It was perfectly normal for a cultivator facing a bottleneck to go out traveling. Many Qi Refining disciples who had reached Qi Refining perfection but felt they still lacked the final touch for Foundation Establishment would choose to travel. Therefore, after Mo Tiange returned to the mountain and reported to the Deacon Hall, she was granted permission.
The so-called traveling was not sightseeing, but seeking opportunities. The influence of opportunity on a cultivator sometimes even surpassed innate talent. For example, a thousand years ago, there was a cultivator with abysmal talent who obtained a heaven-defying opportunity and actually cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, possessing immense supernatural powers that dominated Kunwu for a time. Of course, opportunities were also extremely difficult to encounter. Such an opportunity only appeared who knew how many years apart. For most people, being able to obtain some spiritual herbs or treasures, or having a sudden enlightenment to break through a bottleneck, was already excellent.
Mo Tiange did not harbor such wild fantasies. With her talent, if she relied on elusive opportunities, she probably wouldn't advance even if she had an eight-hundred-year lifespan.
Moreover, strictly speaking, her condition wasn't a bottleneck, but an unstable state of mind. Because time was pressing and her own talent was too poor, she held no hope for successful Foundation Establishment in her heart, so she couldn't calm her mind.
After thinking for a long time, Mo Tiange felt that for this trip, it would be best to visit some major sects and exchange ideas with their disciples. Anyway, she was still young and had already obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill. There was no need to risk danger for opportunities. Having made this decision, she bid farewell to her second uncle and left Yunwu Mountain.
Counting up, this was her first time traveling far alone. Since coming to Kunwu, she had never left her second uncle's side to travel separately. However, the present her was no longer the little girl who first arrived in Kunwu. Having seen and experienced much, she was confident she could handle any situation she encountered.
Yunwu Mountain was located in a small corner of East Kunwu. Before being annexed, the nearby sects were only the Zixia Sect and the Golden Blade Sect. Besides these, the nearest sects were thousands of miles away. And aside from some minor sects, the closest was undoubtedly the leader of Kunwu's Seven Great Sects—the mountain gate of the righteous Tiandao Sect.
Kunwu's Seven Great Sects were: Tiandao Sect, Xuanqing Sect, Ancient Sword Sect, Biyun Sect, Zhengfa Gate, Spirit Beast Sect, and Danding Sect. Among them, Spirit Beast Sect and Danding Sect specialized in beast-taming and alchemy respectively, both considered unorthodox paths. Their numbers were only slightly larger than medium-sized cultivation sects, but because these two sects' beast-taming and alchemy arts were quite remarkable, their sect strength was considerably higher than medium-sized cultivation sects, thus ranking among the Seven Great Sects.
Next in strength were Biyun Sect and Zhengfa Gate. Zhengfa Gate was a Daoist sect, with most disciples dressed as Daoist priests. Biyun Sect, however, was a peculiar sect that recruited disciples—both male and female—based on exceptional beauty. They had many female disciples, resulting in many dual cultivation couples within the sect.
Following them were Ancient Sword Sect and Xuanqing Sect. Ancient Sword Sect was a sword cultivation sect. So-called sword cultivators devoted their lives to cultivating a single sword, with most of their supernatural powers concentrated on one blade. Sword cultivators had always been somewhat more formidable in combat than ordinary cultivators, but advancement was also more difficult. Therefore, although Ancient Sword Sect's high-level cultivators were only comparable in number to Zhengfa Gate and Biyun Sect, their strength was higher, and they had always been considered on par with Xuanqing Sect. Xuanqing Sect's strength was second only to Tiandao Sect and, like Zhengfa Gate, was a Daoist sect.
