Mo Tiange and Feifei embarked on a grueling negotiation.
First, although the Void Heaven Realm was vast, it was filled with medicinal fields everywhere and was not suitable for raising numerous spirit beasts. Second, raising over a hundred spirit beasts—how many pills would she have to refine? She simply didn't have the time. Finally, what could over a hundred spirit beasts even do? Although Feifei was capable, finding over a hundred Feifei to keep it company... she wasn't out of her mind.
Feifei, on the other hand, expressed the following opinions: First, they could be dispersed, but not separated; second, they weren't good at fighting, but their intelligence was considered high among demon beasts, and they could be taught some simple skills; third, Mo Tiange could pass on the spirit beast pill formulas to the disciples of the Xuanqing Sect, and they were willing to exchange their treasure-seeking abilities for spirit pills.
In the end, both human and beast took a step back and reached an agreement.
Mo Tiange would temporarily take in these over a hundred Feifei. After the matters in the East Sea were concluded, she would send these Feifei back to the Xuanqing Sect and assign them to various peaks. These Feifei would not form spirit beast contracts with any specific individual but would belong to the duty halls of each peak. They would be responsible for treasure hunting, and any gains would be exchanged for spirit pills.
In truth, given her strength, she could simply capture these Feifei and make them spirit beasts—that was how most cultivators obtained their spirit beasts. However, she didn't want to do that. For one, it went against her principles; for another, Feifei had been with her for over a hundred years. Although its personality was poor and its mouth was foul, it was reliable in critical moments. Moreover, the contract they had established was a subordinate contract, not a master-servant contract. If she ignored Feifei's wishes, it would be difficult to gain anything more from it in the future.
In this world, although the strong were revered, it wasn't entirely devoid of righteousness.
With the matter settled, Mo Tiange temporarily borrowed a disused spirit beast garden from Ying Jinyi to let these Feifei roam freely. As for Feifei, she ordered it to go help Tang Shen guard the gate.
The Feifei were led away by Ying Jinyi, and Feifei went to watch the gate. Mo Tiange slumped down, massaging her forehead with a weary sigh. "One of these days, I'm going to age prematurely."
Qin Xi chuckled. "Think of it this way: Feifei are an extremely rare species. Getting even one is difficult, yet you've managed to get over a hundred—rest assured, Feng Ning will be very pleased. Treasure hunting has always been one of the sect's most important tasks."
Treasure hunting included searching for spirit veins, spirit stone veins, rare ores, spirit herbs, spirit beasts, and so on. These were all extremely important matters, and a sect's advantage was precisely reflected in this area. The difficulty of treasure-hunting missions was also among the highest of all sect duties.
Typically, sects maintained a group of dedicated treasure hunters. These hunters were often away from the sect for long periods, free from any miscellaneous duties, yet they enjoyed extremely generous stipends precisely because of the difficulty of treasure hunting.
Treasure hunters all possessed special skills, either innate talents or unique cultivation techniques, that allowed them to sense the presence of treasures within a certain range. Unfortunately, treasure hunters were hard to cultivate. Innate talent was rarer than spiritual roots, and the required techniques weren't something just anyone could practice.
These Feifei, however, were naturally highly sensitive to spiritual energy. Feifei itself had found treasures on several occasions, proving they were perfectly suited for treasure hunting.
"What gives me a headache are the pills," Mo Tiange said, rubbing her temples. "Ordinary spirit beast pills—how could they help Feifei advance? I estimate that the reason Feifei advanced so smoothly was not just because of the Flowerless Golden Fruit, but also because the pills it usually consumed were refined from herbs over a thousand years old. Given that, how can I hand over these spirit herbs to the alchemy disciples for refining?"
Qin Xi, however, said, "You're overthinking it. Don't forget, you're now one of the sect's Nascent Soul Ancestors. No matter how many thousand-year-old spirit herbs you take out, they wouldn't dare question it."
"Really?" Mo Tiange looked at him skeptically. "A whole bundle of thousand-year-old spirit herbs, and they wouldn't find it strange?"
Qin Xi smiled. "Anything seemingly impossible, when attributed to a Nascent Soul cultivator, becomes perfectly reasonable. The only ones who might find it odd are a few of our senior brothers and sisters. They're all shrewd individuals. They understand perfectly well that for someone as young as you to advance to Nascent Soul, besides talent, extraordinary opportunities were essential. They certainly won't come asking." He paused, then added, "However, it's quite possible they might come to extort you for any spirit herbs they lack."
Mo Tiange patted her chest. "That puts my mind at ease. Even if they come to extort me, they definitely won't have the nerve to take them for free."
Qin Xi glanced at her, his eyes smiling. "You've really got their dispositions figured out."
Handing out some spirit herbs was no problem for her at all. When she had organized the medicinal fields before, she had harvested many herbs nearing their maturity limit. Later, to make space for newly sprouted herbs, she had harvested another batch of less valuable ones. These herbs were precisely the materials used for refining spirit beast pills.
Afterward, Mo Tiange left the matter to Ying Jinyi and stopped worrying about it. Ying Jinyi had originally wanted a few Feifei, but Feifei refused. So, Mo Tiange gifted her a batch of pills and magic tools as consolation. With these pills, Ying Jinyi handled the task with exceptional diligence.
Over the next few days, there were only a few minor skirmishes along the coast. As soon as they arrived, the six demon cultivators had lost one of their number. These demon cultivators wouldn't make any major moves for now, but sending low-rank demon beasts to harass them was a given. On the Bixuan Pavilion side, they naturally dispatched low-rank cultivators to meet the challenge, giving them a perfect opportunity for experience.
