Chapter 493: Chapter 493: Passage

The days flowed by.

In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed.

The prisoners in the black cells changed frequently. After a period of upheaval, things had finally quieted down again.

New faces had become familiar ones, and all the inmates breathed a collective sigh of relief.

With no new prisoners coming or going, it was clear that things outside were peaceful. The world was recuperating, which meant they, too, could live on for a few more days.

Some of the prisoners felt lucky.

They were people whose crimes weren’t particularly heinous, yet now they hoped for nothing but peace and quiet. It was a strange turn of fate, a kind of karmic cycle.

On days when no new prisoners arrived, Mi Mountain was very quiet.

Only a few disciples would come seeking Bai Mo for Pills.

Some came because they had heard of his fame, while others came to collect on favors Bai Mo owed them.

Li Wuji explained the situation to all of them. They would look toward the back of the mountain, see the strange phenomena there, marvel at the profound Alchemy Dao, and then retreat on their own.

Ah Er would occasionally return.

The messenger birds from the Foreign Affairs Hall didn’t dare fly to the back of the mountain; they always landed on Mi Mountain proper.

It had to come and receive the herbs and ores sent from Immortal Arrival City.

With the city buying up materials at any cost, and its people being the sort who made their living in the Celestial Barrier Mountain, everyone was feeling quite bold.

Spurred on by the Spirit Stones, the herb gatherers were bursting with tremendous enthusiasm.

The Demon Hunting Teams, keenly aware of their entanglement with Bai Mo, spared no effort.

The combined results of both groups were astonishing.

As for the items An Caiwei sent, though small in quantity, they were exceptionally rare and of the highest quality.

"Are Junior Brother’s Spirit Stones holding out?" An Caiwei asked Ah Er.

Ah Er lowered its head to inspect the items she had brought, placing them in a cloth bag. Hearing her question, it simply nodded.

These days, its nerves were constantly on edge. It was exhausted from rushing about, busy with endless tasks.

Ah Er guessed it must have lost a couple of pounds.

"Ahrrr!"

Once it had finished its inspection, Ah Er bid farewell to An Caiwei, waved its paw, and leaped onto the Flying Ship, heading for the back of the mountain.

The shops in Immortal Arrival City were self-sufficient, providing a steady stream of herbs and ores to Bai Mo.

Right now, Ah Er had less than 10,000 Spirit Stones on hand, all of which were being spent on the precious materials An Caiwei helped procure.

It was enough for now.

’If worst comes to worst, I still have a hidden stash of Bai Mo’s Pills—all of them top-quality.’

’If I release them one by one, I can keep things going for a long time.’

Ah Er made its calculations, appearing very calm and reliable.

"Junior Brother is quite skilled at training Spirit Beasts!"

An Caiwei watched it go, her gaze lingering for a moment in Bai Mo’s direction before she, too, departed.

When Ah Er returned to the altar, it saw that Bai Mo looked exhausted, rubbing his brows to ease the strain.

Its heart skipped a beat. It quickly grabbed the still-warm tea, poured a cup, and offered it to him.

"It’s nothing."

Bai Mo took the teacup and drained it in one gulp.

"I’ll be fine after meditating for a moment. You keep an eye on things."

With that, he sat cross-legged and began to meditate. A mist of Spiritual Qi swirled around him.

Ah Er walked up the steps beside the furnace and peered into the Pill Furnace.

Inside, the bloody color was completely gone.

After many days of Bai Mo’s conditioning, the essence of the Blood Bone had been fully extracted, and all the blood qi had evaporated and dispersed.

The thick layer of grease had been skimmed clean by Ah Er, who had used a net to absorb and remove it.

The once-violent, blood-red concoction was now nothing but a pool of liquid as clear as water.

Ah Er could almost see the reflection of its own furry face on the surface.

But a moment later, that furry face was distorted by several passing wisps of five-colored light.

’I don’t know how this change was accomplished.’ It thought back to the Pill Books it had read, but couldn’t recall anything similar in any of them.

Ah Er leaped down from the steps, a strong sense of accomplishment swelling in its chest.

’This progress is quite remarkable.’

But then it recalled the process Bai Mo had described, and it couldn’t help but shrink back.

’We’ve been working for so long, and this is only the first step.’

’There’s still a long way to go.’

