Chapter 396: An Assignment
After waiting for half a day, the Pill was finally complete.
The moment the Pill Fragrance wafted out, Bai Mo directly pulled out the firewood from under the Pill Furnace.
THUD!
Before the Pill Furnace could cool, Xiong Xin, relying on his thick skin and tough flesh, lifted the lid with his bare hands.
He quickly scooped out the four Pills from within the furnace. His large hands were scalded bright red, but he seemed not to feel it at all.
"Haha, it’s a success!"
Xiong Xin grinned.
"Junior Brother, you’ve been tinkering for a long time. Do you know what this Pill does?"
Bai Mo shook his head.
"You’ll have to ask your senior brothers’ Dharma Protector divine generals about that."
Yuan Chu and the other two were stunned.
"You handled the refining, Junior Brother, but you don’t even know?"
Bai Mo then explained, "I don’t even know the origin of the catalyst. How could I possibly know?"
"If you really must have my opinion, based on experience, this Pill should be tailored to you senior brothers’ constitutions, allowing for a closer bond with your Dharma Protector divine generals..."
The three of them, Yuan Chu included, took the Pills and left, full of ambition, ready to consult their Dharma Protector divine generals on how to use them.
They had taken Bai Mo’s Yin Yang Covering Body Pill, and the residual hidden injuries, toxins, and restrictions within their bodies had been scoured clean, allowing them to recover quickly.
It was the perfect time to test their newfound strength and kick the disciples of the Holy Dao Sect while they were down.
Bai Mo shook his head slightly, returned to his room, and pondered the fragmented sentences he had transcribed from the stone slate and bone fragment.
’There are too few clues. I really can’t make anything of it.’
Just then, Ah Er, having finished organizing the herbs from Medicine Peak, walked into the room.
After setting down the last bundle, it couldn’t help but yawn.
Even with its abundant energy, bolstered by the medicinal power of various Pills, it couldn’t escape exhaustion.
Bai Mo glanced at it.
"I’ll give you a couple of days off."
"Go have some fun. I’ll have a doctor look at you in a few days."
Ah Er was startled, wondering what kind of illness it had.
It opened its mouth, but seeing that Bai Mo had no intention of explaining, it held back from asking.
Seeing Bai Mo’s attention shift away, it decided not to dwell on it. Its eyes darted around, and then it scurried out in a flash.
A moment later, Bai Mo sighed.
He haphazardly folded the few pages of paper and stuffed them into an envelope addressed to Old White-Head.
He picked up his pen again and started a letter for his men in Immortal Arrival City.
In the afternoon, a swan goose arrived, took the two letters, and departed.
...
「Three days later.」
Black smoke rose from within Mi Mountain.
Li Wuji arrived at his door, accompanied by an old man with a goatee.
Bai Mo came out to greet them. Seeing the old man carrying a medicine box, his eyes lit up.
"You must be the highly skilled Senior Ren!"
Li Wuji and the old man were both slightly taken aback by the sight of black smoke billowing behind Bai Mo.
Hearing this, the goateed old man quickly snapped back to his senses and said humbly,
"You jest, young friend."
"It’s just a trade to make a living, hardly worthy of praise."
It was impossible to host guests inside Mi Mountain at the moment, so Bai Mo moved some stools and chairs to the foot of the mountain for them.
Taking advantage of a lull, Bai Mo turned and shouted up the mountain.
"Get down here!!"
A few furry heads peeked out from the mountain.
Ah Er answered with a cry, abandoned its companions, and scrambled down on all fours.
The little rascal had gotten a holiday but hadn’t gone out to carouse.
It had somehow befriended some other people’s Spirit Beasts and brought them to run wild on Mi Mountain.
As long as it didn’t harm the mountain’s vegetation, Bai Mo let it be.
Taking advantage of the moment, Li Wuji pointed towards the entrance and asked,
"Is everything alright?"
Bai Mo was nonchalant.
"I’ve had some ideas recently and wanted to experiment. But my cultivation is still too shallow, and it seems I haven’t achieved much so far."
Li Wuji shook his head.
"You’re too modest, Junior Brother."
The goateed old man also had a moment of realization.
