Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
A smile quickly appeared on Madam Chisu’s face. She said earnestly, “I’m extremely honored that Fellow Daoist Qingwei can understand that. Back then, my sect’s disciples didn’t do their job well and offended Fellow Daoist. I will apologize on their behalf first.”
As she said this, Madam Chisu stood up and bowed at Mo Tiange.
Upon seeing this, a faint smile emerged on Mo Tiange’s face and she humbly helped Madam Chisu up. “Fellow Daoist’s too polite. It was just a matter of a few red-blooded juniors—you don’t have to be like this.”
The two looked at each other and smiled. Both were very satisfied with each other’s tactfulness.
Tianyan Sect was the largest cultivation group on North Pole Island; Mo Tiange naturally didn’t want to offend them. Since the other had expressed their goodwill, she naturally followed in backing down.
As for Madam Chisu, she thought that since this female cultivator had a high cultivation level despite her young age, it was very possible that she was a disciple of a big cultivation group, so Madam Chisu better form a good relationship with her. People who cultivated up to the Core Formation realm, even if they weren’t wise or knowledgeable, were at least somewhat smart. No one wanted to start a feud without any reason.
The two people once again sat down and drank their tea in tacit understanding.
Mo Tiange said with a smile, “About this matter… In fact, I was also baffled. Today, I did go to the beast core market and I did go into your Tianyan Sect’s Jade Qilin Pavilion, but I left right after looking around for a while—the maidservant outside can testify to this. This is my first time coming to North Pole Island, so I wanted to go to the wharf to see how the cultivators here hunted beasts. Who knew that as I was halfway home, I would get stopped by several Foundation Building cultivators from your sect. Regarding the time, the maidservant and I had only parted for about ten minutes—I definitely had no time to steal your sect’s goods. Fellow Daoist Chisu can personally check out my story.”
Madam Chisu was nodding as she listened. By the time Mo Tiange finished, she smiled and said, “Since Fellow Daoist Qingwei already explained the matter clearly, I naturally believe it. It was those few brats from my sect who couldn’t work properly and disturbed Fellow Daoist. I’m really sorry about that.”
Mo Tiange showed a faint smile. Since Tianyan Sect came here so quickly to investigate the matter, they must’ve long found out about her whereabouts. It was just that she was, in the end, a Core Formation cultivator, so they had to get a same-realm cultivator to meet her to completely eliminate their suspicion. Since Madam Chisu straightaway believed her after listening to her explanation, this matter could be considered explained and done with.
“Since it was a misunderstanding, we can just straighten things out. Fellow Daoist Chisu doesn’t have to worry.” Mo Tiange paused and deliberated for a moment before asking: “Fellow Daoist Chisu, this matter is your sect’s secret; logically, I, as an outsider, shouldn’t ask much about it. However, since the matter has implicated me, I want to ask—what is it about that little thief that resembled me and caused your disciple to mistake me as the thief? Could Fellow Daoist please tell me?”
Madam Chisu took a moment to deliberate then said, “Fellow Daoist Qingwei, this matter’s related to the internal affairs of my sect, so please forgive me for not being able to inform you in detail. However, I can still answer Fellow Daoist’s questions briefly. According to what my sect’s disciples said, that thief was a female Foundation Building cultivator. Whether it was their figure or cultivation level, both matched Fellow Daoist. The most important thing was that Fellow Daoist’s accent was exactly the same as the thief’s. Even if you aren’t the same person, you both ought to have come from the same place.”
“I see…” Mo Tiange nodded indifferently without any change of expression.
When Madam Chisu saw that nothing changed in Mo Tiange’s expression, she took a moment to ponder the matter but eventually stood up and said with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Qingwei, my sect still has a lot of tasks to handle—since the misunderstanding has been resolved, I will take my leave now. I’m very sorry for bothering you like this. Once the matter is resolved, if Fellow Daoist Qingwei’s still on North Pole Island, we’ll invite you to meet again.”
“Fellow Daoist Chisu’s too polite.” Mo Tiange also stood up. “Since Fellow Daoist’s busy, I won’t delay you any longer. I hope we still have a chance to meet again in the future.”
Smiling, Madam Chisu gave her another bow. “I hope so.”
