Chapter 421: Pill Trial

Chapter 421: Chapter 421: Pill Trial

Nai Daoist rode the wind and fire, vanishing in an instant.

His presence was just a far cry from that of the Great Suanni.

Bai Mo watched him depart as memories flooded his mind.

Kunwu True Monarch.

He remembered when this Demon Path True Monarch was first subdued by Divine Dao Mountain, he had looked like a man who had suffered a great calamity.

Utterly wretched.

To be able to butt heads with a veteran retainer like Nai Daoist now, he must have recovered some of his strength.

’It seems Divine Dao Mountain is no stranger to conflict. I just wonder how the disciples below are supposed to handle themselves when the retainers start fighting...’

Bai Mo’s mind began to wander.

A tremor on his leg snapped him back to his senses.

He looked down and saw Ah Er, clinging to his leg and trembling uncontrollably.

When it met Bai Mo’s eyes, its face was still a mask of primal fear.

Nai Daoist was one thing; after he’d exchanged a few words with Bai Mo, Ah Er could tell he was some kind of senior figure, someone you could haggle with.

But the Great Suanni, having just died, was still radiating its aura.

The sheer pressure of its station had nearly frightened Ah Er to death.

It was a primal instinct.

Bai Mo sighed, crouching down to give its head a few scratches as a gesture of comfort.

"You just don’t have enough work to do. If you were a little busier, you wouldn’t have time for such baseless, fanciful fears."

...

「The following days.」

Ah Er didn’t dare stray too far from Bai Mo, following him like a shadow.

Coincidentally, Bai Mo was about to refine an Outer Pill and needed its help to prepare the materials anyway.

A few days after the Suanni fell upon Mi Mountain, the difference from before became immediately apparent.

Occasionally, a fiery red Spirit Charm would manifest in the mountains, appearing and disappearing before one’s eyes as it drifted about leisurely.

Bai Mo used his Qi Collection Skill to draw one over and infused it with Spiritual Qi, producing a palm-sized flame of astonishing heat.

WHOOSH!

A burst of flame erupted beneath the humanoid Pill Furnace, instantly igniting the pile of Spirit Wood.

The sheer force of it startled Ah Er, who was standing nearby, making it leap away with a yelp.

"Don’t just stand there!"

"Bring me all the ingredients you prepared!"

Bai Mo commanded in a deep voice, his gaze focused.

Ah Er chirped in acknowledgment and scurried in and out, carrying the prepared herbs into the room.

Once everything was ready, it fetched a few chunks of pitch-black ore, tossed them into a stone mortar, and grabbed the Stone Pestle with both paws, grinding away with a CLINK, CLANK, CLINK.

After a great deal of effort, it finally ground the pitch-black ore into a fine powder and presented it to Bai Mo.

With a tap of his finger, Bai Mo opened a hatch on the crown of the humanoid Pill Furnace.

He then casually poured the powdered ore into the opening.

The powder, upon being heated, immediately dissolved into a molten liquid that flowed through the furnace’s strange internal meridians, coursing along its paths.

Along the way, it passed several major "acupoints," where herbs that Bai Mo had stuffed inside were already mostly refined. The molten liquid swept them up and carried them along.

After coursing through the Pill Furnace, all the various materials converged in the Dantian.

Before long, Bai Mo had a single, black-iron-colored Pill.

He took it out; it was scorching to the touch.

Ah Er watched with curiosity, but it didn’t seem like a good thing. It could smell a foul odor of burnt rust.

And it was right. This was merely Bai Mo’s first attempt.

He tossed the Pill in his hand a couple of times.

Bai Mo mused to himself.

’The refinement process for this Pill wasn’t anything special. To be honest, it’s less sophisticated than the methods I developed myself.’

And yet, this very Poison Pill before him held a certain strangeness in Bai Mo’s eyes.

If it weren’t so incredibly toxic, he might have even popped it in his mouth to try it.

’How bizarre.’

Bai Mo frowned, his caution and doubt growing as he studied the Poison Pill.

Watching him, Ah Er grew terrified that it would be roped into testing the Pill and hastily backed away several steps.

It wouldn’t put it past its master to do something like that.

After all, Bai Mo could probably save it afterward, so there was no reason for him to be sentimental.

Bai Mo noticed the movement and glanced back at it.

"What are you afraid of? If this Pill went down your gullet, you’d likely be beyond saving. Why would I make you test it?"

Ah Er breathed a sigh of relief. Then, its eyes darted about before it stretched out a paw and pointed toward the Black Prison.

Bai Mo’s eyes lit up.

"You mean there are so many powerful ones in there, they probably wouldn’t die so easily?"

Ah Er nodded emphatically.

"Fair enough." Bai Mo stood up.

"Today happens to be inspection day. I’ll go have someone try it."

He straightened his clothes and patted himself down, dispersing most of the lingering smell of Alchemy.

Just before leaving, Bai Mo paused again, looking thoughtfully at the text-covered Pill Furnace.

’If there’s anything different about this Pill Furnace, it has to be the path the Pill Liquid takes.’

’That path vaguely corresponds to the network of meridians and vessels... is that really just a coincidence?’

Mulling this over, Bai Mo toyed with the Black Pill in his hand as he headed for the Black Prison.

As soon as he entered, he noticed the Black Prison was unusually quiet today.

Many prisoners opened their eyes the moment he entered, their gazes locking onto him.

He was about halfway through when a prisoner suddenly called out:

"Hey, kid!"

"Who was that who came here?"

Bai Mo had assumed they could sense the Suanni’s oppressive aura, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

If they had truly felt it, then given their experience, they would have likely recognized the Suanni for what it was.

Bai Mo had no intention of responding. Just as he started walking again, he suddenly saw a few fiery red Spirit Charms drifting lazily through the prison.

Understanding dawned on him.

The prisoners had likely seen these Spirit Charms and guessed that a great power had passed away on Mi Mountain, but they didn’t know who.

A hundred steps further, Bai Mo suddenly stopped in front of a cell to his left.

Inside, a prisoner lay sprawled on the ground, his entire body charred black.

Through the cracks in his charcoal-like skin, one could see pink flesh.

Bai Mo leaned in for a closer look and saw the prisoner’s chest rising and falling in short, shallow breaths.

His injuries were already severe, and lying collapsed on the ground with his full weight pressing down made every breath a cautious, arduous effort.

He had brought this upon himself.

This was the fate of any prisoner in the Black Prison who dared to touch the Spirit Charms.

The Great Suanni had once presided over the Foreign Affairs Hall; it knew exactly what kind of rabble was locked up in this prison.

He paid the severely injured prisoner no more mind. He wasn’t the only one in this state.

Bai Mo completed his rounds, finally arriving before the cell of the mad Cultivator who had been brought back from the Celestial Barrier Mountain range.

The man was being particularly secretive today.

Upon seeing Bai Mo approach, he covered his mouth with a hand and whispered:

"You’re here?"

"I have a supreme method for attaining immortality right here, but it comes with a few taboos. Care to hear it?"

Feigning great interest, Bai Mo leaned closer.

"Of course I’d like to hear it."

As he spoke, he held out the Black Pill.

"Brother, your aura is unstable. Your body must be in poor shape. Here, quickly take this Pill to regulate yourself, then you can tell me all about it!"

The mad Cultivator, who had been quite excited, fell silent the moment he saw the Pill being offered to him.

Bai Mo gave his hand a little shake and urged him:

"Go on, take it. If someone comes by later, it won’t be so easy to give this to you."

The mad Cultivator looked up and met Bai Mo’s earnest gaze.