Chapter 441: Claiming a Person

Chapter 441: Chapter 441: Claiming a Person

The next morning, Ah Er set off, trembling with trepidation.

A Token was tucked into its waist, a deliberate display to show it was different from a Demon Beast—that it belonged to someone.

Bai Mo had been in the stone house for a long time, but he had no intention of just holing up for now.

Taking a small knife, he ambled up the mountain and began to prune the green plants.

A trail of trimmed branches and leaves fell in his wake, and the scent of vegetation filled the mountain air.

This was a task Ah Er could not perform.

It lacked the necessary cultivation and its perception was far too poor; it couldn’t see the flow of qi within the plants.

It was meticulous work.

Bai Mo spent the entire morning covering just half the mountainside.

In the distance, a streak of light flew toward him at extreme speed.

Even from afar, he could feel the sharp aura of the gilded light.

"Junior Brother, what a leisurely mood!"

As the figure drew closer, his face became clear. It was Yin Zhen.

He leaped down lightly. The Gilded Radiance Longsword’s light retracted, and the sword returned to its original form before disappearing from his hand.

Bai Mo sized him up. The Yin Zhen before him seemed to have reverted to the way he was back in the Outer Sect.

His sharpness was on full display, his eyes blazed with a brilliant light, and his bearing was extraordinary.

Bai Mo had heard he’d made a name for himself, but he hadn’t expected it to be to this extent.

"It truly has been a long time."

Bai Mo smiled, and with a wave of his hand, a low table and a folding stool appeared.

"Senior Brother, please sit. The conditions are simple, so please don’t mind."

Yin Zhen paid it no mind. He lifted the hem of his robes and sat down.

Bai Mo took out a tea set and tea leaves. With a beckoning gesture, a stream of water was drawn from some unknown crevice in the rock and flowed into the kettle.

Then he casually plucked a wisp of the Great Suanni’s dissipating Spirit Charm, transformed it into a flame, and in a short while, the water was boiling.

He poured the water into the teapot with a gurgling sound.

Watching this display, Yin Zhen’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"Junior Brother has some fine skills."

He had long since sensed the aura of a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator on Bai Mo, but it hadn’t seemed particularly outstanding.

Now, after witnessing this feat, he realized that a master of the Alchemy Dao truly had his own profound depths.

"Senior Brother, what brings you here?"

Bai Mo asked casually as he poured the tea.

Yin Zhen replied, "The sect has a guest. The Foreign Affairs Hall said it’s related to you, so I came to hear your opinion."

Bai Mo was slightly taken aback.

"What kind of guest?"

"A sect from the outside called the Awakened Corpse Sect."

Yin Zhen said nonchalantly, "This sect has occasional dealings with ours. They aren’t a group of malevolent individuals."

"They’ve come to escort one of their elders back."

"What does that have to do with me?" Bai Mo asked, confused.

"In his early years, that elder had great ambitions. He crossed the Celestial Barrier Mountain range in search of a great opportunity."

"Oh, right. He cultivates the Awakened Corpse Sect’s Cultivation Technique. Pus and blood stagnated on his back, forming a large lump that contorted his figure, making him a hunchback..."

Hearing Yin Zhen’s description, Bai Mo had a moment of realization.

"So it was him!"

"No wonder. The day his mind was in a trance, his demeanor really did have the air of a teacher from a renowned and righteous sect."

Yin Zhen nodded.

"Why did the Foreign Affairs Hall want to ask you?"

Bai Mo chuckled and said:

"This person lost his mind on the other side of the Celestial Barrier Mountain range, and I was the one who hired fellow sect members to capture him."

"He carries the Outer Pill legacy from the other side, which is of great use to me."

Yin Zhen hadn’t expected that to be the reason.

"Then this person..."

"He can be released." Bai Mo didn’t seem to mind much.

"I had originally planned to have more discussions with him. After all, he is a fellow practitioner, and on the path of the Outer Pill, he surpasses me by a great deal."

"By the way, how much did the sect get from them?"

"A considerable amount," Yin Zhen said.

’That’s more like it.’

The hunchbacked Cultivator had caused the Xuandao Sect no small amount of trouble, both openly and secretly, from the other side of the mountain range. Now that he’d been captured, it would be absurd for some random sect to just show up and take him away. There was no such easy bargain in this world.

