After being dismissed by Mo Tiange's words, Tang Shen indeed stopped seeking her out. The way he looked at her was no different from before, clearly having let go of those thoughts. Instead, he became much more diligent in his daily cultivation. Whenever he encountered a problem, he would either take the opportunity to ask the two elders when they were free, or come to ask Mo Tiange.
Given the current situation, Tang Shen was, after all, an asset, so Mo Tiange didn't hold back. She told him everything she knew. As a result, Tang Shen's cultivation actually progressed quite rapidly—he was, after all, of the Pure Yang Constitution, and his Spirit Root probably wasn't as poor as hers had been back in the day.
As for other matters, the two Core Formation elders had long since made their plans. Mo Tiange was merely a nominal Guest Elder; she couldn't manage things even if she wanted to, and it wasn't appropriate for her to speak out of turn. Besides, she had no better solution. Ren Yufeng's current strength was too terrifying. She couldn't enter her Void Heaven Realm for the time being, couldn't refine pills, and just dealing with the Death Qi within her body was troublesome enough. Wanting to advance her realm was simply impossible. Since she couldn't advance, she couldn't deal with Ren Yufeng. This matter could only be left to Qingyi and Qingmiao to decide.
On the seventh floor of this Dao-Attainment Pagoda lay the accumulated treasures of the Bixuan Pavilion over thousands of years. There were quite a few good things. Now, facing the sect's potential annihilation, Elder Qingyi made the decision to utilize these reserves.
For this purpose, once Xia Qing recovered from her injuries, she devoted herself entirely to alchemy. As for Wei Haolan, the sect's reconstruction couldn't do without her. The two elders were extremely generous, giving her precious spiritual medicines they had treasured for a long time to heal her wounds. Thus, several months later, Wei Haolan's injuries finally stabilized, and she managed to preserve her cultivation base. However, she was also plagued by Death Qi. To fully recover might take even longer than it would for Mo Tiange. Moreover, her Dantian was injured, basically dashing any hope of advancing to Core Formation.
Upon learning this from the two elders, Wei Haolan was stunned for a long time. Even though she was a cultivator who valued power more, learning that she might never advance again was still difficult to accept.
Fortunately, Wei Haolan was a resilient person and had already prepared herself for her injuries. She quickly adjusted her mood and continued to heal daily, assisting Xia Qing with alchemy.
In the blink of an eye, a year passed. Under the condition of sparing no spiritual medicines, Qingyi and Qingmiao finally recovered from their injuries and announced they would go into seclusion to cultivate a secret technique. No one was to disturb them on the fourth floor unless absolutely necessary.
Upon hearing this news, Wei Haolan and the other two were stunned simultaneously, their expressions tinged with hidden sorrow, which puzzled Mo Tiange.
Remembering what Qingyi and Qingmiao had said when they invited her to be a Guest Elder, Mo Tiange quietly went to ask Wei Haolan.
"Sect Leader Wei, the secret technique the two elders mentioned... does it harm their lives?"
Wei Haolan paused for a moment and sighed. "Fellow Daoist Ye, you are now a Guest Elder of our Bixuan Pavilion. You have the right to know these things. Yes, before our Founding Patriarch Monarch Bishui passed away, she left behind a set of secret techniques called the Blood Restriction Secret Technique. All Bixuan Pavilion disciples above the Foundation Establishment stage learn the first half of this technique. It's a desperate method to perish together with the enemy. The latter half, however, can only be cultivated by those at the Core Formation stage or above, and it is time-consuming and laborious. Its effect is... to merge the cultivation of several people into one, thus becoming the strongest existence among Core Formation cultivators."
"...So, Elder Qingxi used this Blood Restriction Secret Technique?"
Wei Haolan nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, Elder Qingxi was already severely injured at the time, and that person's power was extraordinary. She could only hold him back for a moment..."
"What about Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao?" Mo Tiange's expression was grave. "If they use this technique, what will be the consequences?"
