Once she left the restaurant, Mo Tiange already had a destination in mind.
She walked straight along the main street. After walking for a short distance, she saw a very luxurious Blue Cloud Building in the center of the city.
As soon as she entered the restaurant, a waiter immediately came to greet her with a big smile. "Fairy, please go upstairs, please go upstairs."
Mo Tiange nodded and followed the waiter all the way to the third floor.
As soon as she reached the third floor, she immediately felt several gazes on her.
She discreetly sized up her surroundings.
Compared to the first floor, the third floor was less luxurious, but it was more elegant.
There were about five or six mahogany tables in the spacious space. Each table was separated by flowers and trees, looking extremely elegant.
There were already three tables occupied by guests. All of them were male cultivators, and their cultivation levels were all in the Aura Refining realm.
Mo Tiange thought to herself that Bixuan Court was, after all, a small or medium-sized cultivation group. If individual cultivators could cultivate to the Foundation Building realm, they would've been recruited long ago, even if they were male cultivators.
At the first table, there were two middle-aged men who were chatting animatedly. When they saw Mo Tiange, they glanced at her with some surprise, but they soon turned back to continue their conversation.
At the second table, there were both young and old people who were chatting casually. Upon seeing her, several people stared at her as if they were trying to guess her origin.
At the third table, there were three young people chatting loudly. They seemed to be the children of some cultivation clans; they weren't as down and out as individual cultivators.
"Fairy, this way please."
The waiter led Mo Tiange to an empty table and swiftly served her tea. He asked, "Fairy, what would you like to order?"
Mo Tiange muttered to herself for a moment then said, "Some refreshments will be fine."
"Yes, yes," the waiter said repeatedly, "Please wait a moment, Fairy. It'll be served soon."
After the waiter went downstairs, Mo Tiange picked up the teacup and took a leisurely sip.
The manager of the small restaurant told her that in Linhai Town, most cultivators and mortals lived together. Mortals were very respectful to cultivators, so cultivators enjoyed a lot of power here.
In Linhai Town, mortals treated both Bixuan Court disciples and individual cultivators with extreme respect.
There were even some facilities specially prepared for cultivators, such as the third floor of the Azure Cloud Restaurant.
This was the biggest restaurant in Linhai Town. Reportedly, the boss had a very good relationship with the fairies of Bixuan Court.
The third floor of the Azure Cloud Restaurant was only open to cultivators. Any cultivator, even if they were only in the first layer of the Aura Refining realm, could eat and drink here for free.
Therefore, no matter if it was the disciples of the sects, clans, or independent cultivators in the vicinity of Waterfront City, they would all come to the Azure Cloud Brothel when they had nothing to do and exchange some news.
After inquiring about these things, Mo Tiange didn't say anything else and came to this place.
The reason why he didn't ask the shopkeeper directly was because the shopkeeper was, after all, a mortal. Some things were more reliable to hear from the mouth of a cultivator.
As she sat there, she had already sized up all the people at the three tables.
She had the Spirit-Concealing Pendant with her, so she deliberately suppressed her cultivation level to make others feel that she was still in the Aura Refining realm, but they couldn't see through her.
Among the eight or nine cultivators here, the strongest one was only in the sixth layer of the Aura Refining realm, so they didn't notice anything strange at all.
Not long after the waiter went downstairs, the three young men at the third table looked at each other. One of them got up and walked over to her.
"Fellow Daoist, I'm Wei Ziming. Nice to meet you."
Mo Tiange pretended to have just noticed him and stood up to greet him. "I'm Ye Xiaotian. Nice to meet you, Fellow Daoist Wei."
Seeing that she returned his greeting, a hint of joy flashed across Wei Ziming's eyes. He greeted her again. "So it's Miss Ye."
Just now, he called her Fellow Daoist, but now he called her Miss.
Mo Tiange smiled without batting an eyelid. "Fellow Daoist Wei is too polite. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Oh, it's like this." Seeing that her attitude was kind, Wei Ziming also smiled from ear to ear. "I wonder if Miss is alone?
