Lady Cultivator

Mo Tiange was surrounded by darkness. Her primordial spirit lay dormant in the sea of knowledge inside her dantian. In her half-conscious state, she heard a few voices.

“Aling, does this girl really have your Spiritual Roots of the Origin?” This voice belonged to a man. It was deep, clear, and very pleasant to the ear. Judging by his voice, he probably wasn’t too old.

“Didn’t you see it yourself? Why on earth are you asking me again?” This voice was slightly clearer and sharper; this was probably a younger man than the previous one. He also sounded a bit impatient.

Upon hearing his answer, the first man said, “I was just asking…”

The man called “Aling” hmphed. Soon afterward, Mo Tiange felt a thread of formidable power rushing into her meridians.

She couldn’t help but groan. It wasn’t because she felt pain but rather, because she felt numb. That power was extremely strong. As it rushed into her meridians, she felt herself losing control over her meridians. However, that power was also very warm, giving her a very pleasant feeling.

“Spiritual Roots of the Origin, Pure Yin Constitution, alas… I really don’t know whether she’s lucky or unlucky,” Aling muttered softly.

“What do you mean lucky or unlucky?” the first man curiously asked.

Aling answered, “I think you already know about the cultivation method used by people with Spiritual Roots of the Origin. There are only two words that matter – balance and eternity. The body is viewed as a universe where the five elements alternate and Yin & Yang are balanced in an endless cycle. However, for people with a Pure Yin Constitution, they only have Yin in their bodies and no Yang. It’s representative of the principle ‘Pure Yin can’t grow, and Pure Yang can’t live’!”

“So that means this little girl’s Spiritual Roots of the Origin are useless?”

“Not exactly. Pure Yin Constitution is also divided into five elements. She can focus on cultivating until she achieves a balance between the five elements of her Pure Yin attribute first and worry about the others later.”

“Oh? You want to pass the Art of the Origin over to her?”

“Since she’s my descendant, naturally I should show her a bit more care. Furthermore, she has my Spiritual Roots of the Origin, so how could I just ignore her?”

“Ha! I’m afraid the real reason is that incomparably charming Miss Yaoqing of yours, right?”

Upon hearing such a tart remark, Aling suddenly felt indignant. “Good or bad, she gave me descendants. Could  you  give me a child?! If you could give birth to a child for me, I’ll throw this girl out now!”

“Ay~” The man raised a white flag. “I was just joking around, don’t be angry…”

“Hmph!”

Both of them were silent. After a while, Aling said, “Her foundation in the Art of Sunu is quite strong; it’ll be a pity to abolish it. Even if I pass her my Taiyuan Record now, I think achieving an ideal cultivation state would still be hard for her… Alas, if she can perform Dual Cultivation with a man with a Pure Yang Constitution, she might be able to artificially create a balance between her Yin and Yang…”

Right after Aling said that, the other man promptly said, “Don’t look at me. Back then, even that Miss Yaoqing of yours didn’t enter my radar, let alone this green baby girl! Besides, this girl is your descendant… That would be too unethical!”

Aling was angry again. He said, “Scram! Do you think there are no other people in this world with a Pure Yang Constitution aside from you!? What kind of dirty things do you have in your brain?!”

Soon afterward, there was a loud noise that sounded like a mountain being broken apart. Mo Tiange wanted to wake up, yet her primordial spirit seemed completely exhausted. Not only was her primordial spirit completely unresponsive, but even her consciousness was fuzzy. In the end, she fell into a deep slumber once more.

When she truly gained consciousness, she abruptly sat up straight.

She now saw a tiny wooden room, a wooden bed, a wooden table, bamboo chairs, and bamboo cups. Although she didn’t know what kind of spiritual plants they were made from, everything was unexpectedly full of spiritual aura—they were so full that the spiritual aura almost could be seen with the naked eye! Moreover, aside from the spiritual aura being abundant, it was also several times denser than in her cave on Mount Taikang.

Where’s this?

She looked down to examine herself. Her body was in good condition. Even her back, which was burnt in her fight against that demonic beast, was no longer hurt. As for the spiritual aura inside her body, not only had it completely recovered, but it even seemed to be slightly stronger than before.

She suddenly remembered the two voices she heard in her half-conscious state.

“Aling,” “Spiritual Roots of the Origin,” “Yaoqing,” “descendant”! Once she connected these words together, the answer was already obvious.

