Chapter 383: The Person from Beyond the Mountain Range

Chapter 383: Chapter 383: The Person from Beyond the Mountain Range

This Dong Min was not the type to scorn wealth.

And it seemed the young master he served had yet to reach the point of spending money like water.

After a long discussion, the two finally settled on a price.

While they were at it, Bai Mo asked some questions about the Celestial Barrier Mountain range.

Dong Min only said, "The sect’s elders and some disciples have already crossed the Celestial Barrier Mountain range and are trying to establish a foothold over there."

"My young master didn’t make it. After being attacked by a Demon Beast, he was sent back with the other heavily injured disciples."

"How many disciples were injured and sent back?" Bai Mo asked.

"I heard there were sixty or seventy..."

Dong Min shook his head.

Bai Mo sucked in a sharp breath.

’The sect gathered fewer than three hundred people for this expedition, and already so many are wounded?’

Dong Min changed the subject, cupping his hands in a fist as he asked:

"If I may ask, Junior Brother, what materials are needed for your Pill?"

"Hmm..."

Bai Mo thought for a moment before speaking. "The blood and bones of Demon Beasts dead for no more than half a year. The more, the better!"

With a wave of his hand, Dong Min tossed a black cloth onto the ground.

A pile of bloody bones and flesh tumbled onto it, the stench of iron filling the air. There were parts from all sorts of Demon Beasts.

Bai Mo, long accustomed to such smells, remained unfazed. He looked over the pile, quite amazed.

"This is enough."

"We’re just missing one catalyst: the remnant soul of a Jiao Species Demon Beast over three hundred years old. But such a thing is hard to find..."

Hearing this, Dong Min wasn’t annoyed, but delighted.

"Don’t worry, the Celestial Barrier Mountain range is teeming with them!"

"We’ll just have the young master’s well-connected fellow disciples help hunt one down."

Bai Mo was taken aback.

"Alright."

"Come find me when you’ve gathered everything..."

He had originally planned to suggest they try a soul-summoning technique. With the capabilities of the Divine Dao Mountain lineage, they could have easily summoned a remnant soul of the Jiao Species.

It would just take a bit more effort.

’But it seems the disturbance caused by the sect’s forces in the mountains is far greater than I imagined,’ he thought. ’They can find a Demon Beast just by looking.’

After Dong Min and the female disciple left, Bai Mo casually returned to his stone house.

BOOM!

The door shut.

The female disciple glanced back at the door, seemingly lost in thought.

"That Brother Bai has such a strong Water Element Spirit Charm about him. Could he be one of those from the Alchemy Dao who, as the rumors say, specializes in water-refining techniques?"

Dong Min smiled faintly.

With a clear path to getting the young master’s Pill, a great weight had been lifted from his heart.

"Probably not."

"I’ve met Cultivators who are skilled in water-refining techniques before."

"Those types keep their hands soaked in all kinds of Spiritual Water and medicinal liquids all day. To put it bluntly, their hands are quite unsightly."

"You have talent and a good disposition, but you’re still lacking in worldly experience and judgment. Otherwise, you might have been able to stay by the young master’s side, and I wouldn’t have to worry about every little thing..."

Inside the stone house, the Pill Furnace was already scorching hot.

He poured Spiritual Water inside, added the medicinal ingredients, and let them bob and sink within.

Bai Mo was in a good mood.

Nine thousand Spirit Stones would soon be his for just a little bit of effort.

"This is my good fortune."

Pill Peak was busy refining Pills to remove the Blood Curse. Such things were indispensable for operating in the Celestial Barrier Mountain.

Perhaps that was why Pill Peak couldn’t spare anyone, and with the precedent set by Yin Zhen, these two had come to him.

...

The injuries of Dong Min’s young master could not be delayed.

「Seven days later.」 Dong Min, having gathered all the necessary materials, returned with the female disciple in tow.

Bai Mo came out of Mi Mountain to greet them.

"You two were quick."

Dong Min was all smiles.

"The young master is only being kept alive by medicinal liquids. The situation is dire, so we dared not slack off."