Another day, demon beasts attacked again, mostly Second to Fifth Rank, with very few above Fifth Rank. Tang Shen and Bai Yanfei led the teams to meet them. Mo Tiange and Qin Xi remained stationed in the Sect Leader Hall, while Feng Ning, as usual, holed up in her courtyard.
The battle progressed quite smoothly. Although there were casualties, with Kuang Zhu present, they were minimized.
Monitoring the battlefield with his divine sense, Qin Xi said, "What do you think these demon cultivators are really planning?"
Mo Tiange, who was studying a map of the demon city, replied, "Didn't they say they were hunters?"
Qin Xi shook his head. "I have a feeling it's not that simple. If they were merely hunters, was it necessary to build a demon city so close by?"
Mo Tiange was taken aback. She tapped the table with her finger. "You have a point."
Just like human cultivators, who would never live in the forest to hunt because it was far too dangerous. Hunting beasts was always done by forming teams in Kunwu, then entering the southern forests. After the hunt, they would return to Kunwu, rest fully, and then set out again.
But these demon cultivators had built their demon city so close to Bixuan Pavilion, constantly provoking battles. It didn't seem like the behavior of hunters at all.
"Could it be they want to seize Kunwu?" Mo Tiange murmured.
"We can't rule out any possibility," Qin Xi frowned slightly. "They said more demon cultivators would follow. I believe that's true." Without reinforcements, what gave six Eighth-Rank demon cultivators the confidence to oppose them?
"That would be troublesome. The demon beasts of the South Sea are very powerful."
"Indeed," Qin Xi said, having experienced it firsthand. Remembering the demon beasts of the South Sea sent a chill down his spine. "The demon beasts of the South Sea live in such perilous places. They are much stronger than ordinary demon cultivators, not inferior to human cultivators."
He looked at Mo Tiange. "Should I send a message to the Immortal Alliance?"
Mo Tiange shook her head. "We have no evidence. It's better to send a message to Senior Brother Zhenyang."
"Agreed."
Mo Tiange then handed over the demon city map. "This was drawn based on what Feifei said about the demon city. It should be mostly accurate. Take a look."
Qin Xi took it and frowned as soon as he saw it. After a long moment, he said, "It would be too difficult for us to directly attack and capture the demon city." On the map, the demon city was densely packed with watchtowers spread throughout. Feifei had said each watchtower was guarded by at least a dozen demon beasts, leaving almost no blind spots. Moreover, the formations arranged around the demon city were extraordinary. The demon cultivators' mastery of formations was far inferior to that of human cultivators. It was unclear where they had obtained such a formation.
"I have a feeling," Mo Tiange said, "that Bixuan Pavilion might not be able to hold."
Hearing this, Qin Xi slowly nodded.
Bixuan Pavilion was too difficult to defend. Although it was built against a mountain and had a powerful formation, it faced the open sea directly, with an unobstructed view. Coupled with the barrier of the Heavenly Demon Mountain, reinforcements would have a hard time arriving promptly. Once they fell behind, complete annihilation was a real possibility.
"In a few days, I'll have Ying Jinyi withdraw some disciples to Kunwu. If something like that really happens, at least Bixuan Pavilion's legacy can be preserved."
Low-rank disciples had little impact on the overall battle situation; it wouldn't matter if they left.
Just as they finished speaking, hurried footsteps sounded from outside. Before the person arrived, a voice rang out: "Master! Aunt!"
Shui Linbo rushed in, her expression panicked.
"What's wrong?" Qin Xi asked.
Shui Linbo caught her breath and said urgently, "Senior Sister Wu... Senior Sister Wu has been captured!"
"Senior Sister Wu?" Mo Tiange's eyes narrowed. "Wu Feishuang?"
"Yes! And... and Uncle-Master Zhifei has gone after them!"
Mo Tiange felt slightly relieved. "Zhifei's strength is exceptional. It should be fine."
"But!" Shui Linbo said, "They were heading towards the demon city! Uncle-Master Zhifei's flight speed can't catch up to that demon beast!"
Mo Tiange was startled. She stood up abruptly. "I'll go take a look."
Qin Xi nodded. "Be careful."
"Understood." Mo Tiange immediately transformed into a streak of light, swiftly shooting towards the sea.
At the East Sea coast, demon beasts and humans were locked in fierce battle. Mo Tiange glanced over; the situation seemed fine, so she didn't intervene further. Sweeping the area with her divine sense, she detected a Core Formation cultivator flying north at full speed and gave chase.
With the flight speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator, she quickly caught up to the person ahead. Mo Tiange sped past, calling out, "Junior Brother Bai!"
Bai Yanfei stopped. Seeing her, his face lit up with joy. "Senior Sister Mo!" For a moment, he forgot to address her as 'Master-Uncle'.
Mo Tiange didn't mind; she had called him 'Junior Brother' first. She said, "Come with me!" As she spoke, her flight light enveloped Bai Yanfei, and they sped off.
Before long, Mo Tiange saw a massive black avian demon beast clutching a person in its beak, flying north. She stopped, raised her hand, and a flash of golden lightning sparked between her fingers, shooting towards the avian beast.
"Boom!" The avian beast was struck squarely. Its wings faltered, and it plummeted towards the sea.
Without hesitation, Mo Tiange summoned the Ten Thousand Mile Solitary Boat. The boat suddenly enlarged, catching Wu Feishuang as she fell.
"Feishuang!" Bai Yanfei cried out, breaking free from Mo Tiange's flight light and rushing towards the Ten Thousand Mile Solitary Boat.
Mo Tiange paid them no mind. With a flick and a sweep of her Heaven-Earth Fan, she retrieved the corpse of the avian beast.