Wei Haolan smiled bitterly. "Although this technique can be cultivated by those at Core Formation or above, none of the Core Formation ancestors in our Bixuan Pavilion's history have ever cultivated it."
Mo Tiange was taken aback. "Why is that?" Even if using it endangered one's life, learning it as a last resort would be good. Why hadn't anyone even studied it?
"Because," Wei Haolan said slowly, word by word, "once you cultivate the latter half of the Blood Restriction Secret Technique, you can no longer be considered human."
Mo Tiange was silent for a long moment. No longer considered human? What did that mean? If not human, then what?
As if seeing her confusion, Wei Haolan shook her head. "The so-called 'Blood Restriction' requires blood as the price. If a person's blood is drained dry, wouldn't they become a desiccated corpse? How could they still be human?"
Hearing this, Mo Tiange was stunned.
Wei Haolan turned her head away, hiding the sorrow in her eyes. "The two elders are already resolved to die... We must cultivate well, rebuild the Bixuan Pavilion, and fulfill their last wishes."
No wonder the three of them had such expressions upon learning the elders were going to cultivate the secret technique. Cultivating this technique doomed them from the start. Whether successful or not, they would die.
Carrying this heavy heart, Mo Tiange threw herself into healing and cultivating spells.
Having a powerful enemy nearby yet being unable to do anything was a terrible feeling. Since reaching Foundation Establishment, she had never felt such an urgent desire to become stronger as she did now.
Therefore, after confirming she would need to spend a great deal of time refining the Death Qi, she devoted all her energy to studying the jade slip left behind by Mo Yaoqing.
This jade slip didn't actually record any earth-shattering, ghost-startling secret techniques. Instead, it contained techniques for casting spells and insights into cultivating the Art of the Plain Maiden.
But Mo Yaoqing was truly a genius of rare talent. Simple spells, as she explained them, gained greater power. Some subtle, almost unnoticeable modifications almost completely transformed certain spells, greatly increasing their power. The insights into cultivating the Art of the Plain Maiden made Mo Tiange dive into them with ravenous hunger.
Her main cultivation technique was the Primordial Chaos Plain Maiden Art modified by Zhong Muling, which was a merger of the Taiyuan Record and the Art of the Plain Maiden. In terms of details, it was no different from the two original techniques. Therefore, Mo Yaoqing's cultivation insights were completely applicable to Mo Tiange.
Additionally, the jade slip contained some things Mo Yaoqing had casually recorded, such as modifications to some pill formulas and ideas for refining magic treasures. It covered alchemy, artifact forging, formations, and restrictions—almost everything. It was clear these were just her random thoughts; some she had tested, others were merely concepts.
But being able to conceive pill formulas and entirely new methods for refining magic treasures could absolutely be called grandmaster level, especially considering the wide range of fields involved.
Learning that Mo Yaoqing was such a versatile talent, Mo Tiange was both amazed and puzzled. With such talent, almost no less than that of the Purple Tenuity Hermit, why had her original sect treated her merely as an excellent candidate for Dual Cultivation rather than cultivating her as the future of the sect?
Mo Yaoqing's journal entries later in the jade slip resolved her doubts.
"I stepped onto the Immortal Dao at five, reached Foundation Establishment at twenty, formed my Golden Core in my one hundreds, and attained Nascent Soul at three hundred. The hardships are not for outsiders to know. Alas, I was born a woman and possessed a Pure Yin Constitution. Otherwise, how could I have drifted from place to place, ended up in a foreign land, and never returned to my homeland in my entire life?"
"Being a woman, the Immortal Dao is particularly difficult. I consider myself talented and my intellect inferior to no one in the sect, yet because I possess the Pure Yin Constitution, I was always seen as potentialCauldron. I have pondered the reason. Probably because the path of cultivation is mostly tread by men. Over time, the world has become blinded, failing to recognize the talent of women."
