Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Sensing a Mysterious Anomaly

Passing Cultivators spotted Bai Mo, their eyes instantly lighting up.

They were all men from a Demon Hunting Team and cheekily came over to say hello. Bai Mo felt it would be rude not to respond.

’Cultivation is about balancing work and rest; mindlessly going into seclusion isn’t all that useful,’ he thought.

Since he had nothing better to do, Bai Mo decided to walk with them and listen to them brag about the treasures hidden in the mountains.

In the distance, mountain ranges faded in and out of view, their peaks like spired pavilions. The mountains meandered into the horizon, having stood there since time immemorial.

All the fantastical encounters and demonic auras that so many Cultivators boasted of lay within those peaks.

When a mountain breeze snapped Bai Mo out of his daze, he realized he had almost reached the entrance to the mountain pass.

The tree stump was visible in the distance.

A talkative, burly man walked beside him. Hooks, ropes, knives, and axes hung from his waist—more than ten types of tools at a rough count, some of which Bai Mo didn’t even recognize.

He looked extremely professional, and quite intimidating.

Bai Mo seized the opportunity to ask,

"Brother, do you know the origin of that stump?"

The burly man shook his head, then said,

"My family has been Hunters for generations. Ever since my great-grandfather’s time, when our family started to make something of itself, we began hunting on Celestial Barrier Mountain."

"According to the tales my grandfather passed down, it’s what’s left of a Tree Demon that ran out of Celestial Barrier Mountain and was killed and cut down."

Even as he said it, he didn’t seem to believe it himself.

"According to those in the know, that stump is over a thousand years old. If it really became a demon, how could it be this small?"

The stump was large, but at most, it would only take three to five people with linked arms to encircle it.

Tree-like beings are inherently special. If one were able to move, it would have to be a Great Demon of profound cultivation and great age.

How could it be just a large stump at the foot of the mountain?

The burly man walked up to the stump, solemnly wove a ring of grass, and placed it on top.

"I don’t know what’s so mystical about it."

"We all risk our lives out here, so this is just for a bit of peace of mind."

He bid farewell to Bai Mo and led his companions into the mountains.

Bai Mo stood before the mountain just as the sun was beginning to set.

The glaring sunlight beat down, creating the illusion of being in a stuffy furnace and easily causing one to break out in a sweat.

’Entering the mountain at this hour, night will fall soon. They must have a secret base in there.’

’Either that, or they’re just supremely skilled, daring, and have nothing better to do.’

At that moment, Bai Mo’s mind drifted to various other matters.

’If Celestial Barrier Mountain truly has the ability to trap wandering souls and remnant spirits, and the rumors about the stump aren’t baseless...’

’...how does the husk of an old tree have the power to call them back?’

As darkness began to fall, a bold idea surfaced in Bai Mo’s mind.

The crowd had thinned out. After a glance around, Bai Mo sat down cross-legged beside the tree stump.

Roots as thick as his arm plunged into the ground right beside him.

His Divine Thought drifted out ethereally. Bai Mo closed his eyes, and his vision went pitch-black.

BOOM!

An inexplicable, soul-shaking sound washed over him, like the roar of a gale and crashing waves on a coastline.

Ever since he began practicing the Divine Thought Transformation Scripture, Bai Mo’s control over his Divine Thought had reached a considerable level.

But now, his Divine Thought, which normally remained steadily distributed around him, flickered like a candle in the wind, completely beyond his control.

The sound of a frantically flapping flag filled his mind.

By the time Bai Mo realized what was happening, he found he wasn’t the flag, but the wind itself, blindly crashing and beating against it.

WHAM!

A tremendous force slammed into him. Bai Mo’s eyes flew open, and he staggered back.

At the last moment, an image had appeared in his mind’s eye: a plume of bright yellow smoke, rising to the heavens like a banner.

It was this very smoke that was summoning the scattered thoughts, and its pull was so powerful it was simply horrifying.

Bai Mo took two steps back and was silent for a moment.

’Is this a spiritual anomaly, formed from the accumulated thoughts and beliefs of people over many years?’

