Chapter 474: Unceasing
From within Mi Mountain, Pills began to emerge in a steady stream.
Bai Mo had no time to deal with them, so Ah Er was tasked with sorting and collecting them all.
Even these experimental creations were competitive in the sect's markets.
However, neither Bai Mo nor Ah Er had the time to sell them.
After picking out a portion of the Feeding Pills that suited its own taste, Ah Er packed up the rest and sent them to Immortal Arrival City via a courier goose.
With Bai Mo in seclusion, it was now busy from dawn till dusk.
Wiggling its rear, it dug out a Pill that had accidentally rolled into a corner and wiped off the dust.
Ah Er pocketed it with a clear conscience.
When it turned around again, it saw a pile of herbs stacked taller than a person, like a haystack after a farmer's autumn harvest.
To its eyes, the sight was truly majestic and towering.
'Did he raid one of the herb fields on Medicine Peak?'
With a gasp of admiration, Ah Er brought over a folding stool, a cutting knife, and other tools. It got to work and quickly entered a state of flow.
As for the Pills it had sent, they were passed between several courier geese before finally landing in the hands of Wei An and Qin Wen.
Finding himself with a moment of leisure, Wei An tentatively offered a Feeding Pill to one of them.
"Ahem, this is a Feeding Pill we refined. It's the work of us Loose Cultivators, so it's a bit crude…"
Before he could finish, there was a blur, and the courier goose had already snatched the Feeding Pill.
HONK!
The courier goose let out a long cry, spread its wings, and took flight.
'The flavor is much worse, but it's better than nothing.'
Watching the courier goose disappear into the distance, Wei An looked away.
"See? I told you. That goose has been eyeing our Feeding Pills for a while now."
"The Shopkeeper is so casual. He must give it plenty of treats. Otherwise, how could a mere bird get so big and strong?"
Qin Wen, standing beside him, nodded.
"I was mistaken. Even a sect's Spirit Beasts aren't so ethereal; they're just as down-to-earth as the rest of us."
"So what did the Shopkeeper send this time?"
He opened the cloth sack and poured its contents into a bucket. Inside was a pile of Pills—more than half a bucket's worth—with a sealed letter mixed in.
He opened it. On it were only four words: Spirit Stones, medicinal herbs.
The handwriting was crooked and messy, like chicken scratch.
Qin Wen thought of the Spirit Beast that was always by the Shopkeeper's side.
"This must be its handiwork."
The two of them discussed the matter and concluded, "Let's just do as it says."
They were in urgent need of Spirit Stones and medicinal herbs, so their usual slow-and-steady approach wouldn't work. The priority was to sell the Pills as quickly as possible.
Bai Mo had been experimenting with new Pills recently. More than forty percent of this batch were types the shop staff had never seen before.
After some consideration, they decided that good things should go to their own people first.
Thus, from the moment certain members of the Demon Hunting Teams got the news, rumors began to circulate in secret.
Cultivators began to visit frequently, coming through the back courtyard.
This batch of Pills was first picked over by Lanshan and his people before the rest made it to the market.
It was only then that Wei An was struck by the wealth of Demon Hunting Team leaders like Lanshan.
"They're that wealthy? They just snuck in, asked for several Pills, and left with them just like that."
Qin Wen wasn't surprised.
"Out in the wider world, these people are basically minor chieftains who control their own territory. They're far from being ordinary Loose Cultivators."
"The wealth they've accumulated from their expeditions into the mountains is not to be underestimated…"
As they spoke, they moved the remaining Pills onto the display shelves.
But unlike Ah Er, who had sent them over casually, Wei An and the others took care to package them in high-quality porcelain vials and brocade boxes.
All the items were placed on the shelves for everyone to see, causing quite a stir.
Such a display was beyond what an ordinary shop could manage, and it immediately impacted the Pill market in the city.
That they could operate in peace was thanks to Bai Mo's status as an Inner Sect Disciple of the Xuandao Sect, as well as the sect members who occasionally patrolled the area.
