Lady Cultivator Chapter 151 - The Combat-Training Hall

“Auntie, Auntie!”

A voice came from outside the cultivating room. Mo Tiange used an art to exit the Virtual Sky World then removed the restriction outside.

The person who walked into the cultivating room was a man about twenty years old. He was tall, upright, and had a youthful appearance; his face still retained the naivety and kindness of his teenage years.

Upon seeing him, Mo Tiange smiled and asked, “Zhenji, is there a problem?”

This young man was Ye Zhenji. He was twenty years old now. His originally cute face had matured, but it was still pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, he also had a good character and always treated others kindly, so he had many acquaintances among the low-level disciples. In these past ten years, Mo Tiange had never been stingy in providing him with medicinal pills and treasures. Nowadays, he was already in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm and only needed to wait for the school test to obtain the Foundation-Building Pill.

Once Ye Zhenji saw her, he smiled until two dimples became apparent. “Auntie, so you’re cultivating!”

“Of course I’m cultivating. Didn’t you go to the Combat-Training Hall with Hualing? It’s only midday but you’re back already?”

The Combat-Training Hall was located on the main peak of Xuanqing School. It acted as a venue for disciples who wanted to compete in martial arts. Under normal circ.u.mstances, there was one Core Formation and several Foundation Building cultivators presiding over the hall. Disciples could train and improve their abilities in fights of magical powers.

Male disciples always had slightly more interest in fights of magical powers, so they went to the Combat-Training Hall once every few days. Ye Zhenji was no exception. After he advanced to the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm, he went to Combat-Training Hall every day with that childhood playmate of his, Hualing, proclaiming with superiority that he did so to acc.u.mulate experience before the Foundation-Building Pill test. Thinking this was good for him, Mo Tiange let him do as he wished.

“Don’t mention it!” Ye Zhenji sat across her, looking extremely bored. “There wasn’t anyone worth battling at the Combat-Training Hall today. I lost interest after two matches so I just came back.”

“Last time, didn’t you say Hualing used a trick you weren’t able to handle? Did you maybe think of a solution yet?”

“Of course I have!” Ye Zhenji raised his chin, looking extremely proud of himself. “What kind of trick could that guy Hualing come up with? I only thought about it for two days, but I already found the answer! Auntie, take a look!”

After he said that, he stood up excitedly and lifted his hands. A Wall of Wind Spell and a Thick Soil Spell appeared on his body almost at the same time.

“Auntie, take a look! If I use these two spells, Hualing’s Freezing Spell and Soul-Cracking Art can’t hit me!”

Mo Tiange smiled. “This is indeed a good strategy. It must’ve been hard for you to come up with this method.”

Ye Zhenji unexpectedly felt a bit embarra.s.sed at the praise. He put away his spells and sat back in his seat. “Auntie, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”

“What? You can tell me.”

Hesitation appeared on his face. He mumbled, “I… I want to take a trip back home.”

Mo Tiange was quite surprised. Ye Zhenji arrived at the mountain when he was nine years old. When he was ten, the two of them met, and since then, he’d always been by her side and never left. It had already been around eleven years since Ye Zhenji left his clan. After entering a cultivation group, it was very rare for cultivators like them to return to the secular world. Ye Zhenji never mentioned anything about missing his home, so Mo Tiange hadn’t given the matter much thought either.

Right now, sadness could faintly be seen on his face. “When I left home, my mother cried for an entire night… Auntie, there’s still one year before the Foundation-Building Pill test for elite disciples. I-I want to take advantage of this year to take a trip back home. May I do that?”

Despite seeing the expectation and hope on the child’s face, Mo Tiange remained silent. She could naturally understand Ye Zhenji’s feelings; back then, she also went through the same thing. However, missing one’s close relatives like this wasn’t good.

“Auntie…” Because she didn’t respond, Ye Zhenji pleaded again, “I’ll definitely return as fast as I can. I just want to go home and take a look…”

“… Our Xuanqing School doesn’t require disciples to sever the relations.h.i.+ps they had with the secular world. However, in normal situations, it’s only after they build their foundation that they’re permitted to go back and visit their family. You haven’t built your foundation yet, and it’s only one year before your test begins; now is really not the right time for you to leave.”

Ye Zhenji didn’t say anything, but his face looked completely dejected.

Mo Tiange contemplated for a while then she said with a smile, “You don’t have to be this disappointed. Five years ago, your grandmaster said that after I finished my five-year Closed Door Meditation, he would let me leave the mountain and travel. It just so happens that the five years have just ended. Wait for a bit; when all the ch.o.r.es are handled, Aunt will take you back home. What do you think?”

