Yunzhong lies to the south of the Tianji Region. Crossing the Kunwu Mountains, passing through the southern forests, and traversing the South Sea, one arrives at Yunzhong.
Because the southern forests teem with demonic beasts and the East Sea is cut off by Tianmo Mountain, few cultivators from Tianji know the situation in Yunzhong. Even the most knowledgeable among them only know that there is another landmass south of the sea. Over time, Tianji simply refers to it as Shannan, meaning 'south of Kunwu Mountain'.
Although Yunzhong and Tianji are separated only by the South Sea, since ancient times, only a handful of cultivators have managed to reach the other landmass. The South Sea is home to countless high-rank sea beasts; it is said that even eighth or ninth-rank ones are not uncommon. Sea beasts above the fifth rank can generally fly. If they reach the eighth or ninth rank, they are equivalent to early or mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators among humans. Once entangled by such high-rank sea beasts, especially in the sea, even a Nascent Soul cultivator with heaven-defying abilities would find it difficult to escape. Furthermore, the South Sea's weather is unpredictable, with astral winds and tsunamis being frequent occurrences, adding many variables to any attempt to cross it.
According to Mo Yaoqing's account, Yunzhong is somewhat larger than Tianji. Most importantly, it possesses an abundance of spirit veins distributed throughout, resulting in a vast number of cultivators. In Yunzhong, cultivating immortality is a very common affair. Mortals are also highly enthusiastic about it, although most can only cultivate a tiny amount of spiritual Qi, not even reaching the first level of Qi Refining.
This differs from Tianji. In Tianji, because Kunwu is the largest spirit vein, the mortal world at most has only some weak minor spirit veins. Therefore, eighty percent of cultivators gather in the Kunwu Mountains. Most mortals in the secular world have only heard legends of immortals and do not understand much about cultivation.
Due to the prevalence of cultivation, Yunzhong has an extremely high number of high-level cultivators. Even ordinary small sects have one or two Nascent Soul cultivators presiding over them. Among the major sects, there are even more than ten Nascent Soul cultivators.
Upon reading this, Mo Tiange was greatly astonished. The Tiandao Sect was the number one major sect in Tianji, yet even at its peak, it generally only had six or seven Nascent Soul cultivators, never exceeding ten. If a sect had over ten Nascent Soul cultivators, it should have tens of thousands of disciples. Such a scale was quite unimaginable for Tianji.
Yunzhong's cultivation resources were also extremely abundant. Because Yunzhong was well-connected in all directions—with the Guixu Sea to the south, the Yuanzhou Continent to the west, and Xiaoyang to the east—it had interactions with nearby landmasses. Only Tianji to the north, due to the excessively dangerous sea area, was beyond reach.
Reading this, Mo Tiange's horizons were greatly broadened. Having lived in Tianji, she had thought other places were similarly isolated from the outside world. It turned out there were places like Yunzhong, well-connected and allowing free travel.
The sect Mo Yaoqing joined was called the Danxia Sect, also a Daoist cultivation sect. Even in Yunzhong, Daoist cultivators were the most numerous among various practitioners. They, along with Buddhist and Confucian cultivators, were collectively called the righteous path.
The Danxia Sect was considered a major sect in Yunzhong. During Mo Yaoqing's time, it had nine Nascent Soul cultivators, over eighty Core Formation cultivators, and its disciples numbered in the tens of thousands.
After describing the general situation of Yunzhong, Mo Yaoqing began to record her own experiences one by one.
As Mo Tiange read, she sighed. For a female cultivator, excessively stunning beauty was truly not a good thing.
Mo Yaoqing's spiritual root was not bad to begin with, and coupled with her Pure Yin constitution, she was immediately taken under the wing of Perfected One Qixia, a Nascent Soul cultivator. In Yunzhong, titles were quite casual, unlike the Daoist sects in Tianji which generally followed conventions: Core Formation cultivators were called Perfected Ones, and Nascent Soul cultivators were called Dao Lords.
Perfected One Qixia was also a female cultivator. After accepting Mo Yaoqing as a disciple, she held her in high regard. Thus, for the first hundred-plus years, Mo Yaoqing was a favored child of heaven. Her aptitude was excellent, her status high, and her beauty stunning. Not just within the Danxia Sect, but throughout the righteous path, she gained some renown. Some even gave her the title 'Fairy of Yaotai'.
Yet Mo Yaoqing scorned such fame. Beneath the glamorous reputation of the Fairy of Yaotai, no one saw her exceptional intelligence. She grasped spells extremely quickly, had unique insights into Daoist scriptures, and often modified spells to make them more powerful. She even had considerable talent in alchemy, artifact forging, formations, and talisman-making.
But what others saw was merely the Fairy of Yaotai's astonishing beauty and her fairly good aptitude. Many young cultivators fell for her, including not a few high-level cultivators who wanted to marry her and become her dual cultivation partner. But for Mo Yaoqing, these were nothing but added annoyances.
Because she was born beautiful, with eyes that seemed to hold affection, many cultivators became self-deluded. Having a single conversation with her, or seeing her smile once, they would think she had feelings for them and come to pester her. If she treated them coldly, those male cultivators would think she had first seduced them and then turned her back. Back and forth like this, the Fairy of Yaotai's reputation grew worse and worse. People always said she played with emotions and behaved wantonly.
Over time, Mo Yaoqing, unable to bear the harassment, developed a deep loathing for male cultivators. She focused her heart entirely on cultivation, seldom leaving her cave abode, and gradually the rumors died down.
