Mo Tiange opened her eyes, her face filled with joy.
She looked down at her own hands. They were crystalline like jade, entwined with spiritual energy, far denser than before.
From within the Fusheng Sword came Fuyaozi's voice of admiration: "Excellent. In merely three years, you have reached the Perfection stage of Core Formation, and your realm is stable. Your aptitude is indeed extraordinary."
Mo Tiange retracted the spiritual energy enveloping her body and said, "If not for Master's guidance, this disciple would not have been able to reach Perfection so smoothly."
Fuyaozi chuckled softly but said nothing. These words were not mere flattery. Without his guidance throughout, given Mo Tiange's aptitude, advancing would not have been a major problem, but achieving such a natural, effortless breakthrough would have been nearly impossible. During this advancement process, not a single bit of spiritual power or pill was wasted. Relying on Fuyaozi's experience and insight, she did the most appropriate thing at the most opportune time, achieving the best possible result.
"Master, now that I have reached Core Formation Perfection, should we proceed to the Guixu Sea next?"
"No need to rush," Fuyaozi said. "Before going to the Guixu Sea, you must first prepare some items to restrain Demonic Qi."
"Huh?" Mo Tiange was taken aback, showing confusion. "Why is that?"
Fuyaozi explained, "That wondrous place, for some reason, contains extremely powerful Demonic Qi. Without items to restrain it, you'll inevitably be flustered and rushed when the time comes."
"I see." Mo Tiange thought for a moment, then retrieved the Lotus Parasol from her Qiankun Bag. "Master, what do you think of this item?"
A wisp of divine sense darted out from the Fusheng Sword, circling the Lotus Parasol. Fuyaozi said, "This item has remarkable efficacy in isolating Demonic Qi. Very good. However, in this master's view, the best artifact in your possession for restraining Demonic Qi is actually your Life-Bound Magical Treasure."
Life-Bound Magical Treasure? The Heaven-Earth Fan?
Mo Tiange was puzzled. "Master, this disciple's Heaven-Earth Fan doesn't seem particularly special..."
"That is because your vision is not yet broad enough," Fuyaozi said gently. "This master can see that the fan ribs of your treasure are clearly made from the bones of a divine beast. Divine beasts naturally possess the power to restrain Demonic Qi. Using it against demonic cultivators would be most effective."
Mo Tiange was startled, suddenly recalling an encounter decades ago in Xingluo City. At that time, the city lord Mei Feng had pursued her closely but ended up severely injured for some unknown reason. She had indeed been using the Heaven-Earth Fan to defend herself back then. Could it be that the dragon bone within the fan had taken effect?
Then, she remembered the origin of this dragon bone. She had obtained it from the Divine Dragon Sacrificial Temple during her Foundation Establishment period. That temple also contained strange stone steles that had allowed Ren Yu-Feng to cultivate Death Qi. Could it be that the dragon bone was actually meant to restrain those steles? Furthermore, she connected this to City Lord Mei's Demonic Qi, which came from cultivating the so-called cultivation technique on the stele. According to her speculation, City Lord Mei must have obtained a similarly Demonic Qi-containing stele from the Black Tortoise Sacrificial Temple. A vague conjecture formed in her heart, though it couldn't be confirmed for now. If an opportunity arose in the future, she might be able to verify it.
"This master also has a couple of techniques for dealing with demonic cultivators. Combined with your two treasures, it should be sufficient. However, you still need to prepare some other items afterward."
"Yes, Master." Mo Tiange was not surprised by Fuyaozi's words. Having fought ten great demon lords alone without being at a disadvantage, even forcing them to retreat, her master clearly had some unique secret skills for dealing with demonic cultivators. Moreover, the Fusheng Sword he resided in was clearly corroded by Demonic Qi, yet he didn't care at all, indicating that Demonic Qi had no effect on him.
Following Fuyaozi's instructions, several days later, Mo Tiange set off and left the Western Barbarian Lands.
