The Lotus Pickers

  Flying through the wind and snow on one side, and transporting spiritual energy on the other, indeed eliminated the cold feeling.

  The song of the wild sky secretly thought, in this way, the monks of the extreme north ice valley must circulate their spiritual energy at all times. From a certain perspective, isn't it that they have more time to cultivate than ordinary monks? No, these cold wind tempering monks can't withstand it, they must have some secret method.

  Just as he was thinking about it, the spread-out divine sense suddenly discovered traces of living things. Mo Tian Ge stopped his body shape and changed direction, sweeping towards the northwest.

  Her divine consciousness locked onto them, and soon she saw a group of people trudging along on the glacier, but they were ordinary humans!

  She frowned, waved her sleeve and descended downwards.

  The aura emitted by Zhuji Xiu Shi shocked these mortals, and when they saw her appearance, they all fell to the ground and worshipped, saying: "Greetings, Immortal Master! Greetings, Immortal Master!"

  In the midst of these mortals' kowtowing sounds. The Heavenly Song fell onto the icy surface and asked, "Who are you people?"

  Among these mortals, the one kneeling in the front was a middle-aged man with a full beard. He raised his head at this time and said respectfully: "It turns out to be an immortal, we are blind to your presence, please forgive us." His attitude was humble and lowly.

  Mo Tian Ge couldn't help but furrow his brow: "There's no need for this, you can get up and answer."

  "Yes, yes." The man responded repeatedly, then got up and shouted to the people behind him, "The immortal is letting us get up, everyone get up, all of you get up!"

  These ordinary people got up in twos and threes. Tian Ge noticed that they were all young men, with a few women who looked quite robust as well.

  "Immortal, we are from the Seal Tribe. This is the Snow Lotus we picked this time, please have a look." As he spoke, he took out a jade box from his bosom and opened it with both hands to present it.

  The stranger's song made her pause. This jade box was used by cultivators to collect spiritual herbs, and the snow lotus inside was indeed a spiritual herb. What were they doing?

  "Have you mistaken me for someone else?"

  She didn't accept the gift box, this man looked at her carefully and suddenly said: "Miss, are you from the south?"

  "......Not bad." Mo Tian Ge looked at this man, his eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean by this?"

  "This fellow smiled foolishly and said, 'The immortal is from the south, no wonder you don't know our customs in the far north. We are lotus pickers, and when we meet immortals from the far north, they will exchange spiritual stones for snow lotus with us, so...'"

  "It's like this after all......" This extreme northern land is really quite different from Kunwu. Mo Tian Ge remembered what he wanted to ask: "You are mortals, why can you withstand this cold wind and snow? This wind and snow are not ordinary!"

  "Ah, doesn't the immortal know?" The man was astonished. "Could it be that the immortal isn't from Da'an City?"

  "Da'an City?" Mo Tian Ge paused for a moment, recalling what Ye had told her on the jade slip. Whether it was cultivators or ordinary people, anyone heading to the Far North would have to pass through Da'an City. This was the last major city in Central Plains leading to the Far North, making it convenient for replenishing supplies and gathering information, thus becoming a necessary route.

  "If you are from Da'an City, someone should have introduced our Far North situation when supplying."

  Mo Tian Ge said faintly, "I came directly from the Central Plains to the Far North, without passing through Da An City. Why don't you tell me instead? If you speak in detail, there will be a reward."

  When she finished speaking, the man burst out laughing and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes. I'll have a word with the fairy..."

  It turned out that the mortals in the far north were different from those in Zhongtu and Kunwu. They didn't have a country, nor did they have cities, but were divided into tribes. Each tribe was of varying size, with some having tens of thousands of people, while others had only dozens. On this vast snowy plain in the far north, there lived several thousand large and small tribes, whose combined population could rival that of a major power in Zhongtu.

  But these tribes were not all friendly, some intermarried, while others hated each other. Before the establishment of Zhengfa Sect, these tribes had their own cultivators, whom they called Shamans. Shamans were often the leaders of the tribe, and if a tribe did not have a Shaman, it had to pay tribute to a tribe that did. The Shaman was the god of the far north tribes.

  These shamans are actually just some low-level cultivators, and even the great tribe's shaman is only at the foundation-building stage - this was inferred by Mo Tian Ge from the man's words.

  Kunwu's cultivators established the Orthodox Church in the Far North, and subdued the shamans of the major tribes. They ordered all tribal shamans to belong to the Orthodox Church, and in return, the Orthodox Church would protect their tribes.

  At first, the tribes of the Far North were not convinced and felt that the Orthodox Church had broken their traditions. However, as the Orthodox Church used a series of methods, the tribes discovered that with the protection of the Orthodox Church, their lives became better, and they gradually submitted to it, and the Orthodox Church also became their new god.

