Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange stood on a flying sword while watching the scene beneath her.

Mountain peak after mountain peak towered imposingly through the thick waves of clouds.

This was the monastery of Xuanqing School in Mount Taikang in western Kunwu.

If she hadn’t gone to Tiandao Sect and seen both Mount Yuheng and the Demonic Mountain, she would’ve definitely been amazed to witness the scene beneath her.

Compared to such a majestical mountain that had abundant spiritual aura, Mount Yunwu simply wasn’t worthy. Even Zixia Sect’s headquarters, which once made her sigh with admiration, seemed shabby compared to it.

Mount Taikang was thousands of feet high. Although it wasn’t as high as the Demonic Mountain, it was still one of the highest mountains seen on their journey. Its main peak was the highest peak, and it was surrounded by six other peaks that didn’t differ much in height. Endless roof tiles and eaves could sporadically be seen through the gaps in the mountainous forest. There were also several hundred disciples in the school’s square. All the disciples stood neatly in lines, forming an orderly array as they studied martial arts.

Upon realizing that Mo Tiange was fixated on that direction, Qin Xi explained, “Although Xuanqing School is a Dao School, there are many kinds of techniques you can practice here. Those disciples are practicing sword cultivation technique, so they learn martial arts just like people in the secular world.”

“Oh… It’s definitely a magnificent sight.” From a distance, she watched the blue and white-robed cultivators brandishing their swords in unison. The swiftly moving auras of their swords, as well as the ease and confidence of the disciples, were indeed pleasing to the eye.

When she sensed that some people were approaching, Mo Tiange looked up and saw a nearby group of about seven or eight people coming towards them on flying swords. They seemed to be in charge of patrolling the mountain. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, was a Foundation Building cultivator.

Upon seeing the two of them, the group stopped and saluted Qin Xi from a distance.

Once they left, Qin Xi said, “Alright, from now on, you’re a disciple of Xuanqing School. Come on, I’ll take you inside.”

The flying sword then descended towards one of the peaks.

“This is Clear Spring Peak. Xuanqing School has a total of six peaks. The disciples of each peak normally cultivate in the side peaks and listen to Daoist teachings in the main peak. You just need to remember the terrain of the Clear Spring Peak. As for the main peak, you’re only going to visit it occasionally.”

When Qin Xi finished speaking, the two of them landed in front of the main hall of Clear Spring Peak.

Mo Tiange was in the process of examining her surroundings when a female cultivator walked out from the hall. She seemed surprised to see the two of them and was about to call out, but…

“Fengxue, come here!”

The female cultivator swallowed her words and hesitantly walked forward to greet them.

Qin Xi said to Mo Tiange first: “This is the supervising disciple of Clear Spring Peak. She’s also a disciple under Martial Uncle Xuanyin, Luo Fengxue.”

He then turned towards this Luo Fengxue and said, “It’s been three years, yet you still haven’t built your foundation?”

Luo Fengxue blinked. After scrutinizing his expression, she cleverly called out, “… Martial Uncle?”

Qin Xi revealed a slight smile and said, “Correct. Now you have to call me martial uncle.”

“Oh…” Luo Fengxue’s eyes traveled back and forth between the two of them. However, she eventually smiled and said, “Martial Uncle, why did it take you so long to come back from your trip this time? Grandmaster was really worried about you!”

Instead of answering, Qin Xi pointed at Mo Tiange and said, “This is your new junior martial sister. First, take her to register her name. Other arrangements will be made later.”

“Okay, got it!” Luo Fengxue then shifted her gaze towards Mo Tiange as doubt flitted across her face. Finally, she smiled and said, “Junior Martial Sister, what’s your name?”

Being addressed as “junior martial sister” for the first time ever while she was currently wearing men’s clothing made Mo Tiange confused as to how she should make her salutations. In the end, she answered Luo Fengxue’s question first. “Senior Martial Sister Luo, my name is Mo Tiange.”

“Tiange?” Luo Fengxue repeated Mo Tiange’s name. She then amicably pulled Mo Tiange’s hand and said, “You don’t have to call me senior martial sister. Everyone calls me by my name. You should also call me Fengxue!”

“This…”

Seeing how Mo Tiange was at a loss when faced with Luo Fengxue’s enthusiasm, Qin Xi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Junior Martial Brother Ye, I’ll report your matter to grandmaster first. For the time being, you should follow Fengxue first.” He then said to Luo Fengxue, “Fengxue, I’m handing her over to you. Make sure to handle the matter properly.”

