After a simple memorial ceremony with Qin Xi, Mo Tiange apologized to the skeleton and carefully placed each bone into a prepared urn, intending to take them back to the mortal world for burial with her mother.
During her Foundation Establishment travels, she had once thought of returning to Mo Family Village. She had already entered Jin Kingdom territory at that time but was drawn away by the spiritual energy fluctuations from the Ziwei Cave Mansion. Now, counting the years, it had been seventy-six years since she last returned. Seventy-six years—her grandparents, uncles, and aunts must have long turned to dust, and people like Tian Jun were likely no longer in this world... She wondered if anyone had been tending to her mother's grave...
In the coming days, she planned to return to Mo Family Village in Jin Kingdom, relocate her mother's remains, and along with the ashes of her Second Uncle, which she had kept with her all this time, bury them all back in the Ye family ancestral tomb.
After collecting her father's remains, Mo Tiange looked up and carefully examined the cave where they had hidden back then. The rock walls were tinged a deep red by the glow of the Immortal Fire, which was nearby, its heat oppressive.
"You hid here back then?"
Qin Xi crouched down, using his Three Yang True Fire Sword to poke around in a corner as if searching for something. Hearing her voice, he replied, "When the restrictions of Tianmo Mountain collapsed back then, your father and I hid within Wanren Peak. After things stabilized slightly, we found we couldn't get out, so we ascended to the Ruins of All Immortals. We came here specifically because I needed to cultivate a secret technique. Your father was severely injured at the time; leaving him alone would have meant he wouldn't last more than a few days. Since he had saved me along the way, I brought him here."
"So that's how it was..." This place was indeed the best for cultivating Yang-attribute techniques. Fire was the ultimate expression of Yang, especially here where it was all Immortal Fire.
After a while, Qin Xi let out a relieved sigh and stood up. "Finally found it."
Mo Tiange was curious. "What were you looking for?"
Qin Xi walked back and opened his hand. "Here, this." In his palm lay several pitch-black stones.
Mo Tiange picked one up, feeling its intense heat. After a moment's thought, she exclaimed in surprise, "Could this be Fire Marrow Stone?"
Qin Xi nodded with a smile. "Correct. It is indeed Fire Marrow Stone."
So-called Fire Marrow Stone was an ore produced in places of extreme True Fire energy, commonly called the essence of fire. Initially, Fire Marrow Stone was red in color. After being tempered by True Fire over long years, the red would deepen until it eventually turned black. These several Fire Marrow Stones were jet black, clearly of the highest grade.
"Is this what you came to retrieve?"
"Mhm," Qin Xi said. "Back then, I found the Fire Marrow Stone in this fire pit. I exhausted all methods to retrieve it from the Immortal Fire, but its fire energy was still too intense to carry away, so I hid it here."
"So, you planned to come back even back then?"
"There was no other choice. We left in too much of a hurry back then; we didn't even take your father's remains. Naturally, I had to return."
Mentioning this reminded Mo Tiange of something he had said earlier. "Right, what exactly did my father promise you back then? Why did you say... that matters of Dual Cultivation would be entirely up to you?"
Hearing this, Qin Xi coughed and looked away. "That..."
Noticing his face was slightly flushed, Mo Tiange grew even more curious. "What? Is it something difficult to say?"
"... Telling you is fine." Qin Xi smiled and slowly explained, "The matter of your Pure Yin constitution—no matter which cultivator you tell, they might become interested. Your father thought of this, which is why he said those words. Their meaning was that I could independently choose a Dual Cultivation partner for you, no matter who it was."
"Could it have been yourself?"
"That... your father did indeed have that intention... but I didn't have such thoughts back then, believe me..."
Seeing him hastily deny it, Mo Tiange laughed. "I never said I didn't believe you. Why so anxious?" She sighed. "I understand my father's meaning. This way, although I lost freedom in choosing Dual Cultivation, I could still cultivate properly and have someone to rely on... relatively speaking, there was still a future." If the person her father had entrusted her to wasn't him, this probably would have been her future.
"That's right..." Qin Xi said. "I won't deny it either. Back then, I did think that if you truly had a Pure Yin constitution and spiritual roots, taking you in as a disciple and having you undergo Dual Cultivation with a disciple of the sect would benefit the Xuanqing Sect... But you ran away yourself, so I stopped thinking about it."
The two fell silent for a moment. Mo Tiange smiled. "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. We've achieved our goal for this trip. Shall we leave now?"
"Mhm." Qin Xi nodded. "Master specifically reminded me earlier to finish our business and leave quickly. He said this time there might also be a major restriction collapse, possibly with even greater commotion than last time. It wouldn't be good if we got caught up in it."
Mo Tiange had no objections. Apart from being fed the Heavenly Fragrance Bean, she hadn't suffered any injuries. The effects of the bean had long worn off, and her spiritual power was now abundant, with no lingering concerns.
"Then let's go. In another three to five days, it will have been half a month. It's hard to say when the entrance restriction of Tianmo Mountain will appear."
The two rested and prepared, gathering all their things before retracing their path out. Looking at the countless pits on the ground burning with Immortal Fire, Mo Tiange had a thought and asked Qin Xi, "Even ordinary stones here probably contain the power of the Immortal Fire, right?"
Qin Xi nodded. "Correct. Why do you ask?"
Mo Tiange said, "Then... do you have a way to retrieve some?"
Qin Xi glanced at her but didn't speak. He summoned his Three Yang True Fire Sword. The sword body emitted a dazzling light, its radiance shooting straight down and then instantly returning. He reached out, using fire spiritual energy to hold several stone fragments aloft and handed them to her. "Put them in a jade box." They were just ordinary stones, even if tempered by Immortal Fire; a jade box should suffice for preservation.
