When night fell, a figure quietly slipped out of a small house on the east side of the village.
This person was none other than Li Yushan, who had secretly followed Mo Tiange back.
He had already learned about the young girl surnamed Mo from the mouths of this family.
Of course, he hadn't asked directly. First, he pretended to casually inquire whether that large residence belonged to some wealthy family. The man of the house answered that it was the village chief's home. Hearing this, Li Yushan seized the opportunity to start asking about village affairs. This family was quite unguarded and told him everything in detail, including the members of the village chief's household.
Two girls lived in that residence: one was the village chief's eldest granddaughter, and the other was the granddaughter left behind by a daughter who had taken in a son-in-law. They were about the same age. He had observed that the clothes the young girl wore were made of rather poor fabric, much worse than those of the other girl who had gone to the market with her that day. Moreover, the two looked quite similar. He was certain that the other girl was the eldest granddaughter. Thus, this young girl's identity was practically revealed.
Pretending to sympathize with the young girl, he asked about her background. Probably because no one usually talked about such idle gossip, the family held nothing back. This young girl had originally lived next door to them. Her father had gone out on business before she was even born and had never returned. Her mother had also passed away three years ago. Having no one to rely on, she was then taken in by her grandfather's family. He specifically asked more about the young girl's father and, sure enough, heard something that piqued his interest.
The man of the house spoke of that man with great admiration, saying he was extremely knowledgeable—not only was his medical skills superb, but he also possessed martial arts. It was a pity no one knew where he had gone, and he hadn't returned to this day.
Li Yushan felt certain in his heart. What the young girl had said was correct; her father was likely a cultivator, hence the mystery. He just didn't know what his cultivation level was.
However, he was also puzzled. Why would a cultivator stay in this ordinary village and even marry a mortal woman? One must know that cultivators generally looked down upon mortals. They would only form dual cultivation partnerships with fellow female cultivators, as that was beneficial to their own cultivation. As for mortal women, they might at most take them as concubines; who would marry one as a wife and have children?
Moreover, the woman he married was actually born with an illness, which was even more perplexing. After all, a cultivator's methods were like divine arts to mortals; curing a mortal should have been extremely simple.
Because of this, he specifically asked about this woman. Indeed, during those years, her husband had tried every possible means, only managing to alleviate her condition slightly.
He had a keen sense that this woman must have held a secret. Perhaps that secret was now with her daughter!
Thinking this, he quietly slipped out under the cover of night and entered the neighboring courtyard.
The house was clearly long uninhabited. The courtyard was empty. Pushing open the door, he could smell the musty odor of wood. Inside, there were only some pieces of furniture, empty and devoid of daily necessities.
He searched carefully but found nothing unusual. He figured that even if there had been anything, it had probably been taken away long ago.
Extremely disappointed, he left the house and headed towards the largest residence.
Before he even got close, he saw the faint spiritual light emanating from the house, indicating someone was cultivating. Such clear spiritual light showed that the young girl wasn't using any defensive formations. Although mortals couldn't see it, cultivators could see it clearly. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. For such a young girl to endure the tedium of cultivation and still be practicing so late at night—it seemed her current level of cultivation wasn't merely due to simple opportunity.
After quietly observing for a while, his brows slowly furrowed.
This was clearly wrong.
When a cultivator practiced, the spiritual light they emitted was related to the spiritual qi they absorbed. And what kind of spiritual qi they absorbed was determined by the cultivation art they practiced. Therefore, if one practiced a metal-attributed art, the spiritual light would be a faint gold color; if fire, it would be red. But the spiritual light before him had no color at all!
That meant the young girl was practicing an art with no attribute!
Any cultivation art without the attributes of the Five Elements was no simple introductory art. It either had special functions or possessed immense power.
He grew excited. A good art foretold rapid progress, even the possibility of Foundation Establishment! He had originally thought the girl's art was just somewhat better, but he hadn't expected it to be an ordinary introductory-level art.
Thinking of this, a sense of greed arose in his heart. If he could obtain this art...
Dawn was approaching. Mo Tiange stopped her cultivation for the day.
The cultivation insights she had heard from Li Yushan were indeed very useful. Many things she hadn't understood before were now resolved with ease. She had gained a great deal from this night's practice.
