Lady Cultivator

As long as they found the skeleton, they could obtain the wealth a peak stage Nascent Soul cultivator accumulated his whole life. That might seem like a very good deal, but…

Mo Tiange revealed a faint smile. “Senior, your wife was a cultivator who lived 5,000 years ago, so her burial place will certainly be hard to find. Moreover, she was a Nascent Soul cultivator; how dangerous would her burial place be? Since your wife was an outstanding disciple of Xuanji School, I’m afraid her formation skills certainly wouldn’t lose out to Senior’s, right? We’re only Foundation Building cultivators—how can we guarantee we can bring her skeleton back safely?”

“Yes,” Daoist Fangzheng cut in and said, “Before we obtain any benefits, we have to endure all kinds of dangers first; this deal isn’t fair.”

Wanderer Ziwei burst out laughing. “Good! Good! If you’re too stupid, you actually wouldn’t be worthy of this deal.” He paused for a moment then said carelessly, “If you want the benefits first then fine, I’ll give them to you! Not only will I give you some benefits, but I’ll also extend the time limit into 200 years. Little girl, with your current age and cultivation level, a period of 200 years should be enough for you to advance to the Core Formation realm, shouldn’t it? However, you should never think that I won’t be able to do anything to you after you advance to the Core Formation realm. Once the imprint in your Sea of Knowledge takes effect, it’ll be in effect your whole life. Your life and death are in my hands as long as I want. And you… Junior, you don’t have much time left in your lifespan—you won’t make it 200 years…”

Upon hearing that, Daoist Fangzheng became a bit nervous. What he said before was purely because he didn’t want to be ordered around and because he wanted to benefit from this senior, but that didn’t mean he thought this deal wasn’t worth it. There was still around seventy to eighty years left in his lifespan. It was likely he could find the skeleton during that period of time. At that point, he would obtain a Nascent Soul cultivator’s lifetime possessions, and his chances of advancing to the Core Formation realm would increase significantly! It didn’t matter even if he had to yield; after all, he wasn’t the same as the little girl beside him. Before 200 years passed, he would’ve already passed away, which would be tantamount to doing nothing. He was afraid that because he didn’t have much time left in his lifespan, this senior would revoke his involvement in the deal—that would mean he missed a good opportunity for no reason!

It was unclear whether Wanderer Ziwei was using the Mind-Reading Technique on Daoist Fangzheng or not, but after pausing for a moment, he finally said calmly, “You don’t have to worry. As far as I’m concerned, having more people to look for Zilan’s remains is always a good thing. Previously, in order to live a few hundred more years, I looked all over the Celestial Pole for the ingredients to concoct Longevity Pill. I still have one pill left and I’m giving it to you!”

A Longevity Pill? A Longevity Pill! A Longevity Pill that even Nascent Soul cultivators would have a hard time finding!

After a moment of shock, Daoist Fangzheng was ecstatic. He said with a stammer, “I… Senior… A Longevity Pill…” His speech was incoherent.

His reaction made Wanderer Ziwei laugh out loud. He then said to Mo Tiange, “As for you… I’ll give you several choices. Longevity Pills aren’t of much use to you, but I can give you a Dustless Pill. I presume you know that taking Dustless Pills will increase your odds of successfully forming your Gold Core to some extent. However, if you feel your divisional elders will provide you with enough support and you won’t have a problem in forming your Gold Core, I can also reward you with a top-notch magic weapon or a secret manual of the former Xuanji School called the Xuanji Formation Book. Which one do you want to choose?”

A Dustless Pill, a top-notch magic weapon, or the Xuanji Formation Book! No matter which one, they were all hard-to-find treasures. Among them, although Dustless Pills weren’t as valuable as Longevity Pills, they were most useful for Foundation Building cultivators, who would face a realm-breakthrough into the Core Formation realm, like them. Regarding the top-notch magic weapon, since a Nascent Soul cultivator called it top-notch, it must be different from ordinary magic weapons. It was most likely a magic weapon that would be coveted even by other Nascent Soul cultivators. Last was the Xuanji Formation Book. The Law of Formation was both broad and profound. A complex formation book was priceless. But… ordinary cultivators definitely wouldn’t have the energy to study it and could only exchange it for spirit stones, so it would be the most useless of the three.

