Chūki Tan

  Waking up from her sleep, Mo Tian Ge only felt a splitting headache. She propped herself up. The room was pitch black, and she rubbed her head in confusion. Strange, how did she fall asleep?

  She sat up and circulated her Qi to cultivate a small microcosm, only then did the headache subside. She also slowly recalled what had happened before she fell asleep - no, it should be before she passed out from intoxication.

  How embarrassing! Never having drunk before, yet learning from others to drown one's sorrows in wine. The worst part is that after getting drunk, he actually became so unseemly!

  She groggily rolled over, fortunately at that time there was only Qin Shixiong, no one else saw —— Qin Shixiong! She hastily sat up, touched her body, and fortunately, her clothes were intact, the Tongling Jade Pendant was still there. Letting out a sigh of relief, but in her heart, she felt some regret. Not quite remembering what happened before she passed out, vaguely only recalling that Qin Xi told her to let go of her obsession, so that she could continue on the path of cultivating immortality, but she always felt like she had forgotten something...

  After thinking for a long time, I really couldn't remember. I might as well ignore it. Since I couldn't remember, it wasn't anything important. What was important was that she had to warn herself not to be so careless again. Fortunately, Qin Xi didn't do anything to her; otherwise, being completely unaware and letting someone take advantage of her, someone else might have exposed her secrets.

  She thought for a moment, then combed her hair and took out several moonstones from the Qiankun bag and threw them on the ground. The room was suddenly brightly lit.

  Although his clothes were intact, they were wrinkled and still had a strong smell of alcohol. Mo Tian Ge frowned, walked to the washstand in the corner of the wall, took off his outer garment and wiped it clean. Only when the smell of alcohol was gone did he put on new clothes.

  Just as she was about to finish re-braiding her hair, she suddenly saw her own reflection in the copper mirror embedded above, and she froze. After a moment's thought, she picked up the comb, scattered her hair, carefully parted it, and then coiled it into a bun. In the process, due to her rusty technique, she combed it crooked several times. When she finished, she couldn't help but smile wryly at herself in the mirror - it had been almost ten years since she'd last dressed as a woman, and she didn't even know how to braid her hair anymore. The person in the mirror looked wrong no matter how she looked at them. So she scattered her hair again and simply combed it into an ordinary Daoist bun.

  However, this face in the mirror is too delicate and pretty for a man.

  After thinking for a while, she rummaged through the Qiankun bag and found several things. She used the black long strip to carefully thicken her eyebrows, then poured out a gray powder from a jade bottle and applied it to her nose wing, eye corners, and lower jaw.

  Now looking at the person in the mirror, the edges are a bit clearer, and the eyebrows are thicker, looking like a man. After carefully wiping away some marks, he put things away. These two things are actually alchemy materials, but anyway, they're not toxic, so it's okay to use them on his face. What's important is that the foundation pill is right in front of him, and he needs to be more careful.

  After doing all that, returning to the edge of the cliff, Mo Tian Ge took out the Qian Kun bag from his bosom and tidied it up. Then he sat down cross-legged to cultivate.

  This time, she actually gained a lot. Just the demon beast corpses were already a huge fortune, and there were also elixirs, spiritual instruments, and various materials. The spirit stones alone added up to over a thousand pieces. After returning and counting them, Mo Tian Ge was quite conflicted in her heart. She had worked hard for many years, but it wasn't as profitable as killing a few people — fortunately, she suppressed the unbalanced thoughts in her heart in time. If this violent thought were not controlled, it would lead her to become demonic in the future, which would be terrible.

  Unconsciously, several hours passed, and it was bright outside.

  Mo Tian Ge gathered his spiritual energy, jumped down from the tree, tidied up his clothes and walked out of the door.

  Outside the hall, Qin Xi sat in his old position drawing talismans. Hearing the sound, he didn't even lift his head: "Ye Shidi, you've finally gotten up."

  Thinking of yesterday, Mo Tian Ge felt a bit uneasy. Looking at his expression, there was nothing out of the ordinary, so he put his mind at ease and asked: "What's wrong?"

