Chapter 422: Clue

Chapter 422: Chapter 422: Clue

"I’m fine. Pills are precious; there’s no need to waste one on this broken shell of mine."

The mad Cultivator reached out, pushed Bai Mo’s Outer Pill back toward him, his sincerity matching Bai Mo’s own.

"Young Master, please take the Pill back. Let’s talk about the Immortal Ascension Skill."

"Listen to my incantation. It goes from my mouth to your ears and must not be heard by a third person..."

His tone shifted, becoming extremely devout as he began to chant the incantation in a strange language.

It was probably a dialect, a vernacular from some unknown place.

To have learned such a language, one could only wonder what kind of encounters the man had experienced.

’Could it be that a group of people really is living on the other side of the mountains, passing down their legacy?’

Bai Mo narrowed his eyes and shot to his feet.

The Pill spun rapidly in his hand.

"You’re not mad. It seems I’ve misjudged you..."

The mad Cultivator’s expression didn’t change, but his chanting grew ever more urgent.

Bai Mo snorted coldly, then reached out and began to undo the iron chain on the cell door.

The prisoners in the surrounding cells, drawn by the commotion, all turned to look.

Upon seeing the jet-black Pill in Bai Mo’s hand and catching a whiff of its scorched, rusty stench, looks of disdain appeared on the prisoners’ faces.

As if sensing their gazes, Bai Mo suddenly turned his head.

In an instant, the prisoners all withdrew their gazes, their facial muscles relaxing into blank expressions.

CLANG!

The chain binding the cell door fell away. The mad Cultivator’s chanting faltered, and he looked up, somewhat bewildered.

"Young Master, you are only at the Foundation Establishment stage, after all. With such a meager cultivation level, why put yourself in danger?"

"It’s one thing since it’s me today. If it were someone else, one sudden move and you’d be in peril."

He gestured toward the exit, saying sincerely,

"Hurry and leave."

Bai Mo remained silent. With a mere lift of his finger, he activated layers of restrictions.

VWOOM!

Like an ancient, delirious whisper, a terrifying pressure descended with a boom.

Even the red and yellow Spirit Charm floating outside the cell seemed to have been frightened; they flickered and shot three zhang away.

The mad Cultivator’s face changed. Caught off guard, he was slammed to the ground, unable to move.

The faces of the prisoners in the other cells changed as well. They turned their gazes back, watching intently.

The way this restriction was activated was very different from before; it seemed much more powerful.

They couldn’t figure out if this warden was contemptibly testing a Pill on someone or making a show of force for their benefit.

After all, none of the past few wardens had been seen deliberately using such private punishments...

Bai Mo’s own astonishment was even greater than theirs.

’The restriction has been changed. Is this the Great Suanni’s handiwork?’

’Was it because it was uncomfortable here? Or was it a sect requirement?’

The sect had issued a written order earlier to strengthen the restrictions, stating that a truly formidable prisoner might be incarcerated soon.

Bai Mo remembered this.

But at the time, no one had expected the Great Suanni to reach the end of its life in service and come to settle at Mi Mountain to balance its yin and yang and stabilize its Divine Soul.

With the Great Suanni here, the restrictions were practically a moot point.

What did it matter how vast the world was? It could imprison ninety-nine percent of all Cultivators.

Looking at the mad Cultivator, whose face finally showed terror, Bai Mo crouched down.

"Wouldn’t it have been easier if you’d just taken the Pill?"

"After all, I’ve saved you many times before and even had a fellow disciple come to treat you. Now is the time to repay me!"

As he spoke, he moved to shove the Pill into the other’s mouth.

The mad Cultivator struggled, turning his head to resist.

After several attempts, he finally roared in anger.

"Is this some kind of black site?! Is there no law?!"

Bai Mo’s expression remained unchanged.

"I am the one watching over this prison. What’s more, a great power from my sect is personally overseeing it. How could there be no law?"

The mad Cultivator stared at him, stunned. Then he smelled the repulsive, rusty odor by his nose.

His face paled, and he hurriedly shouted,

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"I know where to find the legacy of the Outer Pill! I can help you learn the true Outer Pill technique!"

Bai Mo’s movements paused. He withdrew the Pill and studied the man with surprise.

"I’m listening."

"On the other side of the Celestial Barrier Mountain, there is someone like me! He has the legacy of the Outer Pill!"

Bai Mo took out a booklet and picked up a brush to take notes.

"The specific location? How do I find this person?"

"He has no fixed residence. Finding him is a matter of luck. He’s a hunchback..."

"Uhh..."

After saying just those few words, the mad Cultivator had no other clues to offer. He paused, and his mind suddenly grew muddled again.

Confusion once again filled his eyes. His thoughts seemed to empty, and even the agitation from a moment ago faded away.

As if having lost all his strength, he collapsed limply to the ground.

Bai Mo’s gaze flickered. He stood up and didn’t torment the man any further.

His state resembled someone who had suffered a cultivation deviation from practicing a certain technique, damaging their mind and spirit as a result.

...

「Outside the black cells.」

Without busying himself with other matters, Bai Mo first recorded the mad Cultivator’s behavior, preparing to report it to the Foreign Affairs Hall.

’Since he hasn’t completely lost his mind, communication should be possible.’

’This Cultivator knows a great many things. I can try probing him more in the future.’

As he thought this, Bai Mo took out the failed Outer Pill and casually crushed it between his fingers.

The Pill crumbled into dust, which he scattered on the ground.

Ah Er saw this and looked somewhat puzzled and distressed.

It ran to a corner, fetched a broom, and diligently swept the floor.

Bai Mo watched it bustle about and suddenly said,

"Tell me, in the inner sect, what kind of price does one have to pay to hire someone for a job?"

Ah Er looked up, its crystal-clear eyes showing it was utterly bewildered.

To be honest, Bai Mo was indeed intrigued by this Outer Pill method.

Having come this far on the path of the Alchemy Dao, he was only now discovering that the way of the Outer Pill was not as simple as some mere concept.

Its refinement method also seemed to hold a certain profundity.

He wrote down the questions on his mind in a letter. The next day, Bai Mo gave the letter to a messenger swan from the Foreign Affairs Hall.

One shouldn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to alchemy; it was better to communicate more with fellow practitioners.

For the next few days, Bai Mo shut himself inside his stone house.

In between pondering matters of alchemy, he also prepared letters for Yuan Chu, Yin Zhen, and others.

The letters contained a request for them to help him find suitable people for a job.

The other side of the Celestial Barrier Mountain was dangerous, and Bai Mo had no intention of putting himself in harm’s way. He planned to hire people to go instead.

While he was waiting for replies, Ah Er finally overcame its fear of the Suanni’s aura.

It began to volunteer to go up the mountain to tend to the flowers and plants.

This was something it had decided to do long ago.

Ever since this badger left the society of Demon Beasts, it had learned some traits of the Human Race.

The most obvious of these was its astonishing adaptability. After confirming that the Suanni would not harm it, its spirits revived.

Ah Er shouldered its hoe and pole and ambled up the mountain.

This trip turned out to be significant, as it discovered many changes in the flow of qi on the mountain.

The red and yellow Spirit Charm were even more numerous here, constantly merging with the rocks and reshaping the environment.

Ah Er raised its hoe and began to dig around the roots of some flowers and plants.

A sudden feeling of self-satisfaction welled up in its heart.

’If I hadn’t transplanted them, more than half of the flowers and plants on this mountain would have died.’

’My master is shut in his room all day; he would never pay attention to things like this.’