Setting that topic aside, Yin Zhen looked at the surrounding green plants, somewhat puzzled.

"Junior Brother, you are overflowing with talent and should be pursuing extraordinary endeavors. Why waste your time on such trivial matters?"

"If you’re short on servants, I can help you find some clever ones."

Bai Mo let out a "Hah!"

"I have servants too."

"Besides, Senior Brother, are you really underestimating all these plants on the mountain?"

"The value of everything planted on this mountain, all added up, is far greater than that outfit you’re wearing!"

Bai Mo said, pointing at Yin Zhen’s robes in a jesting manner.

Yin Zhen’s attire seemed unchanged at a glance, but its material had been completely upgraded.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was all fine cloth produced in Silkworm Valley, combined with other forging and weaving techniques to create a top-tier defensive treasure.

A Loose Cultivator in the outside world might not be able to afford a single piece like that even after a lifetime of work.

Only then did Yin Zhen take a serious look at the surrounding vegetation.

"I see."

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries before Yin Zhen brought up his personal reason for visiting.

"I intend to go to the Divine Kingdom to compete for an opportunity, to build up a fifty-percent foundation for my future Core Formation."

"This journey will not be short. Junior Brother, do you have any suitable Pills on hand? Any for cultivation will do."

Bai Mo thought for a moment and took out two bottles of Pills.

"The benefits distributed on your mountain peak are excellent; I still haven’t found a way to create a substitute for those Pills."

"However, these bottles contain the Pills I use myself. They aren’t much inferior, and are even superior in some aspects. Senior Brother, you can use these for now."

A flicker in Yin Zhen’s eyes, he took the two bottles of Pills and in return, handed over a soft, black cloth package.

The surface of the black cloth had a sheen, as if oil was seeping through it.

Bai Mo reached out to take it, only then realizing it contained some kind of viscous liquid.

"Blood?"

"Yes."

Inside the black cloth was the blood of an extraordinary aberrant beast, said to be from the other side of the Celestial Barrier Mountain range.

It was originally for Yin Zhen’s own use, but he was now giving it to Bai Mo.

Bai Mo felt the black cloth. The blood inside was still warm, and after a moment, it even began to feel scalding hot.

"Good stuff."

Bai Mo praised.

"Senior Brother, if you are not in a hurry to go to the Divine Kingdom, why not wait for me for a few days?"

Yin Zhen’s gaze flickered.

"How can Junior Brother help me?"

’He knew it. In this place, as long as one was willing to pay the price, there were always benefits to be gained.’

Bai Mo began to speak:

"I am refining a type of Outer Pill, using a Golden Core as the main ingredient."

"Taking it... while I can’t say you’ll possess the full power of a Core Formation Cultivator, you will gain some of the abilities of that realm..."

...

In the end, Yin Zhen decided to wait for Bai Mo for half a month.

Bai Mo’s offer was simply too tempting, and his own journey was fraught with difficulty.

And Ah Er, five days later, finally returned.

It was a sorry sight—its fur was matted, its body was covered in mud, and it seemed completely distressed.

Bai Mo welcomed it back, picked it up, and first rinsed it under the Spiritual Spring to wash the mud and sand from its fur.

Ah Er aggrievedly took out two brightly glowing Golden Cores.

Bai Mo took them and chuckled, "What’s this? The people from the War Hall shouldn’t have such a twisted sense of humor."

"AH, URGH!"

Ah Er untangled its matted fur and, using both hands and feet, began to complain to Bai Mo.

When it went to the War Hall, it hadn’t actually encountered any trouble.

That bunch of people, for the sake of its Spirit Stones, were all quite agreeable, making its worry along the way pointless.

On the contrary, it was on the way back that it ran into a group of passing Spirit Beasts who teased and played tricks on it.

Bai Mo asked nonchalantly, "What did they all look like?"

Ah Er took out a piece of paper. On it were some words and images, from which one could identify many different types of Spirit Beasts.

Judging by the handwriting and drawings, it had likely written and drawn them in a state of grief and indignation.

’An ordinary place couldn’t possibly raise so many Spirit Beasts.’

Bai Mo put the paper away.

"I’ve noted it down. I’ll definitely get even for you in the future."