Chapter 147: Soul-Formation Ceremony

Preparations for the Soul-Formation Ceremony to celebrate Lord Daoist Xuanyin successfully advancing to the Nascent Soul realm took no less than several months. By the end of the preparations, almost all the guests had arrived.

Mo Tiange had been so busy that her cultivating time was cut to just six hours a day, and she wasn’t alone; all other elite disciples were more or less the same. One of the reasons for this was that there were too many guests. It wasn’t just major cultivation groups who were invited; even unknown, distant cultivation groups in eastern Kunwu like Yunwu Sect also came to give their congratulations.

With the arrival of so many cultivation groups, there was an increase in conflicts. Just like the two people welcomed by Mo Tiange before, there were some groups or cultivators with grudges between them who instantly blazed with hatred upon encountering each other there. It was trivial if they merely screamed and shouted, but they also came to blows sometimes. This kept Xuanqing School cultivators very busy. Fortunately, these people still had some self-restraint. Knowing that they were at Xuanqing School, they never went overboard with their fights.

After several months of hustling and bustling, the Soul-Formation Ceremony finally began.

On this fine, sunny day, more than 5,000 disciples at Xuanqing School in addition to several thousand guests who came to give their congratulations gathered on the square at the main peak of Mount Taikang.

Mo Tiange stood among the rows of elite disciples, watching the numerous cultivators standing in front of the main hall.

Advancing to the Nascent Soul realm was a matter of great importance. Furthermore, with several thousand guests in attendance, the reputation of the school was at stake. Therefore, all Xuanqing School Nascent Soul cultivators were present now—Lord Daoist Jinghe even obediently adorned the school’s Daoist robes. Most of Xuanqing School Core Formation cultivators also attended the ceremony. Mo Tiange saw almost everyone she could imagine aside from one person. All Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators who were on friendly terms with Xuanqing School and came to express their congratulations were also arranged and placed in the front, making the front of the hall completely jam-packed with people.

This could be considered the most spectacular gathering of high-level cultivators Mo Tiange had ever witnessed since she started cultivating. It was only now that she genuinely realized the formidableness of Xuanqing School.

This wasn’t Mount Yunwu where she once lived. This was Xuanqing School, the second greatest cultivation group in the entire Celestial Pole, and in the future, it might even become the greatest cultivation group. These Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators were also the finest cultivators in the Celestial Pole.

Although several thousand people filled the school square, not a single voice could be heard.

Lord Daoist Zhenyang stepped forward while slowly running his gaze over the countless disciples in front of him.

Every disciple of Xuanqing School and low-level cultivators from other cultivation groups who came to give their congratulations sensed his gaze falling on their bodies.

“Esteemed guests and dear disciples, today is our Soul-Formation Ceremony to celebrate the advancement of Xuanqing School’s Lord Daoist Xuanyin to the Nascent Soul realm. For this reason, we have to first offer our gratitude to our guests who’ve come all this way to attend this ceremony. Among you, some who have traveled tens of thousands of miles to be here; on behalf of Xuanqing School, I want to thank you. Furthermore, once again, welcome esteemed guests to Xuanqing School. We’re honored to have you here with us.”

Lord Daoist Zhenyang nodded while cupping his hand towards the surrounding guests to express his thanks and greetings. Because of Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s status as a great cultivator in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, even ordinary Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators didn’t dare to accept his polite gestures, not to mention Aura Refining and Foundation Building cultivators—one after another, they bowed to return his greetings.

“I’m not going to say any more superfluous words. Let us begin the Soul-Formation Ceremony.”

Right after Lord Daoist Zhenyang finished speaking, glorious music started to fill the air. Lord Daoist Xuanyin was wearing a Yin and Yang Daoist Robe and a pair of Eight Trigram Shoes. He passed through the crowd, slowly making his way to the front.

Lord Daoist Xuanyin had smoothly advanced to the Nascent Soul realm. He was now about 400 years old, but considering his realm, he was still very young. He also appeared much younger than before; in fact, he now looked like a man in his thirties. Moreover, he cut his long beard into a short one. He still looked dignified, but he also seemed to possess a youthful vitality.

Nevertheless, Mo Tiange was still quite surprised. She never paid real attention to this Martial Uncle Xuanyin’s looks. Now that she saw him clearly, she felt he could also be considered handsome. As expected of people from the cultivation world; once they recovered their youthful looks, they naturally looked beautiful.