Ye Zhenji was ecstatic. “Auntie!”

“You’re happy now?”

He nodded repeatedly. “Thank you, Auntie!” After thanking her, he once again looked conflicted. “But… didn’t you say you don’t want the clan to find out about you?”

Mo Tiange chuckled. “My surname isn’t Ye; what kind of relation do I have with them? They won’t know. At that point, you just have to call me martial uncle.” Ye Zhenji was Master Daoist Shoujing’s advanced inner disciple in name. According to logic, he indeed had to call her martial uncle.

After appeasing Ye Zhenji, Mo Tiange stopped cultivating and left her Immortal’s Cave.

Five years had gone by. Her cultivation level had already reached the peak of the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm. She just needed some fated chances to advance to the late stage of the Foundation Building realm. Nevertheless, Mo Tiange wasn’t in a rush. She was only thirty-seven years old now. With her current age, her cultivation level could already be considered very high. Even back when Qin Shoujing was her age, he was only in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm.

By the time Mo Tiange entered the main hall, Lord Daoist Jinghe was sitting cross-legged in meditation. The injuries he sustained from his fight against Master Song Feng weren’t light at all, so he had spent these past few years recuperating. Luckily, his cultivation was profound; neither his meridians nor his dantian was injured, so he wasn’t in any serious danger.

Mo Tiange stopped not too far from him and called out, “Master.”

Lord Daoist Jinghe opened his eyes. “You’ve exited your Closed Door Meditation?”

In these past five years, she barricaded herself inside her little cave and hadn’t come out. Now that she came out, it was naturally because she exited Closed Door Meditation.

She could sense Lord Daoist Jinghe examining her using his divine sense, but she was very calm. Her Soul-Refining Art already reached the second layer; she could maintain her composure even in front of Nascent Soul cultivators unless cultivators purposefully used their spiritual aura pressure to oppress her.

When he finished examining her, Lord Daoist Jinghe nodded and said, “Not bad. You’re already in the peak of the middle stage. Presumably, advancing to the late stage within several years won’t be a problem. You actually managed to practice the Soul-Refining Art up to the second layer? I’ve never seen anyone capable of achieving this just within a dozen and some years.”

Mo Tiange smiled and said, “It’s due to Martial Uncle Xuanyin who thinks meticulously that Disciple doesn’t need to worry about spiritual aura deviations. Master, how are your injuries?”

“I’m alright.” Lord Daoist Jinghe waved his hand and said unconcernedly, “They’re more or less good now. Hmph! Old man Song Feng definitely didn’t have an easy time these past few years. Back then, old Daoist Zhenyang’s Heaven-Obliterating Stone hit him directly. According to my estimations, he would’ve had to perform Closed Door Meditation for at least a dozen to twenty years. Ha! That being the case, I can still be considered the victor!”

Mo Tiange shook her head helplessly when she saw Lord Daoist Jinghe’s triumphant look. Presumably, this master was capable of being decent only once in a while.

“Right! You just came out in the nick of time for the school’s minor inner compet.i.tion. It’ll be held in several days. Do you want to partic.i.p.ate?”

Mo Tiange hesitated for a moment before answering, “This… It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to partic.i.p.ate, would it?”

Most partic.i.p.ants in the school’s minor inner compet.i.tion were ordinary disciples. The minor inner compet.i.tion for Aura Refining disciples was related to obtaining Foundation-Building Pills, but the minor inner compet.i.tion for Foundation Building disciples provided other kinds of rewards. In general, very few elite disciples partic.i.p.ated in the minor inner compet.i.tion. Firstly, their masters already bestowed rewards upon them, so they wouldn’t care for a minor reward. Secondly, if an elite disciple partic.i.p.ated, they would most likely defeat ordinary disciples. In that case, ordinary disciples would fail to obtain any rewards. Even though the cultivation world never viewed modesty as a virtue, people in cultivation groups still had to somewhat take that into consideration.

Lord Daoist Jinghe said without the slightest care, “What’s not appropriate about it? If they lose to you, that means they don’t have enough skill.”

Mo Tiange remained silent, obviously disagreeing with what he said.

Lord Daoist Jinghe glared at her for a moment. “Fine! Don’t partic.i.p.ate if you don’t want to then. However, you should join in on the fun. Often, comparing notes with your fellow disciples can be beneficial.”

