Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange was lost in a daze.

Second Uncle was fainting and waking up repeatedly and their situation was getting worse. She knew Second Uncle was already injured and his lifespan was almost exhausted, and this time, because he forced himself to act, his injuries worsened and his lifespan… was depleted to the point where almost none remained.

She kept staring at Second Uncle who had lost consciousness. Her mind was completely blank. At one point, she even thought she should let those people catch her. After all, Tianqiao died because of her and Second Uncle was also going to die. What would she stay behind for? Over the past twenty years, everyone important to her always left her behind – her father, her mother, Tianqiao, Second Uncle… What other reason could she have to remain? What was the use in becoming an Immortal if she had to live all alone? She would rather… she would rather be a mortal forever!

“Xiaotian…” Ye Jiang uttered a weak call.

Mo Tiange instantly sprang and went towards him. “Second Uncle, I’m here,” she said.

Ye Jiang opened his eyes, gathered his strength and said, “Listen, if… no one comes, you… you take that Spirit-Concealing Jade Talisman… bring that to Xuanqing School… with… with the reputation of Master Daoist Shoujing… presumably, if… if in the future… Jiang Clan wants to deal with you… they’ll have to think… think further…”

Mo Tiange nodded and said, “I understand…”

Ye Jiang once again closed his eyes and muttered softly, “Xuanqing School… is thousands of miles away. I wonder if they have disciples wandering around this place…”

Mo Tiange knew the Ten Thousand of Miles Sound-Transmitting Talisman Second Uncle just used was the one Ye Jingwen gave him along with her father’s remnants when he took her to Second Uncle that year. Second Uncle originally kept it just to prepare for any eventualities, yet unexpectedly, it turned out to be useful.

Nevertheless, she didn’t have any expectations in her heart. They were thousands of miles from Xuanqing School, and even if Master Daoist Shoujing received their message and immediately told the disciples who were close by to come and help them, they might not arrive in time. After all, quite a long time had passed, and the Yunwu Sect disciples’ investigation had probably reached the spot where they fought before.

As for Master Daoist Shoujing, they were the ones who voluntarily left, so it could already be considered great if he remembered her father’s grace and was willing to send people to come here, but he might not necessarily be willing to spare efforts just to save them.

Besides, so what if they brought Xuanqing School? With such a long distance between them and Xuanqing School, requesting backup from Xuangqing School really wasn’t enough to deter these Yunwu Sect cultivators.

Nonetheless, she wasn’t afraid. In the past ten years, she had already prepared her heart. She strived to live, but if she ever fell into that kind of situation, dying wasn’t scary…

Anyway… she didn’t have anyone left.

—

More than a dozen Foundation Building cultivators finally met outside a small village.

For them, a heavily-injured Foundation Building cultivator and an Aura Refining cultivator weren’t at all hard to find.

When they did find their target, however, they finally realized that things wouldn’t be as easy as they imagined.

What awaited them was a Yin Yang Killing Formation.

After a cultivator who had recklessly gone into the formation was heavily injured by it, everyone’s eyes fell on a middle-aged Daoist who was leading them. If Mo Tiange saw this Daoist, she would’ve certainly recognized him. This person was Martial Uncle Qingyu, who frequently gave sermons in the preaching temple. In fact, this martial uncle was from Jiang Clan – his real name was Jiang Qingyu.

Jiang Qingyu was silent. Since this Yin Yang Killing Formation had such a fierce name, it naturally wouldn’t be easy to break. Inside the formation, Yin and Yang were reversed, and it was hazardous for everywhere. It was indeed the strongest formation a Foundation Building cultivator could lay. He never expected the elder of this Aura Refining disciple to be this proficient in formations. If that person was in their sect, he would certainly be categorized as one of the best.

Someone suddenly shouted, “Regardless what kind of formation this is, we have so many Foundation Building cultivators. As long as we attack it together, we can definitely break it!”

Upon hearing this remark, Jiang Qingyu “hmphed” and said, “In that case, all of us would only accompany them to die!”

Everyone was astonished. Someone asked, “Is it really that terrible?”

Jiang Qingyu said, “This formation is actually a simplified form of Heaven and Earth Self-Killing Formation. I don’t have to tell you what Heaven and Earth Self-Killing Formation is, right?”