A jumble of thoughts filled Ah Er’s mind. It shook its head, jumped off the altar, and went over to the side.

Here lay an herb-cutting knife and other tools; this was where it processed the medicinal ingredients.

It took out several bundles of herbs from its chest, trimmed off the rotten leaves and withered roots, and began to skillfully slice them up.

By the time it finished with the current batch, the sky had already grown dark.

Bai Mo awoke from his meditation.

He glanced into the furnace. It didn’t seem much different from during the day, but Bai Mo’s expression changed slightly.

He took out several medicinal ingredients, tossed them in, and only after stabilizing the Pill Liquid did he call for Ah Er.

"Ahrrr!"

Ah Er dropped what it was doing and scurried over to Bai Mo in a few quick bounds.

"Bring all the things from Silkworm Valley and put them in the furnace."

Ah Er did as it was told.

In an instant, iridescent Spiritual Water, precious flowers, and treasured plants all entered the furnace by Ah Er’s hand, leaving a lingering fragrance on its paws.

The furnace overflowed with radiant light as the fire at its base flared, melting and refining all the treasures within.

At this point, even if Bai Mo were to stop now, he would still have a cauldron full of rather excellent spiritual liquid, worth a considerable sum.

The goal of this step was to stimulate the miraculous properties of the Pill Liquid to their fullest potential, in order to fuse them into a Pill.

Bai Mo watched the changes in the furnace intently, deductions about the shifting and colliding medicinal energies running through his mind.

’There’s no room for error.’

...

A team of disciples from the Foreign Affairs Hall arrived at Mi Mountain.

Li Wuji went out to greet them.

"Is Junior Brother Bai doing alright?" a disciple from the Foreign Affairs Hall asked.

"He’s fine."

Li Wuji nodded. He knew because Ah Er came by occasionally.

The Spirit Beast couldn’t hide anything on its face. By observing its expression, Li Wuji could roughly guess Bai Mo’s situation.

Just then, a disciple from the group craned his neck to look toward the back of the mountain, his expression changing slightly.

Observing his style and bearing, Li Wuji asked:

"And this is...?"

"Junior Brother Chen from Pill Peak."

The person from the Foreign Affairs Hall didn’t try to hide anything, stating directly:

"An elder from Pill Peak wants to take a prisoner from the black cells to test the effects of a strange material. He sent Junior Brother Chen here to pick one out."

"I see."

Li Wuji nodded. After checking their command tally, he led them inside.

"Since the Foreign Affairs Hall has approved it, it’s permissible, of course."

"However, the command tally also states that you may not choose whomever you please. Certain high-profile criminals are off-limits."

"Of course," the Foreign Affairs Hall disciple nodded.

They entered the black cells and, after a brief look, settled on several prisoners with vigorous qi and blood.

Li Wuji crossed off the name of a crazed Cultivator.

"This person holds important secrets. He cannot be touched."

"As for these two, they aren’t naturally vigorous. Junior Brother Bai used them to test his medicines and nurtured them to this state."

He looked at Junior Brother Chen and asked:

"Can you still make use of people like this?"

Junior Brother Chen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"The medicinal power still remaining in their bodies could interfere with the effects of other drugs. They are not to be considered."

He thought for a moment, then cupped his fists at Li Wuji.

"This black prison seems different from the ordinary."

"My master wishes to use a person as a human cauldron, drawing out their fate to create a great medicine. In exchange, he can guarantee to the sect that the person will be released afterward."

"I wonder if Senior Brother has any recommendations?"

Li Wuji was surprised and looked at the accompanying members of the Foreign Affairs Hall.

Seeing them all nod, he pondered for a moment before speaking:

"That would be an entirely different procedure. You’ll have to get a new order from the Foreign Affairs Hall."

The disciples from the Foreign Affairs Hall all agreed.

"We’re just giving you a heads-up. Our task today is still just to take someone for medicine testing."

’The person who was promised release but used to cultivate a "great medicine" would likely not have a pleasant fate.’

’Those who are truly wicked cannot be released, nor can those with excessive karmic ties. And someone with too weak a cultivation base wouldn’t be able to withstand it...’

’When you stack up all the conditions, there aren’t many candidates left.’

Li Wuji sighed.

"I’m really not good at this sort of thing. If Junior Brother were here, it wouldn’t be so troublesome. He has experience with... planting medicine in people..."

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