If you are, it's fate that we met. How about we talk about the path of immortality together? "
Mo Tiange was sitting there because she was waiting for someone to take the initiative to talk to her. Now that she heard Wei Ziming's words, she thought for a moment then smiled and said, "How can I refuse Fellow Daoist Wei's kindness?
I'm also bored sitting here by myself, so I'll accept your invitation. "
Wei Ziming was overjoyed. "Miss, please come over here." He then shouted, "Waiter!"
"Thump, thump, thump" sounds of footsteps could be heard from the stairway. A waiter immediately ran up with Mo Tiange's tea and pastries in his hands.
Wei Ziming waved his hand and said, "Take our table away and bring another good one."
The waiter's gaze shifted. He understood what Mo Tiange meant, so he immediately nodded and bowed. "Yes, yes." He then put the tea and pastries aside, tidied up the three people's table, and went downstairs.
Since the third floor was specially set up for cultivators, the waiter's attitude was naturally attentive. Soon, several other people came up and once again served hot dishes, wine, and delicacies. Cultivators in the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm and above would gradually lose their sense of worldly affairs. These people were all below the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm, so they naturally ate and drank like mortals.
"Miss Ye, please." Wei Ziming smiled. The two young cultivators sitting at the same table with him also stood up with a kind attitude.
Mo Tiange raised her hand to greet these people before sitting down.
As soon as she sat down, Wei Ziming eagerly poured wine for her. "Miss Ye, let me introduce you. These are my two good friends, Huang Zhifeng and Yue Yang."
Mo Tiange raised her head to look at the two of them.
Wei Ziming had the demeanor of a distinguished young master. Huang Zhifeng's demeanor was slightly inferior to his, but he was a bit more handsome. Yue Yang, on the other hand, was very shy and seemed to be the youngest among them — he seemed to be less than twenty years old.
Among the three of them, the one with the highest cultivation level was Wei Ziming, who was in the fifth layer of the Aura Refining realm. The other two were both in the fourth layer.
Mo Tiange inwardly speculated that these three people were undoubtedly the children of cultivation clans. She was quite experienced now, so she usually wouldn't make a mistake.
"I'm Ye Xiaotian. Greetings to the two Fellow Daoists." She politely raised her hand to greet them.
Her attitude seemed to make the two people feel somewhat flattered. They hastily returned her greeting while repeatedly saying they didn't dare.
Mo Tiange felt a bit strange. Even if her cultivation level was higher than theirs, she only suppressed it to around the seventh layer of the Aura Refining realm, so they didn't need to greet her like this …
After the four people finished greeting each other, Wei Ziming raised his cup and said with a smile, "May I know which fairy of Bixuan Court is Miss Ye's disciple?"
Mo Tiange smiled then said faintly, "I'm not a disciple of Bixuan Court."
"Huh?" The moment she said that, the three of them were stunned.
Wei Ziming blinked as if he didn't quite believe her. He then asked with a slight stutter, "Miss … You … You have this kind of cultivation level, but why aren't you a disciple of Bixuan Court?"
Mo Tiange smiled and said, "To be honest, I'm an individual cultivator from Kunwu. I came here by accident, but I don't know how to leave."
As she said that, Mo Tiange secretly paid attention to their reactions. However, she saw that all three of them had astonished expressions.
Huang Zhifeng glanced at his companion then asked, "Miss Ye isn't from Linhai?"
Mo Tiange nodded. "Correct."
The three people looked at each other. There seemed to be pleasant surprise in their eyes.
In the end, it was still Wei Ziming who spoke. His attitude was very enthusiastic. "I really didn't expect Miss Ye to be an outsider. There are very few outsiders in Linhai, so it's also difficult for us to leave.
Miss Ye, how did you come to Linhai? "
Mo Tiange smiled faintly. "I came through a Transporting Formation."
"A Transporting Formation?"
The three people exclaimed in surprise. Soon afterward, Huang Zhifeng said anxiously, "Miss, do you know where there's a Transporting Formation that connects Linhai and Kunwu?
It's not Bixuan Court's Transporting Formation, right? "
"You've misunderstood."
