Chapter 470: Coming Knocking

Chapter 470: Chapter 470: Coming Knocking

As he walked through the market, Bai Mo spent money like water.

Bai Mo bought and taught as he went, pointing out items Ah Er usually lacked the eye to appraise. Before he knew it, he had spent nearly twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

He happened to run into a Hongyan goose from the Foreign Affairs Hall that was in the market delivering items for people. Bai Mo seized the opportunity, writing a letter on the spot for it to take to Immortal Arrival City.

The letter instructed the clerks at his shop to send his surplus Spirit Stones, along with several pounds of Pills.

This was a time when he desperately needed Spirit Stones.

After receiving a Feeding Pill from Bai Mo as a reward, the Hongyan goose shot a contemptuous glance at the disciple who had hired it for a delivery. It bid farewell to Ah Er and took to the sky with a beat of its wings.

The disciple was dumbfounded, so angry he couldn’t speak.

"This... this..."

"When we hired it, we clearly already paid..."

Bai Mo placated him, "I didn’t go through the normal channels. I always give it a Pill as a reward upon use."

"It’s not an after-the-fact tip. Please don’t overthink it, Senior Brother."

The disciple caught his breath.

"Even so, Junior Brother, what you gave it was probably a bit much..."

"It just suits its palate."

Bai Mo had only twenty thousand Spirit Stones left, which he needed to keep as a reserve.

With his pockets feeling empty, he naturally lost the heart to wander around.

He and Ah Er hurriedly returned on the Flying Ship. Bai Mo’s eyes were half-closed, his mind churning with various thoughts.

Ah Er, having been busy for many days, was enjoying the rare leisure. He clung to the ship’s railing, watching the scenery below.

Occasionally, they would pass over a companion’s territory. Spotting a familiar flash of color darting through the lush green forest, he would let out an urgent cry.

At the Flying Ship’s high speed, the cry was stretched long and far through the air.

The Spirit Beast below flashed past in an instant, likely not having heard him.

Annoyed by the rascal’s noise, Bai Mo would occasionally shoot him a look.

Ah Er seemed not to notice.

A market town appeared ahead. Bai Mo had no intention of stopping and shot past it.

A dozen or so breaths later, however, Ah Er suddenly froze, craning his neck to look closely at something.

"AARK!"

He turned around and quickly tugged on Bai Mo’s pant leg with considerable force.

Pulled off balance, Bai Mo was shaken from his thoughts. He glared at the rascal.

"Let go!"

Ah Er pointed downward.

"AARK!"

Bai Mo quickly halted the Flying Ship and followed the direction his claw was pointing.

Below, a group of people stood on a mountain path. It seemed they had been traveling but had stopped to hail him now that they saw him.

One of them, hunched over and leaning on a cane, was waving at him.

Bai Mo focused his gaze and saw that of the six or seven people, most had white hair. They were clearly all old men.

’Who are they?’

Bai Mo landed the Flying Ship and descended.

As he got closer, Bai Mo recognized the figure who was waving.

"Senior! What brings you here!?"

The man was none other than the White-Haired Elder, a gentle smile on his face.

It had been a long time, but the White-Haired Elder still had the same easygoing demeanor, completely lacking the commanding presence he had shown while presiding over the Pill Assembly and its many different Daos.

"Haha, Young Friend Bai, there’s no need to call me Senior."

"We are peers on the same path. Alchemy Skill cannot be divided into high and low..."

Bai Mo put away his Flying Ship and went forward to chat with him.

"You are my elder in years and have long been on the path. There is nothing improper about calling you Senior."

Without giving the White-Haired Elder a chance to respond, he turned his gaze to the other old men.

The youngest-looking among them was likely approaching sixty, and only two of them still had black hair.

The White-Haired Elder then made the introductions:

"These are all fellow practitioners who have been stuck at the threshold of the Grandmaster realm for many years. They are just one step away."

"They are all fellow Daoists of great renown."

The six men took the cue to step forward, clasping their hands in greeting to Bai Mo.

"We greet Grandmaster Bai!"

"It is better to meet you than to just hear of your fame! Such a young talent truly puts old bones like us to shame!"

In terms of proficiency in the Alchemy Dao, Bai Mo and the White-Haired Elder were indeed far ahead of these men.