Everyone stared speechlessly at each other. They had naturally heard about Heaven and Earth Self-Killing Formation. It was one of the few great formations passed down from the Distant Past era. It was well-known for its fierceness and could only be laid by cultivators in the Nascent Soul realm and above.

Some cultivation groups in Kunwu used this formation as their great mountain-protecting formations, among which the most well-known and most intact one was the one that covered Xuanqing School.

Reportedly, that year when demonic beasts from the forest in southern Kunwu came swarming rampantly and caught every cultivation group in Kunwu off guard, it was thanks to this formation that Xuanqing School didn’t have many casualties and managed to kill tens of thousands of demonic beasts instead. It was evident how powerful this formation was.

Since this formation was a simplified form of Heaven and Earth Self-Killing Formation, even though its power was just one-ten-thousandth of the original formation’s, it was still hard to handle.

“However, it doesn’t mean there isn’t any solution,” Jiang Qingyu said while stroking his beard.

“Senior Martial Brother Jiang, please tell us quickly; the Branch Master is still waiting for our report!”

As he looked at those dilapidated houses, he muttered, “Very simple… although the power of this formation is immense, the spiritual aura it consumes is equally immense. We just need to use spiritual beasts, and let them attack it several times. Presumably, our opponent’s spirit stones won’t last long.”

The forest in southern Kunwu was filled with countless demonic beasts. Many Foundation Building cultivators kept a few of them as spiritual beasts. However, a good spiritual beast was neither easy to obtain nor easy to raise. Therefore, when everyone heard Jiang Qingyu’s plan, they were so hesitant that none of them answered.

Jiang Qingyu only needed to see their expressions to know what they had in mind. He uttered a hmph and said, “Since everyone is unwilling, let’s just wait. We’ll wait until their spirit stones are exhausted, or perhaps wait until the Branch Master comes here personally. After that, those two people will naturally be easy to catch.”

Even though everyone felt conflicted after they heard what he said, no one took out their spiritual beasts. Jiang Qingyu didn’t say anything and was only engrossed in looking for a place to sit.

In fact, not to mention others, but even he himself felt hesitant. In any case, those two people couldn’t run away, so why should he throw the spiritual beast he painstakingly raised?

Under Jiang Qingyu’s lead, the cultivators from Zixia Sect’s Mount Yunwu Branch started to find a place to sit, waiting for the spirit stones used for this Yin Yang Killing formation to be exhausted.

As they waited, someone walked to Jiang Qingyu’s side and asked, “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, in the end, who’s this Aura Refining disciple? He has such a powerful elder and even dared to kill Jiang Clan’s young master… he has too much courage!”

Jiang Qingyu opened his eyes and said lazily, “Regarding this, Branch Master also wants to know the answer.” Although his disciple had also been killed, that disciple was too disappointing, so he wasn’t at all distressed by his death.

Seeing how impatient Jiang Qingyu seemed, the question-bearing cultivator emitted several hollow laughs before he stopped talking.

Nonetheless, someone else picked up the topic and said, “On my way, I met several Aura Refining disciples who followed Junior Martial Brother Wei in his search. They said this Ye Xiaotian is actually a woman!”

“What!?” What he said attracted everyone’s attention. Someone said, “So that means that a woman pretended to be a man and sneaked into our Yunwu Sect?”

The person who previously talked uttered a cough and reminded him, “Junior Martial Brother Zhao, it’s Mount Yunwu Branch now.”

Realizing his slip of the tongue, that person promptly said, “Yes, yes, she sneaked into Mount Yunwu Branch. Was she perhaps harboring some kind of ill intentions?”

“I don’t know, but even if she did, what can an Aura Refining disciple do? Besides, wasn’t this Ye Xiaotian unremarkable in our Mount Yunwu Branch?”

Junior Martial Brother Zhao answered, “Unremarkable? It seems… right now she’s only twenty years old, isn’t she? Despite this, she’s already in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm and even managed to obtain a Foundation Building Pill! She really doesn’t lose out to elite disciples!”

“Nevertheless, from the beginning, the disciples who joined the sect through the Immortals Assembly are comparable to elite disciples; there isn’t anything outstanding about her.”

