Lady Cultivator

Chapter 250: Awakening

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Mo Tiange felt she was dreaming, but she also felt like everything was real.

In this dream, she was only a tiny ball of white light which roamed around the boundless sea of clouds. She felt very happy because she could be free and unrestrained in this sea of clouds, but she soon felt depressed because she couldn’t go beyond this sea of clouds.

At first, her white body was faint and carried a kind of transparent coldness, but before long, there was a constant thread of warm current flowing into her body, giving a layer of warm redness to her whiteness.

This kind of warmth brought about many changes to her. She found herself growing stronger and could roam faster and faster around this sea of clouds. Later on, she discovered this sea of clouds became very strange. It alternated continuously; one moment, it brought thunder and storms, but the next, it would clear up and let sunlight pass through. Nonetheless, it was filled with an abundance of life force.

Not too long afterward, however, the warm current dissipated, and the existing warmth also gradually faded.

She sank into a real dream.

“Tiange, quickly call your father home to eat.”

“Oh, okay.” The little girl, who was leaning on the desk as she did her homework, sprang up and called out: “Mother, I want to eat fish meatballs; are there any today?”

“Yes, of course there are,” said a voice that seemed to be suffused with a smile. “We have everything you want, so quickly call your father home to eat.”

“Father! Father...”

... All her regrets began from when she lost her father, so in the depths of her heart, she always imagined how her life would’ve been if her father was alive; could she have possessed a perfect life?

Although she was vaguely aware about this problem, she never realized how severe it was. Even though she had now become an advanced inner disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator, had superb talents and possessed many, many things other people didn’t, they weren’t enough to make up for the regrets she had inside her heart.

When she faced the Five Hindrances Overturning Senses inside the Ten Thousand Laws of Nature Formation, she finally understood what kind of weaknesses she had in her mental state. It wasn’t that her heart wasn’t big, her willpower wasn’t strong, or her Dao Heart wasn’t staunch—it was that her childhood regrets had always been buried deep inside her heart.

But in reality, if she had a father, would her life really have been perfect? Her father was a Core Formation cultivator, famous in east Kunwu, but her mother was only a mortal—even if her father had sincerely loved her mother back then, they would never be a perfectly happy family.

A mortal married to a Core Formation cultivator—how could they be happy throughout their lives? When they were still in the secular world, they were admittedly a loving married couple, but if they came to Kunwu, they definitely wouldn’t be perfectly happy. No matter how well her father treated her mother, her mother would still be belittled by others. And because her mother was a mortal, Mo Tiange would also be belittled by others.

Moreover, as a mortal, her mother would only have about a hundred years in her lifespan and a short youth of a dozen-odd years. On the other hand, her father, as a Core Formation cultivator, could live up to five or six hundred years; even seven or eight hundred years was also a possibility.

Besides, while possessing a Pure Yin Constitution but no spiritual roots, her mother was bound to have only twenty-some years in her lifespan.

Even if Mo Tiange had her father, she’d still lose her mother. Even if she didn’t have to wander all around for more than a dozen years, it would still be impossible for her to avoid all suffering.

When Mo Tiange, who was still inside the dream, realized she obtain her father but lose her mother, she finally understood this truth.

In their lives, people might be able to avoid many adversities, but they could never make up for everything they regretted. It was even more important for those who stepped onto the path towards immortality, looking for the Great Dao, to understand this principle. You felt happy when you obtained something, but you wouldn’t feel sad if you lost it, because you’d forever suffer some losses in one form or another, so you might as well feel happy with every bit you possessed.

Mo Tiange opened her eyes as she woke up from this very, very long dream. Her heart was in a tranquil state.

“Auntie?!” Ye Zhenji’s voice was full of incredulity but it was also filled with joy. “Auntie, you finally woke up!”

Looking at his excited face made Mo Tiange curve up the corners of her lips to form a soft smile. “You...” After not talking for a long time, her voice was now hoarse.

“Oh, Auntie, you should drink first.” Ye Zhenji hastily brought some tea over then helped her up from the bed.

