Chapter 75: An Old Friend

At the Dao Convention this time, no Foundation Building cultivators stepped up to discuss Dao further, so the convention was concluded right away. Nevertheless, everyone felt very satisfied.

On her way back, Mo Tiange’s mind was still thinking about what the cultivator from the Tiandao Sect said. In fact, his sermon could be summarized in two points. The first was that her spiritual aura had to be as pure as possible, while the second was that she should have a tranquil mental state. At the very least, she had to be able to easily enter a meditative state before she tried building her foundation.

Although the insight Tiandao Sect had about foundation-building was definitely more than just these two points, knowing these two points was still better than knowing nothing at all. Now that Mo Tiange gathered a little information about foundation-building, she became a bit more confident in building her foundation.

Regarding her tranquil mentality, that was rather easy to handle. Mo Tiange’s mind originally became flustered because she reached the peak of the Aura Refining realm too quickly, which was why she went to travel by herself. Presumably, her mental state would calm down on its own after a while.

It was the first problem that was quite difficult for her. Presently, she didn’t dare to cultivate because a peculiar change had occurred in the spiritual aura inside her body. All could do was put off the matter until she went back and asked Second Uncle.

It was only after she returned to the inn with a worry-filled heart that she suddenly remembered she hadn’t asked about yesterday’s matter. She was about to head out again when she saw some silhouettes going upstairs, causing her to hurriedly return to her room.

A somewhat ear-piercing male voice with a drawly tone which was uncomfortable to hear came through: “Today, we finally have a place to stay and don’t need to sleep outside again.”

Someone promptly answered, “Senior Martial Brother Jiang, you should stay in this room. This room’s comfortable.”

There was a pause. It was as if they were sizing up the room. The drawly-toned man then said with satisfaction, “This little inn’s quite good. Fine, you guys can choose too. After that, order some good wine and food.”

Someone who seemed to be the waiter said, “Yes, Master Immortals, please choose as you wish.”

After that, she heard a door being closed. Presumably, they entered the room. After pondering her current situation for a while, she decided not to release her divine sense. However, she did catch sight of the person who was addressed as Senior Martial Brother Jiang. Surprisingly, he was Jiang Shanghang’s cousin, Jiang Chengxian.

Regarding Jiang Chengxian, she had to admit that his luck was really good. During the test for obtaining Foundation-Building Pills, both Zixia Sect’s and Yunwu Sect’s disciples wanted to kill him, yet he unexpectedly made it out alive. Furthermore, people said that nowadays, the Branch Master of Mount Yunwu had finished making arrangements for him to build his foundation, so it was really strange – what was Jiang Chengxian doing running outside of Mount Yunwu when he could immediately build his foundation?

Mo Tiange secretly opened a small gap in the door to peek. Upon seeing that there was no one outside, she applied the Illusory Transfiguration Technique and left the inn.

She entered the small shop from yesterday, and the one guarding the shop was still that beautiful mortal woman. When she saw Mo Tiange entering, she greeted her with the same enthusiasm as she did the day before. “Master Immortal, is there anything you need?”

Mo Tiange had on a disguise as an ordinary youth. With an intentionally lowered voice, she asked, “What are you selling?”

Although Mo Tiange’s tone was quite unpleasant, the woman didn’t say anything and remained enthusiastic when she explained, “Our small shop has every kind of daily necessity, but we specialize in talisman papers and brushes.”

“Oh? Let me take a look at them.”

The woman took out a pile of talisman papers and all kinds of talisman brushes and arranged them on the counter. She said, “Please take your time.”

Mo Tiange glanced at that woman before saying in a calm manner, “They don’t really seem up to scratch!”

The woman just smiled and said, “Of course they aren’t anything particularly good, but the method used in making these papers and brushes were handed down from generation to generation in my husband’s family. Master Immortal won’t find this quality with these prices in other people’s shops.”

“That is to say that all the things in your shop are cheap?”

The woman said, “Master Immortal must be someone not from our area, right? Small shops like ours can’t compete with large shops. We have to offer low prices to have an advantage. Otherwise, everyone would flock to large shops where the items are of good quality. In that case, our small shop definitely couldn’t last for long.”

Mo Tiange naturally understood this principle. Back then, she used to run a shop with Second Uncle. Although their small shop couldn’t compete with large shops, many small cultivators still came to their shop. The reason was that these cultivators didn’t have much money, so they couldn’t afford the things sold in larger shops. Meanwhile, those large shops also didn’t bother fighting with small shops for this kind of small profit. Thus, their small shop managed to survive.