Not letting them say too much, the White-Haired Elder spoke up:

"We had originally asked for the location of Mi Mountain, where you reside, Young Friend Bai, intending to seek you out."

"But this is even better. We ran into you on the way."

Bai Mo’s Flying Ship was quite distinctive; he had seen it several times and thus recognized it.

"Mi Mountain is a prison. It’s no place to host guests, and there isn’t even a spot to rest one’s feet."

Bai Mo knew they had come to find him for a reason. He thought for a moment, then pointed up the mountain path.

"There’s a teahouse up ahead. It’s been abandoned for years, but the stone tables and chairs are still there. Why don’t we talk there?"

"Excellent!"

The White-Haired Elder immediately agreed.

Previously, when he’d made inquiries, the disciple he asked had stammered and even mentioned the two words "black prison." He knew then that Mi Mountain was not a welcoming place.

Now that Bai Mo was offering a choice, it couldn’t be better.

It was unknown how many years ago the teahouse had been abandoned. There had probably been some unknown changes in the vicinity.

When the group arrived, they saw that the stone tables and chairs were covered in moss, and vines had even crept over the stove.

A stream flowed nearby, likely the former source of water.

Ah Er nimbly cleaned them off and invited everyone to sit.

Then, he carefully pulled the vines off the stove, took out the teapot and cups he carried with him, lit a fire, and began to boil water.

Seeing how practiced and nimble he was, the White-Haired Elder was full of praise.

"Young Friend Bai, this Pill Boy of yours is quite different from the ordinary."

Bai Mo chuckled. "It wasn’t appropriate to bring extra people to Mi Mountain, so I just caught a clever-looking little beast from the forest."

"I didn’t expect that after training him, he’d really come to understand my intentions..."

Having corresponded with the White-Haired Elder by letter for so long, the two of them didn’t have much sentimentality about their reunion. Moreover, it wouldn’t be right to neglect the others who had come along.

After a few more pleasantries, the White-Haired Elder stated the purpose of their visit.

"After I met these fellow Daoists at the Pill Assembly, they happened to hear from me that you are skilled in the way of the Outer Pill, and it piqued their interest."

"They asked me to act as an intermediary for a trade with you."

Bai Mo adopted a posture of respectful listening.

The old man named Sun Qiyou, who had silver-white hair, took over the conversation. He clasped his hands toward Bai Mo.

"I hope Grandmaster Bai won’t laugh at us, but we old bones have been languishing at the Grandmaster threshold for a long time. We don’t know if we’ll even have a chance in this lifetime."

"Even if it is possible, I fear it would still take many more years."

"We heard that Grandmaster Bai possesses an Outer Pill Method. This is a marvelous method of the Alchemy Dao. We are willing to trade another method for it, in hopes of supplementing our Alchemy Skill and breaking through to the Grandmaster realm."

The other men also adopted extremely humble postures.

"I wonder if Grandmaster Bai would be willing to agree?"

"We won’t let the Grandmaster get the short end of the stick, that’s for sure..."

Just then, the water boiled. Ah Er finished brewing the tea and came over with the teapot to serve everyone.

The White-Haired Elder accepted the tea with a smile. He took a shallow sip, and his eyes lit up slightly.

The tea was Bai Mo’s personal stock, so it was naturally of high quality.

Bai Mo held his teacup, thinking for a moment before looking at the White-Haired Elder.

"Senior, your Outer Pill Method shouldn’t be lacking..."

The White-Haired Elder waved his hand dismissively.

"You and I have exchanged letters. How could I not tell from reading between the lines? My Outer Pill Method is far inferior to yours."

"If not for the fact that Fellow Daoist Sun and the others once had a fortuitous encounter and came to possess a strange and wondrous method, I would not have dared to bring them here so rashly."

’So the method is jointly owned by several people?’

’No wonder they all came together.’ Bai Mo began to understand.

"Fellow Daoists, why don’t you tell me about it? If it’s suitable, there’s no harm in us making a trade."

Overjoyed, Sun Qiyou exchanged a look with the others and directly took out a jade slip.

"This is the opening Chapter of that wondrous method. It was created by a mighty figure of ancient times and was left behind in the ruins of a mountain cave."

"Please, Grandmaster Bai, take a look first!"

Bai Mo glanced at him, nodded slightly, and accepted the jade slip.

’Such a gesture shows considerable sincerity, and also a great deal of confidence in their own method.’