Wei Haolan's gaze finally wavered, but instead of answering, she gave Mo Tiange a wide smile and praised: "Fellow Daoist Ye's really domineering. 2,000 spirit stones just to borrow a Transporting Formation one time is indeed very generous."

Mo Tiange stared at her then said apathetically, "But Sect Head Wei still isn't happy with it, right?"

Wei Haolan noticed the annoyance in Mo Tiange's expression, but she still smiled. "How could I not be happy with it? Although I'm a Sect Head, Bixuan Court's just a small cultivation group. 2,000 spirit stones... To be honest, I myself wouldn't be able to come up with that number. Nevertheless, this deal isn't profitable for my group."

Mo Tiange raised her eyebrows. "Don't tell me Sect Head Wei would only think the deal's profitable if I hand over everything I own in exchange for using the Transporting Formation once?"

"I wouldn't dare." Wei Haolan smiled then said slowly, "As a disciple of a big cultivation group, Fellow Daoist Ye's presumably very rich, unlike us disciples from this small cultivation group. I think 2,000 spirit stones is probably trivial for Fellow Daoist Ye."

For elite disciples of big cultivation groups like her, 2,000 spirit stones indeed wasn't much. Even Luo Fengxue, back when she was just a Core Formation cultivator's beloved disciple, could already come up with several thousand spirit stones, not to mention Mo Tiange, who was now the advanced inner disciple of Lord Daoist Jinghe and whose disciple rations didn't lose out to that of a Core Formation cultivator.

This Wei Haolan deserved to be called the head. Even though Bixuan Court wasn't a big cultivation group, Wei Haolan clearly understood how rich disciples of big cultivation groups were.

Mo Tiange felt a bit remorseful she honestly revealed which cultivation group she came from, but on second thought, Wei Haolan might extort her even more if she didn't know Xuanqing School was backing Mo Tiange up.

"Sect Head Wei." After some thought, Mo Tiange said straightforwardly, "Neither of us are merchants; this kind of haggling is really pointless. I think you'd better directly offer a price; as long as I can afford it, I won't complain."

"Alright!" Wei Haolan looked like she'd been waiting for Mo Tiange to say this; she clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Ye's indeed a straightforward person. That being the case, it wouldn't be good for me to make any more excuses."

After a moment's pause, instead of stating her price, Wei Haolan said slowly, "Does Fellow Daoist Ye know the situation of Bixuan Court in Linhai?"

Mo Tiange nodded. "After I arrived here, I found out a bit about it. Your group's the only cultivation group in Linhai, and your group also controls the only Transporting Formation that leads to the outside world—your group could be considered the most powerful ent.i.ty here."

"Correct, we're the most powerful ones here." Wei Haolan looked proud when she said that, but right afterward, she heaved a sigh and said, "But countless dangers always lurk behind that powerful facade."

Mo Tiange was bewildered. "Your group has Core Formation cultivators keeping watch, you don't have any powerful enemies here, and every cultivator in Linhai is also under your management—where could danger possibly come from?"

A bitter smile emerged on Wei Haolan's face. "Fellow Daoist Ye probably doesn't know this, but although Bixuan Court has been growing smoothly, Linhai's only so big; our spirit vein isn't the best, and we also lack natural resources—even if we have no powerful enemies here, it's still hard for us to grow stronger."

Mo Tiange understood this matter clearly. One of the seven great cultivation groups, Zhengfa Sect, also faced this problem. Their area size was the core problem that restricted their development. Aside from migrating, there was no other way to solve it.

In fact, from another perspective, with Bixuan Court's special topography, they simply wouldn't need to worry about anything if they didn't harbor wishes to grow even stronger. The natural resources there were all theirs to enjoy, and the entire Linhai area was their domain. Even if they were lacking in some things, they could still focus their resources on the select cultivators they wanted to nurture. Recruiting disciples was also easy for them; every cultivator in Linhai racked their brains over joining Bixuan Court, including male cultivators. They had the manpower and the resources; as long as they didn't make any stupid moves, their group would be able to continue developing safely. That also meant that with Bixuan Court's current scale, their Sect Head was the best Sect Head they could come up with.

