Mo Tiange stepped on her Cloud-Stepping Boots, looking down at the small town below.
This was an extremely small town, with only a few streets and scattered stalls lining the roadside. There weren't many people coming and going, mostly farmers and commoners.
Her gaze swept over everything, searching for familiar traces.
That inn, that noodle stall, the tall tea banner by the bridge at the town entrance...
It was as if time had flowed backward, returning to ninety years ago.
Following the small path leading out of the town, not far ahead, she reached a small village.
At the eastern end of the village, a few houses were scattered sparsely. A river meandered past, and cooking smoke curled upward.
This was just a small village under Liancheng in the Jin Kingdom, with only three to four hundred residents—utterly ordinary in the mortal world.
Yet this place held a different significance for her.
This was her hometown. She was born here, grew up here, and under her mother's care, had once experienced a joyful childhood.
Ninety years flowed by like water, unable to hold onto the fleeting clouds between one's fingers. The little girl of those days was now a Core Formation cultivator; the people of those days had all turned into piles of dry bones, handfuls of yellow earth.
She saw the house with the small courtyard at the village's eastern end, freshly painted with bright roof tiles. A woman was sweeping the courtyard—she naturally didn't recognize her.
After her mother passed away and she left, this house had likely been given to some uncle or elder, right? The house was still that house, but she could no longer find the home from her memories.
She sighed softly and closed her eyes.
There was a distinction between immortals and mortals; the Great Dao required detachment from emotions. She would no longer dwell on the past, yet seeing the traces of her childhood, she couldn't help the faint sorrow rising in her heart.
The ancestral hall still stood tall at the western end of the village. Though there were signs of renovation, the walls had aged considerably. She took a step, unable to resist the urge to see if there was still that stern old teacher and that narrow little library room.
In that tiny library room, she had first learned of such a world of cultivation and embarked on this path...
Seeing her enter the village, many villagers ran out of their houses, pointing and whispering, yet none dared to approach.
Her Daoist robes were spotless, her features picturesque, her demeanor elegant—like an immortal descending to the mortal world, completely different from these villagers.
She walked along the village path, traversing ninety years of time. That thin, weak little girl who was no different from these villagers back then had now become a Core Formation cultivator of graceful bearing.
She pushed open the door to the main hall of the ancestral hall.
This time, someone finally ran over in panic, wanting to stop her. "Miss, this is our Mo Family ancestral hall. Women are not allowed to enter..." Facing her, however, he couldn't even speak smoothly, his words trailing off into a mumble.
"I've just come back to take a look," she said softly, stepping over the threshold into the main hall.
This main hall did not permit women to enter. She had only entered once, yet it had changed the course of her life.
Under the invisible pressure of a Core Formation cultivator, the person trying to stop her never dared to step forward. He could only watch helplessly as she entered, as she stood before the ancestral tablets, as she reached out and touched one of them.
Although women couldn't enter the ancestral hall, her mother had taken in a husband, so her tablet after death was still enshrined within.
Back then, she hadn't yet confirmed news of her father's death, so there was only her mother's lonely spirit tablet. Over these years, it likely had received no offerings.
Mother, have you been lonely here all by yourself? Your daughter will take you away, to be buried with Father. Is that alright?
She silently recited these words in her heart, revealing a faint smile. With a gentle wave of her sleeve, the dust on the tablet vanished instantly. Then she stored the tablet in her Qiankun Bag.
"Miss!" The man was horrified. "You..."
"No need for alarm," she turned her head and gave him a slight smile. "I am a descendant of the Mo Family. This is my mother's spirit tablet. I've come specifically today to retrieve it."
Hearing this, the man was stunned for a moment, speechless. "You..."
This was a little old man in his fifties or sixties, who thought he had seen all the children in the village, but the woman before him was completely unfamiliar. This fairy-like young lady was a Mo Family descendant?
Mo Tiange turned her head back, looking toward the highest position.
Mo Yaoqing's Tablet. The jade token bore only these five characters, with no other title. However, the fact that their ancestor was not a mortal was probably unknown to any of the descendants today, right? Yet, she wondered what mysteries this tablet held...
She pondered for a moment, then gently raised her hand. The jade token flew through the air and landed in her palm.
Witnessing this scene, the little old man who had tried to stop her earlier was utterly astonished. "You... you... Miss, are you an immortal?"
Mo Tiange paused, glancing sideways. "How did you know?"
The little old man looked again at the spot from which she had taken the tablet, suddenly shocked. "You are... you are..."
Mo Tiange's brows furrowed slightly. "You know who I am?"
The little old man took a deep breath, then suddenly knelt and kowtowed. "Mo Yijia pays respects to Second Great-Aunt."
Second Great-Aunt? This form of address made Mo Tiange momentarily dazed. Thinking carefully, among the girls of her generation in the clan back then, she was indeed ranked second. Tian Qiao was the eldest granddaughter; she was the second granddaughter.
She smiled faintly. "Ninety years... I never thought someone would still remember me."
The little old man looked up at her with reverence. "Second Great-Aunt being taken away by an immortal back then was something the whole village knew. Second Great-Aunt, please wait here a moment. I... I'll go fetch the Eldest Granduncle."
Eldest Granduncle? Before Mo Tiange could ask, the little old man shakily got up and hurriedly ran out.
Based on this little old man's form of address, she should be two generations above him. 'Eldest Granduncle' was also an address for someone two generations above. Could it be that someone from her generation of the Mo Family was still alive?