’Or perhaps... a Great Demon, or a Great God?’

The world as seen by the naked eye could never reveal such a marvel.

Not daring to send out his Divine Thought again, Bai Mo left immediately.

Whether this strange phenomenon was just another oddity of the Cultivation Realm or a demon endangering the region, the sect would make its own determination.

’I shouldn’t waste my mental energy getting involved in this.’

As he walked, Bai Mo took out the classic text given to him by the senior brother from Divine Dao Mountain.

It contained a method for making incense; when lit, the long sticks could attract all sorts of strange entities.

Bai Mo recognized many of the mind-calming medicinal ingredients listed, but unlike the ones used for Pills, some of these materials were rather... esoteric.

For example, dust from the entrance of an ancestral hall, or the remnants of offerings left at a gravesite.

To an ordinary person, these items were indistinguishable from any other dust on the ground, destined to be scattered by the wind.

In this book, however, these very things were treated as priceless rarities.

The dust from the entrance to the ancestral hall of a great and noble family was especially sought after by the disciples of Divine Dao Mountain.

Unfortunately, this material was not easy to collect.

Those families placed great importance on such esoteric matters and would never break a taboo for mere worldly wealth.

’My Pills rely on the smoke from burning herbal ingredients to attract strange entities.’

’I have no use for these specific materials, but I can learn from the underlying principle.’

’I wonder what exactly that smoke from the great tree stump is, that it can pull in the thoughts of others?’

...

Under the cover of night, Bai Mo arrived at Mountain View Tower.

The senior brothers here handled the sect’s affairs. They hardly ever rested, always working in shifts.

They were worked harder than beasts of burden.

On his way, Bai Mo bought out all the remaining roasted meat from a street vendor, earning an appreciative look from the owner.

"I’ll give you a ten percent discount!"

Afterwards, Bai Mo headed up to Mountain View Tower, carrying several bags of food.

Inside, the senior brothers sat quietly behind their desks, poring over documents and bamboo slips. Not a single one spoke.

When they saw Bai Mo arrive, they all gave him a look that said, ’Here’s a junior who gets it.’

With a few simple words of thanks, each of them took a portion, returned to their desks, and began tearing into the meat.

An Caiwei was still there, which surprised Bai Mo.

"Senior Sister, why are you still here?"

An Caiwei replied helplessly, "A senior brother asked me to help him take care of some documents."

"He usually looks out for me in the sect, so I couldn’t really say no."

She glanced at Bai Mo.

"You’re a busy man yourself. You wouldn’t have come all this way just to visit a fellow disciple. So, out with it. What brings you here?"

Without hesitating, Bai Mo told her about the incident with the tree stump.

"Senior Sister, have you ever heard of anything like this in the sect?"

"It’s that mysterious?" An Caiwei asked in surprise.

She had never heard of anything like it.

"Wait, I’ll go find someone for you. He’ll definitely know."

An Caiwei hurried off, and Bai Mo waited where he was.

The documents on the desks were all related to the city’s various affairs, including transactions between some of the great noble families and the Xuandao Sect.

Bai Mo didn’t touch them; he had no interest in such matters.

After a moment, An Caiwei returned with a Cultivator who had a strong scholarly air about him but looked quite frail.

This senior brother had fair skin and was very thin, with dark circles under his eyes. He had the drained look of someone suffering from exhaustion and lack of sleep.

"This is Brother Wu. He manages all the documents that come in and out of Mountain View Tower, so he’s extremely knowledgeable."

"He’s the right person to ask about this."

An Caiwei said, making the introduction.

"Greetings, Brother Wu."

Bai Mo stood and gave a formal bow before slowly recounting his experience.

Brother Wu didn’t seem very surprised. Instead, he sized Bai Mo up and said with a smile,

"Junior Brother Bai, your Divine Thought must be exceptional; otherwise, you would not have been able to perceive this phenomenon."

"You flatter me, Senior Brother."

Bai Mo replied humbly, observing the man’s expression.

"Does this mean you know what’s going on, Senior Brother?"

"Of course."

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