Chapter 416: Rumors

Chapter 416: Chapter 416: Rumors

The cultivators from the Tongzi Altar were wiped out.

Upon returning to Immortal Arrival City, Brother Zheng immediately began to write a report back to the sect.

Meanwhile, the other group of disciples, which had split off from Bai Mo and the others, found the Tongzi Altar’s mountain stronghold on the outskirts of Celestial Barrier Mountain.

After a clash, they attracted Demon Beasts. The Tongzi Altar cultivators were either killed by the Xuandao Sect disciples or ended up in the bellies of beasts.

All in all, the whole affair concluded quite successfully.

The story of what happened to Lanshan and the others also began to spread throughout the city.

In no time, countless people grew envious of their fortune.

"What do you all know? An opportunity like that isn’t something an ordinary person could handle."

An insider was chatting with people in a teahouse.

"That Tongzi Altar... I’ve heard from outsiders that it’s not a very good place. They don’t play by the rules."

"That brute Lanshan was just lucky someone was looking out for him. They went searching for him as soon as trouble started. Otherwise, hmph hmph..."

"We ordinary folk should just live our lives peacefully in the city. If we’re lucky, our children or grandchildren might have a chance to become a great cultivator!"

Immortal Arrival City, nestled against Celestial Barrier Mountain, was never short on resources to begin with.

Before, they suffered from a lack of manpower and struggled to survive.

Now, having gained some benefits and with increasing contact with the outside world, they had more wealth to go around.

Everyone’s cultivation levels had risen accordingly, and they dared to venture further into Celestial Barrier Mountain for resources. Things were looking up.

Thus, Immortal Arrival City became known to outsiders as a great city, a good place for cultivation.

If not for the increasingly strict regulations on land ownership in the city, who knows how many cultivators would want to stay.

However, even with the logic laid bare, some people remained jealous and resentful.

"No matter what, that Tongzi Altar had the backing of a major sect. It was a chance for cultivators like us to change our fate."

"How can you be content to waste your life away in this city?"

Young Master Wei was dismissive of such talk.

He had escaped with his life, surviving a great disaster.

Only after returning did he discover that his leg had been fractured for some time; he just hadn’t noticed it in that environment.

He applied medicine and, accompanied by Young Master Wang, carefully walked around the city to exercise and help his body absorb the medication.

"I thought Instructor Sun had been killed, so I cursed those people out and got beaten up twice for it."

"This leg injury must be from back then."

Young Master Wei said with a sigh,

"That was definitely not the proper way to recruit disciples. If we had really been sent away, I doubt we would have met a good end."

Young Master Wang nodded and added,

"If Instructor Sun hadn’t happened to run into Shopkeeper Bai, he really would have died."

"You didn’t see him. He was covered in blood, and there was a hole in his head..."

As the story of Lanshan and the others continued to develop, news of Bai Mo’s return spread through the city.

Recently, the pills from his shop had caused quite a stir in Immortal Arrival City.

Their unusual properties—reforming the body, purifying bloodlines, or preserving life and healing grievous injuries—made countless people green with envy.

The problem was, the pills Bai Mo sent back were not of a fixed type; they were all his experimental creations.

This kept many cultivators on the hook, compelling them to come by every day to see what new pills were for sale.

Upon hearing of Bai Mo’s return, many people immediately came to pay a visit.

Most of them were outsiders.

The local cultivators had all heard about Bai Mo’s temperament and knew that he rarely saw visitors.

Idle members of the Demon Hunting Team loitered on the main street all day, helping to turn away those who came to call on him.

Naturally, this led to quite a few minor disputes.

But seeing the crowd of burly men, stubborn and stone-faced, no one could do anything about them.

Seeing such a scene, Ah Er would sneak around every day on his way to and from the bookshop.

He was terrified of being accosted.

The men of the Demon Hunting Team already knew this plump Spirit Beast was being raised by Bai Mo.

So none of them got any funny ideas about trying to do anything to it.

Qin Wen was quite fascinated by Ah Er, knowing it was a Spirit Beast with an excellent foundation.

