A dull thud came from within the alchemy furnace. Mo Tiange stopped the fire in her dantian and opened the furnace lid.
The medicinal fragrance had turned to the stench of scorching, and the spirit herbs had become a pile of useless dregs.
She shook her head, dumped the dregs, scooped water from the nearby stone basin to wash the furnace, then placed another measured amount of materials inside and continued refining pills.
Although this cave abode was small, it had all the necessary facilities. Qingquan Peak had many clear springs, and the alchemy room also had a channeled water source, making pill refining very convenient. The excellent environment and abundant spiritual qi made Mo Tiange feel that alchemy wasn't so tedious after all. Carefully sensing the changes during refinement and mastering the subtle differences was also quite enjoyable.
It had been almost a month since she arrived at the Xuanqing Sect, and she felt completely relaxed. Here, she had her own private cave abode, guidance from a Core Formation cultivator, and didn't have to bear the shackles of her previous identity. Moreover, she was now an elite disciple of the Xuanqing Sect, receiving a considerable amount of pills and spirit stones every month, and she also received a share of the disciple allowances issued by Perfected Person Xuanyin. This allowed her to completely avoid worrying about trivial matters and focus solely on cultivation.
When she first arrived, Martial Uncle Xuanyin had examined her cultivation progress and instructed her to first convert all the spiritual qi within her body into yin-type spiritual qi before attempting Foundation Establishment. These past days, she had followed Martial Uncle Xuanyin's advice, slowly condensing and refining her spiritual qi. In her spare time, she slowly pondered alchemy on her own.
Perhaps because her mood had improved, or because the spiritual qi was abundant and her state was excellent, her success rate in alchemy had also increased significantly. Over these days, her success rate for basic pills had already risen above forty percent.
This success rate was at the level of an average alchemist, giving her a bit of confidence—her alchemy talent wasn't that poor after all.
For the herb garden behind the cave abode, she had also asked Luo Fengxue for seeds and planted her own medicinal field. However, these herbs wouldn't be usable for at least ten years.
Additionally, she had met the other senior sisters.
Perfected Person Xuanyin didn't have many female disciples. Including Luo Fengxue, there were only three. The other two had already established their Foundation.
The eldest senior sister, Han Qingyu, had a steady personality and treated others kindly. According to Luo Fengxue, this eldest senior sister was very popular among their martial brothers and sisters, and the junior sisters also enjoyed her company. If she ever needed help in the future, seeking out the eldest senior sister would definitely be the right move.
The second senior sister, Wei Jiasi, had a rather arrogant personality. After a brief meeting, she said she needed to cultivate and returned to her own cave abode. Luo Fengxue privately told Mo Tiange that this second senior sister had always prided herself on her exceptional talent and was definitely jealous that she had been accepted as a named disciple by the Patriarch, hence the cold treatment. However, arrogant people tended to be straightforward and wouldn't actively bully others. As long as she didn't provoke her, there would be no trouble.
Mo Tiange merely smiled at this. Back when she entered the Yunwu Sect, her approach to interacting with fellow disciples had been "a smiling face is never struck." She greeted everyone with a smile and avoided making enemies. Her current situation was more than ten times better than in the Yunwu Sect. A little cold shoulder was nothing to her.
As for Qin Xi, since he brought her back, the two of them had never met again, not even exchanging messages. Mo Tiange had asked Luo Fengxue about Qin Xi's situation. Luo Fengxue only replied that Senior Uncle was doing well, had gone into seclusion upon returning, and seemed unwilling to say more.
This news made Mo Tiange feel a slight sourness in her heart. Of course she knew that the Xuanqing Sect was his true sect, and the people here were closer to him than she was. It was just...
However, on the other hand, she also felt a sense of relief. Even though she was now a named disciple of Patriarch Jinghe, her status was still worlds apart from Qin Xi's. If they never met again, then those emotional fluctuations could be easily suppressed, lest they potentially become a heart demon in the future.