Upon seeing their reactions, Mo Tiange felt more confident. "I came through a random Transporting Formation outside; I didn't come through a fixed Transporting Formation."
"Oh …" Hearing her words, the three of them revealed a look of disappointment at the same time.
Mo Tiange swept her gaze over them, thinking in her heart.
At first, the three of them thought she was a Bixuan Court disciple, so they were both enthusiastic and polite to her. Bixuan Court was very powerful in Linhai, so female cultivators' statuses were much higher than male cultivators', so the three of them wanted to befriend her.
However, because Bixuan Court's female disciples had always been arrogant, they basically wouldn't be so polite to outsiders, so the three of them were rather flattered.
When she said she wasn't a Bixuan Court disciple, not only were the three of them not disappointed, but they were also pleasantly surprised.
Mo Tiange speculated that it was very likely because Bixuan Court's female disciples all had very arrogant attitudes. In Linhai, almost all women with spiritual roots entered Bixuan Court, so it was rare for the three of them to meet a female cultivator they could get close to, so they were pleasantly surprised.
In the end, when they learned she came from the outside, the first thing they asked was about the Transporting Formation. They were very disappointed when they heard there was no Transporting Formation in Linhai.
Apparently, aside from Bixuan Court, the cultivators here were also trapped in this small area and couldn't leave, so they were very interested in the Transporting Formation.
Judging from this, the cultivators in Linhai also had no way to leave, so it was probably impossible for them to return to Kunwu without going through Bixuan Court.
Once she finished thinking, Mo Tiange showed just enough surprise on her face. "Fellow Daoists, is there no Transporting Formation here?
Or a way out? "
Huang Zhifeng shook his head then said with a bitter smile, "Miss Ye, we won't hide this from you. Linhai is a small place isolated in the Eastern Sea by Demonic Mountain Range. To the west of us is the Devil Path, and to the east is the sea — there's basically no way out."
Mo Tiange looked even more surprised, but there was also a hint of panic. "Then what should I do?
I … I still have to go back to Kunwu … "
Yue Yang, who'd been silent all this while, finally spoke. "Miss Ye, you don't need to worry. If you were a male cultivator, it would indeed be difficult, but you're a woman, so you can ask Bixuan Court for help."
"En?" Mo Tiange looked puzzled. "Fellow Daoist Yue, what do you mean?
Does Bixuan Court have a Transporting Formation to leave? "
Wei Ziming took over the conversation, but instead of answering, he asked, "Fellow Daoist Ye, do you know anything about the cultivation world in Linhai?"
Mo Tiange nodded. "After I arrived here, I asked around, so I know a bit about it."
Wei Ziming continued to say, "Bixuan Court is the only cultivation group in Linhai, and it's also a cultivation group for female cultivators."
At this point, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face. "Therefore, the status of female cultivators is slightly higher than that of male cultivators.
Female cultivators can enter Bixuan Court as long as they have spiritual roots, but male cultivators like us have to either have very good spiritual roots or have a high cultivation level in order to be accepted as outer disciples by Bixuan Court. Moreover, only after performing Dual Cultivation with a female disciple can they be considered real Bixuan Court disciples.
The same goes for cultivators from outside Linhai.
In recent years, although there were very few foreign cultivators, they'd occasionally come across foreign cultivators. If they were female cultivators, they'd either be recruited by Bixuan Court or they'd pay a certain price for Bixuan Court to send them out of Linhai. Male cultivators, on the other hand, weren't so lucky. If they wanted to leave, they'd have to pay an even bigger price.
Therefore, Miss Ye, you can ask Bixuan Court for help. Maybe they'll be willing to let you go. "
Mo Tiange was silent for a while before she nodded. "I see. Thank you, Fellow Daoists, for telling me."
Huang Zhifeng hesitated for a moment then asked, "Miss Ye, your cultivation level is higher than ours, so presumably, Bixuan Court will definitely recruit you. If you're only an individual cultivator in Kunwu, it'd be better for you to join Bixuan Court.
