Chapter 196: Reaching an Agreement

Just as Xia Qing was about to rush forward to open the furnace on her behalf, Mo Tiange finally stood up.

For pill-concocting, the timing for the final opening of the furnace had to be precise. Opening the furnace too early would cause the pill aura to disperse quickly and the formed pills to be unstable. Even if the pills were successfully formed, their medicinal efficacy might decrease slightly. Opening the furnace too late was equally inadvisable. The concocting fire would get trapped inside the medicinal pills, thus forming harmful residue and affecting the purity of the medicinal pills. Both opening the furnace too early or too late would result in poor medicinal pills.

Therefore, a qualified concoctions master had to have a good grasp of the timing to open the furnace; they had to open the furnace at that precise, not too early, not too late moment to achieve the highest medicinal efficacy of pills and discard as much harmful residue as they could. This wasn’t something easy to master; even great concoctions masters occasionally miscalculated the timing. Aside from continuously concocting and analyzing the timing, there was no other way they could master it.

Right now, Mo Tiange was wholeheartedly sensing what was going on inside the furnace. All of a sudden, she moved in a flash, shooting out a beam of spiritual aura which swept the furnace lid up.

As the steam dispersed, a sweet scent permeated the air. At the bottom of the furnace lay several plump medicinal pills which were pure and unblemished in color.

Mo Tiange heaved a sigh of relief. In fact, with her pill-concocting skills, she wasn’t always successful in trying to concoct Soul-Solidifying Pills. At her worst, she got ten pills from one furnace, but none of them were successful—this was something she noted during her five years of Closed Door Meditation before. Unexpectedly, she tried concocting five of them now and all of them were successful! She initially thought she might’ve gotten at least two failures…

Mo Tiange didn’t have to do anything next because Xia Qing already did it in her place. They saw Xia Qing pouncing forward and grabbing the medicinal pills at the bottom of the furnace. She then began touching and sniffing them and eventually, she even shaved off some powder from the surface and taste it. Upon seeing her actions, Mo Tiange suddenly sympathized with the cultivator who’d have to take these medicinal pills later—it should be one of Bixuan Court’s three Core Formation cultivators, right? They didn’t have it easy either; maybe all the medicinal pills they took had been tasted by others first.

Xia Qing grabbed her, snapping her out of her thoughts and saying anxiously, “Fellow Daoist Ye, teach me, teach me! You’re too good at this! The quality of the medicinal pills you made is much better than mine! Look at this purity, look at this luster…”

Ever since she entered the path towards immortality, she’d met quite a few female cultivators. Among them, there were naive ones like Murong Yan, vivacious ones like Luo Fengxue, friendly ones like Han Qingyu, cold and arrogant ones like Wei Jiasi, and there were even those female cultivators who were as vain as mortal women. Nevertheless, she’d never seen someone like Xia Qing who wholeheartedly devoted herself to something and was so fanatical about that thing that she didn’t care about anything else.

Mo Tiange admitted that she herself was also crazy about cultivating. Normally, aside from cultivating, concocting, and studying formation books and the like, she never took interest in any other things. However, she was also a normal cultivator, so she still planned, schemed, and plotted—she would never be like Xia Qing, who couldn’t care less about her appearance or give two hoots about what was going on in the world and just devoted herself to the field of pill-concocting.

Such a mad person was rarely seen even among male cultivators; this was her first time seeing someone like this.

Fortunately, Wei Haolan was present. She pulled Xia Qing back then said in rebuke, “Junior Martial Sister Xia, you’re going to scare Fellow Daoist Ye. If you want to ask for advice, we can just invite her to stay for a few days; what are you so anxious for?”

“Oh, oh, right!” Xia Qing immediately apologized to Mo Tiange: “Fellow Daoist Ye, sorry, I was impatient…”

“No problem. I understand.” Mo Tiange’s gaze then fell on Wei Haolan. “Sect Head Wei, about the matter we discussed before—can we finalize it once and for all?”

Xia Qing’s reaction made Mo Tiange feel that control over this deal had shifted to her hands. Bixuan Court had the only Transporting Formation in this area, but she had the art of pill-concocting they urgently needed. Everyone had to take what they each needed.

Now that Mo Tiange brought up their deal, Wei Haolan’s expression immediately returned to its calm state. She cast a glance at Xia Qing then said with a smile, “Of course. Fellow Daoist Ye, how about we go and discuss it properly now?”

Mo Tiange nodded. “That’d be best.”

