Chapter 141 - Rotten Peach Blossom

“Auntie! Auntie!”

Upon hearing Ye Zhenji’s cheerful shouts, Mo Tiange exited her Virtual Sky World then waved her hand to open the restriction she placed on the cultivating room.

Ye Zhenji dashed into the room with a huge smile on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

He ran over and raised his head to look at her. “Auntie, when I went to Mengxue Hall today, Ji’an and his group ran away when they saw me! They looked really funny!”

A smile appeared on Mo Tiange’s face. She stroked his head and said, “Are you very happy?”

“En!” Ye Zhenji nodded excitedly. “I always thought that after I built my foundation, I would beat all of them up so they’d no longer dare to bully me!”

Back then, when she lived in Mo Family’s Village, Mo Tiange also had a similar idea as Ye Zhenji; she thought she had to study properly and listen to her mother so that when she grew up, she could make Tianjun and the others embarrassed. In the end, Tianjun stopped bullying her, and she took a different path from the rest of them.

“Even though they no longer dare to bully you now, you still have to work hard to build your foundation. You mustn’t rely on other people, understand?”

“En! Auntie, I promise I’ll cultivate diligently. I won’t embarrass you,” Ye Zhenji earnestly said, “I know my aptitude isn’t good, but before I came to Kunwu, grandpa patriarch told me that diligence is how one makes up for a lack of natural talent; as long as I cultivate diligently, there’s still some hope for me to advance to the next realm.”

“It’s good that you understand that.” Mo Tiange nodded with a smile. “At the beginning, Aunt’s aptitude was even worse than yours, but I eventually managed to build my foundation. In short, although it’s true that natural endowments are important, the hard work you do and the fated chances you get also mustn’t be overlooked.”

Ye Zhenji blinked his eyes with confusion. He understood the latter part of what Mo Tiange said, but what did she mean by having a worse aptitude than him?

“Auntie, people said the reason why you were accepted by the sovereign as his disciple despite being only a Foundation Building cultivator was because your natural endowments were even better than a single spiritual root; why did you say your aptitude was bad? If your aptitude is bad, the sovereign wouldn’t have accepted you as his disciple, right?”

“Hmm… both are true. Aunt’s spiritual roots are very unusual spiritual roots. Before I built my foundation, I always thought my aptitude was inferior. After I built my foundation, I finally realized that it wasn’t the case at all.”

“Oh… But in that case, one of the reasons Aunt successfully entered the Foundation Building realm was because of Aunt’s good aptitude, wasn’t it?”

This question made Mo Tiange stumped for words. The anomalies that occurred when she built her foundation made her suspicious for a very long time. She didn’t know whether her success in building her foundation had something to do with her Spiritual Roots of the Origin or not, and she also wasn’t sure if the Art of Sunu was part of the reason for her success. Before she built her foundation, she didn’t know what Spiritual Roots of the Origin was and thought of it as wasted spiritual roots, but there was a possibility she might’ve benefited from it when she made a realm-breakthrough to the Foundation Building realm.

“… Not really. When I was in the Aura Refining realm, I also put a lot of effort into cultivating. At that time, my uncle always took care of me and used countless medicinal pills to supplement my cultivation. That was why it was possible for me to build my foundation—because he bore all the costs and kept them to himself.”

Ye Zhenji was silent, allowing her words to sink in his mind. In the end, he smiled and said, “I understand. Aunt, you had granduncle taking care of you, and I have you taking care of me. I promise I’ll cultivate diligently and advance to the next realm, just like you did.”

This child was a clever and sensible child. He didn’t need to be constantly taken care of—occasionally giving him some advice would suffice. Mo Tiange smiled and patted his head. “It’s good enough that you understand this. Alright, you’ve been dilly-dallying for too long; quickly go and cultivate!”

“Okay, I’m going,” Ye Zhenji obediently answered then went back to cultivate.

After she closed her eyes, Mo Tiange released her divine sense.

The cultivation technique Ye Zhenji used was the same as what the other inner disciples used. It was Xuanqing School’s most basic cultivation technique, the Nanhua Heart Sutra.

In fact, every Xuanqing School inner disciple – no matter what their aptitudes, spiritual roots, or their identities were – had to first practice the Nanhua Heart Sutra after they entered the school to establish their foundation. When Mo Tiange entered the school several years ago, although she wasn’t a young disciple who joined a cultivation clan for the very first time, she also studied it briefly.