After sending Madam Chisu off, Mo Tiange returned to the small sitting room. Her expression soon turned gloomy.
The person with a similar figure as Nie Wushang that she saw in Jade Qilin Pavilion seemed to also be in the Foundation Building realm. Jade Qilin Pavilion’s goods were stolen at that time. The thief was similar to her in cultivation level and figure. Tianyan Sect disciples said the thief’s accent was similar to hers.
On the entire North Pole Island—or even in the entire Yunzhong—aside from people who also came from the Celestial Pole, who would have a similar accent to hers? With so many coincidental aspects, the answer was obvious.
Nie Wushang… She didn’t see things incorrectly. It was indeed Nie Wushang!
Thus, this answer led to another terrifying guess. Did Nie Wushang come by herself, or did she come with Master Song Feng?
Mo Tiange’s face paled as this possibility crossed her mind.
She wasn’t afraid of rushing on her own to Yunzhong. In any case, she was already a Core Formation cultivator. She had confidence in her own abilities and she could now stand on her own. However, if she really ran into Master Song Feng here, that’d really be a deadly disaster for her!
She’d lived for more than a hundred years and seen many Nascent Soul cultivators, but only Master Song Feng invoked fear from the bottom of her heart. Because of this person, she almost experienced something women were most afraid of. The matter made her realize that her strength was far from enough. Only by standing at the peak could she guarantee she wouldn’t encounter any harm.
If there was a chance, she really wished she could grind his bones and scatter his ashes! But now, she wasn’t strong enough. If she was found by Master Song Feng, she most likely wouldn’t be as lucky as she was before.
“Fairy.”
Ayin’s fearful voice rang into her ears. Mo Tiange snapped out of her thoughts, removed her gloomy expression, and asked faintly, “What’s wrong?”
Ayin hesitated for a long time but eventually, she asked cautiously, “Fairy hasn’t offended Tianyan Sect, right?”
A wrinkle appeared on Mo Tiange’s brows. “Your innkeeper told you to ask this?”
Ayin shook her head. “I just want to remind Fairy—Tianyan Sect has two Nascent Soul cultivators. It is fully deserving of the title as the number one sect on North Pole Island. If Fairy has any conflicts with them, it’d be best if Fairy can overlook them.”
Seeing her worried gaze warmed Mo Tiange’s heart. She showed a smile then said, “It’s nothing. I have no conflict with them.”
Ayin sighed with relief while striking her chest. “That’s good then. Fairy’s an amiable person. I don’t want Fairy to suffer any losses here.”
Mo Tiange smiled upon hearing what she said. “Thank you.”
Before long, Shopkeeper Dong hurriedly rushed over, respectfully apologizing to Mo Tiange. As it turned out, since Madam Chisu dropped by, he realized Mo Tiange was a Core Formation cultivator. He felt his reception of her wasn’t satisfactory and wasn’t in line with her status as a Core Formation cultivator, so he rushed over specifically to ask if there was anything Mo Tiange needed.
Mo Tiange had originally lowered her cultivation level on purpose, so she naturally had no complaints. She just said she didn’t need anything and that how things were before was good enough then sent Shopkeeper Dong away.
After Shopkeeper Dong left, Mo Tiange told Ayin that she wouldn’t go out for a while. If people came to visit, Ayin was to reject them without exception and not to disturb her.
Immediately afterward, she returned to the cultivation room, initiated the defensive formation, then went into the Virtual Sky World.
Just now, she thought of another possibility.
The beast core market was full of people scuttling about. There were many people leaving every second, so why did those five Foundation Building cultivators so coincidentally chase after her? Even though there weren’t many female Foundation Building cultivators and even fewer of them had similar builds as Nie Wushang, it was still impossible for them to target her so suddenly, right?
That being the case, it was very likely that Nie Wushang left in a similar direction as she did. That was why, when those Foundation Building cultivators saw her, they self-righteously regarded her as the thief.
If that was indeed the case, there would be another problem. If Nie Wushang went in the same direction as she did, could she possibly have noticed her? On a deeper thought, was it possible that Nie Wushang had noticed her, so she deliberately led the chasing forces towards her?
Mo Tiange was drenched in a cold sweat. She was rather afraid to speculate further.
