The First Cultivator

When Mo Tianjun returned from school in the evening, he excitedly called for them and told them to prepare the things they wanted to bring to the fair.

Mo Tiange didn't have anything to prepare and only brought the coins she possessed, keeping them behind her collar. On the contrary, Mo Tianqiao's little maid, Xiaoshan'er, prepared so many things that in the end, she had to carry a big basket. Out of curiosity, Mo Tiange opened the basket to take a look inside. There was a comb, a mirror, a fan, water pouches, snacks, and even a small folding stool inside!

Mo Tiange was completely amazed by this. She then asked Xiaoshan'er what she was going to do with these things. Xiaoshan'er started to point out each thing and explained: "If Miss' hair bun falls apart, the comb and the mirror will be needed; if Miss feels hot, the fan will be used; if Miss gets thirsty, she can drink from the water pouch; if Miss gets hungry, she can have some snacks; if Miss gets tired of walking, she can sit on the stool."

Mo Tiange then asked, "What are you going to do if it rains?" Once Xiaoshan'er heard her question, she immediately went to fetch an umbrella, leaving behind a dumbfounded Mo Tiange.

No matter whether Tianqiao was from a prominent wealthy family or not, this little maid was quite good. This time, Tianqiao was really "a young lady going on an inspection tour."

Having finished preparing everything, the three of them followed Tianjun out of the house. Naturally, Tianjun wasn't going by himself. There were several other boys going with them.

The nearest town from the Mo family village was Feiyun Town. It wasn't too far and could be reached in an hour.

It had been a long time since Tianqiao last went on foot. When they finally arrived at the town, she was already gasping for breath and really did use the folding stool to sit. Xiaoshan'er fared better. However, because she was carrying such a large basket, she also felt tired and was drenched in sweat. In fact, Mo Tiange was the only one who looked completely fine.

Right after they entered the town, the boys were impatient and went to play straight away, leaving the three of them behind. It was only after Tianqiao had enough rest that they walked around the fair.

Mo Tiange came to Feiyun before with Uncle Awang when she was a child, but she hadn't come since she moved into the ancestral house.

Feiyun wasn't a large town - a round trip from the eastern to western part of the town could be completed in an hour. Today's fair was crowded with people from neighboring towns and villages. They brought products from their hometowns to be sold and would buy some daily necessities to bring back.

Seeing that Tianqiao was sweating, Xiaoshan'er immediately became very busy, giving her a water pouch and fanning her. Mo Tiange shook her head. She saw that there was a meat noodle stall nearby and said, "Should we go there and rest? We can fill our stomachs with meat noodles first."

Tianqiao had been excited for the whole morning, so she hadn't eaten much for lunch. Thus, she instantly nodded when she heard Mo Tiange's suggestion.

The three of them went to the small stall and ordered three bowls of meat noodles. Xiaoshan'er also got a bowl. She brimmed with tears of happiness when she found out she could sit and eat with them.

Mo Tiange couldn't help but sigh when she saw Xiaoshan'er. If she hadn't inherited a small property, she might've fared not too differently from Xiaoshan'er after her mother died. When Aunt bought Xiaoshan'er, Aunt heard she was originally sold to a rich family in the city but was punished and was sold again after making a small mistake. Now, Xiaoshan'er was always very grateful even though Tianqiao only showed her a little bit of extra kindness. Presumably, her original master treated her badly.

Meat noodles were a common street food in Liancheng County. The meat used was actually fish meat. This dish was created because there were many aquatic regions in Liancheng County and fish were abundant there. First, fish meat was minced and mixed with flour to make the noodles. The noodle soup was made from bone broth which was combined with scallions, ginger and a lot of vinegar. Because ginger and scallions were used, the noodles didn't smell fishy. In addition, the sour taste of the vinegar made it very appetizing. The noodles were chewy and had a taste that was both fresh and light. Even children liked to eat this.

Mo Tianqiao rarely ate this kind of street food. The Mo family was, after all, a family of farmers. They weren't too fastidious about their food. Besides, Aunt Lin could only cook ordinary dishes.

Although all three of them ate a bowl of meat noodles each, they all felt they hadn't had enough. Tianqiao wanted to eat more, but she was stopped by Tiange who said there would be a lot of delicious food at the fair and that if Tianqiao ate until she was full, she wouldn't be able to eat at the fair.