This Daoist scripture was indeed a perfect rudimentary cultivation technique. It didn’t require learners to have any specific elemental spiritual roots and while using it, one’s cultivation speed wouldn’t be too fast and it couldn’t be used in fights of magical powers. Nevertheless, it would allow learners to comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth, cultivate a simple heart and nurture their character. If the learners completed practicing Nanhua Heart Sutra properly, they would encounter fewer hurdles related to their temperaments when they proceeded to cultivate with other cultivation techniques.

Even though Ye Zhenji’s spiritual roots weren’t that good, he had a very good comprehension of Daoist scriptures. Moreover, his temperament and perception also weren’t bad. Hence, after observing his actions for a while and seeing that he was cultivating without any problems, Mo Tiange no longer worried about him and entered her Virtual Sky World to continue cultivating.

Time passed by very quickly. Once she finished cultivating, Mo Tiange started to perform various tasks at Shangqing Palace according to her previous schedule then went to Mengxue Hall. After that, she gave a few pointers to Ye Zhenji then once entered her Virtual Sky World to cultivate and repeated the same schedule the next day.

After two years of uneventful days like these, two important matters happened simultaneously at Clear Spring Peak.

The first was that Master Daoist Xuanyin was about to enter Closed Door Meditation to try to make a realm-breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm.

Mo Tiange was extremely delighted when she found out about this. Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin was the first and eldest disciple under her master. Not only was he the earliest to be accepted, but his aptitude was also the best among them. The fact that he was already more than 400 years old but was still trapped in the Core Formation realm baffled everyone. Now that he finally decided to enter Closed Door Meditation, Mo Tiange secretly prayed that this martial uncle slash senior martial brother, who had always taken care of her, would be able to smoothly form his Nascent Soul.

If Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin indeed succeeded in forming his Nascent Soul, she had to address him as Martial Uncle Xuanyin once again.

According to the rules of the cultivation world, once someone advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, they would have the highest seniority. Although their masters would still be considered their masters, everyone else from their cultivation group had to change the way they addressed them respective to their cultivation levels.

The other matter was that after two years of Closed Door Meditation, Master Daoist Shoujing had smoothly advanced into the late stage of the Core Formation realm.

Upon hearing about this matter, Mo Tiange simply smiled but said nothing at all. When she ran into Luo Fengxue later, Luo Fengxue also had veiled questions about Mo Tiange’s thought regarding this matter. Nonetheless, Mo Tiange managed to calmly deflect them.

Speaking of which, she still hadn’t met this “Senior Martial Brother Shoujing.” When she officially became her master’s disciple two years ago, this Senior Martial Brother Shoujing was in Closed Door Meditation. On most days, he was even more solitary and never left his Immortal’s Cave.

In fact, these two matters weren’t that significant, but they weren’t trivial either. After handling Shangqing Palace’s affairs over the past two years, Mo Tiange had gradually gotten closer to the core power of Xuanqing School and also understood some things.

Xuanqing School had five Nascent Soul cultivators altogether. Among them, the Head Grand Supreme Elder, Lord Daoist Zhenyang, was in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and Lord Daoist Jinghe was in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm. The remaining three, Lord Daoist Lingxu, Lord Daoist Miaoyi, and Lord Daoist Huayan were all in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Lord Daoist Zhenyang was admittedly the pillar of Xuanqing School, but the other Nascent Soul cultivators were also the foundation of Xuanqing School—losing even one of them would cause a huge drop in the school’s strength. Right now, however, Lord Daoist Lingxu’s lifespan was almost exhausted. Within a hundred years at the most, this Lord Daoist would pass away.

This was why Master Daoist Xuanyin finally decided to enter Closed Door Meditation and try to form his Nascent Soul, and it was also why everyone was so happy that Master Daoist Shoujing advanced to the late stage of the Core Formation realm. If one Nascent Soul cultivator died, another Nascent Soul cultivator would be needed to fill his position to maintain the school’s strength and status.

Of course, these matters had nothing to do with Mo Tiange. Right now, there was another matter that made her unsure whether she should laugh or cry.

“Senior Martial Sister Mo!” Mo Tiange was ordered by her master to go to the main peak to handle some matters. She was acting very cautious, but in the end, she still heard a surprised and extremely gentle call from behind her, which instantly gave her the impulse to immediately get onto her White Silk Handkerchief and fly back to her cave.

However, she fixed her expression, pasted a gentle smile on her face and turned around. “Junior Martial Brother Bai.”