  "Build a foundation first." Qin Xi put away his brush and paper, turned around, and was taken aback for a moment.

  This reaction made Mo Tian Ge a bit nervous, had she overdone it with her makeup?

  After a while, Qin Xi shook his head: "I'm really confused, I always feel that you're different today, but I couldn't tell where the difference is."

  Upon hearing this, Mo Tian Ge slightly relaxed and dryly laughed: "What's that? Isn't it just the foundation of the Leading Building Pillar? Let's go!"

  Qin Xi nodded and the two of them walked out together.

  Walking behind, Mo Tian Ge quietly wiped away a bead of sweat.

  Originally, the four of them would always act together in this house. Now that Xu Jingzhi is no longer here and Liu Yidao has stayed behind at Beifeng to recover from his injuries under the care of the senior disciples, the atmosphere in this house has suddenly become much quieter. If it weren't for this, Qin Xi might not have become so close to her either. It's just that with everyone else gone, they had no one else to talk to but each other.

  The south peak of Yunwu Mountain is still the same as before, with morning light shining gently and clear wind blowing on my face. However, among the people who used to visit together, two are missing now. Mo Tian Ge let out a soft sigh.

  Arrived at the execution ground, a number of people had already gathered. Two men stood neatly outside waiting.

  Soon it was Mo Tian Ge's turn, she walked in, handed over her token, after verification without any issues, she left a spiritual energy mark on another jade slip, and then carefully took a jade bottle from Shi Shu's hand. She carefully put it away.

  To put it bluntly, this is the lifeline of a Qi-refining disciple. All the other disciples who obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill were overjoyed, but she was still relatively calm.

  Qin Xi also took the Zhu Ji Dan, and the two of them went back together again.

  "Qin Shixiong, your Qi cultivation is almost complete, isn't it? Are you going to immediately enter closed-door training?"

  "Should be. And you, junior brother?"

  "I'll wait for a while longer. I haven't reached the perfect stage of refining my Qi yet, so it's better to wait until I have a bit more control before going into seclusion."

  "It's fine this way..."

  After returning, Qin Xi went back to his room, and Mo Tian Ge endured for a while in the house before opening the door again to prepare to go down the mountain.

  Received the foundation-building pill, this event marked the end. The ban on all disciples not being allowed to leave the mountain gate was also lifted, and she naturally wanted to go down the mountain to see her second uncle first. But having just received the foundation-building pill, fearing that others would stare at her, she pretended to return to pack up her things before setting foot on the road down the mountain.

  First, she went to the Yunwu faction's store and exchanged the Ling stone for Dan Yao. Then, she sold the demon beast corpses they had obtained this time. During this period, many people would come to sell demon beast corpses, and she was not afraid of being too conspicuous.

  It turned out that the shop assistant saw a pile of corpses and was deeply impressed. The assistant was also a disciple of the Cloud and Mist Sect, so he naturally knew about this trial. With so many demon beast corpses, it must be someone with exceptional skills, so he didn't dare to slack off and respectfully handed over the exchanged spirit stones to her.

  Mò Tiān Gē took the spiritual stone bag, didn't even count it, threw in a piece of spiritual stone as a tip, and then made his way back to Second Uncle's courtyard by taking a circuitous route.

  "Second Uncle!"

  A coughing sound came from inside the house, Mo Tian Ge pushed open the door and saw an old man with a face full of wrinkles on the couch, he forced out a smile: "Second Uncle, I'm back."

  Ye Jiang lifted his eyelids, and his dull eyes scanned her for a while before he coughed again, then spoke in a hoarse voice: "Xiao Tian, you're not hurt, are you?"

  "It's nothing." Mo Tian Ge hastily shook his head, sat down on a small stool beside him, took out the jade bottle containing Zhu Ji Dan, and exclaimed: "Second Uncle, look! I got Zhu Ji Dan!"