For thousands of years, the one consistently regarded as the leader of Kunwu's righteous path was the Tiandao Sect, located in the northeast of Kunwu, separated from the Demonic Path by a single mountain. Tiandao Sect was different from other sects. Its characteristic was having no characteristic. It had no designated sect cultivation method, nor did it force disciples to cultivate anything specific. Unorthodox paths and strange techniques were all permissible; even cultivating Demonic Path techniques didn't matter, as long as sect rules weren't violated. Tiandao Sect's strength precisely benefited from this all-encompassing governance method. All Tiandao Sect disciples were treated equally regardless of what they cultivated, resulting in many special talents within the sect.
Mo Tiange wanted to go to Tiandao Sect precisely because it was the leader of the righteous path, and its disciples studied a wide variety of things. She could broaden her horizons while not fearing any accidents. Although cultivators had no absolute paragons of virtue, righteous path cultivators still didn't encourage conflict, making interactions with righteous path disciples safer.
Not long after leaving Yunwu Mountain, she found a place to change out of her Yunwu Sect disciple uniform, putting on very ordinary clothes. Yunwu Sect had now been annexed by the Zixia Sect, and there had been that incident last month, so it was better to be cautious. Then she activated her Lightness Technique and headed northeast.
Years ago, while wandering with her second uncle, Mo Tiange had seen cultivators who were originally martial artists from the mortal world entering the Dao through martial arts. She had been extremely interested in their so-called martial arts movement techniques and had learned some. Over the years, from the Immortal Platform Meet to the Foundation Establishment Pill competition, she had benefited greatly. Her Lightness Technique, when executed, was also faster than an ordinary cultivator's. In less than half a month, she reached Tiandao Sect's territory.
Tiandao Sect's sphere of influence was vast. This place already belonged to its territory, though there were actually only some minor sects attached ing to it nearby. However, the market town here was special, regularly holding Daoist Dharma Assemblies at fixed times, inviting Tiandao Sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators to participate. For these assemblies, anyone could attend as long as they paid the entrance Spirit Stones, and they could ask questions of the lecturing cultivators or debate the Dao with each other.
Mo Tiange was quite interested in these assemblies, and the entrance fee wasn't expensive, so she waited here. Additionally, she also sold off some magical artifacts inconvenient to sell near Yunwu Mountain in batches. Because the flow of people here was quite mixed and it was some distance from Yunwu Mountain, these magical artifacts were smoothly sold off, adding many Spirit Stones to her purse.
Coming out of a shop, Mo Tiange turned a street corner, took off her robe, changed her facial appearance, and revealed her original features.
When going to shops to sell magical artifacts, she had used Illusion Transformation techniques to disguise herself as various different appearances, because the origins of these artifacts still couldn't be known. Besides, these shops didn't care whether customers used Illusion Transformation techniques, as long as they couldn't see her true face.
Strolling leisurely past the street corner, she slightly extended her spiritual sense and detected nothing unusual. Smiling slightly, she tucked her hands into her sleeves and entered another shop.
This shop had a simple storefront with no other decorations. The counter displayed several brocade boxes containing magical artifacts, talismans, pills, and some miscellaneous items.
The shopkeeper was a mortal woman. Seeing her enter, she enthusiastically greeted, "Esteemed Immortal, what would you like?"
Mo Tiange was just casually browsing, so she didn't answer immediately, instead carelessly examining the few magical artifacts placed on the counter before turning to look at the woman. As she turned, she was stunned.
This woman was around twenty, quite beautiful. Although a mortal, she wasn't much inferior to female cultivators. Of course, she wasn't surprised because of that. What astonished her was that this woman's appearance seemed so familiar. She carefully searched her mind but couldn't remember when she had seen this person.
"Immortal?"
Mo Tiange snapped back to reality and saw the woman looking at her uneasily. She suddenly realized she hadn't answered for a long time but had been staring at her for a while. And currently, she was in male disguise, probably frightening the woman. Thinking it inconvenient to explain, she asked, "What does the shop sell?"