In truth, she had also carefully considered it. Was this feeling really romantic love? She truly had no experience with it. She just felt that Qin Xi was a bit more special than others, that she was happy to see him, and felt reluctant when they parted. But upon further reflection, she also felt that if he weren't there, not seeing him again wouldn't be that painful. By the end of her thoughts, she herself was confused.
Perhaps she was just worrying unnecessarily. It was only because he had saved her in a desperate situation that she felt so grateful. Moreover, during the time of grief after losing her second uncle, he had been by her side. Perhaps she had merely transferred her feelings for her second uncle onto him.
In the alchemy room, the medicinal fragrance gradually grew richer. Mo Tiange sensed that the pills within the furnace had taken shape, so she withdrew her wandering thoughts, silently calculating the timing. At the precisely controlled moment, she lifted the furnace lid.
Several pale-colored pills lay at the bottom of the furnace, each one clear and translucent. She picked up the pills, played with them for a moment, then satisfied, poured them into a prepared jade bottle.
The alchemy ingredients she had bought back at the Tiandao Sect were now completely used up, and her alchemy skills had improved rapidly. Refining these basic pills was no longer a problem; she could try refining slightly more advanced pills now.
Stopping her alchemy, she sat cross-legged right there in the alchemy room to meditate and regulate her breathing, planning to go out once she finished.
Besides the town at the foot of the mountain, the Xuanqing Sect also had a small market specially prepared for disciples within the sect. The shops were all run by the sect, and those coming and going were all fellow disciples. The items sold were of good quality and affordable, and more importantly, transactions here were very safe.
Before she finished meditating, the formation outside her cave abode rippled, and a sound transmission talisman flew in.
Mo Tiange caught it. The talisman ignited without fire, and a familiar voice sounded in her ear: "Junior Brother Ye, I'm outside."
Her heart stirred, but she didn't feel joy. Instead, she frowned. She really didn't want to meet Qin Xi right now.
But the person was already at her door. How could she not go meet him? She sighed, stood up, straightened her clothes, tried to put on a normal smile, and after confirming she had no emotional fluctuations, went to the cave abode entrance.
The stone door of the cave abode opened. A man stood with his back to her, hands clasped behind him, wearing wide robes and sleeves, his posture tall and straight. Even from just this silhouette, he exuded an imposing heroic air. His gaze was fixed on the distance, as if looking at something. Hearing the sound of the stone door opening, he turned around.
As he turned, Mo Tiange was stunned.
The face before her was familiar, but the entire feeling of the person was completely unfamiliar. She looked at the person before her, unable to help but wonder. Speaking of clothes, the plain blue robes of an ordinary Yunwu Sect disciple, while simple, weren't unattractive. How had this Senior Brother Qin looked so inconspicuous back then? Now, just by changing his attire, he seemed to possess an air of elegance and noble bearing.
She had never seen Dao Lord Jinghe. If she had, she would have surely noticed that Qin Xi's current appearance bore a fifty to sixty percent resemblance to Dao Lord Jinghe.
While she was sizing up Qin Xi, Qin Xi was also sizing her up.
A flash of admiration passed through his eyes. He hadn't expected that this "Junior Brother Ye," who seemed utterly devoid of feminine adornment, would look so elegantly beautiful in women's clothing—actually, he had seen her in women's clothing a few months ago, but she had been too disheveled then and quickly changed back to men's clothes. Afterwards, he couldn't really remember what she looked like.
However, it was only for a moment. He quickly recovered, smiling naturally as he said, "Junior Brother Ye, you look much better dressed like this than before."
Qin Xi's praise was too straightforward, making Mo Tiange somewhat ashamed of her own petty thoughts. Whether in attitude or manner of interaction, Qin Xi still treated her as "Junior Brother Ye." In comparison, she felt she wasn't being sincere enough. So she also adjusted her mindset, smiling and teasing as usual: "Senior Brother Qin looks completely different today too. I'm just curious, how did you manage to dress like a shop assistant back in the Yunwu Sect?"
