With a new cave abode, Mo Tiange moved once more. Fortunately, she didn't have many possessions. The important items were either in her Qiankun Bag or within the Void Heaven Realm. She simply packed her daily necessities, leaving even the tables and chairs untouched, and moved into Dao Lord Xuanyin's former cave abode.
When she first arrived at Qingquan Peak, she had lived in the small cave abode next to Dao Lord Xuanyin's. That had been the first proper cave abode she had ever lived in. Now, returning to the same place, she was the master of the main cave abode.
Now, Dao Lord Xuanyin had long since moved to Ganlu Peak, and all his disciples had relocated as well. This large cave abode now belonged entirely to her.
Although she knew that as a major sect in Tianji, the Xuanqing Sect treated high-level cultivators extremely generously, Mo Tiange understood in her heart that a cave abode of this scale being bestowed upon a cultivator who had just undergone Core Formation was due to Daojun Jinghe's deep affection for her.
Thinking of this, she smiled faintly. How fortunate she was in this life. Although she had lost many things, she had also gained many equally precious things.
After advancing to Core Formation, and since she had no disciples for the time being, the Deacon Hall inquired and sent several Foundation Establishment disciples to help her organize the cave abode. If she had no objections, they could stay to continue handling miscellaneous tasks.
Within the Xuanqing Sect, unless they were elite disciples, the standard disciple allowances for Foundation Establishment cultivators were far from sufficient for their cultivation needs. Therefore, they generally sought out some duties. Even elite disciples, if their master's status wasn't high and they didn't receive many rewards, would find their allowances insufficient for cultivation.
Back when Mo Tiange first entered the Xuanqing Sect, because she had been brought back by Daojun Jinghe's beloved disciple, Perfected One Shoujing, and was then accepted as Daojun Jinghe's nominal disciple and taught by the then Perfected One Xuanyin, she had never worried about Spirit Stones. But ordinary elite disciples weren't so lucky. Luo Fengxue had duties in the Deacon Hall and was favored by her master, which gave her considerable Spirit Stones. Even Ye Jingwen would occasionally take on duties to earn some Spirit Stones for his own cultivation. Back when he was ordered to go to the mortal world to bring her back to the Xuanqing Sect, it was for this reason.
For Foundation Establishment disciples, the best duties were undoubtedly entering the Deacon Hall to become deacons. This offered a bit of minor authority and a stable income of Spirit Stones. The drawback was the inability to go into prolonged seclusion, which somewhat affected cultivation.
Slightly worse were duties handling miscellaneous tasks for the sect. Some tasks were unsuitable for Qi Refining disciples due to their lower cultivation level and lack of reliability, requiring these Foundation Establishment disciples instead. If they needed to go into seclusion, they could simply request leave or entrust the tasks to others. The downside was that the Spirit Stones wouldn't be too plentiful and were unstable.
There was also a type of duty that was both good and bad: working for Core Formation cultivators. It was good—better than the first type—because one could meet Core Formation cultivators, and doing well might earn rewards. It was bad because Core Formation cultivators weren't easy to serve. What if one encountered one or two with bad tempers? They might not only make things difficult but also withhold Spirit Stones. Moreover, generally speaking, Core Formation cultivators had their own disciples. The good tasks would be done by their own disciples, leaving only the undesirable chores for outsiders.
However, for a Core Formation cultivator like Mo Tiange, who had just formed her Core, had no disciples, possessed an extraordinary status, and had Daojun Jinghe as her backer, working for her was a great duty. Having just formed her Core and lacking disciples, she wouldn't be too picky about personnel, so they could get good tasks. Having a powerful backer meant she had the confidence and would be generous with rewards.
However, just like with Senior Uncle Shoujing back in the day, entering this Qingwei Perfected One's cave abode wasn't that easy. One needed some connections in the Deacon Hall to be recommended.
Mo Tiange looked over the cultivators recommended by the Deacon Hall. Indeed, most were disciples of her senior brothers and sisters, with a small portion also having some connections. She found it a bit of a headache.
