After catching up on their respective situations, each shared what they could. Jiang Shanghang asked, "Junior Brother Ye, since you are now a disciple of a prestigious sect, why have you come to such a harsh place as the Extreme North?"
"Well... to be honest with you, Senior Brother Jiang, I'm traveling down the mountain to gain experience. Since the Zhengfa Sect and my Xuanqing Sect both belong to the Daoist path, I came to the Extreme North to take a look." This statement was half-truth, half-lie. There was nothing she couldn't say about traveling for experience, but it wasn't convenient to speak much about entering a place of opportunity like the Ziwei Cave Abode.
Jiang Shanghang, of course, didn't know what she was hiding. Hearing her words, he simply nodded. This was very common. Most disciples of major sects needed to travel for experience before advancing to the next stage, lest their state of mind be insufficient and they fail during the breakthrough. Mo Tiange was now at the peak of Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment; by the rules, she should come out to gain experience to break through to Late-Stage Foundation Establishment.
"And you, Senior Brother Jiang, why aren't you at the Zhengfa Sect?"
Jiang Shanghang smiled but didn't answer immediately, a flicker of hesitation passing through his eyes. He slowly said, "I won't hide it from you either. With my aptitude, it's very difficult for my cultivation to progress after Foundation Establishment. So, I'm not often at the sect these days; I frequently go out to search for spirit herbs to refine pills. Otherwise, with my aptitude, it's truly hard..." He paused, then continued, "This time I left the sect, I also had this intention. Don't look at the vast snowy plains of the Extreme North; there are actually many good things here, it just depends on whether others can find them or not."
Mo Tiange looked at the mysterious smile on Jiang Shanghang's face and couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that Senior Brother Jiang knows..."
Jiang Shanghang still smiled. "If Junior Brother Ye is interested, we can discuss it in detail later. Since Junior Brother Ye has come to the Extreme North, I should do my duty as host and entertain you properly."
Seeing Jiang Shanghang change the subject, Mo Tiange understood he didn't want to talk about it yet, so she didn't press. Following his lead, she nodded. "Then I thank Senior Brother Jiang. In this Extreme North, I'm unfamiliar with both the place and the people. Having Senior Brother Jiang as host is the best possible arrangement."
Jiang Shanghang laughed twice, then said, "Junior Brother Ye, you look quite tired. Why not rest first? After you've rested enough, we can discuss some cultivation matters, or I can show you the sights of the Extreme North."
"In that case... I'll trouble Senior Brother Jiang."
Jiang Shanghang nodded with a smile and raised his voice. "Someone!"
After a moment, the woman who had brought the tea earlier lifted the door curtain and entered, bowing. "What does the Immortal Master command?"
Jiang Shanghang said, "Prepare the guest quarters and entertain my friend well."
The woman glanced at Mo Tiange. "Yes." Then she walked up to Mo Tiange, respectfully bowed, and made a gesture of invitation. "Immortal, please follow this servant."
Mo Tiange bowed to Jiang Shanghang once more, then stood up and followed the woman out of the ice house.
The mortal woman led her around a corner into an ice house not far away. This ice house was similar to the one Jiang Shanghang occupied, also with a small outer hall and an inner sleeping area separated by a door curtain. The ice houses of the Extreme North weren't convenient for proper doors; it seemed they all used animal skin curtains for separation.
After bringing her here, the mortal woman respectfully bowed again. "Immortal, please rest here. If you need anything, just call out loudly for me."
"Mm." Mo Tiange surveyed the small ice house.
After another bow, the mortal woman withdrew.
Mo Tiange rubbed her temples, feeling quite weary. But she still carefully set up a defensive formation inside the room before entering the Void Heaven Realm.
From detecting the Spiritual Qi fluctuation in the Jin Kingdom, pursuing it to the Wind Rest Valley of Nine Spirit Mountain, then entering the Ziwei Cave Abode, and finally being teleported to the Extreme North Glacier by the formation array—it had actually only been three or four days. Three or four days meant nothing to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but after experiencing so many things, she felt mentally exhausted.
Once inside the Void Heaven Realm, finally safe, she didn't want to do anything. She simply lay down and had a good, sound sleep.
When she leisurely awoke, she didn't know what time it was. Recalling the experience in the Ziwei Cave Abode, she took out from her Qiankun Bag the two stone puppets, the Xuanji Formation Book, and the Sunlight Stone.
In the Ziwei Cave Abode, she had obtained five items in total. The Cloud-Stepping Boots were already on her feet. That unknown ore she couldn't identify, but it was certainly no ordinary object, so she had put it away. The other three were now before her.
These two stone puppets were both at Late-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. The control method left in her mind by Ziwei Sanren told her that these puppets would automatically absorb the surrounding Spiritual Qi. As long as there was Spiritual Qi, they could operate forever. Two Late-Stage Foundation Establishment helpers increased her current strength by more than half. If controlled well, she had little to fear from any cultivator below Core Formation.
Then there was the Sunlight Stone. According to what Daoist Fangzheng had said, this thing could generate Sun True Fire, which could be used for pill refining. This time, for Zhenji's safety, she had left Little Fire with Zhenji. A Foundation Establishment cultivator's Dantian True Fire wasn't sufficient, so she was lacking a suitable pill fire. This was quite convenient.
The most important was still the Xuanji Formation Book. She had personally witnessed the power of the illusion formation in the Ziwei Cave Abode, and that was with Ziwei Sanren holding back. If he hadn't held back, what kind of terrifying formation would it have been? So, learning this Xuanji Formation Book, it was no exaggeration to say that with preparation, she could completely take on multiple opponents alone. Even when facing higher-level cultivators, she wouldn't be without means of preserving her life.