It was her other ancestor that the Mo family’s ancestor, Mo Yaoqing, mentioned!

Mo Tiange held her head with both hands, wondering if she was just dreaming. Mo Yaoqing said she lived several thousand years ago and later died because her lifespan was exhausted. Since Mo Yaoqing was a Nascent Soul cultivator, these two men must’ve also been Nascent Soul cultivators. It should’ve been impossible for them to have outlived her by several thousand years!

Unless… They were ghosts? Or perhaps some kind of existence still unknown to humans?

She got off the bed while patting her head then she pushed the door open and walked out of the hut.

Picturesque green mountains stretched into the distance. Around her were a fragrant medicinal field, several wooden huts, a pool, and two men—this was very beautiful scenery indeed.

While she was in a daze, those two men who were playing chess under a tree turned their heads towards her.

“Little girl, you’re awake? Come here and sit.”

Mo Tiange looked at them. The man talking to her was a handsome man wearing Daoist robes. Right now, he was fiddling with a chess piece and beaming at her. The one sitting in front of him was also a young man. But he looked slightly younger than the first. His face still retained the innocence of his youth; he looked elegant and untainted.

When she stared at them, she felt that they were as deep as the sea; their cultivation levels were completely imperceptible. Nonetheless, with this kind of momentum, they were definitely expert seniors.

Mo Tiange didn’t dare to look foolish, so she obediently walked towards them and greeted them: “Junior Mo Tiange, greets these two Seniors.”

“Mo Tiange?” The man who spoke to her before turned his head towards the young man sitting across him and said, “She really does have the ‘Mo’ surname. Seems like she really is that Miss Yaoqing’s descendant.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange finally knew that what she experienced in her half-conscious state wasn’t a dream. She immediate shifted her gaze towards the other young man.  This person… is he that ‘Aling,’ my other ancestor that Mo Yaoqing talked about?

The young man seemed to be in deep contemplation. He stared at her for a long time before he eventually said, “Little descendant, first tell me about your life experience.”

His voice was indeed the same as that “Aling.” Many thoughts flashed across her mind, but after thinking for one second, she said, “One of junior’s ancestors was indeed called Yaoqing. Please forgive junior for asking, but is Senior… is Senior my other ancestor?”

The two men glanced at each other. The youngster then said slowly, “Once you walked into the Illusory Sky Formation, I knew you are undoubtedly my descendant. If you have an ancestor called Mo Yaoqing, that’s proof.”

Upon hearing his confirmation, Mo Tiange’s heart shook. She immediately brushed off her sleeves, kowtowed and said, “Mo Tiange greets Great Ancestor. Junior wasn’t aware before and failed to greet Great Ancestor properly. Hope Great Ancestor can forgive junior. Could Great Ancestor please tell junior Great Ancestor’s name?”

The young man revealed a slight smile. He lightly rolled up his sleeves. Suddenly, a formidable power propped Mo Tiange up. The man said, “My real name is Zhong Muling while my Daoist name is Chiling. I’m your ancestor, so I have no qualms with accepting your kowtow to this time, but since I’ve never taken care of you before, you don’t need to be so courteous.”

Once Zhong Muling finished speaking, the man opposite him chuckled and said, “That little girl has manners.”

Mo Tiange turned around and asked him, “Could Senior please tell junior with what name junior should address Senior?”

The man said with a smile, “My name’s Yuan Bao. You can call me by my full name. Please, by all means, don’t call me Senior Yuan.”

“Turns out Senior is Senior Yuan Bao. Since Senior is my great ancestor’s close friend, Senior is also junior’s elder,” Mo Tiange said while giving him a deep bow.

Her behavior made a very good impression on Yuan Bao, who then smiled and said, “All right, as Aling’s descendant, you already have an advantage, so you don’t have to be this polite. Come and sit.”

Mo Tiange looked at Zhong Muling. It was only after she saw him nodding that she sat down on a stone stool.

At this moment, Mo Tiange thought her frightening suspicion would most likely turn out to be true—Mo Yaoqing, who was in the Nascent Soul realm, had already passed away several thousand years ago, yet this two people, who came from the same era as her, were still alive. In conclusion, the cultivation levels of these two people were most likely in a higher realm than the Nascent Soul realm. That would be… the Deification realm!

Yuan Bao, who had been watching her, said to Zhong Muling with a smile, “This little girl is quite smart. Apparently, she already knows the realm of our cultivation.”

