Five days later, Nie Wushang finally regained consciousness.
As soon as she awoke, she saw Mo Tiange sitting beside her.
“Tian Ge...” Seeing it was her, Nie Wushang breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve finally survived.”
Seeing her complexion was still pale, Mo Tiange asked with concern, “Are you alright? Why were you so reckless, going to Langtu Mountain alone? No matter how severely injured Venerable Songfeng was, he was still a Late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Even my master might not have been certain of killing him, and you were alone...”
Nie Wushang smiled and said, “I was afraid I didn’t have time. His lifespan was running out, and his injuries were so severe. What if he died before I could make my move? Besides, I’m fine now, aren’t I?”
“Fine?” Mo Tiange snorted. “You call this fine? Even with miraculous elixirs, your injuries will take at least ten to twenty years to recover from.”
“Just ten to twenty years,” Nie Wushang said calmly. “I’m not even three hundred years old yet, with a long lifespan ahead. What’s spending a few decades?”
“You really...” Mo Tiange was left speechless by her.
“Alright.” Seeing her displeased expression, Nie Wushang offered a slightly ingratiating smile, clasping her hands together. “I’m alive, so don’t hold this against me. By the way, don’t you want to know how I defeated my master?”
She successfully piqued Mo Tiange’s curiosity. “How?”
Nie Wushang spoke slowly, “My master’s cultivation was profound, his strength immense. Defeating him head-on was certainly impossible. However, he had one weakness: he had once cultivated the wrong technique. I remember you once told me about someone whose post-cultivation appearance resembled my master’s. Actually, my master was much the same. He failed to cultivate Origin Demon Qi and instead cultivated Death Qi. However, being far more talented, he realized something was wrong early on and quickly comprehended the true technique. But his physical body was already ruined, and Death Qi had invaded his Primordial Spirit.”
“So, in that state, no matter how high his cultivation, he could never achieve God Transformation?” The Nascent Soul is formed by the Golden Core merging with part of the Primordial Spirit’s power, but God Transformation requires the Nascent Soul to undergo countless trials, fully integrating with the Primordial Spirit and physical body. For the Nascent Soul, Primordial Spirit, and physical body, no part can have issues. For the physical body, even if damaged, it can regenerate under the Nascent Soul’s power, but if contaminated by foreign Qi, the impurity must be expelled. The Primordial Spirit is even more so; if contaminated by Death Qi, it absolutely cannot fuse with the body and Nascent Soul to advance to God Transformation.
“Exactly.” Nie Wushang nodded. “You noticed it too, right? That appearance—could it still be considered human? If not for his profound cultivation, he would have long turned into a corpse under the torment of Death Qi.”
Mo Tiange thought of her actions back in Carefree Valley and suddenly understood. “Back then, when you used Demonic Crystals to absorb Death Qi, was it to deal with your master?”
Nie Wushang nodded, sighing. “When I saw the Demonic Crystals back then, I vaguely felt this could be a breakthrough. My master was too powerful; ordinary methods simply couldn’t deal with him. Only the Demonic Crystals, with their unique ability to absorb vital essence, offered an unconventional approach, catching him off guard.”
“Was it Death Qi or vital essence? I’m getting confused,” Mo Tiange said, puzzled. “Since he was plagued by Death Qi, wasn’t Death Qi his greatest enemy?”
Nie Wushang shook her head. “Death Qi was indeed his great enemy, but its effects would take too long to show, and with his cultivation level, he could successfully suppress the Death Qi, making it impossible to take his life.”
“Then you...”
“I used the Demonic Crystals to absorb Death Qi for two purposes: first, to use the Death Qi to disrupt the cave abode’s formation, and second, to deceive him. My master had seen plenty of Death Qi and wouldn’t pay it much mind, thus overlooking the Demonic Crystals’ true function. His body had decayed, his Primordial Spirit was trapped—he should have been dead long ago. This indicated his soul force was extremely weak, merely sustained by his powerful cultivation. I used the Demonic Crystals to absorb his vital essence, causing his soul force to dissipate. That way, I could achieve victory without direct combat.”
Mo Tiange turned these words over in her mind several times before sighing, “To set up such a masterful scheme, you truly exhausted your ingenuity.”
Nie Wushang gave a bitter smile. “If I could have fought him directly, why go to such lengths? It’s all because I was too weak.”
“Blame the lack of time,” Mo Tiange said, shaking her head. “With your qualifications, advancing to the late stage is only a matter of time, and God Transformation isn’t impossible either. You just weren’t sure he would live until then.”
“Yes.” Nie Wushang’s gaze grew distant. “Master had already lived too long...”
The two fell into a shared silence, feeling the passage of time. Even the most powerful cultivators would eventually vanish, while the Great Dao of Longevity remained distant and elusive.
After a long while, Mo Tiange asked, “What are your plans now?”
Nie Wushang thought for a moment, then shook her head. “None.”
“...” Mo Tiange sighed. “How about you stay here with me?”
Nie Wushang was taken aback, quickly waving her hands. “But I’m a demonic cultivator, and the Xuanqing Sect is an orthodox Daoist sect. This...”
