Chapter 531: Chapter 531: Immortal Peach

Having followed Bai Mo for a long time, Ah Er had never seen such a mountain of alchemy ingredients.

He had placed a request, and half a month later, the Foreign Affairs Hall had prepared everything Bai Mo needed.

When Ah Er ran outside the courtyard to look, it saw the ingredients piled up before their door. It was truly like a small mountain, easily over a hundred feet tall.

Because there wasn’t enough space, the disciples from the Foreign Affairs Hall had to specially chop down some of the bamboo to make room for the pile.

Taking the inventory list from the Red-Eyed Steward, Ah Er rubbed its eyes and began to take stock of the ingredients.

Afterward, the list would need to be signed and sealed by Bai Mo to officially complete the transaction.

Clutching the list, Ah Er took a few steps before stopping abruptly and twisting its head to look to the side.

Not far away, a disciple from the Foreign Affairs Hall was laughing with a companion. He picked up a cut section of bamboo, sniffed it, and casually tucked it into his sleeve.

Ah Er was furious and about to shout at the man when it heard the Red-Eyed Steward speak in a calm voice:

"Please finish your accounting quickly so that we may report back. Also, please ask Junior Brother Bai to refine the Pills swiftly, so as not to waste the sect’s resources."

Even for them, gathering such a large quantity of materials had taken some effort.

Only then did Ah Er look away, turning its gaze back to the ingredients in front of it.

It sensed that this steward was not one to be easily fooled.

The man’s gaze had been exceptionally steady when he looked at the weights and measures on the inventory list.

It took Ah Er several days to finish the inventory. Only then did Bai Mo leisurely emerge to inspect the alchemy ingredients that had been delivered.

When the steward and the disciples with him saw Bai Mo, they all greeted him.

"Junior Brother."

Bai Mo nodded and cupped his fists toward the disciples.

"My apologies for the trouble, Senior Brothers."

The steward stepped forward and said quietly, "It’s no trouble. We all work for the sect."

"If there are no issues, Junior Brother, please sign the list."

Bai Mo turned his head and saw Ah Er emerge from a large clump of white flowers, its head, face, and body covered in white downy fluff.

Ah Er met his gaze and nodded.

Bai Mo’s Divine Thought swept over the pile; it seemed about right.

He then took the inventory list from Ah Er’s hand, signed and sealed it, and returned it to the steward.

The Red-Eyed Steward accepted it and turned to leave.

"I trust that the next time we meet, Junior Brother, you will have the Pills ready."

Bai Mo could sense the Pill Qi on the man. It was faint, but he clearly had some foundation—at least enough to verify the inventory list.

After watching the disciples from the Foreign Affairs Hall depart, Bai Mo looked at Ah Er and instructed:

"Get these processed. We don’t have much time."

Ah Er nodded, its eyes filled with worry as it looked at the massive pile of ingredients.

Bai Mo, meanwhile, went back inside his house and took out a painting depicting a ritual scene.

It depicted a young boy with rosy lips and pearly teeth, holding up an enormous immortal peach as an offering to a deity shrouded in divine light, its face indistinct.

’This seems to be a central part of the overall ceremony,’ he thought.

’If no one else was available, I could have had Ah Er play the part of this boy to angle for some benefits.’

’A pity. The sect has so many disciples and Daoist Children who are far more presentable and clever than it is.’

Bai Mo shook his head, his gaze falling on the enormous immortal peach in the painted boy’s hands.

According to the ritual’s procedure, this immortal peach could be either a treasure of heaven and earth or a miraculous Spirit Pill.

’So many treasures of heaven and earth are used in the ritual; the sect must be trying to cut costs,’ he mused.

Bai Mo’s gaze shifted to another painting on the table. This one depicted a porcelain basin with nine immortal peaches stacked inside.

’There are thirty-six other arrangements just like this.’

’All told, I’ll need to refine three hundred and twenty-five of these Pills, and they must all be shaped like immortal peaches.’

Bai Mo clicked his tongue and sighed.

’The shape isn’t the problem. It’s the medicinal power contained within these Pills... an ordinary Cultivator wouldn’t be able to withstand it at all.’

’Even someone with Brother Li’s level of Body Refinement couldn’t handle it. It would probably take someone on the level of the two Brother Shis who guard Mi Mountain.’