Nevertheless, Second Uncle was, after all, a Foundation Building cultivator. Furthermore, he had some inherited belongings, so the range of items he sold was quite extensive and he even had some good quality goods for Aura Refining cultivators, causing some customers from larger shops to visit their shop instead. Because of that, they were pushed around by those large shops.

Mo Tiange pretended to be doubtful and said, “Really?”

The woman said, “Master Immortal, please take a look. These talisman papers were made with a mixture of Literary Stars Bamboo and demonic beast blood. Literary Stars Bamboo is a very solid material and it can produce thick papers that can really compete with top-quality talisman papers. We also have these talisman brushes which are made with Blood-Frost Wolf fur, and each has gone through a careful selection process. All of them were the products of my husband’s arduous hunts. I assure you that the price is fair.”

Instead of answering, Mo Tiange started to examine the other items in the shop. She then asked in a deliberate, absent-minded manner, “You said the method used here is handed from generation to generation in your husband’s family. No matter what his background is, he’s from a cultivation clan. How could he open such a miserable shop?”

The smile on the woman’s face went slightly stiff, yet she immediately restored her smile and said, “A small cultivation clan naturally can’t open a large shop. Master Immortal, please take your time. You can call me if you need anything.”

When Mo Tiange was speaking, she secretly examined the woman repeatedly. The more Mo Tiange examined her, the more she felt the woman and herself were similar.

She could hear from the answers to her questions that this husband-wife pair didn’t have any backing. That being the case, the husband was also only a fifth layer Aura Refining cultivator – really not someone she was afraid of.

“I have something to ask Madam.” Since the woman was still smiling, Mo Tiange directly asked, “Could you tell me your name?”

Once this question was out, that woman suddenly looked nervous. She stepped back while her face turned green and soon turned pale.

Mo Tiange smiled and said, “Madam doesn’t need to be afraid. I’m not trying to do anything.”

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Although Mo Tiange did explain herself, she was still pretending to be a man and a cultivator at that. For a male cultivator to suddenly ask a beautiful woman what her name was, it’d be weird if the woman didn’t become afraid.

Because Mo Tiange saw that the woman was still hesitant, she released her spiritual aura to pressure her. The woman was only a mortal, so naturally, she would succumb to such pressure. The woman stepped back until she was blocked by the wall and eventually yielded. “I… My surname is Mo.”

Mo Tiange was stunned. After a long time, she finally thought of another possibility and eagerly asked, “The ‘Mo’ character used in the word ‘stranger’?”

The woman nodded and said, “Yes.”

Mo Tiange stared unwaveringly at the woman. In the end, she finally found traces of familiarity on the woman’s face. As it turned out, this woman wasn’t someone from the Ye Clan; this woman was someone from the Mo family where Mo Tiange lived for ten years.

Doubt appeared on Mo Tiange’s face as she cautiously asked, “Tianqiao?”

That woman was shocked. She stared at Mo Tiange in astonishment, both because Mo Tiange knew her name and because Mo Tiange’s voice suddenly changed.

Upon seeing the woman’s reaction, Mo Tiange knew she guessed correctly. After a long time, she finally calmed down. With a wave of her hand, she removed the Illusory Transfiguration Technique she cast and with another wave, she erased the disguise on her face.

From the woman’s astonished expression, Mo Tiange knew she was realizing how similar their faces were.

The woman’s face went from pale to red as she excitedly exclaimed, “You… Tiange!?”

Mo Tiange nodded and sighed. “Tianqiao… I never expected that we would get the chance to meet again.”

Mo Tianqiao covered her mouth with her hand. Tears were streaming down. After a long time, she suddenly threw herself towards Mo Tiange and said, “Tiange, it’s really you?”

As she hugged Mo Tianqiao back, Mo Tiange said warmly, “It’s really me. Don’t cry, it’s not easy for us to meet. We should be happy.”

“True.” Mo Tianqiao hastily wiped the tears off her face then went to close the door while saying, “Wait a minute, I’ll close the shop first then we can go inside and talk.”

Mo Tiange nodded before closing her eyes to regain her composure. Although she didn’t appear as excited as Tianqiao, the moment she realized Tianqiao’s identity, she still felt very happy.

Not long after she arrived in Kunwu and started wandering around with Second Uncle, she gradually realized she wouldn’t be able to return home and that she had to give up everything in the secular world. If she had to mention one thing in the secular world she was reluctant to part with, it was Tianqiao. So, because she wouldn’t be able to see Tianqiao again from that point on, she started grieving in secret.