“I’m not asking you to join the Xuanqing Sect,” Mo Tiange said with a laugh. “I am, after all, a Nascent Soul Dao Lord now. Having a friend stay here for an extended period shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Nie Wushang thought carefully. The places she could go were few. Yunzhong was in great turmoil, the current situation obscure and fraught with conflict everywhere. Xiaoyang was even more chaotic; without strength, one could only be at others’ mercy. The Tianji Region—she was Venerable Songfeng’s disciple, a fact not hard to uncover. Originally, Langtu Mountain was secret enough, but now it was exposed. Severely injured as she was, she couldn’t fight anyone. The best course was to find a safe place to recuperate slowly. Considering this, the Xuanqing Sect truly seemed the best choice.
First, the Xuanqing Sect was now powerful. Whether from the Tianji Region or Yunzhong, no one would likely come to cause trouble at the sect’s headquarters. Second, Mo Tiange was her most trusted friend, having saved her from peril multiple times. She couldn’t find anyone more trustworthy in this world.
After pondering for a while and confirming her decision, Nie Wushang agreed. “Alright, thank you.”
Mo Tiange waved her hand. “Between us, what’s there to thank?” She took out a jade talisman. “Recuperate here. If you need anything, use this talisman to notify the attendant disciples here.”
Nie Wushang accepted the jade talisman. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
The two then talked about their experiences over the years and matters of cultivation and recovery before Mo Tiange left the stone chamber, letting Nie Wushang rest.
Qin Xi’s trip took two months before he returned.
As soon as he entered their cave abode, Mo Tiange asked, “Why so long? Any leads?”
Qin Xi said, “With frequent conflicts now, my timing was unfortunate. There weren’t many cultivators in Kunzhong City. Senior Brother Zhenyang said it would take about a month for a large-scale trade fair, so he asked me to wait. I thought, since Kunzhong City is a trading hub, there might truly be some extraordinary individuals who know something, so I agreed. Over these two months, I did gather some information. After several senior brothers and sisters returned, they also gave us many suggestions.”
As he spoke, he took out a small bag and poured out many jade slips. A rough glance showed thirty to fifty of them.
Mo Tiange was dumbfounded. “This is...”
Qin Xi gave a helpless smile. “Not all are necessarily true leads. Anything remotely similar was recorded.” He then picked out one particular slip. “This is what Master and the others discussed and summarized, for our reference.”
Mo Tiange went through the jade slips one by one, taking a good while to finish. She frowned slightly. “All these will require time to test; it’s not something that can be decided quickly.”
“Mhm, so we’ll be busy.”
The two moved their things into the Void Heaven Realm. Qin Xi asked, “Everything alright these two months? How is Nie Wushang?”
“Recuperating. I let her stay.” Mo Tiange briefly recounted their conversation. “I think her mind is clear; she should be fine. I also asked. She said Venerable Songfeng became like that because he cultivated that erroneous technique. Since the Origin Demon Great Art was placed together with the Five Spirit Sacrificial Temples, it must be a technique far surpassing those of the present era. It couldn’t have such a flaw. As long as one comprehends it correctly, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s good.” He was also taking precautions. Keeping someone here required some vigilance. “By the way, Jing Xingzhi is also in Kunzhong City. He told me something.”
“Oh?” Thinking of Jing Xingzhi’s current state, Mo Tiange was very interested. “What did Sword Venerable Zhishui tell you?”
Seeing her expression, clearly wanting to laugh, Qin Xi said helplessly, “Don’t laugh at him. He’s already quite proper now.”
“A very proper Jing Xingzhi.” Mo Tiange nodded with a seemingly serious expression, then burst out laughing. “So hard to imagine!”
After she finished laughing, Qin Xi continued, “Jing Xingzhi told me he discovered a clue about the Qilin.”
“Ah?” Mo Tiange was surprised. “So quickly? What clue? Where did he get it?”
Qin Xi sat down by the desk, fiddling with the jade slips. “The Spirit Beast Sect’s founding patriarch’s mount, the Qilin. Remember?”
“Of course I remember. The Spirit Beast Sect uses the Qilin as its sect emblem.” This was common knowledge among Tianji Region cultivators.
“Jing Xingzhi said he accidentally found records about the Spirit Beast Sect patriarch’s mount in the sect’s library. On a whim, he sought out Hua Lingyun of the Spirit Beast Sect and inquired, getting some information.”
Mo Tiange found it strange. “Information about the founding patriarch’s mount wouldn’t be easily told to others. Could Jing Xingzhi have been deceived?”
Qin Xi smiled faintly. “Probably not. He paid a price Hua Lingyun couldn’t refuse.”
“What was it?”
“The White Tiger’s Breath in his possession.” Qin Xi said. “He let Hua Lingyun witness the White Tiger Sword Strike and gifted him a bit of the White Tiger’s Breath.”
Mo Tiange nodded thoughtfully. “For the Spirit Beast Sect, that truly is an irresistible temptation.”
“Exactly. Hua Lingyun immediately told him the origin of the mount Qilin in great detail, then went back into seclusion.”
Mo Tiange laughed, then grabbed his arm and asked, “So, does this Qilin have any connection to the one we’re looking for?”
“Jing Xingzhi speculates it should.”
“Should?”
Qin Xi shook his head gently. “There’s still too little information. Moreover, with the recent Heaven and Earth upheaval, many descriptions are no longer accurate. We need more time to confirm.”
Mo Tiange breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s not urgent. Nie Wushang still needs a long time to recover—quick, tell me, where did the Spirit Beast Sect’s Qilin come from?”
Qin Xi took a sip of tea, speaking unhurriedly. “In Yunzhong.”
“Ah?” This location gave Mo Tiange a headache. “Do we have to go to Yunzhong again?”