Seeing her expression was normal now, the woman quickly revealed a smile and introduced, "Look at these magical artifacts, talismans, and pills—they're all excellent. Additionally, our small shop also sells talisman paper and talisman brushes, all made from high-quality demon beast materials. Please take a look."
Mo Tiange had already scanned the items on the counter. The magical artifacts were just ordinary goods, not high-grade artifacts. The talismans were also low-grade. She didn't know about the pills, but judging by the other items, they were probably ordinary pills too. Having just sold a large quantity of magical artifacts herself, and carrying plenty of talismans and pills, she didn't need anything. So she casually grabbed a handful of talisman paper, picked a talisman brush, and some cinnabar.
"How much for these?"
The woman glanced briefly and smiled, "This talisman paper and cinnabar only cost one Spirit Stone, but this talisman brush costs seven Spirit Stones."
Eight Spirit Stones were nothing to Mo Tiange at present. She immediately took eight Spirit Stones from her Qiankun Bag and placed them on the counter.
A transaction completed so easily made the woman very happy. She wrapped up everything Mo Tiange wanted and handed it over respectfully, saying, "Immortal, here are the items you requested."
Mo Tiange took them and was about to leave when a young male cultivator entered the shop. This cultivator was only at Qi Refining Level 5, dressed plainly and looking weary, though his face was handsome, giving him a somewhat refined air.
As soon as this young cultivator entered the shop, the shopkeeping woman happily called out, "Husband, you're back early today."
So it turned out he was this woman's husband. This wasn't uncommon either. Female cultivators were originally fewer than male cultivators, and many low-level female cultivators were taken as concubines by high-level cultivators. Low-level male cultivators often found it difficult to have a Dao companion, so many married mortal women as wives or concubines—though it was unclear whether this beautiful woman before them was a wife or a concubine.
The cultivator responded indifferently, his expression quite cold. Looking up and seeing Mo Tiange, however, he quickly showed a smile. "Fellow Daoist, do you need anything?"
Mo Tiange naturally knew that since she was at Qi Refining Perfection, this cultivator didn't dare look down on her. It was just that he had been so cold to his wife earlier but was all smiles to others, which made her somewhat displeased. Especially when she turned her head and saw the faint loneliness in the woman's eyes, she felt even more heartache.
Mortal women who married cultivators could never obtain equal status. To put it nicely, they were wives or concubines; to put it harshly, they were playthings. Never mind mortal women, what about female cultivators? Recalling Shen Bing—good talent, backed by a family—wasn't she still burdened by her beauty and became someone's concubine?
Thinking of this, she immediately lost her mood and replied coldly, "Nothing."
This cultivator didn't mind her coldness and still enthusiastically said, "Fellow Daoist can look around more. My humble shop isn't much in other aspects, but the talisman paper and brushes are good, all personally made by me."
Before she could say anything, the woman already spoke up. "Husband, this Immortal has already bought talisman paper and a brush from our shop."
"Is that so?" The cultivator smiled awkwardly. "In that case, thank you for your patronage, Fellow Daoist. Please feel free."
Mo Tiange nodded slightly but didn't want to leave anymore. Pretending to be quite interested, she examined the few magical artifacts on the counter.
The woman was about to introduce them when Mo Tiange waved her hand. "No need to attend to me. I'll speak up if I see something I like."
Seeing she didn't want to be disturbed, the woman stepped back. Noticing her husband's weary appearance, she hurriedly bustled about serving tea and water.
Mo Tiange sighed inwardly. She truly didn't understand—the cultivator was clearly not good to his wife, so why did this woman still love him so much?
"Husband, you're back so early today. Did everything go smoothly?"
Hearing his wife's question, the cultivator opened his eyes slightly, took a cloth bag from his Qiankun Bag, and tossed it aside. "Bad luck today, only gathered these. Go sort them out."
The woman acknowledged, picked up the cloth bag, and went into the inner room.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange randomly selected a few talismans, paid a few Spirit Stones, and left.