Qin Xi was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh out loud. Shop assistant—that was a good analogy. After laughing, he shook his head and said, "Junior Brother Ye, you're still so sharp-tongued. That puts my mind at ease."
His words, "puts my mind at ease," made Mo Tiange pause. A warm feeling slowly welled up in her heart—she could sense that Qin Xi's thoughts were open and upright, and this statement had nothing to do with romantic feelings. It was a kind of concern without ulterior motives, which made it feel even warmer.
She couldn't help but wonder: Was this kind of emotion more beautiful than the romantic love she had imagined?
"Junior Brother Ye?"
Hearing his voice, Mo Tiange realized they had been standing at the entrance all this time. She quickly stepped aside: "Sorry, Senior Brother Qin, please come in and sit for a while."
"No need," Qin Xi glanced around subtly. "I came to deliver something."
Several senior sisters lived nearby. Mo Tiange understood his intention to avoid suspicion, so she didn't insist, merely smiling and saying, "Does Senior Brother Qin have some treasure for me?"
Qin Xi took out a half-foot square box inlaid with gold and jade from his Qiankun bag and handed it over: "I went into seclusion to stabilize my realm as soon as I returned and didn't think of it until now. I only remembered today after coming out of seclusion that your status is different now, so you might need these."
His expression was strange, his gaze somewhat evasive... as if he was embarrassed!
Mo Tiange grew even more puzzled. Suspiciously, she took the box, opened the lid, and was stunned.
Qin Xi coughed and said, "It's not some treasure. These are just gifts sent by the mortal Qin family—gold, silver, jewels. They're useless to us cultivators, so I just tossed them aside. But I thought you female cultivators might still need them."
Mo Tiange picked up a hairpin from the box. It was made of light green warm jade, with a bright luster, no excessive carvings, simple, elegant, and exquisite. She had never imagined that after resuming her female identity, someone would actually give her adornments.
Her emotions surged, but she only slowly let out a breath, closed the box, looked up, and smiled: "Thank you. I've never used such precious things before."
Seeing her calm reaction, Qin Xi breathed a sigh of relief and also smiled: "What's precious about them? They're just mundane objects. As long as they're useful to you."
"How are they not precious? It's the first time I've received jewelry..." At this point, Mo Tiange stopped herself because she felt these words seemed... somewhat suggestive? Damn it, hadn't she just been thinking about interacting with him frankly? How did it seem off again in the blink of an eye?
Qin Xi, however, remained completely unaware and continued: "I thought so too. Junior Brother Ye..." He paused, shook his head, and smiled. "No good. The way you look now, always calling you junior brother isn't appropriate. Hmm, Junior Sister Mo?"
Mo Tiange was taken aback: "This... seems a bit strange."
"True." Qin Xi looked up thoughtfully. "How about calling you by your name directly? Xiao Tian, or Tian Ge?"
"Ah?" This...
Seeing her expression, Qin Xi couldn't help but laugh: "Just joking. But I really can't think of how to address you in the future."
This was indeed a problem. In the future, he couldn't keep calling her Junior Brother Ye. Others would find it very strange.
"Hmm... Actually, I don't mind being called by my name." After all, he also called Fengxue by her name. If he called her by her name too, it wouldn't seem strange.
"Is that so? Then I could..." He stopped mid-sentence, looking to the side.
The cave abode next door had someone coming out, who seemed to notice people here and glanced over curiously.
It was that second senior sister, Wei Jiasi.
Qin Xi calmly turned his head back and smiled: "I'll head back first. If you need anything in the future, just send me a sound transmission talisman directly."
With someone else watching nearby, Mo Tiange naturally wouldn't keep him either. She said politely, "Thank you for today. Until we meet again."
Qin Xi nodded and left directly.
When he had gone far, Mo Tiange turned her head and greeted Wei Jiasi with a smile: "Senior Sister Wei."
Wei Jiasi's expression was strange—shock, confusion, and displeasure. In the end, she just gave Mo Tiange a indifferent look and entered her cave abode.