Warning: This chapter includes the non-graphic death of a cute animal.
Forcibly calming himself, Mo Tianliao sighed. Things had to be done step by step. No matter how distressed he was, he must not be hasty.
The ground was full of lingshi, which Shi Di had ordered to be laid down temporarily as flooring. Whole lingshi was actually more suitable for cultivation than that which had been cut. This Mo Palace was rich in ambient qi, adding all this lingshi, the qi of the entire forge room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. With Mo Tianliao’s divine soul, he could clearly see the five-colour qi floating in the air.
He closed his eyes and concentrated.
The “Wood Igniting Technique” given by Qingtong only showed him the correct method of cultivation for his divine tree body, there was no content concerning what to do after Foundation Establishment. It looked more like his cat had made it up when he knew he was coming. As for further training, Mo Tianliao himself had also been a powerful Half-Immortal. It was better to rely on his own knowledge than to ask someone else.
It took him decades to find the meaning of his Way in his previous life. When he was born as a regular mortal, death and destruction befell his whole family. After he had become a cultivator, he paid all his grudges one by one. For a long time, he had thought that his Way was that of ruthlessness and massacre, but from time to time he would still fall prey to internal demons. The old bastard had beaten him up once, then he had forced a little rabbit into his hands, and said to him, “Boy, look at yourself, are you really ruthless?”
It had just been an ordinary rabbit, so soft and small. It had stared at him blankly and stupidly with a pair of round jet-black eyes, constantly moving its three-petal mouth. Mo Tianliao had not been able to help smiling and reaching out two fingers to touch the little rabbit’s smooth fur. Then the old bastard had grabbed the rabbit; in just a couple of moves, he had killed it and was preparing it for eating.
“…” Mo Tianliao stared at him in horror.
“You smiled at that rabbit like a little bitch. And you say your Way is ruthlessness!” The old bastard had roasted the rabbit over the fire.
Mo Tianliao had an epiphany. He beat the old bastard.
After that, Mo Tianliao began to focus all his attention on finding his Way. He travelled around the Taixuan continent, and one day he finally realized what his Way was.
His Way was the Way of the craftsman. Everything in nature had essence and dross. To keep the essence and discard the dross was to be a craftsman. Everyone’s Way was different, a craftsman’s Way may also be to deliver all living beings from torment, while an alchemist’s Way may be to extort money. And for Mo Tianliao, his Way really was that of the craftsman, it had been so obvious yet he did not realize it for many years.
Mo Tianliao was born for crafting. When he practised his arrays, he could draw the same array thousands of times day and night. When smelting ore, he could stare at the furnace for ten to fifteen days without feeling bored.
Keeping the essence and discarding the dross was Mo Tianliao’s Way of cultivating.
Only, even if the tree craves calm, the wind will not abate. He crafted the divine weapon on a whim and for that, he was besieged and killed. His cat, who was so tiny, had been forced to tear apart his own soul in order to preserve his divine soul, enduring torment day and night for the last 300 years. How selfish he was, the moment he woke up he should have immediately found any mortal with spiritual roots to possess and quickly gone to find his cat.
“Ahn…” The spiritual force in his meridians began to rage like boiling water, churning back and forth, a trace of black qi circled his lingtai. Damn, internal demons!
All of a sudden, cool and refreshing air seeped into the crown of his head and dispersed the black qi. His violent spiritual force gradually calmed down. Mo Tianliao opened his eyes and saw a flawlessly handsome face. Their foreheads were pressed against each other, so close that he could clearly count each long eyelash. “Xiaozhao…” Although his cat had not made a blood pact with him, he was no worse than other Spiritual Beasts at dispelling internal demons and soothing the meridians. He always appeared at the crucial time.
“Damned idiot.” Qingtong pushed him away and curled his lips in disgust. “How could you develop internal demons just from forming your core?”
Mo Tianliao touched his nose, looking at the furnace. The Xuanyuan iron in it had already been refined. More than ten days had passed! He examined his body, unexpectedly, he was already at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment!
For cultivation, apart from absorbing ambient qi, one should also practice spells and temper one’s mind. In order to achieve a Golden Core, one must also constantly condense one’s souls after the Foundation Establishment period so as to merge them, thus forming a core and creating a divine soul. All these things must be done at the same time, and one’s proficiency at them could not be lower than one’s rate of qi accumulation. Only then could one advance.