Nevertheless, she composed herself and once again thought about the matter carefully. Although this was only her conjecture, this kind of possibility was, in the end, possible. Her divine sense might be strong, but Nie Wushang was Master Song Feng’s disciple after all—who knew whether or not she had some kind of odd method to conceal her breaths and consequently, wasn’t noticed by Mo Tiange?
After thinking for a long time, Mo Tiange eventually heaved a sigh.
Since she already had some conjectures, she ought to think of some countermeasures.
Regarding Nie Wushang, she had no hatred whatsoever. Back on Demonic Mountain, although Nie Wushang led Master Song Feng towards them, she was Master Song Feng’s disciple after all—what she did was completely understandable. As for what happened afterward, Nie Wushang also saved her, so she was quite grateful to Nie Wushang. In any case, Nie Wushang had prevented a kind of terrifying experience from befalling her. It was just that Master Song Feng was led by Nie Wushang, after all, and her identity was rather sensitive—although Mo Tiange had a sliver of gratitude inside, she didn’t have any particular thoughts about repaying Nie Wushang or anything. Mo Tiange just thought that if she could avoid Nie Wushang in the future, she wouldn’t become enemies with her. That could also be considered repaying her.
Right now, Nie Wushang might be here and scheming against her, so Mo Tiange was all the more cautious now. Although she had such thoughts, she didn’t think Nie Wushang had the same thoughts as her. After all, there was Nie Wushang’s identity—with Master Song Feng present, they were enemies.
At this point, Mo Tiange already reached a decision in her mind.
No matter whether Master Song Feng was present or not, she didn’t want to get involved in such a matter. As she already straightened things out with Tianyan Sect, she just had to pretend to know nothing and stay out of it. She had the Virtual Sky World in her possession. As long as she hid inside and didn’t come out, whether it was Tianyan Sect or Master Song Feng, no one would be able to find her.
Mo Tiange smiled then opened the spiritual beast pouch to release Xiaohuo and Xiaofan.
“It’s alright; you can go play.”
Xiaohuo squeaked cheerfully and immediately ran far away, probably looking for Feifei to continue playing. Xiaofan, on the other hand, didn’t move. It floated midair, saying somewhat worriedly, “Master, are you worried?”
Mo Tiange was stunned.
Xiaofan said, “Your brows are all wrinkled. Could it be that you’re in some kind of trouble?”
After a brief daze, she smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. Although the matter’s a little troublesome, as long as we don’t go out, it won’t be a problem.”
“Oh.” Xiaofan nodded without really understanding her meaning. “Then are we going to have to stay here for a long time?”
“En…” Mo Tiange mused. “We won’t go out; that way, I won’t get involved. Let’s stay here for a month first. You just need to cultivate. If there’s something the matter, I’ll naturally call you.”
“Alright.” Xiaofan didn’t question her commands at all and just said, “Then I’m going back to cultivate.”
“Go.”
Xiaofan returned to the brook to continue cultivating. Meanwhile, Xiaohuo and Feifei were still rolling about and playing around.
Mo Tiange took a while to think then took out the two stone sculpture puppets, ordering them to tend to the medicinal fields, while she herself took advantage of this time to take out the magic weapons she obtained from Mo Yaoqing’s Immortal’s cave.
Spirit Guiding Bead, Eight Diagrams Pattern of Tai Chi, Lotus Bloom Umbrella, Spirit Clouds Ruyi, Land Drilling Ruler… Among these five things, the Spirit Guiding Bead, the Eight Diagrams Pattern of Tai Chi, and the Lotus Bloom Umbrella were all auxiliary objects and didn’t need further meticulous refining. The other two items still had to be refined to wield even more power.
The Spirit Clouds Ruyi didn’t have to be mentioned. This was Mo Yaoqing’s fighting magic weapon. Mo Yaoqing was originally a cultivator from Yunzhong. If she could refine this magic weapon, it’d be very helpful to Mo Tiange, as she was currently in Yunzhong. In addition, she also had to pay attention to the Land Drilling Ruler. After advancing into the Core Formation realm, she could no longer rely on the Virtual Sky World as her life-saving method since it took her a few seconds to enter the Virtual Sky World. For high-level cultivators, those few seconds could determine life and death. She must have another life-saving method.
She might as well take advantage of this period to properly refine these two items. If something happened, they could come in handy.