The journey back was uneventful. Mo Tiange returned to the small courtyard they rented and immediately went to her second uncle's room.
Ye Jiang was startled by her appearance. "Xiao Tian, what's wrong?"
Mo Tiange said with a trembling voice, "Second Uncle, I... I killed someone."
Ye Jiang was taken aback for a moment, then calmly replied, "If you killed them, then you killed them. You'll have to get used to it eventually, otherwise how will you continue on this path?" After a pause, he asked with some concern, "Who did you kill? Did someone try to rob you?"
"No." Mo Tiange shook her head. Seeing her second uncle so composed, she gradually calmed down and recounted what had just happened.
Ye Jiang frowned, thought for a moment, and asked, "Did you leave any traces at the scene? Did anyone see you on the way back?"
Mo Tiange shook her head. "I cleaned everything up. Even if someone finds that place, there won't be any clues. I took a detour on the way back, and no one saw me."
Ye Jiang then relaxed. "Then it's fine. Without clues, they won't know it was you. Besides, you still have your second uncle. Although I've lost half my life, I'm still a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator. The two families you mentioned are just minor clans. Even if we can't defeat them, we can always run away."
With someone comforting her, Mo Tiange also steadied her mind. Remembering the two Qiankun Bags, she took them out and said, "Second Uncle, that man killed for something called a Soul-Bewitching Lamp. I brought it back. Can you see what's special about it?"
Unlike Mo Tiange, Ye Jiang frowned as soon as he saw the Soul-Bewitching Lamp. After a long while, he said, "The Soul-Bewitching Lamp is indeed a treasure passed down through the Huang Family. It's said to be a Magical Treasure. When this lamp is activated, a bewitching formation appears within a ten-zhang radius. However, this lamp is a Magical Treasure. Magical Treasures require Core Formation cultivators to unleash their full power. Even if a Qi Refining cultivator forces it to activate, it won't have much potency. Since the Huang Family's Core Formation cultivator perished, no one has been able to unleash its full tenfold power." He then smiled at her. "Since you obtained it, it's your opportunity. But it's not suitable to bring it out for now. Keep this Soul-Bewitching Lamp and secretly refine it yourself. You'll need to wait until at least Foundation Establishment to use it."
Killing that man wasn't Mo Tiange's original intention to seize treasure; it was just how Dharma Combat between cultivators went, and she had followed suit. So she didn't feel regretful, merely acknowledged and put the Soul-Bewitching Lamp away.
Mo Tiange remembered something else and asked, "Second Uncle, I was in a hurry today and used up most of the talismans on me. The Immortal Platform Meet is next month. What should I do?"
Ye Jiang was also helpless. "This was your first time facing an enemy alone. You truly lacked experience and panicked, which is why it happened. However, it's also fortunate that you did. This An kid's Qiankun Bag actually had several powerful magical tools, but he didn't have time to take them out under your barrage of talismans. Otherwise, killing him today wouldn't have been so easy for you."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange suddenly understood. No wonder she only felt nervous but not that it was difficult to deal with. It turned out she was lucky. By wildly throwing talismans, she had killed the man before he could bring out his powerful magical tools. Otherwise, today would have been dangerous.
Ye Jiang pondered for a long time. "The talismans on these two people can also make up the numbers. Talismans are all the same; just use them without fear of being discovered. Tomorrow, take the remaining Spirit Stones and go buy some more. It probably won't be too short. Also, I recently comprehended a variation of the Spirit-Trapping Array that can be set up temporarily. Practice it more these next few days. With the help of an array, it will be much easier." He then sighed. "If it doesn't work out this time, don't force it. At worst, we can try elsewhere. You're still young."
"Mm." Mo Tiange also knew that her second uncle felt the most important thing was to keep her life. A Qi Refining cultivator's lifespan could reach up to two hundred years, and she was only seventeen. Her future prospects were still unknown; there was no need to risk her life like those other cultivators.
"Alright, go back and think about today's Dharma Combat—what you didn't do well enough. It might be useful at the Immortal Platform Meet. Also, regulate your Spiritual Qi properly. Before the Immortal Platform Meet, adjust your entire body to its best condition."
Mo Tiange acknowledged and, not wanting to disturb her second uncle's recovery, returned to her own room.