Bixuan Court is a cultivation group for female cultivators, so they take great care of their female disciples. If you join Bixuan Court, you might even have a chance to build your foundation. "
Mo Tiange looked embarrassed. "But I want to go back to Kunwu …"
Wei Ziming said, "Miss Ye, if you don't want to join Bixuan Court and want to go back to Kunwu, I have to remind you first."
At this point, he paused for a moment to confirm there was a Sound-Insulating Barrier around them before he continued to say, "Bixuan Court is very powerful in Linhai; they always mean what they say. If they really recruit you and you don't agree, it won't be good for you if you provoke them."
Wei Ziming spoke very tactfully, but Mo Tiange could hear the warning in his words.
Apparently, her previous guess was right. Bixuan Court wasn't only powerful, but it was also very overbearing; they couldn't be offended easily.
She thought for a moment then said with a smile, "Thank you for reminding me, Fellow Daoists.
Are all Fellow Daoists local cultivators?
Could it be that you've never gone out? "
Huang Zhifeng smiled bitterly. "To be honest, Miss, we're all from small local cultivation clans. Not only have we never gone out, but none of the elders in our clans have either.
Ay … It's all because of Linhai's special terrain that most of us Linhai cultivators have never gone out in our entire lives.
But what can we do?
Only Bixuan Court has a way to go out, but they're also unwilling to open the Transporting Formation. "
Wei Ziming sighed and said, "Our biggest wish is to cultivate to the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm, enter Bixuan Court, successfully build our foundation, and perform Dual Cultivation with Bixuan Court's female disciples. That's the only way we'll have a chance to go out."
Yue Yang said with a yearning expression, "I heard from my father that an ancestor of our Yue Clan once left Linhai. When he came back, he told the younger generation that the outside world is very big. Kunwu alone has a whole mountain range that's tens of thousands of miles wide. Aura Refining cultivators like us have to walk for more than half a year to reach it from the east to the west!
There are also many cultivation groups outside. My ancestor said there are more male cultivators among the high level cultivators in the outside world, while female cultivators … "At this point, Yue Yang stopped and cast a somewhat embarrassed glance at Mo Tiange." Miss Ye, please don't mind me. I was just speaking thoughtlessly. "
Mo Tiange smiled. "It's nothing. What Fellow Daoist Yue said is the truth. In Kunwu, there are indeed more male cultivators among the high level cultivators."
Seeing as she didn't mind, Yue Yang smiled gratefully then asked curiously, "Miss Ye, you came from Kunwu. Can you tell us something about the outside world?"
"Oh, this … What do Fellow Daoists want to hear?"
Upon hearing that she was willing to talk about the outside world, the three people's eyes brightened. Wei Ziming asked, "Miss Ye, how big is Kunwu?
Are there really a lot of cultivation groups?
How many are the biggest?
Are there a lot of Nascent Soul cultivators? "
This Wei Ziming was really impatient — he immediately asked a series of questions.
Mo Tiange smiled and said, "Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Wei. Let me think.
En … I also don't know how big Kunwu is. Based on the walking distance of a Foundation Building cultivator, it would take them about a month to fly from east to west. As for Aura Refining cultivators, just like Fellow Daoist Yue said, it would indeed take them more than half a year. Based on this, it's at least several tens of thousands of miles — maybe even more.
There are probably several hundred cultivation groups in Kunwu, but most of them are small cultivation groups. The entire cultivation group might only have several hundred people, and the highest cultivation level among them is only in the Foundation Building realm.
Big cultivation groups, on the other hand, have several thousand Aura Refining disciples, more than a hundred Foundation Building disciples, and several Nascent Soul cultivators. "
"Wow! So many people!"
Yue Yang exclaimed, "Bixuan Court only has about a thousand disciples, and there are only a few dozen Foundation Building cultivators …"
"Is that so?" Mo Tiange took this opportunity to ask, "Then does Bixuan Court have any Core Formation cultivators?"
Yue Yang nodded. "Bixuan Court currently has three Core Formation cultivators."
"Oh, if that's the case, they'd be considered a medium or small cultivation group in Kunwu."
