It was already very late in the night when Mo Tiange walked out of Tianqiao's shop. Other shops in the market square had long closed their doors. The only things on the street were a few sporadic flickering lights.
Mo Tiange moved towards those faint lights and slowly made her way back to the inn.
That evening, she and Tianqiao talked about a lot of things that happened after they parted. The two of them were no longer the little girls from years ago; both of them were now very different from the image they had of each other embedded deep in their memories. Many experiences were recounted slowly, in detail.
Just as she wasn't accustomed to Tianqiao acting so warm and ladylike, Tianqiao also hadn't expected that Mo Tiange would be living as a man. Recalling Tianqiao's passionate and vivacious personality as well as her own reticent and calm personality years ago, no one could've foreseen that upon meeting again, things would be completely different. The impermanent nature of things in the world really made Mo Tiange sigh.
In addition to this, Mo Tiange had also observed Tianqiao's husband. Towards Mo Tiange, Meng Sigui was very polite and didn't try to act overly familiar. Towards Tianqiao, although he wasn't very considerate, he couldn't be considered bad either.
Mo Tiange secretly asked Tianqiao whether Meng Sigui actually treated her well or not. Tianqiao just sighed and said this was how husbands and wives acted. At first, their feelings were strong, yet those feelings were gradually worn down by their daily lives. Meng Sigui didn't treat her badly, but he was, in the end, a cultivator while she was only a mortal. For him to have a slight disdain towards her was unavoidable.
Upon hearing Tianqiao's answer, Mo Tiange knew she mustn't interfere with their relationship and no longer said anything.
Truth be told, she quite understood Meng Sigui's mindset. He came to Kunwu, giving up the glory he had in the secular world, because he wanted to walk further down the path of cultivation. However, because his aptitude wasn't good and coupled with the difficulties of daily life, it was only natural that he would feel depressed and become more inconsiderate towards people around him.
But Mo Tiange couldn't help but feel dejected when she thought about this. It had been only about four or five years since Tianqiao married him, but the feelings between them had already worn out. If the couple were cultivators who spent most of their time cultivating, after several hundred years, how much of their original feelings would remain? As she pondered this, she couldn't help but smile wryly.
Sure enough, it'd be better for her not to stir up matters related to romantic feelings. She would rather live alone her whole life rather than become like Tianqiao, who put her whole heart on someone but didn't get the same treatment in return.
When she was almost back at the inn, she happened to look up and was completely stupefied.
Two human silhouettes had exited the inn and sneakily entered the darkness.
If they were any other people, Mo Tiange certainly wouldn't care, but they were Jiang Chengxian and a small-statured youth who seemed to be his attendant! Mo Tiange stood motionlessly as she pondered. After she promptly made her decision, she hid her presence and followed the two men.
There was definitely a reason why Jiang Chengxian showed up here instead of remaining in Mount Yunwu right when he was ready to build his foundation. Besides, she heard that he was relying on his Core Formation elder - he had both the cultivation level and treasures, but not the divine power or the means. Thus, she was confident she wouldn't be discovered by him.
The two people were also hiding their presences as they rushed onto the road madly. Mo Tiange had to expend some thought before she found a way to follow behind those two at a moderate distance. She didn't know where they were heading, but they ran continuously for two hours during which she almost lost them several times.
It was only after two hours had passed and they had entered a valley that the two people finally slowed down their pace. Upon realizing that the two of them hadn't discovered her presence, Mo Tiange cautiously moved a bit closer.
They seemed to be looking for something. After walking around the area, Jiang Chengxian became slightly impatient and asked, "Are you sure this is the right place?"
The small guy answered fawningly, "Senior Martial Brother Jiang, I really saw that guy running here. His Immortal's Cave must be somewhere in the vicinity."
"In that case, you should quickly go and find it!"
"Ah? I…" The small guy sounded rather unwilling. He apparently hadn't expected that Jiang Chengxian would so easily give him the arduous task.
"What?"
"No… Nothing, Senior Martial Brother Jiang should wait here for a moment. I'll take a look around."
