Chapter 393: Breakthrough
Bai Mo sat on the threshold, holding a yellow sheet of paper, his brows deeply furrowed.
’What a mess this is.’
Judging by the handwriting on the yellow paper, it was undoubtedly from the old yellow-robed Daoist.
’An important person, and now a demand to raise my cultivation...’
Raising his cultivation wasn’t difficult. Here on Mi Mountain, compared to other places in the inner sect, he was almost completely cut off from human society.
Bai Mo focused almost all his energy on the Alchemy Dao and his cultivation.
With the accumulation he had so far, Bai Mo was confident that breaking through to Mid-stage Foundation Establishment wouldn’t be a problem.
’The only thing is that long-unused restriction... I haven’t found a single trace of it.’
Since becoming the warden, Bai Mo had never encountered any obstacles using his authority. Hearing about this so suddenly, he couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious.
’Whatever. I just hope it doesn’t harm the medicinal herbs on the mountain.’
At this thought, Bai Mo patted his rear, stood up, and walked toward the Black Prison. Today was another day for his inspection rounds.
Halfway there, he pointed at the pile of medicinal herbs in front of the stone house and ordered his Spirit Beast:
"Get these processed. Don’t let them sit for too long, or their medicinal potency will just fade away."
Ah Er had just finished a huge task, digesting the stagnant medicinal power in its body, and had grown even sturdier.
It was in a corner washing itself with water from the Spiritual Spring, its fur matted together. Upon hearing the order, it managed to grunt in acknowledgment and quickened its movements.
Bai Mo strolled leisurely into the prison.
The prisoners within had more life in them than when he had first arrived, and from time to time, they would discuss their recent epiphanies.
This was all thanks to the mad Cultivator who had been spreading the Immortal Ascension Skill.
This man had received treatment from the sect. Although not fully recovered, most of his symptoms had been alleviated.
Nowadays, though he still occasionally fell to the ground and convulsed a few times, he could no longer find that near-death feeling he sought.
Walking through the middle of the prison, listening to the prisoners’ whispered discussions, Bai Mo suddenly had an idea.
’If I ever get a Cultivation Technique that I can’t figure out, could I throw it in here and use the collective wisdom of these people to master it?’
It might be feasible, but if it wasn’t a technique with a significant origin, these people probably wouldn’t even give it a second glance.
Only something like the Immortal Ascension Skill could capture the collective focus of all these prisoners.
Bai Mo made his rounds and arrived at Yi Si’s cell.
This prisoner, who had a flower planted on his head by Bai Mo, was still alive and kicking.
And the Two Qi Flower on his head had already formed a bud. It was black and white, and from time to time, it would leak a faint trace of yin and yang qi.
Bai Mo watched for a moment before looking away and leaving.
The flower was almost mature. The method of cultivating medicinal herbs using a Cultivator as the soil had been a complete success.
If not for the recent developments concerning the Black Prison, Bai Mo would have been tempted to plant a few more.
Leaving the Black Prison, he saw Ah Er sitting on the threshold, sorting the medicinal herbs in a rather professional manner.
Bai Mo watched for a moment, then pointed out a few shortcomings.
"Here, you can leave these stems. Out in the world, these are used in medicine. It’s just us who are usually so picky..."
"...The diseased parts, look closely, you need to trim them off..."
Seeing that it had more or less gotten the hang of it, Bai Mo handed over Li Wuji’s Jade Talisman.
"I need to enter secluded cultivation for a while. I’ll have to leave you in charge of everything here."
Watching Ah Er nod its head in a daze, Bai Mo sighed.
"Sigh, can you handle it?"
Hearing this, Ah Er paused. It was unknown what it thought of, but it suddenly puffed out its chest with great confidence and patted it, making THUMP THUMP sounds.
"Urgh-ah!"
Bai Mo laughed and left it a Feeding Pill.
"If there’s anything you don’t understand, remember to find Brother Li, or just call me out of seclusion..."
With the instructions given, Bai Mo put everything else out of his mind, returned to his room, and shut the door.
He sat down cross-legged.
He swallowed two Pills that aided cultivation, then placed a third, pigeon-egg-sized Pill that cleared the mind and calmed the spirit under his tongue. Bai Mo fell silent.
The Pills took effect. A powerful pulling force emanated from Bai Mo’s body, and Spiritual Qi rushed toward him in torrents.
