Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange’s divine sense lashed out again, directly hitting the Water Carp Beast’s primordial spirit. At the same time, the golden rays from her Shuttle of Flying Apsara firmly trapped it underneath!

The Water Carp Beast made “glub glub” noises as it howled. It frantically swung its tail, furiously striking the protective barrier.

The seven people propping up the Defense-Strengthening Formation were immediately injured, especially Xiang Zhiyang. His expression changed, and he spurted out blood. The protective barrier above him also shook as if it was going to break.

Despite their current situation, Ren Yufeng exclaimed in delight, “It’s about to die! We just need to hold on a bit longer!”

Mo Tiange tossed him a somewhat angry glare. He was the only late stage Foundation Building cultivator among them, yet in a dangerous moment like this, he wasn’t showing any initiative to help at all! Although his magic and magic tool couldn’t really damage the Water Carp Beast, he could always transfer his spiritual aura to her or the other seven people!

But now wasn’t the time for them to have a falling out, so she didn’t say anything. She took out one of the magic talismans Lord Daoist Jinghe gave her from her Qiankun Bag then she hurled it past the small opening of the protective barrier.

The magic talisman contained the strength of a sharp weapon. It flew as lightly as a feather outside the protective barrier then quietly transformed into a sword light which lightly but acutely pierced the Water Carp Beast’s body.

Taking advantage of that moment, Mo Tiange used the Shuttle of Flying Apsara to cut the Water Carp Beast’s body. It swung its long tail violently, but in the end, it couldn’t hold on any longer. With a whimper, it finally lost its strength.

Blood poured out of the Water Carp Beast’s body, dying the water red.

The surroundings were extremely quiet; everyone still hadn’t regained their composure from this battle.

Mo Tiange was the first to move. She waved her hand, causing the golden rays of the Shuttle of Flying Apsara to make a clanging noise before it flew back to her hand. This time, the others finally snapped out of their daze.

“Senior Martial Brother Xiang!” Ai Xian and Xia Houyuan simultaneously shouted. They were closest to Xiang Zhiyang, so they immediately rushed towards him to help him up.

The protective barrier above them fractured and along with it, Xiang Zhiyang collapsed.

Ren Yufeng immediately went to examine his condition and right afterward, the situation became chaotic as everyone busied themselves with something. All ten of them managed to survive, but the two middle stage Foundation Building cultivators were barely alive and practically lost their fighting power.

While everyone rested, Mo Tiange secretly asked Jiang Shanghang, “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, what things are in that secret place that all of you were more willing to ask for an outsider’s help rather than telling the cultivators from your sect about it?”

Jiang Shanghang was delighted because there was no sense of alienation in Mo Tiange’s tone. He leaned close to her then whispered, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, I once told you that the Land of Hiding Dragon had dragon breath inside it, right?”

“But Senior Martial Brother Jiang, didn’t you say that even your Nascent Soul seniors didn’t know what it was all about?”

“You’re right; that was originally the case…” Jiang Shanghang hesitated for a moment before he finally continued on: “Every time we entered this Land of Hiding Dragon, the landscape inside was always different. However, one place always remained the same— the divine dragon monument at the center. There’s no one living who can recognize the epigraph on the divine dragon monument, but it’s precisely the divine dragon monument that emits the mysterious breath we talked about. For several thousand years, it’s been rumored among the disciples in my sect that the mysterious breath is the breath of the divine dragon…”

“The divine dragon’s breath…” Mo Tiange muttered. She wasn’t sure whether it was really divine dragon’s breath, but seeing as how Zhengfa Sect disciples gave it this name, she already knew the mysterious breath must certainly be exceptional.

“Whether that’s the case or not, nobody knows,” Jiang Shanghang said with a sigh, “Even after so many years, the Nascent Soul grandmasters in Zhengfa Sect haven’t been able to fully comprehend this divine dragon monument; they only know that the power inside this monument isn’t something to be trifled with. But it hasn’t been long enough since Zhengfa Sect was founded—maybe in several tens of thousands of years, the knowledge accumulated by our sect combined with the strength of several generations of disciples will allow this monument to be understood.”

Zhengfa Sect was founded several thousand years ago, so it hadn’t existed for a long time. A Nascent Soul cultivator’s lifespan was around one to two thousand years; during the several thousand years of Zhengfa Sect’s existence, there ought to only be a few generations of Nascent Soul cultivators. Among the seven great cultivation groups of the Celestial Pole, Zhengfa Sect was the only one to have been founded several thousand years ago, while the other cultivation groups had all existed for more than ten thousand years.

“What does this have to do with the secret place you guys found?”