Upon hearing Tiange's words, Xiaoshan'er finally realized it was very moronic of her to bring so many snacks to a fair. She used to be a maid in a rich family, and that kind of family always brought their own food if they went out. They never ate random food from roadside stalls.

The mighty force of delicious food boosted Tianqiao's strength. The three of them finally began to stroll around the fair.

"Miss! Take a look!" Xiaoshan'er shouted, pointing at extremely vivid sugar figurines1.

Mo Tianqiao hastily moved closer and saw a stall that sold sugar figurines in various shapes. There were cats, dogs, and other animal shapes. Tianqiao was instantly captivated. Sometimes, craftsmen passed their village selling sugar figurines, but it happened very rarely. They had only seen sugar figurines a few times before.

Hence, the three of them chattered to each other excitedly, discussing which one was pretty and which one they should buy.

All of a sudden, goosebumps appeared on Mo Tiange's back. She turned around at once and saw a man watching her from afar. Seeing her turning around, the man revealed a slight smile and nodded at her. But he still didn't shift his gaze; it was as if he was waiting for her to come to him.

After hesitating for a moment, Mo Tiange grabbed Tianqiao's sleeve and said, "Tianqiao, I'm leaving for a second. I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?"

"It's nothing. Take your time to choose. Just wait for me here."

"Oh…" Tianqiao watched her walk away in confusion.

Seeing Mo Tiange heading towards him, the man turned around and started walking the other way, putting some distance between them. When he reached a crossroads, he turned and entered an alley before he finally stopped.

He turned around and Mo Tiange finally saw that he was actually an ordinary young man. At this moment, he was smiling politely at her and had his hands clasped in a form of greeting. "My name is Li Yushan. May I ask what little Fellow Daoist's name is?"

Mo Tiange hastily bowed as a form of polite greeting towards strangers. "My surname is Mo."

So the thing she saw from this man when she turned around was actually spiritual aura! This man was obviously also someone from the cultivation world.

Because of various reasons, she hadn't told anyone about obtaining a cultivation technique. Succeeding in cultivation to find her father became her greatest secret at home, especially after her mother died. In the past three years, she had been cultivating alone. Now that she suddenly met someone else who also possessed spiritual aura in his body, she couldn't help but go to him.

However, this man named Li Yushan didn't look down on her just because she was young. He said, "Turns out it's Fellow Daoist Mo. It was really destiny that we could meet in the world of mortals. I'm an individual cultivator. May I know where your master is? Why are you staying in the secular world?"

"I… What's an individual cultivator?" She seemed to have heard this word before.

Li Yushan was stunned. He said in disbelief, "Doesn't Fellow Daoist have any division elders?"

His question made her think back to the general knowledge of the cultivation world that the Ancestor told her. Since both the Ancestor and Qing Lian mentioned that a human's mind was hard to fathom, Mo Tiange didn't refute the man's words. Instead, she said, "My father was also a cultivator. However, when I was a child, he left our family to look for a fated chance. He sometimes sent letters, but he hasn't come back. Therefore, I've been cultivating by myself."

"Oh?" Li Yushan believed her. In the secular world, cultivation techniques were mostly incomplete and medicinal pills were rare. As a result, many cultivators in the secular world would travel, looking for a fated chance as he did now.

"I see... So-called individual cultivators are cultivators who don't belong to any school, sect or clan. Fellow Daoist Mo is far luckier than me who has to work hard by myself in looking for the Immortal's Fate; you have your father's guidance. You're very young, but you're already in the second layer of the Aura Refining realm. In the future, you might be able to join a school or a sect. Your circumstances are really enviable."

Li Yushan really did look envious. His cultivation was only in the third layer of the Aura Refining realm. When he was a child, he accidentally obtained the Immortal's Fate. It took him ten years of strenuous cultivation to reach his current cultivation level. In any case, people like him could already be considered lucky. However, this little girl already reached the second layer. How could it be possible for him not to feel envious?

He had no idea that Mo Tiange was able to reach her current cultivation level only because she possessed the highest grade cultivation technique along with pearls that could gather spiritual aura. With these two things, she was indeed a bit luckier than fumbling individual cultivators. However, it was only by a bit. After all, she was impeded by her spiritual roots; it'd be hard for her to increase her cultivation level after she reached the middle stage of the Aura Refining realm.

Li Yushan spoke again, "Running into another cultivator in the secular world rarely happens. Fellow Daoist Mo, since we were destined to meet, why don't we spare some time to discuss our cultivation methods?"