After returning to Mount Yunwu, Mo Tiange officially entered Closed Door Meditation. Aside from going back to see Second Uncle every half a month, she no longer went out for a stroll.
Occasionally, when she came out of Closed Door Meditation, she would find Summoning Talismans for Murong Yan, Wang Qianyi, and even Shen Bing.
Originally, she didn't have any friendship with them, but after the trip to Miwu Valley, they became closer. When they learned that she was cultivating in Closed Door Meditation, they all came to greet her.
Shen Bing and Wang Qianyi even said that if she needed any help, she could just ask.
Mo Tiange knew it wasn't appropriate for her to have too much contact with them, so she only responded politely and didn't ask for anything.
Every time she came out and ran into the other senior martial brothers living with her, she was laughed at.
Xu Jingzhi was even more envious and jealous. He said that although she looked good, her skinny appearance didn't look like a man at all. She obviously wasn't as tall, handsome, and elegant as him, so why were the famous beautiful senior martial sisters in the sect so good to her?
Mo Tiange smiled bitterly in her heart, feeling even more distressed.
Men and women were different. She increasingly felt that pretending to be a man was getting more and more tiring. If her cultivation level was high, she could directly use the Illusory Technique and pretend to be whatever she wanted. However, she was just a small Aura Refining cultivator. If she wanted to use the Illusory Technique to deceive high level cultivators, wasn't that just courting death?
Two years passed in a flash. Although she grew a little taller, it was very little. She wasn't considered tall among women, let alone among men.
Liu Yidao was a head taller than her, Qin Xi was a head taller, and even Xu Jingzhi, who wasn't considered tall, was half a head taller than her. Perhaps it was because she was too unlucky. The men in the room were all tall, making her look even thinner.
Coupled with her thin shoulders and thin body, even though she had been dressing as a woman for many years and no longer looked like a woman, she was still very eye-catching.
Xu Jingzhi laughed at her more than once, saying that she looked like a man but looked like a woman. Although it didn't arouse anyone's suspicion, it gave Mo Tiange a wake-up call and constantly reminded her to be careful.
Two years later, when she ran out of spirit stones, she finally reached the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm.
At this time, Yunwu Sect's minor competition was about to begin.
Therefore, she left Closed Door Meditation after her realm stabilized.
As soon as she came out, the other three were already waiting in the small hall.
In the past three years, Liu Yidao and Qin Xi's cultivation levels had become even more exquisite. Although Xu Jingzhi was a bit inferior, he also rushed into the ninth layer of the Aura Refining realm and wasn't far from the tenth layer.
In order to celebrate her coming out of seclusion, the group decided to go sightseeing and have a picnic.
More than once, Murong Yan expressed that she missed her roasted beast meat, so she also sent a Summoning Talisman to invite her. Since she was invited, she naturally invited Wang Qianyi and Shen Bing as well. At the same time, she also notified Senior Martial Brother Zhou.
Originally, Mo Tiange thought that although Murong Yan would definitely come, Shen Bing and Wang Qianyi might not necessarily come, let alone Senior Martial Brother Zhou.
Who would have thought that not a single one would be missing?
The group of people chatted and barbecued by the waterfall pool on the Southern Peak.
Mo Tiange sat by the water's edge, struggling to skewer a row of beast meat. She used the Fire Spiritual Art with her left hand and spread flames on the beast meat.
Not far away, under a tree, there was a piece of linen cloth with tea and snacks on it.
On the side, Liu Yidao and Senior Martial Brother Zhou were exchanging cultivation insights. Xu Jingzhi was sitting next to Shen Bing and Wang Qian to join in on the fun. Qin Xi was lazily leaning against a tree, basking in the sun. Murong Yan was sitting next to her, staring at the skewers while drooling. From time to time, she would ask if they were done.
This group of people said they were celebrating her reaching the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm, but in the end, they said that her barbecuing skills were pretty good, so they just let her do the barbecuing for everyone. Alas!
When she finally finished barbecuing a batch, she wiped her sweat then placed it on a tray and handed it to Murong Yan. "It's done. Call them over to eat."
There was no need for anyone to call them. Once they saw that Mo Tiange had finished barbecuing, those people who were originally very leisurely swarmed over like a swarm of bees. Each of them took a handful and gorged themselves.
After Xu Jingzhi finished gnawing on the meat in his hand, he shouted, "It's really delicious! Junior Martial Brother Ye, give me a few more pieces!"
Mo Tiange, who had just washed her hands by the waterfall, rolled her eyes when she heard what he said. "If you light the fire, I'll barbecue it for you."
Xu Jingzhi scratched his head. "Light the fire?
But I don't have fire spiritual roots, so I can't use fire spells. "
The group of people laughed. Senior Martial Brother Zhou said, "Junior Martial Brother Ye's cooking skills are really good. It's much better than the ones in our dining hall."
Murong Yan nodded repeatedly. "Yeah, I haven't eaten it for two years. I've been craving it to death."
Liu Yidao rubbed his belly. "This little bit isn't enough. Junior Martial Brother Ye, barbecue more."
"…" Mo Tiange sighed. "Someone come and light the fire for me, okay?
My fire spells are really not that good. I'm really tired after doing it for half a day. "
Murong Yan hastily said, "I also don't have fire spiritual roots. How about I use talismans? I have several fire talismans here."