However, she never expected that the two of them would meet again, especially not in this kind of situation.

After following Tianqiao to the back room, Mo Tiange examined her surroundings. There was a small courtyard at the back of this room, and although everything was arranged very tidily, she could see that Tianqiao and her husband hadn’t fared well.

Mo Tianqiao once again wiped her tears away. She then examined Mo Tiange’s appearance and asked in astonishment, “Tiange, why are you dressed like this?”

Mo Tiange smiled wryly and said, “I had no other way. The cultivation world is just like the secular world – it’s a bit more convenient to be a man. Anyway, you should tell me first – how did you come to Kunwu and… marry a cultivator?”

She still remembered that Eldest Aunt used to educate Tianqiao like a girl from a wealthy family, hoping that Tianqiao could marry into a noble family. Mo Tiange herself always thought that Tianqiao’s life would turn out exactly like that.

Mo Tianqiao chuckled before letting out a soft sigh.

As it turned out, Mo Tiange being taken away by an Immortal opened Mo Tianqiao’s eyes to the existence of this world and made her very curious. When she was sixteen years old, the Mo family arranged a marriage between her and a young master from a rich family in Feiyun Town. She was very dissatisfied with this arranged marriage, because… that young master was simply a degenerate from a rich family. He neither liked to study nor had the ability to do business. Furthermore, he was also a philanderer. Since her resistance and objection to the marriage was fruitless, she secretly ran from the Mo Family’s Village. However, who would’ve thought that her escape would allow her to run into a passing cultivator?

Because of the Mo family’s reverence towards Immortals, and also because Tianqiao vowed she wouldn’t agree to the arranged marriage, once the cultivator settled the problem that arose from canceling Tianqiao’s marriage, the Mo family finally granted her wish. Before long, the cultivator was preparing to leave the Mo Family’s Village and Tianqiao, who had a deep yearning for the cultivation world from the beginning, followed him.

Once she finished listening to Tianqiao’s story, Mo Tiange was silent. Tianqiao originally wasn’t a woman who would give up in the face of adversity; it wasn’t strange that she refused the arranged marriage. The strange thing was – how did that stubborn Tianqiao become the current Tianqiao?

Thus, Mo Tiange couldn’t help but ask, “Is he treating you well?”

Tianqiao was lost in her own thoughts for a moment. She then said, “In the beginning, he was really good to me… we traveled around the secular world before we came to Kunwu. His father was also a cultivator but passed away in a fight of magical powers. When we arrived in Kunwu, we relied on this inherited family craftsmanship of his to open a small shop here. Maybe our daily life is too dull, or maybe because cultivating is too hard, but we gradually become indifferent…”

Although this was the case, Mo Tiange still couldn’t understand how a dull life could change Tianqiao into the current Tianqiao. She could never imagine that this gentle, agreeable woman was actually the Tianqiao who used to love laughing and playing.

Mo Tianqiao forced a smile and said, “Don’t just talk about me. How about you? Your cultivation level right now must be very high, right? When you dropped by yesterday, my husband said your cultivation level is far higher than his.”

Mo Tiange answered, “I already reached the peak of the Aura Refining realm but still haven’t found the opportunity to build my foundation. Now, I’m traveling around to look for a fated chance.” She wasn’t telling the truth not to conceal the truth from Tianqiao, but to conceal it from her husband. At the moment, she still hadn’t fully understood his character, so it’d be better for her to be a bit vigilant.

Mo Tianqiao didn’t really understand all these cultivation matters, so she just asked, “Then how have you been all these years?”

“The year I left Mo Family’s Village, I was brought to find my uncle. Later on, I followed Second Uncle in traveling all around. These past few years, we finally settled down in one place, and I also entered a sect. Since my father left several things for me, I was fortunately able to cultivate until the peak stage of the Aura refining realm…” Mo Tiange roughly explained her experiences in the past years, leaving out some matters that were quite difficult to explain.

To be honest, she didn’t have any favorable opinion towards Tianqiao’s husband, so she kept many things to herself. Tianqiao, who originally had a vivacious personality, had turned into this gentle lady, arduously guarding a small shop, and lowering herself just to receive customers… if Mo Tiange hadn’t personally confirmed this was Tianqiao, she definitely wouldn’t have believed it.

But Tianqiao’s peacefulness and her willingness to do things, although she was obviously being wronged, made Mo Tiange confused. Can love really change someone?