This Junior Martial Brother Bai wasn’t Zhan Bai. Although Zhan Bai was always referred to as Xiaobai, Martial Uncle Bai or Junior Martial Brother Bai, his real surname was Zhan. This person, however, was genuinely surnamed Bai; his name was Yanfei. He was a disciple of Lord Daoist Zhenyang, the Head Grand Supreme Elder of Xuanqing School. He had a single spiritual root which was considered very rare, so right after he entered the school, Lord Daoist Zhenyang made an exception for him and accepted him as his disciple. This Junior Martial Brother Bai was about twenty-five years old now and already built his foundation three years ago.

Ever since Mo Tiange was officially accepted as a disciple by Lord Daoist Jinghe, almost every affair in Shangqing Palace was handed over to her. Even some matters between the Grand Supreme Elders became part of her responsibilities. Thus, she gradually came into contact with the true heavenly-blessed people in the school.

The so-called heavenly-blessed people in the school could be considered the elites among the elite disciples. Previously, in Yunwu Sect, Foundation Building cultivators were already allowed to accept disciples, so the elite disciples there were only slightly better than ordinary disciples. Things were different in huge cultivation groups like Xuanqing School—only Core Formation cultivators were qualified to accept disciples. Those who worshipped a Core Formation cultivator as their master were far more talented than other disciples. Moreover, neither their temperaments nor perceptions had to be lacking. This kind of elite disciple was far superior to ordinary disciples. Nevertheless, only the disciples of Nascent Soul cultivators with particularly outstanding cultivation levels were worthy of the heavenly-blessed title.

For example, their Clear Spring Peak had one person with this title—Master Daoist Shoujing. He started cultivating at the age of eight, worshipped Lord Daoist Jinghe as his master right after he entered the school, built his foundation at the age of twenty and formed his Gold Core at the age of seventy-eight. He was the Core Formation cultivator with the highest odds of successfully advancing to the Nascent Soul realm, and most people at Xuanqing School had high expectations of him.

After receiving Lord Daoist Jinghe as her master, Mo Tiange herself could also be considered to have that title. She was still very young, but her cultivation level was already in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm. Her master cared about her and placed high hopes on her. Advancing to the Core Formation realm was just a matter of course. In fact, there was a high chance she would be able to form her Nascent Soul.

This Bai Yanfei was similar. Regarding his status, he was the last disciple of Head Grand Supreme Elder, Lord Daoist Zhenyang. Regarding his cultivation level, he built his foundation when he was twenty-two years old. He was only twenty-five years old now, so his future was very promising.

If this was before, Mo Tiange certainly wouldn’t have dared to believe she could interact with people with this kind of status. Now, however, she only had a headache.

This was how her headache started. She was currently the only person who ran errands for her master. Some days ago, she happened to go to Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s Immortal’s Cave to handle some matters on her master’s behalf. She didn’t know what was wrong with this Junior Martial Brother Bai, but once he saw her, he became overly cordial and from then on, he often invited her to meet up.

At first, Mo Tiange thought there was no harm in interacting with this kind of person. But who would’ve thought that after a few trips, Mo Tiange would feel that things were slightly off? This Junior Martial Brother Bai obviously didn’t intend on interacting with her on the premise of being fellow martial siblings; he was interacting with her with intentions of pursuing her instead.

After she realized this, she used all kinds of reasons to refuse Bai Yanfei every time he invited her to meet up. However, – she really had no idea what was going on with this Bai Yanfei – the more she refused him, the more high-spirited he became. Almost every time she took a trip away from Clear Spring Peak, this person used all kinds of means to discover her whereabouts, pretend he accidentally ran into her, and glue himself to her. It was so bad that Mo Tiange hadn’t dared to go out lately.

But even though she didn’t dare to go out, she had to eventually, ugh~~~ She had to handle some matters on behalf of her master, so if she wasn’t careful and bumped into Bai Yanfei, she could only pretend she was clueless while devising a way to shake him off.

This matter actually made her feel awkward as Mo Tiange disguised herself in men’s clothing in her youth. Although she changed back and wore women’s clothes after she arrived at Xuanqing School, she was always under Lord Daoist Jinghe’s protection and was never pursued romantically by others, so now that one suddenly came to pursue her, she only wanted to avoid bumping into him.

Seeing that there weren’t any traces of annoyance on Mo Tiange’s face, Bai Yanfei walked over with a smile. In fact, he looked quite elegant. His looks coupled with him being the last disciple of Lord Daoist Zhenyang made him a considerably good object of admiration. However, Mo Tiange had no feelings whatsoever towards him.

