Immortal Mortal

“This is just a small matter. Brother Mo, feel free to go out and roam; I will arrange for help. I will also help you build a residence for Xiong Xiuzhu and Tao Ao,” Wu Kai guaranteed.

Mo Wuji gave him six Energy Condensing Pills for a small favour. Thus, he took the initiative to build a house for Tao Ao and Xiong Xiuzhu to stay in.

Xiong Xiuzhu, who was standing by the side, finally reacted. She understood that Mo Wuji could give her a job. She finally found some hope; if not for this, Tao Ao and her would not be able to survive.

Unlike the city life of mortals, the workshops and cities in the Formless Blade Sect were catered for cultivators. There were also a few mortals who couldn’t cultivate, but they had their means to form a small social circle among themselves. However, for a mortal like Xiong Xiuzhu who even had to take care of Tao Ao, she was simply powerless and could not join in that circle.

If she wanted to leave the Formless Blade Sect and depart for the nearest mortal city, she would have to travel thousands of miles. More importantly, these thousands of miles were barren and unpopulated lands. It was simply impossible for a mortal like her.

“Thank you benefactor for your saving grace.” Xiong Xiuzhu did not care what Mo Wuji wanted her to do. As long as she had a job, that would be enough.

Mo Wuji nodded his head, “Go back and pack up. Later, go over to my place; I live by the Blood Lotus Lake. I just need you to help take care of my sister, Yan’Er. Yan’Er suffered from some trauma and she might behave like a child. So I would need you to be careful and patient with her.”

Hearing that she only needed to take care of a girl, Xiong Xiuzhu was even more thankful. At least her life wouldn’t be tougher than it was now.

Xiong Xiuzhu moved really fast. After explaining the situation to Yan’Er, Mo Wuji was about to leave his house but Xiong Xiuzhu had already arrived at his doorstep with her disabled husband.

Xiong Xiuzhu’s husband, Tao Ao, had an average build, and he looked quite handsome. However, both his legs were broken and he was huddled up on a wheelchair. He did not look like a person who would find trouble, so Mo Wuji guessed that he was probably being bullied when his legs got broken.

However, Mo Wuji was barely sustaining himself. Naturally, he would not ask Tao Ao about what happened his legs. It was difficult for mortals to live among cultivators. Mo Wuji had also briefly examined the degree of Tao Ao’s injury. With his current methods, he would not be able to cure Tao Ao.

The couple also did not request Mo Wuji to treat Tao Ao’s legs. They were already immensely grateful to Mo Wuji for accepting them and giving them this carefree life.

Over the next three days, Yan’Er gradually got used to the patient Xiong Xiuzhu. Also, with Wu Kai’s help, Tao Ao and Xiong Xiuzhu’s residence was also completed.

Mo Wuji could finally be at ease with leaving his place. In this sort of environment, Mo Wuji could not relax for a single day. He needed to work hard to improve his personal power so that he could take care of Yan’Er and protect himself.

…

The Formless Blade Sect Hall of Affairs.

When Mo Wuji arrived, the hall was already filled with people. Mo Wuji knew that a service disciple was not qualified to accept any missions or quests. He wanted to see if any of the disciples who accepted quests would require help.

This was not the first time that Mo Wuji came to the Hall of Affairs. Not long ago, he came to gather ingredients for Pill Master Shi.

However, the Hall of Affairs today felt different from the past. Previously, the disciples were always rushing around, albeit to form groups, accept quests or to purchase items using the sect’s contribution points. However, what Mo Wuji currently saw was different. Many disciples were congregating together and seemed to be discussing something.

“Junior apprentice brother Mo, congratulations!” Mo Wuji was intending to listen in on the discussions when someone called out to him.

The one who called him was an acquaintance: the Spiritual Herbs Warehouse’s Fei Bingzhu. It was due to Fei Bingzhu’s help that Mo Wuji could buy the Water Velvet Vine. Furthermore, Fei Bingzhu did not take advantage of him, but sold Mo Wuji the Water Velvet Vine at a reasonable price.

Ostensibly, Fei Bingzhu must have heard of Pill Master Shi’s success.

“I was lucky. Pill Master Shi’s skill was too impressive.” Mo Wuji laughed and walked over.

As he was approaching Fei Bingzhu, Mo Wuji whispered, “Senior apprentice brother Fei, what’s going on today? Why is everyone gathering together? What are they discussing?”

“Our Formless Blade Sect’s Formless Blade Mountain is opening. Do you know about the Formless Blade Mountain? Even the Heavenly Temple’s Heavenly Herb Mountain cannot compare to our Formless Blade Mountain. The Formless Blade Mountain has not opened for close to a thousand years. What good things do you think will be inside? Too bad it has nothing to do with us,” Fei Bingzhu sighed.

Mo Wuji finally knew the topic of people’s intense discussion. Well, that’s normal. If he had the qualifications to enter the Formless Blade Mountain which had not been opened for a millennium, he would have joined them in their discussions.

“Senior apprentice brother Fei, since the Formless Blade Mountain had not been opened for a thousand years, why is it suddenly opening now?” Mo Wuji was clear that he did not qualify to enter the Formless Blade Mountain but he could not help but want to inquire more.