In just half an hour, the dense Spiritual Qi around Bai Mo began to atomize, plunging the room into a hazy mist.
RUSTLE!
Bai Mo’s consciousness sank, and he saw the three Scripture Platforms manifesting within his body. The three Daoist books on the platforms began to flip their pages.
Seal script characters materialized one by one, landing on the pages and quickly forming Pill Formulas and insights from his comprehension.
All of this was a manifestation of Bai Mo’s progress in the Dao.
...
「Three days later.」
Li Wuji arrived in a hurry.
He waited at the foot of the mountain for a moment. When the appointed time came, the gate opened on its own.
Li Wuji strode inside.
"Bai Mo..."
His words died in his throat.
His gaze fell upon a pile of medicinal herbs stacked up like a haystack in a mortal village, emitting a fresh fragrance.
And on the threshold sat his junior brother’s Spirit Beast, holding the fragments of his own Jade Talisman, examining them over and over.
Li Wuji was quite patient with it. He knew that his junior brother’s Spirit Beast was very sensible and worked diligently.
"What did you need me for? Where’s Bai Mo?"
Li Wuji crouched down and asked.
Ah Er pointed toward Bai Mo’s room inside the house.
Without it needing to say a word, Li Wuji understood.
"He’s in secluded cultivation?"
He could faintly sense that the Spiritual Qi inside was astonishingly dense.
Li Wuji wasn’t surprised.
’I’ve only ever heard of Cultivators who don’t know the Alchemy Dao. I’ve never seen an Alchemy Cultivator worry about their cultivation progress.’
’They have both financial and material resources, so they’re never short on anything. It’s truly enviable.’
This was a state not everyone could achieve; in the end, it still depended on whether heaven blessed you with the talent for it.
Li Wuji glanced at the roster hanging by the entrance, saw no changes, and walked into the Black Prison to conduct his daily inspection.
Ah Er tossed the Jade Talisman aside and picked up a few more medicinal herbs.
With a flick of its nails, it sorted them cleanly in a few quick movements.
It wasn’t too bothered by Bai Mo’s secluded cultivation. For all it knew, Bai Mo might come out before it even finished processing all the herbs.
And so the days passed, one by one.
Li Wuji came once every three days, and the pile of medicinal herbs in front of the stone house slowly shrank.
One day, a messenger goose circled outside for half the day and was spotted by Li Wuji upon his arrival.
Ah Er slipped out to receive two letters, and while it was at it, took out a Feeding Pill from its own stash to share with the goose.
Li Wuji glanced over. One of the letters was sealed meticulously, revealing nothing.
The other, however, read ’To Junior Brother Bai’, and was likely a letter from a fellow sect member.
Li Wuji didn’t think much of it and walked into Mi Mountain. Just as he was about to inspect the Black Prison, he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.
The source was precisely Bai Mo’s room.
It wasn’t just him; Ah Er, who was putting away the letters, sensed it too.
Li Wuji chuckled.
"Looks like your master is about to come out."
He was right. A few days later, Ah Er saw its master.
Bai Mo’s expression was normal as he strolled out, casually suppressing the surging Spiritual Qi within his body.
After reaching Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, the feeling of his body being filled with Spiritual Qi was something he had never experienced before.
His efforts hadn’t been in vain—deducing the Alchemy Dao, solidifying his Dao foundation, it had been arduous work.
The last few days of his seclusion had been spent entirely on recovering his mental energy.
Ah Er didn’t notice anything different. It just grunted as usual, which served as a greeting.
Bai Mo patted its head, and two letters were abruptly presented before him.
One was from the "White-headed Old Man," a fellow practitioner in the same field; the familiar envelope needed no introduction.
As for the other letter...
Bai Mo tore it open and glanced at it, discovering it was from Fu Jiu.
This fellow sect member, who had benefited from Bai Mo’s Jiao Soul Pill, had written to ask for Bai Mo’s help in dealing with an official visit from the Holy Dao Sect.
The disciples of the two sects were to spar, and one of the events was an Alchemy Dao competition.
Judging by the date mentioned in the letter, it was already two days past. The event was probably over.
Bai Mo raised an eyebrow.
’The Holy Dao Sect... heh. Showing up at a time like this? They’re just making themselves a nuisance.’