  Thousands of years have passed, and the Orthodox Church has taken root in the far north. As a result, the tribes here have abandoned their traditions. They no longer call themselves shamans, but instead use the titles of "Xian Shi" or "Xian Zi", following the customs of the Central Plains and Kunwu. Their former shamanic robes were replaced with Taoist robes, and they wore their hair in a Taoist style; even their unique language was no longer used as the main language, but instead they spoke like people from the Central Plains and Kunwu. Even their way of life had changed from what it was thousands of years ago.

  In the past, the tribes made a living by hunting fish and beasts under the glaciers, which was very hard and easy to lose their lives. After the Orthodox Church appeared, all the tribes who were protected by them would receive a spiritual instrument that could help them hunt beasts. However, this spiritual instrument required spirit stones to activate it, so they organized teams to pick snow lotus on the vast snowy plains and exchange them with monks for spirit stones. Although picking snow lotus was also very hard, it was much less dangerous than hunting beasts.

  Due to the great power of Zheng Fa Zong, the ordinary people in the extreme north tribe have a high respect for cultivators. Whenever there are cultivators passing by, they will be warmly entertained and guided on their way. If they are lucky, they can even receive several pieces of spiritual stones as rewards.

  The group of people Mo Tian Ge met were a lotus-picking team from a nearby tribe called Haiyin, who thought she was a nun of the Zheng Fa Sect and offered her snow lotus.

  Having heard this, Mo Tian Ge nodded and asked: "The harsh winds here are also difficult for cultivators to withstand. You are mortals, why haven't they affected you?"

  The first Hanzi explained: "Xianzi doesn't know, this is the effect of Xue Lian. We people from the extreme north, every year we use Xue Lian to make a soup and wash our bodies with it, so we're not afraid of the cold wind."

  "Oh?" Mo Tian Ge looked at the snow lotus in the jade box, showing some interest. "This spiritual herb may not be very old, but it's full of spiritual energy. The cultivators here are actually willing to give it to you mortals?"

  "Returning to the Snow Lotus, ordinary Snow Lotuses are not rare in our far north, so they're not that precious. However, the Snow Lotuses offered to the immortal masters are all rare and precious varieties, hard to come by."

  "Oh, I see..."

  "Immortal." The man finished speaking and looked up at Mo Tian Ge with a hopeful expression, "I wonder if you have any interest in this Snow Lotus?"

  Upon hearing this, Mo Tian Ge was puzzled: "Isn't this what you wanted to offer to the Zheng Fa Zong cultivators? Why can it also be given to outsiders?"

  The man smiled respectfully and said, "Miss, you don't know that the Zheng Fa Sect doesn't restrict us from offering the Snow Lotus. If there are cultivators from the south who come, we can also exchange it for spiritual stones. I heard our tribe's immortal master say that the Snow Lotus can be refined into a kind of pill, which is only effective for those who cultivate water-attribute magic. Therefore, the southern cultivators won't come to snatch it, at most they will exchange some for their own use, which has no impact on the Zheng Fa Sect."

  No wonder the Zheng Fa Sect is dominant in this world, its unique spiritual roots and techniques are the foundation of its establishment. It has both intimidated and bestowed blessings upon ordinary people, not treating them harshly. Over time, ordinary people naturally come to sincerely revere them as gods.

  Mò Tiān Gē thought for a moment, then reached out and took the Snow Lotus from the jade box. He examined it carefully before asking, "How many Spirit Stones do you want in exchange for this Snow Lotus?"

  When she asked this, the man hastily bowed his head: "Whatever the immortal master is willing to give us is a reward."

  This remark made Mo Tian Ge involuntarily smile, everyone loves to flatter and fawn, this kind of talk even if it's not sincere makes people feel comfortable listening to it, let alone this man looks like he's being genuine, doesn't seem fake at all - Zheng Fa Zong is really something in this extreme northern land, can actually make these ordinary people sincerely love and respect cultivators.

  Mo Tian Ge took out a handful of spiritual stones from the Qian Kun bag and handed them to the man: "Consider it as payment for your answer." The Snow Lotus was about ten or so years old, not particularly precious for cultivators. She roughly estimated its value based on the price of Ling Cao's spiritual grass, approximately worth ten pieces of spiritual stone.

  The man looked at the dozen or so five-colored spiritual stones, overjoyed and laughed until his eyes were no longer visible, nodding repeatedly: "Thank you, immortal maiden, for your gift." As he spoke, a team of more than ten people knelt down again to pay their respects.

  Moy Tian Ge waved her sleeve, and a stream of spiritual energy supported them. These people knelt down at the slightest movement, which she couldn't bear.

  "You say that by drinking Snow Lotus Decoction and washing your body with it, you can ward off the cold wind? Is this also a method used by the Orthodox Sect's cultivators?"

  Having obtained her spiritual stone, the man's attitude became even more respectful, and he bowed his head in response: "We ordinary people are just like that. However, I heard my tribe's immortal master say that within the Orthodox Sect there is another method suitable for cultivators, which can not only withstand the cold wind but also increase one's spiritual energy."

  "Oh?" Mo Tian Ge's heart skipped a beat after hearing this, "Is this method allowed to be spread outside?"

