Chapter 367: Idea
Unlike the Gold and Jade lineage, where few meet a good end, the disciples of Divine Dao Mountain were more reliable.
Since they said so, the benefits were likely substantial.
Therefore, Bai Mo was very grateful for the goodwill Yuan and Chu had shown by coming to him.
Yuan simply said, "Junior Brother Bai, we know each other well. It’s only natural for us to help each other out. You don’t need to thank us."
"Besides, this matter was also brought up by Junior Martial Uncle Shang. He instructed all disciples involved to see this through and resolve their karmic ties."
It seemed the disciples who entered the inner sect had subtly formed small, private circles among themselves.
And now, Bai Mo had naturally been pulled into one.
"When the time comes to act, people from both lineages will move out together. It’s going to be a big affair."
"However, the date hasn’t been set yet. Junior Brother, you just have to wait for news."
The three of them spoke for quite a while before Yuan and Chu finally left.
After calling for Ah Er to clean up the messy table, Bai Mo went to the Abyssal Vine to check on its condition.
This vine had only been spawned from the flesh and blood that spewed from the Unpassable River Sea Eye, which served as its nutrients.
Daily watering with the Spiritual Spring had allowed it to grow exceptionally well. Its new, tender shoots were curling, beginning to cling to nearby objects.
So, Bai Mo went back and took out a few of the small fragments from the Unpassable River that he had purchased at the market.
They were a few pieces of bronze.
He brought them close to a young shoot. The shoot trembled as it uncurled and, under Bai Mo’s watchful gaze, wrapped itself around the bronze fragments.
Bai Mo gently let go, and the fragments dangled from the vine like ornaments.
Bai Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
This reaction was not much different from what the book described.
Just as he was thinking this, there was a sudden knock on his door.
He got up to see who it was and found two youths dressed in brocade robes. One was fair-skinned, while the other’s face was half-covered in festering sores.
"And you are..."
"We’re looking for the Head Warden of the Black Prison!"
The fair-skinned youth was taken aback when he saw Bai Mo open the door, but he quickly spoke up.
"That’s me."
At his words, the two youths stared at each other in bewilderment.
"Weren’t we told the Head Warden of the Black Prison was a non-human?"
Bai Mo said flatly, "The two Brother Shis have left on a long journey with their master. I am now in charge of the Black Prison."
’He had already guessed the two youths’ origins. Judging by their Pill Qi, they were almost certainly disciples from Pill Peak.’
"Ah Rui’s information was wrong! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind when we get back!"
The two youths whispered a few hasty words to each other before taking out a command token.
"We are disciples from Pill Peak. We’ve come to ask the Head Warden for help, and we have permission from the Foreign Affairs Hall."
"Here is the token!"
Bai Mo took the token, examined its contents, and confirmed the message instructing him to cooperate and receive them.
"Very well. Please, come in."
With that, he stepped aside and welcomed them in.
The two youths followed closely, their eyes filled with a mixture of suspicion and uncertainty.
’This Head Warden... the Pill Qi on him was also incredibly dense, even more so than their own.’
’Could it be that he also dabbles in the Alchemy Dao?’
While thinking this, they still spoke of official business.
"Our Junior Martial Uncle wishes to begin an alchemy session and requires the assistance of four Core Formation Cultivators’ Yang Fire, but he is concerned it might damage their foundations."
"That’s why he sent us to the Black Prison to select people..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, they spotted the Abyssal Vine creeping in the corner.
The fair-skinned youth’s eyes widened, and he quickly nudged his companion with his elbow.
The youth with the sores on his face had seen it too and nodded back at him.
"Warden, is this vine of yours for sale?"
"We’re not short on Spirit Stones..."
Bai Mo waved his hand, signaling for them to say no more, and said:
"I’m not short either. You two can stop thinking about it."
The two youths were momentarily speechless. Out of the corners of their eyes, they saw the stacks of Pill Books in the stone house and the meticulous care given to the Abyssal Vine.