Mo Tiange obediently placed them in a jade box and had him use the Three Yang True Fire Sword to retrieve more until the box was full, then stored it in her Qiankun Bag.
Watching her put away the stones, Qin Xi finally asked, "You don't practice fire techniques. What do you need these stones for?"
Mo Tiange smiled and patted her spirit beast pouch. "You forgot? I have Xiaohuo!"
"Ah!" Qin Xi suddenly understood. That little spirit beast, born with innate Sun True Fire—if properly cultivated, it would surely become a great helper in the future.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Xi said, "For spirit beasts, you have Xiaohuo. For ultimate techniques, you have the Refining Spirit Art. If you can also refine the Heaven-Earth Fan, your combat abilities shouldn't lose to an ordinary mid-Core Formation cultivator. If the Heaven-Earth Fan's power is astonishing, you could even contend with a late-stage cultivator. However, you'd best cultivate a few more secret techniques. Combat is always unpredictable; it's good to keep some life-saving trump cards."
"Mhm." Mo Tiange had thought about this too. Her best life-saving trump card was the Void Heaven Realm. Of course, after the incident with Ren Yu-Feng, she had realized no trump card was completely reliable. It was best to prepare multiple backup plans.
"It's a pity we didn't obtain any treasures beneficial to you on this trip. Otherwise, your cultivation could have improved a bit."
Mo Tiange thought about it but held her tongue. Regarding cultivation level, she wasn't anxious at all. With an unlimited supply of Qingyun Pills and decent aptitude, reaching Core Formation perfection was only a matter of time. This time, finding the Millennium Jade Marrow and obtaining the Qiyun Stone had already made her very happy.
"Senior Brother, now that you've retrieved the Fire Marrow Stone, will you go into seclusion as soon as we return?"
"Mhm." Qin Xi nodded, keenly noticing her mood seemed somewhat downcast. He asked, "What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
Mo Tiange was lost in thought for a moment before sighing. "I think you must have a great chance of forming your Nascent Soul this time, right? Then our cultivation levels will be separated by another major realm..."
"What does that matter?" Qin Xi laughed. "Which pair of Dual Cultivation partners doesn't have a cultivation gap? Even the Luan-Feng Couple—Ding Luan's cultivation is higher than Feng Xiao's. Don't they still cultivate and live together just the same?"
"That's true..." But Mo Tiange always felt the gap between their cultivation levels was a bit too large. It wasn't that there were no Nascent Soul cultivators who took Core Formation cultivators as partners. Relatively speaking, the proportion of female cultivators among Nascent Soul cultivators was extremely small; many male cultivators married Core Formation female cultivators. But their Dual Cultivation relationships were mostly subordinate... Of course, she wasn't worried about how Qin Xi would be. By now, how could she not trust him? It was just that continuing like this wasn't a long-term solution. Cultivators in the same realm could exchange more and help each other, making their bond more stable.
Qin Xi thought for a moment and said, "Then, what about what I mentioned last time—us switching to cultivate the same technique? Have you considered it?"
"That... isn't a bad method. You seemed so confident last time. Did you already have preparations?"
Qin Xi smiled. "Naturally."
Mo Tiange was curious. "You knew our constitutions were special and our cultivation techniques were special. The Dual Cultivation technique you mentioned—does it also have such miraculous effects?"
Qin Xi smiled without answering. Pressed urgently, he only said, "You'll know in the future."
The two conversed as they followed the original path back. After half a day, they finally returned to Wanren Peak, then spent another day descending from it.
Once outside the range of Wanren Peak, both breathed a sigh of relief. The Ruins of All Immortals held many dangers; it was much safer below.
But after a while, Mo Tiange was astonished.
"What's wrong with them?" This was the third time they had encountered a group fighting each other irrationally, blood and flesh flying everywhere. The scene was so gruesome she could hardly bear to look.
Qin Xi frowned. "The time when Tianmo Mountain's restrictions disappear is probably only about a month. It's already been over half a month now. Presumably, those who could find treasures inside have already found them. Those who couldn't have no choice but to set their sights on others."
"..." Mo Tiange had heard many such stories, but this time, the people fighting all had extremely high cultivation levels, mostly at the Core Formation stage, with very few at Foundation Establishment. Thinking of Yushen Palace, where so many Nascent Soul cultivators had gone for the same rare treasure, there would inevitably be a bloody battle as well. This time, even if Tianmo Mountain's restrictions didn't collapse, the death toll wouldn't be low.
Having both achieved their goals in entering Tianmo Mountain, neither wanted to get involved in these matters. Whenever they encountered fighting, they avoided it. Coincidentally, their luck was good; they often came across situations where both sides were severely injured or even dead, allowing them to pick up quite a few Qiankun Bags. Just these bags alone represented immense wealth.
After picking up another batch of Qiankun Bags, Mo Tiange smiled until her eyes narrowed. "How amusing. They fight to the death, but it's not as good as us picking up ready-made gains."
Qin Xi also laughed, boasting without shame, "If everyone were as clever as us, of course there would be no gains for us to pick up. Keep them all safe; who knows what treasures might be inside."
"Mhm." Mo Tiange unceremoniously tucked all the Qiankun Bags into her embrace. So many—they might even be worth more than her own assets.
Just as she was counting them, a muffled thunderclap suddenly sounded in the air.
Qin Xi looked up. Where the spiritual energy and demonic energy intertwined in the sky, wind and clouds surged, violently colliding. The spiritual and demonic energies within Tianmo Mountain instantly became chaotic.
"Not good! The restrictions are collapsing!"