Jiang Shanghang said, “It’s precisely because the divine dragon monument hasn’t been understood that every Nascent Soul grandmaster in my sect is always busy cultivating. Over time, disciples like us can’t even visit the site of the divine dragon monument. Last time, the four of us went together into the Land of Hiding Dragon and were luckily able to go to the divine dragon monument, but we unexpectedly found an abnormality there.”

Jiang Shanghang paused for a moment and as he expected, he saw curiosity on Mo Tiange’s face. He then continued to say: “There wasn’t anything amiss with the divine dragon monument itself. What was amiss was the spot next to the monument—an entrance to an underground palace had appeared there.”

“An underground palace?” Mo Tiange asked, “An underground palace underwater?”

“Correct.” Jiang Shanghang continued on: “When we entered, the fifteenth of the eighth month had just passed, so we ought to be the first group of disciples to see this underground palace. After we entered the underground palace, we discovered the same breath as the breath emitted by the divine dragon monument inside, and it was much more concentrated!”

“What?” Since it was called divine dragon’s breath, it was certainly overflowing and imposing. The divine dragon monument already rendered the Nascent Soul cultivators helpless, but this unknown underground place actually had the same mysterious breath and was even more concentrated? How could Foundation Building cultivators like them mess with something of this extent?

Mo Tiange’s expression changed several times. In the end, she said, “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, no matter whether it’s really the divine dragon’s breath or not, you said the force of the breath was extraordinary and beyond our power—what could we get by entering the underground palace?”

A bitter smile appeared on Jiang Shanghang’s face. “This question… I really have no answer for it because back then, Senior Martial Brother Ren was the only one who entered the underground palace.”

“… Then why did you still persuade me to come?” Mo Tiange frowned, suppressing the displeasure she felt in her heart. Jiang Shanghang solemnly guaranteed that this place wouldn’t be too dangerous and they would definitely get treasures, but as it turned out, even Jiang Shanghang himself wasn’t too certain what was inside.

Jiang Shanghang said with a sigh, “That was what Senior Martial Brother Ren guaranteed. Back then, right after we entered the underground palace, we were stopped by the Water Carp Beast guarding the door. Senior Martial Brother Ren used a magic talisman to temporarily trap the Water Carp Beast then made the three of us fight it while he proceeded to take a look inside.”

“What did Senior Martial Brother Ren say after that?”

Jiang Shanghang paused for a moment before continuing with hesitation: “Senior Martial Brother Ren said the layout inside was complicated. He only managed to look at it briefly, and he saw that there also seemed to be a concocting room…”

Although he said that, Jiang Shanghang didn’t look too certain about it. Concocting room… Since it was an underground palace, how could there be a concocting room there?

“Junior Martial Brother Ye,” Jiang Shanghang looked at her then said earnestly, “I told you the truth a long time ago—I’m only an ordinary cultivator in Zhengfa Sect. Senior Martial Brother Ren’s cultivation level is higher than mine, and since he’s the inner disciple of my Core Formation martial uncle, his status is also much higher than mine. Last time, I was only able to enter the Land of Hiding Dragon with him because I was quite close to Junior Martial Brother Tang Fang; naturally, I had to listen to whatever he told us to do. However, he also wouldn’t have any reason to lie to us, don’t you think?”

That was indeed true… If there was no benefit, Ren Yufeng wouldn’t have needed to go through all that trouble to look for someone to go on this trip with him.

Mo Tiange took some time to think then asked another question: “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, since your group found the underground palace, other people could certainly do the same—there are certainly people who could’ve reached the divine dragon monument by chance. Can you guarantee nobody else has seen the monument since you guys left?”

Once she brought this up, Jiang Shanghang smiled and said, “You can rest assured. When we left last time, Senior Martial Brother Ren and Senior Martial Brother Xiang used a special technique to conceal its existence, so disciples who are in the same realm as them definitely wouldn’t be able to see it. Because the landscape inside the Land of Hiding Dragon changes once every year, we didn’t have much time, so we were in a hurry to come back.”

Just as they were in the middle of conversation, Ren Yufeng, who seemed to have finished treating Lu Rongsheng’s and Xiang Zhiyang’s injuries, walked over. “Junior Martial Sister Ye, Junior Martial Brother Jiang, what are you talking about?”

At that moment, Ren Yufeng looked very friendly. Apparently, killing the Water Carp Beast without a hiccup made his mood extremely good.

After interacting with him for quite some time, Mo Tiange felt that not only was his temperament bad and arrogant, but he also had zero ability to lead and was just relying on his status and the fact that his cultivation level was the highest; his actions were indeed unpleasant. Nevertheless, he was smiling at her currently, so she didn’t have any reason to offend him. Thus, she also gave him a polite smile. “It’s about the Land of Hiding Dragon. I still wasn’t too sure about a few things, so I was asking Senior Martial Brother Jiang.”

