Chapter 278: Splitting Up

Following Qin Xi and Mo Tiange’s departure, the forest seemed to have sunk into silence.

Lei Dongqing stroked his bald head, looking at Daoist Kumu. “What’s going on with Qin Shoujing? He wasn’t so kind before.”

Madam Feng sneered, “I’m afraid he harbors some other thoughts towards this junior martial sister of his. This is indeed unexpected—Qin Shoujing also lived to see this day!”

“Feng Woman!” Lei Dongqing cast her a sideways glance. “Are you perhaps unconvinced because you failed to seduce him?”

Madam Feng was still sneering. “Even if he, Qin Shoujing, has extraordinary talents, an outstanding cultivation level, and an incomparably handsome face, what does that have to do with me?”

“You’re not jealous at all?” Lei Dongqing, who seemed to be paying no regard to the danger, continued to probe.

Madam Feng finally got angry. “Old Lei, scram to the side! I, this old woman, am not that senseless!”

While the two people were making a ruckus, the three others were silent.

After a while, Daoist Kumu seemed to have thought the matter through. He looked at Jing Xingzhi and asked, “What does Fellow Daoist Jing think about this?”

Jing Xingzhi had looked pensive from the beginning. Now, he shook his head and said, “I can’t guess what’s on Qin Shoujing’s mind. But since he finds it unacceptable, this is our only option.”

Daoist Kumu and Tong Tianyun glanced at each other; both were beyond dejected. They clearly understood Qin Shoujing’s abilities. He had the highest cultivation level among them back then, not to mention now. A peak stage Core Formation cultivator was far more powerful than a middle stage Core Formation cultivator. They actually invited Qin Shoujing because they didn’t feel confident. After more than eighty years, no one knew how strong he had become. After they saw him and Jing Xingzhi fighting in the middle of the night last time, they secretly asked Jing Xingzhi about it, but Jing Xingzhi didn’t say anything. However, judging from Jing Xingzhi’s expression, he was obviously very afraid of Qin Shoujing. Now, with Qin Shoujing leaving, the strength of their small group was greatly affected. They might not be able to overcome the hurdles ahead.

Tong Tianyun knew what Daoist Kumu was thinking. He said under his breath, “It’s not bad that he left. Otherwise, we would have to be on guard toward him.”

Daoist Kumu nodded inwardly. That was indeed the case. Qin Shoujing was indeed a great help for them, but in case they had a falling out with him, he’d be very troublesome.

Thus, he cleared his throat then raised his voice: “Fellow Daoists, since the two fellow Daoists had other opinions, it’s also not good for us to force them. For the rest of the journey, only the five of us will continue on.”

“We all understand this.” Lei Dongqing pursed his lips. “There’s no other choice. Old Daoist, we better look for a place and rest first. We have fewer people now, and all of us are injured.”

Among them, the one whose injuries were quite heavy was Madam Feng. Obviously, these words were said out of consideration for Madam Feng.

Upon hearing what Lei Dongqing said, Madam Feng’s complexion looked slightly better, and she also directed her gaze towards Daoist Kumu.

Hesitation fleeted across Daoist Kumu’s eyes, but he soon made his decision. “Alright then. We should go out as quickly as possible then look for a safe place to rest for a moment.” In any case, their strength now was rather lacking, and they still couldn’t do without Madam Feng.

Once they were out of the forest, Qin Xi reverted back to his flying cloud, flying with Mo Tiange in his arms. It was only after they’d flown several thousand kilometers that Mo Tiange finally stirred and looked up at him. “Is it fine now?”

Qin Xi stopped his flying cloud then put her down. He said expressionlessly, “It’s fine. You better adjust your breathing first. In a while, your spiritual aura will flow smoothly again.”

“En…”

Mo Tiange looked around. They were now in a flat meadow. What was special about it was that there was an abundance of pure spiritual aura in this place, and there was no devil aura at all, so the vegetation grew incredibly lush and green, looking extremely normal.

She casually chose a spot then sat cross-legged and began meditating.