Once Lord Daoist Xuanyin reached the stage in the front, under Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s guidance, he first worshipped the Three Pure Ones ¹ then made a report to the Head Grand Supreme Elder, who then conferred the title of Grand Supreme Elder on him.

Soon afterward, he worshipped the master who’d been teaching him and kneeled to accept his remarks.

“My disciple Xuanyin, you are intelligent and have a steady temperament. Today, Master feels deeply gratified for your advancement to the Nascent Soul realm. From today onwards, I hope you’ll never be arrogant or impatient and successfully achieve the Great Dao.”

As Lord Daoist Jinghe spoke, Mo Tiange finally realized that he never behaved inappropriately during matters of great importance. Now, when he stood with a solemn expression in his Yin and Yang Daoist Robe in front of several thousand disciples, he indeed had the aura of an esteemed master.

Lord Daoist Xuanyin kowtowed—this would be his last formal kowtow as a disciple towards his master, Lord Daoist Jinghe. In the future, with his identity as a Nascent Soul cultivator, he would no longer need to kowtow to anyone.

“Disciple thanks Master for his instruction. Xuanyin will never forget the several hundred years of grace and teaching Master has shown Xuanyin.”

A gratified expression emerged on Lord Daoist Jinghe’s face. “You have entered the Great Dao, so from now on, you will be standing as a separate division; you no longer have to call me master. It’s enough to hold the feeling of a master-disciple relationship between our hearts.”

“Yes, Disciple will definitely follow Master’s orders.”

Lord Daoist Jinghe then said, “The master appreciation ceremony is finished; you may rise.”

Lord Daoist Xuanyin stood up according to Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s prompting. He took a place at the end of the row of Xuanqing School Nascent Soul cultivators, indicating that the ceremony was already finished.

The entire process was done in less than an hour. At that point, Lord Daoist Zhenyang transmitted an order, telling all the disciples to retreat, usher the guests to their seats and entertain them.

Although cultivators like them no longer needed to eat real food, a banquet was still the most important part of entertaining guests. On the entire main peak of Xuanqing School, several thousand jade tables had been arranged from bottom to top. The guests were invited to sit, and Xuanqing School disciples would also sit accompanying them.

Mo Tiange also received this errand. She was in charge of receiving the female guests.

Compared to male guests, female guests had to be given a bit of preferential treatment, so all of them were arranged to sit indoors. This was the first time Mo Tiange had ever been in a place with so many female cultivators; she couldn’t help but feel dizzy!

It was for no other reason other than that their perfumes were too strong!

The female cultivators who were able to come to Xuanqing School to express their congratulations certainly had high positions in their own cultivation groups. Each of them believed themselves to be fairies. As fairies, they naturally wore unique fragrances which dispersed with every move.

It would be fine if there was just one, but there were a bunch of females there; all kinds of fragrances were mixing together there! Mo Tiange was so dizzy that she almost passed out! In the end, she simply used her spiritual aura to seal off her sense of smell and pretended there weren’t any scents at all.

Nevertheless, this occasion actually opened up her horizons.  As it turns out, this is how female cultivators of the cultivation world look and behave like!  She used to pretend to be a man in Yunwu Sect, and later when she came to Xuanqing School, although she did spend time with female cultivators like Luo Fengxue, Xuanqing School was a Dao school, so most of its female cultivators also dressed like Daoists. Among the few people she was close to, there wasn’t even one who didn’t have simple and neat looks.

For this kind of important occasion, the other six great cultivation groups naturally attended without exception. Three female cultivators came from Tiandao Sect. However, all three wore different kinds of clothing. One was dressed as an ethereal fairy with clothes that fluttered in the breeze. One had black cloths covering only the important parts of her body, leaving a wide expanse of white skin exposed like she was a witch. The other one was dressed in an ordinary, modest, light-purple, white-lined sect’s uniform. Everyone said Tiandao Sect disciples were various kinds of people who came from all kinds of backgrounds. Seeing the way these three were dressed, the rumor was indeed proven to be true.

The next ones were the disciples of Gujian Sect. Gujian Sect specialized in sword cultivation techniques, so its disciples were dressed in a slightly simpler fashion—all of them were wearing a black top and white skirt, and each carried a long sword on their back. Because she previously had a conflict with Gujian Sect cultivators, Mo Tiange didn’t have a good impression of Gujian Sect. Hence, these Gujian Sect female cultivators were received by a fellow disciple.