The corners of Zhong Muling’s lips rose as he nodded with satisfaction. “She’s my descendant after all—how could she be stupid? Girl, I left this world many, many years ago. I do come back sometimes, so I know you and the others lived in the ‘Mo Family’s Village.’ However, you’re very young, so I didn’t see you the last time I came back. I didn’t expect that in several dozen years, a descendant who possessed spiritual roots and even set foot on the path of cultivation would show up. I presume you’re in your twenties now? From your clothes, it seems you’ve also entered Xuanqing School?”

Has this ancestor been looking after Mo family?  This thought flashed across her mind. She then cautiously answered, “Great Ancestor, I’m twenty-four years old, and I am indeed a disciple of Xuanqing School.”

“En. Your Art of Sunu was passed down by Mo Yaoqing? I think you’d better tell me how you entered the path to immortality first.”

As she listened to Zhong Muling, she couldn’t help but sense that something was strange. From the dialogue between him and Yuan Bao, as well as her conversation with Mo Yaoqing years ago, Zhong Muling and Mo Yaoqing ought to have a husband and wife relationship, but why did he speak of Mo Yaoqing so casually as if they didn’t have the feelings typical of a husband and wife?

Although she felt this was weird, she didn’t ask him about it. She simply answered, “Yes. When I was a child, I accidentally went into the Mo family’s Ancestral Hall, triggered the restriction, and received the Art of Sunu as an inheritance…”

She began narrating from when she was seven years old. She talked about how she started cultivating, was deceived, arrived in Kunwu, wandered around with her uncle, entered Yunwu Sect, went to Xuanqing School after the death of her uncle, built her foundation, took part in the demonic beast riot… She described everything she went through in detail without omitting anything.

When she finally finished describing the whole thing, Zhong Muling and Yuan Bao looked dismayed.

After a long time, Zhong Muling said, “How could I, Zhong Muling, allow my descendant to get bullied?!” He then turned towards Mo Tiange and said, “Give me the jade pendant you use to conceal your constitution.”

Mo Tiange answered “yes,” reached toward her neck to take the jade pendant off then passed it over.

“Oh! This is an excellent Spirit-Concealing Pendant,” Daoist Yuan Bao exclaimed with surprise.

Zhong Muling nodded and said, “It’s really not easy for even a Core Formation cultivator to be able to refine this kind of magic weapon. Actually, this makes me think of that brat trapped inside the Illusory Sky Formation a few days ago.”

“… Right! That person was also wearing Xuanqing School’s uniform. He’s probably this so-called Qin Shoujing! A hundred and forty years old but already in the middle stage of the Core Formation realm… Back then, I too formed my Gold Core in my hundreds, but I could do so because my aptitudes were much better than his.”

Zhong Muling said, “You two are different; that brat has Yang Spiritual Beads inside his body. Besides, since he wasn’t distressed when he was trapped inside the Illusory Sky Formation, you can clearly see that he has a firm will. It’d be weird if his cultivation didn’t progress quickly—wait, Yang Spiritual Beads!”

After suddenly changing the subject, Zhong Muling shifted his gaze towards Yuan Bao. Both of them looked like they were pondering something.

Mo Tiange was unable to understand what they were talking about. However, it appeared from their conversation that they seemed to have encountered Martial Uncle Shoujing. She cautiously asked, “Great Ancestor, Senior Yuan Bao, have you seen Martial Uncle Shoujing? Is he all right?”

Zhong Muling nodded at her and said, “That young man should be your Martial Uncle Shoujing. About half a month ago, he accidentally entered the Illusory Sky Formation while wounded. However, several days ago, he already recovered and left.” Once he spoke up to this point, he suddenly became angry again and said, “To actually use the Illusory Sky Formation as a place to recuperate… hmph!”

Yuan Bao chuckled and said, “That was also because he has guts; he firmly believed we had no ill intentions.”

Sure enough, Martial Uncle Shoujing was alright. Mo Tiange hesitated for a moment before she uttered another question, “Then… Was there a young man with him? A young man who looks a bit similar to him, about twenty years old, and is in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm?”

“There wasn’t such a person with him.” Zhong Muling immediately said while shaking his head. He then said, “That’ll do. First write your Art of Sunu down and let me see it. Also, leave this Spirit-Concealing Pendant here. I’ll see if I can melt and re-refine it.”