"We can't waste them like this."
Xu Jingzhi immediately interjected, "Senior Martial Brother Qin is the best at fire spells! Senior Martial Brother Qin, come and help me!"
Ever since this brat met his three senior martial sisters, he was extremely attentive. Needless to say, he always called Shen Bing and Wang Qianyi "senior martial sister". His mouth seemed to be smeared with honey.
Mo Tiange shook her head and smiled. She saw Qin Xi's helpless expression, but she didn't refuse. She stood up and dusted off her sleeves then walked over. "That'll do. I won't eat for free. Junior Martial Brother Ye, please tell me what you want."
Mo Tiange naturally wouldn't be polite. Qin Xi majored in fire spells, so he wasn't half as good as her.
She took out a thin blade, cut the beast meat piece by piece and strung it with a tree branch. She then said to Qin Xi, "Senior Martial Brother Qin, don't burn it too fiercely. If you burn the tree branch, it'll be a waste."
Qin Xi nodded and placed his right palm on the meat. Flames suddenly appeared and soon, the aroma of meat drifted out.
Mo Tiange saw that the situation wasn't good, so she hastily said, "Senior Martial Brother Qin, slow down." She hadn't seasoned the meat yet and hadn't turned the meat over yet — she didn't want it to be burnt.
Alas, it's not good to have a powerful fire spell … It's not convenient to control the heat.
However, with Qin Xi's help, the roasting was a lot faster. Before long, the roasted meat was piled up to the brim, and the two of them finally stopped.
"Okay, this should be enough for you, right?" Mo Tiange tidied up the food and pushed the tray to Murong Yan. This plate of meat was half a spiritual deer.
Murong Yan cheered, "Junior Martial Brother Ye, you're the best!"
By the time she finished washing her face and went back, there was only half a plate of meat left on the plate. Qin Xi leaned against a tree and said with a smile, "Junior Martial Brother Ye, you should drink some tea and eat some snacks. This plate … I think it's enough for them."
Mo Tiange rolled her eyes. They roasted the meat for a long time, but she still couldn't eat it.
Liu Yidao laughed and patted her shoulder. "Junior Martial Brother Ye, who told you to be so good at cooking? Capable people do more work!"
"Good, good, good! I really owe you guys!" In any case, she could already abstain from eating, so she didn't like to eat as much as before.
After eating the roasted meat, they chatted while drinking tea. The topic of their conversation couldn't deviate from the group's minor competition that was going to happen soon.
Generally, there were minor competitions and major competitions in cultivation groups.
The major competition was usually held once every several decades or even once every century. Cultivators in the Aura Refining, Foundation Building, and Core Formation realms would participate. However, only Aura Refining disciples participated in the minor competition, and it was held once every ten years or less.
Although the rewards of the major competition were generous, it was too far away from them. Aura Refining disciples usually paid more attention to the minor competition because it was related to the distribution of Foundation-Building Pills.
Among them, Xu Jingzhi and Murong Yan were in the ninth layer of the Aura Refining realm, Senior Martial Brother Zhou was in the eleventh layer, and the others were in the tenth layer.
Aside from Senior Martial Brother Zhou, everyone else had to participate in the minor competition. Only by participating in the minor competition could they obtain Foundation-Building Pills. Only with Foundation-Building Pills could they build their foundation.
However, they were only a medium-sized cultivation group. Every ten years, twenty to thirty Foundation-Building Pills would be distributed, and only about ten percent of them would succeed.
Among them, aside from Senior Martial Brother Zhou, who would definitely advance to the Foundation Building realm, it was hard to say what would happen to the others.
Among several hundred people, it was already difficult to fight for a spot, let alone obtaining a Foundation-Building Pill.
In fact, taking Foundation-Building Pills wasn't the only way to build one's foundation. It was just that ordinary people didn't even need to think about the other methods.
Taking ancient spiritual panaceas, pouring spiritual aura into one's body through a secret technique by a high-level Nascent Soul cultivator, or obtaining other fated chances that suddenly poured a large amount of spiritual aura into one's body could allow one to make a breakthrough in their realm.
How could these methods be thought of by ordinary cultivators like them? Only Foundation Establishment Pills could have any hope of doing so.
The more they talked about this topic, the heavier it became. In the end, everyone lost interest in talking, so they simply ended the gathering and went back to their respective places.
Mo Tiange's heart was heavy. Although she had advanced to the tenth layer and had a fifty percent chance of obtaining a spot, she didn't even have a ten percent chance of successfully building her foundation.
She didn't forget that she had five spiritual roots.
Mo Family's ancestor, Mo Yaoqing, once said that she didn't have ordinary five spiritual roots and that she had the Spiritual Roots of the Origin, an average of five spiritual roots. She inherited it from another ancestor. If she had a specific cultivation technique, the cultivation speed of someone with the Spiritual Roots of the Origin wouldn't be slow.
However, after entering the cultivation world for so long, she and Second Uncle had searched through all the books and records, yet they still didn't know anything about the Spiritual Roots of the Origin.
Two years ago, Second Uncle said he only had two to three years left in his lifespan. Now, two years had passed, and she had smoothly advanced to the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm. However, she discovered that the path to immortality was vague, and the path to building her foundation was still far from her.