Fuyaozi's unique secret technique was, to put it simply, a set of incantations plus some items to restrain demonic beings. Precisely because of its simplicity, Mo Tiange felt it was more formidable than any other method. After all, in battles above the Core Formation stage, the situation changed in the blink of an eye. If a technique was too complex, it was better not to use it. However, this meant she needed to prepare even more items.
Yunyi City was one of the cultivation cities of the Dongtang Kingdom. In terms of scale, it wasn't the largest. In terms of population, it didn't have the most cultivators. But it was undoubtedly the most prosperous one. The reason was simple: it was an auxiliary city to the Dongtang capital, not under the jurisdiction of any single sect. Coupled with the capital's strong transportation advantages, it had become the cultivation city with the most trade.
Having left the Western Barbarian Lands, Mo Tiange, still disguised as a young scholar, arrived at Yunyi City.
Although no one knew over the years that Ye Xiaotian was Qin Wei, given her cautious nature, she still chose Yunyi City—a neutral force not affiliated with any side—to purchase the items she needed.
She had visited Yunyi City during her travels through various countries in previous years, so she didn't need a guide or to inquire with brokers. She familiarly found her way to the largest shop in the city.
Although this city wasn't under any sect's jurisdiction, the Jingxu Sect, one of the five major sects of Dongtang, happened to be near the capital. Therefore, Yunyi City had many Jingxu Sect disciples, and their shops were very large.
For example, the one Mo Tiange chose was a shop opened by the Jingxu Sect.
"Welcome, Senior." The moment she stepped into the shop, a woman greeted her warmly.
Due to the circumstances of its founding ancestor, the Jingxu Sect accepted many female disciples. Thus, in this shop, more than half were women. Women were naturally meticulous, and when attending to customers, they were thorough in every aspect. Therefore, the Jingxu Sect's shops had always done excellent business, almost always crowded with people. However, Mo Tiange was a Core Formation cultivator and didn't need to squeeze in with the crowd. She was directly invited to an elegant seat upstairs, attended by a higher-level cultivator.
Upon meeting the attending Foundation Establishment female cultivator, Mo Tiange didn't waste words. She directly took out a jade slip from her robe and tossed it onto the table. "Do you have these materials in your esteemed shop?"
The female cultivator took the jade slip, probed it with her divine sense to study its contents, then smiled. "Senior, our shop has most of these materials and can prepare them for you directly. As for the smaller portion that is relatively scarce, if you trust us, you only need to wait one or two days, and this junior can also procure them for you."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange nodded. Among these materials, some were quite scarce. An ordinary shop probably wouldn't have them. For the Jingxu Pavilion to need one or two days to prepare was already very good. She couldn't be bothered to ask shop by shop. Since the other party indicated they could procure everything for her directly, it saved her a lot of trouble.
"In that case, please procure them for me." Having said that, she took out a Qiankun Bag from her robe and tossed it onto the table. "I wonder if your shop accepts these items?"
The items inside were miscellaneous materials she had accumulated over the years—some taken from other cultivators she had killed, some exchanged with others, and some obtained by chance herself. Since coming to Yunzhong, her Spirit Stones had been spent without replenishment. Coupled with cultivation needs, they were almost depleted. She might as well take these things out; they should fetch a large sum of Spirit Stones.
Sure enough, when the female cultivator opened the Qiankun Bag and saw the mountain of items piled inside, she was shocked. Inside were artifact-refining materials, spirit herbs, pills, magical tools, magical treasures, many demon beast corpses and demon cores. Some weren't very valuable, but some were quite precious. With her years of experience managing the shop, she could tell that little by little adds up. These items could not only offset the materials this Senior wanted to buy but even leave a considerable surplus. She could also tell that these miscellaneous items must have been the collections of many cultivators. It seemed this Senior, despite her amiable appearance, had formidable methods. Probably quite a few cultivators had died by her hand.
Thinking of this, the female cultivator didn't dare be negligent. She said respectfully, "Senior, the value of these items is astonishing. This junior alone cannot handle it. Please grant us some time."