Luo Fengxue smiled and answered wittily, “Got it! Martial Uncle, it’s been a long time since you last came back. You should go and pay your respects to grandmaster first. Rest assured that I’ll treat her well!”

“…” Faced with Luo Fengxue’s liveliness, Qin Xi seemed rather helpless. He just waved his hand and walked away without replying.

As she watched his figure slowly disappearing, Mo Tiange felt somewhat conflicted. He left without saying anything else to her and didn’t even give her another look.

In order to get to Xuanqing School from Mount Yunwu, they practically had to travel across the entire Kunwu Mountain Range for two whole months. During those two months, the two of them had gotten indescribably closer to each other.

Maybe it was because Qin Xi had been guided by great masters ever since he was a kid that his knowledge was extensive. Not only did he provide Mo Tiange with a lot of cultivation insights, but he also shared a lot of his experiences with her. In fact, Qin Xi’s nature wasn’t as cold as it appeared the first time they met. On the contrary, he was gentle and well-mannered. When he spoke, people were essentially bathed by the spring breeze. Furthermore, his advice was always of great help to her…

When she finally realized she was starting to depend on him, she understood this wasn’t ideal and promptly made the decision to distance herself from him.

Qin Xi was from a prominent clan and had high-level cultivators as elders. Based on her natural endowments, Mo Tiange definitely didn’t have any chances in even performing Dual Cultivation with him, so why should she delude herself? Therefore, once she realized she had feelings for him, she directly and rationally put an end to it.

This was the first time she ever had this kind of feeling towards anybody, so she was quite amazed she could resolve it so rationally. Furthermore, she didn’t have any hesitation in doing so because her heart had never been as firm as it presently was in wanting to progress further down her cultivation path.

—

Qin Xi headed towards an Immortal’s Cave at the summit of Clear Spring Peak.

In fact, it was more of a palace than an Immortal’s Cave. Although it was located inside the mountain, the entrance looked completely like a palace.

Once the disciple guarding the hall saw Qin Xi, he called out with surprise, “Martial Uncle Shoujing! You’re back!”

Qin Xi nodded. “Is grandmaster inside?”

The disciple nodded and said, “Yes, please come in.”

Inside the gate, the ground was inlaid with spiritual jade and the walls were formed by unique stones. Even though it wasn’t dazzling with gold, the elegance of this hall was apparent.

Inside the hall, a richly-dressed middle-aged man exuding a noble aura was reclining on a dragon couch. A woman was softly massaging his leg while another was peeling grapes for him. Nevertheless, this middle-aged man, who was similar to a monarch from the secular world, was actually a Nascent Soul cultivator!

It was only after he swallowed a grape fed by the beauty that he found the time to cast Qin Xi a glance. He said, “What were you doing on your trip? You actually didn’t come back for three years… Oh? You’ve recovered your cultivation level?”

His attitude, which resembled that of an incapable ruler from the secular world, was thoroughly ignored by Qin Xi. Qin Xi just took a seat and poured himself a cup of tea while he said, “What else could I do? I was looking for a panacea to heal my injuries and while I was at it, I also looked for a few Body-Refining Techniques as preparation to form my Nascent Soul.”

“Hmph!” The Nascent Soul cultivator raised his eyebrows and said, “That’s not all, right? You obviously brought back a little baby girl. What happened? Is your heart finally beating like a normal person?”

“Do you think I’m like you?” Qin Xi retorted bluntly. He then frowned and asked, “How did you know she’s a girl? She’s clearly…”

“Do you think just because she’s wearing a man’s clothing that you can hide her from these eyes that have inspected countless women? Oh no, I mean my divine sense….” After muttering to himself, he swallowed another grape and shifted his posture with ease. He then stared at Qin Xi and said, “Since you brought her back, she certainly isn’t an ordinary girl. Tell me, what happened?”

Qin Xi no longer wanted to bicker with the man. He thought for a moment before he called out, “Master…”

When Mo Tiange heard this, she would certainly realize the man’s real identity. Clear Spring Peak was a personal cultivation site of Grandmaster Jinghe. Since this man was a Nascent Soul cultivator, he must certainly be Qin Jinghe himself. At the same time, throughout the entire Xuanqing School, very few people could call him “Master.”

“Master, take her as a disciple.”

Qin Jinghe almost choked on the very grape he was eating because of Qin Xi.

He swallowed the grape while thinking then he waved at the two women, telling them to leave. He then sat up and said, “You want me to accept her as a disciple? What kind of person is she that she got on your radar?”