Reading this, Mo Tiange felt indignant on her behalf. She had seen Mo Yaoqing's remains—dignified in bearing, solemn in expression, yet still giving a sense of infinite charm. This showed Mo Yaoqing's account was likely not exaggerated. Even when she clearly had no intention, others always thought she was deliberately seducing them. With the looks of a fairy and the charm of a temptress, it was no wonder those male cultivators went crazy for her.
In her heart, Mo Yaoqing was actually quite arrogant. Her aptitude was good, but her intelligence was astonishing. Her understanding of spells was unique, often surpassing cultivators of the same rank. Yet it was these very cultivators who fell short of her who always said she played with emotions and was fickle. This made Mo Yaoqing despise them even more. In her mind, these cultivators were as stupid as pigs and loved to gossip; they weren't worth a second glance.
Seeing the contempt revealed between her words, Mo Tiange thought, no wonder Mo Yaoqing never had a man she truly loved in her lifetime. Even Zhong Muling, with whom she had a marital fate, was merely someone she felt somewhat favorable towards. Her wariness towards men was deeply ingrained.
At over a hundred years old, Mo Yaoqing formed her Golden Core. She originally thought those rumors should fade away. After all, after Core Formation, one was a high-level cultivator. Who would dare gossip about the faults of a high-level cultivator? Who knew her great crisis would come at this very time.
The matter of her Pure Yin constitution was naturally not disclosed by her sect. Apart from a few Nascent Soul uncles and the disciple who introduced her, no one knew. Mo Yaoqing, harboring resistance towards male cultivators, never even considered dual cultivation and had long put the matter of her Pure Yin constitution out of her mind.
It was at this time that the sect's Chief Grand Elder proposed that she engage in dual cultivation with a junior of his bloodline.
This junior of the Grand Elder was also a Core Formation cultivator, and his aptitude wasn't bad. But Mo Yaoqing was such an arrogant person inwardly and held male cultivators in such contempt; how could she possibly agree? Seeing her refusal, the Grand Elder initially did not force her but had her master bitterly persuade her.
Mo Yaoqing recorded it thus: 'My master originally had kindness towards me, and I also understood her difficult position. But for me to engage in dual cultivation with another was absolutely impossible. Most men in this world harbor lustful desires but dare not admit it openly, only shifting the blame onto women. Hateful that I only realized at this time what a Pure Yin body represents.'
Unable to persuade her, the Grand Elder gradually lost patience. Mo Yaoqing saw this and pretended to be unwilling but resigned. She made many demands of the Grand Elder. Seeing her willing to yield, the Grand Elder was pleased and agreed to them all. Afterwards, Mo Yaoqing took advantage of a moment of their negligence and escaped from the Danxia Sect.
The Danxia Sect was, after all, a major sect of the righteous path, and Mo Yaoqing had just formed her Core. How could she escape the sect's pursuit? In desperation, Mo Yaoqing actually forcibly abolished her own cultivation base, changed her appearance, and hid among the mortal world.
In Yunzhong, even mortals loved cultivation. Therefore, people like her who possessed a tiny amount of weak spiritual Qi were very numerous. Hiding in the mortal world like this made it easier to evade pursuit.
Mo Yaoqing's strategy of seeking life from the jaws of death succeeded. She evaded the Danxia Sect's pursuit and successfully left the sect's sphere of influence. Afterwards, she found a small place, hid, and began cultivating anew.
Reading this, Mo Tiange was utterly shocked. It was true one could abolish their cultivation base, but what kind of willpower did that require? It almost meant completely destroying one's dantian and meridians. Someone with insufficient willpower might die from the sheer pain! Moreover, Mo Yaoqing abolished it herself. How many people in this world would be willing to abolish the cultivation base they had painstakingly built? Starting over might be twice, even ten times, more difficult than before! Yet in the jade slip, Mo Yaoqing only mentioned this experience in passing.
By now, Mo Tiange was utterly in awe of this ancestor of hers. She had originally thought she was doing quite well among female cultivators, but compared to Mo Yaoqing, she was not even worth a glance.
Although she had lost her cultivation base, Mo Yaoqing still had her treasures and possessions. As a disciple under a Nascent Soul cultivator in the Danxia Sect, she originally had many resources. Moreover, before escaping, she had demanded many treasures from that Grand Elder, all of which she brought with her.
Relying on these treasures and spirit stones, Mo Yaoqing transformed into a rogue cultivator, hid in the mortal world, and began cultivating anew, accumulating bit by bit, re-establishing her Foundation, reforming her Core...
Even though her mental state and experience were already sufficient, it still took her two hundred years to cultivate back to the Core Formation stage.
This time, she very cautiously cultivated her aura-concealing technique to an extremely high level before venturing out. She dared not reveal her true appearance, usually covering her face with heavy makeup, dressing in a vulgar and seductive manner.
Her personality was originally very resolute. After experiencing the forced dual cultivation incident, she became even more ruthless in her methods. Anyone who crossed her was exterminated. If some fool developed greedy thoughts towards her, she would even use secret techniques to absorb their cultivation base. Over time, because she often used a magical treasure called the Soul-Shaking Bell, she became known as the Golden Bell Demoness.
Relying on her decent aptitude and cleverness, Mo Yaoqing cultivated to Core Formation perfection and began to attempt the Nascent Soul breakthrough.
Because her cultivation had been abolished once, her dantian and meridians were more fragile than an ordinary person's. Attempting the Nascent Soul breakthrough was very difficult. But by this time, she was no longer young. If she delayed further, her chances of forming her Nascent Soul would gradually decrease.
Mo Yaoqing hated the Danxia Sect to the bone and had sworn to take revenge on that Grand Elder and his descendants. How could she be willing to just sit and wait for her lifespan to end? It was at this time that she met Zhong Muling and discovered his Mixed Spiritual Roots.