  "This... I don't know." The man said, then hastily added, "If the fairy doesn't have any urgent matters, she can come to our tribe as a guest. Our immortal master just happened to return a few days ago."

  Moyan thought for a moment, anyway she didn't have any specific purpose, so going to this tribe wouldn't hurt, and if she could learn more about the Extreme North from their Xian Shi, that would be even better.

  Thinking so, she smiled and nodded: "In that case, I'll disturb you."

  He was overjoyed when he heard her agree, and hastily returned the courtesy: "I don't dare, I don't dare, it's our honor to have the fairy visit our tribe, please come in."

  Looking at the wind and snow in the sky, Mo Tian Ge said, "I'll send you off for a while." As he spoke, he raised his hand, took out a white silk handkerchief, and cast a spell. The white silk handkerchief suddenly inflated. He swept his sleeve, and spiritual energy burst forth, lifting more than ten ordinary people up.

  It seemed to be the first time he had seen such a method, and the leading man was both surprised and delighted. Standing on the white silk handkerchief, he stuttered: "Fairy, this..."

  "What's wrong, you don't want to?"

  The man hastily shook his head: "Of course not, with the immortal leading us back, we'll be much safer, thank you so much, immortal." He then tried to kneel down again.

  Mo Tian Ge was helpless, these people were too respectful to the cultivators, always kneeling at every turn.

  She raised her hand to stop their movement: "All stand well, you come and guide the way."

  "Yes, yes. Fairy, our tribe is in this direction..."

  The seal tribe is not far away, with ordinary people, the heavenly song also dares not fly too fast, but it's just a moment, and already sees the dense white roofs below.

  Originally in the far north, materials were scarce, but ice was not lacking, so ordinary people used ice to build houses. The temperature in the far north is extremely low, and water droplets turn into ice, making the ice-built house windproof, warm and cozy.

  These heavenly songs were all introduced by this man. The leader of these men is Hai Bo, the chief of the Sea Seal tribe. These northernmost people originally had no surname, but after the Orthodox Church was established, they also began to use surnames, and their Sea Seal tribe was all named Hai.

  Looking down from above, a large group of ice houses, crystal clear and translucent, appear extremely beautiful in the midst of heavy snowfall.

  "Immortal, over there."

  The sea breeze points the way, and the heavenly music falls on the empty land between the ice houses.

  There were originally many people on the empty land, each busy with their own affairs. The women were sewing and drying, while the men were repairing various tools and dealing with the carcasses of various animals. Seeing them come down from the sky, they all gathered around.

  Falling on the empty ground, picking up the white silk handkerchief, Mo Tian Ge's head hurt as he found that another group of people had knelt down around him.

  She helplessly turned her head towards Hai Bo and said: "I don't like this, tell them to stop kneeling."

  Hai Bo nodded and walked forward, saying loudly: "Everyone get up, this fairy doesn't like others to kneel down, do what you need to do!"

  Hearing this from the head of the clan, these people immediately stood up. Some went back to work while others came over to talk with their relatives.

  Hai Bo turned around and said to Moke Tiansong: "Immortal maiden, this way please. Our immortal master is here."

  Mo Tian Ge nodded and followed Hai Bo towards the tallest ice house among them.

  As they walked, Hai Bo introduced her to the side: "The immortal master of our tribe is a formal disciple of Zheng Fa Zong. What do you want to ask him? He must know! Come on, Xianzi, please." He lifted the animal skin door curtain in front of the ice house and politely invited Mo Tian Ge to enter.

  Mysterious Tian smiled and led the way in - she had already sensed a Foundation Establishment cultivator's aura above the tribe, but she hadn't expected that this small tribe of only a few hundred people would actually have a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  Inside is a small hall, the layout is not much different from Zhongtu and Kunwu, the difference lies in the material. Most of the furniture is made of ice, the curtains are animal hides, and some tea cups are carved out of wood.

  As soon as he entered the small hall, Hai Bo stood in front of a door curtain and shouted loudly: "Immortal Master, Hai Bo requests an audience!" Then he stood respectfully in front of the door curtain.

  "What's going on?"

  "A fairy maiden requests an audience."

  Hai Bo finished speaking, and Mo Tian Ge slightly released the aura of a foundation-establishing cultivator. Sure enough, there was immediately a commotion inside, and then someone lifted the door curtain and came out.

  This is a young man, tall and thin, with a lean face, wearing a Taoist robe of the Zhengfa sect.

  Moy Tian Ge raised his hand, just about to pay respects, but froze: "It's you!"

  To avoid tragedy, I'll upload the first 4,000 characters now and add the remaining few hundred words to the next chapter. Tragedy has befallen me too many times . Thanks to Gai Nei VS Wei Zhuang, Zhai Bao, Zuo Ping Hui, Shu You 0810*** and others for their rewards, as well as Zuo Ping Hui's pink tickets. Zuo classmate brushed a lot of evaluation votes today, and also Fei Xiang's little sugar classmate.