She was in favor of this idea, so she nodded and said, “Yes, Master.”

Mo Tiange knew that although she’d gone through numerous sized battles, she hadn’t been in many fights of magical powers after she advanced to the Foundation Building realm. She partic.i.p.ated in the demonic beast riot, but she spent the most chaotic two years hiding inside her Virtual Sky World. Moreover, practically all of the fights of magical powers she had were life or death fights. Her instincts regarding danger were superior to ordinary cultivators’, but her skills were most likely inferior to cultivators who often practiced with other cultivators. She hadn’t had a fight for five years because of her Closed Door Meditation, so she thought she should definitely spend some time studying fights of magical powers.

After leaving Shangqing Palace, she rode on her White Silk Handkerchief and flew towards the main peak.

The Combat-Training Hall was located next to the Hall of Three Pure Ones at the main peak. Its size was almost comparable to the Hall of Three Pure Ones, which was the grandest building in the entire school. From this, its significance in the school was obvious.

Mo Tiange walked into the hall leisurely. The door-keeping disciple immediately saluted her. “Grandmaster Mo.” These days, she already had a certain prestige at Xuanqing School, so these disciples all recognized her.

Soon after, a supervising disciple welcomed her and said with a smile, “Grandmaster Mo, you also came to practice?”

Mo Tiange briefly returned his greeting before she answered, “I had nothing to do today, so I came to take a look.”

“Oh… Grandmaster, this way please. The matches for Foundation Building disciples are held inside.”

“En. Sorry for troubling you.” Mo Tiange followed the supervising disciple, pa.s.sing through the crowd and entered the inner room under everyone’s stares.

This outer room was where the Aura Refining disciples had their matches. This room was managed by supervising disciple in the Aura Refining realm with two Foundation Building cultivators overseeing them. As for the inner room, that was where Foundation Building disciples’ matches were held. A Core Formation cultivator oversaw everything, but the ones in charge of receiving visitors were still Foundation Building stewards.

Once the supervising disciple led her to one of the stewards, he excused himself and left.

The steward took her ident.i.ty tablet and recorded it. “Martial Uncle Mo, this is the first time you’ve been here, right?”

Mo Tiange nodded. When she arrived at Xuanqing School, she was already in the peak stage of the Aura Refining realm and built her foundation shortly thereafter. After she built her foundation, she was immediately faced with the demonic beast riot and by the time she returned, she already became Lord Daoist Jinghe’s formal disciple. After that, she spent five years being tossed around by her master and another five years in Closed Door Meditation. She basically hadn’t had the time to come to the Combat-Training Hall.

The steward said, “Then let me show Martial Uncle the way.”

“Thank you.”

The steward led Mo Tiange as he explained at the same time. “The rules at this Combat-Training Hall are simple. A stage has been arranged in the main hall. Anyone may go up and fight. The winners have to stay on the stage and wait for a new challenger and may only step down from the stage after they win three consecutive matches. If two people want to have a private match, they may come to me to obtain a room token and can go to the side room over there—of course, a steward also has to be present with them as a witness. In addition, inside that room, there’s a Core Formation martial uncle overseeing the place. If there are two people who want to have an all-out match, they have to ask for permission first and may only proceed under the Core Formation martial uncle’s watch.”

As Mo Tiange listened, she nodded occasionally. These rules were very reasonable. Those who wanted to have a private match had to have a third party present to avoid accidents from occurring under the pretext of not understanding the rules. Besides, some methods to corner the opponents might cause casualties if they were used, but at the same time wouldn’t display their might if used without full strength. Because of that, the presence of a Core Formation cultivator was required to ensure everyone’s safety.

While they chatted, they had unwittingly reached the main hall. Mo Tiange noticed that a s.p.a.cious stage had been arranged in the center of the hall. There were around twenty to thirty cultivators who were either standing or sitting around it.

The steward said, “During the demonic beast riot last time, around a hundred of our fellow Foundation Building disciples perished. Nowadays, the number of Foundation Building cultivators at our school doesn’t even reach 200. Otherwise, there would be at least forty to fifty people here.”

Seeing the hidden sadness on this cultivator’s face, Mo Tiange a.s.sumed his relatives or friends probably died in the demonic beast riot, so she smiled and said, “The school’s minor inner compet.i.tion is about to begin. I think we’ll certainly have a huge number of new fellow Foundation Building disciples appearing after that.”

“You’re right.” The steward smiled. “Martial Uncle Mo, please allow me to excuse myself first.”