In a good mood, she went out to wash up. Even Aunt Lin's scowling face didn't dampen her spirits.
After eating, she told Tian Qiao she planned to go to town again. Because yesterday's cultivation had been so fruitful, she intended to see Li Yushan again today to discuss more about cultivation.
However, as soon as she arrived in town, she saw Li Yushan walking out of the inn with his luggage on his back.
"Fellow Daoist Li, are you leaving?"
Seeing her, Li Yushan smiled. "Yes, I've been here for half a month already. It's time to continue my journey. Did Fellow Daoist Mo come looking for me for something?"
Mo Tiange said, "Yesterday's exchange of insights cleared up some things for me, so I came to bother you again today. But since you're leaving, I won't trouble you."
"Not at all," Li Yushan replied with a laugh. "I would be only too happy for Fellow Daoist to come and discuss insights. How about we find a place to talk?"
Mo Tiange thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright."
Li Yushan then led her to the bridge at the town entrance and they sat down at a tea stall by the bridge.
As soon as they sat down, Li Yushan got straight to the point. "Was Fellow Daoist's cultivation smooth yesterday?"
Mo Tiange nodded. "I have to thank you. I never understood why my meridians were sometimes difficult to pass through. You told me to frequently nourish them with spiritual qi. I circulated it once yesterday, and it really did feel much better."
Li Yushan waved his hand with a smile. "That's common knowledge in the cultivation world; it's not my credit. Besides, what you told me benefited me greatly as well. That method of practicing spiritual qi circulation first when learning a spell will be very useful for me when I learn spells in the future." After saying this, he deliberately asked, "Fellow Daoist Mo, since your esteemed father has been gone for so long, how does he usually guide you?"
Mo Tiange paused, then said carefully, "Whenever I don't understand something, I write letters to ask my father."
Li Yushan made an acknowledging sound, but inwardly he thought: Those villagers clearly said her father had left and never returned, with no news at all. It seemed this young girl was also guarding against him. However, she was still young after all; fooling her would be too easy. Thinking this, he asked again, "What about your other relatives? It's really rare to see a cultivator like Fellow Daoist, hiding their identity and living among mortals."
Mo Tiange lowered her head. "My mother passed away from illness a few years ago. Now I live with other elders."
Seeing her low spirits, Li Yushan quickly apologized. "My apologies for bringing up a sad matter. But since your father is also a cultivator, why didn't he cure your mother? For us, a mortal's illness is really very easy to treat."
But Mo Tiange still shook her head. "My mother's illness couldn't be cured. My—my father said it was a problem with her constitution. He couldn't do anything about it either."
A problem with her constitution. A glint flashed in Li Yushan's eyes. So-called constitutional problems meant there was an issue with the innate Five Elements or Yin-Yang balance. For a mortal to be unable to survive, there were only a few possibilities: one, chaos among the Five Elements; two, imbalance of Yin and Yang; three, contamination by some kind of ghostly or demonic qi that shouldn't be there. While chaos among the Five Elements couldn't be cured, one's life could be prolonged. If one carried ghostly or demonic qi, it could be expelled. Only Yin-Yang imbalance was helpless. And Yin-Yang imbalance meant being born with a Pure Yang Body or a Pure Yin Body.
Thinking of this, he suddenly grew excited. Women with Pure Yang Bodies or men with Pure Yin Bodies generally died young shortly after birth. Only women with Pure Yin Bodies could live long enough to bear offspring!
If that were the case, then all his confusion would be resolved. The reason that cultivator stayed and married a mortal woman was because this woman possessed a Pure Yin Body. Even without a Spirit Root, it would be extremely beneficial to him. Moreover, this kind of constitution could possibly be inherited, and the chances of a cultivator's offspring having a Spirit Root were higher...
He lowered his eyes to conceal his excitement, because he realized this young girl was very likely one of the lucky ones. A woman possessing both a Pure Yin Constitution and a Spirit Root—no wonder she could cultivate in this mortal world even with just a Five Elements Spirit Root!
He couldn't help but recall news he had heard in Kunwu. Female cultivators with Pure Yin Constitutions were sought after for a thousand years and, moreover, would make the best Cauldrons...