Mo Tiange found it somewhat unbelievable, but she would know the answer soon enough. Smiling, she looked down at Mo Yaoqing's tablet.
This tablet was made of jade, and it was jade imbued with Spiritual Qi. When she left Mo Village, she was still young, unaware of coming to investigate thoroughly and unable to sense the small restriction that existed here.
This restriction was extremely intricate. If she weren't highly proficient in formations and hadn't read Mo Yaoqing's journal, even with her current cultivation level, she would have found it difficult to see through it at a glance, likely mistaking it for just an ordinary piece of jade with Spiritual Qi.
She smiled slightly, gathering Spiritual Qi at her fingertips and probing into the jade token.
The hard jade token felt like mist. From within, she pinched out a jade slip, while the jade token itself remained intact.
After removing the jade slip, the Spiritual Qi on the tablet had mostly dissipated. Mo Tiange raised her hand, returning Mo Yaoqing's tablet to its original place, and placed the jade slip into her own Qiankun Bag.
More and more people were gathering at the entrance of the ancestral hall. These villagers of Mo Village were seeing a woman enter the ancestral hall for the first time, and Mo Yijia, the caretaker, not only didn't stop her but even kowtowed to her. They crowded around the ancestral hall entrance, pointing at Mo Tiange and whispering guesses about her identity, yet none dared to enter.
"Great-Grandfather, Great-Grandfather is here." A commotion arose among the crowd.
"Eldest Granduncle," Mo Yijia's excited voice came through. "Here, Second Great-Aunt is right here."
The crowd parted. A trembling, wrinkled, white-haired old man, so aged he could barely walk, was helped inside. Seeing him approach, everyone respectfully stepped aside.
The old man looked up, his cloudy eyes fixed on Mo Tiange for a long time. His expression shook violently as he trembled closer. "Tian Ge... are you Tian Ge?"
In her memories, she could find no trace, yet the old man before her overlapped with the image of her grandfather in her mind.
Mo Tiange looked at the dying old man before her and spoke softly. "You... are Tian Jun?"
Turbid tears fell from the old man's eyes. "You've finally returned..."
Mo Tiange took a deep breath. Tian Jun... he was two years older than her, right? She was now ninety-eight; Tian Jun should be one hundred. He was actually still alive?
"Tian Jun, how have you been?" Looking at the old man before her who could barely walk, Mo Tiange let out a sigh. Returning to the mortal world this time, she truly hadn't expected to encounter an acquaintance. She had thought that after ninety years, the human world would have changed beyond recognition.
"I... I'm well. Living to one hundred, very well... very well..." Mo Tianjun trembled as he wiped his tears. "When you get old... you just... get easily emotional."
Back then, they were both children. He always liked to bully this younger sister, always pulling her braids. Later, when they grew a bit older, he realized he should care for this sister a little more, but not long after, she left, never to return.
Now he was decrepit with age, one foot already in the coffin, and she had finally returned, yet remained youthful.
He wiped away his tears, suddenly remembering something. "Ah, right... Tian Qiao... Tian Qiao also went to your world. Do you know..."
Mo Tiange's gaze dimmed. Tian Qiao's death was a lifelong regret for her.
"I encountered her..." she said softly. "But she has already passed away."
"Is that so?" Mo Tianjun sighed, yet didn't feel particularly sad. Having lived to this age, he had seen too many partings in life and death, grown accustomed to the passing of loved ones around him. Not to mention parents and siblings, even his own children had already passed away, and his grandchildren were beginning to age... He didn't even know how he had managed to live this long. "Tian Qiao wasn't an immortal. I guessed long ago that she had probably passed away..."
Mo Tiange didn't explain. Letting him think that was fine. He was already so old, had long been psychologically prepared. Why make him sad again?
"Tian Ge, you... you've become an immortal, haven't you?"
Mo Tiange smiled slightly. "Yes, I have achieved success in cultivation now and possess the abilities of an immortal."
Hearing this, before Mo Tianjun could speak, the young man who had been supporting him suddenly knelt down. "Great-Great-Aunt, since you are now an immortal, please save Great-Grandfather. Great-Grandfather, he..."
The young man's words were cut off halfway as Mo Tiange raised her hand, stopping him from continuing. "There's no need to say more. Your great-grandfather is a mortal. Living to one hundred is already heaven's mercy. I can make him healthy, but I cannot alter his cycle of life and death."
"Great-Great-Aunt..."
"Xin'er!" Mo Tianjun shouted. Though he was old and his voice hoarse, he still carried authority. The young man immediately fell silent.
Mo Tianjun looked at Mo Tiange and said, "People are born, age, fall ill, and die. Having lived this long, I am content. But these Mo Family descendants... Tian Ge, I know that you cultivators require something called a Spirit Root. Only with a Spirit Root does one have the Opportunity for cultivation. Today, I shamelessly beg of you: if any of our Mo Family descendants possess this Spirit Root, please grant them some Opportunity."
When people get old, they speak slowly. After saying such a long passage, Mo Tianjun was already exhausted. The young man quickly got up to support him.
Mo Tiange glanced at the young man and smiled faintly. "Very well. I am also a Mo Family descendant. A mere trivial matter is only right. But whether they have Immortal Fate is not something I can decide. Today, all Mo Family descendants may come here to test whether they have Immortal Fate. If they do, I will guide them onto the path of cultivation. If not, then they should abandon such thoughts."