Realizing that he was cultivating it with special care, the two of them didn’t bring it up again.
At this point, Bai Mo asked, "What kind of Pill does the master from Pill Peak intend to refine?"
Since they were the ones asking for a favor, and in an important place like the Black Prison no less, the two youths didn’t dare to be disrespectful and quickly replied:
"It’s a Pill to expel yin and restore yang, for saving a life. The person is already terminally ill."
"Hmm..."
Bai Mo nodded slightly.
"If the person taking it is already weak, the Pill’s potency can’t be too aggressive."
"The control of the Yang Fire is also crucial. The Cultivation Techniques of the chosen individuals cannot be of an extreme nature..."
Bai Mo took out a register and flipped through it page by page.
"In that case, there aren’t many suitable people. Only thirty or forty."
"I don’t know the specifics of the Pill, so I’ll let you two choose the men. Just bring a token from the Foreign Affairs Hall another day to retrieve them."
"Do you know how to choose?"
Since the two youths had been sent for this task, they naturally knew what to do and immediately agreed.
Then, they took the register and, from the candidates Bai Mo had shortlisted, began to discuss in low voices, trying to find the four most suitable individuals.
People who knew their business were always more efficient.
Without Bai Mo needing to interfere, they selected the candidates themselves.
The two youths looked at each other and both let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. Junior Martial Uncle needs to use the vapor from the Spirit River for the Alchemy. He can’t use a metal cauldron, so he has to use one made of jade, held across the river by Divine Techniques manifesting as ice chains."
"This requires the four of them to have extremely steady auras, or the heat control will be insufficient."
"We thought it would be hard to find suitable people, but here in the Black Prison, we actually found five."
Bai Mo took the register to have a look. They were all Cultivators who also practiced Body Refinement. Out in the world, any one of them could have held off an army of thousands single-handedly.
Unfortunately, these men had all used their great power to pillage and plunder, killing indiscriminately. Their sins were grievous.
"Just in case, we’ll need to take all five of them. Warden, you have to keep an eye on them for us!"
"That I can’t promise," Bai Mo said noncommittally.
"If the sect requires people for a sacrifice, no one can stop it or change it."
"If the master from Pill Peak really needs them, it’s best to act sooner rather than later. Don’t let any unexpected problems arise."
Upon hearing this, the two youths’ expressions turned solemn, and they departed in a hurry.
Bai Mo, however, committed their words to memory.
’A furnace made of jade, and fire materialized from cultivators’ yang qi?’
’It’s probably some kind of unorthodox Pill Method.’
The Alchemy Dao was vast. It was not uncommon for Pills to require harsh ingredients or to only be refinable under specific conditions.
Many peculiar alchemy methods came into being for this very reason.
In the West Pole Sect’s Fire Department Celestial Artisan, several peculiar Pill Furnaces were recorded, each differing in material or design.
’If I were to do something similar, it seems it would be even simpler for me...’
Bai Mo mused.
He already had the ability to manifest a Divine Thought Incarnation Pill Furnace.
Combined with the fire-guiding method from the Fire Department Celestial Artisan, he could gather the fire qi from the world to create a flame, allowing him to start a furnace without much preparation.
If he took it a step further and cultivated the qi-gathering method to a profound level, he could gather qi directly from the world and refine simple Pills on the spot.
However, that was something only possible after cultivating several different methods to a very high level.
"But it is a viable path."
Bai Mo stood up, returned to his stone house, and began looking through his Pill Books and other materials, trying to refine his idea.
This was the time to consolidate and accumulate his cultivation base and knowledge of the Alchemy Dao. Opening up another path on his journey of alchemy would increase his dao attainment by more than just a little.
Besides, a technique like this would be of great use for his intensive study of refining qi into Pills and for deciphering the Pill Book from the Jade Plate Secret Realm.
Thinking this, Bai Mo’s interest was piqued.
He also took out the relevant books on these methods and began to pore over them.