After catching up on the years apart, Ye Zhenji looked at Mo Tiange. He hemmed and hawed, wanting to say something but unable to get it out for a long time.
Seeing him like this, Mo Tiange was puzzled. "What is it? Is something wrong? What can't you tell your aunt?"
Ye Zhenji looked at her with difficulty, speaking carefully. "Aunt, you've returned. In principle, I should come back to live with you. But my master treats me so well. Wouldn't it be... improper if I left as soon as you returned?"
"So that's the issue." Mo Tiange smiled. "It's the thought that counts. You're not a child anymore, and you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator. There's no reason for you to keep living in my small cave abode. Besides, he is your master; it's only right that you serve by his side."
"But Aunt, you..." Ye Zhenji hesitated. "I don't want you to live alone."
Mo Tiange shook her head. "Your aunt isn't a child either. What's more, I'm about to go into seclusion to attempt Core Formation. It will take at least twenty or thirty years. Even if you came back, I wouldn't be able to look after you."
"But..."
"Don't be troubled. Just go back as before," Mo Tiange said lightly. "Since your master treats you well, you should fulfill your filial duties as a disciple. I'm currently preoccupied with Core Formation and truly have no time to spare for you."
"...Alright." Torn between two loyalties, Ye Zhenji ultimately listened to her.
"Good. You've been here long enough. You should head back now."
"Understood, Aunt. You just got back; rest well. I'll come visit when I have time."
Mo Tiange nodded with a smile, watching him leave.
Once again alone in the room, Mo Tiange's smile faded. She sat silently for a while. A hundred different emotions swept through her heart, but in the end, she only sighed. So be it. In truth, this was better for Zhenji. And for herself, it meant fewer attachments.
Dao Lord Jinghe waited left and right, craning his neck for a long time, but no one came. He couldn't help but mutter, "Strange, why isn't she here yet?"
Mingxia, who was attending to him nearby, asked, "Patriarch, what are you waiting for?"
"For that unfilial brat!" Dao Lord Jinghe waved his hand impatiently. "Still not coming. Has she really changed her temperament?"
"Junior Uncle Mo?" Mingxia was confused. "Patriarch, why would Junior Uncle Mo come? Didn't you tell her to go rest?"
"I sent Zhenji to that kid. She's definitely going to be angry!" Dao Lord Jinghe frowned, holding his teacup. "Based on her old personality, if she got angry, she'd definitely come here to throw a tantrum. But why hasn't she shown up all day?"
"..." Mingxia was speechless for a moment. Having served this patriarch for decades, she naturally knew his temperament. But waiting for one's own disciple to come and demand an explanation... was this something a Nascent Soul Patriarch should be doing?
"And what's that expression on your face?" Dao Lord Jinghe glared at his maid.
Mingxia said, "Patriarch, I can't help but feel you actually *want* to make Junior Uncle Mo angry. What good comes from her being angry?"
"Ah, you don't understand!" Dao Lord Jinghe shook his head. "Having lived for almost a thousand years, if you don't find some amusement for yourself, life is boring! Besides, that girl is a cultivation maniac. I don't want to teach her to be like that brat of ours. One failure is enough. If I taught another disciple like that, it would be my great failure!"
Mingxia blinked. "Disciple can't help but feel you actually just want to be a matchmaker."
Dao Lord Jinghe was struck right on the mark by Mingxia's words and was speechless for a long time.
Seeing no one else around, Mingxia gathered her courage and asked, "Patriarch, didn't you used to say that for us Daoist practitioners, there are benefits to not practicing Dual Cultivation? That without attachments, one's state of mind can be more peaceful?"
Dao Lord Jinghe rubbed his nose. "Dual Cultivation also has its benefits... Besides, this matter should be looked at specifically. That brat clearly already has a knot in his heart. Since that's the case, it's better to just help him fulfill it."
"A knot in his heart? Fulfill it?" Mingxia didn't understand, but Dao Lord Jinghe wasn't prepared to answer further. Scratching his head, he said, "Alright, go see what that girl is doing. Could she really not be angry at all?"
Angry? Mo Tiange asked herself. Of course, it was impossible not to be angry. This master of hers was clearly scheming against her. But upon careful thought, she felt that given her current situation, entrusting Zhenji to someone else was better. She was now facing Core Formation and had too many things to do. Zhenji had already reached Foundation Establishment; there wasn't much she could do for him anymore.
Since that was the case, why get angry with that unreliable master? It wouldn't benefit her and would only make others happy for nothing.
She reined in her thoughts and rested properly for a few days. During this time, those maidservants came to probe for information, but she casually dismissed them all. After the events at Bixuan Pavilion, she had never yearned for advancement and to become powerful as much as she did now.
Later, upon learning of her return to the mountain, Ye Jingwen, Luo Fengxue, Han Qingyu, and even Kuang Zhu and others sent message talismans with their regards. Mo Tiange visited each of them in turn.
Ye Jingwen's cultivation was progressing smoothly; he had already advanced to the late stage. Luo Fengxue hadn't made progress in cultivation level but had become the chief steward of Ganlu Peak, thriving in her role. Han Qingyu and Kuang Zhu, like her, had reached Foundation Establishment Perfection and were awaiting Core Formation. Zhan Bai had not advanced but was in seclusion. His two sworn younger siblings, Xiao Guzi and Xiao Zui, had failed Foundation Establishment several times and were currently ordered by Kuang Zhu to enter seclusion, forbidden to leave until they succeeded.
After finishing her visits, she also gained some understanding of the reason for summoning all Foundation Establishment disciples back to the sect.
Uncle-Master Xuanyin had moved to Ganlu Peak. Luo Fengxue, as his disciple and skilled in management, was now handling the affairs of Ganlu Peak. Regarding this matter, she quietly gave Mo Tiange a hint.