For Mo Tiange, however—

“Senior, Junior wants the Xuanji Formation Book.”

“Oh?” Wanderer Ziwei sounded quite surprised. He obviously didn’t expect her to choose that one.

Mo Tiange said, “For Junior, although the Dustless Pill and magic weapon are invaluable, they’re not unobtainable by Junior. This Xuanji Formation Book, however, is very rare.”

“… Not bad. You’re a Xuanqing School disciple, yet your cultivation level has already reached this point despite being so young, so you must be an elite disciple—presumably, you won’t have any trouble in obtaining medicinal pills and magic weapons. However, you still have to think it over. My medicinal pills and magic weapons aren’t just ordinary objects. They’re unfathomable even by Core Formation cultivators!”

From the way he was speaking, Wanderer Ziwei was clearly treating her master like a common Core Formation cultivator!

Mo Tiange knew that an omnipotent, outstandingly brilliant sword cultivator like Wanderer Ziwei must have greater possessions than her master. Nevertheless, if the time came for her to form her Gold Core, Lord Daoist Jinghe would personally give her some Dustless Pills. As for so-called top-grade magic weapons, Lord Daoist Jinghe might not necessarily have none. That Xuanji Formation Book, on the other hand… Since it was Xuanji School’s secret manual, it was definitely special. If she passed on it now, she would certainly have a hard time obtaining one in the future.

Furthermore, Mo Tiange had another reason for choosing it. Xiao Zilan was the Grand Supreme Elder of Xuanji School—her burial place must be surrounded by numerous defensive mechanisms, right? With that Xuanji Formation Book, she might face significantly less danger.

“Junior’s thought this through properly.” Mo Tiange paused for a short moment before continuing on: “But Senior, Fellow Daoist Fangzheng doesn’t have much time left in his lifespan, yet you’re giving him a Longevity Pill. Unless he advances to the Core Formation realm, he won’t lose out even if he can’t find the skeleton within the next 200 years. I, on the other hand, would normally still live for another several hundred years even if I couldn’t make a realm-breakthrough. It’d be good if I could find your wife’s remains, but if I couldn’t, wouldn’t this be too disadvantageous for me? This deal isn’t fair for me!”

Mo Tiange was extremely angry about this. She had a very bright future ahead of her, but someone unreasonably put a 200-year restriction on her, and if she failed at her task, she would lose her life—how could she possibly feel good about this whole thing? Besides, she started cultivating because she wanted freedom, but she was now being controlled by someone else; this was indeed nothing to be happy about. But since Wanderer Ziwei’s methods in doing things were unusual but he also seemed capable of compromise, Mo Tiange was willing to temper her anger.

Seemingly sensing her anger, Wanderer Ziwei laughed and said, “Little girl, you’re really unwilling to endure the slightest loss! Alright, how about I toss in a Sunstone into my gift to you? There are also the medicinal pills and treasures on this table; you two can divide them among yourselves. In addition, as long as one of you succeeds in bringing Zilan’s skeleton back within 200 years, I’ll remove the imprints inside your Seas of Knowledge. Therefore, before you pass away, you have to remember to come back here and check—one of you may have already succeeded, hahaha…”

Maybe it was because he’d been alone for several thousand of years, but this Wanderer Ziwei obviously had a sadistic side to his character, so he deliberately teased them.

Mo Tiange took a deep breath, forcing herself to regain some of her calm. She mustn’t get angry at him now.

“Alright, since the matter’s like this, Junior will accept it. But 200 years… Junior is a bit curious. Since the restriction preserving Senior’s divine sense has been opened, can Senior’s divine sense persist for 200 years?”

Wanderer Ziwei “hmphed” arrogantly. “Little girl, you might come from a big, prestigious cultivation group, but your experience and knowledge are still superficial! I personally came up with this method of severing my divine sense. Not to mention 200 years, but I bet my divine sense will be still existing by the time you two pass away.”