The third one was Zhengfa Sect. The headquarters of Zhengfa Sect wasn’t located in Kunwu, but because it was the only great cultivation group in the northern area of the Celestial Pole, it was also a force to be reckoned with. Just like Xuanqing School, Zhengfa Sect was a Dao school. Its disciples were also in blue and white Daoist robes which looked simple and neat. However, the blue color of their robes was a kind of greenish blue. Furthermore, while the main color of Xuanqing School’s Daoist robes was white with a deep-blue color only as an adornment, Zhengfa Sect had a set of greenish-blue robes and white coat.

The female disciples of Biyun Sect possessed a different kind of elegance. Biyun Sect was a very peculiar cultivation group. First of all, it recruited more female disciples than male ones. Secondly, no matter whether male or female, all its disciples were extremely good-looking. Lastly, its Law of Dual Cultivation was very famous. Biyun Sect’s uniform consisted of white robes. When these female disciples put them on, every one of them looked like ice-cold beauties who were as graceful as immortals.

In addition, there were also the female disciples of Lingshou Sect. Their sect uniform consisted of yellow robes. Although they didn’t look as graceful as female disciples of Biyun Sect, they looked more charming and adorable. A Qilin was also embroidered at the hems of their robes. Reportedly, Qilin was a symbol of the founder of Lingshou Sect.

As for Danding School, because they sustained severe losses, only one female cultivator came. She sat silently in the corner, and there was nothing special about the way she was dressed.

In addition to them, there were also some substandard small cultivation groups. There were all kinds of beauties among their female disciples. Most of them didn’t wear the uniforms of their groups and instead, dressed themselves to look like enchanting beauties. Mo Tiange surmised that the reason they wanted to appear more beautiful than the others was because their groups weren’t as good as the seven great cultivation groups. In contrast, the majority of the seven great cultivation groups’ disciples wore the uniforms of their respective groups, but whether it was their beauty or temperaments, they didn’t lose out in the slightest.

What pleased Mo Tiange was that among such a huge group of female cultivators, she couldn’t be considered outstanding although she was quite pretty—this was perfectly in line with her wishes.

There were very few women who didn’t like to look beautiful. However, she always knew that as a female cultivator, having looks that weren’t too pretty but not too ordinary was best. By looking only slightly beautiful, people would indeed treat her well, but it wouldn’t bring her any danger. Male cultivators wouldn’t feel tempted to force themselves on her, and female cultivators wouldn’t be envious of her.

There were too many good-looking people in the cultivation world. If one looked too ordinary, they would most likely be thrown into the ugly category. If one was still considered to be very beautiful in a group of beautiful people, they would certainly become the target of numerous high-level cultivators. Therefore, being moderately beautiful was best.

By now, these “fairies” had been invited to take their seats. These fairies naturally wouldn’t talk loudly like male cultivators did, so this entire side hall was filled only with soft voices as they chatted to each other. The voices were soft and musical, but their discussions were somewhat filled with friction.

Sitting around Mo Tiange were female cultivators from some medium cultivation groups. An arrogant-looking female cultivator glanced at someone in front of her then said to a fellow disciple sitting next to her, “Junior Martial Sister, say… How can some people possibly have no self-awareness at all? There are elite disciples of every cultivation group here; how can someone with an ordinary aptitude, who was luckily able to advance to the Foundation Building realm due to protection and help from her ancestor, also have the guts to show up? People might laugh themselves to death if they realized this.”

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The female cultivator sitting next to her nodded compliantly.

Nevertheless, the other woman whom that female cultivator glanced at just sneered, “Someone’s worldview hasn’t shifted in the last 800 years. She thinks she has a slightly better aptitude and had a noble birth, so she always feels she’s above everyone else. She doesn’t even realize that people have overtaken her and left her behind; she still uses her old vision to judge others!”

“You—” The arrogant-looking woman’s face seemed distorted out of anger. Obviously, she was used to being spoiled by others; she was quite good at mocking others, but her self-restraint wasn’t that good.

The same woman who mocked that arrogant-looking female cultivator smiled and even winked at her. “Senior Martial Sister Yuan, don’t you think I’m right?”

This wink made the arrogant-looking woman infuriated. She slammed the table and said angrily, “He Ruxuan! You’re a shameless minx!”

The woman named He Ruxuan was indeed quite beautiful, but the more important thing was… she was exceedingly charming and flirtatious. On the other hand, although that arrogant-looking woman called Senior Martial Sister Yuan was also a beauty, her rigidness made her lose some of her charm.

