Why did that woman's face seem familiar? When Mo Tiange washed her face that night, she suddenly understood.
Wiping away her disguise, the face in the mirror clearly bore some resemblance to that woman.
The similarities lay in the brows, eyes, and the outline of the face. The outline was one thing, but the brows and eyes were far too alike. If she hadn't been wearing her own disguise, she might have been discovered on the spot.
Strange. She had no sisters, and her close blood relatives were all in the mortal world. Could it be that members of the Ye family were still in Kunwu? Second Uncle had said that back then, the entire Ye family had been relocated to the mortal world, with explicit instructions not to set foot in Kunwu again unless someone with a Spirit Root emerged. That woman was a mortal, clearly without a Spirit Root.
She stood before the mirror for a while but couldn't figure it out, so she returned to her bed to meditate. If she wanted to get to the bottom of this, she could just go ask tomorrow.
Qi Refining Perfection. She discovered a change in the Spiritual Qi within her body. She cultivated two techniques: the Art of the Plain Maiden and the Green Wood Art. Because her cultivation speed with the Art of the Plain Maiden was faster, it was her primary technique, while the Green Wood Art was secondary, used for combat. However, the Spiritual Qi absorbed into her body by these two techniques was quite similar. The Green Wood Art absorbed Wood-attributed Spiritual Qi, but it also included a small amount of other attributes. The Art of the Plain Maiden could absorb any type of Spiritual Qi. The Spiritual Qi absorbed by the two techniques mixed together without distinction.
But after reaching Qi Refining Perfection, a cold, yin-type Spiritual Qi gradually appeared within her. The amount was small, but it was completely different from the rest. The two streams of Spiritual Qi circulated separately within her meridians, neither interacting nor repelling each other. She hadn't had time to tell Second Uncle about this yet, but for now, it didn't seem harmful, so she let it be.
Having already reached Qi Refining Perfection, cultivation could no longer increase her Spiritual Qi; it could only refine it further. Mo Tiange meditated out of habit when she had nothing else to do. But this habitual cultivation session revealed something that surprised her.
The two unrelated streams of Spiritual Qi in her Dantian and meridians still circulated separately. However, the amount of that cold, yin-type Spiritual Qi was gradually increasing. Noticing this phenomenon, she conducted an experiment. Within her Dantian, she separated a strand from each type of Spiritual Qi and let them slowly come into contact. After a while, the mixed-attribute Spiritual Qi decreased slightly, while the cold, yin-type Spiritual Qi increased a bit.
Having verified that this cold Spiritual Qi could consume her original Spiritual Qi, Mo Tiange immediately stopped cultivating. Although she could currently control both streams of Spiritual Qi without issue, she still didn't understand the nature of this cold Qi. It was best not to act recklessly.
After some thought, she felt that this cold Spiritual Qi might be the yin energy produced by cultivating the Art of the Plain Maiden. However, the technique manual didn't mention this change, so she couldn't be sure.
Generally speaking, heaven belongs to yang, earth to yin; men belong to yang, women to yin. In truth, regardless of gender, everyone possesses both yin and yang, but males are yang-prosperous and yin-deficient, while females are yin-prosperous and yang-deficient. Extending from this, cultivation techniques in the immortal world created specifically for female cultivators all lean towards the yin attribute. Since the Art of the Plain Maiden could only be cultivated by those with a pure yin constitution, it must be even more so. However, she had never heard that the Spiritual Qi cultivated by female cultivators differed from that of male cultivators, so she couldn't be certain whether this was truly yin energy or not.
The night passed quickly. Mo Tiange packed her things and went out.
This day was the opening of the Dao Gathering jointly organized by this marketplace. On this day each month, cultivators from the surrounding area would flock here. Most were Qi Refining cultivators aspiring to join the Tiandao Sect, with the occasional Foundation Establishment Cultivator who came to discuss the Dao with Tiandao Sect members.
Mo Tiange had already inquired about the location of the Dao Hall. After circling a few directions, she headed directly towards an utterly unremarkable small courtyard.
The courtyard gate was open, guarded by two low-level cultivators. Occasionally, someone would approach, hand over Spirit Stones, and receive a token in exchange.
Mo Tiange followed behind them, handed over two Spirit Stones, received a wooden token engraved with a number, and entered the courtyard. She then passed through a main hall, was led into a room, and walked down a staircase leading underground. After many twists and turns, she finally entered a large hall. The hall was enormous, not much smaller than the Yunwu Sect's Lecture Palace. It could easily accommodate a thousand people. At the far end was a raised platform with several meditation cushions. Below, there were both tables with chairs and meditation cushions.
Only after hearing the receptionist's introduction did she learn that by paying one extra Spirit Stone, one could get a chair. She hadn't asked at the time and had just paid the entrance fee, so she could only sit on a cushion. Not minding, she found a corner seat neither too close nor too far, sat down, and closed her eyes to rest.
In fact, most people still sat on cushions. Two Spirit Stones per month was already a significant amount for Loose Cultivators. Ordinary Qi Refining disciples of the Yunwu Sect only received five Spirit Stones per month.
People trickled into the Dao Hall. It took quite a while before the crowd gradually grew.
When the hall was nearly full, Mo Tiange opened her eyes and observed her surroundings. Quite a few people had come; only about twenty percent of the seats remained empty. Among them were casually dressed Loose Cultivators, disciples from minor sects wearing their sect uniforms, and scions of cultivation families accompanied by attendants. It seemed this Dao Gathering was quite successful, attracting not only Loose Cultivators but also people from sects and families. This raised her expectations for the gathering a bit.