“…” This Wanderer Ziwei couldn’t be measured by common sense. He was a sword cultivator, but he was proficient in formations and mechanisms. He was even able to concoct Longevity Pills and come up with all kinds of spells and he might’ve even dabbled in refining tools. He could practically be called a versatile cultivator. Because of all this, being able to create some unique divine sense technique wasn’t surprising.

“Then what about you?” Upon seeing that Mo Tiange was no longer speaking, Wanderer Ziwei turned to question Daoist Fangzheng.

With a bow, Daoist Fangzheng answered, “That being the case, Junior also accepts the task.”

“Alright!” Right after Wanderer Ziwei’s finished talking, Mo Tiange felt the blockage on her spiritual aura loosening. In an instant, she regained control over her body and could now move again.

She sighed with relief. Upon flexing her body, she discovered her spiritual aura could now move unhindered; her hand no longer felt like it was 500 kilos when she lifted it.

“If you guys still have other questions, just ask. Once you leave this Immortal’s Cave, your 200 year countdown will begin. When your 200 years is up, no matter whether you succeed or fail, you have to come back and see me! If I’m in a good mood, perhaps I’ll give you more time. If I’m in a bad mood, hmph!”

200 years… Daoist Fangzheng aside, Mo Tiange felt that within that period of time, she should be able to discover some news about Zilan. However, she had a lot of questions now—from the moment she entered the valley, her brain was filled with questions. It was just that she kept getting into dangerous situations, so she hadn’t been able to find the answer. Now that Wanderer Ziwei said that, she promptly asked, “Junior indeed has a lot of questions. Is Senior willing to explain?”

Wanderer Ziwei said, “Tell me your questions first.”

Mo Tiange took a moment to think then said slowly, “My first question is about the gales and the miasma we faced when we descended to the valley. Are they related to the formation laid by Senior? If they were, how was I able to break the formation so easily when I arrived in the valley? My next question is about the stone statue and the altar at the entrance of Senior’s Immortal’s Cave; what were they all about? Also…”

“You’re such a fussy junior!” Wanderer Ziwei cut her off somewhat impatiently. “I’ll explain everything to you from the beginning, happy?!”

“The gales and the miasma above the valley were indeed caused by the formation I laid. However, it was due to your luck that you could break the formation so easily. The answer to your next question is the same. When I lived a secluded life before, I once saved several hundred mortal war refugees. Because I took pity on them, I brought them to the valley. They viewed me as a deity, and that stone statue and altar were set up by them. I simply changed them into the entrance to my cave.”

“That stone statue was the image of my wife, Zilan. The reason why I saved those mortals was because I thought Zilan wasn’t fond of my violent and bloodthirsty nature, so I occasionally showed some acts of kindness. Because of that, when they wanted to create a deity statue, I let them sculpt it in Zilan’s image. That way, when I left my Immortal’s Cave on the odd occasion, I could see her.”

“Before I passed away, those mortals had lived in the valley for more than a thousand years, one generation after another. Several cultivators also emerged among them, but unfortunately, their spiritual roots weren’t good. When I later sensed that my lifespan was almost exhausted, I ordered those cultivators to move all mortals out of the valley. There was an imperceptible spirit vein here, but when I passed away, I used this imperceptible spirit vein to lay an Illusory Formation. From then on, this place was no longer suitable for mortals to live. It was precisely because there was no one here to guard the formation that you were able to break it so easily.”

“… I see. So the Illusory Formation Senior laid in the hall used this imperceptible spirit vein? Why were the injuries real when everything was fake? How did we break the formation?”

“Hmph!” Wanderer Ziwei “hmphed” coldly then said, “That naturally involves complicated theories, but I’ve included all of them inside the Xuanji Formation Book. If you study the book thoroughly, you’ll naturally understand all of them. As for breaking the formation, among the nine of you, some exhausted their blood essences, some became too weak, while some had strong enough wills and weren’t beguiled by the Illusory Formation—there was no need for that formation to exist anymore.”