“Senior Martial Sister Mo,” Bai Yanfei said with a smile, “Long time no see.”

This time, Mo Tiange indeed managed to hide from him for quite a long time. She even begged Lord Daoist Jinghe to not let her go to Mengxue Hall to accomplish this. Every day, she just nested inside Shangqing Palace and didn’t leave.

One must never hit a smiling person. No matter what intentions Bai Yanfei had in his mind, he was always polite and paid attention to etiquette whenever they met. Therefore, Mo Tiange too plastered on a smile and answered, “I’ve been studying a secret technique lately, so I’ve had no time to go out.”

“Really?” Bai Yanfei’s eyes brightened. “What kind of secret technique is it? Can Senior Martial Sister tell me so we can study it together?”

If it could be shared with anyone so casually, would it still be called a secret technique? Mo Tiange was silent for a moment before forcefully squeezing out a smile. “What brings Junior Martial Brother Bai here? Did you come to handle something?”

“Sort of…” Bai Yanfei said ambiguously. “Senior Martial Sister, it’s been a long time since we last met; since we ran into each other, how about we go somewhere and have a chat?”

“This… it’s not the best time now,” Mo Tiange said, “My master gave me a lot of things to handle. Junior Martial Brother Bai, I’m sorry, I’m going to take my leave first.” She turned around, immediately stepped onto her White Silk Handkerchief, and flew towards Clear Spring Peak.

“Senior Martial Sister!” Bai Yanfei shouted behind her, but Mo Tiange didn’t dare to stop. She didn’t even turn to look back at him.

She flew all the way back to Clear Spring Peak then rushed into Shangqing Palace. It was only after she realized that Bai Yanfei didn’t follow after her that she finally heaved a sigh of relief.

She was really afraid of this Junior Martial Brother Bai. She really couldn’t understand; although her current identity was different and her aptitude couldn’t be considered bad, there were countless beautiful female cultivators with outstanding cultivation levels at Xuanqing School, so did he really have to pursue her like this so relentlessly?

“Why are you running like someone set your butt on fire?” Lord Daoist Jinghe’s voice flew into her ears.

Upon recovering her train of thought, Mo Tiange immediately walked through the main entrance. Through the main entrance was the main hall, where Lord Daoist Jinghe happened to be meditating; a very rare occasion indeed. Upon being disturbed by Mo Tiange, he was glaring and fuming at her.

“Master,” she called out in a well-behaved manner.

Lord Daoist Jinghe continued to glare at her for a short moment before stopping his meditation. “What’s going on? I told you to go to the main peak to pass a message; why are you like this? Did a wolf chase after you?”

“No wolf chased after me, but a man did.” Mo Tiange answered. She worshiped Lord Daoist Jinghe as her master for a long time, so she now also acted as she pleased. She found herself a seat and poured herself a cup of tea.

“A man?” Lord Daoist Jinghe said with surprise, “Who chased you?”

“En…” Mo Tiange’s eyes kept shifting around as she drank her tea. Eventually, she decided to tell the truth as it was: “It was Junior Martial Brother Bai Yanfei of Morning Sun Peak.”

“Bai Yanfei?” Lord Daoist Jinghe tried to recall this name. “The disciple of old Daoist Zhenyang?”

Seeing her nodding, Lord Daoist Jinghe was even more surprised. “What did he chase you for?”

“I’m also baffled…” Mo Tiange said, “Junior Martial Brother Bai is too cordial in how he treats people. Ever since I met him, he often invites me to chat outside. If I don’t go, I don’t feel good because he has good intentions, but it feels unbearable for me to go at the same time.”

“Good intentions?” Lord Daoist Jinghe, who immediately understood what was going on, uttered a “hmph!” and said, “This brat has guts! He actually dared to set his mind on my disciple!”

“Set his mind?” Mo Tiange stared at him with a confused expression. “Master, Junior Martial Brother Bai is very kind to me. He’s never done anything hurtful!”

“Hmph!” Lord Daoist Jinghe uttered an even more powerful “hmph,” pursed his lips and glared at her. “You can continue pretending! Dare you say you’re not saying this deliberately for me to hear!?”

“…” Since her intentions were exposed, Mo Tiange immediately told the truth. “You’re right, Master. I think this boy’s very troublesome, but it wouldn’t be good for me to refuse him directly. Therefore, I wanted to ask Master to help.”

After hearing what she said, Lord Daoist Jinghe revealed a satisfied “this-is-better” expression and his head perked up proudly. “Don’t play games in front of me. What matters can a little girl, who has only lived about twenty some years like you, hide from me?”