“True… However, this Aura refining disciple has always kept a low profile. Why would she suddenly kill Young Master Jiang?”

Once this question appeared, everyone was silent.

Jiang Qingyu, however, sneered and said, “Why else? The Aura Refining disciples around Ye Xiaotian confirmed it was my disappointing disciple who called her out. The place they were killed is also a spot that people rarely pass through; since that Ye Xiaotian is a woman, does the reason still need to be explained?”

Everyone was silent. Although they roughly guessed the reason, they didn’t dare say it so frankly. Jiang Qingyu was from Jiang Clan, the Branch Master’s junior, as well as an elder of the murdered Jiang Chengxian. He could say it so straightforwardly, but the others definitely mustn’t.

No one spoke again. Those who wanted to rest were resting and those who wanted to meditate were meditating.

After a long time, Jiang Qingyu suddenly looked up, and the other Foundation Building cultivators also had a huge change in expression.

They saw a fleeting light appearing from the horizon. From its powerful momentum, that person was definitely a Core Formation senior!

Originally, they thought it was only a Core Formation senior passing by. To their surprise, however, that beam of light gradually descended as if it was coming towards them.

One after another, more than a dozen Foundation Building cultivators stood up and stared at each other, looking extremely dignified.

All of them were thinking that since the color of this light was red, it wasn’t the Branch Master, but who else would come to this place?

The answer was soon revealed. The light descended and a youth landed in front of them.

The frown on Jiang Qingyu’s face became even deeper. The clothes on this person’s body… were obviously the uniform of Yunwu Sect’s Aura Refining disciples, yet how could he have the momentum of a Core Formation cultivator?

But this thought only flashed past his mind because that youth already shifted his ice-cold gaze towards them.

He and Jiang Qingyu’s group stared at each other. In the end, they greeted the youth, “Greetings to senior.”

Although the youth heard their greetings, his gaze no longer fell on them. He stared at the formation outside the dilapidated house and muttered to himself, “Yin Yang Killing Formation, I really didn’t expect to see one here… This Ye Jiang deserves to be Ye Hai’s brother, he really does have a bit of skill.”

As he spoke, someone from among the Foundation Building cultivators cried out in surprise, “You… Aren’t you that…”

The youth shifted his gaze and stared coldly at that person.

Aware that his fellow cultivator had offended the Core Formation cultivator in front of them, Jiang Qingyu hastily said, “Senior, please forgive us. We’re the disciples of Zixia Sect’s Mount Yunwu Branch, may I ask who you are…”

That youth only uttered a hmph but didn’t answer. He kept staring at the man who cried out earlier and said, “Martial Uncle Xu, it seems… you recognize me.”

Everyone turned their gazes in succession towards a cultivator in his forties. Junior Martial Brother Zhao whispered, “Senior Martial Brother Xu, this senior is…”

Senior Martial Brother Xu looked at the youth. Seeing that the youth seemed to have no intention of stopping him, he whispered back, “I once met this senior in Junior Martial Brother Luo’s concocting room. However, he was only an ordinary Aura Refining disciple at that time…”

Everyone’s expressions changed after they heard his answer. Based on his momentum, this senior was indeed a Core Formation cultivator. If what Senior Martial Brother Xu said was true, that would mean this person had been pretending to be an Aura Refining disciple and taking refuge inside Yunwu Sect… What could make a Core Formation cultivator perform such a scheme?

In the end, it was still Jing Qingyu who stepped forward. He respectfully said, “Senior, may I know what advice you have for us?”

“Advice?” the youth said and chuckled softly, not bothering to be polite with Jiang Qingyu. He then said indifferently, “I want the two people inside the house.”

Jiang Qingyu was dumbfounded. He said, “Senior, inside are the traitors of Mount Yunwu. Our Branch Master has personally ordered us to catch them, this…”

“What? You’re not willing?” The youth abruptly flicked his sleeve, causing his spiritual aura pressure to suddenly come pressing down on the surrounding cultivators.

How could they possibly bear the spiritual aura pressure of a Core Formation cultivator? Some of them were immediately pushed several steps back and looked extremely pale.

The youth sneered and said, “I don’t need your approval at all. I was just informing you. Seeing that we’ve been in the same sect for several years, I’ll spare your lives today. Scram!”