very good impression of this junior, no longer spoke and simply sank into a moment of contemplation. He then chose several books and Jade Slips before handing them over to Mo Tiange. “Take a look at them first and tell me what you think.”

Mo Tiange attentively skimmed through the books and Jade Slips in her hands. All of them were cultivation techniques that leaned toward fighting techniques; they didn’t need a particular cultivation method and furthermore didn’t have high requirements for spiritual roots. However, their flaws were that they were relatively low in power and would be completely useless once she was in the Core Formation realm.

Nonetheless, since they were stored by Martial Uncle Xuanyin in the storage room, they must be unusual cultivation techniques. Moreover, the most important thing was that they suited her.

After feeling conflicted for quite a while, Mo Tiange finally raised her head and asked, “Martial Uncle Xuanyin, are there any cultivation techniques that are suitable to be practiced along with magic tools? Disciple feels that if we’re thinking about power, maybe that kind of cultivation technique would be slightly stronger.”

Master Daoist Xuanyin nodded. “That’s very reasonable. Regarding magic tools, Junior Martial Brother Shoujing has already entrusted them to me, so I can give them to you. Since you’ve already mentioned them, I should give them to you first.”

Once he finished speaking, he took out something from his Qiankun Bag and held it in his hand. “This is called Shuttle of Flying Apsara. It’s used to change your appearance and contains an Illusory Formation. Nevertheless, instead of some techniques, a formation is required to use this thing. You’re good at formations so presumably, this is well-suited for you.”

Mo Tiange examined it carefully. This Shuttle of Flying Apsara was shimmering with golden rays. Both ends were sharp, making her wonder what it was made of. Even though it was only palm-sized, it was brimming with spiritual aura. It certainly wasn’t an ordinary object.

Master Daoist Xuanyin gave the Shuttle of Flying Apsara and a Jade Slip to her. “Although you now have this tool, you still have to choose a cultivation technique for fighting. If you depend too much on magic tools and lose, you’ll be trampled on by others.”

“Let’s do it this way – I’ll decide on your behalf. This is Soul-Refining Art; you use your primordial spirit to practice with it. Its power is enormous. I originally felt that this technique would be hard to practice and wouldn’t be suitable for you, but since you’re determined to practice with a magic tool, I’ll give it to you now so you can slowly practice with it.”

“This cultivation technique isn’t easy to practice and can lead to possession by the devil, so I have never dared to give this to other disciples. However, with your Pure Yin Constitution, your probability of getting possessed by the devil is lower than others so presumably, this wouldn’t affect you too much.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.” Once Mo Tiange accepted the other cultivation technique Master Daoist Xuanyin gave her and looked at it, she was completely ecstatic. This cultivation technique clearly indicated that it could be practiced by those in the Foundation Building realm and higher, including the Nascent Soul realm – it was a high-level cultivation technique! If she could practice it properly, it could definitely become her trump card!

After leading her out of the storage room, Master Daoist Xuanyin handed a flying sword and a bottle of medicinal pills over to her and said, “Since Martial Uncle Shoujing has given you a magic tool, I’ll give you a flying sword. As for these medicinal pills, they’re Soul-Strengthening Pills used by those in the Foundation Building realm. This bottle is your ration as a disciple. In the future, you’ll get a bottle each year. Medicinal pills for Foundation Building cultivators are far rarer than medicinal pills for Aura Refining cultivators, so I hope you’ll cherish them well.”