Seeing as Mo Tiange didn't respond, Wei Haolan could only continue on: "Of course, in the beginning, our Bixuan Court was only a shelter for a group of unfortunate women created by our founder. We're not the same as big cultivation groups who grow strong or nurture many high-leveled cultivators. In any case, however, for the continuity of Bixuan Court, there are some things we cannot do without."

Mo Tiange nodded. "So? What does Sect Head Wei want from me?" She wasn't a fool. Since Wei Haolan said all this, she certainly wanted some kind of resources from her; maybe she wanted medicinal pills or magic tools. 

Because she saw that Mo Tiange understood, Wei Haolan stopped beating about the bush. She said straightforwardly, "The resources needed for cultivation are abundant in Kunwu. Since Fellow Daoist Ye came from Kunwu, I presume Fellow Daoist Ye doesn't lack medicinal pills, materials and the like."

Chuckling, Mo Tiange lifted her teacup. "I beg to differ with Sect Head Wei—no cultivator can have enough medicinal pills or materials. We aren't in the Distant Past era, when spiritual objects were everywhere. Kunwu indeed has abundant resources, but it also has to supply a large number of people."

"That might be the case, but compared to Linhai, Kunwu's still much better." Wei Haolan didn't feel annoyed. She just stared at Mo Tiange and continued on firmly: "Fellow Daoist Ye, although we don't have many spirit stones, we can still find spirit stone ores in Linhai. However, Linhai has been isolated from Kunwu for too long; even though we regularly send our disciples out to learn, our standards in pill-concocting and tool-refining continues to decline. Moreover, we're short of resources... Fellow Daoist Ye, if you want to borrow the Transporting Formation, just give us medicinal pills, materials and so on in exchange. Otherwise, you can also give us some concocting techniques or refining techniques."

At this point, Wei Haolan finally revealed the real price. Now that she laid her cards on the table, her gaze was fixated on Mo Tiange. Although Wei Haolan had the upper hand, they were more or less the same; her needs for those things were also very pressing.

After hearing what Wei Haolan said, Mo Tiange put down her teacup and she started to softly tap the table with her fingers, seemingly pondering the matter.

The way she looked made Wei Haolan ask another question: "For Fellow Daoist Ye, these items should still be within your acceptable range, right?"

Mo Tiange cast her a glance, but she eventually nodded. "Sect Head Wei, I like to be frank, so let's just finish this negotiation. I don't have many materials on me for refining tools; I'm afraid I can't use them in our exchange. My skill in refining tools is basic, so I won't be able to teach anything. However, I do have some medicinal pills on me. On my travels this time, I also found some spiritual plants. In addition, I can also give you some common pill recipes. Will Sect Head Wei be satisfied with this?"

Wei Haolan revealed a happy expression. "It seems Fellow Daoist Ye's proficient in the art of pill-concocting. To be honest, we can buy common spiritual plants and medicinal pills, but concocting techniques really aren't easy to learn. If Fellow Daoist Ye can teach the disciples in my group how to concoct pills, I'll forgo the cost of using the Transporting Formation. Furthermore, if Fellow Daoist Ye has any high grade medicinal pills, we're willing to exchange the specialties of the Eastern Sea region for them."

"Really?" Mo Tiange was somewhat tempted. "I indeed have some knowledge in pill-concocting, but I don't know whether my abilities can satisfy Sect Head Wei or not."

Wei Haolan smiled. "We'll know after you try whether your abilities can satisfy me or not."

Mo Tiange took some time to think before she finally nodded. "Okay."

After they more or less finished negotiating, Mo Tiange followed Wei Haolan towards Bixuan Court's concocting room.

Bixuan Court might be a small cultivation group, but its concocting room wasn't small at all; it was big enough to occupy an entire hall. The moment she entered the concocting room, she saw that there were about seven or eight pill furnaces arranged inside. In front of each pill furnace were several female cultivators who seemed to be busy doing all kinds of things. There were also some low level cultivators acting as their helpers.

Mo Tiange took a brief look at the situation. These female cultivators, who were concocting medicinal pills, were all in the Aura Refining realm, and their concocting techniques were very crude. The best among them were just at the level where they could barely concoct Soul-Strengthening Pills, which were medicinal pills used in the Foundation Building realm.