Qin Xi automatically ignored his question and simply said, “I’m just asking you to accept her as a registered disciple. I’ll deal with the other matters myself.”

“You should first tell me who she is…”

Left with no other choice, Qin Xi could only explain, “Do you still remember that twenty years ago someone entrusted his child to me?”

Qin Jinghe, who completely didn’t resemble a Nascent Soul cultivator and instead looked like an ordinary incapable monarch from the secular world, pondered for a moment before he finally understood. “Oh… Turns out she’s that family’s baby girl. Ay~ really disappointing… I thought you finally achieved enlightenment…” After he finished talking, he once again laid down on the couch. Since there weren’t any beauties to look after him, he had to use a spell to peel the grapes himself.

Upon seeing Qin Jinghe’s behavior, Qin Xi felt even more helpless than before. “Master?”

Qin Jinghe resentfully said, “I say… Xi’er, I’m both your granduncle and your master. Can’t you treat me with a bit more respect?”

“Can you blame me for not respecting you?”Qin Xi bluntly said, “Take a look – does your behavior resemble that of an elder?”

“Brat!” Qin Jinghe sprang from the couch and berated him, “Obviously, I’m the one who’s been teaching you, yet why do you resemble those smelly old guys!? Who said cultivators had to have a pure heart and few desires and had to cultivate wholeheartedly to achieve something!? Isn’t your master, I, still able to cultivate to the middle-stage of the Nascent Soul realm despite not living according to those principles?”

“I only asked if your behavior seemed like that of an elder…”

“Do I not know what you’re thinking in your heart? Smelly brat! You just had to anger me right after coming back, huh!”

Being contradicted right when he was about to explain himself, Qin Xi was forced to swallow his words. He finally spread out his hands and said, “Fine, whatever you say. You’re the elder, after all!” Anyway, he was already used to this.

“That’s right!” Qin Jinghe continued his grape-eating with satisfaction. A moment later, he said, “Don’t you think you should tell me your plan first? I remember the news from the disciple you sent said this girl possesses a Pure Yin Constitution?”

Qin Xi nodded. “Yes. In fact, her spiritual roots aren’t good. However, she was very diligent and has very good perception. With enough education, she might be able to succeed.”

“Succeed? Are you talking about forming the Gold Core?” Qin Jinghe shook his head before he continued, “Don’t compare yourself with others. In any case, you, this brat, possess double spiritual roots, so you’ll never be limited by your natural endowments. From what I remember, that child has five spiritual roots, doesn’t she? No matter how diligent she is or how good her perception is, it’ll be very hard for a cultivator with five spiritual roots to achieve anything. In fact, it’d already be beyond amazing if she could build her foundation!”

Qin Xi didn’t refute. He just said, “Master, since you think that, how about we make a bet?”

“En?”

“You said she can only build her foundation at the most, but according to me, she can definitely form her Gold Core!”

Once Qin Xi spoke, Qin Jinghe stopped moving and watched him thoughtfully. “Where does your confidence come from? Not to mention a cultivator with five spiritual roots, but even cultivators who have double spiritual roots like you are often trapped in the foundation building realm. You said she can definitely build her foundation – have you perhaps discovered something about her?”

Qin Xi shook his head and said, “My intuition says so.”

Qin Jinghe was dumbfounded. He soon pursed his lips with disdain. “Give me a break! Don’t forget – no matter how awesome you are, you’re only in the middle stage of the Core Formation realm. Do you think you’re more capable of predicting the future than me, this master of yours?”

Qin Xi stared at him and sneered, “Master, are you very capable? I remember when you said it would take me 200 years to reach the Core Formation realm, but what happened? I only needed 70 years to form my Gold Core; in 200 years… I’m afraid I’ll have formed my Nascent Soul!”

Qin Jinghe’s face turned red, but the next second, he said self-righteously, “A bit of inaccuracy is inevitable while predicting the future, alright!? And don’t get too proud of yourself! 200 years to form a Nascent Soul? How many years has it been since that kind of person last appeared in the Celestial Pole? I’m telling you this now – don’t think that forming your Nascent Soul will be as simple as forming your Gold Core. Back then, as one of the geniuses in the Celestial Pole, I only managed to form my Nascent Soul when I was almost 400 years old. You…”

“So Master, are you betting that she won’t be able to form her Gold Core?”

The topic changed too fast. Qin Jinghe paused for a moment before he once again answered with fury, “Who said I wanted to bet against you? Brat, you’re always implicating me in your schemes no matter what you do… Wait! I wanted to ask you what you plan to do with her, not discuss her future prospects! Stop changing the topic!”