Having just experienced killing someone, she wasn't in the mood to make food. First, she circulated her energy to regulate her breathing, replenishing the expended Spiritual Qi. She cultivated until morning, then opened her eyes and prepared to take stock of the two people's Qiankun Bags.
First was the woman's Qiankun Bag. There were only a few talismans. She glanced over them and was greatly surprised. Although there were only a few, they were Advanced Talismans for Qi Refining use! One of these was more useful than ten low-grade ones.
Mo Tiange was overjoyed. The reason she had so many talismans on her was because she had deliberately bought them for the Immortal Platform Meet. However, Advanced Talismans for Qi Refining required Foundation Establishment cultivators to make. Their market price wasn't cheap. Her second uncle happened to be injured and couldn't make talismans himself. The two of them didn't have many Spirit Stones, so they could only buy low-grade talismans and couldn't afford advanced ones.
She counted them. There were five talismans in total: three fire-attribute and two water-attribute. Unlike spells, talismans weren't limited by spirit roots. They only required a little Spiritual Qi to activate. Qi Refining cultivators couldn't do without talismans in Dharma Combat, but limited by financial resources, those who could throw talismans in handfuls were mostly disciples of sects or families. She had saved those talismans of hers for a long time.
However, with these five Advanced Talismans, the losses didn't matter anymore. She had only thrown out forty or fifty talismans, and these completely made up for it.
Next, she looked at the other things. There were several quite good magical tools, but they couldn't compare to the Soul-Bewitching Lamp. Moreover, they needed to be refined before use, and bringing them out risked being recognized. Besides, she had her own Azure Wood Sword. Her second uncle said her father had used it, and it had been refined again later. Before reaching Foundation Establishment, she didn't need to change magical tools. After all, they required long-term nurturing and refinement to use with ease.
Additionally, there were several bottles of various pills, all commonly used during the Qi Refining Stage. What delighted Mo Tiange was a bottle of Nourishing Qi Pills—she was lacking in pills right now. There was also a bottle of Beauty-Preserving Pills, probably bought by the woman at great expense. One of these could preserve a person's youth for ten years. However, Mo Tiange didn't need them. Not only was she only seventeen, but the Pure Maiden Art originally had beauty-preserving effects and could even make a woman more beautiful. There were also several jade boxes that seemed to contain some spiritual herbs, but she didn't recognize them.
Then came the man's things, roughly the same: magical tools, pills, talismans, clothes, and such.
Clearly, the An Family was somewhat better off than the Huang Family. Although there weren't many talismans and they weren't advanced, the magical tools and pills were much better than the woman's. Among them was even a bottle of Qi-Gathering Pills. Qi-Gathering Pills were the best foundation-consolidating and essence-nourishing pills during the Qi Refining Stage, several times more effective than Nourishing Qi Pills. Unless one was a favored disciple of a sect or had a senior who was a high-level cultivator, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators couldn't afford them.
Delighted, she put everything away. Suddenly, she discovered a large pearl among them, its luster restrained, looking like a Spirit Pearl. She tried to input Spiritual Qi into it, but it was completely different from her Spirit-Gathering Pearl. It seemed there was a layer on the outside isolating the Spiritual Qi; she couldn't input it.
Anyway, she had already gotten enough things today. She didn't mind. She packed the useless clothes and such into one Qiankun Bag and put all the useful things into her own Qiankun Bag.
After all this hassle, her stomach was truly hungry. The rabbit and wild vegetables she hunted yesterday were still there. She moved the pot and bowls from the corner of the room, went outside to scoop water from the water vat, washed the pot and bowls, cleaned the rabbit and wild vegetables and mushrooms, then stewed them all in one pot.
Of course, this stewing wasn't the mortal world's stewing method; she used a spell. She had cooked for herself since childhood. Later, at the ancestral home, she often secretly made food to eat at night when Auntie Lin wasn't around. Therefore, after learning that spirit beasts could be eaten, she made them herself. Her second uncle originally disapproved, believing that immortal cultivators shouldn't crave food and drink. But after tasting it himself and discovering the impurities added were minimal, he let her be.
After a while, she took half the pot to her second uncle. After eating and drinking her fill, Mo Tiange still felt somewhat uneasy and decided to go out to gather information.