Master of Ten Thousand Foxes

Bai Mo smirked.

"This sword, White Claw, only succeeded due to a bit of luck and coincidence.

"Big Head, this kitchen knife you have... Hmm? Ugh?"

Bai Mo frowned, taking the kitchen knife from Big Head’s paw.

"Go find... find a piece of Green Felt Glue to use as a medicine catalyst."

Big Head shouted excitedly as he ran off!

Peony Fox eagerly handed her peeling knife to her master. This was a tool used in the Ancient Immortal Dynasty for processing herbs, made of bronze, the size of a bamboo tube, specifically used for peeling herbs.

Bai Mo patted Peony Fox’s head.

"This sort of thing really depends on luck. It’s already quite fortunate that their tools both worked.

"About yours..."

Bai Mo glanced at it, sniffed the air.

"Uh... With yours, go... find a stalk of Dragon Snake Grass for the catalyst!"

Seeing Chongchong Fox present his Ox Ear Knife, along with the same expectant gaze, Bai Mo did not hastily make a judgment; instead, he furrowed his brow and sniffed the knife’s scent.

"Hm... This luck, truly unparalleled.

"It seems it can work too!

"Go find... find a piece of Turtle Shell Stone, a stalk of Snake Pattern Incense, and a leaf of Sanming Leaf, gather all three for your Ox Ear Short Knife as the medicine catalyst!"

...

Under the gloomy sky, in the howling wind, amidst the desolate ruins.

The crackling bonfire, though burning, seemed not to emit warmth, leaving the surroundings cold and icy.

Qing Lu Ancient Immortal sat cross-legged by the bonfire, looked at Professor Zhang beside him, and at his young apprentice, his face adorned with a smile.

"... Actually, there’s no need for you to guard against me like I’m a thief. In this world, is there any master who doesn’t wish the best for his disciples?"

Professor Zhang sat cross-legged next to him, also grinning.

"Master’s words are both right and wrong.

"Of course, every master hopes for the best for their disciples; this is true.

"But you say I’m guarding against you, that’s utterly unfounded."

Both master and apprentice glanced at each other and burst into giggles.

What is right and what is wrong, both Professor Zhang and Qing Lu Ancient Immortal knew well in their hearts.

Qing Lu Ancient Immortal spoke up.

"Are you recently preparing Fire Consciousness Soup?

"Looking to advance to Sequence Seven?

"Using conventional methods, with your talent, advancing is practically impossible.

"But what you are doing, using computers and CNC machines, leveraging mathematical modeling, is quite ingenious.

"Perhaps there is indeed hope for successfully advancing."

Professor Zhang merely nodded with a smile.

He realized long ago that Qing Lu Ancient Immortal enjoyed observing modern things, and his speed of accepting and learning new things was exceptionally fast! Not only did Qing Lu Ancient Immortal know the terms "computer" and "CNC machine," but even if he took out a laptop on the spot and coded a website backend, Professor Zhang would not be surprised at all.

He was just the Ancient Immortal’s puppet, and after advancing, he could help the Committee with more tasks, possibly becoming a stronger weapon in the Ancient Immortal’s hands.

But he had his own strategies, not particularly fearing Qing Lu Ancient Immortal acting mischievous...

First, when he was dispatched outside by the Immortal Technique Committee, he only handled affairs unrelated to the current path, never dealing with affairs related to the path, so as not to let Qing Lu Ancient Immortal see tempting resources and feel the need to intervene.

Second, in the Committee, all he presided over were low-end herbs and low-end medicine soups, which were nothing more than cheap, common goods. These held no allure for Qing Lu Ancient Immortal at all. Even if he succeeded in advancing to Sequence Seven this time, he could only manage the brewing of Sequence Eight’s medicine soups, not daring to dream of Sequence Seven’s medicine soups. And the Sequence Eight medicine soups he brewed were likewise regarded as worthless trash by Qing Lu Ancient Immortal.

In short... as long as he remained sufficiently poor, mediocre, and sneaky, even after advancing, he wouldn’t worry about being exploited by the Ancient Immortal.

Suddenly, his contemplation was interrupted by the Ancient Immortal’s words.

"Let me teach you how to brew Fire Consciousness Soup!"

He lifted his head, slightly surprised.

"Ah?"

Ancient Immortal chuckled.

"Even if you use computers and CNC machines, you cannot completely abandon Alchemy Dao knowledge.

"If traditional methods require a barrel of Alchemy Dao knowledge,

"Then your high-tech method requires a bowl of knowledge.

"And what you have now is only half a cup.