Three Core Formation cultivators wasn't considered much in Kunwu. Back then, Yunwu Sect also had seven or eight Core Formation cultivators, but Yunwu Sect was only a medium cultivation group.
For a medium cultivation group like this, if they had Nascent Soul cultivators, they could develop into a big cultivation group. If they didn't, they could only maintain the structure of a medium cultivation group.
Upon hearing her understatement, Wei Ziming and the others said in amazement, "Bixuan Court isn't considered a big cultivation group in Kunwu?
Then what are Kunwu's big cultivation groups like?
Do they only count if they have Nascent Soul cultivators? "
Mo Tiange nodded. "Correct. Not to mention big cultivation groups, even some medium cultivation groups with great influence in Kunwu all have Nascent Soul cultivators.
I reckon there are about fifty to sixty Nascent Soul cultivators in all of Kunwu, and most of them are in the seven big cultivation groups. "
"The seven big cultivation groups?"
Huang Zhifeng said, "I've heard that six of the seven big cultivation groups in the Celestial Pole are in Kunwu. They're very powerful, and there are also many Nascent Soul cultivators in their groups."
Mo Tiange shook her head and said with a smile, "How could there be many Nascent Soul cultivators?
Reaching the Nascent Soul realm isn't that easy. Tiandao Sect, which is known as the number one cultivation group in the Celestial Pole, only has seven Nascent Soul cultivators, and that's only when they were at their peak. "
"Seven Nascent Soul cultivators …" The three of them showed expressions of yearning.
For them, Nascent Soul cultivators only existed in legends. It had been many years since a Nascent Soul cultivator appeared in Bixuan Court. It was said that aside from the founder of the group, there was only one Nascent Soul cultivator a thousand years ago. After that person passed away, no one else was able to advance to the Nascent Soul realm, and there weren't many Core Formation cultivators either.
"Miss Ye, can you tell us more about the seven big cultivation groups?" If their previous attitude was polite, then right now, it already carried a hint of closeness and flattery.
Although the three of them were children of cultivation clans and Mo Tiange claimed to be an individual cultivator, they lived in Linhai while she came from Kunwu, so she had seen much more of the world than them.
Mo Tiange smiled. "Of course, it's nothing."
"The seven big cultivation groups in the Celestial Pole are Tiandao Sect, Xuanqing School, Gujian Sect, Zhengfa Sect, Biyun Sect, Lingshou School, and Danding School.
Among them, Zhengfa Sect is located in the northernmost glaciers and has only one branch in Kunwu.
Tiandao Sect is known as the number one cultivation group in the Celestial Pole and has the largest number of disciples — about six to seven thousand Aura Refining disciples … "
While Mo Tiange told them about the outside world, she also slowly mentioned Bixuan Court.
Seeing how straightforward she was, the three of them also told her about Bixuan Court without holding anything back.
Linhai wasn't very big; it was only a big city with tens of thousands of fishermen and farmers living around it, so Bixuan Court's scale wasn't very big.
Including the outer disciples, Bixuan Court's total number of disciples barely reached more than a thousand.
There were thirty to forty Foundation Building cultivators, three Core Formation cultivators, and a Nascent Soul cultivator that hadn't appeared for a long time.
Among the three Core Formation cultivators, one was in the middle stage of the Core Formation realm while the other two were in the early stage.
Bixuan Court's conduct had always been very overbearing.
Because they were the only cultivation group in the area, it was inevitable that they would be arrogant and would often treat individual cultivators with a high and mighty attitude.
"Ay!"
Wei Ziming sighed. "Unfortunately, we can't go out. If we could, we'd definitely find a cultivation group and cultivate diligently. How could we possibly be bullied by a group of women?"
Mo Tiange looked up at him. "Fellow Daoist Wei, do you think you're being bullied by women?"
Realizing he said something wrong, Wei Ziming promptly smiled and said, "Miss Ye, please don't misunderstand. It's just that … Bixuan Court's conduct is indeed a bit overbearing. Usually, their words are the law in Linhai, so I'm just a bit …"
Mo Tiange smiled and said faintly, "So what if Bixuan Court isn't a cultivation group for women?