She thought about it. Back then, Senior Brother Shoujing didn't seem to like others entering his cave abode much. So when he needed disciples to handle chores, he just picked a few from among his senior brothers' and sisters' disciples. However, she didn't have that kind of cleanliness obsession. Although she also didn't particularly like noise, her cave abode was much larger, and having no one to manage affairs just wouldn't do. But with so many people, she really didn't know how to handle it, nor did she know which ones had connections and whether refusing them would cause issues.
Therefore, Mo Tiange sent a message talisman to consult Luo Fengxue. Luo Fengxue had seen plenty of such situations and could likely offer some good advice.
Not long after, Luo Fengxue replied with a message talisman: "If you don't like it, just refuse. Don't worry about offending anyone. You are now the master's formal disciple and have advanced to Core Formation. The several senior uncles won't hold it against you for this. If you can't be bothered to handle it, just list the miscellaneous tasks and hand them over to the Deacon Hall. The Deacon Hall will naturally take good care of things for you."
Mo Tiange suddenly saw the light. That's right! She had formed her Core. She wasn't just Daojun Jinghe's disciple anymore; she was also an elder of the Xuanqing Sect. What was there to fear about offending people? Those senior brothers and sisters certainly wouldn't blame her over a few junior disciples. The Deacon Hall should also be currying favor with her. If she assigned tasks, they wouldn't dare to neglect them.
Having made up her mind, Mo Tiange listed the miscellaneous tasks she needed handled and gave them to a deacon from the Deacon Hall. She told him which tasks required Foundation Establishment disciples and which didn't restrict cultivation level. As for selecting personnel and the required Spirit Stone expenses, she left it all for the deacon to handle on her behalf, adding that she didn't like being disturbed and preferred as few people as possible.
The deacon accepted the order and indeed handled everything properly. Pleased, Mo Tiange rewarded him with quite a few things.
Coincidentally, before forming her Core, when she entered the Myriad Laws of Nature Formation, she had obtained many spiritual herbs. While she was unconscious, those herbs had been submitted by Ye Zhenji. She was lucky; the rewards for these herbs were extremely generous. Later, after waking up, she had thought about leaving them for Zhenji, but Zhenji firmly refused, saying he already had his master's disciple allowance and that his aunt was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, so he shouldn't take so much from her. Mo Tiange thought about it and let it be. These medicinal herbs had been stored in her Qiankun Bag ever since, and now they were perfect for rewarding these disciples.
Seeing her indeed generous rewards, the disciples handling the chores became even more diligent.
Thinking of Ye Zhenji, Mo Tiange sat in her new cave abode, lost in thought for a while.
While she and Qin Xi were both in seclusion, Ye Zhenji had gone down the mountain alone, saying his cultivation had reached the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, but his mental state and experience were insufficient, and he needed to go out and train.
After all, he still had a master now, and Qin Xi hadn't objected, so Mo Tiange didn't say anything and let him go.
Besides, Zhenji's experience was indeed lacking. Keeping him by her side all the time wasn't a solution. Think about her own path. Although her cultivation journey after arriving at the Xuanqing Sect could be considered smooth, how many things had she experienced in her childhood? That had long since cultivated her resolute and decisive character. Zhenji was different. His path to immortality had been too smooth, with almost no experiences to temper his mental state. If he didn't go out to train, he couldn't grow.
Later, during her sixteen-year seclusion, Zhenji had returned once. But at that time, she was still in seclusion, and Qin Xi was also in seclusion. Zhenji stayed for two years and then left the mountain again. This time, he hadn't returned yet. Calculating carefully, it had been eight years.
She couldn't help but worry. Eight years without any news from Zhenji—could something have happened to him? He had left a drop of his essence blood with Qin Xi beforehand. Qin Xi hadn't said anything about it, so presumably, he was fine. But where exactly had Zhenji gone? Knowing she was about to form her Core, yet not returning for eight years was truly unusual.
Thinking of this, Mo Tiange sent a message talisman to the Deacon Hall, entrusting them to search for Ye Zhenji's whereabouts. Perhaps this child was trapped somewhere and needed rescue.
Apart from the cave abode and Zhenji, there was one more thing that gave Mo Tiange a headache.