"En. Go, quick!"
Soon afterward, that small guy walked away with a bit of reluctance, leaving Jiang Chengxian waiting by himself at their original spot.
Mo Tiange pondered and decided to remain in place. No matter what happened, that person would definitely return looking for Jiang Chengxian, so she'd better stay there and wait.
From their extremely short dialogue, she guessed they probably came to cause trouble for someone. However, this couldn't be their real purpose of coming to this place from Mount Yunwu. The spiritual aura in this valley was very thin, so someone who built an Immortal's Cave here must be an individual cultivator. She didn't think they would come to a place so far from Mount Yunwu just to bother an individual cultivator. There must be some other reason.
This puzzle wasn't hard to discern. They had definitely passed through the market square, had a conflict with someone there, and promptly devised a plan to give that person a lesson.
A long time passed but the small guy Jiang Chengxian ordered to find the cave still hadn't come back. Jiang Chengxian, who seemed like he could no longer wait, stood up and kept looking around while grumbling, "Why's this guy so slow!?"
The present Jiang Chengxian was completely defenseless. If Mo Tiange wanted to kill him, this would've been a heaven-sent chance. However, Mo Tiange wasn't Xu Jingzhi. She hadn't suffered any losses during the commotions that happened because Yunwu Sect was annihilated, so she didn't have any resentment against Jiang Chengxian. Besides, although this wasn't Mount Yunwu, it didn't change the fact that Jiang Chengxian had two Core Formation cultivators as his elders. If they investigated the matter, things would be bad for her. Hence, she definitely wouldn't do such a foolish thing.
Some more time passed by. Just as Jiang Chengxian could no longer sit still, there was finally some movement.
"Senior Martial Brother Jiang! I found it!" The small guy anxiously ran towards Jiang Chengxian while pointing towards a certain direction. "It's there, but the formation on it is difficult to break."
"Hmph!" Jiang Chengxian arrogantly said, "I have the Heaven-Breaking Mirror in my hand. What kind of formation can't I break!?"
The small guy kept nodding his head as he spoke, "Right! Senior Martial Brother Jiang, let's go!"
"En, lead the way!"
Heaven-Breaking Mirror? Mo Tiange unconsciously furrowed her brows. Second Uncle once told her that devious magic weapons and spirit tools existed for the purpose of breaking formations. Could this Heaven-Breaking Mirror be one of them?
She kept following behind the two of them. Before long, she found formation marks on the gap between some mountain rocks.
This formation was called Daylight Formation. It was a rare, extreme Yang formation, not a common one. It was even more powerful than her Five Elements Life and Death Formation. However, the person hadn't done a good job in concealing the marks.
Of course, this was from her point of view. For people who had no basic knowledge in formations, finding it would take them some effort.
It seemed that the person who laid this formation was also a talented person. The formation itself was marvelous, and the spot where the formation was laid had also been chosen well.
The two people stood still outside the formation, no longer trying to hide their presences. With a hint from Jiang Chengxian, the small guy shouted loudly, "Boy! Your grandfather has arrived! Quick, come out and face your death!"
They waited for a moment, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of a response.
The small guy continued to shout, "Surname Wei! Don't think we can't do anything just because you're not coming out of hiding. My senior martial brother has a formation-breaking spirit tool in his hands. If you don't want to die, obediently come out and hand over the Constitution-Enhancing Pills! We'll spare your life!"
Mo Tiange was dumbfounded. Constitution-Enhancing Pills? Did they come here because they fancied some medicinal pills and wanted to grab them?
Although she couldn't concoct medicinal pills, she was very knowledgeable about them. Nonetheless, she had never heard of these Constitution-Enhancing Pills. From Jiang Chengxian's and that small guy's attitude, however, they were most likely not simple medicinal pills.
This time, a furious sound finally came from inside the formation. "So it's you guys!"
The small guy laughed and said, "Aren't we your grandfathers? So...? Take out the medicinal pills and we'll spare your life!"