As long as it's powerful, it's inevitable that it'll be overbearing — women aren't the only ones. "
"Yes, Miss Ye is right." Wei Ziming smiled apologetically. "I misspoke."
Mo Tiange waved her hand. "It's nothing."
She paused for a moment then sighed. "Not to mention anything else, the founder of Bixuan Court is really amazing. Women in cultivation are always trapped by their emotions and aren't decisive enough. It's already very rare for this founder to be able to establish such a foundation here."
These were her heartfelt words.
There were also cultivation groups for women in Kunwu, but none of them were as powerful as Bixuan Court. Most of them were just small cultivation groups under the control of others.
Bixuan Court dominated the area. Although this was due to the terrain, it wasn't easy for them to establish such a cultivation group.
"That's true."
Huang Zhifeng's eyes shone with admiration. "Although we don't like Bixuan Court's way of doing things, no one in Linhai City is dissatisfied with the founder of Bixuan Court."
Not only Huang Zhifeng, but even Yue Yang also nodded. "Brother Huang is right. The founder of Bixuan Court is the beacon and idol in the hearts of cultivators in Linhai City."
"Oh?" Mo Tiange was quite interested. "Fellow Daoist, can you tell me about it?"
Huang Zhifeng said, "To talk about Bixuan Court's founder, we have to start from the origin of Linhai.
A hundred thousand years ago, the Righteous Path and the Devil Path fought a great war in the Celestial Pole. In the end, the Devil Path was defeated and moved to the north of Demonic Mountain, never setting foot in Kunwu again.
The Devil Path moved to the northeast and operated in the mountain range to the north of Demonic Mountain.
This part of the mountain range was covered with dense forests, undulating hills, and the terrain was complex.
Coincidentally, there was such a small area in the Eastern Sea, which happened to be sandwiched between this mountain range and the Eastern Sea, becoming an isolated area.
To the east was the sea, to the west was the mountain range where the Devil Path was active, and there were no roads to the north or south. "
"… The people of Linhai lived like this for tens of thousands of years, completely losing contact with other places in the Celestial Pole. Cultivation techniques were incomplete, resources were scarce, and there were no high level cultivators. Even if there were very talented people, it was very difficult for them to achieve anything. Even pill-concocting and tool-refining were slowly lost.
Occasionally, some cultivators accidentally came to Linhai and passed down some cultivation techniques and the Dao of pill-concocting and tool-refining. "
Huang Zhifeng took a sip of tea then went on to say, "About ten thousand years ago, a female cultivator also accidentally came here. Unlike those people, her cultivation level was very high — she was a Nascent Soul cultivator!
At that time, even Foundation Building cultivators were rarely seen in Linhai — there were only one or two of them left. A Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly came, so all the cultivators in Linhai naturally respected her.
That was Bixuan Court's grandmaster, Primordial Lady Bishui. "
"We said Primordial Lady Bishui was amazing not because she established Bixuan Court here. With her identity as a Nascent Soul cultivator, it was too easy for her to establish a cultivation group here.
What was amazing about her was that not only did she establish a cultivation group, but she also established Linhai Town and even built a Transporting Formation, allowing us people in Linhai to finally go to other places in the Celestial Pole through the Transporting Formation! "
"Correct."
Wei Ziming nodded. "The reason why it's a cultivation group for female cultivators is because Primordial Lady Bishui rescued a group of female cultivators who were used as Human Furnaces by Kunwu cultivators and established Bixuan Court with them."
"I see …" Mo Tiange muttered.
No wonder female cultivators were respected in Bixuan Court while male cultivators had low status. So there was actually such a reason.
That being the case, not only was Primordial Lady Bishui worthy of admiration, but the other Bixuan Court disciples also weren't domineering.
Their seniors were once used as Human Furnaces by male cultivators, so they naturally didn't treat male cultivators well.
Thinking up to this point, Mo Tiange even felt a bit of admiration. It really wasn't easy for these female cultivators to become independent.