Mo Tiange returned his salutation and watched the steward leave. She then walked towards the side of the stage and casually chose a spot to watch from.

The ones fighting on the stage now were two early stage Foundation Building cultivators. One was a burly, fully-bearded man while the other was a thin, weak-looking, middle-aged man.

The burly man was very tall, but his magic tool was unexpectedly a small, exquisite flying sword. The middle-aged man, on the other hand, was holding a fan. The burly man was on the offense while the middle-aged man was on the defense. The two of them exchanged blows, and each blow was extremely fierce.

Mo Tiange only watched them for a while but she unexpectedly gained an understanding of the things occurring during the match. For example, the burly man’s method of using his flying sword really resembled a method of using hidden weapons. It flew quietly and without a trace; achieving this certainly must’ve required countless practice. As for the middle-aged man, his fan also contained some secrets. It was actually able to draw the burly man’s spiritual aura, thus allowing the middle-aged man to save himself during critical situations again and again.

Mo Tiange had devoted all her attention to watching the match for quite a while before her shoulder was tapped by someone.

Once she turned her head, she was overjoyed with surprise. “Big Brother Ye!”

The one standing with a smile beside her was precisely Ye Jingwen.

Ye Jingwen was almost sixty years old now, so he indeed seemed a bit more mature; he was slightly less vigorous but a bit steadier.

Ten years ago, the two of them fought side by side, experiencing the deadly fight against several Gujian Sect cultivators; the feeling between the two of them naturally wasn’t as casual as how it used to be. After Lord Daoist Jinghe accidentally injured the two of them, Mo Tiange was able to get more or less well within several days only because her meridians were tough and because Lord Daoist Jinghe put her into Wenyang Pool. Ye Jingwen, on the other hand, had heavier injuries than her. He had to recuperate for more than a year before he could be considered completely back on his feet. During those times, Mo Tiange was tossed around by Lord Daoist Jinghe every single day—they only met several times, and they were always in a hurry that they didn’t even have the time to chat. Later, she also went into Closed Door Meditation, so they hadn’t met for five years.

Ye Jingwen was still smiling as he stared at her and pointed at his behind. The two of them moved away from the crowd and looked for some chairs in the corner.

After they were seated, Ye Jingwen chuckled and said, “Tiange, long time no see.”

“Yes… It was only yesterday that I came out of Closed Door Meditation.”

Ye Jingwen used his divine sense to examine her then said with amazement, “You’re already in the peak of the middle stage?”

Mo Tiange nodded. “I was lucky. This time, my Closed Door Meditation went very smoothly.”

Ye Jingwen stared at her face, which didn’t have even a tiny bit of arrogance at all, and he sighed. “I heard that your apt.i.tude was excellent, but I didn’t really believe it. Now, I have no choice but to believe it. When I met you, you were only a little girl in the second layer of the Aura Refining realm while I was already in the Foundation Building realm but now, you’ve actually surpa.s.sed me…”

In the past few years, Ye Jingwen also made some progress in his cultivation. However, his progress wasn’t as dramatic as Mo Tiange’s. Since he had to spend some time recovering from his injuries, he was now slightly inferior to her.

She shook her head and said with a smile, “Big Brother Ye, don’t mock me. The only reason I achieved what I have today is due to fated chances.” If she hadn’t luckily run into Zhong Muling, she would’ve now still had wasted spiritual roots; even after these ten odd years, she might’ve still been in the early stage of the Foundation realm if it wasn’t for him.

Back then, when she just built her foundation, she didn’t have the Art of the Origin, and even the efficacy of the Art of Sunu greatly decreased, so she practically couldn’t keep the spiritual she absorbed inside her body. Nowadays, because she’d obtained the Art of the Origin and cultivated inside the Virtual Sky World, she finally realized how big the gap between people with wasted spiritual roots and genius with single or mutated spiritual roots was. If the amount of spiritual aura she could previously retain inside her body was only 10%, then right now the amount she could retain was 90%! This terrifying amount of nine times bigger made her realize that had she not met Zhong Muling and obtained the Art of the Origin, she probably would never advance to the Core Formation realm in her lifetime.

Ye Jingwen naturally had no idea about the rueful feelings in Mo Tiange’s heart, so when he heard her talking so modestly, he cast her a harsh gaze. “I told you this years ago; fated chances are also part of your strength. Why do you keep denying it?” He paused for a moment then asked, “Tiange, did you come to Combat-Training Hall to practice?”