This self-statement was filled with sighs over unrecognized talent. Mo Tiange also felt a pang of sympathy reading it. To be fair, although she also felt she had exceptional talent and intellect, compared to Mo Yaoqing, she had to look up in admiration. There was too much in this jade slip for her to learn. Not to mention the future, the her of today was definitely no match for Mo Yaoqing.
Both Mo Yaoqing and that Purple Tenuity Hermit made her realize that there were such geniuses in this world. The path she had to walk was still very long; she must not become complacent.
The latter part of the journal recorded some of Mo Yaoqing's private matters.
"In Yunzhong, I met a male cultivator named Zhong Muling. He actually possessed the Pure and Balanced Constitution. Even more rarely seen, his nature retained purity and kindness. He is truly someone worth befriending."
"Met a man with the Pure Yang Constitution. He would be a good match, but this person's temperament is arrogant. I do not like him. This matter is dropped."
Later, it recorded: "My Nascent Soul advancement is proving elusive. I am increasingly restless. Enemies are increasing daily. If I do not advance soon, I will not be able to protect myself. After pondering for several days, I finally have a plan. This plan is the worst of the worst. Once employed, I will let down Zhong Muling, but I cannot find a better method for now."
The man she mentioned was undoubtedly Yuan Bao, but the tone was completely indifferent. It seemed a genius like Mo Yaoqing was also very proud herself and disdained the path of Dual Cultivation. But what was the method she mentioned that would make her betray Zhong Muling?
Reading further, Mo Tiange finally understood.
"In theory, Dual Cultivation with a Pure Yang Constitution would have miraculous efficacy, but I truly dislike that Yuan Bao Daoist. Only Zhong Muling's nature is sincere; I like him very much. Moreover, he possesses the Pure and Balanced Constitution. While Dual Cultivation might not be as effective as with a Pure Yang Constitution, it's not bad either. Although I am on good terms with Zhong Muling, this matter truly wrongs him. I could not bring myself to speak of it, so I used the Soul-Subduing Bell to bewitch him, finally accomplishing the Dual Cultivation..."
Reading this, Mo Tiange was stunned. So Zhong Muling was actually... by Mo Yaoqing! This ancestor not only had intellect no less than men, but her methods and daring were also comparable to a man's!
While inwardly admiring her, she also felt this matter wasn't very honorable. Would Zhong Muling have been willing?
"Zhong Muling is not a promiscuous person. My actions this time were truly not at all honorable. I expected he would sever ties after came to his senses. Unexpectedly, although Zhong Muling was not very pleased, he did not turn against me. He said that since I had treated him with kindness before, this matter would be let it pass. Feeling ashamed in my heart, I thought it over and decided to leave Yunzhong..."
After that came everything about arriving in Linhai: setting up the teleportation formation, going to Kunwu to rescue a group of women being used asCauldron, establishing the Bixuan Pavilion, and taking the title Monarch Bishui...
Mo Tiange found some scattered and messy records: "A night as husband and wife, unexpectedly resulted in pregnancy. I single-mindedly to cultivate the Immortal Dao and should not have let him stay, but my heart was reluctant. Thinking of his father, I finally gave birth to him. Poor child had no Spirit Root, destined to have no spiritual affinity. I could only leave him in the mortal world..."
There were many other things in between. Later, Mo Tiange found another passage: "I am now at the Nascent Soul mid-stage. My lifespan is limited. Advancement is already hopeless. Thinking of giving birth in the past, after hundreds of years, there are many descendants, but only a few have Spirit Roots, and all haveWaste Spirit Root, not conducive Attraction enter Immortal Dao. There are also two or three with the Pure Yin Constitution, but none have Spirit Roots. Now that I am approaching my end, the Art of the Plain Maiden will eventually be lost. I have no choice but to go to the mortal world once, seal a strand of divine sense. If any descendant inherits the Pure Yin Constitution, I will pass down the Art of the Plain Maiden..."