"Dream on!" The voice sounded increasingly furious. "Aren't you guys trying to rob me of my medicinal pills? In your dreams! If you have the skills, come and grab them yourself!"
"Hmph! You're just a person who won't do things unless you're forced! Don't get too proud of yourself!"
Faced with this threat, the man inside just snorted coldly without saying anything.
The small guy turned his head to look at Jiang Chengxian and asked about his plans: "Senior Martial Brother Jiang?"
After hesitating for a second, decisiveness flashed on Jiang Chengxian's face. He said with a lowered voice, "Kill! He's only an individual cultivator; we have to get the Constitution-Enhancing Pills in his hands! It doesn't matter if we have to kill him."
Mo Tiange was quite a distance away from them, so she couldn't hear them clearly. But she was somewhat shocked when she caught the word "kill." Cultivators usually cherished life, and very few of them would fight to kill. Unless they had former grudges or perhaps there was a sufficient benefit from doing so, they would never kill someone so rashly.
The cultivator inside said they came because they wanted the Constitution-Enhancing Pills he had. In the end, what are these Constitution-Enhancing Pills?
If that cultivator was really an individual cultivator, this would certainly be dangerous for him. Jiang Chengxian was already in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm and his attendant, that small guy, was already in the eighth layer of the Aura Refining realm, not to mention the fact that Jiang Chengxian definitely had some treasures… If the individual cultivator had to fight against them, it would only end in disaster.
At this moment, Jiang Chengxian had already taken out his spirit tool. It was indeed a mirror. Presumably, it was the Heaving-Breaking Mirror they talked about. He flashed the mirror towards the formation. Under the lightless, moonless circumstances, the mirror emitted a beam of greenish light which fell on the gap between the mountain rocks. All of a sudden, cracking sounds appeared from several places and a formation disc suddenly floated out.
Mo Tiange was taken aback. She hadn't expected this spirit tool to be so powerful. She then pondered its power for a moment. If it was her Five Elements Life and Death Formation, it probably also wouldn't have been able to resist the mirror for long.
Upon the destruction of the formation, an Immortal's Cave suddenly appeared in the gap between the mountain rocks. Jiang Chengxian and the small guy glanced at each other before cautiously moving forward.
Mo Tiange remained motionless in her hiding place. For a moment she felt conflicted, but in the end, she decided not to meddle. This matter wasn't something she could manage, and Jiang Chengxian also wasn't someone she could afford to provoke.
Fighting noises emerged from inside the cave. Before long, she heard a scream from inside the cave that made her wonder if the individual cultivator was already killed.
Nevertheless, the fighting noises continued. It took quite a while before those noises ceased and a person, completely covered with bloodstains, staggered out of the cave. Mo Tiange focused her gaze; it was Jiang Chengxian!
Right after he came out of the Immortal's Cave, Jiang Chengxian immediately used Light Body Technique to fly away. His actions made her confused and she wondered if he might've also suffered some heavy damage.
Even after she patiently waited some more, there were no further movements from the cave. After contemplating for a bit, she secretly released her divine sense, but soon afterward, she was completely stunned. There were no living beings inside this Immortal's Cave.
After ensuring no one else was around, she came out of her hiding place. She took out Green-Wood Sword and walked towards the cave.
The inside of the cave was an utter mess. Their fight was obviously very fierce. She couldn't see the original surfaces of this cave, as there were pieces of scattered mountain rocks everywhere. There were two corpses on the ground. One belonged to the small guy who had been following Jiang Chengxian while the other one belonged to a strange cultivator, presumably the one they referred to as "Surname Wei."
Mo Tiange stepped forward and cautiously examined them. Both of them had no Qiankun Bags on their bodies, so Jiang Chengxian must've taken those. She really wondered what Constitution-Enhancing Pills were worth that it actually cost two people their lives in fighting for them.
When she examined her surroundings, she saw a bookshelf covered by rock fragments. From the bookshelf, she picked up a still-intact jade slip.
Because she was worried Jiang Chengxian might return, she didn't even dare to handle the corpses. Once she came out of the cave, she made a detour out of the valley then chose a random place to hide.