She had advanced to Core Formation at the age of eighty-four, once again causing a sensation in West Kunwu. Many cultivators from other sects came to offer congratulations and visit. If she refused to meet them, it would seem too arrogant. But if she met them, she really couldn't stand these social interactions. In the end, Luo Fengxue gave her a tip: "When Senior Uncle Shoujing formed his Core, it was the same. He used stabilizing his realm as an excuse to go into seclusion and not come out, leaving it to the deacon disciples to handle. With that reason, no one could say anything. You might as well do the same."
Mo Tiange suddenly understood. Right. After a cultivator advanced, the most important thing was stabilizing their realm. If she said that, others couldn't very well blame her.
Following Luo Fengxue's advice, she instructed the deacon disciples accordingly and honestly closed her doors, not venturing out. This was both to avoid these troubles and because she genuinely needed to stabilize her realm.
After forming her Core, Mo Tiange could now openly take out the two Foundation Establishment puppets. With her status as a Core Formation cultivator, plus having Daojun Jinghe as her backer, possessing two Foundation Establishment puppets would at most cause some surprise.
Additionally, apart from stabilizing her realm, there was another very important matter: she needed to refine her lifebound magical treasure.
She had already given the refining formula for the Heaven and Earth Fan to Daojun Jinghe for evaluation. Daojun Jinghe had praised this treasure formula endlessly. Upon learning it was conceived by a female cultivator thousands of years ago, he was even more fascinated, wistfully thinking of that era, wishing he could go back and have a talk with Primordial Lord Bishui.
Mo Tiange didn't mention that Primordial Lord Bishui was her ancestor, Mo Yaoqing. Regarding the events at Linhai, she only gave a general overview, focusing on the matter of Ren Yu-Feng. She also gave Daojun Jinghe the stone tablet obtained from Ren Yu-Feng for him to study.
Since Daojun Jinghe praised the Heaven and Earth Fan so highly, Mo Tiange planned to refine it as her lifebound magical treasure. While some of these materials were hard to find in Linhai, in Tianji, there was still a chance. For those few particularly difficult-to-find materials, spending a large sum, plus leveraging the Xuanqing Sect's connections, still offered hope. Therefore, Daojun Jinghe didn't object either.
Mo Tiange asked Daojun Jinghe about some materials she didn't understand, then notified the Deacon Hall, asking them to spread the word and try to find them.
The hardest to find were thousand-year-old Jade Marrow and a piece of Qiyun Stone. The other auxiliary materials, though scarce, were still hopeful if she offered a high price. But these two items were things one could only encounter by chance, not actively seek. Mo Tiange didn't even know what Qiyun Stone was. When she asked Daojun Jinghe, he also said he had only read about it in ancient texts and had never seen it in reality.
For this reason, Mo Tiange specifically instructed the Deacon Hall: if Qiyun Stone appeared, regardless of the price, secure it. After all, with her current wealth, she could afford what ordinary people called a sky-high price. Even if she really didn't have enough Spirit Stones, she still had a master backing her up!
Apart from refining her lifebound magical treasure, matters after advancing to Core Formation included changing to a Core Formation stage cultivation technique and taking Core Formation stage spiritual medicines.
But Mo Tiange didn't need to struggle with these. The Taiyuan Record given to her by Zhong Muling could be cultivated all the way to Deity Transformation, and the Hunyuan Primordial Maiden Art could be cultivated to Nascent Soul. Zhong Muling had said that if she cultivated the Hunyuan Primordial Maiden Art, after entering the Deity Transformation realm, she could naturally create her own technique based on her unique conditions. So regarding techniques, she didn't need to worry.
As for spiritual medicines, needless to say, she didn't even need to refine any in the short term. She had originally refined many Condensing Yuan Pills and Azure Cloud Pills for practice. Plus, after forming her Core, the sect would reward her with many pills and Spirit Stones at once, enough to allow her to go into seclusion for several years without worrying about pills.
Therefore, in the following time, she would continue cultivating to stabilize her realm while waiting for news about the materials for the Heaven and Earth Fan. Of course, she could also collect magical treasures. After all, a Core Formation cultivator's combat ability still depended on their magical treasures.