However, when it came to Mo Tianliao, his magic had reached its peak and his mood was generally stable. As for his soul, he already had a Half-Immortal’s divine soul. As a result, the only thing left for his cultivation was to absorb ambient qi.
The ambient qi here was immensely concentrated. One day here was equivalent to one month’s absorption outside. How could he be unhappy?
“I’m not. It’s just that when you’re not here my heart can’t be at ease.” Mo Tianliao had the cheek to pull his cat closer but he was pushed off.
“Perverted disciple, if you dare feel up your Master once more, you’ll be punished according to the sect’s rules.” Qingtong slapped him. He took out a cushion from his storage bracelet and put it in the corner of the room. He turned into a kitten, climbed on and yawned. Then he took out the twine ball that Mo Tianliao had made at Xuanji’s and started sharpening his claws.
The cushion was a cat bed made by Duantian during his past life. It was stuffed with velvet flowers from the Heavenly Mountains and covered in the snow silk woven by ice silkworms. It would be cool even during very hot days. Perfect for using inside this kind of forge room.
Mo Tianliao left him alone when he saw he was enjoying himself.
The fist-sized piece of Xuanyuan iron was refined into a mere drop of liquid iron, he extracted it using his divine soul and the liquid condensed in the air. The 1,000-catty Xuanyuan Iron Mo Tianliao had once bought, was reduced to a piece only half a chi in length.
The Resplendent Stone was thrown into the forge for refining. Mo Tianliao wrapped his palms with ambient qi then joined his hands together. The semi-solidified molten iron was beaten flat, then his fingers flew, quickly kneading it into a long strip. The Resplendent Stone melted when it entered the fire and was immediately extracted. He dipped his finger in it and quickly carved some arrays on the long strip of iron. Twelve arrays were carved in succession, including space, transformation, channelling, and gathering of qi. Each of the twelve arrays overlapped with the previous one. Not a single stroke could be wrong and there were no lines to see, it was all done by memory.
Mo Tianliao finished carving, breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his sweaty forehead. At Foundation Establishment his spiritual force was not very abundant. He had to draw the arrays and absorb the surrounding ambient qi at the same time. In order to form his core as soon as possible, he had to exhaust his qi and then absorb more. Such a process was very draining.
He quickly kneaded the iron into the shape of a knife, wrapped it with ambient qi and put it aside to cool down, then he picked up the Starfall Stone.
Infinitely dark, like stars falling in the ultimate heaven. Starfall Stone could be refined into a shape-shifting spiritual weapon, it could be large or small, sharp or blunt. However, Mo Tianliao did not need the Starfall Stone now in order to craft a shape-shifting treasure. It was only because he had made the divine weapon, Taishi, using Starfall Stone, that was why it had a tortoiseshell colour. In order to deceive— er, no, satisfy Lord Shi Di, he must use this material.
He cut off a palm-sized piece and threw it into the fire for refining. Mo Tianliao then fell to the ground exhausted and looked despondently at his far away cat.
In the past, when Mo Xiaozhao was little, he used to accompany him during his crafting. When he saw him suddenly fall down after working for a while, his eyes empty and looking on the verge of death, he thought that something was wrong with him. He used to meow anxiously around him and lick his face. But now…
The sound of something falling to the ground attracted the kitten who was pushing the twine ball around, he turned to look at him, then turned back again and continued to push the twine ball around.
Mo Tianliao rolled over in sorrow and indignation, then sprawled out face down on the ground like a dead fish.
When Mo Xiaozhao saw this, he gracefully drew closer while pushing his twine ball. He climbed on, stepping on his head, and placed the ball on his back, lifting his paw to pat it. The little ball rolled around along the natural ridge perfectly without falling off. Lord Kitty was satisfied and began to jump all over his back pushing the ball, completely ignoring Mo Tianliao, who looked exhausted to death.
Carpenter: Let’s play pretend dead ok? Pew～
Carpenter: *Falls to the ground, pretending to be dead* Like this, when I say pew, you fall down
Carpenter: *Falls to the ground* Huh? There seems to be something wrong with this picture
Unedited, please point out any mistakes
First extra chapter. Thank you so much for the ko-fi, J!