Mo Tiange secretly shook her head. It was no wonder Wei Haolan was this anxious about her group's pill-concocting skills. Such abilities simply didn't suit a cultivation group with more than a thousand disciples. Their failure rate in concocting Foundation-Building Pills was presumably very high. Moreover, the only medicinal pills used in the Foundation Building realm were Soul-Strengthening Pills. That being the case, their disciples would have a hard time building their foundation, and they would have an even harder time cultivating after they built their foundation.

As soon as the two of them entered the concocting room, a disciple came over to greet them "Sect Head."

Wei Haolan nodded then asked, "Is your Martial Uncle Xia here?"

The disciple answered, "In response to Sect Head, Martial Uncle Xia's in the inner room concocting medicinal pills."

"Has she started?"

"Not yet." The disciple thought for a moment then added: "Sect Head, there's still time now if you want to see Martial Uncle Xia. Martial Uncle Xia's warming the pill furnace up; she'll start concocting soon."

Wei Haolan nodded then said to Mo Tiange: "Fellow Daoist Ye, my Junior Martial Sister Xia Qing is the best concocting expert in our group. As it happens, she's going to concoct Soul-Solidifying Pills, so let's take a look."

Soul-Solidifying Pills... were basic medicinal pills for Core Formation cultivators. From the way Wei Haolan talked about her, this person named Xia Qing should be a Foundation Building cultivator. It wouldn't be easy for her to concoct medicinal pills for the Core Formation realm. It seemed she underestimated Bixuan Court too much. Albeit barely, a concoctions master at this level should be able to support a small cultivation group like Bixuan Court.

Nevertheless, Mo Tiange's concocting skills had long changed. Since she had countless spiritual plants inside her Virtual Sky World that she could squander, her concocting technique had developed by leaps and bounds, so concocting Soul-Solidifying Pills was very easy for her now. 

The two of them walked through the hall into a separate concocting room.

This concocting room was very s.p.a.cious. There was only one huge pill furnace there, but there were no fewer busy Aura Refining cultivators there than in the hall outside.

Mo Tiange noticed the pill furnace wasn't the same as the ones outside which were heated by the disciples using their Dantian Real Fires; this one used Earthly Fire as its concocting fire and moreover, the Earthly Fire was very pure. 

As she continued to walk further into the room, she finally saw that behind the gigantic pill furnace, there was a somewhat disheveled female cultivator weighing materials while continuously muttering. She looked completely focused on what she was doing. It was as if the sky could collapse but she wouldn't even bat an eyelid.

Mo Tiange was a bit surprised. This female cultivator was actually in the Foundation Building realm. Was this the Junior Martial Sister Xia Qing Wei Haolan talked about? Her current appearance indeed looked like someone who was obsessed with pill-concocting—she didn't even raise her head to glance at the two Foundation Building cultivators who just walked into the room!

"Fellow Daoist Ye," Wei Haolan looked completely helpless as she said to Mo Tiange, "This is my Junior Martial Sister Xia Qing. Once she starts concocting, she worries about absolutely nothing else, so please don't be offended."

Mo Tiange showed a faint smile. "I actually think this makes junior martial sister worthy of respect. People who devote their heart and soul to one thing are always worthy of respect."

Compared to ignorant female cultivators who only knew how to flaunt their clothes and jewelry in Kunwu, these Bixuan Court female cultivators were more to Mo Tiange's taste. Wei Haolan, for example, was smart and capable; she planned and schemed for the future of her group. There was also Xia Qing. She was so wholeheartedly focused on pill-concocting that she even forgot to take care of herself.

Mo Tiange had seen many female cultivators who never worried about improving themselves. More often than not, she sympathized with their misfortunes and felt angry over their pa.s.siveness at the same time. Why did female cultivators have such a low status in the cultivation world? Sometimes, status wasn't given by others—it was something one had to work hard to obtain. If one didn't know how to work hard, if they didn't know how to fight for something, would crying and weeping over their status have any use? Nevertheless, there were still female cultivators who succeeded in forming their Nascent Soul, and there always would be. Therefore, it wasn't that the status of female cultivators was intrinsically low; it was just that there were too few high level female cultivators.