Otherwise, the Demon Hunting Teams alone would not have been enough to deter certain powerful individuals.
Bai Mo himself was unaware that his continuous output of Pills had driven down prices in Immortal Arrival City by five percent.
Right now, he was still in his stone house, stuck on several difficult problems.
The notebook in his hand was densely filled with notes on his problems, covered in corrections and crossed-out lines.
True knowledge, as they say, comes from practice.
To solve them, he would have to rely on the Pill Furnace before him.
Fortunately, he was an extremely patient man. He would simply take his time.
CRACK!
A loud crack echoed from within the furnace, but Bai Mo's expression remained unchanged. Only after completing the final steps of the process did he open the lid.
Inside, a white, fluffy substance was scattered about, its finer parts scorched yellow.
It seemed one of the Pills had exploded, creating this mess.
Fortunately, three Pills remained at the center, each with a different color and intricate patterns. This result validated some of Bai Mo's theories.
He took out the Pills and placed them in a cup to the side, which was already nearly half full.
As for the fluffy substance in the furnace, Bai Mo took out a brush and carefully swept it into a pill vial.
This was a byproduct. It hadn't formed into a proper Pill, but it wasn't toxic; in fact, it retained a trace of medicinal power.
'It would probably still sell if I offered it to the Loose Cultivators outside the sect gates.'
After carefully examining the Pills, Bai Mo took out his notebook and began to write.
'Nearly thirty Pills, and I still haven't figured out how to inscribe an Outer Pill. Could this method be a fabrication?'
There were legends in the Dao of Outer Pills about a great master who had forcefully branded Divine Techniques onto a Pill's surface. By communicating with heaven and earth, the Outer Pill was then able to channel a fraction of that technique's power.
This was already a compromise for Bai Mo, a step down from his original goal.
And now, even this was proving impossible.
'The Alchemy Dao is long, and the path of inquiry is fraught with hardship…'
Just as he was about to start the furnace again, Bai Mo turned around and saw that the pile of herbs, once half as tall as a man, was gone. Only a few scattered pieces remained.
'I should have had Ah Er bring more from time to time.'
So thinking, Bai Mo straightened his robes and pushed open the door to the stone house.
The light from outside streamed in, making Bai Mo's eyes ache with discomfort.
When his vision cleared, he saw Ah Er sitting properly on the folding stool, engrossed in a book.
Perhaps Bai Mo had made too much noise, for Ah Er tilted its head to look and then jumped in fright.
"Eek!"
Ah Er leaped up, shook its leg, and then chirped proudly at Bai Mo.
It was surrounded by piles of dirt, roots, and discarded leaves. The once-towering stack of herbs had been processed and was now spread outside to dry.
Bai Mo glanced at the book in its paws. It was a biography chronicling the life of an ancient grandmaster of the Alchemy Dao.
According to the book, this grandmaster had an exceptionally long lifespan, had spent most of it traveling, and had witnessed all sorts of strange and absurd events.
No wonder the little fellow was so absorbed; the book read more like a collection of bizarre tales.
"Good work. How long has it been?"
Bai Mo offered faint praise before asking his question.
Ah Er took out an almanac, its claws flipping rapidly through the pages until it stopped on a certain date.
'Has it already been half a month?'
Bai Mo thought about his progress and felt a headache coming on.
"Bring all the usable materials inside."
Ah Er immediately put down its book, turned, and ran out of Mi Mountain.
The biography was left on the stool, its pages rustling in the wind. WHAP-WHAP-WHAP.
The Alchemy Dao was a long road. In ancient times, there were many extraordinary masters—some were born with innate talent, while others seemed to possess knowledge from birth.
The grandmaster in the book, for example, had achieved his success by virtue of his incredibly long life.
It was a testament to the difficulty of the path.
'I've been refining Pills nonstop for days on end, I've lost count of how many. Judging by the time that's passed, it should be about enough.'
Bai Mo pondered.
'Sigh, I still can't break through this bottleneck. Perhaps I'm just too slow…'