Just as the two of them were about to leave, Xia Qing suddenly lunged forward. “Senior Martial Sister Sect Head! You cannot take Fellow Daoist Ye away!”

In a flash, Mo Tiange was pulled back and placed behind her. Xia Qing was just like a mother hen protecting its chick, glaring at Wei Haolan.

Both Mo Tiange and Wei Haolan burst out laughing. In the end, Wei Haolan appeased her: “Rest assured, Junior Martial Sister Xia. I wanted to see Fellow Daoist Ye precisely because I wanted to talk to her about the matter regarding her teaching you pill-concocting. If you want to learn Fellow Daoist Ye’s concocting technique, you shouldn’t cause any more trouble now.”

“Really?” Xia Qing’s eyes were filled with doubt. She looked at Wei Haolan then Mo Tiange then she shook her head. “Senior Martial Sister Sect Head, this isn’t the first time you included me in your scheme.”

This time, Mo Tiange smiled in secret. She could roughly guess Wei Haolan’s temper. Wei Haolan was most likely someone who put the interests of the group above all else while Xia Qing was someone who didn’t care about anything aside from pill-concocting. That being the case, Mo Tiange would find it hard to believe if Wei Haolan never included Xia Qing as part of her schemes.

Wei Haolan sighed. “Junior Martial Sister Xia, I did include you in my schemes before, but have my actions ever been unfavorable for the improvement of your concocting technique? Since Fellow Daoist Ye can help develop your concocting skills, I naturally won’t let her go.”

Xia Qing thought for a while before she finally nodded with hesitation. “Okay. You’re Senior Martial Sister Sect Head, so I’ll listen to you again this time.” After she said that, Xia Qing patted Mo Tiange’s shoulder. “Fellow Daoist Ye, you cannot run oh! We have to compare notes first. If you need anything, I’ll definitely ask Martial Uncle Qingyi to give it to you—I guarantee you won’t suffer any losses!”

Mo Tiange nodded. “Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Xia. If your senior martial sister agrees to help me, I’ll definitely tell you all the tricks I have when it comes to pill-concocting.”

“That’s good then.” Upon hearing what Mo Tiange said, Xia Qing turned towards Wei Haolan then said naively, “Senior Martial Sister, you should agree to what Fellow Daoist Ye asks. Great concoctions masters aren’t easy to find, and even if we found one, they’d probably never tell us their tricks, so I couldn’t learn from them.”

Wei Haolan felt her head aching. She nodded and said, “I know. You better head back.”

Xia Qing finally released her hold on Mo Tiange, who smiled and once again clasped her hands as a goodbye, all the while resisting her urge to laugh. The two of them then left together.

The two people remained quiet along the way. They didn’t walk far before Wei Haolan once again led her to the hall from before. Wei Haolan ordered the part-time disciple to serve them tea then told them to retreat, leaving just the two of them inside the hall.

“Cough!” Wei Haolan cleared her throat while glancing at Mo Tiange. “Fellow Daoist Ye, since my junior martial sister has spoken like that, I can only be honest with you now. You want to borrow the Transporting Formation? No problem— as long as you teach all your pill-concocting skills to my junior martial sister, you may use the Transporting Formation.”

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This time, Mo Tiange unexpectedly wasn’t in a hurry. She sipped her tea at an exasperatingly slow speed for a while before she finally answered. “Fellow Daoist Wei, for concoctions masters, there are always some things that are kept secret and cannot be passed on to others. If I have to teach everything I know, shouldn’t you give me some additional benefits? What you’re asking me to do isn’t worth just 2,000 spirit stones—you can never buy pill-concocting secrets with just spirit stones.”

Wei Haolan’s expression turned gloomy once she heard what Mo Tiange said. “Does Fellow Daoist Ye want to raise the price?”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Mo Tiange said with a faint smile, “I’m not someone who cannot appreciate other people’s kindness. We already reached a preliminary agreement before, so I just want to improve that agreement a little.”

Wei Haolan’s expression finally improved. “Alright. If Fellow Daoist Ye still has any other requests, Fellow Daoist just needs to tell me. As long as your request is still within reason, as the Sect Head, I can still provide you with a decision.”

“Sect Head Wei’s such a direct person!” Mo Tiange clapped her hands.

Wei Haolan forced herself to smile. “Fellow Daoist Ye, you better speak your request first.”