“Hehe, I originally thought I was being kind in using this formation to test your will. Otherwise, no matter how long you stayed inside, you would’ve not been able to come out. ‘This life, eternal day’—this life is eternal and eternity is one day. Once this formation was activated, everything would end after one day passed. If you couldn’t control yourself and were beguiled by the formation, your blood essence would be exhausted and you’d die. If you couldn’t control yourself, even if you survived, your lifetime would seem eternal; your time would be endless and in the end, you’d go mad and die. Because of that, you would die if you couldn’t break the formation!”

Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng were both frightened. Such a terrifying formation… Although it was an Illusory Formation, it was much more terrifying than a killing formation! At that moment, Daoist Fangzheng started to feel regretful. Why was that Xuanji Formation Book not given to him?

“So this sequence of obstacles was simply Senior testing us?”

“Correct.” Wanderer Ziwei’s indifferent tone was suffused with callousness. “If you couldn’t even handle the gales and the miasma at the entrance to the valley, you were basically useless. As for the Illusory Formation, it was meant to test your nature and will. If you couldn’t pass it, I reckon you also wouldn’t have the patience to find Zilan’s skeleton. That stone passage filled with Bewitching Moonstones was to see whether you were too greedy or not and whether you could be calm enough or not. If you were easily captivated by those treasures, you’d most likely break your promise to me. Last was the stone puppets here. If you couldn’t even beat five puppets, that would mean your fighting strength was too weak! Of course, by the end of it, I’d still have to personally evaluate you. If you were too stupid, I would’ve directly dealt with you. All in all, you two are pretty good; you’ve passed all the obstacles.”

“…” Upon hearing his explanation, Mo Tiange couldn’t help but feel anger flourishing in her heart but in the end, she forcefully repressed it. This Wanderer Ziwei was truly selfish and heartless! He set up so many obstacles without any consideration for the lives of the people who entered the valley. If Xiao Zilan indeed disliked dispute as he said, she must’ve really loved him to be able to endure being married to him for 200 years!

“What? Little girl, do you have any problems?”

Mo Tiange couldn’t help but say angrily, “Senior, you’re using the Mind-Reading Technique again?!”

Wanderer Ziwei laughed out loud then said, “You shouldn’t be that aggressive to me. Didn’t your master tell you that you have to treat your seniors with respect?”

“…” I’ll take it! Mo Tiange once again took a deep breath and stopped speaking. She was already accustomed to getting along with Lord Daoist Jinghe—the way she treated her seniors indeed wasn’t respectful enough. However, that also depended on who the senior was. After all this time, she roughly figured out the character of this Wanderer Ziwei.

This senior… Whether those who couldn’t meet his requirements survived or not, he didn’t care in the slightest. However, if you passed his tests, he wouldn’t be stingy in his rewards. Although she briefly showed her temper, maybe he’d only feel that she was even more to his taste than before.

“Junior still has another thing to ask. Senior… seems to understand the Art of Engineering?”

“Oh!” Wanderer Ziwei was rather surprised to hear her question. “Junior, you actually know the Art of Engineering? What a rare thing! The Art of Engineering has long been extinct, and there aren’t many people who know about it.”

“… So that means… Senior really understands the Art of Engineering?”

“Hmph!” Wanderer Ziwei said arrogantly, “Understand a little… What? Do you want this Deity to teach you the Art of Engineering?”

Mo Tiange hurriedly answered, “If Senior’s willing to pass on your knowledge, Junior would definitely look for your wife’s bones wholeheartedly.”

“Could it be that you’re not wholehearted now? Don’t forget that your life’s still in my hands.” Wanderer Ziwei said lazily.

“…”

“Haha! Little girl, you’re really interesting.” Upon seeing Mo Tiange’s expression, Wanderer Ziwei laughed cheerfully. A thread of odd spiritual aura suddenly rotated around her body. “Alright, to tell you the truth, it’s not impossible for me to pass the Art of Engineering onto you, but… let’s talk about it after you fulfill your promise. If I taught you what you want to know all at once, wouldn’t that be boring?”