Fei Bingzhu pointed to the sky and spoke softly, “ Ten years ago, the first level of the Five Elements Desolate Domain opened. To maximize their benefits which they could reap, the five empires went into war. All parties suffered heavy losses. Ultimately, the five empires decided to host a competition to compete for the resources in the first level of the Five Elements Desolate Domain.”

“What’s the Five Elements Desolate Domain?” Mo Wuji got more and more puzzled.

Fei Bingzhu maintained his patience and explained, “You’re a new service disciple, so it’s natural that you don’t know. Do you know that in all five empires, very few cultivators actually advance into the Heaven Realm? And there isn’t even a single Heaven Sect?”

Mo Wuji nodded, “I did hear of that. Is this related to the Five Elements Desolate Domain?”

Fei Bingzhu replied, “Of course they’re related. I heard that the Five Elements Desolate Domain cut off the five empires’ source of spiritual energy. Without this source of spiritual energy, it is an extremely difficult affair to advance into the Heaven Realm. In these countless years, the few experts who advanced into the Heaven Realm were all the empires’ peak geniuses. Even still they could only stagnate within the 1st of the 3 Heavens in the Heaven Realm. On the other hand, in the Five Elements Desolate Domain, while Heaven Realm experts were not extremely common, there were still a lot more of them than within the five empires.”

“If that’s the case, why can’t everyone enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain together?” Mo Wuji asked puzzledly.

Fei Bingzhu snickered, “Your words sound as sweet as a song. Enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain together? Do you think it’s so easy to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain? Moreover, only the first level is open. Even if you pass through the first level, you wouldn’t be able to advance without knowing where the second level is. There were several experts from the five empires who tried to find the second level but they were never seen again. I heard that there was even a Heaven Realm expert who went in. Of course, we won’t know whether they perished or advanced to the next level.

After everyone knew that the Five Elements Desolate Domain could not be forcefully opened, the first thing everyone did was to fight for the cultivation resources on the first level. Countless cultivators died over these years. This was also why many sects are taking in large amounts of disciples.”

“Isn’t it enough to send in their experts? What’s the use in recruiting so many disciples?” The more Mo Wuji listened, the more confused he got.

“The Five Elements Desolate Domain is not like ordinary places. I heard that it’s restricted by Heaven’s Laws. Only Channel Opening and Spirit Building cultivators can freely enter the first level. More powerful cultivators will be pressured by the Heaven’s Laws, and could not leave for a long time. It’s rumored that several Heaven Realm experts immediately disappeared after entering the Five Elements Desolate Domain, and it was exactly due to these Heaven’s Laws.” Fei Bingzhu spoke with a mysterious expression.

Mo Wuji still found it difficult to understand. What Heaven’s Laws pressure? Mo Wuji wanted to continue asking Fei Bingzhu but as Fei Bingzhu also heard all these from someone else, he did not fully understand either.

“Aren’t the empires controlled by the supreme sects? Why was the war between empires and not sects?” Mo Wuji no longer asked anymore deep questions for he knew that Fei Bingzhu probably would not be able to answer him.

Fei Bingzhu laughed, “Aren’t they the same thing? The sects only borrow the name of the empires to split their territories. During the actual wars, it will still be the sects’ cultivators undergoing battle. Our Formless Blade Sect also participates in the battles. Eventually, the big sects felt the losses in war was too much, and decided to compete in a more refined manner.

The spiritual ingredients and resources from the Five Elements Desolate Domain are all top grade. Each one of them is simple priceless. Many of these ingredients can help cultivators at the peak of the Earth Realm advance into the Heaven Realm. Thus, the five empires compete in pill concoction and this competition takes place once every three years. There is a quota to the number of people who can enter, so the empires will compete for these places.”

“Is it because our Formless Blade Sect wasn’t performing well in the competitions? So we’re opening the Formless Blade Mountain to nurture more pill refiners?” Mo Wuji could roughly guess the reason behind the opening of the Formless Blade Mountain.

Fei Bingzhu nodded, “That’s the case. Not only does the sect want to nurture more pill refiners, it also wants to raise the levels of the existing ones. All this is so that the Formless Blade Sect can achieve more places within the Five Elements Desolate Domain quota. There are many people who died in the Five Elements Desolate Domain, but even if countless more die, the Five Elements Desolate Domain remains extremely attractive to cultivators. The spiritual ingredients and treasured grasses within are truly heaven defying. Imagine if you find a spiritual fruit which allows an Earth Realm expert to advance into the Heaven Realm? Your sect will immediately rise to become a Quasi-Heaven sect.”

“Formless Blade Sect represents Xing Han Empire, right? As long as Xing Han Empire gets some places, won’t the Formless Blade Sect be allocated some places? Unless there is some internal competition within the empire to distribute the places?”

“No, it’s not like that. With the new form of competition, sects will represent themselves. It is no longer a matter of empires. Xing Han Empire’s guardian west is the Heavenly Temple, but this does not mean that they will get more places? If our Formless Blade Sect performs better in the pill concoction competition, we might be able to get more places to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain.”

Through this question and answer session, Mo Wuji completely understood what was going on. No wonder why the long unopened Formless Blade Mountain was being opened. This was the best time for sects to improve themselves and compete for places to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain. If the Formless Blade Sect gets more places to enter the Five Elements Desolate Domain and finds some prized treasure from within, it may just be catapulted straight from a flailing Earth sect to a Quasi-Heaven sect.