Before they arrived, Li Wuji had mentioned to him that the jailer guarding Mi Mountain was a master of Alchemy Skill and had saved many disciples.
’Seeing his composed attitude now, he really must not be some muddle-headed Cultivator who just messes around with the Alchemy Dao.’
He nodded to himself.
’It’s just a small setback while experimenting with Pills, nothing to be concerned about.’
’How many lives do I go through every time I test medicine on beasts?’
"GRUNT!"
As they were speaking, Ah Er came running down the mountain.
When the goateed old man saw it, his eyes lit up slightly, and a smile appeared on his face.
"A very well-raised little fellow. Come here, let this old man take a look..."
Ah Er also felt a sense of goodwill towards this kind-looking old gentleman.
It glanced at Bai Mo, and after getting his approval, it moved closer to the old man.
"Heave!"
The old man reached under its ribs, heaved it up with effort, and examined its physique.
After that, he inspected its fur and teeth, a flurry of activity.
Ah Er understood that this was the old gentleman Bai Mo had mentioned, the one who was here to examine it, so it let him do as he pleased.
Bai Mo didn’t understand the intricacies of the process, so he and Li Wuji watched from the side in silence.
After a good while, the old man withdrew the wisp of Spiritual Qi he had sent into Ah Er’s body and stroked his beard.
"Young friend, this Spirit Beast of yours is extremely well-raised and is quite intelligent in its own right. There’s really nothing to find fault with."
Bai Mo said, "It was precisely because I saw it wasn’t stupid that I didn’t kill and eat it back then."
"But for some reason, my Spirit Beast just can’t learn to speak human language."
"Hmm..." The old man pondered for a moment.
"You didn’t raise this Spirit Beast from a cub, did you, young friend?"
Bai Mo nodded.
"That’s right."
"Then it’s not surprising," the old man said.
"Some wild beasts, if taken in and raised from a young age, can absorb some human essence, which helps them gain intelligence and learn to speak."
"Otherwise, they generally have to reach a certain stage of growth before they can master human speech."
The old man didn’t have a solution. He took out a small red pellet from his sleeve and popped it into Ah Er’s mouth.
It was a way of making amends for his earlier forwardness.
"Your Spirit Beast’s situation isn’t unique, young friend. Currently, there’s no known method in the field to deal with it."
"If one truly treasures it, the only option is to teach it slowly and patiently, guiding it to speak. The process will inevitably be filled with stumbles..."
After saying his piece, he stood up to take his leave.
There were many places in the inner sect that raised Spirit Beasts, and he was a busy man.
Bai Mo and Li Wuji saw him off, helping him board the Flying Ship as it slowly flew into the distance.
Ah Er stood nearby, its gaze following the Flying Ship with some reluctance.
’That old gentleman’s pellet tasted great. I wonder what it was made of. I wanted to ask for a few more.’
Li Wuji retracted his gaze and said in a low voice,
"When Old Man Ren was young, he worked in a slaughterhouse. He only made a name for himself later with his skill in healing beasts, which is how he was recruited into the sect."
"Since he said that, it looks like your Spirit Beast, Junior Brother..."
Bai Mo felt a tinge of regret but immediately came to terms with it.
He looked down at the badger, which was still lost in thought.
"Forget it. How can everything in the world be perfect? It’s already so useful, I can’t ask for more."
Patting Ah Er on the head, Bai Mo started walking back towards Mi Mountain.
Li Wuji spoke up from the side, sharing a piece of news.
"When I went out to greet Old Man Ren and bring him here, I heard something from some other people."
"Hmm, I think it’s related to you, Junior Brother."
"Oh?" Bai Mo was a little surprised.
"What is it?"
"I heard the Foreign Affairs Hall is organizing disciples to form a patrol team to inspect our sect’s territory around the Celestial Barrier Mountain range."
Li Wuji said, "This is to prevent Demon Beasts from escaping and wreaking havoc on the world."
"But the mountain range is vast and wide, and the surrounding area is expansive, with many purely mortal lands."
"Patrolling back and forth is a tedious and uninteresting assignment."
Bai Mo understood.
’High-level disciples have to be ready to venture into the mountains at a moment’s notice.’
’So this time-consuming task can only fall to some of the idle disciples.’