"As it happens, a senior brother returning to the sect had the remnant soul of a Jiao Species Demon Beast on him..."

He took out a small cloth pouch, about to hand over the materials.

WHOOSH!!

All of a sudden, a fierce gust of wind swept past, kicking up sand and stones, making it almost impossible to open one’s eyes.

Dong Min instinctively clutched the pouch, not letting it slip from his grasp.

When the wind subsided slightly, he turned to look back, and his pupils contracted.

In the distance was a vast Flying Ship, shimmering with light. Thousands of Array patterns covering its body glowed as it rode the winds toward them.

"It’s the sect’s Array-Breaker Flying Ship!"

He looked over at Bai Mo and saw his junior brother also staring at the behemoth arriving amidst a swirl of Spiritual Qi.

"Brother Dong, your matter will likely have to wait a bit."

Bai Mo spoke slowly without turning his head.

"No problem." Dong Min immediately pulled the female disciple aside.

’This is the Mi Mountain black prison. What else could be happening?’

’None of this is my business to ask about or interfere with.’

BOOM!

As the Flying Ship drew closer, it appeared even larger, seeming to almost blot out Mi Mountain.

But before Bai Mo could get a good look, the Flying Ship kicked up an even greater storm and sped away.

Two figures, holding chains as thick as a child’s arm, dropped from the Flying Ship, dragging a person with them.

Braving the slipstream of the colossal ship, Bai Mo stepped forward to meet them.

"Greetings, Senior Brothers. Is there a new prisoner arriving?"

The two disciples both clearly had Core Formation cultivation, and both wore cold expressions.

Bai Mo had seen this kind of demeanor before. They were the elite of the Foreign Affairs Hall.

The person being escorted was slumped awkwardly on the ground, his body limp. His limbs must have been broken.

"New prisoner," one of the Core Formation disciples said flatly.

"This is the command tally. Take a look."

He handed over a bamboo-segment command tally from the Foreign Affairs Hall, which Bai Mo quickly accepted.

Using a specific technique to undo the restriction on it, Bai Mo read the information inside and learned that this prisoner had been captured from beyond the Celestial Barrier Mountain range.

The command tally contained no other information about the man, only his place of origin.

"This man..." Bai Mo pointed to the person whose body was pierced by the chains.

The two disciples nodded.

"He was brought back from beyond the Celestial Barrier Mountain range. This is a matter of great importance. Junior Brother, when you patrol the black prison, please keep a close eye on this man. Don’t let him actually die."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Bai Mo agreed, opening the gate to Mi Mountain and leading the men inside.

Dong Min and the female disciple stood to one side, not daring to make a sound the entire time.

Only after the group had stepped through the gateway did Dong Min let out a breath.

"The Array-Breaker Flying Ship... why would it be back from the Celestial Barrier Mountain range?"

"And it even brought someone back."

The female disciple whispered, "Perhaps it’s here to take a new batch of disciples? They must be short on manpower in the mountains..."

Bai Mo led the men into the black prison. After locking up the prisoner, he returned to the front of his stone house to talk business.

While leaving a confirmation of receipt on the command tally, Bai Mo spoke.

"Senior Brothers, how can there be people beyond the Celestial Barrier Mountain range? Are they natives?"

One of the Core Formation disciples had a flat expression.

"How could there be people over there? This man also crossed the Celestial Barrier Mountain range, but he went mad on the other side."

"He claimed he found an Immortal Ascension Skill, which is what caught the elders’ attention."

"It’s just the ravings of a madman. If he says anything, Junior Brother, don’t take it to heart. Just watch over him carefully."

The last few words carried a hint of a warning.

Bai Mo simply agreed with him.

For a Core Formation Realm Cultivator to survive on the other side of the Celestial Barrier Mountain range was a strange feat in itself. After all, even the sect had to be cautious about the dangers over there.

And in that brief contact earlier, Bai Mo had also seen traces of a Blood Curse on the man.

’It’s been removed now, likely the sect’s doing.’

This kind of person required special attention.

The handover complete, there was nothing more to say. The two Core Formation disciples left crisply, and Bai Mo saw them off.