Seeing Bai Mo shoo the latter off to the bookshop, he was very confused.

"What’s it doing at a bookshop?"

In the backyard, Qin Wen stood with his hands by his side.

Bai Mo sat leisurely, picking up a pastry dotted with red dates and placing it in his mouth.

"This rascal is getting lazier and lazier. He wouldn’t study his characters properly when we were in the sect."

"He’s willing to listen over there since the old shopkeeper spoils him. So shouldn’t he seize this opportunity to study instead of just idling around the shop?"

Qin Wen found the idea of Ah Er learning to read rather strange.

Spirit Beasts raised by ordinary people were mostly for combat. A rare few were used for treasure hunting or production.

He didn’t know that Bai Mo was raising Ah Er like a young attendant; he just thought this was the way of the major sects.

"By the way, Shopkeeper, I’ve heard some rumors these past two days while I’ve been out."

"They’re saying the Xuandao Sect intends to open its gates wide and recruit disciples, and Immortal Arrival City is one of the recruitment locations?"

His eyes shone, as if he hadn’t expected Immortal Arrival City to be so honored.

Bai Mo hadn’t heard about this, but after a moment’s thought, he understood.

"It’s probably just a rumor my senior brothers intentionally let spread. It’s not a sure thing."

"The trouble stirred up by the Tongzi Altar really did annoy the sect. After all, no one wants promising young cultivators from their own territory to be poached."

"Right now, they’re just trying to win over the people. But if some real talent does emerge here, the rumor might just become reality."

Qin Wen wasn’t too disappointed. He just nodded slightly and said with a sigh,

"In any case, it’s something to hope for. We might not have the good fortune, but our children and grandchildren still have a chance..."

Bai Mo smiled, took a sip of tea, and picked up a stone slab from beside his feet.

The slab had been extracted from the body of a Demon Beast and was covered in densely carved script.

"Things like this, related to the Alchemy Dao... buy as many as you can find. I have a great use for them."

Qin Wen agreed. Looking at the stone slab in Bai Mo’s hand, he asked,

"There’s a lot written on it, all about pills. We couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but we guessed it was something good, so we spent two thousand Spirit Stones to acquire it."

"What do you think of it?"

Bai Mo had already read it once and said with a smile, "It’s nothing special."

"It’s just the thoughts of some Pill Master on the Alchemy Dao. If not for a few lines about Outer Pills, it would be useless to me."

"But it’s not bad for the assistants in our shop. Let them study it. I’ll just make a copy."

The carved strokes on the slab also revealed the changes in that Pill Master’s state of mind. Leaving the original would allow the assistants to better comprehend it.

Qin Wen was speechless.

Hearing the implication in Bai Mo’s words, he knew that his shopkeeper’s skill far surpassed that of the senior who had left the message on the slab.

He rarely saw Bai Mo looking so pleased with himself.

Just as Qin Wen was about to speak, he suddenly saw Bai Mo’s brow furrow in thought. He quickly closed his mouth and waited quietly.

After a moment, Bai Mo spoke, choosing his words carefully.

"After what happened in Celestial Barrier Mountain, who knows how many Demon Beasts were affected and are now scattered throughout the mountains, or are even attacking towns and villages."

"From now on, have the Demon Hunting Team pay more attention and collect the foreign objects from inside their bodies."

"We can be more generous with our supply of pills. Let’s see if we can create a batch of competent fighters."

Qin Wen was slightly startled.

"That will cost a fortune!"

Bai Mo was unconcerned.

"It’s worth it. We’ll have to rely on them to hunt demons and find medicinal ingredients in the future."

Lanshan’s body was washed with the Tongzi Altar’s Holy Water. Bai Mo had asked his fellow disciples about it, and they said it could improve one’s innate constitution by a fair amount.

With him leading the way, Bai Mo was at ease.

Coupled with the body-tempering methods practiced by the Demon Hunting Team, they would become a capable force in time.

For an Alchemy Cultivator like Bai Mo, having a team of people to search for strange and rare items would save him an incredible amount of trouble.