Despite being cursed at, He Ruxuan wasn’t angry. On the contrary, she even deliberately chuckled in a coquettish manner and said, “Senior Martial Sister Yuan, are you still angry with me? I have to tell you this—it’s Senior Martial Brother Zhen himself who likes me. I never had those feelings towards him, so what are you angry with me for?”

She was obviously explaining, but her words were filled with irony, causing that Senior Martial Sister Yuan to be so enraged that her whole body trembled. “He Ruxuan! You really consider yourself to be all high and mighty! You’re nothing but trash that likes to sleep around on everyone’s beds! I really don’t know how many men you’ve slept with!”

This time, what she said really broadened Mo Tiange’s horizons.  As it turns out, these ethereal fairies will also say these kinds of coarse words married women of the secular world usually say when they fight—they’re not so different from male cultivators!

Upon hearing these words, He Ruxuan’s face finally changed. Anger flashed for an instant on her face, but she quickly covered it up and uttered another coquettish chuckle. “What’s Senior Martial Sister Yuan saying? Even if I sleep around, it’s because they’re willing to sleep with me. I’m not someone who lays naked on people’s beds but still gets kicked out of bed. As a woman, that’s really hu-mil-i-at-ing!” With her raised eyebrows and a slight tilt of the head directed towards Senior Martial Sister Yuan, it was clear whom she was talking about.

Sure enough, Senior Martial Sister Yuan flushed. This was obviously a secret; she never expected it would be revealed in front of so many people. She immediately shouted, “What kind of nonsense are you spouting!?”

“Whether I’m spouting nonsense or not, you know that the best, don’t you Senior Martial Sister Yuan?” He Ruxuan covered her mouth and chuckled before gracefully lowering her head to drink her wine.

“You—” Senior Martial Sister Yuan sprang up from her seat out of anger, prepared to enter a fight of magical powers at any time.

Seeing that the situation was deteriorating, Mo Tiange promptly stopped watching the play and stood up. “Senior Martial Sister, please forgive us if we haven’t been good hosts…”

“This has nothing to do with you!” Before Mo Tiange could finish speaking, that Senior Martial Sister Yuan already cut her off. “I want to settle the matter between me and this shameless minx!”

Before Mo Tiange could say anything, He Ruxuan already butted in and said, “Senior Martial Sister Yuan, we’re in Xuanqing School now! The master of the person who just talked to you is Lord Daoist Jinghe, a noble, middle stage Nascent Soul cultivator. He’s not like Martial Uncle Yuan, who’s just an insignificant, early stage Core Formation cultivator!”

On the surface, she was talking about Mo Tiange, but the deeper meaning behind her words also highlighted Senior Martial Sister Yuan’s status, forcing Senior Martial Sister Yuan to suffer another loss silently. However, He Ruxuan also indicated that Mo Tiange’s status wasn’t ordinary, unlike the background-less small disciples whom she used to arbitrarily bully in her sect. Senior Martial Sister Yuan still had a bit of common sense, so she just “hmphed” angrily and sat back in her seat.

A triumphant smile emerged on He Ruxuan’s face.

Mo Tiange just watched as the quarrel was concluded. She then smiled at Senior Martial Sister Yuan and said, “It’s good that Senior Martial Sister is so understanding. We’ll definitely compensate Senior Martial Sister if we’ve been bad hosts.”

Fortunately, Senior Martial Sister Yuan wasn’t an idiot. He Ruxuan pointed out her identity, so although she felt embarrassed, she still knew that with Mo Tiange’s identity, Mo Tiange wasn’t someone she could afford to offend. Thus, she stood up and bowed. “It’s me who was too presumptuous. I hope Senior Martial Sister is willing to forgive me.”

Mo Tiange smiled and put an end to this matter. “It’s only a small issue; no need to worry about it.”

Now that the space had returned to tranquility, Mo Tiange secretly cast a meaningful glance at He Ruxuan. She could clearly see that Senior Martial Sister Yuan had an arrogant and willful but simple character. Were it not for He Ruxuan provoking her, she never would’ve forgotten her manners like this. Fortunately, He Ruxuan was a smart person. When she caught Mo Tiange’s gaze, she returned it with a smile, allowing Mo Tiange to sigh with relief.

The squabble at this table was over, but Mo Tiange’s ears caught some commotion at the next table.

Two female cultivators were comparing their beauty, mutually mocking and ridiculing each other’s style.

One said, “Big Sister Zhen, the clothes you’re wearing today are pretty good. Unfortunately, they’re too white—they’re so white that it seems like you’re attending your family’s funeral.”