Mo Tiange also knew that taking out so many items meant others would need considerable time just to tally their value. So she didn't show displeasure and nodded. "Do what needs to be done."
"Yes. Please wait a moment, Senior."
This female cultivator was quite efficient. A short while later, she returned with two other Foundation Establishment cultivators. In front of Mo Tiange, they meticulously cataloged the items in the Qiankun Bag one by one, estimated their value, and listed them on an inventory.
The result shocked Mo Tiange. She hadn't paid much attention to these items originally. Most were obtained from other cultivators. The particularly rare ones she had already kept for herself. Even so, the final calculated value actually amounted to several hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
Several hundred thousand Spirit Stones! This was equivalent to decades of her stipend in the Xuanqing Sect. She had just discovered her Spirit Stones were depleted and had no choice but to exchange these items for Spirit Stones, never expecting they would be worth so much.
She had forgotten that since reaching Foundation Establishment, she had never lacked Spirit Stones. She simply tossed whatever she obtained into her Qiankun Bag. Over a century of accumulation, little by little, had formed a terrifying sum.
"Senior." After spending most of the day to complete the calculations, the female cultivator who called herself Liu Xiaoqing handed her the inventory. "This is the detailed valuation. Please review it, Senior."
Mo Tiange took the beastskin parchment and scanned it a few times. These people were quite capable. Not only had they tallied the values, but they had also categorized everything, making it clear at a glance. Setting aside the less valuable miscellaneous items, the prices for the precious demon beast corpses, demon cores, magical treasures, etc., were slightly lower than market price. But shops purchasing goods always operated this way. The Jingxu Pavilion's offered price was still fair.
She handed the beastskin parchment back. "It's fine as is."
Seeing she had no objections, the several Foundation Establishment cultivators breathed a sigh of relief. They exchanged glances, then Liu Xiaoqing spoke again: "Senior, to be frank, the value of these items is too high. With the authority of us juniors, we cannot mobilize so many Spirit Stones on such short notice. Coincidentally, Senior previously wanted to purchase many materials. This junior thought we could offset the two against each other and then make up the difference. However, because the items Senior needs require time to procure, we cannot complete the transaction with immediate payment and delivery..."
The reason Mo Tiange was selling these things was precisely to buy the materials on the jade slip. Moreover, with her current cultivation level, she wasn't afraid of the other party reneging. She immediately said, "Just proceed with the arrangements. I, Ye, will be staying at the Jade Stream Tower for the next few days. Once you've prepared everything, deliver the items to the Jade Stream Tower."
"Yes, Senior. Please rest assured. At fastest one day, at slowest two days, we juniors will definitely have everything prepared for you."
Mo Tiange nodded, said no more, rose, and left the Jingxu Pavilion.
After she left, the three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Jingxu Pavilion remained motionless for a moment.
"Senior Sister Liu," one of the cultivators called to Liu Xiaoqing, his expression hesitant. "This Senior sold such a large quantity of items. Should we report it to the Administration Hall?"
Liu Xiaoqing gazed in the direction where Mo Tiange had disappeared, silent for a long while before saying, "No need to make a fuss. This Senior has an extraordinary bearing and is very likely a disciple of a major sect. If there were issues with her origins, she wouldn't so casually sell to just one shop like ours. Moreover, judging by the items she brought out, not only is her cultivation profound, but her methods are also exceptional. We should handle this matter diligently."
"Yes." Liu Xiaoqing held considerable authority. After she spoke, the other two Foundation Establishment cultivators had no objections.
Just as the three finished speaking, a high-level cultivator appeared at the staircase entrance. The powerful pressure made all three instantly shift their gazes.
"Uncle-Master Liu..." the Qi Refining disciple who guided guests called out timidly. "This Senior..."
Although Liu Xiaoqing's cultivation wasn't high, her long experience managing the sect's shop had given her considerable insight. She immediately recognized that this newly appeared cultivator was at the Nascent Soul stage. She hurried forward to greet them. "Senior, welcome to the Jingxu Pavilion..."