The Pill of Eight Immortals was a kind of medicinal pill beneficial for cultivation. They were concocted from eight kinds of rare spiritual plants, and when people took one, their spiritual aura would look like it was in chaos, while in reality, it only appeared so because the medicinal power of this pill was battering their meridians. As long as they meditated and adjusted their breathing for a while, the medicinal power would settle down.

Back when Mo Tiange took the Pill of Eight Immortals, they also casually used some blood from the wind beast carcass from before to give the impression that they’d been attacked by demonic beasts. However, if one looked more carefully, one would easily see that she wasn’t really injured. Nevertheless, there should be a polite distance between men and women, and Qin Xi was also there, so Kumu and Tong Tianyun naturally wouldn’t examine her carefully.

As Mo Tiange began adjusting her breathing, Qin Xi lifted his hand to summon the Three Yang Real Fire Sword. He then raised his hand, causing the blade to turn into a myriad of red-colored sword lights which rotated slowly around the two of them and formed a sword formation.

By the time Mo Tiange finished adjusting her breathing and opened her eyes, she was greeted by these gorgeous sword lights. She gasped in her heart with admiration. It was no wonder there were so many sword cultivators. Not only were they strong in fights of magical powers, but their sword moves were also more gorgeous compared to other magic arts.

Seeing as she finished adjusting her breathing, Qin Xi, who was also meditating on the side, also opened his eyes. “Better now?”

“En.” She already processed the entirety of the Pill of Eight Immortals’ medicinal efficacy. Her meridians could be passed through very smoothly.

Qin Xi stood up, saying, “Let’s go then.”

Mo Tiange stood up silently and followed him up.

Qin Xi had a deep understanding of Kumu’s group’s itinerary. He deliberately avoided them and chose another direction.

“Since we’re not going the same way as them, we might as well take a shortcut.”

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Mo Tiange was rather bewildered. “Senior Martial Brother, since we could’ve taken a shortcut, why did we have to go with them in the beginning?”

Qin Xi didn’t answer straight away. Quite a while later, he finally said, “There’s a kind of spiritual plant growing on that route. It’s the main material for concocting Clear Sky Pills.”

“…”

After a brief pause, he continued on: “More than eighty years ago, I also entered Demonic Mountain with them. When it comes to either their strength or character, both are still quite passable. Furthermore, your father was also friends with them back then, so presumably, you would want to meet his friends.”

“…”

He was already in the peak stage of the Core Formation realm now. No matter how effective Clear Sky Pills were, they were useless to him. Presumably, the second reason was the real reason.

Mo Tiange dropped her head, no longer speaking. She didn’t know whether this was just her misperception or not, but this really terrified her. Many things had happened since she left Xuanqing School with him. After all their interactions during this period, she couldn’t help but doubt what she originally thought. She vaguely felt he seemed more like Senior Martial Brother Qin from back then.

There were some things he didn’t need to do but he still did nonetheless, and for no other reason than showing consideration for her. Could it be that her original beliefs were wrong? It wasn’t that Qin Xi was Qin Shoujing, but Qin Shoujing was Qin Xi?

“Talking about this again now is pointless.” He let out a sigh, looking extremely worried. “I’m not sure about the others, but this time, Kumu and Old Tong obviously had an intention to betray us. That being the case, we might as well not travel with them. It’d also be better for us to not meet up with them again later.”

Mo Tiange let out an “en” and kept her head lowered. Her mind was wandering about.

Qin Xi noticed this. He turned around and stared at her. “What are you thinking about?”

“Huh?” Mo Tiange felt as if she was caught on the spot doing something bad. For a moment, she was a bit frantic. “I-I’m not…”

Qin Xi stared at her for quite a while before he finally turned around again. “Pick up your spirits. There’s only the two of us now—you mustn’t be distracted.”

Before they departed, she felt indignant that Qin Xi disregarded her existence. Now that they’d entered Demonic Mountain, she’d have to be even more prudent if she didn’t want him to look down on her. Mo Tiange took a deep breath, tossed those chaotic thoughts to the back of her mind then briskly followed him.