As he thought about this, Bai Mo gained a new appreciation for Divine Beings.

’It seems the body of a Divine Being truly cannot be measured by ordinary standards.’

...

From that day forward, the fire in the courtyard’s Pill Furnace never went out.

Bai Mo combined the ingredients and, using the most traditional methods, refined the Great Immortal Peach Pills, whose medicinal properties were both gentle and immense.

As Ah Er watched from the side, its mouth wouldn’t stop watering.

The intoxicating Pill Fragrance permeated the air, lingering for days without dissipating.

Two hundred jin of ingredients were smelted down into a single Great Pill, as large as two palms and shaped like an immortal peach.

Bai Mo held it in one hand but didn’t find it heavy at all. The medicinal power steaming from within the Pill made it feel as if it were about to float away.

Nourished by the Pill Fragrance, the green bamboo outside the courtyard began to emit its own unique aroma, which grew stronger with each passing day.

Occasionally, Demon Beasts and wild animals would linger in the distance, staring at the courtyard. They snorted hot air from their nostrils, their craving for the Pill Qi and ingredients palpable.

Previously, the area had been utterly desolate, and it was rare to see any living creature in the surrounding forest.

The great wild boar that Ah Er had brought back from Mi Mountain had been quite peaceful since its arrival, never seen fighting with the local wildlife.

But now, these creatures were appearing out of nowhere.

Seeing the situation, Ah Er made several threatening displays to scare off the onlookers. Frustrated that the gray-furred rat wasn’t living up to its potential as a guard, it then summoned its other helpers.

The wild boar and a Spirit Beast with the body of a snake and the head of a civet came over to patrol day and night without rest.

On the very day after the last of the Great Immortal Peach Pills was completed, the Red-Eyed Steward arrived at their door.

Startled, Ah Er leaped down from the pile of ingredients and ran into the house to call for Bai Mo.

A fiery aura still clung to Bai Mo; he had just stepped away from the Pill Furnace to take a quick sip of tea in his room.

"The Great Immortal Peach Pills are just finished, and Senior Brother is already here. Don’t tell me you’ve been watching all this time?"

The steward cracked a smile.

"To be honest, the Pill Fragrance drew me here."

Ah Er reluctantly handed over the Great Immortal Peach Pills. The steward opened his cloth bag, counted them, then took one out to examine it closely.

The Red-Eyed Steward took a deep sniff and immediately voiced his praise.

"Amazing."

"Such an extraordinary fragrance... this is truly not something meant for mortals to consume."

After this exclamation, he looked over at the eagerly watching Ah Er and shook his head.

"This Pill is not something a little tyke like you can handle."

"Take one bite, and you’d probably swell up and pop..."

With those words, he headed off. Judging by the direction, he was likely going to the residence of another Alchemist.

Bai Mo knew he had peers in that direction, but he had never paid them a visit.

’So his arrival really was just a coincidence,’ Bai Mo thought.

Ah Er retracted its gaze, sighed, and walked back into the pile of ingredients to resume its daily grind.

Bai Mo, for his part, threw his energy into preparing the next batch of Pills.

Amidst these busy days, Bai Mo received a letter from Yuan Chu.

The location for the grand ritual was a place called Five Elements Ridge.

Bai Mo had heard of the place. It was said that a mighty figure from ancient times had died and been buried there.

His followers had brought drifting soils aligned with the five elements and infused them with all manner of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cover the burial site.

Over the long years, Five Elements Ridge had grown into the vast mountain range it was today. The locals also called it the Five Elements Mausoleum.

’This place has always been mysterious, known for producing Spirit Medicines, but no one has ever been able to establish a connection. To think it has some unfathomable relationship with the sect...’

According to Yuan Chu’s letter, participating sect members like himself had to go inspect the mausoleum in person on a chosen day beforehand.

This was to prevent the local Five Qis from encroaching and disrupting the ritual’s arrangements.

After finishing the letter, Bai Mo waved his hand, summoning Ah Er.

"Go prepare a few Qi Storage Gourds. In a few days, we’ll be heading out for a while to take a look around."

"It would be good to collect some five-elemental qi while we’re there. That stuff is always useful."

Ah Er acknowledged the order and departed.

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