“Oh, I see… In fact, Junior Martial Sister Ye can just ask me; Junior Martial Brother Jiang’s understanding of this place isn’t too deep,” Ren Yufeng said while waving his hand as if he was very proud of himself.

By the time Ren Yufeng finished talking, Jiang Shanghang cast Mo Tiange a rather helpless glance. He said, “Junior Martial Sister Ye, you can chat with Senior Martial Brother Ren. I’m going to go and check on the two senior martial brothers first.”

Knowing that Jiang Shanghang didn’t want or dare to offend Ren Yufeng, Mo Tiange didn’t force him to stay; she wasn’t afraid of Ren Yufeng anyway. From what she’d seen today, Ren Yufeng’s underwater fleeing technique was top notch, but his other techniques didn’t live up to his status as an elite Foundation Building disciple of a big cultivation group. Even if he had some techniques he hadn’t used yet, Mo Tiange was still confident she wasn’t inferior to him. If they really came to blows, she believed her odds at defeating him were more than 80%.

Once Jiang Shanghang walked away, Ren Yufeng said to Mo Tiange, “Junior Martial Sister Ye, the magic tool you have is really extraordinary, and you also have many treasures… You must be an elite disciple, right? Junior Martial Brother Jiang once told me that when he was in Kunwu Mountain Range, he was only a disciple of a small, uncelebrated cultivation group—how did the two of you meet?”

He unexpectedly came to pry about her relationship with Jiang Shanghang. Mo Tiange chuckled then said calmly, “When I met Senior Martial Brother Jiang, I wasn’t yet a Xuanqing School disciple.”

“Oh?” Ren Yufeng said with surprise. “Junior Martial Brother Jiang came to Zhengfa Sect about a dozen years ago. At that time, Junior Martial Sister Ye wasn’t yet a Xuanqing School disciple?”

“Yes. After Senior Martial Brother Jiang and I parted, he came to Zhengfa Sect while I happened to go to Xuanqing School.”

Ren Yufeng felt even more surprised now that Mo Tiange was describing her history. “From what I heard from Junior Martial Brother Jiang, he only built his foundation after he came to Zhengfa School. Presumably, at that time, Junior Martial Sister Ye also hasn’t yet advanced to the Foundation Building realm? Within ten odd years, Junior Martial Sister Ye managed to advance from the Aura Refining realm to the Foundation Building realm then to the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm… Such a cultivation speed is indeed unimaginable; Junior Martial Sister Ye, you’re really a genius!”

Mo Tiange said faintly, “I was just lucky to obtain favor from my master. I don’t deserve to be called a genius. I’ll only dare to bear this name if I form my Gold Core one day.”

Although she spoke modestly, she also revealed the confidence she had in forming her Gold Core. Ren Yufeng’s gaze at her was suddenly suffused with admiration and envy. Eventually, he squeezed out a smile and said, “The moment I saw Junior Martial Sister Ye, I already felt that Junior Martial Sister must be an innately talented person and yet, Junior Martial Sister Ye went far beyond my expectations! We were able to kill the Water Carp Beast thanks to Junior Martial Sister Ye’s magic tool and magic talismans. Since Junior Martial Sister Ye has those treasures, your master must also be extraordinary; I wonder which Master Daoist is your master?”

He was now asking about her master. Xuanqing School and Zhengfa Sect were on good terms, so this wasn’t something Mo Tiange had to keep a secret. However, Mo Tiange promptly answered, “My master’s surname is Ma, and his Daoist name’s Xuanyin.” She was lying. Firstly, Lord Daoist Jinghe warned her that when she was outside, she better keep her name and background hidden. Secondly, Lord Daoist Jinghe’s name was too famous, and Zhengfa Sect was an allied group; her identity definitely couldn’t be kept hidden if she revealed her master’s name. As for why she said Lord Daoist Xuanyin, she had indeed been taught by Martial Uncle Xuanyin once. Furthermore, he just advanced to the Nascent Soul realm and always kept a low profile. This kind of half-truth was easier to justify than a pure lie.

“Ma Xuanyin?” Ren Yufeng muttered. All of a sudden, his gaze at her changed. “Don’t tell me it’s Lord Daoist Xuanyin!?”

“That’s him.” Mo Tiange smiled, displaying the look of a disciple who felt happy for her master. “My master just formed his Nascent Soul several years ago. I didn’t expect Senior Martial Brother Ren to have heard of his name.”

“Lord Daoist Xuanyin’s Nascent Soul ceremony several years ago caused a sensation in the Celestial Pole; who could possibly not know about him?” Ren Yufeng’s tone became a bit politer. “It’s never crossed my mind that Junior Martial Sister Ye was actually an outstanding disciple of Lord Daoist Xuanyin; I’ve indeed been disrespectful.”