Mo Tiange, who finished the tea in one gulp, said with a smile, “It’s not like I can’t move—you don’t have to be like this.” As a matter of fact, the spiritual aura inside her body was abundant, so she felt extremely energetic.

Ignoring what she said, Ye Zhenji continued to ask, “Auntie, how are feeling now? Are you alright? Wait a minute—I’m calling grandmaster over.” Once he finished, he made a mad dash outside. Mo Tiange couldn’t even stop him.

Helpless, Mo Tiange just shook her head then climbed down from the bed.

She remembered what happened before she fainted, but she had no idea how long she was out for. Was it three days? Five days? Nevertheless, this was indeed a blessing in disguise. Had this not happened, she might’ve entered Closed Door Meditation to form her Gold Core in a clueless state and at that time, things would’ve definitely gone wrong.

Even though the bodies of Foundation Building cultivators no longer had any impurities nor did they produce any filth, she still felt uncomfortable after sleeping for so long. Just as Mo Tiange was about to wash her face, she saw Ye Zhenji hurriedly leading Lord Daoist Jinghe over.

“Master.”

Lord Daoist Jinghe, whose expression looked grave, nodded and he immediately pulled her wrist to examine her meridians.

Lord Daoist Jinghe finally let go of her wrist after a while; his expression eased up. “You’re fine at last.”

Mo Tiange was bewildered. “Master, what’re you doing? What could’ve happened to me?” Since she wasn’t injured by Ruan Mingzhu, then only her divine comprehension suffered at most—they didn’t have to be this nervous, right?

Once he heard that, Lord Daoist Jinghe immediately pointed at her and said: “Girl, you’re indeed reckless! What could’ve happened to you? If you woke up a bit later, something would’ve definitely happened!”

“Huh?” Mo Tiange was even more bewildered.

Ye Zhenji said, “Auntie, do you know how long you’ve been out for?”

“Was it very long?”

“It’s already been three years!” Ye Zhenji couldn’t help but shout, “Auntie, you’ve been out for three years!”

Mo Tiange was dumbfounded. “So long?” To her, it was only a dream, yet three years had actually passed by!

Lord Daoist Jinghe said, “That’ll do. I see you’re completely fine—just ask Zhenji if anything’s the matter.” The moment he finished speaking, he flung away his sleeves and left readily.

Mo Tiange felt something was amiss. With Lord Daoist Jinghe’s temper, it wasn’t reasonable that he could’ve been so calm, was it?

She gave it a bit of thought then asked Ye Zhenji: “What’s wrong with your grandmaster? Why did he seem rather unhappy?”

Ye Zhenji said: “Perhaps it’s because master hasn’t come back even until now.”

Mo Tiange was stunned. “Your master... hasn’t come back?” What happened in these past three years in the end?

“En—Auntie, when you had that accident, master came out of his Closed Door Meditation. Grandmaster said you closed your sea of knowledge, so you wouldn’t wake up for some time. To concoct medicinal pills that might help to rouse you, master went out to look for the ingredients.”

“...”

Quite a long time had passed. Seeing as Mo Tiange showed no reaction, Ye Zhenji couldn’t help but call: “Auntie?”

“Huh?” Mo Tiange snapped out of her thoughts.

Ye Zhenji had a belly full of questions. “What’s wrong?”

“Never mind.” She repressed her chaotic mood and showed a smile. “Zhenji, tell me what happened in these past three years.”

“Oh, okay...”

What she remembered of that year was only Ruan Mingzhu entering a demonic barrier and trying to injure her. At that time, she was facing the Five Confusions Plaguing Spirit, so she only had a minuscule amount of spiritual aura left to block Ruan Mingzhu. Just as the two of them were in a stalemate, they unknowingly triggered the formation. As for what happened afterward, Mo Tiange didn’t remember. But from what Ye Zhenji said today, she finally found out that her divine comprehension was over-stimulated, causing her to close her own sea of knowledge.

By the time Ye Zhenji talked about how Qin Xi brought her back to be healed, a wrinkle was already formed on her brows.

“How did your master know I was injured?”