Instead of answering straightaway, Mo Tiange seemed to be lost in her own thoughts for a moment. In fact, such a small, secluded cultivation clan like Bixuan Court simply didn’t have anything she wanted. Spirit stones? She had those; although she wasn’t rich enough that she could compare to Children of Wealth ¹ , she was at least richer than ordinary Core Formation cultivators. Medicinal pills were even more out of the question; right now, she had as many of them as she wanted. She also didn’t lack magic tools and the like. In fact, she even managed to obtain several magic weapons and two late stage Foundation Building puppets. Presumably, hardly any Foundation Building cultivators had as many treasures in their possession as she did. As for materials, this was the Eastern Sea region; Wei Haolan already told her that cultivators here were inhibited by a lack of natural resources.

“Sect Head Wei, to be honest, I don’t need spirit stones or other goods. I just want your group to provide me with one thing.”

“Oh?” Wei Haolan was rather bewildered. Aside from spirit stones and other goods concerning cultivation, what other things could cultivators possibly need?

“Safety,” Mo Tiange said faintly, “I’m going to be frank with Sect Head Wei. This time, I was transported along with my enemy. Although we didn’t arrive together, I also can’t guarantee that person didn’t end up in Linhai.”

Wei Haolan’s expression became solemn. “An enemy? What’s your enemy’s cultivation level like?”

“He should be in the early stage of the Core Formation realm now; he’s a devil cultivator.”

“The early stage of the Core Formation realm…” Wei Haolan mumbled to herself for a while. Nonetheless, she didn’t ask Mo Tiange how she came to be enemies with that person. She just said faintly, “If that’s the case, Fellow Daoist Ye can rest assured. I can guarantee your safety as long as you’re within Bixuan Court.”

“So that means… Sect Head Wei can guarantee that I’ll leave Linhai and return to Kunwu safely?”

“With our three Core Formation elders, this shouldn’t be a problem as long as Fellow Daoist Ye doesn’t go out randomly.”

Mo Tiange smiled. “That’ll do then. Since Sect Head Wei’s forthright, I’m also going to be forthright. As long as your group ensures my safety and lets me borrow the Transporting Formation to return to Kunwu later, I’ll teach all my pill-concocting skills and definitely won’t hold anything back.”

What Mo Tiange said this time finally made Wei Haolan smile. “Alright, so this is what we’re agreeing upon then.”

Mo Tiange nodded. The two of them held hands and pledged a vow, then with tea substituting for wine, they each drank a cup, indicating they’d now formally reached an agreement.

Now that the real business was over, Wei Haolan finally looked a bit more relaxed. She sized Mo Tiange up slowly then said with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Ye’s current appearance doesn’t seem to be the result of Look-Preserving Pills. I believe your real age must be very young, right?”

Actually, Mo Tiange had indeed taken a Look-Preserving Pill, but based on the lifespan of Foundation Building cultivators, she could still be considered young at her current age, so she still possessed a bit of innate youthfulness that old cultivators who took Look-Preserving Pills didn’t have.

Mo Tiange only said faintly, “I just received some care from my elder which is why I was able to reach my current cultivation level.”

Although Mo Tiange didn’t directly admit it, Wei Haolan still understood her meaning. “Fellow Daoist Ye’s indeed young and promising, worthy of being a disciple of a great cultivation group.”

Mo Tiange smiled but didn’t reply. If they continued on this kind of topic, they’d end up having to praise each other—she wasn’t accustomed to doing that.

Since Wei Haolan was the head of a cultivation group, she was naturally more astute than most people. Upon seeing Mo Tiange’s expression, she said, “Fellow Daoist Ye, you’ve just finished concocting so I think you must be tired, right? The matter of teaching your concocting skills isn’t that urgent now; why don’t I arrange a place for Fellow Daoist Ye to rest first?”

Mo Tiange indeed felt tired, so she went along with Wei Haolan’s suggestion. “Alright. Thank you for the trouble, Sect Head Wei.”

Wei Haolan waved her hand and called out loud, “Someone!”

The two Aura Refining female cultivators guarding the door came in then bowed to her. “Sect Head, what are your orders?”

Wei Haolan revealed another kind of expression in front of her group’s disciples; she looked solemn and mighty. “From today onward, Senior Ye will live in the house for distinguished guests. Later, the two of you will wait upon her. You must never treat her with disrespect, understand?”

Hearing the Sect Head giving them such careful instructions made the two Aura Refining cultivators really afraid of causing the slightest disrespect. They immediately bowed and answered, “Disciples understand.”

Wei Haolan nodded. “That’ll do; go.”

“Yes.” The two of them then bowed reverently towards Mo Tiange as a greeting. “Senior Ye, please come with us.”