They’d walked for some time when Qin Xi suddenly stopped. He seemed to focus on listening and at the same time, he also seemed to be using his divine sense to examine something. After a while, he asked, “How’s your Breath-Concealing Technique?”

Breath-Concealing Technique? Mo Tiange didn’t understand what he was trying to do. Although her Breath-Concealing Technique was just mediocre, it wouldn’t be a problem for her to even pretend to be a mortal as long as she had the Spirit-Concealing Pendant with her. Immediately, she stopped using the Art of Temporary Origin then curbed her breaths. “Will this do?”

A sliver of astonishment filled Qin Xi’s face. “What kind of Breath-Concealing Technique are you using? It’s actually this mystical?”

Mo Tiange shook her head. “My Breath-Concealing Technique is really ordinary; I have to thank Senior Martial Brother’s Spirit-Concealing Pendant for this. Back when I met my great ancestor, he re-refined this Spirit-Concealing Pendant again. With this, I can completely conceal my breaths.”

“I see…” Her explanation made Qin Xi feel relieved. Since it’d been re-refined by a Deification senior, it was naturally much stronger than when he first refined it.

Mo Tiange hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she still asked, “Senior Martial Brother, if I completely curb my breaths, then I can’t even release my protective spiritual aura. What should I do if I run into a drifting restriction?”

Instead of answering, Qin Xi waved his arm, withdrawing the Three Yang Real Fire Sword, which had transformed into a curtain of light to protect them in the front. He then used an art and in a moment, he became just like her, having not the slightest spiritual aura on his body.

When he finished, he took out two talismans, one of which was given to her. “This is Spirit-Materialization Talisman. It’ll form an enchantment around one’s body. Outsiders can’t sense it, but it can obstruct those restrictions.”

Mo Tiange took it while nodding her head. Then, according to his instructions, she pasted it on her body.

Now that the problem was dealt with, Qin Xi finally spoke again. “There are people fighting ahead. Their cultivation levels are just in the Foundation Building realm, but we don’t need to create more trouble from ourselves—we can just bypass them.”

“En.” Mo Tiange didn’t have any objections to this idea. They had their own destination, so getting involved in some dispute just for these numinous treasures around them just wasn’t worthwhile. There were only Foundation Building cultivators now, but in a while, Core Formation cultivators might pass by. If they got involved, they certainly wouldn’t be able to disengage themselves easily.

The two of them did everything properly then once again transformed into flight lights, forging on ahead quietly.

A while later, Mo Tiange’s divine sense picked up spiritual aura fluctuations coming from a faraway place. It was a fight between two groups.

This occurred regularly on Demonic Mountain. Although secret treasures were all over the mountain, it was dangerous everywhere. Cultivators whose cultivation level was under the Nascent Soul realm basically didn’t dare to go too deep and could only try their luck in the outer perimeter. If they happened to encounter numinous treasures, the outcome would be identical to how her group reacted when they saw that boat-shaped magic weapon—it’d trigger a fight between the people who wanted it.

Therefore, on Demonic Mountain, not only did one have to be on guard against the remaining restrictions, but one also had to be more cautious against sneak attacks from other cultivators. That being the case, the majority of cultivators who died on Demonic Mountain actually died from the hands of their own kind.

Just as they wanted to quietly bypass those groups, Mo Tiange suddenly came to a halt.

Among the two fighting groups, one consisted of six people, while the other had five people. In the six-person group, there were four males and two females. Most of them were in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm, although one of the males and one of the females were in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm. Even though their group had one more person than the other group, they were being suppressed, because in that five-person group, four people were in the middle stage and only one was in the early stage of the Foundation Building realm.

This time, they were fighting vehemently. Magic tools were all put to use, and spells flew everywhere across the sky.

Around them, Mo Tiange saw a stump of spiritual plant that looked about several thousand years old. Although they were fighting fiercely, they were still mindful to keep away from that spiritual plant. Apparently, their conflict arose due to this spiritual plant.

Seeing as she stopped moving, Qin Xi turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Mo Tiange’s gaze was fixated on the people at the scene. “Look at them,” she said.c