Ye Zhenji cautiously took a glance at her before answering: “Master... had an ominous hunch.”

“...” Mo Tiange gazed into the distance and said nothing for a long time.

“Auntie?” Ye Zhenji really couldn’t guess what she was thinking about from her expression.

Mo Tiange regained her composure and squeezed out a smile. “What’s wrong?”

“Auntie, what are you thinking about?”

“I’m not thinking about anything.” Her expression was completely flat. “What else? You may continue.”

“En.” Ye Zhenji slowly continued with his story: “Grandmaster said you closed your own sea of knowledge—you yourself weren’t injured, but we couldn’t predict when you’d wake up in the end. Master said it’d be alright if you fainted only for a short period of time, but if you fainted for a long time, your body might wither and dry up, so he wanted grandmaster to think of a solution... Later, grandmaster took out an art manual and told master to practice it—master was to use his spiritual aura to nourish your body every day. Several days later, grandmaster found a few other pill recipes and said they might be helpful in rousing you a bit sooner, but many of the spiritual plants needed for these recipes were rare. Not too long afterward, master left the mountain to look for those spiritual plants.”

“What about now?”

Ye Zhenji snuck a glance at Mo Tiange. Seeing her extremely calm expression made him feel confused inside. However, having no guts to ask her, he could only continue talking: “Ever since master left the mountain, he hasn’t come back. He only transmitted letters occasionally and also sent back the medicinal pills he concocted. As for the matters regarding nourishing your body, they’ve been handled by grandmaster.”

It was no wonder that although three years had passed, not only was her body completely without any problems, but even her spiritual aura was also a lot more abundant. As it turned out, there was such a reason behind all of this...

“Why hasn’t your master come back?”

“Master hasn’t found the materials needed for the most important pill recipe, so he hasn’t come back.” Ye Zhenji debated with himself but eventually, he held back from saying anything further.

He felt somewhat cross inside. Although he had long stopped being angry at his master, he was still unwilling to say good things about him.

“So that means... all these years, your master still hasn’t formed his Nascent Soul?”

Ye Zhenji shook his head. “Master was initially ready to continue his Closed Door Meditation, but who would’ve thought that you’d have an accident...”

“...”

“Auntie, what’s wrong?”

Mo Tiange felt very uncomfortable. She looked away and changed the topic. “What about Ruan Mingzhu? How’s she doing?”

“Senior Martial Sister Ruan...” Ye Zhenji said, “Senior Martial Sister Ruan’s alright, but she seemed to be over-stimulated inside the formation, so she forgot a lot of things.”

“Did she?” Mo Tiange asked dully. Regarding Ruan Mingzhu, she neither liked nor hated her. She didn’t like Ruan Mingzhu’s personality, but she couldn’t really put all the blame on Ruan Mingzhu for what happened inside the formation. It was she herself who was out of luck to actually pick such a time to run into Ruan Mingzhu, who already entered a demonic barrier.

“Right now, Senior Martial Sister Ruan has been sent away by grandmaster to Sweet Dew Peak. Grandmaster said he would let her stay with Grandmaster Xuanyin’s disciples; she might improve with them.” At this point, Ye Zhenji, who noticed that Mo Tiange’s expression remained calm throughout, couldn’t help but ask: “Auntie, do you have no opinion?”

“Opinion? What kind of opinion do you want?” Mo Tiange stood up to pour some tea, looking as calm as before.

“...” Ye Zhenji also couldn’t tell, but he felt her reaction shouldn’t be like this. How should he say it? If his aunt really did have something going on with his master, she shouldn’t be this calm, right? But if there was nothing going on between them, shouldn’t she be surprised at his master’s behavior?

Ye Zhenji lifted his gaze. Just as he wanted to speak, he discovered the table had been flooded with tea. “Auntie! Tea! You’ve spilled the tea!”

“Oh!” Mo Tiange was startled, thus snapping her out of her daze. Then, with a forced smile, she took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands.

Ye Zhenji seemed to realize something, but he felt unwilling to ask, so he only said: “Auntie, you should rest first—I’ll go send news to master.”