Just as she was about to immerse her divine sense into the jade slip and begin studying the Xuanji Formation Book, she heard a voice from outside the Void Heaven Realm. "Immortal? Immortal?"
Mo Tiange pressed her brow and emerged from the Void Heaven Realm. She opened the formation and said, "Come in!"
Someone lifted the outer door curtain and entered, stopping outside the inner door. Then came the voice of yesterday's woman. "Immortal, our Immortal Master requests your presence. I wonder if it is convenient for the Immortal to meet?"
So it was Jiang Shanghang wanting to see her. Mo Tiange nodded. "Understood. I'll go right away."
The woman bowed once more and led her back to yesterday's ice house.
As soon as she lifted the door curtain, Jiang Shanghang was already waiting for her in the hall. Seeing her enter, he stood up to greet her. "Junior Brother Ye. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"
Mo Tiange smiled. "Not at all. I was just idling with nothing to do."
Jiang Shanghang returned the smile. "That's good then. Junior Brother Ye, yesterday I said I'd show you the sights of the Extreme North. Today the weather happens to be clear and fine. How about going out for a walk?"
"Good." When the host extended an invitation, what reason was there to refuse?
The two left the ice house and, amidst the reverent bows and worship of the tribe's mortals, summoned their respective flight artifacts and flew into the air.
The mortals below looked up at them with envy and respect. Mo Tiange even saw a mother lift her child, who was only three or four years old, and earnestly instruct, "Xiao Feng, see? These are Immortal Masters! The Immortal Master said you have a Spirit Root. Although it's not very good, you can still cultivate. Cultivate well, and when you grow up, you can fly like the Immortal Masters too!"
Jiang Shanghang must have heard this too. He smiled at her and said, "That child only has a Five Spirit Root, but at least he can cultivate. The hopes of the entire tribe rest on him!"
Mo Tiange was somewhat surprised. "This tribe only has a few hundred people, right? Senior Brother Jiang, you said you came to this tribe because their Immortal Master perished. Now another child with a Spirit Root has appeared. It seems like their rate of producing Spirit Roots is quite high?"
"Exactly. I was also very surprised when I first arrived," Jiang Shanghang said. "The mortals of the Extreme North have a much higher rate of producing Spirit Roots than those of the Central Plains, almost matching the cultivation clans of Kunwu. A tribe of a few hundred people can produce one person with a Spirit Root. However, their Spirit Roots are generally of poorer quality. It's rare to produce a cultivator with better than a Three Spirit Root, and their cultivators' lifespans are also shorter than those of Kunwu people."
"Oh..."
"I suspect it might be due to the special environment of the Extreme North. They need the protection of cultivators, so gradually, they have more cultivators than Kunwu. But where there are benefits, there are naturally drawbacks. The price is that their cultivators' lifespans are shorter than those of Kunwu."
That made sense. In ancient times, a theory was popular: natural selection, where only the fittest survive. Facts have proven this principle. Those that have been passed down have all adapted to environmental changes; those that didn't adapt have perished.
On this day, the weather was as clear and fine as Jiang Shanghang had said. The sun appeared in the sky, casting a slight warmth on their bodies. The glacier under the sunlight refracted multicolored light, as dazzling and beautiful as a rainbow.
Mo Tiange flew in the sky, looking down. She felt that the endless, crystalline glacier, with rainbows hanging between them, was truly intoxicating to the spirit.
Jiang Shanghang turned and saw her expression. He smiled and asked, "Does Junior Brother Ye also find the scenery of the Extreme North beautiful?"
Mo Tiange nodded, unable to help but praise, "How vast the world is, with beauty found in different places. The Kunwu mountain range is majestic and towering, while this Extreme North Glacier, with its endless expanse of white snow, is also extremely magnificent."
"Exactly," Jiang Shanghang said with a hint of pride. "It was only after coming to the Extreme North that I realized how vast the world is. Why confine oneself to one mountain or one person? The Jiang Family treated me poorly, so I left. The world is so vast; surely there's a place for me? With such a wonderful world, why should I be depressed over a Jiang Family that treated me badly?"
"Well said," Mo Tiange couldn't help but clap her hands in praise. "With such broad-mindedness, Senior Brother Jiang, if we had wine, we should drink a great toast."
"Haha!" Jiang Shanghang laughed heartily, looking up at the sky. He took out a small bottle of wine from his robe and tossed it to her. "Want wine? Here it is!"
Mo Tiange caught it. Seeing him take out another bottle from his robe, open it, and look full of heroic spirit, she couldn't help but feel a surge of heroic sentiment herself. She also pulled out the stopper and clinked her bottle with his. "A toast to Senior Brother Jiang, reborn and different from the past."
Jiang Shanghang smiled. "A toast to our escape from death, to our reunion after more than a decade, to this vast world, and to our bright futures."
With that, the two each drank their bottle dry.
Discarding the empty bottles, Jiang Shanghang let out a long sigh. "After more than ten years in the Extreme North, I don't really want to return to Kunwu. It's peaceful and content here. Although there are occasional disputes and daily life is hard, it's better than the unfathomable hearts and constant scheming of Kunwu."
"Is that so?" Mo Tiange gazed into the distance. The endless snowy plain stretched on, empty and uninhabited, with only the cries of wild beasts. She also desired such a peaceful, content life. However, everything was good for her now in the Xuanqing Sect. She had a gracious master, friends, and family. These were more important to her.