  Upon seeing the jade bottle, Ye Jiang's hands trembled slightly as he took it over, opened the bottle and sniffed it. His eyes closed slightly, and he nodded: "Correct, this is a Foundation Establishment Pill... Little Tian, you've worked hard."

  Moy Tian Ge shook his head repeatedly: "It's just my good luck, this trial training turned out to be unexpected, and distributing the foundation-building pills is much easier."

  Ye Jiang showed a warm and loving smile. He looked at her with pity: "Do you think Second Uncle doesn't know what happened? You... never mind, it's good that you're alive."

  With a tone of blame, yet warm concern, she held Second Uncle's withered hand and sincerely smiled: "Second Uncle, don't worry, I'm very powerful now. Every day I diligently cultivate and have also learned to duel with others, I won't be soft-hearted anymore. Second Uncle, let me tell you, in this trial..."

  After a while, Mo Tian Ge chattered on and told Ye Jiang everything that had happened during this trial. Ye Jiang listened attentively, occasionally breaking into a smile, sometimes praising her calm handling with a few words of praise, and sometimes carefully pointing out how she could have handled it better.

  After this conversation, Mo Tian Ge felt that she had gained more than her own summary. Thinking of this, she felt a little depressed - what would she do if there was no Second Uncle?

  When everything was said and done, Ye Jiang sighed: "Xiao Tian, looking at how you handled things this time, you've really grown up. Second Uncle can rest assured now. Even if you don't succeed in building your foundation this time, you're still young, trying a few more times shouldn't be a problem..."

  These words were like a will, and Mo Tian Ge bit her lip, grasped Er Shu's hand, and called out softly: "Er Shu..."

  Ye Jiang couldn't help but know what she was thinking, and with a faint smile, he patted her head, saying: "Don't be like this, you're already an adult, no need for Second Uncle to be by your side. If one day you achieve Golden Elixir, return to the mundane world and take a look at the Ye family, whether there are still descendants with spiritual roots. If there are, then you don't have to rebuild the Ye family, passing down the skills is enough..."

  "Second Uncle!" she exclaimed in annoyance.

  Ye Jiang's expression turned serious, and he said sternly, "Xiao Tian, it's not that I don't mention it, but you can choose not to face it. You must remember, you're a cultivator, and a female one at that. If you can't even accept reality, how will you move forward? For a female cultivator to achieve anything, it will be even more difficult than for a male! Your innate talent is not outstanding, and you don't have any family elders to rely on. If you don't have a firm heart, it's better to give up early!"

  Her second uncle had never spoken to her in such a stern tone before, and Mo Tian Ge was taken aback, lowering her head without saying anything.

  Ye Jiang slowed down his tone again: "Second Uncle has taught you something over the years, do you still remember? You don't have good qualifications and no backing, so you must be more strict with yourself. Don't be weak, don't be greedy, and don't indulge in emotions! You must remember that weakness and sentimentality are the greatest enemies of female cultivators. Not only today, when facing Second Uncle's fall, you should accept it calmly. If you feel romantic feelings someday, you also need to restrain yourself, knowing that people's hearts are changeable and worldly affairs are unpredictable."

  How could she not know? But...

  Ye Jiang closed his eyes again, and a calm smile appeared on his face: "Life or death is the cycle of nature, you and I are both cultivators, we should understand the cyclical nature of heaven's way. Cultivating immortality, cultivating to attain heaven's way, only then can one be a true immortal. Go back, take your time to contemplate and understand, wait until you can calmly face Second Uncle's passing, then come see me again."

  Mo Tian Ge remained silent for a long time before leaving behind a Dan Yao and bidding farewell as he walked out the door.

  Softness and sentimentality are the arch-enemies of a female cultivator.

  The Heavenly Way is cyclical, circulating endlessly; only by cultivating the Heavenly Way can one become a true immortal.

  She stood in the courtyard with her eyes closed, then stepped out firmly again.

  Thank you for the 5,000-year reward. By the way, dear ones, your eyes are too sharp, I won't give away any spoilers, absolutely not!