People continued to stream in from outside until about ninety percent of the seats were occupied, and then the flow gradually stopped.
A quarter of an hour later, the hall doors closed. Simultaneously, a small door at the far end opened, and several Qi Refining cultivators escorted a Foundation Establishment Cultivator onto the high platform.
At the same time, all the Qi Refining cultivators in the hall stood up and performed a Daoist salute. Seeing this, Mo Tiange followed suit.
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator was a man in his early thirties, wearing a light purple Daoist robe with white trim. His expression was steady, giving him an air of immortal grace.
Mo Tiange couldn't sense which stage of Foundation Establishment this cultivator was at—unless they practiced some secret technique, low-level cultivators couldn't sense the specific cultivation level of higher-level ones. However, Foundation Establishment Cultivators had lifespans between three and four hundred years. This cultivator looked only in his thirties, so his true age was probably under a hundred. By the average age for Foundation Establishment, he could be considered young.
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator sat on the central cushion of the high platform, swept his gaze over the audience below, and spoke, "Greetings, everyone. I am Wen Xiangdao of the Tiandao Sect. Today, I will lecture on the Dao with you all. Fellow Daoists who wish to discuss the Dao are also very welcome." He paused briefly before continuing, "I imagine you've all heard plenty about cultivation insights and experiences. So today, perhaps I'll talk to you about the insights of Foundation Establishment."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange immediately perked up. She had originally been interested in this marketplace-organized Dao Gathering, but she hadn't expected it to cover Foundation Establishment insights—precisely what she most wanted to hear right now. As for Foundation Establishment insights, the uncles and aunts who gave lectures within the Yunwu Sect had specifically addressed them to Qi Refining disciples like her who were about to attempt Foundation Establishment. She just didn't know how they would compare to those of a Tiandao Sect Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
She wasn't the only one excited; the others were even more so. After all, Loose Cultivators rarely had the chance to hear about such content. While scions of families and disciples of minor sects might have opportunities, this was a cultivator from the Tiandao Sect—the number one righteous sect in Tianji! It was bound to be different from what their own sect elders said.
Wen Xiangdao paused, as if considering how to begin. After a moment, he slowly started speaking. "How Qi Refining cultivators establish their Foundation, I presume you all know. First, cultivate to the tenth level of Qi Refining, reaching Perfection. Second, take a Foundation Establishment Pill. Then, go into seclusion for a year or so. Success means Advancement to Foundation Establishment; failure means remaining at the Qi Refining stage. If relatively lucky, one might enter the eleventh level of Qi Refining. I will now share with you my own process and insights regarding Foundation Establishment."
"I possess a Three Spirit Root aptitude, which is very ordinary within the Tiandao Sect. The cultivation technique I practice is also a very ordinary Five Elements technique. I was fortunate enough to obtain one Foundation Establishment Pill and succeeded in establishing my Foundation on the first attempt. I imagine many of you here are like me—ordinary, with minuscule hopes of Foundation Establishment, yet clinging to the slim hope that your ancestral graves will emit auspicious smoke, allowing you to enter the Foundation Establishment stage in one go. But what I want to tell you today is that Foundation Establishment is not merely about luck."
"As is well known, Spirit Roots influence the speed of Spiritual Qi absorption, the effectiveness of cultivation, and the probability of Advancement. It can be said that those with fewer Spirit Roots are naturally more suited to immortal cultivation than those with mixed Spirit Roots. Some people Advance easily, while others struggle bitterly. Of course, don't delude yourselves into thinking Foundation Establishment has nothing to do with Spirit Roots—that's impossible. However, as long as you have enough patience, you can slightly narrow the gap with those born with superior Spirit Roots. Many cultivators, upon reaching Qi Refining Perfection, become anxious to Advance immediately. In fact, at this point, several other factors influence the success rate of Foundation Establishment. One of them is the density of your Spiritual Qi."
This last sentence surprised Mo Tiange. Spiritual Qi density? What did that mean?
Wen Xiangdao continued, "Do you know what changes occur within the body after Foundation Establishment?" He swept his gaze over the crowd. As expected, the entire hall fell silent. He then went on, "Let me tell you: if you establish your Foundation, your meridians will widen, your Dantian will expand, and the Spiritual Qi that once flowed between your Dantian and meridians will turn into a liquid state. Only then will there be spare space within your body to continue absorbing Spiritual Qi. Now you should have guessed what I'm going to say next—that's right. If you stay at the tenth level of Qi Refining a bit longer, allowing your Spiritual Qi to become more refined, it will be easier to meet the conditions for the Spiritual Qi to liquefy."
This theory was something Mo Tiange had never heard before. Second Uncle had only told her that attempting Foundation Establishment in too short a time made success difficult, but he had never explained these reasons. She wondered if this theory was something summarized by the Tiandao Sect. Immediately, she focused intently, recording these points onto a jade slip, planning to show it to Second Uncle later for him to judge its validity.
Wen Xiangdao spoke elaborated at length for half an hour before finally finishing this section. After pausing for a while, he began the next part.
"Also, I must tell you all: don't think that inner demons only appear at the Core Formation stage and therefore neglect your mental state. It's true that Foundation Establishment doesn't involve inner demons, but your mental state affects your actions and also influences your confidence. Don't overlook your mindset. Someone with a stable mindset will begin Foundation Establishment in an orderly manner and can calmly solve problems they encounter. In this way, from another perspective, it also increases the probability of successful Foundation Establishment..."