"Even with high-tech methods, it’s still far from enough.

"Now, shall I help you fill it up?"

Professor Zhang sat by the bonfire, facing the Ancient Immortal, unable to discern reality and illusion, unsure of what Ancient Immortal truly wanted to do.

But... the Committee indeed needed him to take this step forward, to carry out this crucial exploration!

And, undoubtedly, the Ancient Immortal hoped he could complete the advancement, at least in terms of advancing, they had no conflicts!

For a moment, he contemplated many things, quickly revealing a smile.

"Then... please trouble Master!"

...

Experimental building.

The classroom at the end of the corridor.

Thirty students, divided into ten groups, were engaged in intense discussion.

"Is there a problem with this step?"

...

"There seems to be a bug in the program."

...

"No way, didn’t you learn this in middle school..."

...

In Bai Mo’s group, Wu Qingyun and Fang Yuan were wide-eyed, handling paper and pen, deducing the manuscript Bai Mo had just written.

Li Fangming wasn’t present, leaving the classmates feeling extraordinarily relaxed.

In fact, ever since he ran off with the whiteboard last time, he hadn’t met with the classmates again.

Now, overseeing the internships, assigning tasks, and accepting tasks was Old Chen, Chen Wenquan!

At the moment, he sat by Bai Mo’s desk, along with Wu Qingyun, both marveling at Bai Mo’s manuscript.

"Wow, it can be done like this? Not bad!"

As for Bai Mo, he sat on the chair, holding his apprentice Peony Fox, lazily yawning.

All morning, he noticed Professor Zhang coming and going energetically, albeit fatigued, and carrying strong medicinal odors.

"Preparing the relevant medicinal materials, perhaps?"

After correcting Li Fangming’s computation errors, the project amended many contents.

Recently, Professor Zhang’s insights into Alchemy Dao knowledge had improved significantly, with basically no issues, and especially suited for computer-assisted alchemy.

"... As long as there are no problems with the materials for brewing Fire Consciousness Soup, the success rate should be quite high.

"If Professor Zhang succeeds, I can obtain a wisp of Alchemist’s Fire from him.

"But the materials he’s preparing..."

Bai Mo’s Divine Sense expanded, reaching the adjacent room and the one further adjacent... It was a completely sealed warehouse, reinforced with steel and concrete and locked with a security door, dark inside, where various medicinal materials prepared by Professor Zhang were stored in metal cabinets.

"Richly assorted, indeed capable of assembling one complete batch of Fire Consciousness Soup."

In the current era, assembling these materials meant Professor Zhang had certainly exerted considerable effort and expended numerous resources.

"But...

"Some materials are of poor quality.

"Some materials are not aged enough.

"If I were to brew personally, these materials would probably be usable.

"But using computer-assisted techniques... would the variables become too significant?"

In the medicine furnace, change happens instantly and extensively.

And the more inferior the materials, the greater the variations!

With the quality of materials prepared by Professor Zhang, brewing Fire Consciousness Soup was exceedingly risky!

Suddenly, Bai Mo’s Divine Sense detected the giant padlock on the warehouse storing the herbal materials starting to sound.

The heavy cast iron door slowly opened as a result.

Two people entered, one leading and one following.

The one in front was Professor Zhang’s graduate student, Xiaowang.

The one behind, however, was Lu Yang!

"Why is he here?"

Bai Mo’s Divine Sense probed further, discovering Lu Yang carrying a password box, which held two stalks of ten-year-old Celestial Bright Grass.

"Oh, he’s delivering medicine."

His Divine Sense detected the warehouse lights being turned on, with Lu Yang and Xiaowang storing the two stalks of Celestial Bright Grass in the cabinet, storing them while smiling wryly.

"These two stalks were really not easy to come by!

"They were stolen out of a dream by an Immortal Technique Committee member from Tian Nan!

"Hopefully Professor Zhang succeeds this time..."

Having stored the herbs, Lu Yang and Xiaowang then switched off the warehouse lights with a "snap" and were about to leave.

At this moment, the warehouse’s cast iron door began self-moving, seemingly closing but actually leaving ajar, merely blocking the outside view.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang and Xiaowang inhaled an inexplicable sweet fragrance in the air, their eyes rolled white, bodies softening and collapsing.

...

In the adjacent room and further adjacent, Bai Mo widened his eyes!

"Dammit, is there a medicine thief?

"Professor Zhang has become this pitifully poor, and someone dares to target his medicine?

"Is there any morality here? Any humanity?

"If the medicine gets stolen and Professor Zhang fails to advance, what will become of my Alchemist’s Fire?"