“En. After I built my foundation, I haven’t been involved in many fights. Presumably, if I compare notes with fellow disciples, I can increase my experience in fights of magical powers.”

“Well, that’s true. In fights of magical powers, experience is more important than talent. A genius in cultivating might be weak in fights of magical power; at the same time, someone who doesn’t do well in cultivating might not fare too badly in fights of magical power if they have a lot of practice.”

“So that means… Big Brother Ye comes to Combat-Training Hall often?” Mo Tiange asked with interest. When she first met Ye Jingwen, she didn’t get to know him well and never saw him in a fight of magical powers. When they later met at Qianmen Ridge on Mount Tianhuo and fought side by side, she finally realized he was the type of person who was very decisive in killing. It seemed that he was probably very interested in fights of magical powers.

Sure enough, Ye Jingwen nodded. “If I have free time, I usually come here. For us sword cultivators, martial skill is very important in fights of magical powers.”

“I’m afraid every sword cultivator is combative, right?”

Ye Jingwen couldn’t help but laugh. “Yep! If we weren’t, we wouldn’t have chosen to become sword cultivators.”

The two of them smiled at each other.

After sitting idly for a while, Ye Jingwen said, “Right! Since you’re here to compare notes and I don’t want to head onto the stage yet, how about we have a private match?”

“Sure!” Mo Tiange was naturally eager as that was just what she wanted. Ye Jingwen’s fighting power surpa.s.sed ordinary middle stage Foundation Building cultivators, and he also had a lot of experience; he was naturally an excellent opponent.

The two of them simultaneously stood up, went out and look for a steward to obtain a room number plate. They then entered the side room led by one of the stewards.

Although it was called a side room, it was used for matches, so it was very s.p.a.cious and as big as a small stage. The two of them went up onto the stage then after obtaining the go-ahead from the steward, they began their match.

Ye Jingwen was a sword cultivator and they prioritized offensive strategies, so right after they got the signal from the steward, his flying sword was launched and went straight towards Mo Tiange.

Mo Tiange stepped onto her White Silk Handkerchief. She deliberately didn’t put any defense on herself and immediately dodged the flying sword. However, the flying sword of a sword cultivator possessed sword aura; when it flashed past her, it nicked her shoulder, causing her to ache from her shoulder.

Upon seeing that, Ye Jingwen immediately recalled his flying sword. He gathered his aura on the flying sword and immediately, countless white sword lights emerged from the blade of the sword and completely surrounded him. All of a sudden, he pushed all those sword lights towards Mo Tiange.

Helpless, Mo Tiange recalled the White Silk Handkerchief from under her feet then hurled it forward, creating a brick wall which obstructed the sword lights. At the same time, she also hurled the Shuttle of Flying Apsara. It turned into golden rays which went towards Ye Jingwen to trap him underneath.

The two of them exchanged blows and fought for some time. It was only after they saw the steward clapping his hands and cheering that they finally stopped.

They got down from the stage and took a break.

Ye Jingwen saw that Mo Tiange seemed to be pondering something, so he curiously asked, “What’s wrong?”

Mo Tiange answered, “Originally, I didn’t want to use that magic weapon but when confronted with Big Brother Ye’s sword aura, I really had no idea how to dodge it.”

Once she said that, Ye Jingwen burst out laughing. “You’re actually thinking about this?”

Mo Tiange asked with bewilderment, “Is there anything wrong about that?”

This time, the steward in charge interrupted, “Martial Uncle Mo, the sword aura of sword cultivators is very hard to dodge. Considering how narrow this place is, you naturally have to use magic tools or spells to block it. It’s best if Martial Uncle has magic weapons. Why did you want to dodge?”

Mo Tiange was stunned, but she looked ashamed soon afterward. “It’s just that I always want to be on the safe side.”

Ye Jingwen said, “Tiange, your experience in fights of magical powers is extensive; it’s just that your ways of thinking aren’t always correct. You have to remember that in fights of magical powers, a narrow victory is still a victory. You just need to use whatever means you have.”

“Yes. Thank you for reminding me, Big Brother Ye.” Although her cultivation level was slightly higher than Ye Jingwen’s, Mo Tiange was aware that she wasn’t as good as Ye Jingwen in fights of magical powers, so she was very sincere in saying her thanks.

Ye Jingwen chuckled. “If you have nothing to do these days, you can always come to Combat-Training Hall and have matches with me. We can learn from each other and progress together.”