The other one retorted back sarcastically, “Little Sister Wan, your clothes also look very pretty, but they’re too red—they’re so red that people probably think you’re holding a Dual Cultivation Ceremony when they see you in them!”

“Aiya! Big Sister Zhen’s too polite. This hairpin of yours is pretty good. It’s yellow… It’s as if you’re sticking a banana in your hair.”

“It’s still worse than the white jade phoenix-pair hairpin Little Sister Wan has. From far away, you look like you have a white radish on top of your head!”

The skill of one of the spectators wasn’t high enough, so a “puchi” snort was heard. Those two women scowled angrily and simultaneously glared at that person. “What do you think you’re laughing at!? You have no manners!”

Fortunately, the person who laughed felt that this play was very amusing, so she didn’t care for their comments. She just waved her hand, lowered her head and continued on with her muffled laughter.

The two women continued to “flatter” each other.

“Big Sister Zhen, when did you change your bracelet? And here I thought you would wear that same bracelet until you died!”

“That’s just because Little Sister Wan rarely pays attention. A good bracelet can naturally match with many different clothes. I just try a new one every once in a while, unlike Little Sister Wan who puts on a different one every day. Unfortunately, Little Sister Wan’s bracelets are just of secular world quality that can’t even be considered spirit tools.”

“Although secular world things are cheap, finding them requires a lot of effort. This is the cultivation world; there’s plenty spirit tools and the like. Mass produced goods with low quality aren’t at all better than secular world things—such crude workmanship can’t match any clothes! Ah! Big Sister Zhen, these clothes of yours must’ve been made of cloud brocade, right? So rare… Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be the cloud brocade that can be made into spirit tools. Its quality is far below normal; if people don’t look carefully, they’d think your clothes were made of fish skin!”

“How can they be worse than these pearl adornments Little Sister Wan has? I wonder what year these old pearls came from. They’re so murky that they don’t have any luster at all—they look just like fish scales! I say… Little Sister, if you’re running short of pearls, you can just tell me. We happen to have a lake around our house which specializes in producing pearls with spiritual aura. Those pearls can be made into spirit tools and magic tools!”

Mo Tiange glanced at the broth-steamed-fish on the table and instantly lost her appetite.

“I wouldn’t dare to trouble Big Sister! Our clan isn’t as big as Big Sister’s clan, but we’ve set up branch shops everywhere. No matter what kind of unique goods Big Sister Zhen wants, you can just tell me—no need to be polite!”

At that point, the two of them looked as if they were spewing fire from their eyes when they stared at each other.

“Our clan already has everything; there’s no point in Little Sister Wan worrying about us like this!”

“Big Sister Zhen only has a few sets of clothes to rotate between in a year, and they look like outdated styles from several years ago. Little Sister naturally had to worry a little after seeing them.”

Their faces moved closer and closer towards each other as they spoke. Their gazes were filled with deep hatred.

The two female cultivators sitting at this table were both Aura Refining disciples, so the one in charge of receiving them was also an ordinary female disciple. That female disciple was still very young, so upon seeing the two female cultivators completely focused on each other with no regards to everyone else, she trembled without daring to step up to persuade the two of them to stop.

Mo Tiange, who saw this, stood up, walked towards the little girl from Xuanqing School, and softly put her wine cup on the table.

Upon noticing her arrival, the two female cultivators finally stopped shooting daggers from their eyes. When they realized she was a Foundation Building cultivator, both immediately smiled. “Martial Uncle.”

Mo Tiange raised her hand to stop them from standing up and said with a smile, “Ladies, please forgive us for not being good hosts. Allow me to toast the two of you with this wine.”

How could they dare to decline a toast proposed by a Foundation Building cultivator? Both immediately stood up and drank their wine.

With a laugh, Mo Tiange patted the young girl standing beside her on her shoulder, hinting at her to sit down and said, “Ladies, please pardon us. This grand-disciple of mine isn’t really good with words; I hope you will be kind and take care of her. Thank you in advance.”

She finished the wine in her cup, gave the two female cultivators a last nod, and turned around to leave. The young girl’s soft voice drifted after her: “Many thanks to Grandmaster.”

The two female cultivators revealed doubtful looks on their faces upon hearing her address Mo Tiange as “grandmaster.” In the end, they stopped mocking each other and whispered at the young girl, inquiring about Mo Tiange’s identity.

Once Mo Tiange was back in her own seat, she massaged the back of her neck. These fairies… they weren’t so different from mortal women. Getting along with them was really exhausting!