It turned out that twenty years ago, during a sect competition, two Core Formation uncles were sparring and inadvertently caused a cliff face to collapse. This revealed a hidden, extremely secret formation in the valley of the main peak. After some investigation, the Sect Master and several Core Formation Elders concluded that this formation was at least over a hundred thousand years old. The matter was immediately reported to the Patriarchs of each peak.
One must know that the Xuanqing Sect had been established for tens of thousands of years and had produced countless astonishingly talented figures. That this formation lay deep within the main peak of Taikang Mountain for tens of thousands of years without being discovered was truly incredible.
Mo Tiange thought for a moment and asked Luo Fengxue, "A hundred thousand years... could it be a relic from the Ancient Era?"
Luo Fengxue first nodded, then shook her head. "Several uncles and aunts who examined it indeed believe so, but they aren't certain."
Legend said that after the long Primordial Era spanning millions of years, the Great War between Immortals and Demons occurred, nearly destroying the human world. Only a few survived. Immortals and Demons were separated from the Human Realm, possessing independent worlds, thus giving rise to the new human world. From then on, it was called the Ancient Era.
Mo Tiange had once heard Dao Lord Jinghe tell this ancient legend. Dao Lord Jinghe believed that from nothingness to existence, the gods had been constantly adjusting the rules of the Human Realm. During the Primordial Era, gods were also in the Human Realm. Later, they discovered that gods should not interfere with the development of the human world, so the gods left the Human Realm.
Then, at the end of the Primordial Era, the Great War between Immortals and Demons caused a great calamity. This period was called the Divine Extinction because rites and music collapsed in the human world, demons and monsters ran rampant, yet the gods paid no heed, nearly leading to the destruction of the human world. In the end, all Immortals and Demons who had cultivated and attained the Dao also left the Human Realm.
Next came the Ancient Era. Without gods, Immortals, or Demons, it possessed Spiritual Qi and resources as abundant as in the Primordial Era. As a result, Immortal cultivators and Demonic cultivators developed too rapidly. Righteous and Demonic paths clashed in war once more, but this time, it caused strange changes in heaven and earth, turning seas into mulberry fields.
Later, the human world finally stabilized. There was no longer dense Spiritual Qi or ubiquitous heavenly treasures. Both Immortal cultivators and Demonic cultivators struggled to survive. No one had ever heard of anyone ascending again. Righteous and Demonic paths still waged wars, but they no longer possessed the power to shatter heaven and earth.
Finally, Dao Lord Jinghe said this: "The gods are the masters of the world. Immortals and Demons represent righteousness and evil. Righteousness and evil have never coexisted since ancient times, so they are natural enemies. Don't think that just because the gods no longer govern the human world, everything in it isn't under their control. Immortals and Demons were too powerful, so they separated out the Immortal Realm and the Demonic Realm, letting the world be destroyed. Immortal cultivators and Demonic cultivators became too powerful, so at the end of the Ancient Era, heaven and earth underwent strange changes, and the human world never again had abundant Spiritual Qi. From the moment the world was born, if the development of the Human Realm was unsatisfactory, it would be destroyed and rebuilt. Hmph, we are all puppets in the hands of the gods. Even if we succeed in cultivation, we are merely higher-level puppets."
These words were truly shocking to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Mo Tiange thought for a long time and asked him, "Then why do we cultivate? If we ultimately cannot attain The Great Dao?"
Dao Lord Jinghe said, "Silly girl, even a high-level puppet is stronger than a low-level one. Besides, The Great Dao may not be hopeless. These are, after all, just Master's inferences. Have you seen Deity Transformation cultivators? Do they live freely?"
She thought of Zhong Muling and Yuan Bao and said hesitantly, "They said... they are already equivalent to gods in the human world."
"Correct. The world will keep being destroyed and rebuilt, but what does that have to do with us? The Primordial Era lasted millions of years, the Ancient Era over a hundred thousand. Can we live that long? We are not Deity Transformation cultivators; how do we know we cannot attain The Great Dao? After Deity Transformation, if one can become an Immortal and reach the Immortal Realm, can one not plan the next step? Can one ultimately still cultivate to become a god?"
Finally, Dao Lord Jinghe said, "On the path of The Great Dao, as long as there is hope, it is worth striving for. What do strange changes in heaven and earth have to do with us?"
"During the Ancient Era, Spiritual Qi was as abundant as in the Primordial Era. Many things, inherited from the Primordial Era, were extremely powerful. After discovering this formation, several of our uncles and aunts buried themselves in research for over a decade. Finally, they discovered that this formation was used by a certain Immortal cultivation sect during the Ancient Era to train their disciples."
Pulled back from her thoughts by Luo Fengxue's words, Mo Tiange pondered for a moment after hearing this. "What can be obtained inside?"
Luo Fengxue said, "Spiritual herbs."
Mo Tiange was taken aback. "After so many years, those spiritual herbs must be unusable, right?"
Luo Fengxue, however, smiled. "Not so. Actually, this formation wasn't meant to reward disciples with spiritual herbs. After a hundred thousand years, those things are long unusable. Rather, the spiritual herbs growing within it—perhaps very common back then—are now, after a hundred thousand years, the most precious treasures."
"So that's how it is..." Mo Tiange thought for a moment and asked again, "During the Ancient Era, there must have been many high-level cultivators. Why send us Foundation Establishment disciples?"
Luo Fengxue said, "Tian Ge, don't forget, high-level cultivators back then were much more powerful than now. This formation automatically adjusts its difficulty based on the cultivation level of the entering disciple. Several uncles and aunts have tried. Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators can't pass more than a few stages, but Foundation Establishment disciples pass relatively more."