Mo Tiange softened her expression. Wanderer Ziwei made sense. Asking him to teach her whatever she wanted to learn—how could such benefits come so easily?

“Oh! By the way…” Wanderer Ziwei suddenly changed the topic. “You took those puppets, didn’t you?”

“… Yes.” Mo Tiange answered honestly then asked vigilantly, “Does Senior want them back?”

“Yes… It’d be inconvenient for me to do anything without those puppets. Let’s do this then; you can take two puppets with you, but leave the four others behind. In exchange, I’ll repair them and give you the technique to control them. What do you think?”

Mo Tiange was over the moon upon hearing what Wanderer Ziwei said. “Senior, you won’t go back on your words?”

Wanderer Ziwei “hmphed” coldly then said, “Why on earth would I lie to a Foundation Building junior? It’d just lower my status!”

The more genius one was, the more arrogant one would be. Mo Tiange restrained herself then took out the six stone sculptures one after another. Fortunately, she took them and put them into her Qiankun Bag after defeating them. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have obtained this easy benefit.

Daoist Fangzheng, who’d been listening to their conversation, was green with envy. He gave those stone sculptures up because they were basically useless after being broken by the two of them and could only be exchanged for spirit stones. He never expected the master of this place to show up and even suggest such a proposal. If he had known earlier, how could he have given them up? Those were late stage Foundation Building puppets! If he could control them, his strength could be multiplied! After pondering the matter, he could only blame himself for being unlucky. Ay~!

“Senior…” Taking advantage of the pause as the thread of spiritual aura repaired the puppets, Daoist Fangzheng asked respectfully, “Please allow me to ask—may we take the treasures on the Bewitching Moonstones passage outside?”

“If you’re able, you can directly take them.”

“…” Daoist Fangzheng was silent. He asked that because he was actually hoping this senior would tell them the way to resist the effects of the Bewitching Moonstones. But his answer…

“You shouldn’t focus on the things in that passage. Don’t underestimate that passage; those Bewitching Moonstones also form a formation. If you take them away, the formation will immediately start and at that point, this entire Immortal’s Cave will turn into a killing formation.”

Spiritual aura was drilled out of the ears of the stone sculpture puppets along with several “cracks.” Soon after, the puppets stood up one by one then stood still with their swords in their hands. Their momentums spread.

After he finished repairing the puppets, Wanderer Ziwei said, “That’ll do. It’s not like those things are much good; what are you feeling unfortunate for? Little girl, I’m going to teach you the method to control these puppets now.”

Soon afterward, Mo Tiange once again felt her head aching. In an instant, some information entered her brain.

Years ago, when Mo Yaoqing passed on the Art of Sunu to her, Mo Yaoqing’s divine sense also imprinted the technique directly in her mind. However, at that time, she was nothing but a mortal. Now, she was already a Foundation Building cultivator and she even intentionally cultivated her divine sense. Nevertheless, confronted with a piece of divine sense left behind by a Nascent Soul cultivator, she still didn’t have the slightest ability to resist.

Her journey on the path of cultivation was still very long…

“Since you’re done with your questions, take those things and leave this valley.”

“… Senior,” Mo Tiange hastily said, “You still haven’t told us about your wife! Xuanji School has long been destroyed, and we don’t know what the situation was like then. Where should we go looking for your wife’s bones?”

“I’ve long prepared the solution to this dilemma,” Wanderer Ziwei said carelessly. “There’s a small cabinet under the table with several Jade Slips inside. You both can take one each; I’ve recorded all the information you’ll need inside the Jade Slips. If you still cannot find her skeleton despite having the Jade Slips, then just consider yourself unlucky!”

“Alright. Everything that needed to be said has been said, so this Deity will rest now. After you pick up the things, you just need to use the Jade Slip to open the exit and you can leave. Remember, after 200 years, you definitely have to come back!”

Once he finished talking, the thread of odd spiritual aura in the middle of the stone room gradually dissipated.