Mo Tiange smiled humbly. “Yes. How can I compare to Master, who has lived for more than 800 years, and who is already about to become a spiritual being?”

Lord Daoist Jinghe felt rejuvenated from hearing Mo Tiange’s flattery. However, a moment after he laughed, he suddenly realized that the meaning behind Mo Tiange’s words seemed wrong. “You’re a dead girl! You actually scolded me, your master, for being old and still alive!?”

“I wasn’t!” Mo Tiange immediately clasped her hands as if she was in prayer. “Master, I sincerely showed my reverence for you and begged you; Master, please help me take care of this matter!”

Lord Daoist Jinghe was someone who loved to brag and be flattered. Therefore, as soon as Mo Tiange assumed this position, his anger dissipated almost immediately. He simply “hmphed” and cast a glance at her, but his tone was much more amiable. “Spit it out—what’s going on with this brat surnamed Bai?”

“I’m also very confused. When I went to Morning Sun Peak to see Martial Uncle Zhenyang last time, it was Junior Martial Brother Bai who greeted me. But ever since then, he often invites me out.”

That was really the truth. She herself also didn’t understand. What part of me made this Junior Martial Brother Bai take a fancy to me? Is it my cultivation level? But young female cultivators in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm were plentiful. One senior martial sister, who was the disciple of Martial Uncle Miaoyi of Green Phoenix Peak, was about thirty years old and was also in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm. Furthermore, unlike Mo Tiange who advanced purely from a fated chance, that person advanced because of her own cultivation.

Then is it my looks? Mo Tiange admitted she looked pretty good, but in the cultivation world, where beautiful women were abundant, she really didn’t amount to much. As for status, her status as the disciple of Lord Daoist Jinghe, a Nascent Soul ancestor, was indeed very prestigious. Nevertheless, that senior martial sister from the Green Phoenix Peak also had everything Mo Tiange had. Furthermore, it wasn’t just that senior martial sister alone. There was one junior martial sister who was the disciple of Martial Uncle Lingxu of Drifting Cloud Peak; she just turned twenty years old recently, so she was certainly younger than Mo Tiange.

Mo Tiange said all of this out loud, but Lord Daoist Jinghe only thought for a moment and nodded. “This brat still has a good vision. My disciple is naturally better than others!”

Mo Tiange gnashed her teeth. “Master!”

Upon seeing her glowering appearance, Lord Daoist Jinghe suddenly burst out laughing. “Don’t be angry, Master is praising you! From the two girls you mentioned, Miaoyi’s one isn’t as pretty as you, and old man Lingxu’s isn’t as smart as you. If he had to choose from the three of you, he would certainly choose you!”

“According to me, this brat’s Dao Heart must be unstable, so he wants to find someone as his Dual Cultivation partner. He’s proud and arrogant, so he certainly doesn’t want anyone with even the slightest shortcomings. After browsing here and there, he probably only found a few people who meet his requirements. He’s known the two disciples of Miaoyi and old man Lingxu ever since they were children; he probably isn’t too fond of them. However, he then met you. Since he most likely thinks you’re better than the other two, he naturally glued himself to you.”

What Lord Daoist Jinghe said was quite reasonable. Mo Tiange was silent for a while before she spoke again: “Master, please help me take care of this! I really don’t want to consider things like Dual Cultivation now.”

Lord Daoist Jinghe arrogantly said, “Of course! Wanting to seduce my disciple as he pleases—is there such a cheap thing in this world?!” Right afterward, he suddenly changed the subject and said with a grin, “Tiange, you really don’t want to consider Dual Cultivation? In fact, Dual Cultivation has many benefits!”

“No thanks!” Mo Tiange directly rejected it without even needing to think.

“You really don’t want to? I’m telling you; you can forgo that brat surnamed Bai. Master will pick a better candidate for you…”

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“I told you I don’t want to!”

Upon being so firmly rejected, Lord Daoist Jinghe immediately felt bored. “Okay, okay! You’re just like that smelly brat; you both can’t be taught at all!”

“How can this be taught? Master, don’t tell me you performed Dual Cultivation before?”

Lord Daoist Jinghe felt suffocated by her words. He turned towards her and glared furiously. “What does it have to do with you?”

“That being the case, whether I perform Dual Cultivation or not has nothing to do with Master!” Mo Tiange stood up from her seat. “I’m heading back to cultivate. Anyway, Master, you have to help me resolve this matter!”